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Titles of Blogs on this Page
15394 [Veracruz]
Taking a Picture at the Picture Show [Mexico]
Just Saying Flour or Corn Used to Be Enough [Mexico]
The Low Down on the Harbor [Mexico]
Beckoning Us Home, Safely [Veracruz]
An Octopus Hunter’s Tour of the Reef [Veracruz]
Lightning Striking Twice [Veracruz]
Happiness Is a Corn-on-the-Cob. [Mexico]
Gracias Having Fun [Veracruz]
Veracruz—A City for All Ages [Veracruz]
A Great Idea Getting Even Greater [Veracruz]
Four Hundred Years Late or Just in Time? [Mexico]
How Much Music Is Enough? [Veracruz]
Help and Double Help for Veracruz [Veracruz]
A Beauty in the Bodega [Veracruz]
Live Music at the Party [Mexico]
Jorge's Entrance Test [Veracruz]
Rushin' to the Ballet [Veracruz]
A Guitar for Me [Mexico]
Canon, Kodak, Nikon? [Veracruz]
The Search [Veracruz]
The Library Is Open. [Veracruz]
Keeping Veracruz Safe [Veracruz]
Stage Center [Veracruz]
The Queen's English Rules the High Seas. [Mexico]
Hundreds of Thousands, Even Maybe Millions, of Letters [Mexico]
Just Like Back Home! [Mexico]
Out on the Town!!! [Veracruz]
Even the Sea Urchins Stayed Home [Veracruz]
Very Sad News from Veracruz [Mexico]
The Artist Agreed [Veracruz]
It's in the Mail [Mexico]
We Bought a Top of the Line HD Video Cam, and It Didn't Work. [Veracruz]
Five Gallon Plastic Friend [Veracruz]
Eighteen Half Moons [Mexico]
There's Always Action on the Bus. [Mexico]
And Idea Who "Bei Duo Fen" Might Be? [Mexico]
Ceci’s Back At Work, and Her Baby Has Great Day Care. [Mexico]
Strolling Guitars for Strolling Minstrels [Mexico]
Carnaval’s Over, and We’re Cleaning Up, and Cleaning Up, and Cleaning Up… [Veracruz]
Attending Beethoven’s Ninth and Many Weddings All in One Day—We Were Very Busy. [Mexico]
Happy New Year!!! Happy Birthday!!! And “Hen Hao” [Veracruz]
We're Going To Be Grandparents [Veracruz]
Music to Our Ears [Mexico]
A New Business for the New Year [Veracruz]
Technology, Good or Bad? [Veracruz]
There's Glistening and Jingling and Ringing and Roasting and Cheer. [Veracruz]
We Promised You a Better Movie. [Veracruz]
A Letter to Santa Claus [Mexico]
Awash with Jealously [Veracruz]
When We're Dual Purpose It's Double Good! [Mexico]
On A Clear (windless, smooth ocean, low tide) Day [Veracruz]
Hotdogs and Tricycles [Veracruz]
Three Bucks and a Bat to Boot [Veracruz]
My Kingdom for a Good Banana Split [Mexico]
Making Safe-As-It-Can-Be Veracruz Even Safer [Veracruz]
Music and Music and Music and … [Veracruz]
We’re on the Map [Mexico]
Bus Music [Mexico]
Write Away!!! [Veracruz]
The 5th of May Was a Long Time Ago. [Veracruz]
It’s Going So Well That We’re Doing More. [Veracruz]
A Lot of Spanish Being Learned; A Lot of Enjoying Mexico [Veracruz]
An Expression Cast in Stone [Mexico]
What Comes Around Goes Around. [Veracruz]
Lightning Struck Twice [Mexico]
A Good Catch Close to the School [Veracruz]
A Licenciada Showed Up This Morning [Mexico]
Staying Put [Veracruz]
Number 100, An Easy-As-Pie Milestone [Veracruz]
Winning by Losing [Veracruz]
Afro-Caribbean Festival in Veracruz [Mexico]
The Hernandez House [Veracruz]
They’ve Been to Shangri-la. [Mexico]
Over and Out, and In [Veracruz]
How Do You Run an Airport without a PA System? [Veracruz]
The Harvard 3, and Our Congratulations [Veracruz]
When You Run Out of Bathrooms [Veracruz]
“You Taste Much More Everything.” [Veracruz]
More than Just Good Food [Veracruz]
Piling It On [Veracruz]
Two Down, None To Go—That Sure Makes Life a Lot Prettier. [Veracruz]
Great to See Him at Dinner, and Even Better to See Him When You’re Sick [Veracruz]
When the Coconuts Come Down, the Fun Goes Up. [Veracruz]
It’s a Grind, and It’s Great [Veracruz]
Going Down the River by Chevy [Mexico]
Time Flies [Mexico]
An Incomplete Photo, A Political Machine [Veracruz]
Icing on the Cake [Veracruz]
We Splurged, and it's Everybody's to Enjoy. [Veracruz]
Polyurethane in Veracruz, and It's All Over the Floor [Mexico]
Modern Technology Making Life Better [Mexico]
Coffee's Ready at 6:15 [Mexico]
We Went to the Party. [Veracruz]
Silence in Noisy, Happy Mexico [Mexico]
Estadía—A Practicum We Would Call It. [Mexico]
A Gasoline Smell—Diesel Said the More Trained Noses. [Mexico]
New Mexico Says This Beautiful T-Shirt. [Mexico]
It's Great To Be Back Home [Mexico]
The Alligator Who Lives Down the Street [Veracruz]
Ivethe Graduated from College Last Night. [Mexico]
I’m Only Guessing, But I Think I’m Right. [Mexico]
We Pour It On, but Some Want Even More. [Veracruz]
Two Great Things Are Happening—An Update [Mexico]
Gardenia Blossoms Floating Upon the Pool [Mexico]
This Is a Test— for Medical School [Veracruz]
All Over the Road [Veracruz]
How to Save Twenty Thousand Bucks [Mexico]
The Bus Driver Left His Money Behind. [Veracruz]
Fourteen Students from the School Went to the Theater to Say Good-bye. [Mexico]
These Things Happen (and we’re always proud). [Veracruz]
Only Thirty Inches Long, But It Still Counts. [Mexico]
Guero Guero, Guera Guera [Mexico]
Buses Lined the Street. Cars Were Everywhere. [Veracruz]
He’s All Wet—One of Our Charlantes, That Is. [Mexico]
In the US We Wouldn’t Mention It, But Down Here It’s Worth Shouting About. [Veracruz]
We're Waiting for a Package [Mexico]
Gone Fishin’ but not Gone Very Far. [Mexico]
The Call and The Vote [Mexico]
Veracruz Shows Respect for Street Vendors [Veracruz]
Two Weeks of School and Then Yucatan and Guatemala [Mexico]
Close to Exploding [Veracruz]
How to Make a Perfect Parade Route in Mexico [Mexico]
Jazz Under the Stars [Veracruz]
Not Small Potatoes [Veracruz]
The Pianist Had to Wait [Veracruz]
Enjoying Old Friends [Veracruz]
Your Laptop--Even If It’s Broken [Mexico]
Wide-Eyed and Ready to Dive In [Mexico]
What's a Tianguis [Mexico]
Two Hours in the Market [Veracruz]
Mexico's Architecture [Mexico]
Mexico's Merchant Marine Academy [Mexico]
Plus One Dollar A Day [Veracruz]
Looking Back Over The Stats [Veracruz]
A Working Christmas [Veracruz]
Our Third Christmas At The Language School [Mexico]
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It doesn’t look like much, but we’re very happy about it. And, humble though we are, we’re letting ourselves feel a little proud.
It’s a Continuing Education Provider # issued by the California Board of Registered Nursing. We were notified on Monday that our proposed two-week course, “Speak Spanish With Your Patients,” has been accepted
by the board. The course awards 70 continuing education contact hours.
Communication with “Spanish-only” Hispanic patients has two major requirements—one, of course, is being able to speak sufficient Spanish and the other is being sufficiently culturally aware.
Speaking enough Spanish goes without saying. Imagine what could happen trying to take a patient history in Spanish if one’s language skills weren’t good enough.
Culturally aware is more important that we might at first guess. Even the kindest and most empathetic of nurses can got caught, totally unaware and totally innocently, in a cultural bind. We’ll deal with Hispanic views, conceptions, misconceptions, and concerns about healthcare, and at a more general level we’ll deal with a variety of related cultural aspects.
The crew is delighted. In this scary economic period, it makes their world safer. And it’ll add new dimensions to their teaching.
From a business perspective we’re very happy. From a human perspective, we, too, are delighted. It’ll feel very good to contribute, albeit indirectly, to more fully patient-oriented healthcare for the non-English-speaking Hispanic community in the U.S.
by Eric, Oct/28/2009
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Mexico |
Taking a Picture at the Picture Show
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For those of us who don’t like violence, it’s hard to find a movie to go see. Yesterday we found an okay movie and a picture you might never see again.
The movie you can see—it’ll run for weeks. But the picture was with all its fun and laughter will never replay.
The camera was set on auto--the timer doing a ten-second count down. The scene assumed its final shape. I had no time to lose. It was now or never.
I did an old-west-sheriff fast draw. My Sony was out of its case, powered on, and aimed before their camera ticked away to zero. The laughter got even louder. My digital shutter snapped; their camera flashed
and the crew cheered.
Only in happy Mexico!
by Eric, Oct/26/2009
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Mexico |
Just Saying Flour or Corn Used to Be Enough
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“And your tortillas,” was the last question asked when we ordered at our favorite Mexican restaurant back home. Usually we said, “Flour.” And where we lived that meant wheat flour.
Down here flour tortillas aren’t nearly so common and about the only time we’re asked is
when we order a queso fundido. It comes with flour tortillas, but they ask thinking we might prefer corn.
It’s all about to become ancient history. Now it looks like we’re going to have to start selecting from a list of options. If it keeps up we’ll have to run through a decision tree. Just look at this!
Flour is still flour but for corn we’ll have to say, “Maíz sencilla, maíz con chipotle, or maíz con jalapeño.”
by Eric, Oct/19/2009
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Mexico |
The Low Down on the Harbor
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It comes so close to the harbor’s walls, it’s so big and fascinating, it’s so—well, you could just lean there and watch it by the hour. It’s a gigantic floating
vacuum cleaner.
Veracruz is an especially busy port. From the front porch we’re always seeing ships coming or going. They wend their way (safely, thanks to good Harbor Pilots and accurate GPS) through the treacherous (but oh so beautiful) coral reef system.
Existing docks have been made bigger over the past couple of years. New docks that will be even bigger yet are soon to be under construction. They’ll be for the supersize ships being built today.
The new ships require deeper water. The harbor’s floor must be lowered. This floating vacuum cleaner is doing that right now.
by Eric, Oct/16/2009
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Veracruz |
Beckoning Us Home, Safely
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Well, not the us that’s you and me, but the us that’s our fellow humankind sailing for Veracruz on a dark night.
The lighthouse is on Sacrifice Island. It sits atop a coral reef, one of many coral reefs that make the approach to Veracruz Harbor so dangerous.
From shore, it looks like
this.
From some points out at sea it also looks like this. White light says, “Come this way; the coast is clear.”
Elsewhere it’s red. “Not this way,” it says. Ships headed for the red light are on a collision course with a reef.
If a ship runs aground, the reef will be battered and bruised, but always it, the reef, wins.
What for us is a novelty, a delightful, beautiful off-shore ornament, is a true lifesaver.
by Eric, Oct/15/2009
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Veracruz |
An Octopus Hunter’s Tour of the Reef
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Fernando is a “pulpero,” an octopus fisherman. He’s also a great guy, a good friend, and fun, and full of the happiness and wonder of Veracruz. Every so often he takes folks out for a ride on the ocean. That’s him
at the helm.
He’s proud of his Totanac heritage; and the heritage is strong within him. I’ve never seen anyone so at home in the water, so able to commune with the underwater world.
On one outing a visitor was not only fully engaged in a medium size octopus but full wrapped up in it. He gives us a look at sea creatures I never knew existed--bulbous slimy rippled odd-shaped this’s and that’s, and long skinny things, and flowers that aren’t, and rocks that move, and more. Turtles are a special treasure to him.
He loves sharing this place, his ocean, his world.
by Eric, Oct/14/2009
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Veracruz |
Lightning Striking Twice
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A couple of months ago we had five students who, in addition to studying Spanish, were of service to the people of Veracruz in one way or another.
Lightning has struck again—lightning that lights the way to the future. The Good Shepherd Sisters have an initiative underway in the southern part of the State of Veracruz (one of many they have throughout Mexico). They are making big changes in the way of life of the many marginalized women and
children participating in the project. (www.buenpastoreint.org)
With us, improving her already good Spanish, is Sister Brigid Lawlor, Congregational Leader (Mother Superior) of this international order. The Good Shepherd Sisters have programs is 72 countries.
Leadership for Mexico, housed in Mexico City, joined her here at school last weekend.
Bringing a voice to those who have been muted, bringing opportunity into the lives of those without opportunity, bringing options to those heretofore locked into poverty--this is kindness and caring and loving at its very best.
by Eric, Sept/19/2009
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Mexico |
Happiness Is a Corn-on-the-Cob.
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Not just any corn-on-the-cob will do. You’ve got to have a stick stuck into one end of it, and it has to be covered with mayo and fresh lime juice. Maybe it works the very best with just a thin, thin dusting of
chili powder.
To this, to complete the recipe for happiness, all you need to add is a child.
Magic moments fill the hearts of Veracruz.
by Eric, Sept/18/2009
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Veracruz |
Gracias Having Fun
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Gracias was born to work. Scooting around on the ocean is such light duty that she probably doesn’t even notice our weight.
But today she’s hard at it. They’re drilling test holes in the ocean floor just a few yards out from the fishermen’s dock. The dock is going to be totally rebuilt. Gracias, with Captian Jiniguero at the helm
(steering her and shuttling materials back and forth between the shore and the driller’s barge), is their work boat.
We didn’t rent her out. We loaned her to Jiniguaro so he would have a week or two’s work. It pays well.
And (we’ll believe it when we see it), the drillers say that their firm will give Gracias a makeover when the job is done.
There are so many difficult decisions associated with this project. We’re thinking maybe a sky blue interior with a oyster shell white outside. And then the lettering maybe should be a deep but bright red. The seats and the front deck… And the paddle, right now it’s safety orange. That’ll clash, and so maybe a pastel…
by Eric, Sept/12/2009
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Veracruz |
Veracruz—A City for All Ages
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Veracruz was right in the middle of pre-history; it immediately became important in Spanish colonial life, and it remains important today. But those aren’t the kind of ages (epochs, if you will) I’m talking about.
There’s so much going in in Veracruz. It’s a great place for little kids and middle kids, high school and college youths, young adults, middle adults, and (like me) older adults. It’s fun and interesting and safe and fascinating for everyone.
A couple of nights
ago, a few students and Linda and I were walking home after an incredible a cappella choral concert at the Clavijero Theater. The zocalo is on the way home, and in it a statewide ballet folklorico contest was in swing.
Dancers were everywhere; photo-ops abounded.
Sister Brigid (Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd) and Ginny (just out of high school), as you can see, were “invited in” for a snapshot.
by Eric, Sept/06/2009
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Veracruz |
A Great Idea Getting Even Greater
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Our books-in-English lending library has over 300 titles, and it keeps growing and growing.
We’re about to expand our focus. The idea, credit where credit is due, came from Nora of Calgary. She bought a couple of children’s books (in Spanish, of course) to use while she was here. Kids’ books have wonderfully fun writing styles and word choices (especially the adjectives).
Nora suggested that we
add children’s books (in Spanish) to the library. Books are so expensive that many families just don’t buy any. Having them available through the library will make it easier for moms and dads to read to their kids.
Nora donated the first two books (they’ve already had their first reader—I love kids’ books). She also left a contribution for the purchase of a few more.
If you happen to have a child’s book in Spanish that you might part with, please email us. We’ll send you an address in the US or Canada of someone who can bring it (or maybe, as I let myself get carried away, even them) down.
