Hola from Durango!

We made it, are all moved in, and we love it!

The flight here was pretty easy, Dexter did well – nobody ever asked us for a ticket for him, any certificate, or anything that we were prepared for. It was too easy! We landed, went through Immigration and Customs with no problems, and our wonderful principals from our school were there to pick us up and take us to our casa.

The house is great – it has a distinct charm about it. It is upstairs above some offices and we have this giant entrance way all to ourselves. The house is very pink on the outside! We have been told by many people at the school that we lucked out and have a very nice house compared to some.

Inside, there is a bedroom, a sun room, a strange bedroomish room, a kitchen with a breakfast area, a living room, a bathroom with a shower (no tub), and a dining room. Bigger than anyplace we’ve ever had before! It is lacking an oven and a large refrigerator, but we’ll make the small fridge and toaster oven work…more reason to just eat out often! We will have some pictures up as soon as we get our internet – we are hijacking a neighbor’s extremely low wireless signal that comes and goes…

We’ve made a trip to Wal-Mart and a couple to the local Soriana’s. Soriana’s is just like Wal-Mart but a little cheaper and it’s closer to our house! A cab to Wal-Mart is about $2.50 and to Soriana’s it is $1.50 or about a 10 to 15 minute walk. We’ve had to buy a few things, but our house is mostly already stocked with things we need – furniture, pots, pans, silverware, appliances, and sheets. It’s starting to really feel like home.

The town is nice and the people have all been extremely friendly. Taxi drivers have given us there home phone numbers and restaurant owners have made it clear we can go to them for anything. They seem genuinely friendly and helpful. As for the food, it’s pretty good! There is a great little place two blocks away, Tacos Picos, that is good and cheap in a nice building. 5 tacos for 30 pesos or less than 3 dollars! With chips! It’s our new Chipotle! We also found this Italian place just down the street that had excellent lasagna, though the consistency and appearance was a little different than what we are used to. Everything is within walking distance, which is nice and extremely convenient.

Our school couldn’t be much closer as it is just across the street. Everyone at the school is friendly and helpful, though we haven’t met any other teachers yet, just the administrators and secretaries. The high school is in an old mansion built in 1907 and they say it looks the exact same now as it did then. My classroom is actually an old bedroom! We meet everyone and get started on Monday and then students come on Wednesday the 16th.

We should have internet and cable soon! By the middle of next week for sure. With that will come our Vonage phone (512-535-3896) which several people have already called and left us messages! Thank you for your messages and emails! Once we get settled in and internet we should be much better about keeping in touch and updating this blog.

Hasta luego!