Couple more virtual high fives to: Brian, Tracy, Chris & Greg Skov, Don & Carol, Aunt Barbara & Aunt Judi, Joanie, and Sharon. We really appreciate hearing from everyone.
Skippers! See you at the airport?!
Friday, December 29, 2006
Final Week
So we are getting ready to get up really early tomorrow to catch our flight home. We have mixed feelings on going home. We are both sad to be leaving such a great home, but looking forward to getting back to our friends and family.
The past week: For Christmas day we went over to Mac and Catherine's apartment for a big turkey dinner they cooked. It's amazing all the things they have been cooking for themselves. They have a great online resource that translates ingredients and recipies so when they go out to the markets, they know just what to buy. Anyway, the dinner was great. We had turkey, chorizo stuffing (my favorite - nice work Mac), and potatoes and beans. Then to top off the meal we had our Swiss chocolate cake that we worked so hard to find the night before. A nice relaxing afternoon with friends was just perfect for us after our long Christmas Eve evening.
Classes this week were quite different. I had four new teachers and Jen had two. My teachers didn't get the memo that we didn't like homework, and we had an hour + each night. It doesn't sound bad, but when you are not used to it, it is suprising. Turns out homework actually helps you learn better. Who would have thought of that? I felt really good after my last class today. Like I had just overcome most of the big hurdles to learning language, and now it is time to leave. Definitely makes me wamt to keep up learning the language ( and traveling).
Jenny finally became indoctronated in the Mexican culture: She got a bit of the stomach flu on Tuesday night. Luckily it didn't last long, just about 18 hours and she was up to 80% or so. She still isn't quite back to normal, but she is flipping me &%$ again so that's a good sign.
We went to an all spanish movie Wednesday night (dos por uno) and it sure was pretty. The movie was called "Consada de Besar Sapos". Lots of noise that sounded like conversation, but damn they talk fast! The story was pretty easy to follow, but since it was a romantic comedy, I didn't get many (read any) of the jokes. Lots of kids at the movies this week since it's a holiday and all.
Only a couple more days till we will have our pictures on the Blog or somewhere where you can see them. Maybe a pay site, but we haven't decided.
The past week: For Christmas day we went over to Mac and Catherine's apartment for a big turkey dinner they cooked. It's amazing all the things they have been cooking for themselves. They have a great online resource that translates ingredients and recipies so when they go out to the markets, they know just what to buy. Anyway, the dinner was great. We had turkey, chorizo stuffing (my favorite - nice work Mac), and potatoes and beans. Then to top off the meal we had our Swiss chocolate cake that we worked so hard to find the night before. A nice relaxing afternoon with friends was just perfect for us after our long Christmas Eve evening.
Classes this week were quite different. I had four new teachers and Jen had two. My teachers didn't get the memo that we didn't like homework, and we had an hour + each night. It doesn't sound bad, but when you are not used to it, it is suprising. Turns out homework actually helps you learn better. Who would have thought of that? I felt really good after my last class today. Like I had just overcome most of the big hurdles to learning language, and now it is time to leave. Definitely makes me wamt to keep up learning the language ( and traveling).
Jenny finally became indoctronated in the Mexican culture: She got a bit of the stomach flu on Tuesday night. Luckily it didn't last long, just about 18 hours and she was up to 80% or so. She still isn't quite back to normal, but she is flipping me &%$ again so that's a good sign.
We went to an all spanish movie Wednesday night (dos por uno) and it sure was pretty. The movie was called "Consada de Besar Sapos". Lots of noise that sounded like conversation, but damn they talk fast! The story was pretty easy to follow, but since it was a romantic comedy, I didn't get many (read any) of the jokes. Lots of kids at the movies this week since it's a holiday and all.
Only a couple more days till we will have our pictures on the Blog or somewhere where you can see them. Maybe a pay site, but we haven't decided.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Limited Access
The computer lab at the school has been closed this week, so we have very limited computer access. When we get a chance to post our final weeks stories we will do that. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks to all our loyal readers!
The Brookses
The Brookses
Monday, December 25, 2006
Shout Outs!
Shout outs to: Colleen, Mom/Dad Walther, Mom/Dad Brooks, Bill Jr., Craig, Steve and Tanya Coram, Loopers, Althea, Tara, Matt, Long Lost Stotty, Roger, Brit, Eugster, Sonja, Malone, Yaakov, Julia and the Explorer crew for dropping us a line and keeping the news from the north moving south.
¡Feliz Navidad!
When we arrived home after our trip to Queretaro, we had a bit of time to relax since the family was at the hospital with a niece of Poncho's. From what we can tell, she is very sick with Chrone's Disease as well as some other health problems.
We finally left the house for Alejandra's mothers around 10pm. Steve and I were already quite exhausted from our weekend excursion and didn't know what to expect on this very different of "noches buenas" (Christmas Eves). It was quite the sight with the five of us piled into Ale's small Seat (the make of her car). Luckily, they let Steve sit up front, but his knees were still under his chin.
Alejandra's mother lives in the same house where she raised all 10 or so of her children (there were originally 13). From what we understand, she was married at 13 and started having children at 14. She is still living and wanted to cheer (brindar) everyone last night. The entire family is quite a hoot and they really get a kick out of Steve's height. We got a great picture with Steve, Alejandra, and Rocio, Alejandra's older sister. They both come up to his belt and not much more. There were about 50 or so people- I guess half of the regulars were missing.
We were served drinks and ate Cheetos and Doritoes for a few hours and then the festivities began. Carmina, a younger sister of Alejandra's read the nativity story and then had the children sing a song to put the baby Jesus in his place in the nativity scene. It seemed to be the annual ritual. Once the clock struck midnight, we hugged and kissed everyone (literally everyone) and then we were served soup followed by a trip through the buffet. People exchanged gifts (we got a back scratcher, some candy, gloves, and a notepad holder for the kitchen) and then everyone ate until they were stuffed. Everyone kept trying to feed Steve more and more food- I think they were more impressed than anything and wanted to see his breaking point. He has reached that point many times in the last week and I think he's starting to learn his limit...
We all headed home about 2:30 and were in bed by 3:00. All in all, it was a fantastic Christmas Eve and we feel lucky that we were able to celebrate it in such a unique way. Steve and I were getting a bit tired by the end, but it seemed like the party was just starting. Even the kids were wide awake and living it up.
We are on our way to our friends Mac and Catherine's apartment for Christmas dinner at 3pm today. We were asked to bring the dessert, so we went out on an adventure last evening and found an amazing Swiss chocolate cheesecake with fruit on the top. We're very excited to try it and our family is hoping there will be some left to bring home.
Take care and we hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. We'll be on our way home next Saturday and feel a bit bittersweet about our return. Our family has already asked us to return to visit in the future.
Love, Steve and Jenny
We finally left the house for Alejandra's mothers around 10pm. Steve and I were already quite exhausted from our weekend excursion and didn't know what to expect on this very different of "noches buenas" (Christmas Eves). It was quite the sight with the five of us piled into Ale's small Seat (the make of her car). Luckily, they let Steve sit up front, but his knees were still under his chin.
Alejandra's mother lives in the same house where she raised all 10 or so of her children (there were originally 13). From what we understand, she was married at 13 and started having children at 14. She is still living and wanted to cheer (brindar) everyone last night. The entire family is quite a hoot and they really get a kick out of Steve's height. We got a great picture with Steve, Alejandra, and Rocio, Alejandra's older sister. They both come up to his belt and not much more. There were about 50 or so people- I guess half of the regulars were missing.
We were served drinks and ate Cheetos and Doritoes for a few hours and then the festivities began. Carmina, a younger sister of Alejandra's read the nativity story and then had the children sing a song to put the baby Jesus in his place in the nativity scene. It seemed to be the annual ritual. Once the clock struck midnight, we hugged and kissed everyone (literally everyone) and then we were served soup followed by a trip through the buffet. People exchanged gifts (we got a back scratcher, some candy, gloves, and a notepad holder for the kitchen) and then everyone ate until they were stuffed. Everyone kept trying to feed Steve more and more food- I think they were more impressed than anything and wanted to see his breaking point. He has reached that point many times in the last week and I think he's starting to learn his limit...
We all headed home about 2:30 and were in bed by 3:00. All in all, it was a fantastic Christmas Eve and we feel lucky that we were able to celebrate it in such a unique way. Steve and I were getting a bit tired by the end, but it seemed like the party was just starting. Even the kids were wide awake and living it up.
We are on our way to our friends Mac and Catherine's apartment for Christmas dinner at 3pm today. We were asked to bring the dessert, so we went out on an adventure last evening and found an amazing Swiss chocolate cheesecake with fruit on the top. We're very excited to try it and our family is hoping there will be some left to bring home.
Take care and we hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. We'll be on our way home next Saturday and feel a bit bittersweet about our return. Our family has already asked us to return to visit in the future.
Love, Steve and Jenny
Querétaro
We were both a little nervous traveling 3+ hours to a new town with no hotel reservation two days before Christmas. We felt a little bit like Mary and Joseph, without the mysterious pregnacy or camels. Our bus tickets were on Premiera Plus, a good but not great bus line here. The bus was nice, better than any Greyhound bus in the states, but we ended up stopping in 4 places that wouldn't appear on many maps. Combine that with the traffic we hit at serveral spots, and our trip ended up taking almost 4 hours. The first thing we did at the bus terminal was venture over to the ETN desk and booked a return ticket on the 1st class bus. That would turn out to be a great move.
