Durango, Sayulitha, Aguascalientes - die letzten Wochenenden genießen

Buenas tardes liebe Freunde, Follower und alle die zufällig auf diesen Blog gestoßen sind,

meine Zeit in Mexiko neigt sich langsam, aber sicher dem Ende zu. Mit dem Wissen, dass mir nur noch wenig Zeit in diesem wundervollen Land bleiben wird, habe ich versucht meine letzten Wochenenden hier voll auszunutzen - und mit ausnutzen meine ich reisen. Das Reisen hat sich hier in Mexiko zu einer kleinen Leidenschaft entwickelt und rückblickend waren meine Trips quer durchs Land die Kirschen auf meiner Mexiko-Torte, denn sie haben mir gezeigt wie außergewöhnlich Mexiko ist. Ich durfte in meinen 5,5 Monaten hier fast alle sehenswerten Orte und Städte rund um Aguascalientes kennenlernen und das waren verdammt viele.... Aber dennoch gab es zwei Orte die ich unbedingt noch sehen wollte bevor ich Aguascalientes verlasse: Durango und Sayulita. 

So bin ich vom 20-22.02. zusammen mit Diego nach Durango gereist und eine Woche drauf durfte ich ein wundervolles Wochenende in Sayultia mit Kary und vielen anderen tollen Menschen verbringen. Da diese zwei Trips absolute Highlights des vergangen Monats für mich waren, möchte ich euch meine Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen (wie immer) nicht vorenthalten. Und dieses Mal (diesmal echt!) werde ich mich kurz halten und mehr Bilder sprechen lassen. Also: Viel Spaß beim Lesen!

Victoria de Durango und einen Tag am Strand von Mazatlan

Starten möchte ich mit dem Wochenendtrip nach Durango. Durango ist ein mexikanischer Bundesstaat ist der viertgrößte in Mexiko. Die spanischen Konquistadoren benannten ihn nach der spanischen Stadt Durango im baskischen Vizcaya. In Victoria de Durango, der Hauptstadt Durangos, besuchten wir Diegos Cousin Cesar und seine Frau Silvia. 

Von links nach rechts: Cesar, Diego, ich und Silvia

Für mich war es meiner erster Trip in den Norden des Landes, der gemeinhin als gefährlich gilt. Vor allem Diegos Eltern, die wie immer über beschützend waren, rieten mir und Diego von dem Trip ab, aber wir hatten uns den Trip schon so lange als letzten gemeinsamen "Bruder"-Ausflug vorgenommen, dass wir einfach mal auf Durchzug schalteten. Und das vorab: Uns passierte rein gar nichts. Wie immer bisher ;-)

 

Diego und ich machten uns am Samstagmorgen auf die Stadt zu besichten. Sight-Seeing war angesagt. Fazit des Sight-Seeing: Durango ist an sich eine weitere schöne Stadt in Mexiko, aber unterscheidet sich im Wesentlichen nicht groß von Aguascalientes. Es reicht wenn man diese Stadt an einem Wochenende kurz besichtigt und das wars. Es gibt in Durango (wie beinahe überall hier) ein schönes Zentrum, mit einer Kathedrale, einem Plaza, einigen tollen Museen, tolle Gebäude im Kolonial-Stil und natürlich eine bezauberende Berglandschaft. 

Die Kathedrale fotografiert vom Plaza bei strahlendem Sonnenschein

Das Innere der tollen Kathedrale in Durango

Die äußere Fassade der Kirche. Schaut euch dieses Kunstwerk an. Wie lange müssen die gebraucht haben, dass so hinzubekommen? Wahnsinn!

Aussicht auf Durango

Müde vom Sight-Seeing gönnten Diego und ich uns erstmal eine kleine Pause

Samstagabend verbrachten wir dann mit Cesar und seiner Ehefrau. Gemeinsam besuchten wir das Silberminen-Museum Durangos, dass sich etwa 10 Meter unter der Erde befindet. Da ich bereits in Zacatecas eine Mine besichtigt hatte, war dieser Besuch nicht wirklich außergewöhnlich. Bemerkenswert war eigentlich nur, dass die englischen Schrifttafeln sowas von falsch waren, dass Diego und ich uns immer wieder entgeistert anschauten. Hätte ich diese Schilder in der 7. Klasse geschrieben, ich hätte nicht weniger Fehler gehabt :D Aber hier in Mexiko geht das schon klar. Is ja nur ein Museum, welches täglich über 500 Menschen besuchen :D

Sonntag stand dann das Highlight des Durango-Trips an - wir fuhren zum Strand nach Mazatlán. Wuuuup. Wuuup, auf gehts zum Strand. Vaaaaamos a la playa! 

Um halb 8 klingte Sonntagmorgen der Wecker, denn Cesar hatte uns versprochen um 8 Uhr vorbeizukommen. Hahaha, Pustekuchen. Ich vergaß mal wieder den Unterschied zwischen Mexiko-Time und German-Time. Eine Stunde später, um 9 Uhr, kam Cesar dann endlich und im Gepäck hatte zwei junge Mädels. Laura und Jimena, so hießen die Mädels, waren zwei Freundinnen bzw Studentinnen von Cesar und 23 bzw. 26 Jahre alt. Dieser alte Schlawiner Cesar.... 

Ich hatte Cesar vor rund einem Monat zusammen mit seiner Ehrfrau in unserem Haus in Aguascalientes kennengelernt und damals hatte er uns nach Durango eingeladen. "Ihr müsst vorbei kommen und dann ziehen wir mal um die Häuser!", waren seine Worte. Obwohl er damals gerade frisch verheiratet war, vermutete ich: "Der Typ ist ein Player und geht fremd!" Und diese Vermutung bestätigte sich an diesem Wochenende. Cesar hatte schon seit unserer Ankunft mehr über andere Frauen gesprochen, als über seine eigene, was mich doch sehr verwunderte. Er erzählte uns von den jungen Hüpfern, die er als Lehrer an der Uni hat und die natürlich scharf darauf sind ihren "Maestro" zu verführen. Ich hatte an der UTR ähnliche Erfahrungen gemacht, aber mich nie auf etwas eingelassen. Cesar sah das Ganze mehr entspannt. Warum den Vorteil, den der Job eines Lehrers an der Uni mitbringt, nicht ausnutzen?

Bevor wir ins Auto einstiegen und die Mädels kennenlernten, gab uns Cesar eine deutliche Anweisung: " Jungs, ihr wisst ja: Ich bin nicht verheiratet, ich bin Single seit 2 Jahren und ihr kennt mich, weil ich Diegos Cousin bin. Kein Ton über mein Frau, okay? Achja und Finger weg von Laura! Die ist mir und meine Art Freundin Jimena gehört euch, wenn ihr wollt. Alles klar?"

Jooouuu, alles klar. Nun wussten wir beide Bescheid, was Sache war. Cesar, der gerade drei Monate verheiratet war, wollte diesen Trip also nutzen, um ein bisschen Spaß zu haben abseits vom "langweiligen" Ehe-Leben mit seiner Ehefrau. "Alter Schwede,", dachte ich mir, warum heiratest du bitte eine Frau, wenn du nach drei Monaten schon fremdgehst? Warum heiratest du überhaupt wenn du lieber Single sein willst? Und warum bist du so ein Depp und betrügst deine Frau mit einem 23-jährigen Mädel, dass sich verhält und aussieht wie eine 18-jährige?" Für mich war meine kleine, naive Illusion einer Ehe völlig auf den Kopf gestellt. Ist man im ersten Ehejahr nicht besonders glücklich und hat das beste Jahr überhaupt?  Da waren viele Fragen und keine Antworten. Ich entschloss mich darüber einfach nicht mehr nachzudenken. Das alles war nicht meine Angelegenheit. Deshalb hielt ich mich raus und spielte das Spiel mit, auch wenn ich mich dabei irgendwie schlecht fühlte.

Mazatlán liegt etwa zwei Stunden mit dem Auto von Durango entfernt. Auf dem Weg dorthin fuhren wir durch die herrliche Berg-und Tallandschaft Mexikos und überquerten auch die Baluarte-Brücke.
Die 1142 Meter lange Baluarte-Brücke führt über eine rund 400 Meter tiefe Schlucht des Rio Baluarte und wurde mit 402,5 Metern Höhenunterschied zwischen Talsohle und Fahrbahn Anfang des Jahres offiziell als höchste Schrägseilbrücke der Welt ins Guinness-Buch der Rekorde aufgenommen. Die Brücke ist damit hoch genug, um beispielsweise den kompletten Eiffelturm darunterzustellen! Das war wirklich verdammt hoch und ich mit meiner Höhenangst, hatte da schon ein bisschen feuchte Hände...