Again let me say it, and I’ll say it a million times more and every time heartfelt--we’re deeply appreciative to each and every one of you who’ve helped the school be of help to Veracruz.
by Eric, August/22/2009
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Mexico |
Four Hundred Years Late or Just in Time?
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It showed up at the dock yesterday, the dock at the Aquarium. It was a blustery day for August. The old sailing ship worked at its mooring lines. Rather than secure its square sails to the yards (the horizontal bar from which the sails are hung), the hands un-tethered the lower edges and let the sails flap in the wind.
Columbus’s crews or Cortez’s or even the crew of the pirate, Lorencillo, would have known how to tie up the sails. This was a big clue
that the ship didn’t simply arrive 400 years late.
Another big clue was all the video gear and movie-makers’ trucks and the 10 foot diameter propeller fan (for whipping up a storm), and the hustle and bustle, and even the limos, and everything else I had to walk through to get the photo.
It all became very clear. The sails were flapping because it wasn’t deckhands handling the ropes, it was stagehands.
The end of our block is in the movies again. We’re going to be the setting for some part of a tele-novela usually filmed at the studios in Mexico City.
The setting of a soap-opera, that’s our new claim to fame. We used to be the setting of a commercial for a popular Brazilian beer. Our corner on the ocean is on its way to making it big in showbiz.
by Eric, August/21/2009
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Veracruz |
How Much Music Is Enough?
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I almost know. Qualitatively I can tell you that lots and lots is enough, but I can’t yet answer “How much Music is enough?” with exactitude.
Research, we feel a need to let you know, on this topic was diligently performed by Linda and yours truly. It took over three hours of staid, static research time. We suffered so you could know. Here are our findings in very graphic
form.
There were these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys, 
and these guys,  
and these guys,  
And with all of them, all in the zocalo, all at the same time, there was ALMOST enough music.
by Eric, August/05/2009
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Veracruz |
Help and Double Help for
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Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had folks down studying with us who are professionally involved with Veracruz (the City and the State). They’re doing fascinating work.
 It started two weeks ago with the arrival of Dr. Rex Koontz, Art History Professor from the University of Houston. He’s performed extensive, authoritative work on the iconography
of El Tajin. His latest book, released in April, is Lightning Gods and Feathered Serpents: The Public Sculpture of El Tajín. We've already ordered ourselves a copy. (Double Help—Rex has offered us invaluable guidance in our search for funding to help the Fomento Cultural de Veracruz. In this photo he’s talking with the president of the Fomento Cultural.)
Christina Hernandez, PhD candidate in nursing from UNC, is with us. She’s surveying local women gathering data about attitudes toward health. Her intent is to bring more culturally appropriate health care to Mexican immigrants in the U.S. We all know that health care is more than science and technology. It gets complicated working cross-culturally, and she’s working to ease these complications. (Double Help—she’s guiding us relative to licensing and training for our program to prepare nursing graduates of the University of Veracruz to work in the U.S.)
With pyramids all around us, it’s easy to forget that Veracruz also is home to archaeological remains of Spanish Colonial life. At school this week is a Krista Eschbach, PhD candidate from ASU who has spent time working within the City of Veracruz excavating early Spanish Colonial structures. They’re close by—right down in El Centro. One of her excavations helped refine the location of the wall that used to surround the city. (Double Help—she’s bringing us incredibly interesting information and stories that are greatly expanding our knowledge of and sense of the history we’re right in the middle of when we do what we refer to as simply walking around town.)
From the Univ. of Kentucky we have Kyle Mullen, a master’s candidate in archaeology. Kyle’s been working in the Yucatan this summer. His next large project, maybe next summer, will be working in the south of Veracruz on Olmec sites (Double Help-- in a year or so, we hope, he’ll bring us stories from his Olmec work.)
Especially reassuring to us is a safety appraisal of a recently retired USAF officer. In addition to other areas of expertise, he is highly knowledgeable and experienced in security. After a week in Veracruz he told us that this is an amazingly safe place. And the eight mile run along the water, where the school is and most school activities are held, is an incredibly safe part of this amazingly safe city. (Double Help—we have unquestionably held this to be true all along, but confirmation from one in the “know” feels extra good.)
And I want to be sure everyone remembers that Alli is here. She’s from the Humphrey Institute at the Univ. of Minnesota. She’s doing all the hard work down here for the Fomento Cultural funding project and the Univ of Veracruz nurses to the U.S. project. She has the books in English lending library under such good control that we’ve had her hand it off to others. Alli is a graduate intern. He work is a free service to Veracruz. Likewise, our language school is carrying out these projects totally non-profit--as a public service.
Running, side-by-side with Linda, an immersion school in happy Veracruz—what a wonderful life!
by Eric, July/28/2009
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Veracruz |
A Beauty in the Bodega
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On a regular schedule the crew goes through the bodega, the storeroom, and tidies up. In every storeroom there are treasures you just don’t need but simply can’t disregard.
A new one showed up last week. It was about 2 feet long but not at all wide—not wide enough, we thought. It was a vivid
green, and especially beautiful. We wanted to catch it and return it to the wild, but it was too skittish. I couldn’t get even close enough for a better picture.
We fed it. We hoped that would begin to help with it not being wide enough. We kept spotting it for three days. The fourth day we didn’t see it.
We did an unscheduled tidying of the bodega. Nothing was left unturned, but it didn’t turn up.
Sometimes a little food goes a long way. The little bit it took to give the green guy a full belly is probably by now blocks and blocks on down the road.
by Eric, July/24/2009
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Mexico |
Live Music at the Party
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I heard it from down the block—mostly I heard the accordion and singing. I looked around and couldn’t spot it. It was the music of the northern part of Mexico.
I nailed it down. It was coming from a pick-up truck. Often families at the beach for the day play their music while they eat from their ice chests. It didn’t sound like a car stereo, it sounded live. You can almost always tell when it’s live. I crossed the street for a better angle.
I saw, and I innocently
meandered down the street to get this picture for you.
I got spotted—caught in the act—not red handed but maybe a little red faced—innocence lost. But Mexico loves pictures. The family started laughing, and the musicians got serious. They sang louder and played harder and stood straighter.
I snapped the shot. They toasted me with their soft drinks and waved good-bye. The musicians, without missing a beat, gave a formal little bow.
by Eric, July/22/2009
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Veracruz |
Jorge’s Entrance Test
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Getting into the university--it’s all decided by taking a test.
You go to the university, to the office for the major you want, you show them the papers that say you’re about to graduate from high school, and you ask for a “ficha,” a ticket. The ticket is your permission to take the entrance test.
Jorge got his ticket, prepared diligently, and on the appointed day he
and about two hundred and seventy others went to the University of Veracruz to take the civil engineering entrance exam.
He called a few minutes ago. He made it. Here’s the url if you’d like to take a look-- http://www.uv.mx/aspirantes/publica09/documents/veracruz.pdf.
The University, on its website, publishes the name and ranking of all of the “aspirants,” to use the university’s word, who took the test. The rankings and the name of the student achieving the rank, are listed from the very best to the very worst. (Imagine coming in last. They also publish this in the newspaper!)
Civil Engineering had about 270 students take the test. The program had space for slightly over 200.
Here’s a little bit of the ranking page from the UV website.
You’ll see Jorge’s name.
AND
You’ll see he came in NUMBER THREE.
by Eric, July/10/2009
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Veracruz |
Rushin' to the Ballet
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We were late. It was my fault. We got to the corner and waited and waited (maybe two minutes, but when you’re late that’s forever). We had fifteen minutes to get to the ballet; the Russians were here.
The driver seemed very calm. You get a calm driver once in a while. I caught myself telling him we were very pressed for time.
Ambulances with lights flashing
and siren blaring drive more slowly. I’d freed a monster. We cut into the space that didn’t exist between the car to the left and the car in front. He was braking and accelerating at the same time. We slid through a tiny opening (moving at the speed of light) between a car and a bus but didn’t scrape either of them. We pulled to the left curb to go right, and, zoom, we took the lead inches in front of two buses doing a double right turn.
We slowed for a transito (a traffic cop). They’re a bunch of crooks and never before have I been happy to see one. We got to the theater with nine minutes to spare.
This traveling group of the Russian National Ballet was absolutely sensational. It was so good it made the top half of the front page of the paper this morning.
We took a bus home.
by Eric, June/28/2009
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I’ve tried, on and off, for years to learn to play classical guitar. I have no great aspirations; I’d be happy playing, oh say a few mariachi songs, a couple of “trios,” maybe several US ‘60s pieces. Not much really.
And I’d like to add to that the easy to play Pachelbel’s Canon and for sure also Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. That’s all; I’d ask no more—just a few happy pieces and a couple of slightly more ambitious ones.
My problem is all those frets and so many strings. I only have
two hands and ten fingers total. I’ve searched and searched for a solution.
The other night at the zocalo, I may have found it. My hopes are surging and my heart rate is up.
I saw this guy who makes a living playing his guitar. He’s an older guy, and so his music’s good enough to have fed him for many, many years.
And his guitar—it’s a wonder of wonders. It’s the answer to my hopes and dreams. It’s a marvelous synergistic convergence of art and engineering. It’s innovative but traditional. It can be played with only two hands and only ten fingers. It’s everything I ever needed.
Count the strings.
by Eric, June/27/2009
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Veracruz |
Canon, Kodak, Nikon?
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A tradition in the zocalo is the tableside photographer. The photographers meander through the open-air restaurants with their Polaroid cameras.
They are historians of happy times, family times, party times, or lover times. They’ll crop and mount your picture in a keychain or set it in a bangle to hang as a charm from a girl’s bracelet. Families get the photo intact—big families need the film’s full width.
This guy was taking snaps, and his camera caught
my eye. T’was not a Polaroid, and not a Canon or Kodak or Nikon either. Not an oak or a walnut. His camera was a Pine.
With it he plied the narrow routes between the outdoor tables taking photos and delighting folks with not “Kodak moments” nor “Polaroid moments”, but with the new kid on the block, with those ever to be cherished “Pine moments.”
by Eric, June/23/2009
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The Books-in-English Lending Library is open and growing and growing. Within a couple of weeks it will have over 300 titles and be headed toward 350. We’ve marked it off our “to start” list and moved it to our “keep it going strong.”
Funding for The Fomento Cultural de Veracruz is newly now atop the “to start.” And we’re ready to jump in and get moving on this, the school’s next community project. It’s at the top of the list because
as endeavors go, it’s pretty much straightforward.
The Fomento Cultural is an A.C., an Asociación Civil. It’s like a US 501 (c)(3). It has tax-free status with Hacienda (Mexico’s IRS). And it is investigating adding tax-free status in the US. A provision under NAFTA allows deductions against US taxes for donations made to A.C.’s in Mexico who have this status.
Straightforward project, sadly, doesn’t mean easy project. Tomorrow Alli (the bright and delightful intern from the Univ. of Minn. who’s with us for ten weeks this summer) will be back deep in the data base of thousands upon thousands of US donors. It’s a needle-in-a-haystack search.
Alli’s doing a great job, and she’ll find the needle or several needles. Then we’ll buckle down to grant writing.
The Fomento Cultural does a top-notch job for Veracruz. They bring dazzling fine and folk art presentations to the City’s Teatro Clavijero. They are a spectacular service to the community. They, automatically since we’re in Mexico, have a very difficult struggle with funding.
So, for this top-notch organization, we’ll (or mostly Alli’ll) write some top-notch grant requests.
One day soon, one day when all the searching and scribing is done, when all the brain power and persuasive writing we can bring to this is packaged, when “it’s in the mail,” we’ll do what everyone does. With hope and highly positive anticipation and great expectations and a touch of worry and a dab of fear, we’ll cross our fingers, and hope, and wait for the postman.
And also, the morning after we’ve mailed it, we’ll (you’re right, Alli’ll) jump right into the next project to be newly atop “to start.”
by Eric, June/15/2009
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Veracruz |
The Library Is Open.
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Donated books from the US, and books left behind when students went home, and books from our own reading came to a grand total of 273.
For Veracruz that’s a lot of books in English all in one place. Last night they were all over the living room.
Books in English have always been a luxury. Most folks never could afford them. But starting yesterday, books in English, page-turners,
became available to everyone and available free of charge.
We stopped by earlier in the day to tell the City Library what we were doing. The City’s top librarian at first simply didn’t believe we were making “good reads” in English available to everyone free of charge.
She’s so happy with what we’re doing that she’s supporting placing a link to our (and yours too) library in the City’s website. That’s high praise.
Even higher praise is that folks came last night and perused the books and lingered and visited and enjoyed the library.
And the highest praise of all is that everyone who came, a small but happy crowd, requested a library card.
How’s that high praise? (I’m anticipating that you’re asking.) Down here libraries don’t let their books out of the building. Books wouldn’t get brought back. So we’re charging a deposit.
In fact we’re charging 150 Pesos. Here and especially now that’s not peanuts.
Money never measures what’s really important in life. But that they paid the deposit says they were very happy. That’s a loud and clear indicator that the library is on its way to being a very big success.
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed.
by Eric, June/04/2009
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Veracruz |
Keeping Veracruz Safe
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They stop you in the walkway just before you get to baggage carrousels.
A quick infra-red temperature-taking (no more old-fashioned mercury thermometers under the tongue), and without a fever you are welcomed to Veracruz.
Well, with a fever
you’re also welcomed. But the medical team will assure you don’t have H1N1.
As a precaution, all incoming and departing passengers have been checked since the outbreak occurred. We’ve had so very little flu in this part of the state that I’m beginning to think the virus just doesn’t like the clean smell of fresh ocean air.
Surely there are more scientific reasons for so little flu. One, now you know, is that the City (as well as the State and the entirety of Mexico) is being especially careful.
I took this photo last Wednesday. Friday night, the medical team’s tables were gone. They were also gone from the departure area.
The team being gone is another very positive sign. The scare was extreme. The response was (and rightly so) full strength. But the flu itself, thanks to all the powers that be, is mild.
by Eric, May/25/2009
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Alli Shurilla, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, has just stepped to stage center.
She’s serving her internship with us--400 hours of difficult and dedicated work. The first project we handed her
is to explore funding mechanisms for the Fomento Cultural de Veracruz (FCV).
The Fomento Cultural, a not-for-profit, is under contract with the City of Veracruz to stage fine and folk art events. Most events are performed at the old and beautiful Teatro Clavijero. The FCV stages professional events from around the world and also stages lots of local K-12 performances.
Alli, on the right, and Arquitecta Maria de Jesús Diaz Rámila of the FCV are, I have to admit, interrupting preparations for this weekend’s event so I could take the photo.
Alli’s first few days have been a tremendous success. She’s already well liked (especially important in Mexico) and well received. We thank the Humphrey Institute.
Alli has what it takes. And that’s great because a project like this takes a lot.
by Eric, May/23/2009
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Mexico |
The Queen’s English Rules the High Seas.
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Or at least standard, mid-western, US, regular English is being spoken by some of the best Cadets at Mexico’s Merchant Marine Academy, and they and their greatly improved English will soon go to sea. One day these competent young adults will be Captains and Chief Engineers.
Today they’re gathered
around the table getting better and better at the international language of the high seas—or spoken of less gloriously, they’re here in English class.
They are serious, hardworking students. Their English is growing by leaps and bounds.
 They’re great kids, and they’re highly motivated. To get the best jobs, they have to graduate high in their class plus they have to have a fine command of English.
The best jobs last year, and the year before, went to the Academy’s best who studied English with us.
Sounds kind of cool. (I know this is a sentence fragment.)
But we’re not proud that our “kids” come in first. We want all of the kids to come in first.
Truth is, it feels a little wrong to be the determining factor in who gets the best jobs.
So, our challenge is to find ways to be available to more of the top-notch Cadets.
by Eric, May/17/2009
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Mexico |
Hundreds of Thousands, Even Maybe Millions, of Letters
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Little letters, some capitals but most not, almost all black, forming words and sentences and paragraph and chapters, and telling page-turner stories.
From Nancy Krohn and her husband came our first box of books for the library.
What’s in a Box? Excuse my non-literary rewrite
of Shakespeare, and there’s no great love tragedy here as there was for Romeo and Juliet. But there is the everyday small tragedy that this box helps to begin to overcome.