Now the bus station in Querétero is about 10 km out of town, it was feeling a little more difficult to get a decent place to stay for the night. We learned of a new way to catch a cab: You wait in line to prepay for your cab ride at this tiny little booth, then venture outside to wait in another line that allows only one person to get into a cab at a time. Now Querétero is a city of about 500,000 people, and bus travel is the cheapest and easiest way to get around here. Imagine the line. Anyway, we got our cab and ventured to the first hotel on our list.
Driving through the historic district here, it is no wonder people love it. Lots of pedestrian only streets and amazing architecture and historic sites. We got the Hotel Santiago and as luck would have it, they had a room. Let me tell ya, a little privacy and your own bathroon can do a lot to recharge your batteries. We loved the place and it was only three blocks from the center of town. We had an upper floor room that overlooked one of the cathedrals. It was a great place to call home base for two days.
The next morning we slept late and ventured out in the city under perfect blue skies and 75 degree weather. We found a little Creperia and had crepes and coffee and sat in the sun. There is a plaza right near the creperia and we sat in the sun and watched the people pass by and ask themselves "How tall is that guy". Sure didn't feel like Christmas in Seattle or Spokane!
The streets were lined with shops and other vendors packed the pedestrial walks with all sorts of trinkets and stuff. We walked around and saw the cathedrals and the amazing 70m tall aquaducto that runs 4+ km through town and is still used today.
After a short siesta, we went back to the center of town to finish up our shopping and sightseeing and catch the Christmas parade that draws a boatload of people into the city square. They had floats and dancers and all sorts of music groups in the parade. All the floats were pulled by brand new John Deere tractors. Dad, you would have loved it. We were just in front of the Cathedral de San Franciso, where the monks were ringing the bells (spinning the huge things by hand) and there was a carnival type atmosphere complete with cotton candy and popcorn, only the popcorn has spicy salsa on it. Quite a fun cultural experience.
We found a little italian pizza place to mix up our menu a bit and had a few cold ones to close out the day.
Sunday morning we awoke (late) to another beauitful day. We were running a little late getting ready to leave and had to grab a bite at the closest place to us. We ducked into a place called Vips and found out in the middle of our meal it was a chain owned by Wal-Mart. So much for authentic local food. But it got us something to eat and we just made our bus out of town. The ride back was wonderfully uneventful with luxurious seats and plenty of room for my long legs, and it only took 2 1/2 hours to get to home.
Then we relaxed and got ready for our Christmas Eve dinner... Stay tuned...
Now the bus station in Querétero is about 10 km out of town, it was feeling a little more difficult to get a decent place to stay for the night. We learned of a new way to catch a cab: You wait in line to prepay for your cab ride at this tiny little booth, then venture outside to wait in another line that allows only one person to get into a cab at a time. Now Querétero is a city of about 500,000 people, and bus travel is the cheapest and easiest way to get around here. Imagine the line. Anyway, we got our cab and ventured to the first hotel on our list.
Driving through the historic district here, it is no wonder people love it. Lots of pedestrian only streets and amazing architecture and historic sites. We got the Hotel Santiago and as luck would have it, they had a room. Let me tell ya, a little privacy and your own bathroon can do a lot to recharge your batteries. We loved the place and it was only three blocks from the center of town. We had an upper floor room that overlooked one of the cathedrals. It was a great place to call home base for two days.
The next morning we slept late and ventured out in the city under perfect blue skies and 75 degree weather. We found a little Creperia and had crepes and coffee and sat in the sun. There is a plaza right near the creperia and we sat in the sun and watched the people pass by and ask themselves "How tall is that guy". Sure didn't feel like Christmas in Seattle or Spokane!
The streets were lined with shops and other vendors packed the pedestrial walks with all sorts of trinkets and stuff. We walked around and saw the cathedrals and the amazing 70m tall aquaducto that runs 4+ km through town and is still used today.
After a short siesta, we went back to the center of town to finish up our shopping and sightseeing and catch the Christmas parade that draws a boatload of people into the city square. They had floats and dancers and all sorts of music groups in the parade. All the floats were pulled by brand new John Deere tractors. Dad, you would have loved it. We were just in front of the Cathedral de San Franciso, where the monks were ringing the bells (spinning the huge things by hand) and there was a carnival type atmosphere complete with cotton candy and popcorn, only the popcorn has spicy salsa on it. Quite a fun cultural experience.
We found a little italian pizza place to mix up our menu a bit and had a few cold ones to close out the day.
Sunday morning we awoke (late) to another beauitful day. We were running a little late getting ready to leave and had to grab a bite at the closest place to us. We ducked into a place called Vips and found out in the middle of our meal it was a chain owned by Wal-Mart. So much for authentic local food. But it got us something to eat and we just made our bus out of town. The ride back was wonderfully uneventful with luxurious seats and plenty of room for my long legs, and it only took 2 1/2 hours to get to home.
Then we relaxed and got ready for our Christmas Eve dinner... Stay tuned...
Friday, December 22, 2006
Don't cross that street
Last night, we went out shopping for quite a bit in the streets of Morelia. We're both quite sure we'll have to have an iron lung once we get back to the U.S. due to the pollution of the cars here. I think they're emissions standards aren't quite as strict. When we finally get home in the evenings, our eyes are red, feet are tired, and we are excited to be away from the masses of people.
There also seems to be a lack of traffic rules here. There are lines painted down the middle of the busy streets, but the cars don't seem to mind. If they want to turn left, they pull into the oncoming lane and turn left. If someone is going slow, you flash your brights and speed around them. Clacsons (horns) are also quite popular. If your lane is not moving as quickly as you would like, you honk- everyone honks.
Steve is impressed with the safety rules here in Mexico - you know, safety first! A bunch of boys/men were jackhammering yesterday out in the busy street- no ear protection or eye projection. One of them was hammering away while another guy pulled out the broken pieces. Really safe, eh? We still heard the jackhammer at about 3 this morning. I guess they don't have noise ordenences either. What would Schick say??
We just finished our last full week of classes. Most of our teachers have the next two weeks off, so we will come back after the holidays to new teachers and slightly new routines for our last week. We have both really liked our teachers, and we hope the replacements are as good. ¿Quien sabe? (who knows).
Our bus leaves for Quaretero at 4:30 and we have to get our things packed, oh and find the bus station (minor detail). We are off the our weekend adventure! Did we mention we couldn't get hotel reservations? Adventure to follow...
Bueno.
There also seems to be a lack of traffic rules here. There are lines painted down the middle of the busy streets, but the cars don't seem to mind. If they want to turn left, they pull into the oncoming lane and turn left. If someone is going slow, you flash your brights and speed around them. Clacsons (horns) are also quite popular. If your lane is not moving as quickly as you would like, you honk- everyone honks.
Steve is impressed with the safety rules here in Mexico - you know, safety first! A bunch of boys/men were jackhammering yesterday out in the busy street- no ear protection or eye projection. One of them was hammering away while another guy pulled out the broken pieces. Really safe, eh? We still heard the jackhammer at about 3 this morning. I guess they don't have noise ordenences either. What would Schick say??
We just finished our last full week of classes. Most of our teachers have the next two weeks off, so we will come back after the holidays to new teachers and slightly new routines for our last week. We have both really liked our teachers, and we hope the replacements are as good. ¿Quien sabe? (who knows).
Our bus leaves for Quaretero at 4:30 and we have to get our things packed, oh and find the bus station (minor detail). We are off the our weekend adventure! Did we mention we couldn't get hotel reservations? Adventure to follow...
Bueno.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
One Day Closer to Navidad!
So one day close to Christmas! I have a small correction to the number of family members that might be at the family christmas. Instead of just 25 or so people, it sounds like it might be closer to 60. That's right, 60. More amazingly, that's only about half the family. When all the grandparents & grandkids get together, it's 109 people. Yeah, that's a lot of mouths to feed. Most of the siblings of our host parents have 5-6 kids, and the younger families only have 2-3. I guess the grandmother's house is right in the middle of town and is quite an amazing place. We'll let you know just how palatial this palace turns out to be!
Oh, and a big thank you to Mac and Catherine, my classmates from Bainbridge Island. Since we couldn't get pictures off our camera, we "borrowed" a few of their great photos from their blog to dress up our page a bit.
We went out last night with Julia for our last fiesta together. She leaves tomorrow to go back to Germany after her 3 1/2 month work/study job. She is getting sad to leave (she has a special someone here and soon they will have to part ways). We found a great little place that serves crepes and has a full bar. Crepes for the ladies, cocktails for me! It's a little slice of heaven. I can't figure out why there were not many people there. Strange.... It has been fun to get to know her and how things work in Germany. We will have to get over there to visit her. I have a feeling she will know where the best discos are in town.
Not much else new here. We are still trying to book our hotel for this weekend. Hopefully we will figure that out today. If not, we'll just walk around the streets and find a nice hostel... :)
Hasta luego.
Oh, and a big thank you to Mac and Catherine, my classmates from Bainbridge Island. Since we couldn't get pictures off our camera, we "borrowed" a few of their great photos from their blog to dress up our page a bit.
We went out last night with Julia for our last fiesta together. She leaves tomorrow to go back to Germany after her 3 1/2 month work/study job. She is getting sad to leave (she has a special someone here and soon they will have to part ways). We found a great little place that serves crepes and has a full bar. Crepes for the ladies, cocktails for me! It's a little slice of heaven. I can't figure out why there were not many people there. Strange.... It has been fun to get to know her and how things work in Germany. We will have to get over there to visit her. I have a feeling she will know where the best discos are in town.
