Fiesta! Fiesta! Fiesta!

Hola Bloggers!

So an update on what we have been up to this week... after recovering from my my stomach illness it has been semi back to normal.  We have made great advancements in our cooking, two nights ago we made taquitos with tamales de frijoles for the center and last night we made stir fry!!  Last night was also the birthday party for Beverly, the british artist who lives next door to us, Jimmy made a fantastic cake.  We used a box mix for the actual cake part but made our own cream cheese 

frosting, which was difficult because NONE of the grocery stores here sell powdered sugar (azucar glass), literally we went to three stores and they all said they don’t carry it anymore... very odd... but we did finally get some from the hippy down stairs who has everything you could ever

 need for baking. The party was great, we had comida Koreana made by the Korean student down stairs!  We also had live music thanks to one of the local musicians that came! 

Recently we have also celebrated the opening of the flowers, our land lord Augustine loves to garden and has two different kinds of flowers that bloom for only one night every year and two nights ago 

happened to be that night!  WIth the typical mix of people who only speak only spanish, only speak english, and a few who speak both, we had 

a nice little fiesta in the downstairs kitchen!  

We haven’t been down to the Zocalo as much recently mostly because it has been too hot to walk all the way there and also because the teachers have once again taken over.  Because of their strike, which has happened every year for the last twenty five years, the Zocalo has been effectually turned into a squatters camp with little booths selling beads, pirated dvd’s, and communist propaganda (needless to say the Italian communist journalist that lives down stairs is beside himself with excitement... apparently the revolution is now).  Fortunately it is not expected to get anywhere near as violent as when Jimmy was last here (that was because of extremely shady elections that happened at the same time), this 

year people are more concerned with who Cruz Azul will be playing in their next football match. We did make one trip down recently when I requested Burger King... gross I know, I was just dying for something that tasted like home and that was our best option!  

The most exciting thing that has happened in the last few days is that we have finally purchased our tickets to Nicaragua!  We will be leaving on June 4th and coming home June 7th... a very short trip but from what we have read, beyond the factory we are visiting for Jimmy’s water purification business, we won’t really be missing much of Managua. However,  I have been scouring the Fromer’s and Lonely Planets online and have found that a guided hike up the dormant volcano is something we should do, so hopefully we will have time!

Other than that life has been pretty normal, we are constantly being entertained by Luke, who has developed a great affection to a blanket we now call Shirley Tassels because it is his novia (girlfriend). When he gets too annoying or starts to hump one of us we say “Luke, donde esta tu novia?” and he runs to find her and then brings her back to the middle of the kitchen so he can hump her.... what a strange little dog.

That is all for now!  Blog again soon!

Adios!!

Luke, he is six months now and a beast!

Hola!

So we are back in Mexico, as most of you know other wise you wouldn't be reading my blog... and things are great!  We had a fairly uneventful trip down, we had a small snag getting our visas which involved us having to clear security twice, both times I of course set off the sensor... but beyond that Avolar treated us well!  The only other snag has been that I have had a horrible stomach flu for the last 24 hours but things are getting better now, Jimmy was nice enough to be my nurse and make me rice (which is the only thing I have been able to keep down).  Tomorrow I have an interview at Maple, the english emersion school, so cross your fingers!!  Beyond that there is nothing really that exciting to report... Luke the puppy who lives here is HUGE and totally remembered me and of course Jimmy!  I'll post again when there is more news! 

Adios!

Monte Alban

Hola!
Yesterday was quite a day, after some what reluctantly waking up early Jimmy and I made our way down to the Zocalo (sp?) to buy tickets for our trip to Monte Alban, the pre-Columbian archaeological site about twenty minutes outside the city, although before we purchased our tickets we went on a wild goose chase to find a panneria, which we did but only after we had resigned ourselves to the fact that our breakfast would be a shared Cliff bar. Once breakfast was secured we braved the curvy bus ride up to he site, which was amazing. Because Wikipedia can do a better job of explaining the historical significance please enjoy this small excerpt, "Besides being one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica, Monte Albán's importance stems also from its role as the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center for close to a thousand years." The hike from the where the bus dropped us off was a little steep but very worth it in the end, the views from the top were breathtaking. One one side of Monte Alban Oaxaca streached out for miles until it hit the mountains on the other side of the valley, on the other side of Monte Alban the valley is virtually untouched besides a few small clusters of homes. This picture to the right is the view from the Oaxaca side, also please note Jimmy's new "typical Oaxacan hat" he got right before we got on the bus from a very small woman to which he said (in Spanish) when asked if he wanted a hat, "my problem is my head is very large." Now while you may not find this very amusing on it's own, imagine someone walking up to you and saying the same thing in broken English, beyond funny. Anyway, after having this picture taken Jimmy then excitedly showed me the Death Ball arena we have all hard so much about. Honestly it was much narrower than I had imagined but I think that makes it all the more frightening. For those of you who don't know, Death ball was played once a year when all of the stele (which are in this case large stone columns used to tell time and the cycle of the sun's orbit) located around the temple align. According to Jim, it was kind of like Lacross but instead of a ball they used an animal, and the game was played to the death and then one of the players was sacrificed to the gods. While this sounds interesting, lets us all remember that Jim Bialick is my source of information on this aspect of Monte Alban, thus he may have been less than truthful with me as he was with the whole origins of the name of the Dodgers. Anyway, after Death Ball we climbed millions stares; at the top of one of the structures we found this particularly beautiful sight(Please note the picture to the right). While I missed it at first, Jimmy was keen enough to clue me and and steal my camera to document such a important sight for me. After about two and a half hours of exploring the sun began to wear on us, and we decided that it would be a good time to leave and try one of he famous Tuna flavored ice things I had heard so much about then head back to town to buy tickets for the opening day of Baseball that Pro Mexico is taking all of the students to tomorrow (and yes I did say Tuna, but no not the fish, apparently there is a berry here that is also called Tuna and makes a mean icy)! Then after some much needed rest and play time we went to dinner in town and made a little friend named Ana, who drew us a lovely picture for 15 Pesos (pictures will have to follow later because they are on Jim's camera and he is at work right now). Alright I think that is enough for now, I will include some more pictures at the end of this per my Mommy's request (and Mom in the picture in the Header I am standing in front of the largest Church in Oaxaca, I haven't been able to go in yet because they are setting up for Saints Week events but I will take lots of pictures when I do)! Adios!