Students of English in Veracruz have almost nothing fun to read. Just like you learn Spanish better doing fun and interesting things, it’s easier to learn English with lots of good reading.
The library is open to high school and college students who need “good reads” in English. The box (it arrived half an hour ago but we already peeked) is full of them.
It’s the beginning of a not-for-profit library. The library is a public service. It’s a way to help good young folks build skills that greatly heighten their ability to be competitive in an always desolate job market in a world of devastatingly little opportunity.
So what’s in a box? There’s great stuff--hope, and opportunity, and better futures for wonderful kids.
by Eric, May/11/2009
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Mexico |
Just Like Back Home!
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It feels just like back home. Some things have to be just the way they’ve always been, or they don’t quite work.
Happy Mother’s Day to every mom every where. And, of course, a very
special and personal happy Mother’s Day from me to Linda.
In Mexico, Mother’s Day is always on the 10th of May. This time (tomorrow to be exact) it falls on Sunday.
Mother’s Day back home, back through all our loving memories, was on Sunday. Last year down here it was on Saturday, and on Thursday the year before. It just didn’t feel quite right.
Already today, tomorrow feels perfect. And I hope perfect describes the day every Mom will have.
by Eric, May/9/2009
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Veracruz |
Out on the Town!!!
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Yep! Last night we were out on the town.
There were people everywhere. And music, and dancing, and dining, and partying and all that amazing regular Veracruz stuff. There were families and extended families and friends and even one couple that looked to be on a first date. (They seemed to be very nice kids; we’re rooting for them. Yes, but okay, it’s none of our business. However happiness in the making, you know, you can’t not, well…)
Anyhow, how do you mind your own business out on the town. You visit with the tables next to you. The waiters
want to talk. The taxi drivers talk faster and faster as they drive faster and faster. They’ll throw you a curve as they jump lanes. The street vendors are ignited. You have to tell them no thanks two times or maybe even three.
The marimbas, the harps and jaranas, the mariachis, the salsa groups, they were all there.
Most important of all, just regular old everybody was everywhere. Even happy people get scared. But they get over it fast, and just as fast they get back to what makes Veracruz so special.
by Eric, May/03/2009
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Veracruz |
Even the Sea Urchins Stayed Home
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Here in Veracruz we’re all okay. There’s almost no influenza. But around town it’s a little eerie.
Yesterday a student went to Sacrifice Island and Cancuncito. Cancuncito has white sand, brain coral, colorful fish, and so many black spiney’s, so many sea urchins, that it can be dangerous to walk around in the surf.
Yesterday it wasn’t dangerous. The sea urchins must have stayed home. Today almost everybody has stayed home. Around town it’s quieter than Christmas morning.
Buses are almost empty, and
so are restaurants. There are no tourists, and you hardly pass anyone on the sidewalks.
The aquarium is closed. It’s never been closed.
Walking around you don’t hear the happy sounds of Spanish or the fun and friendly talk of families and friends. Pretty much, you don’t hear anything.
Quiet Veracruz—it feels injured. But the Sea Urchins are right. Today, and tomorrow and for some more tomorrows after that, we hope everyone who can will stay home. We hope everyone will stay extra safe.
by Eric, April/30/2009
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Mexico |
Very Sad News from Veracruz
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The sound of things is that the new flu strain came from the western edge of the State of Veracruz. I could say that we in the City of Veracruz are lucky, but lucky isn’t the right term when people are getting hurt.
The village the authorities suspect to be the origin of the flu is closer to the City of Puebla and to Mexico City than to Veracruz. That would explain the flu going in that direction instead of coming here.
Sadly,
it will be everywhere. Until we know where it’s headed we’re advising folks not to come down. We’ll be sending out emails starting today.
Here comes the wrong word again. Luckily for us, we’re especially close to the clean breezes coming in off the ocean. We’re not in a crowded part of town, and we have lots of open airy space inside the school’s facility. We should be fine.
Being fine isn’t enough when many around us will be in trouble. So today the question we’re trying to figure out is how can we help our neighbors and their neighbors and so on across town without putting ourselves at risk.
We’re confident we’ll find the way.
by Eric, April/28/2009
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Veracruz |
The Artist Agreed
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A few days back we uploaded some pronunciation and vocabulary videos we made. They’re designed to offer a head start to those just starting out with Spanish.
The voice, but you’ll have to agree that still counts as being the performing artist, is
one of our own. It’s Jorge.
In addition to his already full curriculum, he’s taking guitar, music theory, and chorus. We asked if we might post his picture; it’s nice to know to whom you’re listening. Modestly, the artist agreed.
Most of Jorge’s hours with us are on the weekend. When no one wants to practice Spanish, he practices using the “house” guitar.
It’s a catch-22. He’s there to practice with you. But sometimes students don’t want to practice. They just want to sit there…and become invisible…and listen.
Culture is an important part of immersion. Culture adds richness and fullness (and anyhow, it’s how we rationalize our way out of the catch 22).
And also, thankfully, there’s this. Jorge is a very responsible young adult. After awhile, after responsibility has nudged him just the tiniest tad, he sets down the guitar, and much to the chagrin of the invisible whoever’s there with him is practicing Spanish.
by Eric, April/24/2009
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Although it’s not a good thing to hear about a check—“Your check is in the mail, trust me”—it’s great news about a box of books. And, trust me, it’s true. A box of books is moving our way.
The books aren’t for us. They’re for local kids, high school and college kids. English is part of the curriculum at most schools, but there’s almost nothing in English for them to read.
It’s a problem
with which we can help. Nancy Krohn (who studied with us in March) and her husband have shipped this box of books. We’re deeply appreciative.
We’re going to ask everyone coming down who has some extra books (fiction and nonfiction, hardback and paperback) to bring a few if they can.
We’d like to get, maybe I’m dreaming, a thousand titles, a thousand interesting reads.
It’ll be a Lending Library Plus. We want to get kids reading. If they read, their English skills will grow by leaps and bounds.
So in addition to plain old shelves (heaped high with wonderful books), we’re thinking of having tables and cookies and juice and coffee so they can relax and peruse to their hearts’ content. A good cookie helps in finding the right book to check-out, in finding a page-turner to read cover-to-cover with gusto.
We’ll have to charge a deposit, or the books won’t come back. We’re realists. The deposit will be a fully refundable, to be returned when they surrender their cards.
Having a lending library to help the youth of Veracruz is a way to thank Mexico for letting us be here.
by Eric, April/23/2009
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Veracruz |
We Bought a Top of the Line HD Video Cam, and It Didn’t Work.
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Yes, we bought a beauty of a video cam. It’s a tremendous camera. We bought it to make pronunciation and vocabulary videos for beginners, and it didn’t work, at all.
State of the art, high dollar, high definition, and fancy simply wasn’t the answer.
So we started going through options. We considered using a production company. The videos have to be useful and at least not unattractive. We talked to some college kids and thought about trying to get our videos to be a college classroom project.
We considered a big online learning platform
like eCollege or Blackboard or WebCT or the freeware, Moodle. How hard did it have to be?
All we were after was letting very beginners learn some useful vocabulary and get a handle on pronunciation before coming down. This will give them such a head start. We’ll start using the vocabulary they learn right from their first minutes of class.
It was just too good an idea to let die. But we’d been fighting with it for six months.
Then national news hit. A guy named Khan was putting math videos on You-Tube, and they were helping a lot of kids. We watched one. It was very clear, very straight forward, and very successful.
We were ready to tap out our bank account to buy the technology, whatever it might have been.
I emailed him—a little gutsy, even maybe presumptuous—but we had to know his secret.
“Screen capture,” he said, “there are many free programs.”
It worked great!
To see it, all you have to do is click “Online Pronunciation and Vocabulary” up on the navigation bar, and then scroll down and click a lesson, a free lesson, made on a free program, in our free time (while our video camera sits on a shelf, free from use).
by Eric, April/19/2009
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Veracruz |
Five Gallon Plastic Friend
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There we were cruising along. And then, there we were, parked.
We were parked right in the middle of the road, way out in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around but beautiful vistas.
The driver hopped off the bus. And so did his money-taker. Pretty soon thereafter, I did too. And I went reaching for my camera like a
gun-fighter for his six-shooter.
They had a branch stuck in the gas tank.
It was a dipstick-tree-branch. They were dip-sticking for diesel. It came out dry.
A diesel-stained five gallon plastic container was at the ready, and off it (and the money-taker and another guy) went.
A little more than an hour later they topped the hill coming back.
In moments the party was over we were on our way.
by Eric, April/12/2009
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Mexico |
Eighteen Half Moons
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Sounds kind of mystical or even a little hippie. It’s not. Could it be the name of some fancy boutique resort? Could be, but it’s not. Maybe it’s a page from a coloring book teaching kids to count. Great guess. But not right.
It’s all about
great taste. These are the food specialty of Pachuca, Mexico, and they’re delicious.
Pachuca is a mining region, and long ago miners from England were brought over to work. With them they brought the Cornish meat turnover. The half moon sketch in the upper left corner is my favorite, the minero (the miner). It’s filled with beef, potatoes, and green chili. Linda likes the mole verde. I can’t even begin to figure out its filling.
To jazz up the selection, Veracruz has added some new fillings—chorizo and potato, ham and cheese, and a rice pudding dessert treat among others. Regardless, as is almost always so, nothing beats the originals.
In English the turnover is called a pasty, and here in Mexico that became paste. If you look closely at the picture of the pastes (I have to say it in Spanish) you’ll see the marks and then you can use the sketch to see what we’re having for lunch.
by Eric, Mar/28/2009
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Mexico |
There’s Always Action on the Bus.
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Back home the city bus is a pretty dull ride. It in Mexico, the bus is where it’s at. You never know what, but something good is sure to happen. We were riding home from the office supply, and a kid hopped on.
He started talking, and we heard him. We were more than halfway to the back. The bus was noisy, and he was clear as a bell. He wanted to sell us (all of us on the bus) a CD for only twenty pesos.
Music started playing, clear as could be. He said a song title, and the music jumped to a new song.
He turned to the driver
and we understood.
If this doesn’t take your breath away, I just don’t know what will.
“What could be next?” you might wonder.
Imagine matched kids hopping in the front and back doors at the same time. Yep, bus aisle stereo.
by Eric, Mar/21/2009
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Mexico |
Any Idea Who “Bei Duo Fen” Might Be?
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The accents aren’t there because I don’t know how to put them, and so figuring out who this might be is extra tough. It’s Pinyin, and it came up in a Mandarin (Chinese) class.
Mandarin is tough to pronounce, but now knowing what language it’s in can you guess at the name?
The Chinese characters are no help at all. But here
it is with the good old Latin alphabet also. (I took a snapshot of the corner of a page where it was written.)
We were talking about hearing his Ninth performed by the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra a few weeks ago. The Mandarin teachers said “Who?” Beethoven, it seems, isn’t all that easy a name for native-Chinese-speakers to hear.
It’s pronounced, as close as we can get in English, BAY DWO FEN. “But the music,” we were told, “is the same.”
by Eric, Mar/16/2009
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Mexico |
Ceci’s Back At Work, and Her Baby Has Great Day Care.
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We’re happy to announce that Ceci is back teaching. Her maternity leave was totally successful. Little Miguel is doing great. Ceci’s back at full speed.
Remember a day a grandma’s. They were great days. Or the days we
visited our aunts. Wonderful times. And once in a while our cousins or a great aunt. Or that special of special times, our great grandmother. It’s all such special memories that it has me writing in sentence fragments.
Imagine the wonderful day that each day will be for baby Miguel. The extended family in Mexico is the world’s best day care. Playing with grandmom, play with aunts and grand-aunts, keeping the cousins entertained, a baby in Mexico goes to child care by staying home.
And every best of days has the best moment of all. Amidst all this happiness baby Miguel gets passed into his mother’s arms and loved and cuddled and tenderly held…until maybe a cousin wants another turn, or maybe great grandmom.
Ceci’s back, but to little Miguel it’s like she never left.
by Eric, Mar/02/2009
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Mexico |
Strolling Guitars for Strolling Minstrels
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This is the kind of thing you never think about. It’s one of those you-get-the-answer-before-you-get-the-question. The answer made itself known, and so we’re starting with the question. Where do strolling minstrels buy their strolling guitars?
We were in the copy shop in El Centro. We turned to the street, and there strolled the answer. More clearly, there stood
the answer.
Strolling guitars come from
strolling guitar sellers.
by Eric, Feb/28/2009
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Veracruz |
Carnaval’s Over, and We’re Cleaning Up, and Cleaning Up, and Cleaning Up…
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Carnaval is a huge party. And it's more fun than you can imagine. And it’s more of a mess than you can imagine. Trash is generated by the ton, especially along the parade route. And that, of course, is where the school is. There’s no better place to be; there’s no messier place to be.
We go to every parade; one we go to in person and sit in the grandstands in happy awe. The other five we go to by
simply staying home.
We walk out onto the front deck, and we see it. We go anywhere in the school building, and we hear it and feel it.
The walls vibrate, they’re brick. The floors vibrate, they’re concrete. And the windows seem like they’re about to explode from their frames.
We close for Carnaval. It’s easy to guess why.
But back to the tons of trash. We stay closed for a few days after the parades are over. We’re closed for cleaning.
City crews flood the parade route. And they flood the waterfront neighborhoods from the boulevard for three and four blocks inland.
The city crews have dump trucks and 55 gallon drums on 2-wheeled dollies, and everywhere they’re sweeping and shoveling. It takes a couple days to get it all.
The parades ended Tuesday night and already the street is presentable again. Tomorrow it will be its normal impressively clean self.
Students will arrive this weekend; classes start Monday. Maybe here and there around the neighborhood they’ll spot some small bits of brightly colored confetti stuck in crevices and corners. But that’s it. That’ll be the only evidence left of the wonderful (and oh so loud) week we had.
by Eric, Feb/26/2009
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Mexico |
Attending Beethoven’s Ninth and Many Weddings All in One Day—We Were Very Busy.
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The world-class Xalapa Symphony Orchestra was in town performing at Veracruz’s beautiful Teatro Clavijero. We had second level box seating fully distant from the stage. Fully distant in this small-scale European style opera house is 16 rows back from the stage. The performance was incredible, magnificent, magical, delicious, triumphant, spectacular, and add your favorite superlatives, add fifty or sixty. What a concert!
And what a close to a wonderful day. We played hooky from school, and
spent much of the day at a high window overlooking the zocalo. We saw the city assemble a stage with a head table 16 people wide, even in Mexico this is a lot. Then they set out what looked like seven hundred or eight hundred chairs (but our guess was low).
They fully draped each chair in lush white fabric. They brought floral arrangements; they set up a huge sound system. A flock of reporters were roaming around. The chairs filled. The head table filled. The Municipal President spoke. The P.A. system was highly distorted. The sound reverberated from hotel walls and restaurant walls, and off the cathedral, and off the Municipal Palace. It was almost impossible to understand.
But marriage vows are universal and “mujeres” followed by a short, resonating paragraph, and then “hombres” followed by another were marriage vows if ever we heard them. Good cheer and music followed, and then an old couple crossed to the middle of the stage and stopped, and bent over, and from our distant vantage point it seemed they signed. And then another old couple and then another, and then more--young couples, couples middle aged, older couples, some brides in wedding gowns but most in their Sunday best, they kept coming and coming and coming. We gave up counting.
In this collective wedding, 650 couples tied the knot.
What would ever serve to top of the evening after joining 650 proud and happy couples? What could ever top off a cultural moment so touching and at the same time so exciting?
Little could, for sure, but what evening is there, anywhere in the world, that isn’t perfectly concluded by Beethoven’s Ninth.
We watched the wedding, watched on and off, together, Linda and I, from our hotel room balcony across the street from the zocalo. And together, but together alone yet surrounded by a packed house, we attended the concert. What wonderful, unforgettable gifts Veracruz gave us on our anniversary.
by Eric, Feb/14/2009
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Veracruz |
Happy New Year!!! Happy Birthday!!! And “Hen Hao”
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Chinese New Year started at noon on Sunday our time, and we had a happy celebration with the young women from Taiwan who are with us right now. Today is one having a birthday, and we had a traditional Mexican piñata party. Hen Hao (it’s missing the accent marks) says
Very Good—our progress at learning Chinese is “very good.”
