Nearly home

June 29th, 2008

Whittier, California

Pictures:  Maya in the pool with Rachel;  Kalin in her favorite activity where ever we are in the world.

Good:  We are almost home!  

Bad: While Mexicana had our reservation-they did not have a record of our ticket!  In order to get on the flight I had to buy us new tickets-to the tune of $1,300- and hope to get a refund.  It was stressful, but I saw it as an opportunity to show the girls grace under pressure.

Surprising:  How quickly one can transition from one place to another.

Hierve el Agua

June 27th, 2008

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

Pictures:  From Hierve el Agua (mineral spring that formed an unusual 'frozen' waterfall with deposits over centuries)

Good:  Hierve el Agua was stunning.  Just magnificent.  The pictures do not do it justice. Jamie, Maya and I are so glad we invested the time, money, and anxiety to get there.  We wished we had longer there.  Maybe next time we will try to stay in the 'cabins'.

Bad:  It was the 'Indian Jones ' ride on the way there, though without the security of a track. Our driver was quite careful, but the slippery gravel and the quality of the breaks left me nervous.  Part way through I hoped that Kalin would know what to do if we never returned.

Surprising:  After the springs we were handed over to a different driver in the town of Mitla. i was relieved to see a brand new van, but it turns out that a new van gave us the opportunity to experience "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" on the way home.  This driver did not meet a car, truck or motorcycle that he did not want to pass.

Mañana is our last full day here!

Monte Alban

June 26th, 2008

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

Pictures:  From Monte Alban

Good:  It was so beautiful and peaceful up in the mountains.  We had a lovely afternoon exploring ruins, taking pictures, playing cards, and enjoying the stunning views.

Bad:  The good news is I am having trouble thinking of a bad!  The only slightly bad thing is trying to figure out how much money to have in pesos to get us back to Whittier.  Not a a bad bad as life goes.

Surprising:  I want to send a box of things straight to Berkeley.  The box that I bought at the "Pak Mail" store was a used solvent box.  I was happy at the price and glad to be re-using a box rather than getting a new one.

Scorpions-oh my!

June 25, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

Pics:  Scorpion mescal, fabulous murals.

Good:  We had a great outing to the murals behind the baseball stadium.  Interactive art.

Bad:  We miss Rinda : ( .   One more week!

Surprising:  Scorpions!  I went to a bar (boy has that happened a lot more here than at home) and as we were leaving the bartender offered us the end of the jar of scorpion mescal.   The scorpion poison makes it all the stronger.  One of my fellow drinkers had quite a bit and was regretting it within 15 minutes.  I just had a sip-in my fine tradition of trying a little of most anything.

Chapulines

June 23, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

Pictures:  Loveduck tries some chapulines (grasshoppers), the biggest tree in the western hemisphere (in Tule, not that I had a tape measurer), and yes, it is still raining unexpectedly from time to time!

Good:  Yesterday we had a fun adventure, complete with two (yes, two) trips to nowhere.  We went to Tlacalula where they hold a large Sunday Market.  From there we wanted to go to Yagul ( some ruins), but apparently there is a suburb called Yagul as well, with tract housing (Oaxacan style) and all.  So we returned to Tlacalula, gave up on the Yagul thing for fear that it would rain once we got there, and headed "straight" to the largest tree in the Western Hemisphere.  Well, we took a bus in the entirely wrong direction.  Good thing it only cost us 3 pesos each way ($.30 usd) on that wild goose chase.  Tule, the town with the ginormous tree, was actually a lovely place to visit.  And then we got to return to Oaxaca Ciudad in a colectivo (a group taxi).  I got the honor of sitting in the middle of the front-not that there was a bench.  I had a little cushion that was placed between the two seats, just behind the stick shift.  It was a great opportunity to give Kalin some driving pointers.

Bad:  Maya woke up with stomach cramps.  Once again I am grateful for Cipro!  One dose and she is a happy camper again.

Surprising:  The chaplines were not that big of a deal to eat.  I was prepared for something very foreign to my pallet.  They were a bit like eating really salty bits of cereal-maybe puffed rice.  I expected super crunchy.

Surprising:  

Hasta nunca.

June 21, 2008

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

Pictures:  the view from our roof;  skeletons from an art gallery;  

Good:  Last day of Spanish classes were yesterday.