Cesar, Diegi und ich auf der Baluarte-Brücke

Nach rund drei Stunden netter Autofahrt mit vielem Dummgelaaber in Spanisch, kamen wir dann in Mazatlan an. Mein erster Eindruck der Stadt: Super touristisch, super amerikanisch, super teuer. Mazatlan ist wirklich eine große touristische Stadt, die vor allem von den Gringos (=Amis) oft und gerne als Urlaubsziel auserkoren wird. Deshalb gab es dort auch ein Hotel neben dem anderen, Hochhäuser direkt am Strand und dickbäuchige Amerikaner in den Straßen. Alles war "amerikanized" mit Burger Kings, McDonalds, KFCs und die Preise spiegelten eher den amerikanischen als den mexikanischen Lebensstil wieder. So sehr ich das ursprüngliche, das einfache und traditionelle in Oaxaca gemocht hatte, so abstoßen fand ich diesen übermäßigen Tourismus mit all den Gringos in dieser Stadt.

Aber nichts destotrotz hat Mazatlan einen Strand, Meer und Alkohol zu bieten. Und das waren doch gute Argumente um einen tollen Tag in Mazatlan dort zu haben, oder?

Ich möchte euch den Tag ein bisschen mit Bildern beschreiben:

Die berühmten Turmspringer von Mazatlan

Die schön hergerichteten Straßen

Den Ausblick genießen...

Naja, das mit dem Salto hat nicht so ganz geklappt...

La pura vida. Enjoying the Beach. Whup, Whup!

Wie ihr seht, verbrachten wir einen super coolen Tag am Strand. Für mich und Diego war dieser Tag auch etwas besonderes, denn es war unser erster und vermutlich letzter Tag den wir gemeinsam hier in Mexiko am Strand verbrachten. Wir schlenderten gemeinsam mit einem Bier in der Hand am Strand entlang und zogen ein erstes Fazit über unsere gemeinsame Zeit:

Obwohl wir am Anfang die ein oder anderen Probleme hatte, sind wir mittlerweile zu besten Freunden geworden. Ich sehe ihn sogar als eine Art dritten Bruder. Wir hatten uns irgendwie nicht gesucht und trotzdem gefunden. War es zu Beginn noch komisch jeden Tag zusammen zu sein, können wir uns mittlerweile kaum noch vorstellen nicht mehr zusammen zu wohnen. Wir hatten soviel zusammen erlebt, so viel erzählt, so viel gelacht und getrauert die letzten 5 Monate, dass wir für immer verbunden bleiben werden.

Doch bald werden wir beide aufbrechen. Und, das sind tolle Neuigkeiten, für uns beide wird es nach Europa gehen. Für uns beide? Ja richtig gelesen! Für mich geht es zurück nach Deutschland, genauer gesagt nach Deggendorf wo ich meinen Master machen werde, während es Diego nach Bukarest zieht. Er wird dort ab Ende März ein sechsmonatiges professionelles Praktikum mit AIESEC machen. Was ein riesiger Schritt für ihn und was eine Krönung unserer gemeinsamen Zeit. Ein Schritt von dem wir seit Monaten gesprochen haben und den er jetzt bald geht. Wahnsinn! Unser baldiger Abschied hier in Mexiko wird also nur ein Abschied für kurze Dauer sein, denn wir haben uns versprochen uns in Deutschland wiederzusehen.Vielleicht habt ihr also bald die Gelgenheit Diego mal persönlich kennenzulernen :)

Der Heimweg nach Durango war dann die reinste Abenteuerfahrt und ich bin glücklich, dass ich sie lebend überstand. Warum?

Cesar hatte sich mit einer kompletten Flasche Tequila, die er im Alleingang trank, komplett aus dem Leben geschossen, sodass Jimena das Auto heimfahren musste.

Zu wie nie...

Mit Banda- Musik und einer unerfahreren Fahrerin ging es also zurück nach Durango. Der Hit von Julión Álvarez Y Su Norteño Banda - Y Así Fue lief dabei gefühlte 100x und wurde bei jedem Mal lauter mitgeröhlt. Ab und zu wachte Cesar mal auf und stimmte mit ein, den Großteil verbrachte er aber damit seinen Rausch auszuschlafen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We_G8RdJ0Qs

Leidenschaftliche Gesänge

Wie immer hier in Mexiko waren wir verdammt spät dran und hatten dadurch  Zeitdruck. Um 22 Uhr ging unser Bus zurück nach Aguascalientes und erst um halb 8 machten wir uns auf den Weg zurück nach Mazatlan. Ich war sicher, dass wir den Bus verpassen würden. Auf der Hinfahrt hatten wir knappe 3 Stunden gebraucht und das ohne großen Verkehr und mit Licht. Wie sollte das nun also in 2,5 Stunden gehen? Es schien nicht machbar, aber letztlich schafften wir es doch, was mir abermals zeigte; Mexiko ist das Land der Möglichkeiten. Jimena trat während der Rückfahrt anständig aufs Gas und legte einige waghalsige Überholmanöver hin bei denen mir der Atem stockte. Am Ende ging  des dann mit 160 Km/H durch die Innenstadt von Durango. Ich hatte feuchte Hände und wackelige Knie als wir um 21.55 Uhr letztlich mit einem überhitzten Motor und quietschenden Reifen an der Buszentrale ankamen, um dort zu erfahren dass unser Bus eine halbe Stunde Verspätung hatte. All die Aufregung also umsonst. Bienvenido a Mexico, chicos! Herzlich Willkommen im Land der Verspätung.

Fazit: Ende gut alles gut. Es war ein tolles, wenn auch sehr kostenspieliges Wochenende in Durango inklusive einem tollen Tag am Strand von Mazatlan. 

Ein perfektes Wochenende in Sayulita

Während meiner 5,5 Monate die ich bisher in Mexiko bin, durfte ich viele viele unvergessliche Wochenenden an vielen unvergesslichen Orten verbringen, doch das Wochenende in Sayulita mit Kary und den vielen tollen Menschen die wir dort kennenlernten, gehört sicherlich zu den besten. Warum, wieso, weshalb werde ich euch jetzt erzählen :)

Vor knapp zwei Monaten hatte ich ein kurzes Gespräch mit Patrick alias "El Gringo" und während dieses Gesprächs erzählte er mir von einem traumhaften Ort nahe von Aguascalientes: Sayulita. Er berichtete mir von einzigartigen Stränden, einem unvergleichlichen Flair und netten Leuten in diesem kleinen Dörfchen. "Du musst da hin, Pascal! Du wirst es lieben!", sagte er mir am Ende des Gesprächs. Uhlala,. das hörte sich verdammt verlockend an.

Ich wollte sowieso noch einmal an den Strand und zudem einen letzten Trip mit Kary machen. "Warum  nicht zwei Fliegen mit einer Klatsche schlagen?", dachte ich mir. Und so kamen Kary und ich tatsächlich zwei Monate nach dem Gespräch am frühen Freitagmorgen und einer weiteren Nacht im Reisebus ziemlich übermüdet aber zufrieden in Sayulita an.

Wir hatten uns vorgenommen dort am Strand zu campen, doch als wir in Sayulita ankamen, hatten wir zwar ein Zelt im Gepäck, aber keinen Plan, ob es überhaupt einen Zeltplatz gibt. "Ach wenn nicht werden wir halt wild campen. Wird sich schon was finden", lautete unser Credo. Wie es das Schicksal oder Zufall so wollte, trafen wir an der kleinen Bushaltestelle in Sayulita eine junge Frau, die ebenfalls ein Zelt mit sich trug. "Lass uns die mal fragen", sagte ich zu Kary, "die geht bestimmt auch campen!" Tatsächlich war Maria, so hieß die sypmathische Senora, genauso wie wir aus Aguascalientes angereist, um in Sayulita zu campen und sie wusste auch schon wo."Kommt doch einfach mit zu meinem Camping, der ist der beste hier in Sayulita", lud sie uns ein mit ihr zum Campingplatz zu gehen. Das Schicksal hatte also mal wieder zugeschlagen. So kamen wir gemeinsam nach einem 10-minütigem Fußmarsch am Campingplatz an, der nur 15 Meter vom Strand entfernt lag. Herrlich! Was in Deutschland unmöglich wäre, war hier möglich. Ein kleiner Traum ging in Erfüllung. Ich wollte schon immer mal am Strand schlafen und morgens von den ersten Sonnenstrahlen und dem Meeresrauschen geweckt werden. Nun hatte ich die Gelgenheit dazu und war glücklich.

