Things we've learned

When you go on a trip, one week is not long enough. That is what we found most people take and they are never ready to leave. Two weeks is a bit more than enough as we have been ready to leave every time and have stayed at each place for two weeks except for Puebla. I think the ideal time is 10 days.

There is something wrong with the plumbing outside our room and it stinks when you walk by. The plumbers are working on it. In Canada we pay plumbers, electricians, mechanics etc. an insane amount of money. Here it is considered low class work and they are paid very poorly. Any kind of manual work is considered low class. Education is highly valued in Mexico and Central America. In Nicaguara only 67% of kids that start grade one actually finish grade six. In Costa Rica they have a much better literacy rate.

In Mexico when you go to work, all people must have pressed clothes, neat hair, and make up on (if you are a woman). If you don't you most likely will get fired even if you are a teacher...perhaps expecially if you are a teacher because you are supposed to be setting an example. In Alberta, a lot of teachers don't wear make up, and some don't iron their clothes. We certainly accept a lower standard of dress than they do elsewhere.

It costs only $350.00 per month for a two bedroom house and utilities in Costa Rica. A person could live here quite comfortably on a $2000.00 per month pension. Most people make between $500.00 and $800.00 per month. Despite how cheap it is to live here, we have no desire to ever live here. We haven't found a place yet that we've been that we would like to live other than Canada.

The curriculum is much more advanced in Mexico than it is in Canada. Children are also much better behaved which is something Mary and I noticed right away. I've seen a class of kindergarten kids stand for 30 minutes during an assembly and hardly move. When you visit a house where there are children, they are expected to come welcome you to the home with a kiss on the cheek and they better dam well do it or their parents would be upset.

Finally it is really neat to be exposed to another language every day. Mary and I had some Spanish lessons in Puebla which helped. I had the neatest experience the other day. I was listening to two people speak and I understood what they were talking about. I don't know how it happened, it just happened. And I am finding words in my brain that I didn't know were there when I have to explain myself to a non English speaker. I guess that's how learning a new language is.