Not much else new here. We are still trying to book our hotel for this weekend. Hopefully we will figure that out today. If not, we'll just walk around the streets and find a nice hostel... :)
Hasta luego.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Strike is over. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Seems our plea for attention has been successful. After much response from our loyal followers, the strike is off.
Casey, if you're out there, drop us a line and let us know how the recovery is going! If anyone has any updates on how the fundraiser went, please send them our way. We would love to hear how everything went and hope everyone had a great time.
I'm starting to think I've reached my limit for language learning. Hell, I don't know this much about english. With all the information coming at me, and all the language I hear at home, there isn't much time to relax and comprehend the information. It can be a bit frustrating to see a word you know you have seen before, and not be able to figure out its meaning. I've made some pretty interesting sentences and have a few people looking at me like I'm from another planet. It's a slow road but a good challenge. I finally got down how to negotiate tequila prices and bribe my way out of jail. Another note: Embarasada does not mean embarassed. Let me know if you know the real meaning.
We went shopping in the Historic District today with Julia. I was invited to act as the decoy so the men don't harass the pretty blond foreigners. For some reason they don't bother them with a 2 meter tall white guy walking with them. We found a few quaint little shops with a bunch of neat trinkets. We started doing some shopping for the family, but with our bags already over weight, everyone gets a keychain. Hope everyone likes bottle openers.
We are heading off to a bar tonight with Julia, a cousin of our host family and 5ish other people. She leaves Friday so tonight might be a long evening. Finishing my homework after a good night of drinking should be fun. I'll have to think back to how I got through college...
We are finishing up our plans for the weekend: Two nights in a nice hotel in Queretero. We are heading out Friday after class and coming back X-mas eve. From what we have learned (not much yet), the historic district there is gorgeous and full of plazas and great history. Should be a fun trip for us to get away and have some time to ourselves. We will keep you posted...
Christmas here should be a hoot. I say that because I have no idea what is going on. We have been invited to spend Chrismas Eve with our host family grandparents, and it sounds like 2 or 3 of the kids (and their kids) are coming. If I do the math, that could be 25+ people. Should be a wild time. It's pretty amazing how close and how often all the family gets together. I only wish I could pick up half the stories they tell. Everyone gets a kick out of their nickname for me: Chaparito (translates as dwarf).
Hope everyone has power back in Seattle. I guess it would be tough to read this blog with it.
Casey, if you're out there, drop us a line and let us know how the recovery is going! If anyone has any updates on how the fundraiser went, please send them our way. We would love to hear how everything went and hope everyone had a great time.
I'm starting to think I've reached my limit for language learning. Hell, I don't know this much about english. With all the information coming at me, and all the language I hear at home, there isn't much time to relax and comprehend the information. It can be a bit frustrating to see a word you know you have seen before, and not be able to figure out its meaning. I've made some pretty interesting sentences and have a few people looking at me like I'm from another planet. It's a slow road but a good challenge. I finally got down how to negotiate tequila prices and bribe my way out of jail. Another note: Embarasada does not mean embarassed. Let me know if you know the real meaning.
We went shopping in the Historic District today with Julia. I was invited to act as the decoy so the men don't harass the pretty blond foreigners. For some reason they don't bother them with a 2 meter tall white guy walking with them. We found a few quaint little shops with a bunch of neat trinkets. We started doing some shopping for the family, but with our bags already over weight, everyone gets a keychain. Hope everyone likes bottle openers.
We are heading off to a bar tonight with Julia, a cousin of our host family and 5ish other people. She leaves Friday so tonight might be a long evening. Finishing my homework after a good night of drinking should be fun. I'll have to think back to how I got through college...
We are finishing up our plans for the weekend: Two nights in a nice hotel in Queretero. We are heading out Friday after class and coming back X-mas eve. From what we have learned (not much yet), the historic district there is gorgeous and full of plazas and great history. Should be a fun trip for us to get away and have some time to ourselves. We will keep you posted...
Christmas here should be a hoot. I say that because I have no idea what is going on. We have been invited to spend Chrismas Eve with our host family grandparents, and it sounds like 2 or 3 of the kids (and their kids) are coming. If I do the math, that could be 25+ people. Should be a wild time. It's pretty amazing how close and how often all the family gets together. I only wish I could pick up half the stories they tell. Everyone gets a kick out of their nickname for me: Chaparito (translates as dwarf).
Hope everyone has power back in Seattle. I guess it would be tough to read this blog with it.
On Strike
We've decided to go on strike today due to a lack of feedback. We hope to be back tomorrow. ¡Ciao!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
24 hours a day
I think we've (at least I've) hit a bit of half-way through slump. We have been here long enought to know what's going on and yet going home is not in the near future. We've been with each other now nearly 24 hours a day (minus the 4 hours we spend apart in school) for 2 weeks. I'm not saying that we're getting tired of each other, but I think we could both use a change of scenery :) We are both glad, however, to have each other and realize we would be lonely otherwise....
Things that excite us now days are much different than in the states. For example, we successfully took our clothes to the laundry and now have clean clothes. We have also been a bit more successful in getting our point across when buying something and we found a bank, so we now have some additional spending cash. Oh the joys in life!
We went to our favorite (and only) bar last night- La Casa de Quijote. We saw a guy there last week playing live music and we enjoyed it so much that we came back last night. He spent his break chatting with us we had a great time. He is originally from Chiapas, but is here in Morelia attending medical school. He had an amazing voice and I was hoping he had a CD, but to no avail. I asked him for some music recommendations and he burned me a CD and brought it to our school today. He is leaving tomorrow for Chiapas (for Christmas) and will be on the bus for 22 hours. Ugh!
As Christmas approaches, it becomes a bit more real that we won't be home for the holidays. We are planning a trip to Queretero, which is about 3.5 hours from here on the bus. We are hoping to stay in a fairly nice hotel and enjoy our time out of the house. It sounds as though a bit more family is arriving at our house for the holidays and we're worried it will soon get crazy. Three of the grandkids (and their parents) stayed at the house Sunday evening and that was enough for us.... We have been invited to spend some time with the extended family for Christmas and we are unsure what to expect. We'll definitely miss being with our families for Christmas, but are also looking forward to experiencing something new. We're still looking for something to buy our family...
We continue to eat and sleep a lot- Alejandra (the daughter) even suggested that I might be pregnant at lunch today since I sleep so much. I was a bit shocked to say the least!! They all got a kick out of it. I think they enjoy embarrassing both of us.
My feet have been really beat up with all the walking we've been doing and the fact that I didn't back any good walking shoes. Note: Danskos are not good shoes on uneven ground- I have rolled by ankle quite a few times. Steve and I braved another taxi ride and ventured to Las Americas (a small shopping mall outside of town) and I was very excited to find a cute pair of "tenis" that don't make me feel too much like an American. I decided to wear some cute shoes to the bar last night and developed many more blisters. Back to my flip-flops!
Our German "sister" is leaving this Friday and I'm a bit sad about it. Julia's been fun to get to know and she creates enough chaos and drama in the house that it never gets boring. She also speaks English, so it's a bit comforting. She started learning Spanish when she arrived 3 months ago, so she hasn't been at it long, but she talks so much that she has quickly picked it up. We hope to keep in touch a bit with her.
Not much else for now...we welcome emails and comments on our blog and any updates from home (another thing that excites us both).
-Jenny
Things that excite us now days are much different than in the states. For example, we successfully took our clothes to the laundry and now have clean clothes. We have also been a bit more successful in getting our point across when buying something and we found a bank, so we now have some additional spending cash. Oh the joys in life!
We went to our favorite (and only) bar last night- La Casa de Quijote. We saw a guy there last week playing live music and we enjoyed it so much that we came back last night. He spent his break chatting with us we had a great time. He is originally from Chiapas, but is here in Morelia attending medical school. He had an amazing voice and I was hoping he had a CD, but to no avail. I asked him for some music recommendations and he burned me a CD and brought it to our school today. He is leaving tomorrow for Chiapas (for Christmas) and will be on the bus for 22 hours. Ugh!
As Christmas approaches, it becomes a bit more real that we won't be home for the holidays. We are planning a trip to Queretero, which is about 3.5 hours from here on the bus. We are hoping to stay in a fairly nice hotel and enjoy our time out of the house. It sounds as though a bit more family is arriving at our house for the holidays and we're worried it will soon get crazy. Three of the grandkids (and their parents) stayed at the house Sunday evening and that was enough for us.... We have been invited to spend some time with the extended family for Christmas and we are unsure what to expect. We'll definitely miss being with our families for Christmas, but are also looking forward to experiencing something new. We're still looking for something to buy our family...
We continue to eat and sleep a lot- Alejandra (the daughter) even suggested that I might be pregnant at lunch today since I sleep so much. I was a bit shocked to say the least!! They all got a kick out of it. I think they enjoy embarrassing both of us.
My feet have been really beat up with all the walking we've been doing and the fact that I didn't back any good walking shoes. Note: Danskos are not good shoes on uneven ground- I have rolled by ankle quite a few times. Steve and I braved another taxi ride and ventured to Las Americas (a small shopping mall outside of town) and I was very excited to find a cute pair of "tenis" that don't make me feel too much like an American. I decided to wear some cute shoes to the bar last night and developed many more blisters. Back to my flip-flops!
Our German "sister" is leaving this Friday and I'm a bit sad about it. Julia's been fun to get to know and she creates enough chaos and drama in the house that it never gets boring. She also speaks English, so it's a bit comforting. She started learning Spanish when she arrived 3 months ago, so she hasn't been at it long, but she talks so much that she has quickly picked it up. We hope to keep in touch a bit with her.