Während wir das Zelt aufbauten, kamen nach und nach weitere Camper an und wie das nunmal auf dem Camping ist, kamen wir direkt ins Gespräch. Wir waren noch keine zwei Minuten auf dem Camping und schon hatte ich mit vier verschiedenen Personen Bekannschaft gemacht. Ich lernte z.B. Juan (25 Jahre) aus South Corlina kennen sowie Tim (35 Jahre) aus Kanada kennen. Beide waren unabhängig voneinander mit ihrem Motorrad nach Sayulita gekommen, um einfach nur ein paar Tage abzuhängen und den Akku aufzuladen.Aus diesen paar Tagen wurden dann, so erzählten mir die beiden, schnell ein paar Tage und noch schneller drei Wochen. Seit drei Wochen hängen die beiden also schon in Sayulita fest und haben all ihre Roadtrip-Pläne umgeworfen, um an diesem tollen Fleckchen Erde zu bleiben. Ist ist eben schwer das Paradies zu verlassen, sagte mir Juan braun gebrannt und mit Meersalz in den Haaren. Ich glaubte es ihm aufs Wort, bei diesem Anblick....

Unser erstes gemeinsames "Haus"gebaut ;-)

Der Campingplatz

Das Haupthause mit Sitzgelegenheiten und Ausblick aufs Meer

Kleine "Häuschen" nahe vom Campingplatz

Happy

Kary und ich machten uns dann am frühen Morgen auf zum Strand und nach einem harten Fußmarsch von 2 Minuten waren wir da ;-) Nach diesem Lauf hatten wir natürlich einen Bärenhunger und so starteten wir den Tag ganz relaxed mit einem Frühstück am Strand. Es gab paar Früchte, Brot und etwas Saft, also alles was man für ein erstes Frühstück eben so braucht :)

Den Rest des ersten Tages verbrachten wir damit einfach mal nichts zu machen, was für mich nach all dem Troubel der letzten Wochen gar nicht so leicht war. Ich hatte Schwierigkeiten einfach mal loszulassen und fünfe Grade sein zu lassen. Da waren zuviele Gedanken in meinem Kopf über all die Dinge, die ich die nächsten Wochen noch erledigen wollte und musste. "Entspann dich", sagte ich zu mir selbst, "du bist an einem der schönsten Orte Mexikos!" Lass Arbeit Arbeit sein und genieß die Zeit hier mit Kary und all den Leuten!" Und genau das tat ich dann auch. Wir plantschten ein bisschen im super-sauberen und warmen Meer, schliefen und erzählten viel, laßen, aßen und genossen das überragende Wetter. Ein ganz normaler Strandtag eben an einem außergewöhnlichen Ort.

Am Nachmittag trieb uns der Hunger dann in das kleine Dorfzentrum Sayulitas. Nach nur rund 10 Min.waren wir dort angekommen und ich war positiv überrascht. Alles war sehr sauber und gepflegt. Wir liefen durch kleine geschmückte Gassen, sahen viele kleine Läden in denen man tolle, oftmals selbstgemacht oder selbstdesignte Souvenirs kaufen konnte und (natürlich) gab es an jeder zweiten Ecke etwas zu essen. Es war ein (fast) rundum tolles Zentrum.

Unser Motto :)

En echter Mexikaner ;-)

Selbstgemachte Souvenirs

Einziger Makel Sayulitas: Los pinches gringos - die verdammten Amerikaner. Hier wimmelte es nur so von Amerikanern und es wurde mehr Englisch gesprochen als Spanisch. Ich hatte noch nirgends in Mexiko soviele Gringos auf einem Fleck gesehen. Das Dörfchen war komplett eingenommen von ausländischen, vornehmlich amerikanischen Touristen. Irgendwo musste da ein Highway sein, der direkt von den USA nach Sayulita führte. Anderes war dieses Ami-Nest nicht zu erklären. Naja, ich sollte mich mal nicht zuviel beklagen, denn immerhin sahen mich die meisten Einheimischen auch als einen Gringo an. Im Gegensatz zu Mazatlan wo die Mehrzahl dicke amerikanische Rentner waren, gab es hier jedoch vermehrt kleine Familien, Ausflugsgruppen und vorallem junge Leute, die zum Surfen oder zum Feiern hierher gekommen waren.


Nach ausladendem Window-Shopping, ein paar leckeren Taccos ("Ich liiiiieb Taccos!") und einem Eis ging es dann wieder zurück zum Camping, wo wir den Abend bei ein paar netten Gesprächen mit den anderen Campingbewohnern ausklingen ließen. Hundemüde vom "Nichtsmachen" zog es uns gegen halb 11 in den Schlafsack und auch die lauten Bachata-Klänge von der Party nebenan hielten uns nicht davon ab tief und fest zu schlafen. Tag Nr. 1 des Wochenendes war vorbei.

Tag Nr. 2 weckte mich mit seinen warmen Sonnenstrahlen und einem unendlich nervigen Hundebellen. Während Kary noch weiterschlummerte, verließ ich meinen Schlafsack und machte mich auf zum Strand, um ein bisschen joggen zu gehen. Barfuß rannte ich am feinen Sandstrand entlang und beobachtete die ersten Surfer und Angler bei ihrer Arbeit. Ich muss wirklich sagen, dass es kaum etwas herrlicheres gibt als morgens bei Sonnenschein am Strand entlang zu laufen. Es fühlt sich einfach saugut an und gibt dir schon am frühen Morgen jede Menge Endorphine. Ich lieb mei Läwe!

Als ich nach dem Lauf meine wohlverdiente eiskalte Dusche genommen hatte und zum Camping zurückkam, hatte Kary schon etwas Essen für unseren heutigen Trip nach San Pancho besorgt. San Pancho ist ein kleines Fischer-Dörfchen ca. 20 Min. von Sayulita entfernt und die Strände dort sollten noch schöner sein als in Sayulita. Das war ein Versprechen, dass wir einlösen wollten.
Leider kamen wir an diesen Stränden nie an, denn unsere kleine Wandertruppe mit den zwei Mädels, Sarah aus Kapstadt und Supy aus New York, Kary und mir, verlief sich. Nachdem wir einen kleinen Jungel durchquert hatten, verpassten wir irgendwo den richtigen Weg, sodass wir letztlich an einem anderen Strand landeten. Und dieser Strand war, um es auf den Punkt zu bringen, hammergeil. Es war ein kleiner, menschenleerer Strand, der schöner hätte nicht sein können. Er war umgeben von mexikanischem Jungel und der Sand war unberührt. Keine Touristen,  keine nervigen Verkäufer, kein Lärm. Pure Natur. Wahnsinn!

Während Sarah und Supy weiterwandern und den Weg nach San Pancho finden wollten, entschlossen Kary und ich uns am diesem Strand zu bleiben "Warum einen besseren Strand suchen, wenn es einen besseren vielleicht gar nicht gibt?", sagten wir uns und blieben. Hier ein paar Eindrücke von unserer kleinen Wandertour und dem Strand:

Am Hauptstrand von Sayulita: Supy, Kary und ich

Hübsche Kary

Ausblick auf DEN Strand

Links Sarah und rechts Supy sowie Kary

Menschenleerer Strand

Bevor wir nach einem tollen Tag diesen traumhaften Strand verließen, kam der für mich emotionalste Moment des Sayulita-Trips:

Kary und ich starrten gedankenversunken einfach nur aufs Meer, als sich irgendwann unsere Blicke kreuzten. Wir schauten uns an und wussten beide, dass dieser Moment wohl einer der schönsten und gleichzeitig einer unserer letzten gemeinsamen Erinnerungen sein wird. Es war das Highlight unserer gemeinsamen Zeit. Wir standen beide auf und nahmen uns minutenlang in den Arm ohne auch nur einen Ton zu sagen. Pure Stille und endlose Gedanken bei denen schon ein gewisser Abschiedschmerz aufkam. Ich glaube wir beide mussten uns zusammenreißen, damit keine Träne aus unseren Auge kullerte....


