Compilation :)

Top Pics: Children at Resplendor

Pics Below: Renee and Peter at their home

So Much to Write About-So Little Time

I am including a couple of topics. So much has happened since I last sat down to write. It is a busy time now. I have five classes this week, get out around 2, eat at 2:30, take a brief siesta, then prepare to teach the children before we leave around 5. Today, a young woman from Quebec will be joining us. Her younger sister has been attending classes with me. The older just flew in today. They have expressed interest in helping teach at Resplendor. We will all meet Jacquie today at OXCO, to be picked up around 5. We will be there until classes are over at 8 pm. Then, they will take us back to Academia. My first class is at 8:30 am. Usually I have been awakening early to study. As usual I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew. My reason for being here is to increase my Spanish skills and hopefully have a little free time in the process. The volunteering opportunity arose, one in which we had not known of prior to coming. Had I known, I would have brought some speech therapy materials, books, etc...Since I do not have those things, I am spending time developing activities. Once I arrive at the school and am adequately prepared, I do enjoy it. We go every Mon., Tues., and Thurs. Tues., I brought a Mexican memory game I purchased and then printed the English words on index cards. The children enjoyed finding the matches and learning the English words. We then did some additional vocabulary activities. I taught them body parts/directions prior to doing the hokey pokey. Later, I had a private speech therapy session with a young boy. It was all very rewarding. Children and parents were very appreciative. I guess that's what keeps me going. One parent came up to me to practice her newly acquired sentence: "It is very cloudy today." I complimented her and replied, "Yes, it is going to rain." Of course, she then immediately wrote down that sentence to learn. What a wonderful lust for learning! Man if we had a tenth of that in the states, right teachers? :) However, I must admit that if the two young women enjoy working with the children, I may back out a bit and serve more on a consultation basis. Curtis is taking fewer classes and having more time to enjoy class preparation, etc...He is great with the older boys. We are trying to make everything functional. The boys are learning names for farming equipment, car parts, etc... Of course, Curtis certainly has the background re: farming vocabulary. :)

Another topic:....Last night we had a very enjoyable evening. We had been invited to the home of a couple we met at "The Gringo Group." They were staying in one of their vacation homes, which happens to be here in Valenciana, very close to Guanajuato-phenomenal views of the city. The home was built by their now deceased parents, about 40 years ago, and is now shared amongst the siblings. The home was designed by a very famous Mexican architect from Mexico City. It was very Mexicana:boveda ceilings, lots of Mexican tiles, paintings, furniture, rugs, etc.... -beautiful! On the outside of the home was an original sculpture by Gene Byron, of the Gene Byron museum here. Peter and Renee are from Toronto, where he is a physician and she a high school principal. We spent about two and a half hours chatting and enjoying the wonderful views from the mountain of Guanajuato in lights. How kind of them to invite us to their lovely home!

Above are pics of Peter and Renee at their home and some of the children from Resplendor.

Third topic: Teachers/Classes
Teachers: If you have read my blogs at all, you know how much I love the school and teachers here. I want to share two examples of why, both which happened today. Magda has taught Curtis and me in the past. I currently have a conversation class with her. I had mentioned to her that we were looking for a specific t-shirt. She told me her sister who lives in Irapauto would look. Today, she told me that her sister had found the shirts we couldn't find here. She was asking our sizes, colors we wanted, etc...We have made plans to meet her sister. How thoughtful!

Another great teacher here is Eva. She teaches me my private Spanish lessons. Today she invited us to her home next Sat. for breakfast. She is a young, single woman engaged to a man in France. Eva studied there last year. How sweet of her to want to invite us to her home!

Gotta take a pic of our good looking dance teacher before we go too. :) He,(Emmanuel) also is a great, positive teacher who has made our private dance class lots of fun!

Classes: This week I have continued Latin Literature, dance, a special grammar class, conversation class, and my private instruction. I truly have enjoyed all of them. I must not forget to mention Carlos. He is a graduate of Univ. of Mexico and has actually attended lectures by the famous writers we have studied. Latin literature is obviously his love. He knows so much. I am getting a great education: Catalina en musica, Carlos en literatura, Emmanuel en baile....not to mention increasing my skills in the language. Tengo mucho amor por mis amigos en los estados unidos y en Mexico tambien.