Not much else for now...we welcome emails and comments on our blog and any updates from home (another thing that excites us both).
-Jenny
Monday, December 18, 2006
Saturday Voyage
Bright and early Saturday morning we ventured with another couple from Portland on a excursion to five nearby pueblos. The trip was put on by the school and our driver/tour guide was a history major with a great knowledge and love of the area.
Our first stop was Tiripitio about 20 minutes outside of Morelia. It has an amazing history of being the first University in all of the Americas (north AND south). Attached is a Augustinian monestary with quite advanced construction and architecture for being 500 years old. Here also was one of the most advanced indigenous cultures in all of Mexico. It took an enormous amount of bloodshed and coersion to get the native people to adopt the ways of Spain. The Augustinian monks moved in to try and help stop the bloodshed, and were able to help incorporate some of the native culture into the teachings of the monks. While it didn't preserve their culture, it did allow a few small things to remain familiar to the natives.
Our second stop was another little town just off the main road. Here there was another church painted entirely with the stories of the Bible. The monks had the very talented indigenous people paint the frescos on the inside of the church to help teach them the stories and practices of Catholicism. Unfortunately the paintings have deteriorated quite a bit. The church is unique that it is built mostly of wood, and therefore quite a bit more difficult (and expensive) to preserve the structure.
Third stop was Tzintzuntzan (sin-sune-san). This was the indiginous religious center of the whole Michoacan region. Here they built 5 enormous semi-circular pyramids each symbolizing the five elements know to them; earth, fire, water, sky and sun. They are built on an artifical hill over looking Lake Patzucaro. An amazing creating since they did it without horses or domesticated livestock. All the work was by hand. Pictures to follow...
Fourth stop: Patzcuaro. Neat little colonial town that was the economic center of the region for just a couple hundred years. Lots of craft stores and home to the first Cathedral in the Americas. We did a little shopping here and picked up some local crafts.
Our last stop was in Santa Clara del Cobre. This little town was the center of the region's copper trade and we visited a copper foundry where all the work is still done by hand. We saw the process start with recycled copper wire, and followed the process through to a finished piece. But since each piece takes about 3 days to make, we got the abbreviated version. Absolutely amazing how much work it takes to form just a single piece. Pictures to follow...
We then returned home just in time to see the weekly fireworks and light show at the big cathedral in town. The streets are shut down and the plaza once again turns into a fiesta. Then we went to bed. Long day of walking and touring left us a little worn out, but excited to have learned so much.
Thanks for all the emails about the lack of pictures. We are still working on getting our pictures online. The technogy here is not quite the same as up north, and we didn't come as prepared as we should have. Please bear with us.
Our first stop was Tiripitio about 20 minutes outside of Morelia. It has an amazing history of being the first University in all of the Americas (north AND south). Attached is a Augustinian monestary with quite advanced construction and architecture for being 500 years old. Here also was one of the most advanced indigenous cultures in all of Mexico. It took an enormous amount of bloodshed and coersion to get the native people to adopt the ways of Spain. The Augustinian monks moved in to try and help stop the bloodshed, and were able to help incorporate some of the native culture into the teachings of the monks. While it didn't preserve their culture, it did allow a few small things to remain familiar to the natives.
Our second stop was another little town just off the main road. Here there was another church painted entirely with the stories of the Bible. The monks had the very talented indigenous people paint the frescos on the inside of the church to help teach them the stories and practices of Catholicism. Unfortunately the paintings have deteriorated quite a bit. The church is unique that it is built mostly of wood, and therefore quite a bit more difficult (and expensive) to preserve the structure.
Third stop was Tzintzuntzan (sin-sune-san). This was the indiginous religious center of the whole Michoacan region. Here they built 5 enormous semi-circular pyramids each symbolizing the five elements know to them; earth, fire, water, sky and sun. They are built on an artifical hill over looking Lake Patzucaro. An amazing creating since they did it without horses or domesticated livestock. All the work was by hand. Pictures to follow...
Fourth stop: Patzcuaro. Neat little colonial town that was the economic center of the region for just a couple hundred years. Lots of craft stores and home to the first Cathedral in the Americas. We did a little shopping here and picked up some local crafts.
Our last stop was in Santa Clara del Cobre. This little town was the center of the region's copper trade and we visited a copper foundry where all the work is still done by hand. We saw the process start with recycled copper wire, and followed the process through to a finished piece. But since each piece takes about 3 days to make, we got the abbreviated version. Absolutely amazing how much work it takes to form just a single piece. Pictures to follow...
We then returned home just in time to see the weekly fireworks and light show at the big cathedral in town. The streets are shut down and the plaza once again turns into a fiesta. Then we went to bed. Long day of walking and touring left us a little worn out, but excited to have learned so much.
Thanks for all the emails about the lack of pictures. We are still working on getting our pictures online. The technogy here is not quite the same as up north, and we didn't come as prepared as we should have. Please bear with us.
Friday Night Lights
The start of week three is the start of our second half of the trip. Our weekend was packed with sights and travels through the Michoacan countryside and yet another bull fight.
On Friday we ventured with our family to a professional bull fight, but only after we went to their grandkids school fundraiser. It was a fun event that was organized by one of the daughters of our Mexican parents here. There were lots of kids running around and food for sale that was difficult for tall foreigners to order. I stuck to what I know and ran around with the kids, impressing them easily with my height alone. It works out pretty well, but those little rugrats still speak better Spanish than me, so full conversations didn't happen. If they asked me something, I usually just distracted them by bouncing a balloon off their head and we were on to something else. Each kid here consumes about as much sugar as the country of Luxumbourg. I know it is not a big country, but imagine packing that much energy into a 6 year old. Now get 150 kids together. Top with a cherry and you can imagine the destruction. It was lots of fun and we really enjoyed it.
We left with Alejandra to go the bull fight and spent the whole evening in the family box seats. It dropped into the 40s and we were a bit chilled outside, so we stayed where it was warm and close to the cocktails. The toreros (matadors) were much better this time, getting the much larger bulls quite a bit quicker and more dramatically than last time. There was one that had a bit of trouble, and the crowd picked up on that and booed him as he left.
The most impressive torereo was a relative of our host family. Turns out he didn't pay his taxes and the police were wating for him before the show. I guess they figured out a deal and was able to perform, and he was amazing. He studied in Spain for 3 years and I think it was there he learned his dramatic presentation. Most of the other toreros we a little jumpy (rightly so), but each of Fernando's steps were calculated and fluent. He was within inches of the bulls head, sometimes placing his hand on the bulls nose without the bull reacting to him. He appeared to have total control of the bull and directed just how he wanted. He won the coveted Two Ears (cut from the bull he killed) from the Master of Ceremonies (meaning he did very impressive work).
On Friday we ventured with our family to a professional bull fight, but only after we went to their grandkids school fundraiser. It was a fun event that was organized by one of the daughters of our Mexican parents here. There were lots of kids running around and food for sale that was difficult for tall foreigners to order. I stuck to what I know and ran around with the kids, impressing them easily with my height alone. It works out pretty well, but those little rugrats still speak better Spanish than me, so full conversations didn't happen. If they asked me something, I usually just distracted them by bouncing a balloon off their head and we were on to something else. Each kid here consumes about as much sugar as the country of Luxumbourg. I know it is not a big country, but imagine packing that much energy into a 6 year old. Now get 150 kids together. Top with a cherry and you can imagine the destruction. It was lots of fun and we really enjoyed it.
We left with Alejandra to go the bull fight and spent the whole evening in the family box seats. It dropped into the 40s and we were a bit chilled outside, so we stayed where it was warm and close to the cocktails. The toreros (matadors) were much better this time, getting the much larger bulls quite a bit quicker and more dramatically than last time. There was one that had a bit of trouble, and the crowd picked up on that and booed him as he left.
The most impressive torereo was a relative of our host family. Turns out he didn't pay his taxes and the police were wating for him before the show. I guess they figured out a deal and was able to perform, and he was amazing. He studied in Spain for 3 years and I think it was there he learned his dramatic presentation. Most of the other toreros we a little jumpy (rightly so), but each of Fernando's steps were calculated and fluent. He was within inches of the bulls head, sometimes placing his hand on the bulls nose without the bull reacting to him. He appeared to have total control of the bull and directed just how he wanted. He won the coveted Two Ears (cut from the bull he killed) from the Master of Ceremonies (meaning he did very impressive work).
Friday, December 15, 2006
Power is on here....
Hope all is well with eveyone in the great Northwest. We have been reading about all the stormy weather and hope after yesterday's storm, everyone is safe and doing well. Aside from the drug raids in the outskirts of town, there were few hazards around here.
We are done with classes for the week and are gearing up for our big weekend. Lots to report next week...
Have a safe weekend and make sure to go to Kells on Saturday night and support Casey!!!
We are done with classes for the week and are gearing up for our big weekend. Lots to report next week...
Have a safe weekend and make sure to go to Kells on Saturday night and support Casey!!!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
La Comida
This entry might be a bit boring, but I thought I would chronicle our daily food consumption for those of you who are interested...anyone?
La comida (food) here has been fairly good. Before we leave for school, we each have 2 pieces of toast (pan tostada) with either butter and jam or nutella, which has become my favorite. Since when do you put a layer of chocolate on your toast? Steve drinks some Sunny D and I have some hot milk (whole I'm sure) with some stir-in coffee crystals. We also have some eggs- Steve's are scrambled and mine is sunny-side up.