Bad: Last day of Spanish classes were yesterday.

Surprising:  I am surprised at how sad I was to say good-bye to our spanish teachers. 

Learning a language from someone, struggling to share our life stories in simplified Spanish, is an amazingly intimate experience.  As I face more good-byes, quite likely forever with most of the people,  I realize once again how wonderful and horrible it is for me to have connections with people scattered around the world.  I am not very good with this 'hasta nunca' thing.  So we pretend it is not 'until never', but most likely it will be.  

Rite of Passage

June 18, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

Good:  The pictures and stories from California about gender neutral marriage licenses.  It sounds like it was a lot of fun.  Rinda and I are going to do fill in our forms on July 6th-our wedding day.  It is going to be extremely low key.  While we are thrilled to get a marriage license, our real wedding was in 1991.

Bad:  I feel badly for Jamie.  There is a way in which Kalin, Maya and I are just done with this traveling thing.  This is a our last week of Spanish Classes, so next week we will do more site seeing.  I imagine we would have felt this way during our last two weeks regardless of where we were or what we were doing.  The enthusiasm I had early on ("We're on a big trip" ) has vanished ("Only two more weeks").  I remind myself that in other circumstances a two week trip would be long.

Surprising:  Driver's education!  Jamie reminded us that now is the time. She has driver's ed when she returns.  In checking out our options for Kalin, I signed her up for an online course that comes from a school in Berkeley.  Can she really be that old (yep, August 2nd she can get her permit!)?  Can I really be that old (yep, just look in the mirror).

Bella it is!

June 16th, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

No photos : ( .  We need to bring the camera with us more often.

Good:  The teachers strike is over!  That means the Zocalo is a lovely place to hang around again.  It was so nice to go there in the evening for some sushi (special treat) and actually enjoy walking through it.  We spent a lot of time debating who was and who wasn't a lesbian couple.

Bad:  I (We) still miss Rinda.  She has a number of application in so it does not make sense for her to return.  

Surprising:  Hannah Eller-Isaacs is the winner of our contest. Her major prize is.... a free bed (okay, not so free, she has to share it with Maya) every time she visits us!  Plus the satisfaction of knowing how clever she is.  Bella it is.  We all had the name Bella on our respective lists-just not at the very top.  Somehow seeing it on Hannah's suggested made it break through the finish line.

This is our last week with Spanish classes.  The girls are very happy being in class without me (can you imagine that I take up too much space?!?!).  So I will continue being alone with a teacher most of the time.  It is much more intense, but I learn a lot.  I'm less frustrated with the whole thing-who knows why.  The girls love class without me because they mostly play games like taboo and pictionary.  Very few lectures on grammar for that set.  As for me, I am trying to master the 'objecto indirecto' and the 'objecto directo'.   Think I have them down in English.  Now to actually start using them in Spanish.

Name that puppy!

June 13th, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

Picture:  puppy x at 1 week.  okay, so this is our new dog and we cannot seem to find the right name.  it was so easy with bailey.  oh well.  we hope our greater community can help us with this task.  email all suggestions.  a personalized, carefully selected prize goes to the winner.

Good:  The weather is perfecto!  Warm days, storms in the evening, cool nights.  I cannot ask for better.  But I won't count on it lasting.

Bad:  We won't be in California on June 17th.  It would have been fun to be at ground zero on the day marriage licenses became gender neutral.

Surprising:  This is a theory made out of whole cloth so take it for what it is worth.  One of my fellow Americans was complaining about being ripped off here.  She thinks they are charging us too much.  I suggested that people from the US expected prices to be less here so feel cheated when we pay US prices for things.  And people here are used to tourists pretty happily paying higher prices for things than Oaxacans.  The system worked so long as the prices in the two places were so discrepant.  But now that the Oaxacans pay nearly what we pay for food, clothing etc.  we (Americans) won't happily pay more that the Oaxacans pay.  The only exception seems to be rent.  I am happily paying $700 (usd) for renting a 3 bedroom apartment.  My teachers here think I am being over charged.  But for me,  $700 for rent for the month is very reasonable.  So I happily pay that amount even though I know a Oaxacanian would only pay $500(usd) or so.  But clothes.  OMG.  They want way more than I am willing to pay.    I imagine this is the global economy at work.  I just do not know how it plays out.