Update: Just returned from Resplendor. When I try to talk myself into a less active role, I begin to question it after an evening there. The children were so good and so eager to learn. They listened as I read an Eng. book to them, first telling them the Spanish sentence equivalent prior to reading the printed Eng. sentence. Then, we reviewed the English word, providing the Spanish palabra. The children then made up sentences in Spanish using the Spanish palabra and later after I modeled the English equivalent version, they would repeat the English sentence. They also enjoyed the review of the Spanish/English memory card game I made. We then went outside and played luz rojo, luz verde/red light, green light and discussed los semaforos-traffic lights. You know, I don't think I have even seen any here in Guanajuato. :) Of course, the stop signs only mean slow down and look, here. :)

After my session with the group of children, I changed hats from Eng. teacher to speech pathologist and worked with a deaf boy and his sister who is also very hard of hearing, on Mexican sign language. As previously stated, all the children are so eager to learn. Dominique, the young woman from Quebec, is delightful. Glad she arrived to help with the kids. Curtis's group of boys enjoyed learning/seeing the different parts of the pick-up truck Jacquie drives. Curtis asked her if we could pop the hood tonight. Of course, it is now 10:30 pm. and I haven't done my own homework for tomorrow. I will arise early to do so. Buenas Noches, Joy

Fri. night-check out Curtis's blog/Resplendor

1st pic: school at Resplendor where Eng. classes and art classes are taught. Equine therapy is also provided.

2nd pic: mural painted by Mexico City artist, on the wall at Resplendor

I want to begin my blog by suggesting you first check the blog Curtis wrote yesterday re: Fri. night: http://www.cwcary.blogspot.com/ It was truly a special evening. He has lots of good pics.

My blog will pick up where he left off, re: the remainder of the weekend. After having had a really fun evening Fri. with Alma and Arturo, we began the 2nd part of our weekend around 4:00 pm. Sat. We were picked up at the school by Jacquie, the woman Curtis mentioned in his blog. She took us to Cajones, a "currently" rural farming area, near the city. We were invited to see Resplendor, the school currently being built there in conjuntion with the Univ. of Arizona, and also Jacquie and Don's home and land close to the school. We spent the night at the "hotel." Now, by anyone's standards this wasn't a hotel. Perhaps it could be better described as a hostel. However, it was everything we needed: a clean room, a bathroom, a comfortable bed....

I first met Jacquie and Don, my first summer in Guanajuato when we were all staying in the homes of the Delgado family (Alma and Arturo) in my case, and Alma's mom and dad's home next door, where Jacquie and Don stayed. I remember after having stayed there 10 weeks, that I was truly sad about leaving. Yes, I wanted to see loved ones at home, but secretly wished we could return for more time here. That is always how I feel when I leave here. Anyway, Jacquie had the same sentiments, but was able to act on them. They returned to Arizona only long enough to prepare their home and land for sale. Since that summer of 2006, they have been a major part in the building of the school and the instruction there. Both Don and Jaquie are previous chefs. We were treated to a wonderful meal and enjoyed our evening visit. As night approached, we ventured to our room, not far from their home. We had a good night's rest and awakend early enough to venture out for a morning walk. We saw goats, sheep, farmland, mountains, a lake. It was a very scenic view.

Around 9:30 this am. we all left for the "Gringo group" breakfast. We enjoyed visiting with everyone. We met a very nice couple from Toronto who were staying in his parent's home. His parents are now deceased and the children divide time at the home. The home was designed by a famous Mexican architect. This couple invited us to see it. We will certainly enjoying doing that.

We have also agreed to help Jacquie at the school. For the remainder of the time we are here we will be teaching Eng. classes at the school on Mon., Tues., and Thurs., evenings. We will ride the bus there. We are looking forward to teaching the children. Love from Mexico, Joy

pics from Aquascalientes

1st pic: Museo de Muerte
Catrina's hat is prettier! :)

2nd pic: Palacio de Gobierno
Aquascalientes, MX.