Am Abend dann hatten wir uns ein paar Bier und Snacks besorgt, um gemütlich den Rest des Tages auf dem Camping zu verbringen. Es war wirklich ein netter Abend an dem ich weitere tolle Menschen aus allen Herrenländern kennenlernte. Da war Brian aus Kanada, der sich auf seiner Tour quer durch Südamerika befand, Abraham aus den USA, der am Strand von Sayulita seinen Glauben zu Gott wiederfinden wollte, Micki aus Finnland, der zum Surf-Profi aufsteigen wollte, Supy, die aus ihrem stressigen Job in New York ausstieg, um hier Klarheit über ihre berufliche Zukunft zu bekommen und, dieser Typ blieb mir am meisten in Erinnerung, Felix aus der Schweiz mit dem ich auf Deutsch erzählen konnte. Felix erzählte mir, dass er  mit 21 Jahren 7 Monate quer durch Südamerika gereist war und das mit einem schmalen Budget von nur 3000 Euro. Er lebte in Argentinien, Brasilien, Chile, Paraguay, Belize und Guatemala. Überall hatte er für Kost und Logi gearbeitet und so quasi für umme gelebt. Er war getramped, hatte gezelte und mit Einheimischen gegessen, um Kosten zu sparen wo es ging. "Es war eine verdammt geile Zeit!", erzählte er mir mit einem fetten Grinsen im Gesicht und seinem komischen Schweiz-Dialekt. Ich bewunderte seinen Mut, seine Abenteuerlust und seine Offenheit. Jetzt war er nach Sayulita gekommen, um nichts anderes zu machen als surfen zu lernen. "Was machst du danach? Hast du Pläne?", fagte ich ihn. "Was danach kommt, weiß ich jetzt noch nicht. Wo der Wind mich hinträgt, werde ich gehen. Für mich ist das Leben zu kurz, um ständig in der Sorge zu leben was morgen kommt. Ich genieß einfach jeden Tag und so mach ich mir das beste Leben.", antwortete er philosophisch. Er erinnerte mich an das Buch "Journeyman", dass ich euch an dieser Stelle als Lesetipp empfehlen möchte:
"http://www.amazon.de/Journeyman-Mann-Kontinente-jede-Menge/dp/3864930146

Der Abend mit dieser kleinen Camping-Familie bei ein paar Bier und viel Gelächter war eine riesige Inspiration und ich nahm so einiges mit an Lebensweisheiten.

Tag Nr. 3 begann wie all die anderen Tage mit Sonnenschein und einem Lächeln auf dem Gesicht. Nach einem gemeinsamen Lauf am Strand, gingen Kary und ich ins Zentrum und besorgten Zutaten fürs Frühstück. Wir kauften Früchte, etwas Thunfisch, Avocado, mehr Gemüse, Brot,Tortillas und das alles frisch und günstig. Es war alles angerichtet für ein letztes Frühstück. Gemeinsam mit Abraham und Maria tranken wir unseren frisch gepressten Organgensaft, aßen unsere Früchte und plauderten über Gott und die Welt. Obwohl das Frühstück sicherlich nicht das leckerste war, war es doch eines der besten, dass ich während meiner Zeit in Mexiko gegessen hatte aus dem einfach Grund, dass so einfach und ursprünglich war, dass es schon wieder außergewöhnlich daher kam.

Kary, Maria und Abraham

Unser leckeres Frühstück

Der Ausblick während des Frühstücks

Den Rest des Tages verbrachten wir mit ein paar Jungs vom Camping am Strand bevor es dann am Abend wieder zurück nach Aguascalientes ging. Natürlich aber nicht ohne Aufregung. Warum?

Nun ja, ihr kennt mich mittlerweile  ja ziemlich gut und ihr wisst das meine Vergesslichkeit teilweise kaum zu übertrumpfen ist. Obwohl sich meine Vergesslichkeit hier in Mexiko einigermaßen in Grenzen hielt, passierte es an diesem Sonntag wieder: Ich vergaß meinen Geldbeutel mit all meiner Kohle und meinem Personalausweis ausgerechnet im OXXO am Strand von Sayulita. Ich hatte dort am Nachmittag meinen Saldo aufgeladen und meinen Geldbeutel liegen lassen.  

Panisch lief ich am frühen Abend zum OXXO zurück und fragte nach meinem Geldbeutel. Die Verkäuferin suchte alles ab, aber da war kein Geldbeutel. Oh man. Anschließend rief sie ihren Arbeitskollegen an der in der Mittagsschicht gearbeitet hatte und fragte, ob ein Geldbeutel gefunden wurde. "Ja ich hab einen gefunden. Aber ich hab dann gefragt wem dieser Geldbeutel gehört und da hat sich einer gemeldet und dem hab ich den Geldbeutel dann gegeben." Oh man. Das Ding war weg und darin all mein Geld um die Rückreise zu bezahlen. Ich war enttäuscht und vor allem sauer auf mich selbst. "Bist du ein Pendejo / Schwachmat!" dachte ich mir. Wie sollte ich nun nach Hause kommen? Kary hatten nicht genung Geld für uns beide. Verdammt.

Plötzlich klingte das Telefon noch einmal und der Typ von der Mittagsschicht sagte: "Ach ne, mir is grad aufgefallen ich hab noch nen anderen Geldbeutel gefunden. Der is braun. Ist das der Geldbeutel, den ihr sucht?" Jaaaaaaa maaaaan, das war mein Geldbeutel!!! "Ich komm in ner halben Stunde vorbei und bringe ihn zurück, okay?" Jaaaaaaa maaaaaan! Und 30 Minuten später hielt ich tatsächlich meinen Geldbeutel mit all meinem Geld wieder in den Händen. Ich verküsste die Verkäuferin und den Typ ebenso. Ich bot den beiden Geld an, um mich erkenntlich zu zeigen, aber beide sagte im Chorus: " Keine Sorge. Du bist unser Gast und wir helfen dir wann immer wir können. Genieß deine Zeit hier!" 

Ach ich liebe die Menschen hier einfach!! Und ich bin ein verdammter Glückspilz seit ich hier bin. Bisher ist nichts, rein gar nichts schief gegangen. Ich hatte Glück mit meinen Jobs, Glück mit meiner Gastfamilie, Glück bei meinen Reisen und nun auch Glück beim Vergessen. Ich meine normalerweise wenn man im OXXO etwas vergisst, ist es zu 98% weg. Aber nicht bei mir. Ich habe Glück, manchmal mehr Glück als Verstand. Woran das liegt? Ich weiß es nicht, aber ich glaube das Medallion, welches Mama vor meiner Abreise gegeben hat, ist ein echter Glücksbringer. Danke dafür!

So ging also mein perfektes Wochenende zu Ende. Mit einem verdammten Sonnenbrand (Ich bin halt doch Deutscher und kein Mexikaner) und vielen guten Erinnerungen verließ ich die Camping-Familie und diesen traumhaften Ort namens Sayulita. Auf das ich bald wieder kommen werde!

Das war also mein Bericht über meine zwei vorletzten Wochenenden in Aguascalientes. Über mein letztes, sehr emotionales Wochenende und meinen Abschied aus Aguascalientes werde ich euch die Tage berichten. 

Ich bin mittlerweile schon in Mexico City angekommen und schreibe diese letzten Zeilen aus der Wohnung von Ross und Memo. Morgen kommt schon Annika und dann startet unsere Tour quer durch den Süden von Mexiko. Ihr werdet über den Trip und alles was wir zusammen erleben natürlich wie immer bestens informiert. Das wird ein affengeiler Trip!

Danke fürs Lesen und bis bald,

euer Pascal

My experience working in the Global Leadership School Project at the Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño

Hello guys! My name is Pascal Keller and I am super glad that you took the time to come here—to my blog—and read more about my UTR experience. Before I talk about these incredible and life-changing experiences; I want to let you know who I am, where I came from and what I stand for. In case you always wanted to know me a little bit better, here’s your chance ;-) 

So let’s go right into it!

My name is (as already mentioned above) Pascal Keller, I am 23, young and from Germany. ¿En serio eres alemán? Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds.

In January 8^th, my beautiful mother gave birth to me and my twin brother in a city named Ludwigshafen, Germany. Misfortune seldom comes alone ;-)

After spending the first two years of my life there, my family decided to move to a their small native village called Hauenstein.

Hauenstein has no more than 4000 inhabitants and is located in the south-west of Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is surrounded by the beautiful Palatinate forest and is truly a small treasure.

In Hauenstein and the neighboring cities I grew up with my fantastic family and spent the main part of my childhood. When I look back, I can truly say I had a fantastic childhood with tons of fun and marvelous experiences. On that note, I’d like to introduce you my family: my two brothers and my great parents :)

This is my fantastic family:

     

Early in my days, my passion for soccer came to life. I played with this stupid ball whenever I could and as long as I could. Today still, soccer is my biggest passion. I simply love it!

