Hurricane Karen

The news of the destruction in Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia is sobering. I talked about the unfolding tragedy to my students today. The kids were interested in the topic. Some of the kids have family in the states.
The victims of the hurrican are in our thoughts.

North Central Mexico

Most visitors to the Central North region of Mexico drive right through on the way to other destination. The region includes most of the state of Chihuahua, all of the state of Durango, and a tiny part of the state of Coahuila.. There is a lot in the region to make it worth a stop on a journey. The northern desert landscapes and the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains blend into a relatively temperant environment that begins just outside of the city of Durango, the capital of the state..
The area includes the ruins of the settlements of northern Mexico´s indigenous people. Each town has its point of pride: Parral with Pancho Villa, Chihuahua and its railroads, Nuevo Casas Grandes boast of its pottery, and Durango natives, of course, are scorpion-mad.
North Central Mexico is not a big tourist draw, thankfully. This sleepy region hums with Cowboys, business people, and just regular folks going about their business quietly. From my short visit so far, I have found that this makes for great interactions with warm, hospitable people.
Plenty of the Mexican Revolution was fought in the North. Pancho Villa´s División del Norte consisted of thousands of followers. Villa conquered Juerez a couple times, once even toppling the dictator Porfirio Díaz. Although considered a revolutionary, and held even above heroe status in this region, Villa spent much of his life as a murderer, thief, and womanizer. He was also a leader of one of only a few forces that every invaded the United States. Ironically, Pancho hated the drink. That left more Tequila for his beloved countrymen.

Dear Reader

Pardon the last two entries, especially the last one. They were supposed to be just drafts. I was in the midst of some lengthy, provacative, gut wrenching, cathartic cultural pieces when the internet cafe lost its connection. Happens a lot here. So instead you got a Pepino Sauve mini-bio, and a bit on yummy orchata and scorpions. Hang in there with me, queridos lectores. Ol´Pepino will figure this blog think out in no time.
Atentamente,
Pepino S.
PS The weather is great.

El Alacrán

The Durango region is know for its abundance of scorpions (alacránes). Atleast it doesn´t snow here.
My sign is scorpio. Scary.
Have you ever bought an ear of corn off a guy on the street, and then eaten it? Me, too.
I think my very favorite beverage here is orchata. Its, like, milky, and vanilla-y, and
cinnamin-y. Yum-y.

Es Obvio

I have gotten correspondence from not literally thousands of blog readers from around the world. They are puzzled by the name of the blog. `Who is this Pepino Suave?`, they ask. ¨Is he a food item?¨, they question. ¨Should I Run?¨, they ponder.

Why, Pepino Suave is Yours Truly, Tim Fournier. I don´t know if these thousands of readers live miles from civilization, or if they simply spend too much time on their computers, but the whole Pepino Suave phenomena has been around for a while now, kids. My alter ego, Pepino Suave (Cool Cucumber) is a calm, mild mannered teacher. You´ll never see him sweat. He is known far and wide as a storyteller, singer, and gamesman. He is a master of none of these , but has a hoot trying. Hear him sing ¨Itsey Bitsey Spider¨in Spanish and you might understand the Pepino Suave Thing.

You live in darkness no longer, dear reader.

Pancho Villa

From the window of my apartment I can just see the top of the monument to Francisco (Pancho) Villa. He is remembered as a revolutionary here. The statue depicts a portly man with mostache and cowboy hat riding a rearing horse. Villa was from Northern Mexico.
There is a Walmart and Sam´s club here in Durango. A McDonald´s is located close to Pancho´s monument. I wonder if he would have shopped there...

One Whiskey, One Bourbon, One Gin

George Thorogood´s "One Whisky, On Bourbon, One Gin" ran through my mind during my afternoon ride home with the school´s director (prinicipal), Fidencio. Actually, we took the long way home. By the time we arrived we had a few beers and taquilas in our bellies. He is a wonderful host and informal teacher of Mexican culture. Thanks to the beverages I believe we solved most of the world´s problems. If not, we had a great time in our attempts. I learned that Fidel Castro is actually a pretty swell guy, "carros chocolates" are contraband, sometimes stolen, cars from the states side, and that I should salt and season my food a heck of a lot more than I already do.
I was told not to drink the water...
Buenas noches.