3rd pic: : Curtis discussing
plans for the city :)

4th pic: Don Quijote at
Museo de Muerte

Aquascalientes

If you know some Spanish, you know that Aquascalientes means "Hot Waters." This weekend we ended up going there. It was rather funny how this came to be. We decided we wanted to take a little weekend jaunt somewhere by bus. Considerations were Pozo, Quereterro, and Aquascalientes. We spent much deliberate calculation as to which we would choose. We spun a bottle. :)

Now, some of you who grew up with me in Clarksville, know that our favorite little jr. high game was Spin the Bottle. :) Of course, when we played it then, it was in hopes that the bottle would land on the cute boy we had our eye on, so that we might take a walk around a home together (usually mine), because the parties were often at my home.

This time, Curtis and I were checking out the various bus itineraries when our friend Solomon appeared with his empty coke bottle. While we were standing in front of the bus office, discussing our dilemna, Curtis, saw the bottle and said, "Let's spin the bottle. " That was exactly what we did. :) Each of us represented one city. Ah MX. :) That's about as close as we seem to get to the backpackers we admire, who just hop on a bus and go. :)

It turned out, Aquascalientes was a good choice. You probably haven't heard much about it. We certainly hadn't. Most people seem to bypass it on the way to Zacatecas. Although we want to go there too sometime, it is a little farther than we wished to travel this weekend, so it didn't meet the spin the bottle criteria. :)

Before leaving early Sat. am., we did decide to treat ourselves to a nice motel. We have been staying at the school for 3 weeks with no tv. That part really hasn't bothered us. We get the news by internet. However, although we have a nice size shower here, it was nice to treat ourselves to a room with a larger bed, bathtub, tv, etc...We felt after 3 wks. we deserved a little treat. To tell the truth, Quinta Real was a fantastic place. Our price was around $120 with taxes for the overnight trip, but we are sure in the states it would have been closer to the $300-$400 per night rates we have seen advertised for rooms of the same caliber in Las Vegas, etc... (you know, those we never stay in. :) Not only was the motel and room beautiful (hacienda style), but the food and entertainment were phenomenal. We had the brunch there today and were not only treated to a very reasonably priced, delicious meal in a beautiful setting, but excellent entertainment as well. There was a quartet of one woman with a beautiful voice and 3 men. We enjoyed dining in the beautiful area with the wonderful music so much that we spent quite a bit of time there and ended up buying 2 cds.

One man was playing a musical instrument he had made. It was a small box high enough for him to sit on while he reached between his legs to beat on the front and sides of the "drum. " We are assuming there were different types of chambers inside it to produce several different sounds, (depending on where he would beat it with his hand).

Of course, I am really giving info. in reverse re: our trip. This was how we spent today, prior to returning to Guanjuato. Sat. was when we saw the sites of Aquascalientes, which in it's own rite, had some very interesting things to see and do.

We arrived in Aquascalientes around noon and were provided a name of a restaurant. It was around 1 pm. when we arrived there. They were serving breakfast. Their "lunch" did not start until 2 pm. Thought some of you would find this interesting. :)

Aquascalientes is the home of 2 very famous Mexican artists. One is Saturnina Herran, a woman I truly had not heard of until my Mexican art class. In the Museo de Aquascalientes are several of her paintings and drawings, mainly of Indegenous women of Mexico. They are all quite good.

The other museo we visited was the Museo de Muerte (museum of death) :). Now, at first, we thought we might just bypass this, but after reading the literature, I discovered it actually had lots of Mexican folkart. We decided to go. It was around $1 per person. They honored our teacher status. Wasn't that nice! Again, we were pleasantly surprised with the museo.

This museum consisted of 3 floors of not only Mexican folkart (wooden toys, Catrina skeletons, etc...) but great relics from the Prehispanic ages, some of the codigos the Aztecs had used-(booklike with beautiful drawings) and lots of drawings by Posada, another very famous Mexican artist. He is the one who is famous for all the skeleton figures, such as Catrina, who are enjoying dancing, feasting, life, etc...in the after life. Mexicans like to illustrate life after death in terms of viewing the person (skeletons)continuiing to have fun in the after life. Perhaps it is easier to accept death when thinking in those terms. In each room was a film explaining different artifacts according to the time period. The film was in Spanish; however, I enjoyed it because the man speaking spoke very clearly and I did understand the information.