For la comida (lunch-ish meal), everyone comes home and this is the big meal of the day at about 3pm. We always start off with a different home-made soup and then our bowls are cleared and plates prepared. The main meal is usually some sort of meat (Steve is in heaven) and a side. Today we had rice, chayote (a kind of strange vegetable) and taquitos (little tacos). Steve ate 8 and they were quite impressed. They were egging him on to eat more, but he almost exploded. We usually finish up with something sweet, which is my favorite part. One of the more popular sweets in our family is a big block of coconut flavored sugar that is colored BRIGHT pink on the top. They slice it and serve it on the point of a sharp knife. We're hoping to buy some to bring back to the states...quite interesting.
After la comida, we usually take a little siesta. Today, we slept for 3 hours and woke up in the dark, a bit groggy. We tend to venture out to the streets when the shops open back up (they close for the "lunch hours"). While out and about, we swing by school to check email and then do a bit of window shopping. Until today, we haven't had much money, so we've been pinching our pesos. We were down to 20 pesos, which is roughly 2 dollars.
We return home about 9pm and eat a light snack for dinner. We typically are fixed a sandwich, quesadillas, or toast, which I slather with Nutella. Again, Steve drinks Sunny D or mango juice and I have some stir-in decaf. The coffee here really leaves something to be desired...
They have just started letting us help a bit, which includes getting a plate/glass/silverware for ourselves. Usually, they set the table, serve us, and clear our dishes when we finish. We feel a bit like snobish Americans. They also have a maid/servant who comes on Mon, Wed, Fri. She does all the laundry (except ours), cleans the house, and cooks the food. They seem to treat her pretty well, but it's still a bit uncomfortable.
We're trying to figure out what to buy our family for Christmas... if you have any ideas, please send them our way!
Take care amigos!
La comida (food) here has been fairly good. Before we leave for school, we each have 2 pieces of toast (pan tostada) with either butter and jam or nutella, which has become my favorite. Since when do you put a layer of chocolate on your toast? Steve drinks some Sunny D and I have some hot milk (whole I'm sure) with some stir-in coffee crystals. We also have some eggs- Steve's are scrambled and mine is sunny-side up.
For la comida (lunch-ish meal), everyone comes home and this is the big meal of the day at about 3pm. We always start off with a different home-made soup and then our bowls are cleared and plates prepared. The main meal is usually some sort of meat (Steve is in heaven) and a side. Today we had rice, chayote (a kind of strange vegetable) and taquitos (little tacos). Steve ate 8 and they were quite impressed. They were egging him on to eat more, but he almost exploded. We usually finish up with something sweet, which is my favorite part. One of the more popular sweets in our family is a big block of coconut flavored sugar that is colored BRIGHT pink on the top. They slice it and serve it on the point of a sharp knife. We're hoping to buy some to bring back to the states...quite interesting.
After la comida, we usually take a little siesta. Today, we slept for 3 hours and woke up in the dark, a bit groggy. We tend to venture out to the streets when the shops open back up (they close for the "lunch hours"). While out and about, we swing by school to check email and then do a bit of window shopping. Until today, we haven't had much money, so we've been pinching our pesos. We were down to 20 pesos, which is roughly 2 dollars.
We return home about 9pm and eat a light snack for dinner. We typically are fixed a sandwich, quesadillas, or toast, which I slather with Nutella. Again, Steve drinks Sunny D or mango juice and I have some stir-in decaf. The coffee here really leaves something to be desired...
They have just started letting us help a bit, which includes getting a plate/glass/silverware for ourselves. Usually, they set the table, serve us, and clear our dishes when we finish. We feel a bit like snobish Americans. They also have a maid/servant who comes on Mon, Wed, Fri. She does all the laundry (except ours), cleans the house, and cooks the food. They seem to treat her pretty well, but it's still a bit uncomfortable.
We're trying to figure out what to buy our family for Christmas... if you have any ideas, please send them our way!
Take care amigos!
Almost the weekend...
Lots of fun stuff this weekend we hope! I think we have recovered enough from last weeks amateur bullfight to partake in a professional one. This one should be much more bearable (?) since the matadors will be well trained professionals. A couple of other students in the school are wanting to go, so we'll fill up our flask and head on out for a exciting Friday night of fun.
We leave Saturday morning at 9 on a trip to Pátzcuaro and three other little towns near here. All are within an hour of here and are full of local artists and trinket shops, and you all know I'm a sucker for trinket. Luckily we don't have much room in our bags ;) The tour is through the school, so we will have a guide to give us a little history and insight to the wonderous visions we will encounter (nice, eh?).
That will give us Sunday to relax and enjoy the sunshine that should be returning. It's a little overcast today and only about 70, but should be mostly sunny this weekend. We have a 30+ degree temperature swing here each day and it goes from freezing (relative) in the mornings to "Damn it's nice" by noon. We have been reading the Seattle Times online here and have been reading about the nasty storms heading into Seattle. Hope our gigantic tree stays up in our yard!
We went to the grand opening of a new bar in town last night. One of Jen's classmates is living with a family that is related to the bar owner. Seems everyone here has relatives in every corner of the city. With the size of some of the failies, it might just be true. Anyway, we went there and have a few cold ones with her and our roomate Julia and her latin lover boyfriend, Carlos. The bar was in the patio of an old house that had been convereted to offices. It had high ceilings and columns all around. Quite a neat environment to listen to Sean Paul in.
Hope all is peachy up north. Keep on rockin' and we'll hear from you all soon.
Brooks
We leave Saturday morning at 9 on a trip to Pátzcuaro and three other little towns near here. All are within an hour of here and are full of local artists and trinket shops, and you all know I'm a sucker for trinket. Luckily we don't have much room in our bags ;) The tour is through the school, so we will have a guide to give us a little history and insight to the wonderous visions we will encounter (nice, eh?).
That will give us Sunday to relax and enjoy the sunshine that should be returning. It's a little overcast today and only about 70, but should be mostly sunny this weekend. We have a 30+ degree temperature swing here each day and it goes from freezing (relative) in the mornings to "Damn it's nice" by noon. We have been reading the Seattle Times online here and have been reading about the nasty storms heading into Seattle. Hope our gigantic tree stays up in our yard!
We went to the grand opening of a new bar in town last night. One of Jen's classmates is living with a family that is related to the bar owner. Seems everyone here has relatives in every corner of the city. With the size of some of the failies, it might just be true. Anyway, we went there and have a few cold ones with her and our roomate Julia and her latin lover boyfriend, Carlos. The bar was in the patio of an old house that had been convereted to offices. It had high ceilings and columns all around. Quite a neat environment to listen to Sean Paul in.
Hope all is peachy up north. Keep on rockin' and we'll hear from you all soon.
Brooks
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Hoy
Hoy (today) es miércoles (Wednesday) in Morelia and the day after Guadalupe's big day. Steve and I went out a bit last night to see the festivities and it was literally crazy. Most of the little kids were dressed in traditional clothes with the girls wearing skirts (with aprons over) and embroidered white shirts. They also wear their hair in braids with ribbons throughout. The boys wear embroidered beige shirts and pants and many have bandanas tied around their heads and mustaches/sideburns drawn on their faces. It's quite hilarious to see a little boy (3 years old) with a mustache and sideburns.
The kids stay out pretty late (especially for the US parents who are strict about bedtimes) and eat loads of candy. The plaza near our house is where the temple of Guadalupe is and this is also where all the people were last night. Mexico has a different idea about safety- there are numerous stands of food (mostly sugarcane, meat, hats/gloves, CDs, etc) and the extension cords for electricity are about chest-high for Steve. The carnival rides are also not the safest- there are no barrades or fences- you have to be very careful not to get clipped by the merry-go-round. Since we are currently healthy and our intestinal tracks are happy, we decided not to try any of the food.
Steve's Spanish is getting really good (for only being here 1.5 weeks) and our family is in constant amazement that he understands what they're talking about. It's getting harder to talk about him without him knowing... :) We continue to have long conversations with them around the dinner table. They seem to like us and we certainly like them. They are every bit as crazy as our own families, which makes us feel at home!
That's all for now- Steve and I are heading to the Woolworth's down the street to find some clips for my hair, which is driving me crazy. It's too short to do much with and I haven't been styling it in the morning due to a lack of outlets in our room (we think there's only one) as well as the cost of electricity. We're hoping to visit the Costco and Home Depot in town at a later date... (Our toilet paper is Kirkland brand...another thing that makes us feel at home!)
The kids stay out pretty late (especially for the US parents who are strict about bedtimes) and eat loads of candy. The plaza near our house is where the temple of Guadalupe is and this is also where all the people were last night. Mexico has a different idea about safety- there are numerous stands of food (mostly sugarcane, meat, hats/gloves, CDs, etc) and the extension cords for electricity are about chest-high for Steve. The carnival rides are also not the safest- there are no barrades or fences- you have to be very careful not to get clipped by the merry-go-round. Since we are currently healthy and our intestinal tracks are happy, we decided not to try any of the food.
Steve's Spanish is getting really good (for only being here 1.5 weeks) and our family is in constant amazement that he understands what they're talking about. It's getting harder to talk about him without him knowing... :) We continue to have long conversations with them around the dinner table. They seem to like us and we certainly like them. They are every bit as crazy as our own families, which makes us feel at home!