Besides from playing soccer, I spent most of my leisure time doing the following activities /hobbies. They give me joy and make my life special. Check it out:

Skiing 

Singing

Reading (I am a passionate reader)

Learning new things

Traveling

  

Spending time with friends and enjoying life

  

By now I hope you know me a little bit better and got a first impression about who this Pascal Keller is. And also I hope this first impression is a good one, haha ;-)

So you now you know me personally. But what did I do professionally?

To get a better understanding of my professional background I’d like to you read little bit more about my "career" up to now.

At 19, I got my high school degree at the Trifel-Gymnasium in Annweiler and decided to move to Mannheim to study Business Administration at the Cooperative State University Mannheim, Germany. During these three years of study I also worked as a trainee for an international automotive supplier called Tenneco. With this, my three years of study gave me practical experiences as well as profound academic knowledge on my major Business which was indeed, not a bad combination ;-)
 

At the age of 22 I finally got my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and my first big job offer from Tenneco. But instead of taking this job offer, which would have promised me a secure job for the next two years and good money, I decided to make a change. This job was not for me. I wanted to have a new experience and live my dream of going and working abroad. So I took a social internship with the world’s biggest student organization: AIESEC. After a period of exploration I decided to do a six-month internship in Mexico, Aguascalientes.

After arriving at the beginning of October in Mexico I worked for the first three months in a language project called My Language Buddy at the E-Max-Institute in Aguascalientes, where I gave German classes to university students. By the beginning of New Year’s 2015, I moved on to a new project called Global Leadership School (GLS) at the Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño (UTR) in Aguascalientes. I have been working in this project since January 2015 and giving classes about "How to build a successful career".

And now that you know me better, I’d like to tell you more about my work experience in the UTR and especially in the GLS-Project.

About the Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño

The Universidad Tecnológica El Retoño (UTR) is a public institution of higher education in Mexico, offering short-length technical careers integrated to the General Coordination of Technological and Polytechnic Universities. The UTR began operations on August 27th, 2012 with the initial enrollment of 310 students. 

It is the first institution in Mexico to work under the BISTU system (Bilingual, International & Sustainable Technological Universities). The UTR was thereby the first entirely bilingual public university in Mexico and at lot of universities followed since then. At the moment the UTR offers higher education to over 600 students in the fields of Marketing, Human Resources, Information Technology and Mechatronics. More information about the UTR is provided under: www.utr.edu.mx

About the GLS-Project

The Global Leadership School Project (GLS) was created by AIESEC. AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. It is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education.

The GLS-Project is a project created to inspire young students on high school and university level and give them an understanding of leadership as well as insights in others cultures. The main goal is to inspire students through international knowledge exchange, to motivate them to do more and broaden their current mindset. All of that happens via workshops in high schools in a very diverse, multicultural environment. This environment will encourage the students to have an awareness of the world issues, learn about other cultures and create an international leadership profile.

The UTR is one of the partner universities that cooperate with AIESEC to make this project real. As a young and open-minded university, the UTR quickly saw the benefits this project offers to all participants: the students’ possibility to know about new cultures, the trainees’ chance to gain real-life experiences as leaders, and great opportunity for the university to improve its image. Up to today the cooperation between the UTR and AIESEC can be considered as a success story. Six trainees from all over the world participated in the project and not a single one left it without having made life-changing experiences.

My personal "Global Leadership School" story

Why I wanted to work as a teacher

Right after I made my decision not to take my first big job offer but instead take up a social internship experience and develop myself, I had a pretty good idea of my "perfect" internship: I wanted to teach. I wanted to work with young students at a university or teaching organization, preferably in the field of business or personal development and work for at least three months to have an impact on my students. 

To say it with the words of the inspiring Nelson Mandela, my biggest motivation was this:

"Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela"

As a teacher, you get incredible joy in seeing the difference you make as students gain new insights, become more interested in a subject and learn about themselves. Every day, teachers mold the future through impacting their students’ views and understandings. Teachers foster creativity, develop character, give students new perspectives with which to view the world and provide students with the skills they need to reach their potential and lead productive lives.

As many other individuals I was attracted to teaching by a sense of service, because I wanted to make a clear, tangible difference in the lives of others. As a teacher, you see the fruits of your efforts everyday as you use your intelligence and creativity to help students become excited about learning and promoting a change in their lives. I wanted to improve the life of others. I wanted to be a mentor, a friend and a guide to the world enabling the students to live a life of success and happiness.

To break it down these were my 5 goals working as a teacher:

1.) Inspire students to become a better version of themselves

2.) Help them to lead a successful life

3.) Encourage them to dream big

4.) Learn about myself

5.) Innovate what is normally taught at schools and universities

How did I end up working for the UTR in the GLS project?

The GLS project was for me one of the biggest reasons to come to Mexico and especially to Aguascalientes. Honestly before I came to Aguascalientes this city just did not exist in my little small world. Of course I heard about Mexico City, Guadalajara and Cancun but Aguascalientes? Where the hell was this? A tiny spec on the map of the world. At least for me.

But things changed when I clicked through all the internship opportunities on the AIESEC platform and discovered the GLS-Project at the UTR. What I read there immediately caught my full attention: Working for three months at an international and bilingual university and giving classes in the field of leadership. This sounded almost too good to be true. 

The GLS-Project fulfilled my idea of a perfect internship almost completely. It was exactly what I was looking for the whole time. I was excited and nervous at the same time. Would I get the chance to work in this great project or could I not fulfill all the requirements to work there?

I gave it a try and applied immediately for the project. A few days later I got the responds and it was....positive! The UTR was interested in me. YEAH! The first step was done.

And after five weeks of insecurity, step 2 was also taken. I finally got my acceptance note which stated:

"Dear Pascal, hereby I confirm that you will be working at the UTR in the GLS-Project starting in January 2015. Congratulations champ!"

I was the happiest man on earth for at least two minutes. My dream, my idea was about to become real. It showed me: Dreams can become true. What it takes is work, preparation and of course a little bit luck. And I had all of these three things.

Finally step 3 followed in January 2015: I started working in the GLS-Project on the 5th of January 2015, and finished my work exactly two months later on the 5th of March. Although I only engaged myself only two months in the GLS-Project I can say that the experience I acquired by working in this project has been the best professional experience in my life up to this point. It was simply amazing!

My UTR & GLS experience - a summary

In this blog post I would like to share with you my best experiences as well as the worst experiences I had while working in the GLS project. Furthermore I want to write about my lessons learned as a teacher working in this project. It is kind of a summary of almost everything I experienced the last two months at the UTR. I hope sharing my experiences and lessons learned will give you valuable insights. Enjoy the read ;-)

Why I love the UTR

 

Small but innovative

The UTR is a pretty young and small university in Aguascalientes. Compared to the other universities in Aguascalientes the UTR cannot really compete when it comes to numbers of students, numbers of teachers, numbers of buildings or numbers of successful graduates. The UTR also does not have decades’ worth of history and tons of traditions. But what the UTR has is an innovative concept and ideas to change the education in Aguascalientes.

The UTR was the first institution to work under the BISTU system (Bilingual, International & Sustainable Technological Universities) and has been role model for a lot of other universities. This is what I really like about this university: It is just different. This uni is for example also as the first (and up to now) the only in Aguascalientes which decided to work with AIESEC in the GLS-project.

The UTR saw the benefits this program brings and invested in it. Furthermore they build up relationships with the US-department to get teachers from the USA to the UTR. With that the uni gets new, fresh input from people all around the world on a constant base and that is what keeps innovation and new ideas coming. I really like that the UTR is not afraid to go new ways and takes risks to improve their education program and to give their students more options to learn. The management does in my opinion a pretty good job to differentiate from its competitors. I am excited what the next innovation of this university will be and which steps it will take to stay one step ahead.

The UTR family

The UTR, its students and staff really became kind of a family for me right from the first day. A family I felt at ease, home and welcome. The UTR and its members cared about me and made everything to make me feel comfortable. It started in December when Gaby and Haydee took the time to get to know me and my ideas. They showed me the university, introduced me to everybody available and by that just showed that they were happy.

I was about to start working for them. On my first day I had a perfect start with a nice breakfast and good speeches. I really felt welcome. Everybody, my bosses, my colleagues and my students were so nice and eager to get to know me that I sometimes felt overwhelmed. I met so many nice and inspiring people that I could not be more grateful. 