Jamie is here!

June 11th 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

Pictures: Jamie, Kalin and Maya busy at 'work' (hah!);  Jamie eats her first ever crepe-nutella, of course;  one picture with Mona-from the museum (jamie is in the middle;  mona is on the right).

Jamie ( my brother's daughter) arrived on Saturday (along with her mom, Mona) .  We were so busy when Mona was here that I did not get a chance to post. It is great having Jamie here.  She was a little shell shocked at first, but I think she as adjust very well.  She pulls her weight around the house and it is nice to have more energy around the house.

Good:  Dancing!  I signed up for salsa lessons and got some other dances thrown in.  I can go every day for two weeks.  It was great to get out of the house in the evening and move around.

Bad:  I have the strangest combination of being lonely and being desperate for more alone time.  Very strange.  Mostly I think I just miss Rinda.

Surprising:  I cried in class today.  Full on tears, though they never actually flowed down my cheeks.  It was over the direct object and indirect object.  Strange.  Boy, this is humbling!

Hola from Berkeley!

Hello All - I thought I should add a note from El Norte!  I've been in Berkeley for two weeks now.  I came back initially for a job interview, but unfortunately did not get that job.   So now I'm in full job search mode, applying for several jobs around the Bay Area.  I really want to work in Berkeley, but have to be realistic.  The economy means that there are fewer jobs available than usual, so I'm expanding my parameters.  I'm accepting all wishes of luck, job leads, interviewing advice and any other positive stuff my way!

Our house is rented through June, so I'm relying on the kindness of my Woolsey neighbors for all the necessities of life.  I have been sleeping in Woolsley School or with Nico the 5-month old in order to give his parents a break.  As of tonight the guest room is free, so I'll have 4 walls and a door to call my own.  That will be nice.  I'm also back in the cooking rotation and as a bonus am able to spend more time than I ever have with the kids around here, Nico, Julia and Grace.  I'm loving that.  I'm also grateful to the many friends who have offered walks, coffee, guest rooms, dinner, advice and good ideas.  

I'm volunteering at both Berkeley High and Willard Middle, something else I'm not usually able to do much.  I can't believe how nice it feels to be spending time around teachers and kids doing school stuff, even if it is just packing AV equipment, moving books, or cleaning up after a dance.  Makes me know I'm in the right field.

I miss Kalin, Maya and Laila terribly.  We talk or email every day, but of course it's not the same.  I REALLY hope to be able to spend the last week with them, but probably won't be able to do that until a job is secured.  So do wish me luck!

Rinda

Nuestra casa nueva

June 4, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

The view from our front door, Maya makes tortillas, pictures from the teacher strike in the Zocalo.

Good:  We really like our new house and neighborhood.   It is a little more residential, though still very urban.  Each morning we have a nice (to me) 20 minute walk to the meeting spot for caravanning to school-Amigos del Sol.  The school used to be in Centro, but after the violence in 2006, they moved to the north part of town.   There are still social and financial repercussions from then. 

Bad:  Rinda did not get the first job she applied for, so she will be staying in Berkeley to put in for more positions.  We are doing just fine without her, BUT WE MISS HER!!

Surprising:  Yesterday, we learned that one of our Spanish teacher had a badger when he was a kid.  He even slept with it sometimes.  We were shocked when we translate the word he told us in spanish.

Good-Bye Bailey

June 2, 2008

Oaxaca, Mexico

Pictures:  "Dinah" and "Dinah" with her littermates.

Bad:  Yesterday 'our' new puppy died.  She was very small when she died and we think she may have been so premature that she was not viable.  It was a stressful weekend as we watched for news from Stacy, our breeder.  On Sunday afternoon, Bailey died in Stacy's hand.  We cried a lot over a puppy that we never met.

Good:  Stacy has another black, tri-colored female that we can adopt.  They call her Dinah.  we have not yet selected a name.  So we will still have a new puppy this year.  The other good news is that we moved into our new apartment:  three bedrooms-wahoo!  It is amazing to have so much room again.

Surprising:  I went out dancing on Saturday night.  It was so much fun.  I got to bring a young thing from Glendora to her first gay bar.