The Palacio de Gobierno was a beautiful building in itself. It had beautiful arches/architectural design.. It is a 3 story building located around the large plaza, so typical of many larger Mexican cities. There were beautiful murals painted in this building depicting various scenes of Mexican history. In the plaza was the huge Mexican flag with a large statue of the eagle with the snake, nearby. There were the typical iron benches and beautiful fountains, with families enjoying the day.

The first thing we did was take a tour of the city via trolley. This is usually how we like to begin touring cities, to get a broad over-view of the area.

Then, we spent a little time walking around, viewing some of the shops for Quincenera and boda (wedding) dressses. We decided to take some pics to email April, our son's fiance, just so she could have an idea of the type of dresses made here. I would always go in and ask the shop keeper if she minded. They were more than gracious. The funniest thing was seeing Curtis taking off his shoes, per shopkeeper request, and slipping behind the manequins, to take pics of the dressses. :) That is another story in itself. :) Don't think he would do that for just anyone, April. :) Amor desde MX., Joy

French does help-at least that's my excuse :)

It is a little after 2. I am sitting at a table on the covered patio discussing "las clases" with a young French speaker from Quebec. Of course, we were conversing in Spanish. Spanish, being a romance language, has many words very similar in French. I have noticed that most French speakers speak Spanish quite well or certainly can learn it quickly. He has now left as this particular bout of rain has subsided.

As you know, we are in the rainy season here in the mountains. It is actually a bit chilly, ( I know my Texas friends are tired of me mentioning this. :) The rains are very refreshing and usually do not interfere with our plans. Usually, it either rains pm. or evening, but not both. Sometimes it comes quite fiercely and for a substantial amount of time; however, usually when that happens there is a day or two with no rain.

We are enjoying our dance class. The young man is such a good teacher. After dance, I have writing this week, followed by cine. We saw a very good movie, entirely in Spanish. Sometimes I get a bit frustrated watching Spanish movies. I usually do "get it" overall, but just when I think I'm doing so well, I realize that I do miss parts of some conversations. It is like everything else, the more practice, the better. :) There is always more vocabulary to learn. Anyway, the young man from Quebec was in my cine class. I wondered how his Spanish could be so good. Then, I discovered he is a French speaker. This always makes me feel better.

Next week we will continue our private dance lesson. I will have another week of Latin literature, a conversation class, and my private class. Each week, the school allows you to pick and choose your own schedule. As I knew, the school did not even question giving me credit for the classes I had to miss due to the emergency I mentioned in a previous blog. I do love this school!

I know my US friends will be celebrating the 4th this weekend. Have a great one! Hasta Luego, Joy

GTO Gringos, Bats, Classes-(An all in one blog) :)

After classes yesterday, we headed toward El Centro. We had intentions of coming back in time to see the Span. movie with Eng. subtitles which was being shown at the school. However, we ran into Solomon (remember the Jewish CA. hippie-with the long, silver braid). Anyway, it was another example of how sometimes the most pleasurable evenings can be unexpected around here.

Prior to running into Solomon, we first encountered another "Gringo" who appeared to be close to 80. He was walking alone by himself and stopped to talk. Unlike San Miguel, it is not uncommon here to be stopped, because there are so few Gringos that the local ones are curious/wanting to check it out, when they see some new Gringos in town. The man who stopped to talk is managing a bed and breakfast here and living there. Anyway, we had a nice conversation with him. He had lived in Tyler, TX. at one time.

Then, we ran into Solomon sitting on one of the iron benches around El Centro. He was also visiting with this same man (Carl) and another "Gringo." We enjoyed visiting with all three of them. All of them have made their home here for many years. While we were visiting Michelle Phillips walked by, you know the Michelle Phillips, singer with the Mamas and Poppas and mother of McKenzie. Apparently Michelle's sister lives here and Michelle owns a house here as well. The men knew them both but respected Michelle's desire for privacy. Therefore, we only saw them walk by. They say they are friends with them, but only when they want to stop and talk.

