Update

     The last month has been absolutely crazy here. I can't believe it is already almost December! My classroom has started the shift from Thanksgiving to Christmas. As the turkeys and pilgrims come down, the snowflakes and Christmas trees go up. Thanksgiving was great here. All of the American teachers worked together to host a big Thanksgiving dinner for our closest Mexican friends. We all cooked traditional foods in insane quantities, and they all brought extra dishes and drinks to share. It was a great way to spend the evening, even though we had to get up early for work the next day. All of my friends at home were so surprised that I had to go to work on Thanksgiving - I think they forgot that it is an american holiday... and Mexico is not the United States.
     It is crazy that I have been down here for over three months. The time has gone by very fast. I am coming home in less than a month for Christmas! Thankfully, I will get a taste of the holidays here before I leave. I have been invited to a few posadas and we will be hosting a gringa posada at our house. Looking back on the last three months, I am very satisfied with my experience here. I have some good friends, my Spanish has improved, and I love my class. It is amazing how fast 5 year olds can learn a language. I am so jealous of them! Most of what they have learned is just from listening to me speak. I refuse to speak to them in Spanish. They think I don't know how to speak Spanish at all. One of my little boys told his mom that he wanted to come with her to parent-teacher conferences. He said, "But Mom, you won't understand her. She doesn't speak Spanish. I will go and translate for you!" Every now and then they hear me speaking Spanish with the Mexican teachers. I have convinced them that I'm not really speaking Spanish - it is a special teacher language. They are just so adorable, and they have learned so much! Even my kids who are new to the school and had never spoken English before already understand everything I say and can respond in very good spanglish. Some of my kids can have entire conversations in English with no problems. I am very happy working with them every day.
     The violence here doesn't make me nervous anymore. I (sadly) have become used to the militares and federales standing guard with their guns. I have gotten used to hearing gunshots outside. It is hard to say if things are getting better or worse, but there are still a lot of issues in the city. On Saturday, the new president will be taking office. A lot of people think he is a complete idiot. They were very unhappy when he got elected. No one is really sure how is presidency will change things, but hopefully it is for the better.
     There are a lot of fun things going on in December, so I will try and post some pictures and keep things updated!