This is Jimmy with the AMAZING corn sold by the street venders, it has a little bit of mayo, cheese, chili powder, salt, and lime. To die for. (He is blushing because I made him take the picture in front of too many people apparently and he didn't want to look like a tourist, I then reminded him that he is about twice the hight of most of the people and about 12 shades lighter, he can never not look like a tourist!)

Jimmy looking very majestic on top of one of he structures at Monte Alban.
Me with the man who sold me a small figurine at Monte Alban.
















Me in town at night with the corn and the lovely flowers Jimmy bought me when we were out to dinner for our one year anniversary!


This is our street in Xochimilco a small town three minutes from down town. Th e blue tent in the picture is the fruit stand we buy all of our produce from..... it is sooooooooooo good here, it doesn't look that pretty but it the best fruit and veggies I have ever had.

Out and About

Hola!
Today I went out and about on the town while Jimmy was at work! First I walked from our apartment down to the city center, taking small detours along the way to see an art gallery and a few touristy shops. When I reached the square I ate at a small side walk cafe and had my usual travel meal of a ham and cheese sandwich and a diet coke, which I now know how to order in French, Spanish, and English (which isn't that impressive because it is the same in French and Spanish)! Because it is 457034562302975 degrees here in Oaxaca I stayed in the shade as long as possible writing prompts in my journal and talking to the waiter who happened to be from Long Beach. I also made friends with a little boy who wanted to sell me gum but ended up singing to me in exchange for the french fries that came with my sandwich. After I could no longer stand the constant attack of the bees that wanted my soda, I made my way down to the large indoor market that Jimmy took me to two days ago, and don't worry I successfully gestured my way through several transactions and am now the proud owner of a crazy purse (with zippers so Jimmy doesn't have to carry all of my stuff when we go out), several pieces of local bead work, and Marion's birthday present (which is on Friday Mom and Dad)! Since I had the keys and no idea when Jim would be coming home from his trip with the George Washington group to the dump I decided to cut my shopping short so that Jim would not be locked out if he had in fact returned, which he hadn't. So now I will relax and play with Luke until dinner after which hopefully we will go to the English bookstore because I am in desperate need of something to read since I finished the one novel I brought on the plane ride down here! Ok Bloggers that is enough for now! Until next time! Adios!

Mexico!

Hello Bloggers!
I have created a blog because Jimmy didn't want to share his! So I have now been in Mexico for three days and it has been wonderful! Health wise I have semi-recovered from my cold that I had before I left and have only suffered from minor dehydration since!!! Getting here was an interesting series of events, including but not limited to: being told (in Spanish) to get off my plane in Mexico City and go through customs, which rivaled the wonderfully-confusing experience I had in Beijing! Other than that the trip has been pretty uneventful thus far; besides Jimmy and I manging to get a cab driver who tried to pick us up arrested because apparently what he did was very illegal!

The apartment is great! It is in this compound sort of thing with about ten or fifteen places ranging from single rooms to full apartments. The landlord Augustine is very nice; our communication is a little strained since neither of us speak the others language but we are managing with hand gestures and lots or pointing to things! The other people that live here include: a hippie trying to work for a Human Rights group, a fellow creative writing major who is taking a semester off to work on her portfolio, a communist journalist from Italy who speaks a million languages, and Augustine's two children. One of his kids teaches Salsa lessons in English (I have already arranged for lessons for Jimmy and me)!

Oh and the most important of all of the residents is Luke, a Yellow Lab mix that Augustine has just adopted! He is totally adorable and loves to hang out with Jimmy and me; although when we get mad at him for humping or peeing in the shower he pouts and will leave us alone for like a half an hour until we have learned out lesson.

Tonight we are going to walk around town and look at all of the festivities. Since it is "All Saints Week" there has been a lot to see and do all over town. I will post more tomorrow since I will be on my own for a few hours while Jimmy goes to the dump for work (something about water purification) so I will include more pictures and more details then! Ok Love you!

PS. Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!!




Jimmy wearing my sun hat with the brim turned up trying to make me feel better when I thought I was going to die at lunch the day I was dehydrated!