Don't wait for the storm to pass.. Go out and play in the rain

So.. as of one o'clock today, I'm officially certified to teach English as a foreign language internationally! I'll be qualified and recognized for jobs all over the world with this certification. I'll definitely teach in Mexico a while, but I'm excited to see where else I can use my skills. I am actually tied for Valedictorian of the class with Jade and Ginger! Yes, my mom is so proud! Yesterday we had to teach a one on one session as our final project/teaching session.. My student was only 24 and already a medical doctor. He was extremely smart and his English was very good. We went over irregular verbs and I taught him all sorts of common idioms we use in English. It was fun teaching what it means to say "step up to the plate" and "6 of one, half a dozen of the other" He picked it up quickly!

Here's some pictures of us goofing off during our last day of school.

Our mulitlingual farewell

Our teacher, Rodolfo, Jade, me, and Ginger. The Valedictorians!

The Daugthers of the Confederacy with Mike, aka MegaBrain

Me and Gary

Gary and I playing catch for the last time. This what we did when we should have been planning our lessons.

Gary, you catch like a school girl.

After our one on ones, about 13 of us from class all went to grab a bite to eat at Wing's Army, Frank's restaurant. We hung out there for a while, and then decided to go further downtown in hopes of finding some Mariachi's. It was the start of the big Mariachi festival, there's a big parade this weekend and supposed to be tons of live Mariachi bands. We couldn't find any bands so we wandered into a TRUE Mexican Cantina. It was amazing. A definite manly man's kinda place. In fact, they only starting allowing women to come in a few years ago. Frank had convinced me that women weren't allowed to pass a certain part of the bar, and that there was a table in the back that you could only sit at if you had some major battle scars to boast about. I bought it hook, line, and sinker. I didn't realize it til then that our group probably had 8 of the 13 women in the entire place! They had men playing trumpets and everyone was singing and clapping. It was such a cool atmosphere. I danced with this old Mexican guy, we did all the twist, turns and the fancy foot work, it was a blast! (Frank took us dancing last weekend, so I had had some practice. That night I met Oscar and he taught me some basic footwork and movements. It was so much fun, we twirled, shook our hips, and he dipped me all over the dance floor. We danced to everything from traditional Mexican music to the soundtrack of Grease!! It was a great time. Frank is actually a really good dancer, too! It was a night to remember, for sure.) Anyway, back to the story at hand... We had a guy come over and sing at our table and I swear it sounded like he was singing through a loud speaker. He had a fantastic voice! It was so deep and loud! We really had a lot of fun, kind of a last hurrah for all our classmates. Some are going back home, some took jobs in other cities in Mexico, and a few are staying here in Guadalajara.

All of us at the Cantina

The two funniest people I know, Frank and Gary.

Quick: Ugly Contest!

Frank, the contest is over... Don't worry, you win.

Isn't this guy amazing!?

Frank, Jade and I left the Cantina around 11:30 and started walking the 10 or 12 blocks back home. A few blocks into our walk, it started raining. It was light at first and then the bottom just fell out. We decided to stop in and do some grocery shopping, hoping by the time we finished, the rain would have let up some. So we shopped for groceries at midnight, and can't even wait til we check out to start eating our snacks. We had to pay for an empty box of cupcakes, we had eaten all of them by the time we got to the register! The clerk had a strange look on her face as she scanned the box, but she didn't ask any questions. By the time we have our groceries bagged up, I realized maybe it wasn't the best idea to buy heavy stuff like milk and OJ. We've still got 7 blocks to go, and now the rain is coming down in sheets, the lightening is popping, and the streets look like rivers. We tried to wait a bit longer so we huddled under the awning, and passed around one coke and one sandwich, each taking turns having a bite and a sip... we looked totally homeless! We finally had no choice, so we just started walking in the rain, each of us with an arm full of groceries, getting soaked to the bone. We laughed and splashed, it was one of the most fun times I've had since I've been here! It doesn't get much better than playing in the rain well past midnight with your two best friends, all the while doing your best not to drop the jar of jelly or smush the bread. The rivers flowing down the streets were atleast 4 inches deep; we sloshed all the way back home. When we were about 3 blocks from the hostel, I remebered I had an umbrella in my purse the entire time.... but it was more fun playing in the rain anyway :)