Typical Case of Mañana -- September 9

Déja vu... It's Friday again, and still no jobby-job on the horizon. 

Or what am I saying? I've gotten soooo many offers I can't even believe it. Mostly, however, they are just other rejections, expressed in the agreeable Mexican way of "well, maybe". Generally they are amazed at the fact that I can (theoretically) teach German. There I am with an expensive and reputable CELTA certificate, yet nothing for German, and they want me to teach German.

Picture that, a German class... how exciting! But they'll have to organize and advertise a class first. By the way, do I happen to have any German textbooks with me, cause they don't have any... but it would be great! And English? No, nothing for English teachers, sorry... At one university they are willing to give me a German class on Saturdays, but first they have to get over their change of administration. Right now nothing is certain, I should stop by tomorrow...

The other thing I keep hearing is that I'll need an FM3, if I don't have one yet. Can the University help me to get one? No, sir. I'm just realizing how unusual it was for the UMAR to do that. So I have started looking into the requirements for it. So far it seems overwhelmingly complicated, along with the classic run-around: The universities send me to the government office, they send me back to the university. In between I find out that my certificate and my degree needs an "apostilla" which must be something like authenticate it. But mostly I keep hearing "mañana, mañana, proxima semana..."

So I'll have one more weekend for chilling out. But now it doesn't bother me that much any more. I found a place to stay at the Hostal Santa Isabel. Sure the place is on "travelers' standard", that is "Mexican travelers' standard" to be exact, but it only costs 50 pesos a night if I stay for a month. On the other hand, the youth hostel is a place for all kinds of interesting people and minds. Many peace-watchers on the way to, or returning from, Chiapas. Others are regular backpackers from France, Italy, Germany, the Basque country and the US. A lot from Switzerland. Some of them are thinking of staying longer, learning Spanish in Guatemala, or volunteering in Chiapas. Others are long-time travelers from way up North, or down South, making and selling jewelry, playing music, etc. The kitchen is a constant place of community, people preparing food, hanging out, etc. Somehow it is reminiscent of Tucson, with a little more Mexican touch in it. For a while certainly not a bad place.

Just yesterday I tried to make a Hungarian lecsó (a tomato based stew with lots of paprika, onions, and eggs and hot sausage in it) which turned out to be PICANTISSIMO! I ended up using what looked like the plain white peppers I knew from Hungary... only that these so called chiles gueros were a lot spicier. It wasn't bad though. The Mexicans liked it, the others not so much. The chorizo, however, was completely what a good lecsó needed, and it is safe to say that it's easier to make a good lecsó in Mexico than in Germany.

Alone the market is crazy. Kinda like a mix of a rich food-market (meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables of an insane variety), a clothing market like the Chinese markets in Budapest, plus anything and everything that human mind can conceive: Raw leather, toilet-bowls, tools of all kinds, handicrafts and souvenirs, hard liquor, music, plus everything else. On the outskirts it still looks like a classic "market" with space in between the stands. Moving closer, however, one finds himself in a maze of densely packed goods, where every square inch is utilized. On the top several layers of plastic creates an illusion of being indoors. The stands are all so similar in appearance, that it's impossible to relocate one after you've left it behind. At least for the market-novice. Nevertheless, the quality of the goods seem to be okay, and as far as prices go, they are unbeatable!

So I guess I will go ahead and pay a visit there again, to get something for dinner tonight. Don't know what I want to cook yet, but I'm sure it'll be tasty.