That's all for now- Steve and I are heading to the Woolworth's down the street to find some clips for my hair, which is driving me crazy. It's too short to do much with and I haven't been styling it in the morning due to a lack of outlets in our room (we think there's only one) as well as the cost of electricity. We're hoping to visit the Costco and Home Depot in town at a later date... (Our toilet paper is Kirkland brand...another thing that makes us feel at home!)
Tal Vez...
The way of speaking in Spanish is full of doubt and lack of responsibility. I find it quite interesting and funny. There are numerous words in Spanish that mean "possibibly" or "maybe" and they're used quite often. If you're asking if something is going to happen or if someone is going to do something it's usually "tal vez", "quizás" or "es posible". It can get quite frustrating if you're dealing with the government or if you're trying to make definite plans. So far, it's only been amusing to us. I'm sure if we were trying to get a visa, etc. we would pull out our hair.
In Spanish, it is also the rule that you don't take responsibility for things that happen by accident. Like, if you drop and break a glass, in Spanish you would say, "el vaso se me cayó" (the glass fell itself from me) or if you forgot something at home you would say, "se me olvidó" (it forgot itself from me). I find this quite funny and enlightening at the same time, especially when thinking about my students...
In Spanish, it is also the rule that you don't take responsibility for things that happen by accident. Like, if you drop and break a glass, in Spanish you would say, "el vaso se me cayó" (the glass fell itself from me) or if you forgot something at home you would say, "se me olvidó" (it forgot itself from me). I find this quite funny and enlightening at the same time, especially when thinking about my students...
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Pictures of Downtown
Until we can figure out how to get images off our camera and onto one of these school computers, here is a snapshot I stole of the downtown square and 400 year old aquaduct. Neato eh?
Diá de Guadalupe
Big happenings around here. Last night was the eve of the big day and there were parades and street vendors (more than usual) and lots of fireworks. The fireworks down here start late in the evening and take a break from about midnight to 4am. Then about 4am they start again to welcome the day. Funny thing about those early morning fireworks: they don't have big bright lights, just a flash of light and smoke. They are more closely related to surface to air missiles (low flying too) than pretty fireworks. But who am I to buck tradition.
Most of the schools for the little ones are closed today, and many of the shops are closed too. Makes traffic a little better and less hazardous for our walks around the city.
We went to the famous dulcé factory last night to see just how great these candies were. They have a little museum that tells the rich history (ja-ja-ja)* of the candy industry here. They are pretty good. Lots of unfamiliar concoctions and most contained a fruit of some sort, but a few that we could recognize and pick out. Chocolate is universal and we stuck to that. Quite good. We have a few more to sample tonight, but so far it has all been great.
*= ha-ha-ha in spanish is ja-ja-ja
We ventured into the bar scene last night, just the two of us and found a sweet little spot just of the main drag. They had a live band ( 1 guy and a guitar) and he was great. One of the chefs from the back came out and joined him and they were great together. They even sung a few songs in broken english. We were running a little short on time so we had to jet a little early from there. Our host family makes dinner for us each evening at 9pm, and we didn't tell here we would be out boozin' it up. I hate for food to go to waste so we headed out. But for a dollar a beer, and two for one drinks, we will be back to that place again for sure.
When we got home, we found 15 60+ year old women finishing up knitting and gossiping about who knows what. If anyone needs convincing this is a close-knit (lots of puns today) and social country, check this out: Alejandra (our host mother) has knitting with friends on Monday, another girls group on Tuesday, and family poker night on Thursdays. Poncho (host dad) isn't quite as social and doesn't do near as much as Alejandra. We snacked on leftovers and let Alejandra rest from her big night.
Time to go home and take a quick rest before our daily feast at 3!
Later all
Steve
Most of the schools for the little ones are closed today, and many of the shops are closed too. Makes traffic a little better and less hazardous for our walks around the city.
We went to the famous dulcé factory last night to see just how great these candies were. They have a little museum that tells the rich history (ja-ja-ja)* of the candy industry here. They are pretty good. Lots of unfamiliar concoctions and most contained a fruit of some sort, but a few that we could recognize and pick out. Chocolate is universal and we stuck to that. Quite good. We have a few more to sample tonight, but so far it has all been great.
*= ha-ha-ha in spanish is ja-ja-ja
We ventured into the bar scene last night, just the two of us and found a sweet little spot just of the main drag. They had a live band ( 1 guy and a guitar) and he was great. One of the chefs from the back came out and joined him and they were great together. They even sung a few songs in broken english. We were running a little short on time so we had to jet a little early from there. Our host family makes dinner for us each evening at 9pm, and we didn't tell here we would be out boozin' it up. I hate for food to go to waste so we headed out. But for a dollar a beer, and two for one drinks, we will be back to that place again for sure.
When we got home, we found 15 60+ year old women finishing up knitting and gossiping about who knows what. If anyone needs convincing this is a close-knit (lots of puns today) and social country, check this out: Alejandra (our host mother) has knitting with friends on Monday, another girls group on Tuesday, and family poker night on Thursdays. Poncho (host dad) isn't quite as social and doesn't do near as much as Alejandra. We snacked on leftovers and let Alejandra rest from her big night.
Time to go home and take a quick rest before our daily feast at 3!
Later all
Steve
Monday, December 11, 2006
La Corrida de Toros
We are back in classes after the weekend. Since the second day of classes, I have been with a group of other students at my same level. Brinda is working on her doctorate at Cal, David is a writer from NY and Geva is from Israel. We just got a new student today from Portland. Steve is still with the same group, although he is now not in the lowest group!
On Saturday, we left for the bull fight with our host mother (Alejandra) at about 3:30. She has a silver Beetle (pronounced Beat'lay) and it was quite fun going out with her. Her family (she is one of 10 siblings) owns much of the city and the bull ring is no exception. She sat in the family box and we sat with a few of her sisters, their kids, and grandkids. We had no idea who anyone was and the grandkids kept staring at Steve- it turned out to be an interesting experience to say the least.
I have seen 2 professional bullfights in Spain- stadiums full of people. This was a bull fight for novices, so there were only about 150 people and we were in the third row. There were six bull fights in all, starting with smaller bulls and less experienced matadors and ending with larger bulls and more experienced 'fighters'. Steve was not aware the bulls ended up dying and I must say, it was much more gruesome in Mexico than in Spain primarily since the matadors weren't as experienced. In Spain, the matador is really good if he only uses his sword once and the bull drops, but in Mexico, the matadors had to use their swords numerous times, pulling it out each time in between. We had a very hard time watching and the sad thing is that you get used to it by the end of the night. People are cheering, drinking (one of the sisters served us a brandy/Pepsi), and eating snacks just like in a football game. Quite the sight to say the least. Alejandra invited us to a professional bull fight this Friday and we haven't yet decided if we are going. It will be much more traditional, but I'm not sure I can sit through it again.
On Saturday night, we stayed up with the family and watched the Teleton, which is a telethon in Mexico that raises money for kids with disabilities. During the telethon, famous people appear such as actors, singers, etc. and perform in order to get people to tune and and donate money. Our family watched nearly the entire telethon, since their son Andres is also disabled. We finally went to bed about midnight and Alejandra refused to go to bed even though she was snoring on the couch beside me for nearly the entire show. She kept saying that she was 'listening'. Quite funny.
On Sunday, Steve and I had breakfast and then went to an apartment of some classmates of Steve. They're from Portland/Bainbridge and are renting an apartment here for 2 months while they attend Spanish classes. We had a good time and Steve loved talking in English! We ended up wandering the streets looking for shoes, which is not too hard to do here since every other store sells shoes. Many of the stores were closed due to it being Sunday, so when my feet started hurting, we left for home.
We came home and watched Gray's Anatomy and several other American shows including Miami Vice, CSI Miami, Law and Order...you get the point- a lot of influence coming from the north. At least Baywatch wasn't on...
Last night, we watched the Mexican version of American Idol. Our family is quite involved in the show and once the live version ended, Alejandra switched the channel to a channel that is delayed 2 hours, so she could see it again. Quite the fan.
Steve is feeling a lot better and I have yet to get sick. Knock on wood. We packed a large first-aid kit just in case, so hopefully we're prepared for whatever comes our way. Tomorrow is El Dia de Guadalupe (Dec. 12) and we've heard it's a big day, but we still don't know much about it. There is a movie about her in the theaters and we're hoping to brave another cab ride to see it.
We're doing a lot of sleeping, walking, eating, and talking with our family. I thought I would surely lose weight due to all the walking we've been doing, but we drink whole milk and eat very well. I don't think they believe in cutting calories even though Ale (Alejandra jr.) is now on a diet and 'drinking' her dinner. Morelia is known for their sweets, which fits into my diet very well.
I think that's about it for now. Our cell phones aren't working, but the school has access to Skype, which is an internet phone system. If you want to talk with us, download the program from www.skype.com and let us know when you'll be online. Our name is: waltherbrooks. Take care and write soon. We'd love to know who is reading our blog, so send us a comment or write us an email at waltherbrooks@gmail.com. We get lonely every once and a while and it's good to know people are thinking of us...
Ciao!
-Jenny
On Saturday, we left for the bull fight with our host mother (Alejandra) at about 3:30. She has a silver Beetle (pronounced Beat'lay) and it was quite fun going out with her. Her family (she is one of 10 siblings) owns much of the city and the bull ring is no exception. She sat in the family box and we sat with a few of her sisters, their kids, and grandkids. We had no idea who anyone was and the grandkids kept staring at Steve- it turned out to be an interesting experience to say the least.