The UTR is truly a small family that cares about all its members. The family cares about their teachers, about their students and all the rest of the staff. Friendliness, kindness and warmness are here not only values on the wall but are lived daily. It felt great to be part of this family and I will never forget all the support, help and appreciation I received during my stay at UTR.

Good organization

I can only speak for myself but my work at the UTR and in the GLS-Project were really organized, which is not always that normal here in Mexico—as I had to experience several times.

It started with two pre-project start meetings where we discussed the milestones of the project, continued with a Welcome-day, a kick-off meeting, weekly meetings with Haydee, and ended with a final project presentation. Right from the start I got my schedule and could work with it. As a German, what I met here in the GLS-Project, were almost the same as German organization standards which made my work way easier and more predictable.

Modern, clean, international

Yeah what shall I say? The UTR is really nice. It’s a really clean, modern equipped and absolutely international university. The uni is cleaned daily and I barley saw a cleaner institution in my life. Furthermore, the university looks really modern. They buildings are brand new and almost all the classrooms are equipped with a projector and nice pieces of furniture. These are optimal conditions to work. And then it is also an international uni. Almost everybody speaks English and an additional language so you can easily communicate as a foreigner. I loved to work in this international environment with colleagues from the States (Los Gringos) as well as from Mexico. They coached me and broadened my perspectives. Thank you for that.

Great extracurricular education

Another point I really love about the UTR is their great extracurricular education they offer for their students as well as for their teachers. Every Tuesday and Thursday students have the possibility to choose between tons of extracurricular education. The students can learn German (with the best German teachers in the world ;-)), learn Japanese, learn to dance, to paint or participate in various sports and it’s all free. They do not have to pay a single additional penny. Also teachers get the chance to learn new things. They can come to German, English or Japanese classes or they can even go to the USA to improve their English. You see there are a lot of opportunities for everybody.

Besides that the UTR tries to "pimp" their education with great extracurricular events. During my time at the UTR I could for example participate in the first International Week where students learned more about life outside of Mexico, and I got make-believe-married at Valentines’ Day. I really enjoyed these events and I think that they give this university and the students (beside all the work) a lot of value.

Super nice students

The last and probably the biggest reason why I love UTR are its students. They are simply awesome. The students here come from rather "poor" families and often grew up with less than we Europeans take for granted. One could now think that they are unhappy with their lives or they lack education. But the opposite is the case. The students are super humble, kind and the majority is happy because they get the chance to study at the UTR. They are open-minded, eager to learn and friendly. I enjoyed it every day when the students greeted me friendly with "Hey Pascal" or "Hey Teacher" and a smile on their face. I also enjoyed it when students came to my class, paid attention and just showed that they wanted to learn. I really liked when we had fun together, when they taught me something or when they invited me to some events or private parties although I never found the time to really show up. Sorry for that! 

Students, in case you read this: Thank you so much for being my students. Stay as you are and go your own way!

What could be improved at the UTR?

If there is one main thing that could be improved at the UTR, that it is (for me) the campus around the university. The university is (for me) not a university in the original sense. What is missing is the campus feeling. This is due to the fact that the UTR is pretty young. I could imagine the UTR being much cooler with a sports campus, a library or rooms for independent study. The students as well as the teachers could enjoy their time at the UTR with that even more. But I think the management already knows that otherwise they wouldn’t be building a library at the moment ;-)

What do I think about the GLS-Project? 

Working in the GLS Project was for me one of the best professional as well as personal experience I in my life up to now. Although I did not receive money to work in this project it gave me more than money could have ever given me, and that is why if I could I would choose to work again in the GLS-Project every time they offered.

Working in the project gave me the opportunity to work at a university with an international context without any experience or training as teacher. Since several years ago I dreamed of teaching in a more or less "professional way" and the GLS Project let this dream came true.

In Germany, where I come from, it would be inconceivable that a young guy who just got his degree taught at a university level. In this aspect we are very “German”. That means a long teaching professional background or at least a degree in pedagogics would be required to teach. But here in México, here at the UTR it was different.

Since it is at a community college—or technical school—level, they did not require a whole career on pedagogics; however, did emphasize on the mastery of several career-specific skills, a good English level and (more important than anything else) a high personal motivation as well as something worthwhile to share. I definitely fulfilled these requirements and so it was not a big deal to come to work here at the UTR. Looking back I’m more than grateful that the GLS Project exists and that I had the chance to make my contribution to this great project.

I truly love and lived the mission of the project. It’s the idea of making a positive impact in the lives of young people by sharing knowledge, ideas and culture as well as inspiring them to become leaders. Living up to this idea gave me priceless experiences and learning which I will take with me for the rest of my life. Furthermore, I myself became what this project is all about: a global leader.

My best experience working in the GLS Project

Sometimes I had my doubts whether all the work I’m doing here at the UTR and all the hours I’m spending to prepare my classes is really worth it, or if my idea to change the life of my students is just a flight of fancy. Sometimes when I was tired after having five classes in a row and when my only thought was "I want to sleep!" I really doubted if all my effort was really appreciated.

I mean I came every morning to the UTR at 7.30 a.m. and left at 5.30 pm in the afternoon. Those were 10 hours of work, almost every day without any salary and maybe without appreciation? I was not sure if this was worthwhile. Nevertheless I kept working hard and tried to give my students the best content possible.

Although when I was tired and had to give class at 15.10 pm, I willed myself to make this class best class of the day. My motivation and my passion drove me every day to my highest performance. And soon I recognized: "Yeah at least some of your students are with you, they come to your class, they listen, and they want to learn!" Slowly but steadily I got the feeling I was doing the right things at the right time with the right students.

Every smile, every friendly "Hey Pascal” or “Hey Teacher" lifted me up. And then there were some students who showed me their real appreciation and gratitude. That was all I was looking for and the following words were possibly some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard in my life. They mean more to me than what I can express:

"Todo el mundo te ama, Pascal. Nosotros no queremos que te vayas!"

- A female student

"I am so grateful that are here Pascal. You are such a nice and smart person .With every word you say you change my small little world. Thank you so much for giving me the best classes of my life.

- Another female student

My first "love" letter as a teacher

These words, these lines were all that I needed to be happy. These words of appreciation and gratitude were more for me than money could ever pay, and they gave me the drive to continue the in the path I have chosen.

What is money against a word of sincere appreciation and gratitude? Nothing!

Money can buy you a house but not a home. Money can buy you party-goers, but not friends. Money can buy you a woman, but not love. Money can you pay for a job, but give no passion. And this is why I think volunteering and especially working as a teacher is so interesting and so valuable: even if you earn no money, sacrifice a lot of time and invest a lot of your love, you get something back that everybody in the world is looking for—gratitude, appreciation and recognition.

And that's the best reward that exists and the feeling of gratitude was probably best experience I had during my work here at the UTR.

My worst experience working in the GLS Project

Of course where there is a lot of light there as to be some shadow. That counts for life as well as for my time at the UTR.

Along with all the awesome experiences I was allowed to have, I also had some bad days with bad experiences. One of these bad experiences was a Monday were I was really busy with one class after the other. I remember this day perfectly clear. I was a little bit sick this day, but nevertheless I tried to be a good teacher and not to show my students my exhaustion.

But nothing worked this day. Projectors did not work, students came late and were not interested in what I had to say and I recognized that I did not reach my students. It made me feel sad and kind of disappointed.

But this was not yet the top of this bad day. For my last class at 14.20 pm I prepared really well to end the day on a positive note. But as I entered the room there was exactly one student. One single student out of 25 (which are normally in the class) considered it important to come to my class. ONE!! Disappointment turned into frustration.

It was a big lesson I had to learn: There are days in the lives of everybody where nothing works and where you just get disappointed. The point is: we have the power to decide who or what will disappoint us. Also, we will always have the power to respond differently to disappointment. Either we take it personally and quit or we see it as new experience in our life. Either we let disappointment beat us or we beat it. And I beat it.

I went home, worked out, spent the rest of the day with people I love and started the next day all over again. Life gives you every day as a new beginning, a new chance to be the best teacher or the person you can be without thinking about the past. This was one lesson I learned and there were a bunch of more which I like to share with you.

24 lessons I learned working in the GLS-Project

1. If you work with passion work does not feel like work

Confucius, that wise man said it so right: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." That is exactly what I experienced while working in the GLS Project.

