A Postcard from... Tehuacán, Mexico

Four of Eliska's students

I have just come back to New York after spending the most wonderful time in Mexico. I had been teaching in Tehuacán, in the state of Puebla for 4 months. I finished my CELTA course in June 2008 and left for Mexico in September.

I got a job as a paid volunteer at Instituto Heslington, a small, family-owned private school. I taught all different levels of students for a total of 5 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Two hours from 9-11am and three hours from 4-7 pm. There were about 10 students in each of my groups; mostly adults or teenagers and all of them were lovely. The school was great and very well organized. Everybody was very friendly and supportive. This was my first teaching job, and it was very challenging and sometimes very time consuming but the owner and director helped me with anything I needed. The salary is just to cover personal expenses. I got paid 750 pesos at the end of each week. However the school provides an apartment or arranges accommodation with a family and offers free Spanish classes. I lived together with one of the other teachers in a two-bedroom apartment, which was located in the city center, just a few blocks from work. The school also found a family that cooked lunch for me every weekday. I basically lived and learned Spanish for free and still had some pocket money.

Finishing the Triathlon!

Tehuacán is a great city, especially for someone who likes sports. I was surprised how active most of the people I met were. I became a part of a local Triathlon organization and participated in a number of sport competitions almost every weekend and traveled to some great parts of Mexico. One of the best experiences was doing a triathlon in Huatulco. There were also many opportunities to participate in a number of different classes from dance, art to music lessons and most of them cost just $2 per class. There are almost no tourists in Tehuacán and hardly anyone speaks English, however all the people I met were wonderfully friendly and helpful.

I’m still thinking that I was very lucky, because there isn’t a thing I could complain about. It was like a dream come true. I met a lot of great people, made friends, was able to travel and get to know the Mexican culture, learn Spanish and gain teaching experience!

Eliska
Teaching House CELTA graduated, June 2008