I have seen 2 professional bullfights in Spain- stadiums full of people. This was a bull fight for novices, so there were only about 150 people and we were in the third row. There were six bull fights in all, starting with smaller bulls and less experienced matadors and ending with larger bulls and more experienced 'fighters'. Steve was not aware the bulls ended up dying and I must say, it was much more gruesome in Mexico than in Spain primarily since the matadors weren't as experienced. In Spain, the matador is really good if he only uses his sword once and the bull drops, but in Mexico, the matadors had to use their swords numerous times, pulling it out each time in between. We had a very hard time watching and the sad thing is that you get used to it by the end of the night. People are cheering, drinking (one of the sisters served us a brandy/Pepsi), and eating snacks just like in a football game. Quite the sight to say the least. Alejandra invited us to a professional bull fight this Friday and we haven't yet decided if we are going. It will be much more traditional, but I'm not sure I can sit through it again.
On Saturday night, we stayed up with the family and watched the Teleton, which is a telethon in Mexico that raises money for kids with disabilities. During the telethon, famous people appear such as actors, singers, etc. and perform in order to get people to tune and and donate money. Our family watched nearly the entire telethon, since their son Andres is also disabled. We finally went to bed about midnight and Alejandra refused to go to bed even though she was snoring on the couch beside me for nearly the entire show. She kept saying that she was 'listening'. Quite funny.
On Sunday, Steve and I had breakfast and then went to an apartment of some classmates of Steve. They're from Portland/Bainbridge and are renting an apartment here for 2 months while they attend Spanish classes. We had a good time and Steve loved talking in English! We ended up wandering the streets looking for shoes, which is not too hard to do here since every other store sells shoes. Many of the stores were closed due to it being Sunday, so when my feet started hurting, we left for home.
We came home and watched Gray's Anatomy and several other American shows including Miami Vice, CSI Miami, Law and Order...you get the point- a lot of influence coming from the north. At least Baywatch wasn't on...
Last night, we watched the Mexican version of American Idol. Our family is quite involved in the show and once the live version ended, Alejandra switched the channel to a channel that is delayed 2 hours, so she could see it again. Quite the fan.
Steve is feeling a lot better and I have yet to get sick. Knock on wood. We packed a large first-aid kit just in case, so hopefully we're prepared for whatever comes our way. Tomorrow is El Dia de Guadalupe (Dec. 12) and we've heard it's a big day, but we still don't know much about it. There is a movie about her in the theaters and we're hoping to brave another cab ride to see it.
We're doing a lot of sleeping, walking, eating, and talking with our family. I thought I would surely lose weight due to all the walking we've been doing, but we drink whole milk and eat very well. I don't think they believe in cutting calories even though Ale (Alejandra jr.) is now on a diet and 'drinking' her dinner. Morelia is known for their sweets, which fits into my diet very well.
I think that's about it for now. Our cell phones aren't working, but the school has access to Skype, which is an internet phone system. If you want to talk with us, download the program from www.skype.com and let us know when you'll be online. Our name is: waltherbrooks. Take care and write soon. We'd love to know who is reading our blog, so send us a comment or write us an email at waltherbrooks@gmail.com. We get lonely every once and a while and it's good to know people are thinking of us...
Ciao!
-Jenny
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Wandering
New post with pictures! We wandered around on Saturday before the bull fight and got a little taste of the city.
This is a church just a block from our school. It has a quaint little garden set between rows and rows of stone buildings. A small little refuge for nature.
Picture of a Chieftain in a Cougar shirt in the little garden outside the chapel.
Plenty of room in the steets here. Actually this one does have more room than most of others.
More pictures of the Cathedral during the day.
Quinceanera picture time at the main central foundain in front of the Aquaduct.
This is a church just a block from our school. It has a quaint little garden set between rows and rows of stone buildings. A small little refuge for nature.
Picture of a Chieftain in a Cougar shirt in the little garden outside the chapel.
Plenty of room in the steets here. Actually this one does have more room than most of others. 
More pictures of the Cathedral during the day. 
Quinceanera picture time at the main central foundain in front of the Aquaduct.We made it a week
Whoever had 'Day 5' in the betting pool, wins the big money. That´s right, it only took me 5 days to get sick. Pretty good, eh? On our last trip, it only took me 48 hours. I´m feeling much better now and should be fully ready to watch the (from what I hear, gorry) bullfight this afternoon.
We did a walking tour of the city with one of the teachers on Wednesday night and if it wasn't for him talking in spanish, I would have learned a lot. Kidding, I picked up a lot and learned some of the rich history of the area. Never would have guessed the start of the independent movement in Mexico started right where we are staying. Quite amazing. Lots of old cathedrals and Baroque architecture from many years past. Every plaza in town has something going on for the upcoming holidays; dancing and live bands in some, street vendors and cafes in others.
Our family has invited us to go with them to the bullfight, and we get to ride in their new Seat (brand of car). Evidently it´s quite the rage. Our family was the first one in town to have the coveted Seat and we´ll make sure to take lots of pictures. For those wondering, it will be hard for me to fit in this premium little car. Should be quite a clown show.
We took our first taxi ride last night to the Cinema at the local mall. Holy hell. It's tempting to drive only because of the thrill of almost getting hit every 5 seconds or so. (much like the streets of Napoli, Skipper). Luckily our driver has been on this crash course of a city for a long time and knew which sidewalks he could drive on and how to best avoid cars parked in the passing lane.
We saw "The Good Year" and the dose of English was music to my ears. I found myself reading the Spanish subtitles, but that didn´t last too long. We wandered the mall and found that teenageers in Morelia do many of the same things as teenagers in Seattle. This freightend me, but made Jen feel right at home. Kids roving in groups talking about the other kids roving in groups was just like Northgate.
Nuestra casa (our home): Quite a place. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms and several patios. Even a private drive with a basketball hoop. Not too bad. The bathrooms are just like home, except the water pressure could be a little better. They pump water to a resevoir on the roof of every home, and then it's a gravity feed through the water heater and to the outlets. Not much pressure on our upper floor bathroom. It's been nice having such a comfortable home with enough similarities to not shock us too much.
The weather has been great. It's cool in the mornings, but warms up into the 70s in the afternoon. Perfect weather for wandering the town. We are hoping to plan some excursions out of the city for the next couple weekends. We'll keep you posted...
Just another day in paradise.
We did a walking tour of the city with one of the teachers on Wednesday night and if it wasn't for him talking in spanish, I would have learned a lot. Kidding, I picked up a lot and learned some of the rich history of the area. Never would have guessed the start of the independent movement in Mexico started right where we are staying. Quite amazing. Lots of old cathedrals and Baroque architecture from many years past. Every plaza in town has something going on for the upcoming holidays; dancing and live bands in some, street vendors and cafes in others.
Our family has invited us to go with them to the bullfight, and we get to ride in their new Seat (brand of car). Evidently it´s quite the rage. Our family was the first one in town to have the coveted Seat and we´ll make sure to take lots of pictures. For those wondering, it will be hard for me to fit in this premium little car. Should be quite a clown show.
We took our first taxi ride last night to the Cinema at the local mall. Holy hell. It's tempting to drive only because of the thrill of almost getting hit every 5 seconds or so. (much like the streets of Napoli, Skipper). Luckily our driver has been on this crash course of a city for a long time and knew which sidewalks he could drive on and how to best avoid cars parked in the passing lane.
We saw "The Good Year" and the dose of English was music to my ears. I found myself reading the Spanish subtitles, but that didn´t last too long. We wandered the mall and found that teenageers in Morelia do many of the same things as teenagers in Seattle. This freightend me, but made Jen feel right at home. Kids roving in groups talking about the other kids roving in groups was just like Northgate.
Nuestra casa (our home): Quite a place. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms and several patios. Even a private drive with a basketball hoop. Not too bad. The bathrooms are just like home, except the water pressure could be a little better. They pump water to a resevoir on the roof of every home, and then it's a gravity feed through the water heater and to the outlets. Not much pressure on our upper floor bathroom. It's been nice having such a comfortable home with enough similarities to not shock us too much.
The weather has been great. It's cool in the mornings, but warms up into the 70s in the afternoon. Perfect weather for wandering the town. We are hoping to plan some excursions out of the city for the next couple weekends. We'll keep you posted...
Just another day in paradise.
Friday, December 8, 2006
One week down...
Here is a picture of our new sisters: Alehandra is on the left and our other roommate from Germany Julia is on the right.
We just finished classes for the week. I think both of us have learned a ton this week and are having a hard time keeping all the information straight. It's a bit overwhelming!
Steve has been a bit under the weather for the past 24 hours. He slept a lot yesterday and is a bit doped up on drugs. He dreamt of being kidnapped by McGyver last night if that tells you anything. We hope he starts to feel better soon...being sick is no fun and being sick in a foreign country is even worse!
Today is the celebration of the immaculate conception and there have been firecrackers going off since last night. From our bedroom window, we were able to see the fireworks last night. They even woke us up at 4am- not sure why the immaculate conception makes people want to light fireworks, but oh well...
Through conversations with Alejandra (host mother), we have realized her family is very influencial in Morelia. She is one of 9 siblings and her father was one of 4 brothers- all of them owning a part of Morelia. Her family owns the bull fighting rink and we are hoping to go tomorrow to see one of her nephews. He is a novice, so he will be fighting against smaller bulls, but bulls nonetheless.
We are considering going to a movie tonight or something a bit more cultural. We haven't yet seen much of the city except for a 3-hour tour on Wednesday evening. Morelia has quite a history! We have been quite exhausted at the end of each day and usually spend time in a 'sobremesa', which is a talk around a table. The people here spend a lot of time talking, which is good for our Spanish, but exhausting for our brains!