Many people and many of my students asked me why I came here to Mexico to work for $0 while I could have received 2000 Euros each month for 8 hours of work each day in Germany. Many of my fellow teachers respond with an incredulous shake of the head, when I told them that I'm working at UTR more than 35 hours a week and do not receive a single penny but instead pay money to be there. I really worked hard every day, had a crowded schedule, had to prepare three classes and worked in countless extra projects during my time at the UTR.

My days are therefore long and my nights short. Why did I take all the effort and all the work to do something I did not get paid for? Why did I work more than I've ever worked at Tenneco when I got paid for it? The answer is: passion. It is was my passion to work as a teacher, the fun of dealing with the students that drove me to give in each lesson 100%, sometimes even more.

I got up every morning with enthusiasm and I also worked hard even if my colleagues said time and time again: "You work too much, you should chill out more." Sometimes I was even more motivated by my students themselves, or because I simply loved the topic I talked about.

It was great for me to see that passion and the love for your job are truly the biggest motivators. It is was not the money which drove me, it was not a boss that forced me to work hard but only my passion and especially my idea to help other people, to inspire them and teach them something that can lead to a positive change in their lives. And although I sometimes felt exhausted or tired when I came home I felt good and relaxed. There hadn’t been a single day I wasn’t happy to come to the UTR and that was because of one thing: the fire within myself. 

2. Teaching is not only about speaking. The king is listening.

When I thought about teaching I thought it means to speak, to explain and to speak again. But is really the king of teaching is listening. There is a saying which goes like this:

“God gave us two ears, but only one mouth. Some people say that’s because God wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as talking. Others claim it’s because God knew listening was twice as hard as talking.” And so it goes that listening is an important skill, but it can be so hard to do it well and so challenging to make it meaningful.

I truly love this saying. Since I worked as I teacher I know that talking is really important but that listing is even more important. If someone listens to another with full attention, conviction, commitment, and support, the speaker feels affirmed and important and has a sense of his/her value and the validity of his/her feelings, ideas, and needs. You first have to understand what your students want from you; you have to understand their feelings and needs before you can exactly give them what they want. And you only understand if you listen first and speak second.

 

3. You do not need tons of experience to be teacher and to be respected by your students

Before I started working as a teacher I was a little bit afraid mainly because I lacked experience in the field of teaching. I had never worked in this field before and now I should teach daily in front of 25 young students? That thought made me feel uncomfortable. But I quickly noticed that being a good teacher is not that much about experience but more about your ability to communicate, to deliver your message and of course self-esteem, the belief that you can do it.

Being a teacher is to be a natural leader. It’s all about being present, authentic and convincing. You do not need to have 20 years to teach someone and you do not to be 40 years old that your students respect you. They only respect you and follow you if they see that they can learn something valuable from you, they understand you and your message and above all that you are trustworthy. This made it for me possible to teach and being respected although I had no experience, no “teaching title” and no real age (I mean some students were older than me, haha).

4. Knowledge wins in “brain vs brain” battles, but being real and authentic wins trust (and that is the first step to teach!)

This is probably one of the biggest lessons I learned as a teacher. 

I figured out that trust is the biggest step to "get" my students’ attention. Trust is the basis of every relationship and so it is as well with the students / teacher relationship. You have to be trustworthy for them because only if they trust you they will open their minds to your words. First the students have to know you as a person, as a human being to trust in you. Once this trust is established you can go on about “teaching”.

So I think it is important to first reach the students emotionally before you try to reach them intellectually. Only trust gives you the opportunity to reach them with your teachings afterwards. In my opinion the best way to reach them emotionally is to show that you are a human being with feelings, values, ideas and dreams. That’s why I shared with my students my dreams, my family and my values.

By that I allowed my students to know me as a person and we built a good relationship. Once I built up this relationship I tried to stay connected to the values I shared. I tried to be authentic and real the whole time. A sense of humor and my own personality were therefore the essential part of every classroom. I told personal stories, made jokes and tried to have fun with my students all the time. Authenticy gave me credibility and that gave me the key to open the minds of my students.

5. Being a teacher is a lot of work.

I always imagined teacher as an easy job you can do without much effort: talk a little bit about something you are good at, do some workshops, have a good time with your students, have a lot of breaks, have a lot of vacations and spend a lot of time drinking coffee in the teachers room.

That was my assumption of a teacher’s job and I now have to admit I was totally wrong with that. Being a teacher requires a lot and is absolutely a full time job which can be more exhausting as a normal 9-5 job.

You have to devote lots of time to plan your lessons, do researches for your teaching material, break down the research information into understandable parts, prepare all material for your lessons (power points, games, workshops), and so much more. During the class you have to be 100% present, deliver your message, talk, explain, listen, mentor, urge, remind and so on and so an.

You see? Being a teacher is not really about drinking coffee and lots of vacations but more and more about hard work which can be tougher than expected ;-)

6. Teaching is a learning experience.

I always learned so much through the process of teaching. When you’re busy taking classes and writing papers, sometimes actually having time for learning is hard. It’s true – you learn information best and at its deepest when teaching. Every time I teach a lesson, I learn the material in new and profound way.

I also always learn so much from my students. I learn from their own life experiences. I also learn from their insights. They see aspects all the time in the sources we use that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise – and these are awesome teaching moments. I also learn about Mexican culture– old traditions, new styles, and slang–from my students. It was simply great.

7. Technology can help, but cannot replace a teacher’s knowledge

In our multi-technological world with all the Iphones, Imacs, Tablets, Apps we are easily tempted to let the technology do the work for us instead of working with us. I really think PowerPoint presentations are nice to upgrade your class because they can serve as a visual reminder and supporter but I also think that they should never be the center of your class.

A lot of people (students and teachers) are of the opinion that a good PowerPoint presentation is enough to have a good class but that’s absolutely wrong, I think. If you are dependent on technology to deliver your message and are not able to deliver it without it, you are not a real teacher.

A teacher is and will always be a person who has to deliver his teachings with his words and attitude. If you are not able to explain something by a diagram or a sketch when your presentation is not working you yourself did not really understood the material.

I experienced that relying on the technology is like relying on rain in Mexico: better don`t do it. Often the projectors did not work or my laptop did not work or both did not work. I then needed to have my material in my head and deliver it only with a marker, a white-board and my creativity. So technology can help, but not replace a teacher’s knowledge.

8. You won’t reach everybody as a teacher

While my classes at the beginning were really crowded, slowly but steadily, the amount of students who visited my class decreased. At the beginning I was really worried about that because I thought it was my fault as a teacher. I thought I gave them nothing of value. But today I know: as a teacher you cannot reach everybody.

Some students are just not interested in learning something about success in life and career. They just like to hang out with girls, do nothing or want to stay the way they are now. It’s not my fault as a teacher that they do not come to the class. It’s just that some are interested and some are not. You have to accept that as a teacher and focus then on working with a small group of students who really want to learn instead of trying to please everybody. 

9. It’s okay to be, to act and teach differently than the teacher down the hall

When I came to UTR it was absolutely obvious that I was different from all the other teachers. I was the only one who had no experience or training in the field of teaching, the youngest and the only one who did not get paid for his work. Furthermore I spoke about topics that were unusual for a 23 year-old guy: about success in life and career.

A lot of people could not believe that. But I did and that was enough. I was different and that was perfectly fine for me. I taught not in the normal, formal way but used a lot of "bad words", "bad stories" and "bad examples" to get the attention of my students. Was that okay? I don’t know. But my students liked it and that was the only thing that mattered to me.

I also acted different than the other teachers. The students could talked to me as a friend and call me Pascal instead of "Teacher". I had just a completely different approach than a "normal" teacher and that was not bad at all. It was good like this. It’s okay to be, to act and teach differently than the teacher down the hall. Coco Chanel said it so right:

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

10. You should like people

I love people. And I love helping people. I consider one of my biggest strengths to connect with people and that’s why I wanted to teach. If you don’t like people, confrontation or managing in general, don’t teach. You will be miserable and ineffective for the people who need you. As a teacher you will be the whole day with and around people. If you do not enjoy do not become a teacher. Period.

11. You should like speaking in front of people and should be able to explain things

As a teacher you speak a lot. So much that sometimes your throat hurts because of all the speaking during the day. So if you do not like speaking this job is not for you. Also if you cannot or do not like to speak in front of people, this job is not for you. I for myself love talking in front of people and I feel comfortable while doing it. So for me teaching is exactly what I like to do. But is it also for you?

12. You have to speak the same language to be able to teach

  

I learned that only if you speak in a language your students understand you can teach someone. You can be intelligent, have a great message and a perfect power point but if your students do not understand what you are talking about, everything is in vain.

