Things that are new

I've been in my new home for a week and I could not be happier with the move! That isn't to say I suddenly have friends and a happening social life, yesterday I didn't even leave the house! But it was Sunday and there was something so nice about not really wanting to leave the house. I Skyped with my parents (I miss you!!) and ate lunch with the whole Ramirez Fellowes family (the folks who are sharing their home with me). I watched old Mexican movies starring María Félix and Pedro Infante. I talked about how much governments let us down (i.e. by shutting down! And in the case of Mexico, not having a way to process crude oil so having to sell it to companies outside the country and then buy it back as gas), the prospects of the solar energy business in Mexico (who has 100,000 pesos we can borrow??) and how we can reduce water waste.
Other nice things that happened this week were: going to lunch with the two Ramirez Fellowes sons and one of their friends on Friday and being teased about the English misuse of the words lemon and lime. Lima is Spanish for lemon and limón is Spanish for lime. And after a few weeks of "assisting" in an advanced grammar class where I was really something between a student and an observer, I spoke with my mentor about doing something else and began teaching my very own English class this past Saturday. It's intimidating. I am in charge of preparing them to pass an expensive and mandatory exam and I don't have a curriculum to follow so I'll be creating it on my own. But I'm also excited and there is another English teacher who seems to be confident in my abilities and willing to guide and support me. And today I bit the bullet and ordered a new computer. This old gal apparently has some hard drive damage, perhaps from the time I spilled coffee on her...... and will be returning to the USA a bit earlier than expected.

I feel like I'm in a space of anticipation. The heavy homesickness seems to be behind me, I'm happy and comfortable in my new home, and I feel like I have a good balance of challenging work to do. I'm not exactly where I hope to be, though. I still have a constant sense of subtle discomfort and a lingering shyness, but it feels like I'm on the edge of breaking through it and finding that sense of ease and belonging that I so much look forward to.