The girls are a pleasure to have here at school with us. They’re learning Spanish at warp speed. We’re coming along very well with our Chinese study. Linda and I hope to visit China one day, and being able to speak some Mandarin (the official one of China’s more than 100 dialects) will make our trip so much better.
Their chosen English names are Elena and Penelope (left to right). Their real names are (again the accents are missing) Xiao-Fan Chang and Pei-Shan Chiang. They’ve been friends since high school. Elena graduated in architecture and Penelope in psychology. They are a credit to their families. We congratulate their parents.
In order to help myself learn the hard-to-form sounds of Chinese, I’ve been making videos of their lessons. The videos are great to study by. You can find them by going to our Mandarin page and clicking on the link. I’m headed there now for more (and more and more and more and more) pronunciation practice.
by Eric, Dec/28/2009
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Veracruz |
We’re Going To Be Grandparents
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No, Ceci hasn’t had her baby. But she will any day now, and we’ll let you know right away. Ceci’s baby will have a wonderful bisabuela here in town, a wonderful great-grandmother, and we’ll be close and supportive friends of the family.
We’re going to be grandparents to triplets, or maybe even quadruplets.
We’ll have to wait to know. Their mom hasn’t
moved aside long enough for us to peak.
They're right outside the door to the upstairs front terrace. She's got a great view of the ocean.
We’ll just stand back for now and wait for babies to be born. Then to know if they're triplets, or quadruplets, or even quintuplets, we’ll count the tiny beaks raised high to caring parents.
by Eric, Jan/07/09
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Families and group of friends were walking down the street and laughing and singing. The City lighted the sky with a beautiful and very loud fireworks display. (It came from behind the aquarium, and you could see it all from the balconies and front deck.)
And then even better, New Year’s day afternoon Ali (from England but she’s spent the past year and a half teaching in Mexico) walked into our office and all smiles said,
“Today I can talk in Spanish without thinking.” So good to hear—after only a week, her intermediate Spanish is suddenly flowing without pre-thinking.
Last year ended sounding just right too. “This is the nicest place I’ve ever been,” said an author of a book to be released next month (we got to read a proof) . And a week or so before that a retired accountant said, talking about the outings and fieldtrips, “The people who have a seven-day bus tour never get to do anything like this.”
Everywhere has its own special sounds. And these sounds, sounds that say school is as successful and fun and friendly as we work hard for it to be, are extra special to Linda and me.
by Eric, Jan/02/09
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Veracruz |
A New Business for the New Year
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Not a new business for us, the school has us busier than busy can be—it’s a good thing we enjoy it so much. We wish you the happiest of New Years.
But back to business: this is the first business venture for its owner. And its owner is one of our own. Paula has been
saving part of her pay every month for the last three years.
This week she used some of her savings and bought a pick-up. She’s contracted for a sales and delivery route with the Veracruz office of soft drink bottler.
She’s staying with us, thank goodness, and we hope entrepreneur or not that she stays with us forever. She has a trusted and proven employee to tend the route.
Look at that smile. Imagine the excitement. We're all so happy for her.
Next week, we’d be willing to bet (if we did bet, but we don’t), she’ll start saving for the next unit in her fleet.
by Eric, Dec/31/08
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Veracruz |
Technology, Good or Bad?
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 It’s an old debate, and it’s come to Veracruz. We have CAT scanners and maybe MRIs, and Blackberries and IPhones; it’s all great stuff. And we have nifty rescue boats, and, as always, excess sets in.
Things have gone too far. Say what you will, this shouldn’t be.
And it won’t work anyhow.
And it’s ugly.
I give them six months.
Parquimetros, Yuck!
by Eric, Dec/28/08
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Veracruz |
There’s Glistening and Jingling and Ringing and Roasting and Cheer.
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Today’s our fifth Christmas Eve here at school.
The ocean is glistening under the bright sunlight; tricycles are jingling the clusters of bells they use to announce themselves as they roll slowly down the street; church bells are ringing, and at the corner store hams and turkeys are roasting.
The city is filled with the good cheer of
happy, close, and loving families. Christmas in Veracruz is about family togetherness. (Presents are 12 days from now on Kings’ Day.) Christmas is a celebration of kindness and friendship and sharing. And Christmas is a celebration of Mexico’s deep faith.
I ask you allow that I wax sentimental for but a moment. Christmas is a time when I remember how good life has been to me. I give thanks. I have Linda. There is nothing else in life I wish. Having Linda, for me, is having everything.
Together, we, Linda and I, have our family, and we have the over 600 new friends we’ve made, students who’ve come down. We have Veracruz friends. We have Veracruz to live in.
We’ve been blessed with a joyous life, and we thank all of you who have added so much to its wonderfulness.
by Eric, Dec/24/08
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Veracruz |
We Promised You a Better Movie.
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We went to the malecon last night, just in case.
Coming from school we walk the long leg first. A beautifully lighted cargo ship was coming in. You might say your ship came in. That’s because
after passing the inner sea wall, and the guy selling the fishing rigs made from a piece of one-by-four, and the high school’s fishing trawlers, and getting to the navy dock (this all happens in a length of three blocks) we saw it.
We saw wet light lifting to the sky. And we heard it. We heard mariachi music.
It was another block and a half ahead of us. We picked up the pace, and I readied our camera. We had a promise to keep.
As we got close, it stopped. We waited. Nothing happened. I slipped around to the control booth. “En un rato,” he said. More excitement in just a little bit. “How little a bit?” and now you can tell I’ve been here long enough to know a little white lie.
“Twenty minutes.” It came and went. But we waited because you’re waiting. Another ten minutes, and it burst forth.
There’s a sing along part. You’ll notice that someone sang along.
You can sing along too.
by Eric, Dec/19/08
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Mexico |
A Letter to Santa Claus
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“Please look after the widow who lives down the callejon,” that’s what we wrote.
She’s a sweet little old lady. She must be seventy-five. She lost her husband eight months ago. We have no idea where her (now in their forties or fifties) kids are.
She gets a pension. And she has access to second-rate health care. Thank goodness she has her
house. We wish it had a room that was air conditioned.
Her pension might be seventy dollars a month. Probably it’s closer to fifty or forty. She ran out of money in November. In one of those moments that tears your heart out, she came to our door (we only know her to say hi) and asked to borrow twenty dollars. She had no food.
I was out. Linda lent it to her, of course. The little old lady (we don’t even know her name) took it and went directly to the store on the corner. She passed back by with corn tortillas and some vegetables.
A few days ago she came by and asked for Linda. I told her Linda couldn’t get free, but could I help her. She handed me twenty dollars. Sometimes you just have to choke back how things feel.
I thanked her. And then I told her that since she paid us back, she had credit with us. As long as she paid us back, she’d have credit.
That the best we can do. We made it a business relationship. She doesn’t have to feel like she’s begging. We don’t care about the money, but we do care about her dignity.
We think, at least we hope, Santa has figured out something to do. It’ll help a little. It won’t replace kids that seem to have drifted away. It won’t bring her husband back.
Here in the holiday season, even with all the scary troubles our economy faces, we remember how lucky we are to be Americans.
by Eric, Dec/17/08
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Veracruz |
Awash with Jealously
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For a year now they’ve had a fountain with lights and music. The fountain jets streams of water higher or lower and shoots up more or less of them in keeping with music. The lights are red when the music’s urgent and a gentle green for more pastoral moments. The music is standard, well-known classical and semi-classical fare.
They have it over in Boca del Rio--the sleepy (but the music is so loud it keeps people awake at night) little town at the southern end of the run of beaches. I’ve been awash with jealously because we don’t have one, or at least we
didn’t have one.
But now we do. And maybe we had it all along and nobody could make it work. I was walking the malecon today taking pictures of everything. Coming toward the fountain I saw the water was spouting. I took a snapshot.
I rounded the corner and started down the long leg of the malecon. I heard my favorite music, mariachi. I turned around. The fountain was shooting streams high or lower, more or less. For the first time ever I took a movie with my digital camera.
You can watch it here. You might have to allow Active X so your browser will let you see it.
I’m going back to get you a better movie. But what a start!
by Eric, Dec /15/08
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Mexico |
When We’re Dual Purpose It’s Double Good!
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He told us that he more than met his goals.
He told us that comprehension is by far the toughest part of Spanish for him and that his comprehension grew by over 50%. A fifty percent growth in comprehension for one who is at an advanced level of study is incredible. Congratulations are fully in order!
He told us he is returning next year for another study-stay. We’re already waiting for him to be back with us. And he also said that
“This has been the best vacation I ever had.”
Our goal is that lots of Spanish is learned. He sure learned a lot, and you can guess that makes us feel very good.
We have a non-school goal; we want students to have a wonderful time in Mexico.
A student who is now in his retirement years has gone, as you can imagine, on lots of vacations. That he said, “This has been the best vacation I ever had,” makes us feel good twice over—double good.
Learned lots of Spanish and best vacation ever—Veracruz is a great spot for immersion.
by Eric, Dec/07/08
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Veracruz |
On A Clear (windless, smooth ocean, low tide) Day
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You can see it far better on a clear day. You can get a glimpse of it most days. When the wind is blowing and the surf up, you can’t see it at all.
For nine years I’ve been looking out to sea to see the tubes sticking up out of the ocean. It’s a shipwreck on a farther out coral
reef. It looks like two stubby pipes sticking up from the ocean. You can see it from the school’s front door.
For nine years I’ve wanted a better look. I’ve considered learning to scuba dive just to end up out there near it. I considered paying the fisherman to let me ride along with them for the day so I could get a look. I’ve schemed.
Today it dawned on me to try a shot with our eight-month-old new camera and its “teleconverter” lens. How did I not think of this eight months ago?
I had to “Photoshop” the color, brightness, and contrast to get it good enough. Today I can see it for the first time. It’s dazzling.
I’m drawn to it like a moth. To learn to scuba, to get an open-water rating, (you can immediately sense that I’ve been investigating) only costs $450 and two weekends. I have to get you a better picture.
by Eric, Nov/28/08
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Veracruz |
Hotdogs and Tricycles |
Around the malecon venders sell hotdogs, hot cakes (believe it or not), tacos, and other foods that require a gas grill. That’s a problem. The vendors show up at about five o’clock in the afternoon and work close to midnight. The gas grills have to come and go, like clockwork, each and every day. And they are too
heavy to carry.
You might know the solution—a tricycle. With its boxed front to carry the heavy grill, and with shelves built over the front wheels (like flattop fenders) for the condiments and drinks and plates, and even bags with extra supplies dangling from the handlebars, a tricycle solves all but one problem.
With all the weight it’s hard to pedal. It’s so hard that often vendors have to push instead of pedal, and sometimes it takes two pushers.
Or, we learned the other night, it takes 5 HP.
What a contraption! But, credit where credit’s due, what a solution!
by Eric, Nov/26/08
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Veracruz |
Three Bucks and a Bat to Boot
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In the beautiful Clavijero Theater, Veracruz’s smaller performing arts center, superior musical performances are common. Last night we attended a violin and piano duo playing Schubert and Frank.
We expected to pay
fifteen dollars each or maybe twenty, or only ten if we were very lucky. We paid thirty Pesos each—less than three dollars each. It’s a steal. But it’s also a way to make the fine arts accessible to almost everyone, and that’s good.
We sat far to the side so Linda could watch the style of the pianist. Here’s a view of the duo (plus the page turner) from where we were sitting.
And here’s the bat.
The bat circled the auditorium over and over again and each time it passed over the stage. They fly so fast. I got dizzy watching. The musicians, the troupers, never missed a beat.
by Eric, Nov/25/08
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Mexico |
My Kingdom for a Good Banana Split
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Ever since I was a little kid living in a little town on the old US Route 1 I’ve loved a good banana split. Everywhere they make them here in Veracruz I’ve tried them, and, sad to say, they don’t hold a candle to the tiny Dairy Queen that was out along the highway.
What tastes good is all a matter of expectation, and my expectation is
It opened three days ago. We found it yesterday. Already we’re regulars.
by Eric, Nov/10/08
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Veracruz |
Making Safe-As-It-Can-Be Veracruz Even Safer
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Totally non-political in this very political country--that’s us. We’re absolutely removed from politics in Mexico. I know the name of the president, the governor, and the mayor, and what parties they belong to, and that’s the extent of my political knowledge.
So, my thanks to the city is pure; it’s in response
to services rendered.
Veracruz is the safest city we’ve ever been in. We walk the malecon at two in the morning without worry. (Sure, we’re alert, but we’re not concerned.)
But as safe as it is, as safe we think as any city can be, the city’s tourism office went for more. They added another group of police.
In addition to tourist safety, they’re also deployed to be generally helpful, and they are. Having them around is good for the tourists, and so it’s also good for tourism. That’s a good use of city money.
Our thanks and appreciation to the tourism office. City tourism is housed on the ground floor of the Municipal Palace—they’re easy to find.
As you would expect in this gracious city, the staff is happily and helpfully “a sus ordenes,” at your service.
by Eric, Oct/9/08
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Veracruz |
Music and Music and Music and … |
We were in the Zocalo Saturday night. We listened to the marimbas, a norteño band, a salsa band, and some son jaracho. We heard the brass band on the bandstand playing for the “hour of danzon” (a very popular stylized Veracruz waltz).
It was getting late, and so we left the musicians, still playing as they strolled through the restaurants, and we walked right into
more music—right in the middle of the walkway connecting the zocalo to the malecon.
The group is playing El Condor Pasa, that beautiful Andes melody that Simon and Garfunkel recorded as “I’d rather be a forest than a tree. Yes I would, I really would…”
We didn’t look on the far side of the municipal palace to see who was playing over there or walk two blocks to Plaza Campana to hear the Salsa group.
But we did pass ballet folklorico on the malecon as we continued walking home.
Yesterday we went to the sensational Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa and arrived just in time for a Sunday early afternoon concert. We heard a 16 member Rondalla. It’s all male voices, beautifully harmonized, singing warm and close and caring love songs.
There’s wonderful music everywhere in and around wonderful Veracruz.
by Eric, Oct/6/08
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Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that we’ve gotten to be such a major player in language immersion that we’re on the map. What I’m saying is that geographically, in terms of everyday life, our location
is on the map.
(Let me put major player to rest. We’ll never let ourselves get big. We maintain our enrollment cap. We’ll never be a major player because that would cost us being who we are. Being a major player requires putting business ahead of teaching. Yuck! (“This above all to thine own self be true,” said Shakespeare to me back when I was in seventh grade.)
But our corner is on the map. It’ll be on TV and maybe in magazines. There’s no more being on the map, in terms of everyday life, than being the location for a beer commercial. That’s our corner—a beer commercial corner.
Yesterday and the day before a couple of Carnaval style floats and about 20 people in Carnaval costumes were there surrounded by camera and sound crews. Some beer company (we don’t even know the name) from Columbia was making a commercial. We’ve gone international!
It’s a great corner, opening fully onto the ocean. It’s the view from our front deck. It’s a big part of why we chose to put the school here. I hope the quality of their beer upholds the quality our corner.
by Eric, Sept/14/08
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OPENING PARAGRAPHWe got on the bus the other day, one of the city buses that runs half a block from the school, and had to squeeze (very tightly) past a lady who was in the aisle by the driver.
City buses are so good that we rarely take a taxi, never wish we had a car, and only once in a blue moon wish we had a pick-up.
Also good is
the music.
After we were seated and the bus was going, and rocking a little, and already changing lanes, the lady centered herself at the front of the bus, reached up for a handrail, and began to belt out mariachi.
She wasn’t at all bad, and she wasn’t exactly the best, but she was live. After the first couple of lines, the crowd was with her. We were too. I wanted to sing out loud.
She’d warble a bit when the bus swayed. When the horn accompanied her there was dissonance. Like everybody, we heard only what was good, and we loved it. I, pretending to be audacious tourist, reached for my camera.
She, of course, was singing for a living. She walked the aisle when she was done, and it looked like she made five pesos more than a day’s minimum wage—pretty good for a 15 minute stint and then off to the next mobile stage.
It’s the bus for us. We’ve never had live music in a taxi.
by Eric, Sept/13/08
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And you can do it Right Away!!!
