November 12, 2008
At last I got into my blog...guess you thought this blog thing was all a fake idea! Kristen and I are settled in our very comfortable apt. in SMA, Mex and have 3 days of Spanish school under our belt..We think we are doing pretty well until we go into a store and ask for a tea kettle or a Spanish game of scrabble (yes, they do exist), or try to get directions somewhere. Today, we began teaching English one on one to students that come to the library...after our first teaching experience some older kids approached us and asked if we would come to their class tomorrow for an hour of English conversation!! We will have to take the local bus for about 20 min to get there....so will see how that excursion and experience goes....welcome the opportunity to speak our native language!
The experience that has dominated our every day is our time at the travel agent trying to work out this next leg of our journey----muy complicado!! We should just move in there with the agent and his one helper. The agent swears he will meet us at the office at 12:30, 6:00, 2:00, etc, but only his assistant is there...luckily she speaks some English....she types, types, types onto the keyboard and we look, look, look...wait,wait, wait...for some explanation of what is happening..which is apparently not much. So, now we have a 6pm appt. with Antonio, the agent, with great hopes for leaving there with tickets in hand!!
The other outstanding event of this week was going to the pilgrimage to San Martin--this village has the church of San Martin---who is the patron saint of horses....riders come from thruout this region of Mexico to be blessed by the priest...they ride right up to the door of the little church for the holy water blessing....but that is only a minor part of what is going on ....This event is a combination flea market, state fair, carnival, and huge campout....There must have been over 1,000 people there selling everything imaginable: birds in cages, pots, hammocks, agave cactus, fruit, piggy banks, bras, toy horses, toilet paper, many animal parts, blankets...and you could ride a ferris wheel or miniature twin donkeys or a large white Brahma bull.....On relection, this is likely much like pilgrimages of yore....people selling things the pilgrims needed plus just taking advantage of the situation.....
Must go see Antonio...have high hopes for success this time!!
Hasta luego...karen