I had that problem when I talked to my students in English about things that I thought are clear to my students but they weren’t at all. They did not know what "networking" means and they did also not know what a "puzzle" is. I took this words for granted until I found out I was wrong with that.

So when 20 students didn't understand my lesson, it was really my problem, not theirs. That taught me to look for the little details that I might be forgetting, and to try to look at things from the audience's perspective rather than mine.

And most of all, that taught me about the importance of speaking the same, understandable language. That’s why I used a lot of informal language and to get on the level of my students. Also I started to speak kind of a "Spanglisch" which means I spoke in a mixture of Spanish and English.

With that my students could really understand what I was talking about. I got their attention and could keep it for a while. Speaking the same understandable language is therefore the key to teaching. To re-cap in wiser words than my own:

13. You do not to have be a genius to teach

I found out that you do not have to be an absolute expert or a genius in a specific field to teach. Important is only that you know more about the topic than your students know and to prepare well. I am surely not an expert when it comes to success in career and life but I knew more than my students about this topic because I engaged myself with it the last two years.

So I was able to teach them because they recognized that I was an "expert" in this field. So the bottom line is: Teaching is not about being THE expert but just two steps better than your audience. That makes all the difference.

14. As a teacher you have power

I’ve come to the conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal.

As a teacher you have power to decide what others are learning and by that you have a high responsibility. If you teach bad things your students will take this with them and live these bad things. If you teach good things your students learn these good things and will live them. So you can make the difference between good and bad. You have the same power as a teacher.

15. To dress like a professional can help you as a teacher

"Clothes make the man" is an old saying but as it as old as it is true. By dressing as a professional you get treated like a professional because people associate wearing a suit with hard work and professional conduct. This like detail can make help you be more respected. 

Little things like the clothes you wear, how tall you stand, and your body language make an enormous difference in how others perceive and pay attention to you. The clothes you wear can also influence how you act, so even though I don't need to command a classroom anymore, I've learned to dress just a little bit better at times when I think it would matter.

It's a balancing act, though, between being and looking comfortable in such clothes and playing the part. Important is to always stay yourself and to be authentic. It makes no sense in my opinion just to dress nice. If you are not truly committed to it, leave it and wear whatever makes you feel comfortable. 

16. Make a plan and prepare even if you don't stick to it

Preparation is the key for a successful class. If you are not prepared the students will quickly recognize it which devalues you as a teacher. I prepared my 50 minutes classes—sometimes—in  two or three days. Sounds incredible but it helped me to truly understand what I want to talk about and what message I want to deliver.

I also prepared for every lesson a lesson plan with exact times and actions. These gave me feeling of security when I entered the class room. While some teachers work great with their lesson plans I, on the other hand (despite all my planning), tended to impulsively veer from my original plan. That didn't make my lesson plans useless, though.

As Dwight Eisenhower has said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." The day might not go as planned on my to-do list or schedule, but the planning at least gives me something to fall back on and the flexibility to adjust throughout the day.

17. Create different learning pathways and adapt to the needs of your students.

One of the most common challenges I faced was how to deal with the different skill levels students bring to the classroom. Some students had a really good level of English (the fourth graders) while other students barely understood a single word I spoke (the first graders). Also I found out that the differences in age have a huge influence in the understanding and acceptance of issues.

While the older students could 1) understand what I was talking about, 2) could see the importance of it, 3) appreciated it for their future; the younger students were not really interested when I talked about success in life and career. This just was not important for them at their age. So instead of sticking strictly to my lesson plan I created different learning pathways for both groups. I adapted to the needs of my students.

With the younger ones I did more conversation classes where they would be active, whereas with the other group I stuck to my lesson plan. By doing that, the classes were made more fun for me, and I guess also for the students.

18. Love your job, your students, and they will love you back.

No matter how hard you try to pretend you love your job, if you don’t, the students will see right through you. Students feed off of the energy that the teacher gives off in the classroom. If you love your job, they will know it. If you hate your job, they will know it. If you are enthusiastic about the topic the chances are high they will be too.

If you are not, probably they will be not. If you do not care about them they will probably not care about you—or your class! But if you love them they will start loving you. Students (I figured out) remember little of what you taught them, but will never forget the way you make them feel. That’s the simple rule.

So, seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference. I tried to be always friendly, helpful, open and smiling and so were the students to me. People are always the mirror of your own behavior.

19. Deliver value and your students will come

Your students pay to come to university and they spend their precious time to come to your class. So your students are more like costumers, right? To a costumer you would never sell cheap products or give wrong information because you would be afraid to lose business with them.

This is the same approach I had with my students. I always tried to deliver them value and a good content. They were my customers and I had to serve them. Whatever I did in class had the purpose to give my students at the end of the class something valuable. Whit this I made sure that my students would come back to my class because of the simple fact that every class would give them something useful. And who does not want to have something of use for his or her life?

20. You should be flexible and have a Plan B

No matter how fabulous or indestructible you think your lesson plan is, you should always have a Plan B. The UTR is equipped with state-of-the-art technology that fits the lifestyle and social culture of your students. But none of that helps when the technology doesn’t work at the exact moment 30 students are staring at you.

Then it’s good to have an alternative. I figured out that a nice discussion round or a "agree-/disagree-game" can be a valuable alternative in cases your students are tired, do not understand you, or the technology is not working.

21. Students will not do optional. Students need to be forced to do it (most of the time)

Unfortunately, most students only do what is absolutely required, if even that. When I asked my students to do things as homework voluntarily because this would help them to understand the topic better everybody nodded their head saying to me: "Suuuuure we’ll do it!"

Did I ask the next class if anybody did the homework? Yes. And everybody shook their head awkwardly. I realized that students are kind of lazy. They often need external motivation of a higher force (for example grades or due dates), otherwise they won’t do it. Hoping for an internal motivation is often like hoping for the rain in the dessert.

22. Off topic lessons are sometimes the best. Just let it flow.

I’ve found that you do not always have to stick to your lesson plan to have a good class. Lesson plans are fantastic and necessary, but I’ve found the best classes and most effective learning happens when there is wiggle room to throw out the lesson plan and stay present enough to respond to what the students really need.

Give them some autonomy to take responsibility for their own learning. Be open enough to let them inform you of the gaps in their knowledge. They teach me how to teach them. Sometimes you have to adjust to the feeling of the class and just change your plans when a discussion occurs.

Often a discussion veers off into things that are off topic and that’s perfectly fine. For me the off topic discussions about Mexico and the Mexican culture were more valuable than talking about success. These were the moments I had a connection to my students where everybody was engaged and where can an opportunity for students to see me and their classmates as regular people (students seeing us as normal people can be very important to their success) was provided.

23. Your body is too precious to neglect. Take breaks.

During my 2,5 months at UTR I worked probably more than ever before in my life. I teached, I prepared, I researched, I read, I wrote on my blog, I organized my master and much more. 

I liked to do all this work and I am not complaining about anything because I choosed to do so. However, sometimes I felt tired and exhausted. But instead of taking a break I continued working because I had the thought in my mind: "You have to get things done. Work!" I came from the classroom where I thaught, went to the teachers room and worked there, then got back to classroom thaught, went to the teachers room and worked and so on. Without any big break I worked sometimes the whole day and that led to a poor quality of my classes as well as of my private life. I forgot things in class, I thaught without enthusiasm, I was unfriendly with students, I was stressed and simply could not give my best. 

This was the turning point where I started to take at least two big breaks during the day: One meal with my colleagues (Mercedes, Naty, Vera etc.) where we talked and just had some fun and one nap in the afternoon. This was a true game-changer for my work and helped me to stay energized during the whole day. So the lesson I learned was this:

Our body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care. Take breaks. It will be grateful for.

 

24. I love teaching.

I love teaching more than I ever dreamed I would. Teaching and working with students is extremely challenging and rewarding. I love that I have the privilege and opportunity to teach other people. 

I respect that this is a great charge and honor. I take the responsibility seriously and carefully pick every part of every lesson and assignment as to have the best educational impact possible. I love thinking on my feet and leading a discussion with engaged students. 

I truly love teaching beyond words.

Puuuh, this was a pretty long post,wasn`t it? But experiences are not easy to keep short. Thank you for reading up to this point and again thank you if you were part of my experience. 

I hope you liked what you read. If yes, please let me know and write a comment below. Soon I will publish my articel about "60 things I learned living 6 months in Mexico" which will be so much fun to read. So stay online and come again. 

 Saludos and so much love for you guys,
Pascal