Linda has wanted to study Italian now for a couple of years. So, she took a course here at the local outlet of an international (and very costly) language chain.
Their method is fully defined, and the sequence is cast in stone. The instructors don’t individualize, don’t go off on tangents, don’t do a lot of things including they
don't let you write.
Everything is oral, nothing is written. You can’t take notes. You can’t touch a pen or pencil. And the instructors can’t write anything either. Even though I’m plenty jaded, I was shocked.
What about all of us who are good at taking notes and remember better when we write it down? Where does this leave us?
What about how we used to write a word that was giving us trouble four or five times or even ten to help up remember it forever?
Linda feels she missed catching a lot of material because she couldn’t catch it on paper.
But here, right away you can start writing away and keep writing all you want. That’s because it’s all about how you best learn. And that’s a decision for you to make.
by Eric, Sept/09/08
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Veracruz |
The 5th of May Was a Long Time Ago.
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That was when we got busy for the summer, and this summer we were our busiest ever.
The staff was great. We’re proud. And far more, we’re very appreciative.
We never once had to go over two students to a class. We never once had trouble covering all the sessions. They never got sick (even when they were sick), they never got tired (even when they were tired). And they always had their positive, happy, helpful attitudes.
In the back of my mind I kept hearing
the old refrain, “When the going gets tough…” Since May 5th we’ve had more than 80 students staying mostly two or three weeks. A few folks only could stay for one, and some stayed for six.
One more week and then we’re all going on vacation for a few weeks. School will be out of session. Everyone deserves a rest. Everyone needs a rest. They’ve earned it. They’re getting it.
I wish I had a picture of them to put right here. We’re still too busy for me to be able to get them all together. “There are students to teach and there is work to be done,” that’s what they’d tell me if I tried to pull them all into the living room for a group photo. That’s how dedicated they are.
And that’s why we and those who come down to join us are so lucky.
by Eric, Aug/18/08
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Veracruz |
It’s Going So Well That We’re Doing More.
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Our approach to Spanish—teaching the using of Spanish—has worked incredibly well. We’re proud of how well it works, and please forgive us for this non-humble moment. That Spanish is going well is the basis of a decision we made.
The girls from Taiwan were a delight to have here, and they’d like to come back. They have friends who’d like to come to Mexico. They’d all like to teach here at the school.
They’ve got the same wonderful personalities as do our staff. They’re just right for how we feel about teaching. And they speak Chinese.
So, as you might already be guessing,
Linda and I are going to learn Chinese (not exactly what you guessed), as we make it available to everyone (exactly what you did guess).
As early as October, we’re offering immersion in Mandarin. The folks of Mexico need it, and so do Americans. Mandarin is well on its way to being a major business language. English, Spanish, and Mandarin (Chinese)—those are the languages to know.
And so we say, “Why not know all three?”
by Eric, July/31/08
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Veracruz |
A Lot of Spanish Being Learned; A Lot of Enjoying Mexico |
It’s been a very busy summer, and it’ll be very busy for another month. A lot of Spanish is getting learned and a lot of great folks are enjoying Mexico. We’re working long hours and having a wonderful time. But all work and no play makes Linda and me miss out on Veracruz.
So we slipped out last night and went and sat in the zocalo. As always there was music, dancing, happy conversations, families and kids, vendors and vendors and vendors, and this
bit of flavor I’d been missing. The green chili, jalapeno, will curl your tongue. The carrots, taken a little at a time, to me are as refreshing as can be.
After I’d nibbled on carrots for a while, the two-hour law kicked in—the two-hour law says you just can’t be out around town for two hours without something dazzling happening, something new or beautiful or rare or silly or even a little dangerous. Maybe it’ll happen in only seconds from leaving school, but for sure, whatever it is, it will happen in under two hours.
Here’s what the two-hour law gave us last night. I ordered a torta and French fries, and to go with the fries, the waiter brought this.
I confess to having hesitated a moment before deciding to go ahead and squeeze the Catsup on my fries.
by Eric, July/26/08
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Mexico |
An Expression Cast in Stone
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I was early for an appointment in El Centro, and so I dropped into the City Museum.
I hadn’t been there (and yet I love the place) for over two years. I was passing time refreshing my memory and enjoying the exhibits.
I turned the corner and came face to face with
this face.
It’s an Olmec head (una cabeza olmeca), and it's taller than I am. I’d refreshed and enjoyed so much that by the time I looked this guy in the eye, I was almost late for my appointment. I took a quick photo and ran.
The museum is a stop on our out and abouts. It has many Olmec carvings, layouts of the early city back in 1600s and 1700s, a look at early shipping and trade, stories of the pirates who entered the harbor and ran amuck around town, and much more.
It’s one of many enchanting spots students visit as they participate in the culture (past and present) of Mexico and practice Spanish with Veracruz’s warm and friendly people.
by Eric, July/12/08
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Veracruz |
What Comes Around Goes Around.
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I know I’ve got that backwards, but this time it happened backwards. A few blogs down below I talked about Joe III and his credit card. He left it behind in an ATM in a very busy pharmacy.
Three hours later we were there, and so was it. He got it back—that’s the “comes around” part.
Today Linda and I decided
to have tortas for a late afternoon snack, the delicious tortas that they prepare in little grocery store on the corner. Tortas take eight or ten minutes to make (it’s worth the wait), and so I decided to relax at the three-stool lunch counter.
I sat down, and right there, right in front of my eyes, lying lost on the counter was a debit card. No telling why, the store doesn’t take cards. But there it was, all alone and left behind, and waiting to fall into unscrupulous hands.
It didn’t exactly fall into my hands. I had to pick it up. I read the name (I have no idea why) and carried it to the cash register. I handed it to the owner.
She read the name and for a second looked worried. But then she shook her head yes and smiled. The card had started its journey home.
And that’s how the “goes around” part comes second up in the title.
by Eric, July/11/08
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Mexico |
Lightning Struck Twice
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Joe III left his debit card behind. Ask him, and he might tell you he’s getting pretty good at this—he’s done it before.
He had taken us out to dinner. He reached for his card. He searched his wallet. He ransacked his pockets. His card was gone—left behind in a very busy ATM in a very busy pharmacy on a very busy part of the malecon during a very busy tourist weekend.
We went back. Optimism drove us,
but pessimism controlled us. We stood at the counter. No sales clerk looked at us and smiled, none came over to help us. Pessimism gave way to acceptance and then to defeat.
I explained our story (hope springs eternal). “Tiene identificación?” said the salesclerk. She took Joe III’s driver’s license and without speaking walked away.
As she returned, four minutes or more later, she handed back his ID. Joe III didn’t start putting it away. Turning to me he slid the ID a little aside and a card showed below.
Twice in Mexico, Joe III lost his card. Twice he got it back. Lightening had struck for the second time. And in its momentary brilliance we saw, once again, how wonderful the people of Mexico truly are.
by Eric, July/03/08
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Veracruz |
A Good Catch Close to the School |
Veracruz has wonderful seafood, and anybody can tell you where—where to pay an arm and a leg. The well-known seafood restaurants are among the pricey restaurants here in town.
But by looking around, you can find delicious seafood at reasonable prices. And to us these restaurants are priceless. One is where the alligator
lives. That’s two blocks away. On fieldtrip day, there’s a great little restaurant at La Mancha, and also at Villa Rica Beach (also a fieldtrip) you’ll find one.
 A block in and three to the left is how to get to another. We walked past it for two years saying to ourselves that we should give it a try some day. We should have tried it the day it opened!
 They do a spectacular job with fish. We saw a couple of Robalo being severed yesterday that could almost make you drool.
For us it’s the shrimp, and yesterday brochetas de camarón were unbeatable.
by Eric, June/24/08
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Mexico |
A Licenciada Showed Up This Morning
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The government of Mexico bestows titles on college graduates. In its way it’s like the Queen of England bestowing knighthood.
A ceremony is performed, a oath is sworn, and the graduate is
titled. A chemistry major becomes Quimico, a physicist becomes Fisico, an accountant becomes Contador. If you’re a liberal arts major you become a Licenciado(a).
Paola, yesterday, left school at lunch to go to the University and there, amongst family and friends, she swore her oath.
Today she came to work smiling all over. Since we have almost no titles, it’s hard for us to understand the cultural significance. But here in Mexican culture, titles are a very, very big deal!!!! A titulo (a title) is the key to a successful future.
Licenciada Paola may leave us in September, and even leave Mexico. She’s making plans to go to Spain to do a master’s. It will be wonderful for her and invaluable for her career. (And once again we’ll sadly and happily lose a great employee to a better job and a great future.)
by Eric, June/23/08
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The Hernandez House’s first group of students wouldn’t budge. “It’s a terrific location,” is the consensus.
And they’re right. That’s why we picked it up for our busy season. For walkers it’s a joy. It’s a few blocks
closer to the inner seawall, the main part of the malecon, and the zocalo than are the school’s main buildings.
But as always in life there are trade-offs. Its overall bus service isn’t quite as good, the corner store is not nearly as good, and it’s farther from the restaurants across from the beach and along the boulevard.
Here’s the first group, the no-budge group—now known as the infamous Hernandez House Gang.
Here or there, both locations are wonderful. Wonderful locations in a wonderful city, we couldn’t ask for more.
by Eric, June/19/08
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Veracruz |
Number 100, An Easy-As-Pie Milestone
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This is the 100th entry in our Blog. Back during the Christmas of 06, back when our blog was one entry long and then two, a hundred blogs was far beyond my thinking.
Our thanks to all who have contributed. We appreciate the wonderful comments, and we enjoy sharing the happiness. Blogs from those who’ve studied with us help
us offer a much fuller view of just who we (the school) are and what school’s like.
Now long ago, in my school days writing a 5 paragraph essay was taxing. Today writing about Veracruz is easy as pie.
As one grows older one does see more when one looks at the world, and that’s made writing flow more freely.
But the really big change (from long ago ‘til now) is the subject matter. So many wonderful things go on around the school and around the city that there’s always something to talk about.
Veracruz—a wonderful place to blog about, a wonderful place to study Spanish, and for Linda and me, a wonderful life.
by Eric, June/19/08
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Veracruz |
Winning by Losing
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It’s a crazy goal for a business, but one of our goals is to lose our employees—to lose them to better jobs with great futures in this ever difficult Mexican economy.
Saturday we lost
Carlos. He graduated from Mexico’s Merchant Marine Academy. He’s off to the high seas. His girlfriend’s heart (she’s from Tennessee) is broken.
His job is one of the best starting jobs any graduate will have. A Chilean shipping firm held an employment competition. The competition was open to all at the Academy and was based on comprehensive testing (including English). Carlos came in first.
So we’ve lost big—lost a great employee to a terrific job. But we’ve won big because his success makes us so very happy.
by Eric, June/18/08
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Mexico |
Afro-Caribbean Festival in Veracruz
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Sitting on the East Coast of Mexico, Veracruz was the end of the line of the trade routes coming through the Caribbean. With trade comes culture. Veracruz’s early music was strongly influenced by Afro-Caribbean music.
Each year, to celebrate this vibrant cultural
contribution, the Instituto Veracruzano de la Cultura hosts the Afro-Caribbean International Festival. Music, dance, art, photos and video, scholarly investigation, and fun run for six days.
The best known piece of Veracruz music is La Bamba (an old song, but a hit in the US on the top 40 charts by Ritchie Valens back in ’58).
This year the Festival is dedicated to Gonzalo Aguirre Beltran, 1908-1996. He was an anthropologist known for his studies of groups left living on the fringes of society. Much of his work looked at Afro-Caribbean groups in Mexico and Afro-Mexicans.
We’re on our way to learning more about him and his work. Mexico, in many ways, has done a very good job with race relations. Maybe Dr. Aguirre Beltran’s work has important things to tell us.
The research will be very easy, easy because of “It’s a Small Small World.” His granddaughter, we found out last week, is our good friend, Dr. Olga.
by Eric, June/17/08
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Veracruz |
The Hernandez House
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Cross the street to the ocean’s edge and keep on going for a thousand feet. At the end of your walk the water’s 36 feet deep. You don’t have to hold your breath. The seawall’s there. Ocean going ships are passing so close you could throw a rock and hit one.
The Hernandez House is our third building. It’s closest
to the seawall and the harbor. It's right across the street from the Yacht Club. Linda and I’ve been there for three weeks.
Immediately next door are our good friends, Scubaver. From the front gate to the bus (or taxi) is 4 steps. Its location is incredible. It’s closer to El Centro and the zocalo than are #61 and #57 (our other two houses). Like #61 and #57, it’s half a block from the water’s edge.
Miguel is staying there now. Angelica’s there afternoons and into the night while Miguel’s attending his classes at the University. (And for awhile, we’ll be back in #61.)
Here are a few views of Hernandez.
Summer and winter are the busy times for immersion, and all three houses will be full.
by Eric, June/07/08
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Mexico |
They’ve Been to Shangri-la.
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Last night we heard about Shangri-la, and Kyrgyzstan, and a village in the north of Taiwan.
Five young women, graduate students from Taiwan, dropped by. We talked about planning for “responsible tourism.” It’s not a term I’d heard before,
but I like the sound of it.
Near Shangri-la they’re helping a Nomadic people move from an economy resulting in deforestation to one offering cultural and eco tourism.
They’re designing a university campus in Kyrgyzstan. There are extremely delicate cultural and religious issues to be handled along with the design process.
Through an educational program for the Tayal tribe of Taiwan’s original inhabitants (actually their descendents, of course) they’re helping to revitalize the old culture.
The group is here in Veracruz to present a paper at Edra29.
The young women are very interested in responsible tourism in the undiscovered and pristine State of Veracruz, and they have the same question that we have. How can the state develop tourism that actually helps the locals and provides that help in “responsible” (my new term) ways?
Even without the new term, our school’s been involved in this in little ways for three years now.
Just lately we’ve found ourselves at the front end of a larger project—we’re looking at bringing foreigners to town for responsible-eco-tourism activity on the Veracruz Coral Reef System (Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano).
We applaud these young woman. We admire what they’re doing. And they’ve shown us what our project needs—we need some graduate students.
by Eric, May/31/08
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Veracruz |
Over and Out, and In |
The construction of the new bathroom is over; we’ve cleaned up and gotten out, and already a student is in.
Our thanks to Miguel. He’s a trooper if ever there was one. He’s a terrific student (university), and he’s a fine craftsman.
This is Mexico and starting with the very first floor penetration we encountered hidden
conditions that made the job a nightmare—extra thick concrete almost everywhere we had to drill, beams the didn’t seem to belong where they were, extra deep main house drain line, different outside diameters of the same-size drain pipe, and the list goes on and on.
But here’s what Miguel and his super expert helper (I mention humbly) did.
A few blogs down the page, you can see the “before” photo.
No only is Miguel a great guy who’s great to have around; he’s great for the school.
And now we’re already planning bathroom number 16. Don’t tell him.
by Eric, May/27/08
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Veracruz |
How Do You Run an Airport without a PA System?
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That’s a question that never before came to mind. I’m not sure what you’d do at O’Hare or Kennedy or Benito Juarez in Mexico City.
But now I know what you’d do in Veracruz. The way around this monster of a problem is
to “talk softly and carry a big megaphone.”
Standing in front of the departures area, and aiming his megaphone at the arrivals area, this young man kept everyone well-appraised of what was up (and what wasn’t, of course).
His megaphone was clearer and less distorted than the airport’s PA system. It wasn’t as loud, but it was far easier to understand. I liked it.
Low tech, often the better answer to high tech problems.
by Eric, May/19/08
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Veracruz |
The Harvard 3, and Our Congratulations
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Mexico is full of things that probably will never happen again. Most are odd or funny or downright strange. Once in a while, though, the probably-never-again-event is totally and purely impressive. The Harvard 3, they’re impressive.
Three young women are
with us right now. They are finishing up their MBAs at Harvard this semester. They’re headed for great jobs. They have tremendous ability, and their futures will be fantastic.
We’d be happy for this probably-never-again-event to happen over and over again. We’re proud they’re here.
But even more, we’re proud of them and their world-class achievement.
by Eric, May/13/08
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Veracruz |
When You Run Out of Bathrooms
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What do you do when you run out of bathrooms? We started out with seven and added an eighth three years ago.
