Fútbol 7 - Championship

Somehow I got the flu Sunday night and have been recovering all week. I went home early 2 of the days and I probably should have just stayed home one day to fully recover, but too late now haha. It was good that I went to school Thursday and Friday because middle and high school had Festival Ñ. It was kind of like a celebration of speaking Spanish and they showed films and had dances, etc. So I took a lot of great pictures.

Today, we had the finals for the soccer league I am in. Last week, we saw who we were going to play because they were the ones that won the game before us. I couldn't believe that they beat the other team because they didn't really have any good players and the goals they scored were all lucky. Plus the other team was really good and had 2 or 3 very solid players.

It was funny how they tried to make the finals special. They had a microphone and speakers and announced each of us onto the field and then played the Mexican national anthem. And so the game began. We were winning in the first half 3-1 and then one of their players got ejected for elbowing Marcos in the face. Unfortunately, the referees' calls in this game were atrocious. Even that card should have probably been a yellow as it was an accident and Marcos probably acted a little. Matt ended up getting a yellow card without even touching a player - we were a little confused about that. And in another play, their goal keeper slid cleats first into Matt and no call at all. Another time, I was tripped in full view of everyone and no call.

There was one good thing that came out of the whole bad reffing situation: because the other team and their fans didn't agree with their player getting ejected, their fans were yelling at us the whole time. We were being call actors and they kept saying that we were going to cry. I hadn't really paid attention to it until I was tripped and there was no call. All I heard was a female voice screaming over and over again that I was going to cry. And so I got up and looked at her and then smiled and blew her a kiss. She lost her train of thought for a second and then recovered, laughed and started yelling at me even more.

At the end of the game it was 4-4 and so we went to penalties. I went first and made my shot. Matt went second and made his shot. Marcos went third and the keeper blocked it. So, we got the second place trophy. The 2 goals that I did score were pretty sweet and seeing the look on that girl's face was priceless haha.

A big shout out to Kerry for taking all the sweet sweet pictures!

For the next 3 weeks, I'm going to be traveling and I don't know how much Internet access I'll have. So... I'll try to do updates, but that will depend if I have Internet or not and I probably won't be able to post photos. However, you can look forward to photos of me and some Australians at different beaches and ruins.

Rooftop Party

Saturday, my soccer team was in the semifinals. When I arrived, Edgar told me, "John you can't miss any goals because Marco is missing too many already." To that I responded, "Okay Edgar, I won't miss any as long as you run." This made the whole team burst out with laughter as everyone knows that if the ball doesn't come within a few feet of Edgar, he won't put forth any effort to get it. The good thing was that he is a good sport and actually took my advice and I guess I took his as I scored the 2 goals to win our game. Next Saturday, we are in the finals!

Matt and Kerry were having a party at their house on the rooftop terrace they have (awesomeness). To top it off, they were having Los Misters play. Since last time I went with a tie to support them, I decided to wear my print screen tux shirt to raise the game to a new level. However, I was able to bump it up even more when I spotted Dallas who was wearing a Michael Jacksonesk jacket. I immediately asked for it and wore it for a good hour haha.

Sunday, my school was having Family Day and also the talent show. I invited Renato and it was fun walking around and taking photos and watching the acts.

New Job!!!

I just got a new job in Curaçao for next school year!!! It was kind of crazy how it worked out. I applied and then they interviewed me and I was pretty sure they were going to give me an offer. In the meantime, I was telling people about how excited I was that I could possibly go there next year and found out that one of my teacher friends in Guadalajara had worked there for 3 years and was still in contact with many of the teachers there. He sent them an email recommending me and soon after they offered me the job!

Now, I just need to figure out the logistics of where I'm going to finish my Masters and when I need to go to Curaçao to start looking for a place to live etc. I'm really glad I chose this Masters since it is available in multiple countries.

For the summer, I really hope that I can travel to Central and South America to see friends before going, but in any case, it will be awesome!

La Ticla and Marajuata

Ever since finishing the Masters course, it has been hard to get back on schedule. This past weekend we had Monday off and I was thinking about staying in Guadalajara and doing nothing to just catch up on sleep and life in general. Instead (and probably a better decision) I decided to go with everyone to some beaches in Michocan - La Ticla and Marajuata.

Everyone was leaving on Saturday and so I worked later than usual Friday working on the yearbook. Then I went out with Mary, Chris and Jane for tacos. Afterward, Chris, Jane, Chema and I saw the movie Milk at the mall. It was a pretty good film and informative as well. I'd never heard the story before and that probably made it even more interesting to me.

Saturday morning, Carter, his wife (Ashley) and their 9 month old son (Oscar) picked Peter and I up in front of Starbucks. Oscar is such a fun little boy. I played with him the entire ride and we learned somewhat how to clap and give high fives. When we got to the beach, some American School teachers (John, Abi, Dallas, Ceasar) were already there and we played some Frisbee!

A couple minutes after we had arrived, Ceci arrived, then Nicole, Lauren and Chema arrived and a couple hours later Katy, Armando, Chris and Jane arrived. I tried hanging out with each group as much as possible. I also decided to walk the whole beach which was about 2 miles. After walking about a quarter mile, the beach was void of people. The stones there were really cool and I also found a couple of sticks to hit stones with... and to use for Kung Fu haha. I did come across a dead tortoise and caught a couple of hermit crabs [don't worry; I put them right back].

The next day we woke up early and went to Marajuata which was about 20 minutes away. However, we stuffed 8 people in the car: it was a little cramped to say the least. That beach was quite beautiful as well and had better waves. Ceasar is a professional photographer and lent me his telescopic lens. It was awesome. Wish lenses didn't cost so much hah. Late afternoon, we headed back to La Ticla and ate. That was the 3rd night in a row that I had 10 tacos, which is a lot.

That night, I took another walk on the beach and watched the stars and as I was watching them, a tortoise washed up on the shore and walked right up to me. She then kept going up the beach and laid her eggs - it was a pretty awesome thing to see. Granted it took a pretty long time and I wasn't watching the whole time (I didn't want to disturb) but still, really neat. Parts of the sand would illuminate when you stepped on it. (That has nothing to do with the tortoise, by the way.)

So that was my weekend. It was pretty relaxing and fun, but now I want to keep relaxing and having fun and tomorrow I have to work. =D

Bruce Lee

He is incredible!