graduation was last week. i was invited by two programs to attend their graduation party, but as they were the same night, i could only go to one. i chose the smaller group, the international baccalaureate group, and it was probably smart.

first they send out these formal invitations to us. the hotel where the party will take place is in the swankiest part of the city (far from where i live obviously), called el camino real. no reference to the sweet 70's and 80's car/trucks.

i arrive around 20 minutes late and was more than a little surprised. the male students wore suits, not a shock, but the girls were wearing prom dresses. one of them had what looked to be a wedding dress. no joke. i hung out with them, spoke spanish to them (which freaked them out as they had never heard me speak their language before) and met their parents.

yes, parents. this graduation party was paid for by the parents, and attended by parents and other family members. along with the salsa band, this was more of a wedding than a grad party. the teachers had to share two tables (this was actually great as i was not wanting to talk to parents all night), but after i sat down, a professor arrived who i cannot stand. truly dislike her and everything about her. she sat next to me, ignoring the six other open seats. sweet. i spent the next hour and half trying to concentrate on the best food i have eaten in at least 6 months (4 or 5 star hotel and restaurant, so 6 months is really not true at all), while doing all in my power to make some bullshit conversation with this prof. not fun. the band was pretty loud, so not only did i have to speak, but had to pretty much yell. boo.

finally, she left. this was around 1230am. that is when the party truly began. there were bottles of wine, tequila and rum on every table (everything was free, for me at least), but the very few students were drinking. why not? well, they are mostly 18, which is the minimum age here, but they were still accompanied by parents, siblings, at times grandparents. i ended up dancing with a few profs before some of the female students grabbed me and wanted to dance. as you probably know i am a bad dancer, but at the very least it was amusing (i am talking about people forming circles on the dance floor and random students grabbing profs and pulling them to the center to dance with them). i had a great time, but was sweating profusely. reminded me in some ways of oaxaca (except that i was a wearing a jacket, there was air conditioning, and the place was super formal, along with all the attendees).

i wont bore you with the details of the whole night except that i line danced. no joke. guess the song- achy brakey heart. translated into spanish. worse, i was joined by about 45 people, all of whom new all of the steps (admittedly it was basic line dancing, although how i know what more complex line dancing looks like i will never tell). i was the only one uncoordinated to do it correctly (or it seemed like i was anyway). hilarious.

around 4am, when i found a prof with a car to give me a ride home, most of the profs had left, but 3/4 of the students, and their families were still there. no joke. the parents stayed all night. i can not imagine this ever happening in the states. can you?



still no word on tech. jackasses. i am questioning whether i would even go there if i get in now. i applied to scotland, which has a much better school. also, the program at the school where i work now opened. i also was offered a full time job teaching university (which is more prestige, but also a few thousand more dollars a year) and i could be a full time student and still make money. this is definitely tempting. however, i think if scotland offers me a place, and i can get the student loans, i am definitely going there. so many more opportunities over there. also, there is something about going to tech again that seems wrong. not sure how to put my finger on it, but it almost feels like going back. i have never lived in a place again after i left it. of course there are many great things about tech, but today at least, something is telling me it might not be a good idea for me to go back there.

as usual, any comments are appreciated. let me know what you think about it all.