Then adding the old spacious house next door to our old spacious original house, we added another six. All of them, as I immodestly talked about once before, are paper-flushable. (This means NO foul trash can next to the toilet as is so common in Latin America.)
But still the question—what
do you do?
You call Rafael Bernabe. He lives in a pueblo in the State of Puebla. He is a master craftsman—he’s an artist in concrete, brick, plaster, and all such trades. He built our new bathroom.
What do you do when Rafael can’t come to town for at least two months?
Our answer is we’re glad that his son, Miguel, is living with us. Miguel is a university student studying engineering on a full tuition, room and board scholarship. He’s well trained by his father. Today I’m his helper and will be for a week or so to come.
Yes, we’re building another bathroom. I needed to take a break. My back is sore and my hands are sore—and Miguel is going strong.
I used to take five, then ten. I’m taking fifteen, and then I’ll be back in there, back as a fine young man’s helper.
by Eric, May/02/08
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Veracruz |
“You Taste Much More Everything.”
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We just got back from seeing the Panama Canal (we played hooky from school for a week). Like any vacation, of course, it had its ups and downs,
and that was the best part of all.
Being there—seeing it and riding it, is fantastic, and it all can be done solely in English.
But if you only speak English, even with English speaking guides, there’s so much you miss.
In addition to the canal itself, we took a couple of tours around the area.
There was an English-only speaker with us. He got the facts. We got the facts and far, far more. We got to participate in the culture and visit with the people.
As our bed and breakfast owner said, in a Latin country if you speak Spanish, “You taste much more everything.”
And I don’t know any better way to put it.
P.S. We stayed at Patty’s Casitas (www.pattyscasitas.com), and it was wonderful.
by Eric, Apr/30/08
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Veracruz |
More Than Just Good Food
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Everybody was busy eating and talking. This was during La Comida, our big midday meal, last week. I took the photo not because so much food was going down, but because of how good
lunch sounded.
Not the sound of flatware clanging, but the sound of talking, lots of talking. Talking in Spanish—and laughing and having fun. Language getting developed.
We hear it all the time, of course. And we love it. Good food, good friends, good charlantes and instructors, it makes for lots of learning.
Beginners to advanced, nobody’s worried about making mistakes. Nobody’s self-conscious. Everybody’s in it together.
What a job we have, Linda and I—sitting around, having fun, talking to friends, and, very special to us, having the joy of listening to everyone’s Spanish grow.
by Eric, Apr/03/08
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We work hard to make sure you have all the Spanish you can use each day—six hours of class, someone to practice with from 7 AM to 9 PM, breakfast and La Comida in Spanish, but that’s not the kind of “piling it on” I’m talking about.
I’m talking about a great
class experience with a bright 12 year old, a great experience that just happened. We were doing class at the conference table in our office. We had, just by chance, our ziplock baggies of change (Peso coins) on the table. To have a few minutes of numbers practice, the money bags looked inviting.
Just how high can you pile it on? Counting by ten-Peso pieces, five-Peso pieces, and ones and twos, we ran an experiment. Remember, this experiment required counting coin by coin (super practice).
Well, life was still pretty stable, even though a little wobbly, to this point—
He kept counting and piling on, and the moment came. The bright young student added a two-Peso piece—and...
So now you know. We can pile Spanish on all day long, and you get to cry “Uncle” whenever you’ve had your daily limit. But when it comes to Pesos, going from 620 Pesos to 622 Pesos is where the world comes crashing down.
by Eric, Mar/27/08
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Veracruz |
Two Down, None To Go—That Sure Makes Life a Lot Prettier.
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It was prettier last night at the ballet folklorico on the malecon, and it was prettier in the zocalo for a light late dinner.
Earlier in the day it was prettier riding the “Boca” bus all the way to the end and back. It was prettier walking the beach with Linda, and even just wandering around the neighborhood for exercise.
Cataract surgery, my second
and so last one, is all over. I see a clearer, brighter world. And the healing is almost complete. Yesterday, finally, I set out as my regular self and began doing my favorite things. Veracruz is wonderful.
Today, in another hour or two, I’ll be out around town again.
First thing out the door I going to go see Gracias (our boat). She’s floating again. She spent a month on the bottom of the ocean, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. Jiniguaro and the fisherman gave up waiting for me and surfaced her.
And after seeing Gracias, maybe for the first time in months I’ll walk the seawall.
And then what will I do? I don’t know. I’ll just have to play it by…………eye.
by Eric, Mar/13/08
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Veracruz |
Great to See Him at Dinner, and Even Better to See Him When You’re Sick
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Dr. Luis Salazar had dinner with us a few night ago—actually he was a few tables away enjoying a night out with his wife and kids. He is a first-rate, high quality, well and fully trained, US quality, skilled doctor. That’s
good news.
The even better news is that here in Veracruz there are many first rate, high quality, well and fully trained, US quality, skilled doctors. Many have studied in the US, Europe, and Canada. Many speak English.
It’s fair to ask, “Why in Veracruz?” The answer has nothing to do with medicine, it has to do with safety. Most of these very high quality doc’s have come here because of their families. Mexico City is the intellectual center for medical studies, but it’s dangerous. Veracruz is the place where they can practice and not be worried about their kids getting home safely from school.
Highly competent medicine--we need it because we live here year around. And should you need it, together we’ll just hop in a taxi…
by Eric, Feb/11/08
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Veracruz |
When the Coconuts Come Down, the Fun Goes Up.
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Imagine a million people lining the boulevard that runs along the waterfront and a coconut falls. That’s worse than ouch; it’s seriously dangerous. The coconuts have to go. And so, right now they’re on their way.
It’s because Carnaval
is coming. It’s early this year. It’ll be here at the end of the month.
At this moment bleachers are being assembled on both sides of the northbound lanes of the boulevard, banners are being mounted, lights are being strung, dance groups ( several hundred people in size) are practicing in the colonias (in the neighborhoods), gorgeous floats are being built, and even the tugboats are being spruced up.
We’re in the time of the winter winds. Likely there’ll be wind during at least one of the six spectacular Carnaval parades. Carnaval is for fun. It’s an incredible party (but here in Veracruz, of course, it’s a family party). None of us, the millions who’ll sit in the bleachers and see the parades, want anyone to get hurt. Wind can be almost as good as monkeys at bringing coconuts down.
The serious business of coconut cutting will end soon and the serious fun of Carnaval will begin.
Veracruz knows how to throw a party.
And, just so you'll know I'm on the up and up, look below—a coconut caught red-handed.
by Eric, Jan/19/08
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Mexico |
It’s a Grind, and It’s Great
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We’re intense when it comes to you learning a lot of Spanish, but it’s not nose to the grind stone. Nor is it so much pressure and pushing and pulling that it feels like being caught in a meat grinder. And even though accordians play in the zocalo we don’t have any organ grinders.
What we do have is
a coffee grinder. I’ve been a Folger’s regular grind person for years. I was always plenty happy, but… But freshly ground coffee from the new grinder makes a spectacular cup.
Our thanks to John for finding one here in Veracruz. They’re not ubiquitious by any means. But he got one. So far I’ve had pay de limon, flan, and rosca de reyes with the new coffee. I’m a convert.
Out thanks to John also for another reason. He’s here brushing up on his conversational skills. He needs them. He’s headed to Honduras to work in a free clinic. The last two years he’s been there performing orthopedic surgery and probably will be there for years to come. On behalf of all those he helps, we express our appreciation.
And, of course, for the coffee grinder too!
by Eric, Jan/11/08
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Mexico |
Going Down the River by Chevy
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It sounds like a car commercial. But it’s not down the valley along side the river—it’s floating down the river.
And bouncing and bashing into rocks and spinning and getting soaked. Yesterday a family went whitewater rafting at Jalcomulco. Chevy ran
the river with them but in his whitewater kayak.
He and his brothers and sister own Aventuras Sin Limites. Rafting with them (and maybe doing some zipline and rappel) is a day trip or overnight if you’d like. Jalcomulco is an old town, traditional and colonial in design. It straddles the Rio Antigua.
Rio Antigua is a great family river. The rapids aren’t extreme, but they’re exciting as can be. Chevy went along yesterday because he speaks some English (and his wife Yunuen speaks a lot). Very few in Jalcomulco speak more than a few words. We had two very-beginners-at-Spanish in yesterday’s group. Chevy and his family are absolutely and highly reassuringly safety conscious.
So, if you don’t speak much Spanish but you want a river run, or if you want to shoot the rapids with the captain of Mexico’s national whitewater rafting team, plan a day going down the river by Chevy—right by Captain Chevy.
by Eric, Dec/31/07
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“Time flies, as they say, when you’re having fun, and today is our third Christmas Eve,” I wrote a year ago, “here at school.”
Today is our FOURTH Christmas Eve
here at school. Time has flown so fast that I just don’t know where it went. It’s okay that time is zipping by because we’re having fun.
For the fun we’ve had we thank everyone who’s studied with us. It’s you all and your wonderful personalities that make this such a great job. It is a job, and Linda and I work hard at it. We’ve both had good jobs in the past, but nothing comes even close to matching how good this is.
What we do—the language school—is so enjoyable and so much fun that for us it’s like we’re forever on vacation.
It’s a Christmas present to us from you. Thank you, thank you all so very much.
by Eric, Dec/24/07
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Veracruz |
An Incomplete Photo, A Political Machine
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I was standing in the curb lane. This is Mexico; it’s fine to stand in the curb line. I was trying to get a good photo of our “lona.” A lona is a tarp, and it’s also (as in this case) a foldable
sign with grommets for tying it up.
We contribute, in our small way, to a number of things. Now and then we take someone to an especially good doctor. We offer a small scholarship (but big enough to be very helpful), we use small vendors, and for the Christmas concert this year, we made a donation to the Fomento Cultural de Veracruz—the public service group that brings fine arts performances to several local theaters.
So there I was in the street trying to get a good photo, and I was being jostled. I resisted. I needed a better picture. A policeman ordered me out of the street. I was shocked. This isn’t playing by the rules. Even so I moved. I moved just in time not to be jostled and smashed by an incoming limo, the limo of the governor of the State of Veracruz.
Gracefully and without any show of annoyance I accepted being displaced by the governor—and being without a decent picture of our lona.
Here it is, the best I, victimized by a political machine, was able to do.
by Eric, Dec/16/07
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Veracruz |
Icing on the Cake
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Hector finishes all his class work this semester. He’s going to be a high quality, and surely highly successful mechanical engineer.
He starts his “residencia profesional,” engineering residency, in less than a month. So, yep,
we’ve lost him. We keep losing great charlantes and teachers—to promising and exciting futures. We keep finding new great charlantes and teachers (not that it’s all that easy), and we’ll keep losing them.
Hector (as did Yvethe several months ago) will graduate “por calificaciones,” for grades. His grades are so high that he won’t have to do undergraduate orals or write the undergraduate thesis.
And then yesterday, The Icing On The Cake!!! Hector learned (and so we did too) that he landed the most sought after engineering residency in Veracruz. He’s been selected by Tamsa-Tamaris, by far Veracruz’s largest and most important employer. He’ll pioneer a brand new non-destructive testing program for the QC group.
And he’ll do well. We wish him the very best, and, of course, we already miss him. We’re going to have a party.
by Eric, Nov/22/07
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Veracruz |
We Splurged, and It’s Everybody’s to Enjoy.
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Surely you can understand. We had to do it. We’re a school in Veracruz, after all, and part of what we offer is participating in the local culture.
And anyhow, we really wanted to. So we splurged; we bought a
harp. It’s for playing Veracruz music, music full of lively rhythms and bright sounds. La Bamba is from Veracruz. Bam ba Bamba, Bam ba Bamba took Richie Valle all the way to #1 on the pop music charts.
Our harp worked the zocalo for years. Carried back and forth through the long run of restaurants during dinner and often ’til dawn, stopping to play at every table where a song was requested, our harp was part of a typical three person Veracruz group. With it played two garanas, miniature guitars, and the musicians sang.
Just think of the thousands and thousands of tourists and locals who’ve sung along with our harp. I guess that really makes it everybody’s harp, and we’re happy so many got to enjoy it.
 
Look at it closely, and you’ll see that being a Veracruz harp is a hard life. In and out of taxis, knocking against tables and chairs, plying it’s way through crowded seating, it’s lived a long and happy life.
And it continues to. You can take lessons on it. Linda and I are, and the staff is. Our teacher, Guillermo, plays harp in a Veracruz group in the zocalo. We’ve listened to him for over three years, and now we’re listening at home. And when it’s our turn, we’re playing.
by Eric, Nov/10/07
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Mexico |
Polyurethane in Veracruz, and It’s All Over the Floor.
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Hardwood floors are high maintenance at best. But also at their best, they’re beautiful. When we were fixing up the school building, now over three years ago, the hardwood in the commons area and office area looked terrible.
We had to sand the floor. We couldn’t find a floor sander
in Veracruz. But, 4” belt sanders were sitting on the shelf waiting for us. If you’ve stayed with us, you know what an awful prospect it was sanding the floor with a belt sander. If you haven’t studied with us, take our word for it; sanding the floor was an ordeal!
We found spar varnish (boat varnish) and gave the floor three coats. It looked good. But strong as it is, spar varnish couldn’t stand up to all the traffic. The hardwood’s appearance was slipping away.
We considered tearing it out; we couldn’t. Someone in Veracruz had to carry Polyurethane. We decided to search.
We got one coat down yesterday, and already it’s beautiful again.
Everybody’s gone on fieldtrips today, and so tomorrow we’ll give it a second coat and Monday a third. Until then it’s only a short jump from the bottom stair into the garage. It’s fine with everybody. (Veracruz attracts the nicest of students.)
By midweek the sofas and overstuffed armchair will be back in place, and also the coffee tables, newspapers, and magazines (all in Spanish, of course). We’ll have our office again, and the email computers will be on their desks. And what for me is best of all, Linda’s piano will be there waiting for her to play.
Glance again at the picture. Maybe as I listen to Linda playing Beethoven, I’ll need to wear sunglasses.
by Eric, Nov/08/07
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Mexico |
Modern Technology Making Life Better
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Well, I admit it’s a small thing. But is affects everyone’s life at school. So, here’s technology making everyone’s life better.
The quickest glance will show you that it’s different, but it’s when you use it that you see just how much improved it is.
On the edge of our kitchen, available to everyone, sits our
water bottle.
Until today we had the model on the left. Getting the bottle in position without spilling takes
practice, but the big problem with it is that it dispenses water none too quickly. And then about an hour ago
we got the great new setup that you see on the right. It’s sleek. There’s no spilling. And best of all, it’s fast.
If you used our old one, you should come back just to see how good this is.
by Eric, Oct/16/07
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Mexico |
Coffee’s Ready at 6:15.
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I guess we do it because we’ve always liked a cup of coffee first thing. It’s just part of the routine; we’ve never really thought about it.
But Bill did, and he said it’s another one of those little things
that make being here feel different from other places.
He told us about a school here in Mexico he’d been to where every cup of coffee cost 60 cents.
I’m sure it doesn’t cost us 60 cents to provide you with a cup of coffee.
But even if it did, we wouldn’t charge.
Enjoy your morning coffee. There’s plenty. In fact there’s plenty all day long. Or have some tea if you prefer.
And there’s lots of fresh fruit, and sweet rolls, and popcorn.
by Eric, Oct/07/07
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Veracruz |
We Went to the Party.
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It’s in the zocalo every fifteenth of September. It doesn’t really get hopping until about 9:00, but we get there early to get a good table. It’s Mexico’s independence celebration.
All our old friends were there. For the last three years they’ve been there on Independence Day, and they’ve been there
all the other times we’ve been there. We go to the zocalo about once a week.
Several marimba groups we know well was playing. The Salsa group was hard at work. Three or four Norteño groups were plying the restaurants’ seating. The mariachi bands were assembling. The Veracruz groups (La Bamba) we first got to know eight years ago were there.
  
 
The peanut, chili peanut, chili habas (we just call her the nut lady) came by our table and so did her sister. The indigenous dancer from Papantla came by. The lady who sells, but never to us, cigars was there. The older woman who sells coral jewelry showed up.
