animals

So you may have guessed from the fact that Valentin sits on th edge of one of Mexico's biggest nature reserves, and within central America's biggest rainforest, that there would be some interesting wildlife around here. You would be right. It's hard to comprehend just how much wildlife there is here, however, until you 're here. I thought I knew what to expect. Turns out I was wrong! Even in the countryside in England, wildlife seems like it is constantly being pushed to the edges of daily life. Seeing an unusual bird is a rare occurrence, and it is pretty uncommon to see any wild animal larger than a Fox. There just Isn't that much room left after all the farms and villages.
Here is different. Ejidos are small and spaced widely apart. Xpujil is the largest town in 150km in any direction, and it has comfortably less than 5,000 inhabitants. Forestry management programmes from the government down have long discouraged deforestation, which means that each Ejido incorporates a significant proportion of woodland. In this environment, animals thrive alongside people. Since my arrival here I have seen a huge variety of animals - monkeys, toucans, snakes, crocodiles, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, wild pigs - to name but a few. Several of the more exotic animals I don't even know the names of! A couple of weeks ago I saw a jaguar. This is a pretty unusual occurrence even for here. It was a baby so not much bigger than an average dog. But it's markings were unmistakable and it was a completely beautiful sight to see it running across the road.
 However for me a particular highlight has been the birds and butterflies. They are always there, at the edge of your vision, adding a splash of Orange or gold to the already vibrant landscape. They sit outside the window whilst you 're doing the washing up. They dive in front of your bike as you 're cycling along. There is one particular butterfly that I think is really special. It is huge - so big that you can hear it's wings rustling like two sheets of paper as it flies past. And it is an incredible electric blue. It's not scared of people, and a couple of times I've been outside and one has come to settle on my knee.

The animals here are one of the things that makes this place really special. Although saying that, I would happily get rid of all the chickens that still wake me up at 4 in the morning!

village life

So after a couple of weeks, I feel like I'm settling into my new home. The pace of life here is definitely different to what I'm used to in London! A typical day begins at 4.am, when the roosters start crowing in the mistaken belief that it is already the  morning, rather than the middle of the night. Hopefully I'll start learning to sleep through this before long! The day starts early for most people here as well - normally people are up and about by 7. After breakfast my mornings are typically taken up with lesson planning, and the afternoons and evenings are spent giving classes. I am lucky enough to be teaching a lot of really enthusiastic, interested pupils, and although the classes last between 2 and 2.5 hours, they go past in a flash. I also spend a lot of time in xpujil, and am really enjoying cycling in my spare time. There are some very interesting routes to take in the countryside - it's amazing how quickly you can find yourself in the middle of nowhere!
Darkness falls around 5.30, and evenings tend to be very quiet in the village. There are no bars, although there is one restaurant which serves huge and delicious empanadas which are cheaper than any dinner that I could prepare at home. The shops are open until about 9, and apart from anything else they are a good place to go to catch up on all the telenovelas.
Thankfully the hotel has WiFi so although the village is quiet in the evenings, I am not getting bored. I am also beginning to experiment with Mexican cooking - the shops are full of products that I've never seen before, let alone cooked with. So far I haven't got much further than cooking quesadillas but hopefully this will change before too long!
The people in the village  are shy but very friendly. It makes a nice change to say hello to everyone you see when you 're out and about.
This laidback lifestyle takes a bit of getting used to, but I'm actually loving it. Who knew that life in the slow lane could be so enjoyable?