i was backpacking through europe earlier this summer, and right at the start of my trip, i received a couple of e-mails from my university´s placement office asking me if i would be interested in teaching at a school in guatemala city or at one in puerto vallarta, mexico for the upcoming school year. since i´d already been to guatemala earlier in the year (i know--i´m such a jet-setter), i decided i wanted to find out more about the school in puerto vallarta, and by the time i was in switzerland, an interview with the school´s director had been set up.

while standing at a payphone in a zurich youth hostel, i interviewed with the director of a small, fairly prestigious bilingual school in PV for the position of high school math teacher.

so now it's august, and here i am, writing this from an internet café in vallarta (on the central pacific coast of mexico, surrounded by the ocean and the sierra madres), a block away from the jungle of a complex that will be my home for the next two years. it´s hot and humid here--it feels like it´s 35-40 celsius, everyday, and the temperature contrast between my air-conditioned bedroom and the non-A/C bathroom is insane--my glasses completely fog over every morning. we´re in the middle of the rainy season right now, so it usually pours during the evenings. the thunderstorms are wicked; i´ve never heard thunder sound like this in my whole life! i literally cringe when i see lightning; it´s like a pavlovian reaction where i´m consistently bracing for the ear-splitting sound of air exploding.

everyone is telling us that this place turns into paradise by november--no more rain, cooler, spring-like weather, supposedly no mosquitoes (i'm being eaten alive!), and i really hope they're right about everything (but especially the mosquitoes).

i´ve been here for about two and a half weeks so far, and i´m still not used to the sight of rows and rows of palm trees lining the streets.

school started on thursday, but i´ll save commenting on school for further entries, since i´ve really only taught for two days so far. for now, i will say that i feel very comfortable with the staff, and i already feel like i´ve known some of the students for longer than two days.

there´s tons more to write about, but i guess i´ll address everything eventually.

now i´m heading off to find the house richard burton bought for elizabeth taylor and their torrid love affair while he was here filming john huston´s the night of the iguana!