 
 
And so were the picture taker and the charcoal portrait lady and the kids selling flowers, and the shock-box jokester, and the pirated wristwatch sellers. The lady in the nursing uniform asking for a donation to some place we don’t think even exists was there.
  
There were dozens of unarmed cops lazing around—there’d be nothing for them to do—not there, not then
There were thousands of good friends whom we don’t know yet but we see all the time—the regular folk of Veracruz.
They were packed in shoulder to shoulder starting at about 10:00. It was a close to gridlock as a crowd can get by 10:45. It is every year.
 
The show on the bandstand ended. The military performed the flag ceremony. The Grito, Mexico’s most patriotic moment, was shouted. Our friends waved flags and cheered, “Viva Mexico,” and cheered and cheered. Fireworks filled the skies.
by Eric, Sept/16/07
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Mexico |
Silence in Noisy, Happy Mexico
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Movies, church, concerts, it’s in the culture, it’s part of the happiness, Mexico is never silent. Always and everywhere someone is talking. But, during the symphony? During
church?
At first I was shocked, and then (in culture bound fashion) maybe even a little offended. But with time I was able to place it in perspective, cultural perspective, and accept it.
Happy, friendly, emotional people talk to each other and talk all the time. It’s part of what makes Mexico wonderful.
I learned that the sounds of talking would never stop.
But I was wrong. I heard silence. I heard the silence of respect, of anticipation, of love.
The Alcalde, the mayor of Veracruz, stepped to the microphone on the balcony of the municipal palace right above us and the thousands in the zocalo. It was the moment before the Grito.
And during the moment, Mexico was silent.
by Eric, Sept/15/07
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Mexico |
Estadía—A Practicum We Would Call It.
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Miguel has been staying at the school the past three months. (We’ve been so full that he’s been bouncing around from available room to available room, but that’s fine with him.) He’s doing his estadía.
The dictionary isn’t much help. It says estadía is a stop or a stay. It’s far more. Miguel is here in Veracruz (he’s from Puebla)
working in industrial electrical and mechanical maintenance for a large business. The estadía is part of the graduation requirements for everyone taking his major. It’s 600 hours, and it’s unpaid.
The practical experience is valuable. He has another month to go to get all 600 hours done. Completing his estadía is the last thing he has to do to finish his AA.
He’s a great guy. The students enjoy talking with him—in Spanish. Talking to him offers fascinating perspectives on working in Mexico.
We’d like all our students to be able to visit with him. And we like having him with us. He’s Elia’s brother. His father, Don Rafael, is the finest craftsman I know in Mexico.
Miguel wants to continue school and get his BS in Industrial Engineering. There’s a fine university here in Veracruz to which he can transfer…
I pretty sure you already know the ending to this happy story.
by Eric, Feb/09/07
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Mexico |
A Gasoline Smell—Diesel Said the More Trained Noses.
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I walked the half block to the corner. That’s were the ocean is. And I saw 20 or so sailors, a fire department rescue squad, a unit from civil defense, two Navy motorboats, some police, a bunch of City employees, a TV camera crew, and a lot of onlookers.
It was just another beautiful sunny day on the water’s edge. I had no idea what was up. I thought maybe somebody was
making a commercial or a political ad; it just didn’t look real.
But it was deadly serious. I crossed the street, and then I saw the floating containment barrier. It was a spill. But I couldn’t see anything. The barrier made a semi-circle starting and ending at the water’s edge and at its most distant point was maybe 70 feet out.
Sailors were walking in the shallow water flopping what looked like white hand towels. What’s up, I asked. (No quotes because I asked in Spanish). Diesel, a sailor told me. It had been raining, and a storm drain was emptying into the sea. Somewhere inland the runoff water was getting contaminated with diesel.
I could smell it. It was as if a car had flooded. It was almost nothing. I couldn’t see any telltale signs of a rainbow on the water. The white towels were staying almost white.
I can’t imagine that there was even a gallon of diesel that these more than 20 sailors, 2 motorboats, rescue squad, civil defense, and etc. were combating.
Overreaction? No, not at all. Mexico loves its environment. It’s a very special part of the people’s “patrimonio,” their inheritance, their birthright. Often they don’t have money to protect it, or laws to protect it. But when they have the needed resources, they go all out.
by Eric, Sept/07/07
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Mexico |
New Mexico Says This Beautiful
T-Shirt.
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Paula is wearing it. We were sent 14 T-Shirts by a delightful family who spent 3 weeks with us, and Paula chose 2 that to her were especially beautiful.
New Mexico, home to the family and where Linda and I were raised, is written on the shirt. And, of course, it meansNew Mexico, the Southwestern state that has so successfully brought its three cultures together.
As I took the picture of Paula, New Mexico took on a second meaning. Look again at the picture. You’re looking at the face of the new Mexico—Mexico where young women are beginning to have opportunity at good jobs and good futures.
We love seeing this new era in Mexico showing itself all around us. We’ve very proud that our school is encouraging this new era.
The stories are sweet to the ear. When a mother of young children tells us her kids are going to go to a good high school because now finally for the first time in her life she can set aside a little money each week, being part (in our very small way) of the new Mexico fills our hearts.
So, on behalf of all of us here at the school, our deepest and warmest thanks to all seven of you in Las Cruces, NM for the T-Shirts. They were a most delightful surprise.
And also our thanks to Paula for bringing a second wonderful meaning to words so special from our childhood, New Mexico.
by Eric, Sept/05/07
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Mexico |
It's Great To Be Back Home!
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No questions about it, hands down, without even giving it a thought, that’s how it is and how it’ll always be—no matter how you say it, SAFETY FIRST.
A hurricane was coming this way,
and so we (students, staff, Linda and I) left town. Together, we went far inland. We just got back an hour or so ago. The hurricane missed Veracruz. It came ashore about 120 miles up the coast.
We were so relieved. Veracruz hasn’t had a hurricane in fifty years at least and maybe many more years than that. The folks here just don’t have any practice getting prepared. Many don’t have money with which to prepare. They sit and wait for the TV to say, as it always has, that the hurricane, once again, isn’t coming here.
So much injury and heartbreak was avoided here in the city. Up the coast is thinly populated, but even so we were still worried sick for them. There have been no deaths. It’s a blessing.
Maybe a hurricane never will hit Veracruz. It doesn’t matter. Anytime one is heading this general direction, we (students, staff, and us) are leaving. Forever, SAFETY FIRST.
by Eric, Aug/23/07
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Veracruz |
The Alligator Who Lives Down the Street
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Veracruz has so much to do. It’s a tourist town (the tourists are Mexicans), and so entertainment and happy moments are everywhere.
For instance—visiting the alligator who lives two blocks inland
from us. A little over six feet long, and a little over 18 years old, she’s never had anybody to eat. She only eats chicken.
And she sits around just waiting for foreigners to come touch her. Well a couple of days ago, six of us hiked the two blocks to see if she was receiving guests. She was. Our being there didn’t even cause her to bat an eye—or even open one.
We chose a good day. Flanked by Elvira and Ivethe from the school’s staff, Su Jin, a special education teacher from California, can now tell her elementary school students what an alligator really feels like.
Convincing as the photograph looks, I doubt her kids will really believe that you can trust an alligator who only eats chicken.
by Eric, Aug/07/07
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Mexico |
Ivethe Graduated from College Last Night
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Mexico is so full of happy moments. Last night’s moment was spectacularly happy for us. Ivethe (Yvette) graduated from college. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
We want her to find a good job, but, of course, deep down inside
we want her to be here with us forever. She’s a terrific talent and has a terrific future. Good jobs aren’t easy to find in Mexico, but she’ll get one. And then there’ll be no stopping her.
Here’s how happy she was last evening.
Her family was there. You can imagine how they felt. If you’d have been there it would have touched your heart. Our deepest congratulations to her parents.
Ivethe graduated “ titulo por calificaciones,” and that made last evening even sweeter. In Mexico, after all your course work is done you have to write an undergraduate thesis, take a hammering set of undergraduate exams, and pay a lot of fees (unless, here’s the super-student’s loophole, you graduate and receive your “titulo por calificaciones,” title awarded by grades).
Ivethe’s grade point average is over 90%. She’s exempt from the thesis and the exams and the fees. She’s done; she did it and did it with excellence. The whole story is written for all of us to see in her warm and beautiful and ever-so-happy smile.
by Eric, July/21/07
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Mexico |
I’m Only Guessing, But I Think I’m Right.
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First of all we have to remember that we’re talking about Veracruz, both the city and the state. It’s so safe down here that we have to force ourselves to remember to be careful.
With us is a very independent student (he bused to school from the Texas), and over the weekend he traveled to a beautiful spot about two hours to the south. He went right through the town he was headed for without realizing it and ended up getting off the bus far out of town in exactly the middle
of nowhere.
To get back to where he was going, he tried to flag down every bus heading in the right direction. None would stop for him. He was standing in a tumbledown bus stop. There was a bus-stop sign. But still, none stopped.
Granted, they were rattletrap buses, but the fact remains, he couldn’t get them to pick him up. (You might ask why we’d let a student go on a trip like that. The answer is that it’s safe around here.) Finally a bus stopped.
It was going exactly where he needed to go.
Good luck? Maybe. But here’s my guess. The bus drivers who didn’t stop kept on driving by because they weren’t going where our student was going. They didn’t want to make things worse. They didn’t want to take him to another wrong place.
But the driver going where an American (standing alone along the side of the road in the middle of nowhere) needed to go stopped and picked him up. The bus drivers, all of them, were taking good care of him.
So that’s my guess, and I’m pretty sure I’m right. These are wonderful folks down here. And they look out for us foreigners.
by Eric, July/17/07
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Veracruz |
We Pour It On, but Some Want Even More.
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The majority of immersion schools have four hours of focused instruction a day. We have six hours of focused instruction, and that in and of itself is a lot. Six hours plus a native speaker available
to practice with you from seven in the morning until nine at night is more than most anyone can do.
Yet, once in a while we’re asked if we can offer eight hours of focused instruction—four two-hour sessions.
It’s not often that we’re asked, but it’s often enough that we’re adding in an extra daily two-hour session as an option. The latest request was yesterday. As the student said, she works eight hours a day anyhow.
So, if you need eight hours (heaven help you), you’ve got it.
by Eric, July/15/07
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Mexico |
Two Great Things Are Happening—An Update
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We’re going to offer Aviation English (ICAO Level 4), and we’re expanding.
AVIATION ENGLISH is coming in October. ICAO (The International Civil Aviation Organization) is about to hold international pilots to a higher level of competency in English. Air traffic controllers dealing with international traffic must also meet this more demanding competency.
With air travel safety going up a notch, passengers everywhere are the big winners. The ICAO requirement is Aviation English Level 4. Coming to Veracruz to participate in the Level 4 training program are two close family friends. The husband has flown for many years. Aviation English will be taught at our principal facility here in Veracruz.
Our expansion is happening out of town. We’re opening a SMALL BRANCH of OUR LANGUAGE SCHOOL in an isolated village sitting right on a beautiful beach about two hours up the coast. It is designed for intermediate and advanced students. It’ll be an English-free environment, and practicing with the happy, friendly locals (in addition to formal class work) will offer incredible opportunity for improving your Spanish.
by Eric, July/08/07
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Mexico |
Gardenia Blossoms Floating Upon the Pool
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It was thirty-some years ago, and the memories are so special. Friends who traveled Veracruz way back when they were graduate students came to visit. They’re family friends from our Pima College days.
She’s still with Pima and is a Dean of Instruction. Part of her reason for coming down was to review the school. She gave us the highest of marks and compliments thatwarmed our hearts.
Also they came, she and her husband, to revisit a wonderful part of their past. We shared that past with them for a day as we motored to El Fortin de las Flores.
The resort hotel they loved so much is still there, still beautiful, and still enchanting. Gardenias are no longer floating upon the pool’s water but instead bring color and fragrance and texture floating in the fountains. The formal gardens and the colonial architecture are so inviting.
Grand and Gracious Old Mexico in so many ways and so many places lives on today. Finding it is as easy as driving across town, or driving up the coast a little or driving west to the close edges of the mountains.
Mexico cherishes its past, and its past will live long into the future. We teach our students how to travel and encourage them to take advantage of the weekends. Finding wonders from the past enriches the years to come.
Many of our students will revisit Veracruz, revisit what then will be old and wonderful memories. Maybe we’ll be invited along to share a most special day.
by Eric, June/26/07
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Veracruz |
This Is a Test— for Medical School
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Entrance into the medical school at the University of Veracruz is based on the taking of a single test.
A month ago 1087 took the test, and Wendy,
who works here at the school, was one of them. This year the top 190 will be admitted.
The scores were posted on the Internet today.
Wendy got a look at where she placed, and I got a photo. See the smile!!!!!!!
Wendy starts medical school in September.
Congratulations to her parents for raising such a wonderful young adult.
Congratulations to Wendy. She’ll be a tremendous doctor.
by Eric, June/15/07
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Veracruz |
All Over the Road
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A pickup truck hung a U, and out of the bed fell an ice chest. The pickup stopped on a dime.
It was a scuba
shop’s truck and fortunately no tanks broke loose, but ice-cold bottle watered went helter-skelter. People from both sides of the street came running.
And because this is Veracruz, you know how the story goes. As fast as they could, dodging traffic, they scooped up the errant bottles and put them back in the ice chest. They lifted the ice chest and put it back in the truck. One of them banged (with his open hand) on the side of the bed to tell the driver they were all done.
The good folks of Veracruz scurried back out of the street, and the pickup drove off. No one seemed to give it a second thought.
From the sidelines (and in silence), we Americans cheered!
by Eric, June/14/07
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Mexico |
How to Save Twenty Thousand Bucks
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A student who was with us the past couple of weeks works off-shore on the petroleum platforms near Ciudad del Carmen. He also runs cattle on his place in Louisiana.
On an out-and-about down in el Centro with one of our instructors, he chanced to meet a man who turned out to be the president
of Veracruz’s cattlemen’s association. Our student was invited to a livestock auction.
The association’s annual get together (a huge state fair is what it looks and feels like) is going on. This auction, instead of being held on the cattlemen’s fairgrounds, was being held on the beach at a resort hotel.
Subasta is Spanish for auction, and this one is the annual meeting’s big membership event. It’s an auction of show stock, and its invitation list reads like a who’s who.
Our student met several ranking officials in Mexico’s equivalent of our Department of Agriculture, and he met the governor of the state of Veracruz.
He also met a cattleman from Monterrey who runs the same type of cattle. They ended up talking about importing breeding stock to the US. The talk got pretty serious. Our student is investigating the ins-and-outs. If it all goes okay, on thirty head he’ll save about twenty thousand dollars.
Studying Spanish can be very good for business.
by Eric, June/07/07
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Veracruz |
The Bus Driver Left His Money Behind.
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I sat wide-eyed. The bus driver of a rickety old bus loaded with poor looking passengers stopped, opened the door, set the brake, and left. And behind he left his cash box sitting wide open. You can see just how wide open that is by checking the upper right photo
on our page Cultural Tourism w/ Spanish.
He had around four hundred pesos just sitting there right up in the air in front of everyone. It would have been very easy to grab a bunch of it and then take off running.
I wondered if I’d rise to the situation and prevent a thief from dipping. I didn’t get to find out. After a tense couple of minutes the driver got back on the bus soft drink in hand.
Risking all that money (and down here that’s a lot of money) for a bottle of pop, it seemed pretty crazy to me.
But then I remember what I remember every time I see something like this. We’re not in NYC or L.A. or Mexico City or Paris. We’re in Veracruz. Nobody is going to take his money. It’s against the rules. Down here we just don’t do things like that.
by Eric, June/05/07
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Mexico |
Fourteen Students from the School Went to the Theater to Say Good-bye.
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Fourteen students and four staff went to the symphony a couple of nights ago. There was a fine, up-and-coming
violinist, and there were four choruses.
Tickets were hard to get, and we were split--half in third level boxes (palcos in Spanish) and half up higher in the gallery. At intermission we traded locations. We were kind of conspicuous. The locals think it’s great that Americans attend their symphonic performances.