On the 12th of December, all of Mexico celebrates el dia de la Virgen Guadalupe, who is the patron saint of Mexico. From what we understand, things will be quite crazy. There is a carnival down the street from us and everyone sells cut sugarcane with lime, salt, and chile powder sprinkled on it. It took us a while to learn how to eat it, but we finally figured it out.
I think that's about it for now. We welcome emails!!!
Steve has been a bit under the weather for the past 24 hours. He slept a lot yesterday and is a bit doped up on drugs. He dreamt of being kidnapped by McGyver last night if that tells you anything. We hope he starts to feel better soon...being sick is no fun and being sick in a foreign country is even worse!
Today is the celebration of the immaculate conception and there have been firecrackers going off since last night. From our bedroom window, we were able to see the fireworks last night. They even woke us up at 4am- not sure why the immaculate conception makes people want to light fireworks, but oh well...
Through conversations with Alejandra (host mother), we have realized her family is very influencial in Morelia. She is one of 9 siblings and her father was one of 4 brothers- all of them owning a part of Morelia. Her family owns the bull fighting rink and we are hoping to go tomorrow to see one of her nephews. He is a novice, so he will be fighting against smaller bulls, but bulls nonetheless.
We are considering going to a movie tonight or something a bit more cultural. We haven't yet seen much of the city except for a 3-hour tour on Wednesday evening. Morelia has quite a history! We have been quite exhausted at the end of each day and usually spend time in a 'sobremesa', which is a talk around a table. The people here spend a lot of time talking, which is good for our Spanish, but exhausting for our brains!
On the 12th of December, all of Mexico celebrates el dia de la Virgen Guadalupe, who is the patron saint of Mexico. From what we understand, things will be quite crazy. There is a carnival down the street from us and everyone sells cut sugarcane with lime, salt, and chile powder sprinkled on it. It took us a while to learn how to eat it, but we finally figured it out.
I think that's about it for now. We welcome emails!!!
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Third Day of Class
Well, Steve and I finished our third day of Spanish class today. We start each day at 9am and walk about 20 minutes to school along the city's old aquaduct. It's quite an amazing sight! We have been walking more than usual and it is quite warm here, so my feet are swollen and have many blisters- despite all the Bandaids I've applied. Ugh! It might be a long month of walking. Our family is still great and we're starting to realize they're just as sarcastic as our own families. Figuring out if someone is kidding is much harder in another language- especially for Steve since he's still learning to count.... The house is quite decorated for Christmas and there's even a train that goes around the tree. It's quite weird to be in a city so decorated for the upcoming holidays when it is warm and sunny. Our family consists of Alfonso (Poncho) and Alejandra, who are both about 67. They have 5 grown children- Alejandra (Allay) still lives at home and is 38, Andres studied to be a doctor but was in a horrible accident and is now in a wheelchair (Mexican streets and buildings in general are very unfriendly to people in wheelchairs). Alfonso Jr. lives in southern CA with his wife and 2 kids (his wife is American and was an exchange student in their house) and then there are 2 others we haven't met. There is also a student from S. Germany who lives with us- her name is Julia and she is doing her internship in business here in Morelia. She is quite a kick and doesn't do much except go to the bars with her friends. Alejandra says that Julia has learned more about Morelia in 2 months than Alejandra has learned in her whole life. All in all, life is good. We haven't gotten sick, our luggage arrived yesterday, and we have hot water. What else could you ask for? We fully welcome emails as it is very nice to hear what is going on at home. Take care and we'll try our best to keep writing!
-Jenny
UPDATE: We went on a walking tour of the city with the director of the school. Here are a few pictures of the scenes to be scene:
This is a picture inside the patio (central garden) of the former governor's mansion. Quite an impressive place. It's now used for goverment offices and the governor now lives in a little newer mansion with air conditioning.
This is a close up of the exterior of the Cathedral in the City's main square. It took over 100 years to build and was built to withstand invading armies and/or other invading folk.
This shot is from the west plaza looking back at the Cathedral. The lighting on the towers is absolutely amazing on a clear night, which we had almost every evening.
-Jenny
UPDATE: We went on a walking tour of the city with the director of the school. Here are a few pictures of the scenes to be scene:
This is a picture inside the patio (central garden) of the former governor's mansion. Quite an impressive place. It's now used for goverment offices and the governor now lives in a little newer mansion with air conditioning.
This is a close up of the exterior of the Cathedral in the City's main square. It took over 100 years to build and was built to withstand invading armies and/or other invading folk.
This shot is from the west plaza looking back at the Cathedral. The lighting on the towers is absolutely amazing on a clear night, which we had almost every evening.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Luggage!
Thank the heavens above our clothes came today! Our bags were even locked and nothing had been stolen! I guess that is pretty rare for luggage that rides a bus from Mexico City. It´s nice to have clean clothes and undergarments.
The second day of class went just as fast as the first. Lots of vocab and non stanard verb conjugations that just don´t come up in the construction world. Weird eh?
We are hoping to go on some sort of excursion this weekend. The school has a trip to see the all the butterflies that fly down here each year (I bet their luggage made it ok). Or we may end up staying in town and touring around our new city. Lots to see here and easy to walk around in.
The second day of class went just as fast as the first. Lots of vocab and non stanard verb conjugations that just don´t come up in the construction world. Weird eh?
We are hoping to go on some sort of excursion this weekend. The school has a trip to see the all the butterflies that fly down here each year (I bet their luggage made it ok). Or we may end up staying in town and touring around our new city. Lots to see here and easy to walk around in.
Bags, por fin!
We got news this morning that our bags are on their way by bus. We're hoping to get them today and hope not much is missing, as this seems to be the custom in Mexico :) Today, I am wearing a shirt from another girl in our home (she's a 22-year old from Germany and is quite crazy) and a sweater from Alejandra, the 38-year old daughter of our host parents. I am quite excited to be wearing different clothes, but poor Steve- nothing but swimming trunks and a Steelers shirt. We are doing well and are eating well- even for Steve's standards! We slept better last night, especially since Steve killed the mosquito that has been haunting us and we are finally used to the rooster that starts crowing at 3am.Ciao!
Monday, December 4, 2006
Mi primer dia de la escuela
The first day of school was quite an experience. I failed the placement test, so I was right where I wanted to be: entry level espanol. Three other low-hanging fruit dwellers were with me in class and we all had a good time wading through our four instructors' perfect Spanish. We have four 50 minute classes, one on grammar, one on practical (common sayings), one on verb conjugation, and one on conversation. I have a couple from Baimbridge Island and an architect from Omaha in my class. Very little English in the spanish class. Go figure.
Jen is in a special class all to herself, literally. There wasn´t anyone else at her level, so she had the teachers all to herself. She is moving to a higher level group class tomorrow to get a bit more conversation diversity and a chance to take a break once in a while.
Our orientation tonight took us on a tour of the whole school. Quite nice. There is 25+ classrooms & a computer lab (guess where I am) for all the students to use. A small little cafe serves up snacks & a bunch of rooftop study areas give a nice view while I mix up my "ir" & "er" verbs.
Back to my homework. Once we figure out how to post pictures through these computers, we will most certainly post them.
Still no bags... Let us know if you see them. My bag is black with wheels. Jen's is red with wheels too. Oh, they both have handles and tags that say "Brooks". Very unique.
Hasta luego.
Jen is in a special class all to herself, literally. There wasn´t anyone else at her level, so she had the teachers all to herself. She is moving to a higher level group class tomorrow to get a bit more conversation diversity and a chance to take a break once in a while.
Our orientation tonight took us on a tour of the whole school. Quite nice. There is 25+ classrooms & a computer lab (guess where I am) for all the students to use. A small little cafe serves up snacks & a bunch of rooftop study areas give a nice view while I mix up my "ir" & "er" verbs.
Back to my homework. Once we figure out how to post pictures through these computers, we will most certainly post them.
Still no bags... Let us know if you see them. My bag is black with wheels. Jen's is red with wheels too. Oh, they both have handles and tags that say "Brooks". Very unique.
Hasta luego.
We are in Morelia finally!
Steve and I just finished our first day of classes and we're a bit exhaused. Steve is in the basic level with three other students and I am all by myself- not sure what level. We arrived in Morelia on Saturday night without incident, except that our suitcases didn't make it- I guess the airplane was too heavy or something. So, we're hoping to get our suitcases one of these days and wear something different. Our family has been amazing and washed our clothes for us last night- they're still a bit damp... All in all, life is good and we don't have much to complain about. Our Tums and stomach stuff is in our suitcases, so we hope things don't turn ugly like our last trip to Mexico. So far, so good. We wish you all well and will let you know when we're able to change clothes. For now, all our pictures will be in the clothes we left Seattle in. We love you all! I have't ditched Steve yet for those of you who are wondering... Take care and we'll write again soon. Go Steelers!
-Jenny
-Jenny
Saturday, December 2, 2006
The Night Before
It is the night before we leave for Mexico. It's actually the morning of, but I'm not getting too technical. We are all packed and Steve headed to bed around 1:30. I'm still up working on this last paper for grad school. I can't seem to get it finished! We are getting excited for Morelia, but since we don't know what to expect, it's hard to get too excited. We fly from Seattle to Houston and then on to Morelia. We arrive there at 8:30pm Central time- someone is supposed to meet us at the airport with our name on a sign! I'm sure we'll be a bit exhausted! We are scheduled to arrive back home on December 30th, just in time for New Years. Take care everyone!!
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