El Prefecto

I inadvertantly commited a cultural blunder today. It was during my seventh group, late in the afternoon. About 42 kids piled into the room as I arrived. Then the 43rd student entered, only to find there were no desks (butacas) left. Thinking on my feet (Literally. I rarely sit down during class), I decided to give the kid my chair. He got this ¨Oh, boy" look in his eyes and sits down. I figured I easily managed a distraction and moved on with the lesson. Within minutes an older gentlemen peeks into the room, asks permission to speak, and then tells the boy to get out of my chair and go get a "butaca". The old man begs my pardon and leaves. I didn´t think a lot about it until I when to the office to punch out at the end of the day (yea, teachers punch in and out of school here). The school secretary pulled me aside and, very politely but firmly, said, "Tim (sounds like "Teem"), the chair is for you, not for the students. It looks bad. If there aren´t enough desks send for the "Prefecto" (the older man in charge of keeping an eye on things) , or send the boy to get his own." Sometimes repect for the teacher trumps good management.
By the way, I like the concept of "Prefectos". I don´t have it completly figured out yet, but it is on my lengthy list of Things I Need To Figure Out That Aren´t Life Threatening But Sure Are Curious. I do know that there is at least one Prefecto per grade level and they basically hover around the classrooms to discharge various duties: tell students to tuck in their uniforms, tell girls to take off that makeup, give bathroom passes, assist lost foreign teachers, assist foreign teachers who don´t understand how things work here, direct traffic, substitute teach, and I assume other duties I will find out about once I get to that point on my list. I would be surprised if the perfectos don´t have their own union. They seem to wield a lot of clout around here. I´m going to befriend one.
Another item on my TINTFOTALTBSAC list is streets in Durango. It really isn´t a bad place to get around if your family has been here for generations. The street names change every few blocks. Its a good way to get a lot of obscure historical figures recognized. The streets on the West side of town pay homage to Durango´s mining past; all the streets are named after metals. You can go down Copper, turn left on Nickel, and follow it to Silver. Also, one main street is named 20th of November. The other is named 5th of Febuary. Last Sunday I asked someone how to get to 5th of November. He laughed and told me to wait a couple months. Mexican humor...
O.K., food. My exchange partner, Alfonsina lives on the outskirts of Durango. While she is teaching my students this fall back in Grand Rapids, she has put her wonderful children in charge of El Gringo. Yesterday her daughter and boyfriend took me back to the family abode for La Comida (mid-day meal). Man, what fun I had. First, Alfonsina´s daughter and her daughter´s boyfriend are a fun young couple. Why, I´m a fun old man. We had a good time of it. Alfonsina´s daughter served us tacos (what was Taco Bell thinking?), rice, beets, pineapple, fresh guayaba juice, a bottle of cream, and hotsauce for everything I´ve listed here, except the juice (maybe including the juice, I was distracted by the great grub). They taught me to put the hotsauce on pineapple, too. The cream is put on top of the tacos, too. I don´t know why I even bothered to bring my cholesterol medecine.

Una Gordita

Teaching in the Mexican public school system is an obvious challenge. Still, my first few days here leave me impressed by the teachers and their students. There is a definite respect for education. Inspite of burdens that would make my home union leadership rage, the teachers seem to strive to be creative and prepared. The students appear to be aware of the fact that school is actually for learning. And I have to face it, I have a bias for uniforms in schools.

I tasted my first gordita today in the school store. It was so good. It is basically a tortilla with refried beans, lettuce, and tomato, or a variation of the same. I think the school store will be my refuge. The ladies who cook the food for the school are a riot. They are under the impression that a Gringo will faint if the food is the least bit spicy. They find the Taco Bell concept hilarious. I´ve found yet another challenge: busting the Gringo Myth (or affirming it - actually, they were pretty light on the salsa on my maiden gordita). Do you know that they put hot sauce on fruit here? I had some on a piece of pineapple today. Not bad. Stay tuned.

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Day 2

It´s been a few days since my arrival and the only significant negative is that Ingrid and Talea are not with me yet. They arrive on September 10. That gives time for Talea to get to know her 1st grade class at home, and Ingrid and her partner teacher the opportunity to start their 3rd grade homeroom before they leave for Durango. Ingrid has been a big part of this whole teacher exchange process. I am looking forward to her, and Talea, to arrive and begin experiencing this with me. I miss them.
Between Monday and Friday I teach 11 groups of students, each three times a week. It is clear that my Tuesday and Thursday schedules will keep me busy. I begin teaching my first group at 7:20 a.m., and finish my last (of 8) groups at 1:40. There are a few hurried minutes of passing time (here the teachers change rooms, the students stay in one room), and a short break in the middle of the day. There is no lunch break - staff and students go home for the meal at 1:40. This won´t be boring. My Monday´s and Friday´s are set up better, with a couple of preperation periods. Wednesday isn´t so bad either.
Most of my groups are large, between 35 and 45 students. The kids come from all parts of the city of Durango to study here, the largest of the public secondary school. There are 1200 students in the morning session (schools in Mexico work in two shifts). The classrooms themselves are very basic and pretty worn down. Most consist simply of old desks, cement floors, and a chalk board. Ironically, it hard to find books or printed material posted anywhere students can be found.
As far as teaching, I am using a modified version of the method I have used at home the past couple of years. It is different that what most students here have seen before, but they seem enthusiastic, so far. They seem to understand my rationale, as well. The proof, I believe is in the pudding. We´ll see how much these kids can comprehend and produce by December, and compare it with the other groups taught be my fellow teachers. There is the challenge.

Durango, Mexico

Today I began my first day of teaching at the Escuela Secondaria No. 1 in Durango, Mexico as a Fulbright Teacher Grantee. More to follow. I have to take the bus to the centro to attempt to get phone service. Nos escribiremos.