That's seems to be close to all of the Gringos we know who are living here. The mindset of these folks is very different from those in San Miguel. Here, they enjoy being absorbed in the Mexican culture. They are living in the midst of the people, not in gated communites, as if they are on extended vacation. Most of them seem to have learned Spanish. They don't want Guanajuato to have American chain stores, restaurants, etc...Infact, they like to keep this place as it is. As mentioned previously there are about 300 Gringos here as compared to the over 20,000 in San Miguel.

Most of the people here other than Michelle Phillips and her sister, of course, seem to be of much more modest means than those in San Miguel, and were very friendly. We enjoyed hearing about their favorite reasonably priced restaurants and meeting the local Mexican people they knew. We seem to fit into this mindset. We love Guanajuato and want to enjoy it here ourselves, but selfishly we do hope that it doesn't become another San Miguel. We are afraid it is just a matter of time....But, even so, it is a lovely place with lots of charm/lots to do. Que sera sera....After leaving the three amigos, we went to a new restaurant they had reccomended. Later, we ended up going to Zilch with Solomon and had a great visit. That is a place we will have to return to on a night when they have a jazz group. Many members of the fantastic Univ. of GTO symphony here are regular entertainers. The univ. is on break for a month.

Early this am., while sitting on the patio, we saw some MX. bats flying/circling the sky, (you know like the ones under the bridge in Austin). It was really neat seeing them. I thought it would concern me, but they weren't bothering us. It was actually a pretty cool thing to see. After all, guess we are their visitors, right? :)

This week I am taking dancing with Curtis (our first actual class was today), writing, cinema, Mexican muralists, and a private class. Our dance class was actually fun for both of us! We surprised ourselves. Today's lesson was the Merengue. We have decided that we will continue to take private dance classes while here. (see "Deal with the Devil," :) on Curtis's blog. :) I will also take a conversation class, Latin literature, and a private lesson each week. Hasta Luego, Joy

An Emergency in MX.

Buenos Dias! Quite a bit has happened since my latest blog. Yesterday, we had a little too much excitement around here for my liking. Curtis and I had just begun our first steps of our first dance class when Moni, a member of the faculty here, ran in and told our dance instructor that there was an accident. We all ran out toward the office to find a young girl, around 16, on the patio, breathing irregularly. It scared us all. The office immediately called the clinic across the street and the ambulance. The ambulance came in no time. Several men had to use a gurney and carry the young girl down several flights of stairs and across the street to the clinic.


The girl was a member of a girl scout group here from Seattle. She is Hispanic but knows no Spanish-Que Lastima! The leaders had just started their first week and knew no Span. prior to coming. Since the instructors had to be at the school and the group needed someone to speak to the doctors, I offered my services. I know I am not completly bilingual, but I am fluent. And, I was the best they had at the time. I was able to speak with the doctor on numerous occassions, telling the girl's symptoms, asking questions and later informing her leaders in Eng. as to what would be done, when the results would be available, etc... It did make me feel good to know that when put to the test, I could help someone in this situation.

Because the girl was Hispanic, the nurse and doctors kept wanting to speak to her in Span. There was one time when I told the doctor in Span. (because he didn't speak Eng.), that she couldn't speak Span. He seemed amazed. He said, "Pero ella es Latina, no?" I explained that yes, she was indeed Latina but knew no Span.

Anyway, after x-rays of her heart, lab work, etc...no significant problem appeared such as heart problems or diabetes. It did scare us all because she was convulsing at times. I missed all my am. classes yesterday. I am not worried about it. The school is very understanding and will reimburse me. I am just so glad that the girl is ok. The small clinic across the street seemed to have everything she needed: xray, lab techs, attentive doctors and nurses, clean facility. It was good to know in spite of the scare.

Oh, something else, it is odd that when you start speaking one language you forget with whom you are speaking and when to switch. Often I found myself speaking in Span. to the girl scout leaders who had to remind me to speak Eng. Hasta Luego-gotta get ready for a dance class (hopefully) :)