Corn, Tortillas and More

Things are going very well for me here in Oaxaca. Today I am in the city trying to buy computer and English instruction software for my community! We´ve decided to work on having lessons for both subjects and buy the software to have more instruction after we leave. I don´t know how I really feel about teaching English, but the computer lessons should prove useful to "el gente".

The community itself is awesome. Everyone is excited that we are there and ready to get projects rolling. The community is SMALL but spread out so it works out quite well. Our host family is amazing and the food is good! No moles yet though . . . however on Sunday we are going to slaughter the turkey (I won´t be doing that part) and making a mole dish. Should be awesome!

I have done so many random things in the past week it is crazy! I will have to tell about everything another time for I need to leave the city and head back to my host community.

Cheers! And drop me a line!

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

So I got to Mexico alright and am in training to become an amaranth expert! Today, I found out that I will be in a SMALL mountainous town of only 200 people, Loma Larga (Long Hill). There will be no running water but there is electricity and even a computer lab (no internet though)! The views are supposed to be amazing. I will make sure to take pictures and post them when I am back in here in Oxaca City.

The city is pretty amazing. Right now we can´t go out and really explore the center and the market because there is a protest by the teacher´s union. Apparently the police were sent in to quell a riot and the teachers pushed them back by force (and a few people were supposedly killed). So that is a bummer because the market is supposed to be AMAZING! Oh well, maybe later in the trip . . .

The church we are staying at is very cool. It has two inner courtyards, and last night, at 1 AM, a market suddenly began to be constructed. The food we got there during the next day was awesome. Lots and lot of meat; maybe I will actually gain some weight on this trip ;)

Out Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Today is my last day here at home. In a couple of hours I fly out to Houston and then México City to start my grand adventure! The last few days have been filled with all kinds of random errands and chores; cleaning the basement, storing all my things aways, packing, buying random things for México, watering plants, etc. My entire family has been out of town the last few days so I've had the house all to my lonesome self. It is kind of weird that no one is here to see me off; I am used to so many people being around here.

If anyone is interested in visiting México in the fall, let me know! Let's work something out!!!

To the left is a picture of me in my Amigos de las Américas shirt holding a bowl of amaranth flour I ground myself (with a coffee grinder!).

REMEMBER: I should be updating this blog while in México. So if you are curious what kind of trouble I am getting into (and I am bound to get into some), check this website :)

World Cup Pandemonium

The World Cup has started, and even though the United States team still doesn't seem to have it together, things seem different this time around. People actually give a shit seemingly more than ever. For the first time I know of, the newspapers are daily full of articles about soccer more than any other sports. And all this when both the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup are going on.

Since Salt Lake City got a professional MLS soccer team, Real Salt Lake (a la Real Madrid), the Utah media has leapt on every opportunity to report everything and anything about the team. Such and such sprained an ankle, another guy is starting a clothing business, Jason Kreis is old 'but still going strong', etc. Almost everyday's sport section has a front page article on Real Salt Lake.

Does all this media attention really signify a change in the psyche of the American people? I think it does. A number of friends have pledged they would be at the bar at 7 AM (the bar is opening early just for the games) to have the earliest shots of liquor in their lives. And today, in between observing surgeries in which two people were having there entire large intestine removed, the doctors were in the lounge . . . watching and commenting on the the USA vs. Czech Republic game. Granted, a number of the docs knew little of the rules, but they seemed genuinely interested. They were excited and sighing at every close opportunity and mistake. Too bad the US lost and still sucks at the international level . . . just like our foreign policy, we have a bit of a wrongly placed superiority complex.

I think soccer is finally approaching the prominence it enjoys in most of the world. Almost every kid plays the game as a kid, and the sport is finally beginning to catch on as my generation is reaching adulthood.

See the Snake in the Grass?

My dog Jip is not the smartest one out there. Anything that moves interests her, including snakes. Today when I took her and our other dog Buck on a walk, Jip decided to sneak off and investigate a slithering reptile around the corner. Needless, to say, when I saw her I kinda freaked out. I tried to call her but she wouldn't come. Finally I tied her to a tree for her own good and continued to throw a tennis ball for Buck (who, when on walks, ONLY pays attention to the ball). When we got back to the house, I checked out the Utah DNR website and found out the snake was just a gophersnake, not anything poisonous. But . . . in the past Jip has chased rattlesnakes around. Let's just say that she is not a wild dog; artificial selection hasn't worked in her favor.

Pepto-Bismol = My New Best Friend

So I have already gotten sick, and I am not even in Mexico yet! WTF! If you ever get the choice between an oral or shot vaccine, go with the shot. I just finished a 7 day round of a typhoid vaccine, and let's just say my stomach and intestines have not been likely me. I had cramps the entire time! I guess it should just prepare me for how sick I will get in Mexico :) And if I had to choose between typhoid fever and some annoying cramps, I think I would choose cramps any day . . .

On the good news side of things, I got to go skiing one last time this year! It was 20 degrees without wild chill and there was 5 inches of snow up in the mountains. Down here in the valley, it actually dropped down into the 30's for a day. Crazy weather. That's Utah I guess, crazy in SO many ways