October 24, 2012
-
Report # 934
Hey everyone, I hope that you've all been having a fantastic week so far. On Sunday afternoon I walked up to La Fragua to have a frappuichino and something to eat. I had never seen this city so dead before. There was literally no one on the street and it was literally a ghost town. It was kind of nice walking in the afternoon and seeing how quiet and peaceful it was. Dora returned in the evening with some food from her son's birthday party and it was delicious.
I went for a run on Monday morning and in the afternoon I went to Cinépolis to watch a French movie called The Intouchables. Originally I wasn't planning on seeing this movie as I thought it would be difficult for me to watch a movie in French and reading subtitles in Spanish, but surprisingly I didn't have much problem and there were only a few words I didn't know. I am so glad I went to see this movie though as it was incredible.
It's about a rich man in his mid 50's who is sick and can't walk or care for himself so he needs a personal assistant. He ends up hiring this young black man from Senegal and at first what seems to be a very unlikely match, they end up learning so much from one another and becoming great friends. The movie is super funny as well and I encourage anyone to watch it.
I certainly hope it has been shown in all of the english theaters in the world, because this is a wonderful film and I think most people would enjoy it. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie wins an Oscar for best foreign language film. Of course in the last year I've seen a number of movies in Spanish, and now I've seen this movie from France, and I've really learned that there are some incredible movies from other countries and people who watch movies should really broaden their horizons and watch these films.
The point is that while there are obviously many great Hollywood films, Hollywood is only one part of the movie world, and there are so many fantastic films from other countries that we should all check out. I can say I'm glad I did and now I will definitely be open to watching many more foreign films as I can only imagine how many amazing ones there are some a number of different countries. One thing that has been kind of annoying at the movie theatre here is that the employees wait until almost the start of the movie before turning off the lights... that has to change !
Dora came over in the evening and we went to the Tejado to have dinner. Like all of the other times almost I ordered the Tortilla soup and Queso Fundido. Afterwards I had some chocolate and returned home completely stuffed. Last night Dora came over with pizza and coke from Dominos, and while it was absolutely delicious, I really have to stop eating all of this junk food, especially right before bed. Thankfully I've been running most mornings, but that doesn't give me any excuse to eat bad food everyday.
Living by myself has been so different as there is never any cooked meals here. At home at least I had a cooked meal once or twice a week, but here literally never. I just don't have the motivation to cook in this city as it's always so hot and humid. I will be leaving here though on October 30 and going to Monterrey. This decision has been made for a while, but I didn't get around to booking my flight until just a few days ago.
I will have to fly out of Guadalajara, so I'll have to ride the bus for seven hours first, but depending on the time I leave Lázaro, this could give me an opportunity to explore Guadalajara for the day as my flight isn't until 9:00 pm. Obviously I'm going to be sad leaving Lázaro Cárdenas and having to say good-bye for Dora, but I believe this move is best for me. Lázaro Cárdenas is a small city that is growing, and there are foreigners working here, but they've been transfered here by their companies from their own countries.
The truth is there are not many job opportunities here for a person like me. I tried the English teacher thing, and while the schools gave me opportunities to do conversation classes, I never got hired on as an actual teacher. And truthfully that's not bad as I know I am not a teacher, and that is not what I would be best at. Yesterday I started applying for jobs in Monterrey, and within the afternoon I received three possible opportunities.
I have an interview for a representative position on October 31, and I have read that that company helps with visas. Another lady sent me an email telling me to let her know when I"m in Monterrey to set up an interview. And an investment company that is in 20 countries around the world emailed me saying they received my resume and that I seem like I could be a good fit. Personally I think that job would be the best as it's a corporate job, and it would be an amazing opportunity for me.
So I have one interview set-up for next Wednesday, and I'm really hoping I'll have a chance to talk more about the job with the investment company as it would be a wonderful administration job. The truth is there are so many possible opportunities in Monterrey, and I have known that for a while. There are always hundreds of jobs posted on the job sites, and for a person from another country like myself, it just makes sense that the opportunities are in the larger cities.
Dora is sad that I'm leaving, and of course I'm sad as well, but I told her that we'll talk regularly and of course she can visit and depending on what happens in the future with my job situation, I could visit as well. I appreciate so much all of the things that Dora has done for me, and I've had wonderful times with her, but I just can't afford to stay here doing nothing, and I need to go where the opportunities are for me, as I really can't afford to fail with my plan.
So I'm cautiously optimistic now that I'll here back from the other company, though I will certainly do my best with the interview I already have, and today I will apply for some more jobs. I can never give myself too many opportunities. I'm thinking I will leave Lázaro Cárdenas late night on October 29 as that will allow me to get into Guadalajara early and spend the day there exploring it. Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico, so there would obviously be lots to see.
I will enjoy my final week here and make the most of it and prepare myself for the future to get myself working and see what happens from there. The future is uncertain, but I will do my very best to succeed and see what happens. For the next question:
Have you seen a foreign language film before ? What is your favourite one ? If not, would you be open to watching one ?
I'll leave you all with some more pictures from Mexico City. Take care and I'll talk to you all on Saturday, bye for now.
Comments (4)
Eating junk food every so often isn't bad. Treat yourself sometime. I don't think it should be a usual thing either. At least you run and work it off.
The movies you see sound very interesting. It still amazes me how quickly you learned spanish.
Congrats on the job offers and good luck with them! I hope you get a job that you really enjoy.
Sad you have to leave Dora, but I think that's a good decision if a bigger city offers more jobs. She can always visit and you can go see her as well. Hopefully the distance isn't too far.
My parents watch vietnamese movies all the time. I hear it, but can't understand one word. Weird that I can understand my parents almost perfectly when they speak to me in vietnamese, but I have trouble understanding a relative or movies.I guess because I grew up listening to my parents.
i've seen dozens of foreign movies (non-english, non-indonesian, non-chinese). back when i used to live in the states, i used to rent purely foreign films. mostly spanish speaking and some european ones. since i've been back to asia, i've started to watch more korean movies. everything korean is the IN thing to do here in south east asia. there are many amazing films out there that most hollywood movie lovers have no clue about. we rarely get anything that is not hollywood or chinese or indonesian here and i hope things will change in the future. just like music, movies can be a way to celebrate arts, as an international language. though stories, we learn not only about people but also about cultures.
best of luck for getting your new job. we all here on xanga will be crossing our fingers for you.
I see foreign films all the time. I am a foreigner here, and watch English movies. Or if you consider me an American, then I watch Indian movies. Seriously though, I do watch a lot of Iranian and French and other movies.
I hope you are successful in getting a position in this new city Kyle. I am sure your parents worry about you a lot.
Glad you have some leads in Monterrey. My parents have good friends there that they visit about once a year. I got to go with them one time and just loved the area. I really hope it works out there. I bet you won't miss your apartment!
I enjoy foreign films. It's an old one, but Run, Lola, Run is still probably my favorite. My husband and I love Thai horror films.
Comments are closed.