The conductor, Carlos Miguel Prieto, is fantastic. He’s young, and we think he has an incredible future. We’ve never seen a conductor so animated and so enthusiastic. It may be déclassé to say it this way, but the musicians play their hearts out for him.
He said good-bye. I was dumbstruck. He said he was leaving. I was heartsick. Years ago I heard Ormandy live. Toscanini’s Beethoven stood out in our music collection. Probably all of us watched Bernstein spin magic on his children’s concerts. There are many great conductors, but this going-to-be-great conductor who said good-bye was ours.
He’s now the new conductor of the National Symphony of Mexico. It’s a big and important step up. I should be happy for him. Okay, I’m happy for him; I’m just very unhappy to lose him.
I’m proud that fourteen students and four staff helped carry on the longest sustained applause that I’ve ever heard. We’ll go to Mexico City so we can applaud some more.
by Eric, May/28/07
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Veracruz |
These Things Happen (and we’re always proud).
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We lost a teacher last week. She’d been with us from back when we opened. She’s very good, of course, and we’ll miss her. But we won’t
be sad. In fact, we feel good about it.
What it is we feel good about is that she’s decided to go back to the university to study French and Japanese (on top of her Spanish and English). Any business worth its salt cares about it employees and is into employee development. That she’s adding two more languages (for which a lot of the credit goes to the environment of our school) says that in addition to doing our job for our students, we’re also doing our job for our employees.
We’ll stay good friends; we’ll always let her pick up a few hours here and there if she needs a little financial boost. And we’ll have a party for her, maybe with a Pinata even though it isn't a birthday, when she finishes--and we'll be proud and happy as can be.
by Eric, May/22/07
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Mexico |
Only Thirty Inches Long, But It Still Counts.
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The other day we headed up the coast to check out an ecotourism spot we’ve know about for a couple of years but never had time to visit. At the end of the article I’ve included a photo of thirty-inches-long-but-still-counts.
Thatched roof cabins (clean and very roomy), incredible bird watching (along a major migratory route), nature tours of various costal
environments (foot tours, bike tours, boat tours, and since we’re in Mexico burro tours, and trips to a small but important near-by ruins are at the heart of their diverse activities. It all makes for a wonderful few days stay. You can see them at www.ecoturismolamancha.com
It’s a grassroots conservation activity, and I’m convinced that these are what will finally protect environments (piece by piece) world wide.
The president of this delightful small business is David Díaz Romero and the president of the vigilancia (those who keep the area extra safe for you in this already safe state) is Guadalupe Barradas Ramirez. They’re proud of their beautiful ocean side, and they’re proud of how they’re protecting the environment.
We got to go along on the mangrove tour (by motorboat on the beautiful and large lagoon), and that’s where we came upon our thirty inch friend. For the first time in my life I actually saw an alligator in the wild. It might not yet be big enough to bite off my hand, but it could easily manage a finger. And for me, that’s enough to make thirty inches count.
by Eric, May/08/07
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Mexico |
Guero Guero, Guera Guera
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Almost A Sorbert--that’s the best description of a typical Veracruz ice milk that’s a great treat all year around. Like so many wonderful things in Mexico, it comes with its own special
sales presentation. “Guero Guero, Guera Guera,” is called out from every one of the ice milk shops.
The flavors are guanabana, mamay, banana, mango, pineapple, coco, all-fruit, and even the street vendors roaming around on their tricycles (and carrying only a few flavors) call our Guero Guero, Guera Guera. It’s tradition.
What it means, loosely translated is blondie. Or more fully, “Hey blondie, come buy some of my ice milk.” Most Americans feel it’s aimed, with warm and friendly humor, at them. Most Europeans feel the same way. Even most guide books think it’s aimed at the Americans and Europeans. But, most Mexicans know better.
The vendors yell it at everybody. And everybody has fun.
I bought a delicious chorizo torta, spicy Mexican sausage on a roll, at the corner store yesterday. I ordered it in advance, and it was waiting for me at the counter. Guero Guero, it said on the bag. They didn’t yell it out loud. But still, I was honored.
by Eric, Apr/20/07
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Veracruz |
Buses Lined the Street. Cars Were Everywhere.
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All the buses, all the cars, we didn’t care. They parked in front of our garage access. That didn’t matter. They unloaded
a lot of people. That was great. They were here to have fun. As always, they behaved well. Many were family groups. The beaches were packed.
So was the Malecon. Over the sixteen day Easter break, according to government estimates, three million tourists came to town. The city was bulging.
Veracruz, is a tourist town. Three million tourists over Easter is proof of the pudding. It’s a happy and fun party town. But somehow it’s also a family place.
For the whole two weeks, with the exception of our school’s students, we saw only two Americans. I don’t remember seeing a single European. There were a couple of Orientals, but I think they were part of the crew of a ship docked in the port.
One of the many reasons Veracruz has so much to see and do is that it’s a tourist town. And one of the reasons there are so many people with whom you can practice Spanish is that the tourists (3,000,000 of them the past two weeks) are happy, friendly Mexicans.
by Eric, Apr/16/07
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Mexico |
He’s All Wet—One of Our Charlantes, That Is.
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Whitewater rafting is always exciting, and always wet. One of our Charlantes got wetter than usual. It was a big boulder, both long and high. The river was low, and so the only route was to go
close to the rock and then hard left.
He rode up with a family of four. Mom, Dad, and boys 13 and 10. “High side,” yelled Chevy. The family leaned high, water pushed in and the ten year old swooshed up, over and out the high side.
Jonathan, our charlante, went right in also—jumped in—and surfaced right beside the young guy. The rafting company, owned by Chevy and his three brothers, is strongly into safety. There was no real danger; Aventuras Sin Limite rafts with maximum safety. It was pretty scary, of course, and the 10 year old handled it like a trooper.
Real danger or just scary feeling, it didn’t matter. One of his charges, the very young one, was in the water, and Jonathan responded. We’re very proud.
by Eric, Apr/08/07
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Veracruz |
In the US We Wouldn’t Mention It, But Down Here It’s Worth Shouting About.
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We hear the comment, a comment conveying appreciation and even thanks, that our plumbing works great. And it does. And since we live here year round, we’ve very happy about it also.
Allow me to be a little indiscreet, but our toilets
flush well. In Latin America this is a big deal. Also, indiscretion continuing, our bathrooms don’t smell. This, too, is a big deal in Latin America.
If you reflect on it for a moment, it’s easy to see why the students’ comments carry a sense of relief and the fore mentioned thanks.
Our water is clean, and the couple of times I drank a glassful by mistake, I suffered no ill effects. For this too we’re thankful, but we still use bottled water for drinking and cooking.
Our hot water is hot. Our drain pipes don’t block up. We don’t suffer interruptions in city services.
The pressure isn’t the high pressure found in the US, but it doesn’t matter. The showers are more than amply supplied.
The bathroom fixtures are fully modern. (With the exception of one old-fashioned shower head that we left in just for looks. This too isn’t a problem because it’s fed by a standard modern shower valve.)
I wouldn’t go so far to say that we’re proud of our toilets (indiscretion unabated), but we’re very happy with them and so are our students.
by Eric, Mar/26/07
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Mexico |
We’re Waiting for a Package.
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We’ve been waiting for six weeks. Granted the package is coming from Denmark, but even so, the world’s not that big anymore.
Down here mail isn’t left
in your mailbox, and packages aren’t set inside the screen door. The service here is super—mail is handed directly to us.
Of course, there’s a downside. We have to be here for it to be handed to us, but that’s no problem because someone is always here.
There’s another problem, but it’s not a big one either. The mailman doesn’t ring the doorbell (well our old one used to, but he’s been on another route the past six months.). The mailman lets us know he’s here by blowing his Post Office whistle. Post Office whistles all sound the same, and they don’t sound like any other. There are plenty of us to hear the whistle. It all works fine.
So where’s the package? Maybe we know. Day before yesterday we got our old mailman back. Whenever he’s not running late (usually he’s running late) he stops for a few minutes to practice his English. It was great to see him again.
His old fashioned leather mail bag was overly full. Lots of mail he told us. It’ll be awhile before he catches up, he went on to explain. He’s got a mountain of mail to wade through and deliver, and packages too.
Why? I asked in Spanish. I didn’t want any miscommunication.
Our mailman of the last six months had been very sick for two weeks. So there’s two weeks to catch up.
What? I was so bewildered that I can’t remember if I continued in Spanish or fell back into shocked English.
He couldn’t deliver it. He was sick.
Our old mailman, and now our current mailman once again is great. He’ll catch up in a week or so. He smiled, proud of the super service. Our package is coming.
by Eric, Mar/19/07
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Mexico |
Gone Fishin’ but not Gone Very Far.
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A six year-old is with us, and the ocean for him (just like for everyone) is pure magic. He found our fishing poles, and thenall he talked about was wanting to go fishing.
Where better to go fishing than at the fishermen’s dock. Fishermen were everywhere and their 27 foot long, open, ocean-going boats were tied up on both sides. We weren’t having any luck. I could see they felt bad for the little guy.
Fishermen, glancing our way, clustered and re-clustered. They were talking up a storm and smiling at us like we were totally out of our tree and desperately in need of help.
A sixteen year old fisherman, named Michel, wandered over and asked how we were doing—like he didn’t know. Not having any luck, I told him. He stood and watched a little longer. What are you using for bait, he wanted to know.
Bacon! What could be better, bacon cut into fish-bite sized chunks. Only a silver platter could be more alluring.
Oh, was all he said. They’re all so polite, and they’d never butt in. He held out his fist and opened his hand. Lying in it were 5 minnow-like silvery fish. He smiled. He didn’t tell us we were wrong. He didn’t tell us what to do. None of the fishermen would ever embarrass us.
How do I hook them, was my question. He showed me how, and I kid you not, within ten seconds of throwing it in the water, we hooked a fighter. I handed the pole to the six-year old. He reeled it to the edge of the dock. The fish jumped and jumped again, and the little guy started bouncing around.
We put another silvery little fish on our hook and got another great strike. Something is tugging on my line, is how he described it.
A fisherman came over and pointed down the dock. All he said was Michel, and then he went back to working on repairing his nets. I went to see what Michel wanted. Lying on the dock were two handfuls of the little fish. I called the kid, and we loaded up. Fish in the ocean began to strike like crazy.
A retired-looking guy fishing about 10 feet from us was using shrimp—the best all around choice. You’re welcome to some of these I told him pointing to our tiny treasures. Politely he declined. I offered again. He jumped up and came and got some, only a polite few.
The kid caught another fish. Fishermen smiled. Veracruz, everywhere, is wonderful.
by Eric, Mar/13/07
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Mexico |
The Call and The Vote
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It was an urgent call. We went looking for Elia, and she called right back. The conversation was fast and emotional. The green one or the white one, we had to wait
for pictures.
Nothing is more special to a Mexican girl than her quinceañera—her sweet sixteen party (but here it’s sweet fifteen). Parents save for years to pay for these parties. The biggest single expense is the girl’s dress.
In Mexico City, they couldn’t decide. It was down to two dresses, the green one and the white one. They wanted Elia to decide.
These are big decisions, and Elia was touched. Family includes family in so many wonderful ways in Mexico. The photos came in. The green one was beautiful and vibrant. The white one was classic and regal. Elia needed help.
So, staff and students, we all looked at the pictures and talked it over, and then we voted. It was a split decision, and so we continued to talk it over. The vote held. Green was the winner.
The call went back to Mexico City. The memory of the magical moment will be with each of us forever.
by Eric, Mar/11/07
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Veracruz |
Veracruz Shows Respect for Street Vendors
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A couple months ago now, Veracruz removed all vendors from the malecon—actually from the main part of the malecon, the part in El Centro. The vendors didn’t take it very well. They called the mayor
to task and asked the governor for help. They gathered in the street and threatened to march back in.
Of course, this is Veracruz, and so they are too gentle, and too friendly, and too well-behaved to really march back in. To honor this and to keep the vendors from losing face the city had to act. The city filled the entries to the malecon with riot police. They wore flak vests, and helmets with face masks, and carried huge shields and big sticks. They were ready for action, and that made the vendors feel respected.
The action the swat teams were ready for was to joke with locals and tourists and buy bottles of yogurt and bags of potato chips at the corner stores. They were ready to lean on light poles and even sit on the curb with their helmets sitting next to them.
They were doing their jobs just right.
The problem is that the city limits the number of vendors on the malecon, and in fact they have to. So long as the distribution of permits is fair, that’s okay with us. The receipts from the permits help offset the malecon’s extra costs, and that makes sense.
Out of town vendors were coming in and squatting on the malecon. They were refusing to leave and making a scene. They truly were getting to be a problem. The city was right to act and has acted with admirable restraint (the use of swat teams not withstanding).
We want our vendors back. We never buy from them, but they’re part of the setting. Lots of Mexican tourists buy from them, and so they’re also part of the fun.
by Eric, Mar/05/07
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Mexico |
Two Weeks of School and Then Yucatan and Guatemala
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After his two-week study-stay, a student left on a trip he’d been planning for 20 years. His Spanish worked great. His trip was
spectacular.
The great ruins at Palenque was his first stop. Then he bused to Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan. There he went to Chichen Itzs and Uxmal. That would have been plenty, but 20 years to make a plan turns out to be more.
Via Belize, he went to Flores in Guatemala and the wonderful Tikal ruins. This surely was enough to complete any twenty year plan, but what about El Mirador in northern Guatemala. That’s the dream finish to a 20 year plan. In and out, it’s five days on horseback, four nights in a hammock strung up in the jungle-like growth, and plenty of time at the only partially excavated ruins.
This 20 year trip has turned out to have two phases. El Mirador has to wait, but not wait long. Time pressures, even a 20 year trip of trips has time pressures. Two weeks of school was all he needed to set him free on this trip. We love to see it happen.
He’ll be back in a few months to meet up with the horses and ride to El Mirador. Time pressures have taken him home. His love of cultures present and past will bring him back.
by Eric, Feb/25/07
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Veracruz |
Close to Exploding
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We’re closed for Carnaval. And so today we treated ourselves to a student’s first day. We took ourselves on the double decker
bus, had lunch on the Malecon, and toured the boulevard. We’ve been so busy that we get to do this for ourselves only about once a year.
Today there was explosion in the air. We felt it as we passed by the zocalo and then down by the artisans’ shops. The feeling continues as we passed the navy dock, the T dock and the small fort. As we got back on the downtown streets it was at a critical level.
People are walking a little too fast. They’re bouncing a little to high. They’re speaking a little loud and extra rapidly. They’re jaywalking worse than ever.
Then we went to the parade route and bought bleacher tickets for tonight’s parade and tomorrow’s. This place could blow at any moment.
It’s so close to exploding it can barely contain itself. There are red hot pockets here and there. I’m counting the minutes. The party is about to blow wide open.
Music and dancing and singing and joking and food and drink—it’ll be everywhere. And then the parade will come. Things will focus a little for about three hours, and then it’ll blow wide open again but even bigger. A million people come to Carnaval, but we just stay home. The school is 47 steps from the parade route, the party route.
by Eric, Feb/17/07
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Mexico |
How to Make a Perfect Parade Route in Mexico
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It takes a lot of people, and maybe half of them need to be workers. You also need to have a lot of
advice givers standing around.
You have to truck bleachers to town and then assemble them—about three miles of them. The parade route is about two miles long, and for a mile and a half or so bleachers are assembles on both sides of the street.
You have to hang lighted signs from every street light. Make it two signs per pole, lighted signs about four foot square. If you don’t have enough light poles, also use the coconut trees.
You need soft drink stands every hundred feet. Bring them in by the flatbed load and set then behind the bleachers. Do it at night so everyone living close by can hear. They’re sheet metal sheds, and so they’re plenty noisy.
Close the boulevard here and there, now and then, when you need to. Send the cars and buses scurrying for alternate routes. If we need a bus, we’ll just go looking for where they are. They can’t be more than two or three blocks away.
We don’t want rain, but Carnaval isn’t dry. Put in bigger sheet metal sheds for the beer companies. Beer companies like dancing girls (after all this is Carnaval), and so make the roof a dance floor and set up a sound system.
Mark the bleachers and sell the seats. Make the seats about the right size for a ten year old so you can pack in a lot of people. There are eight parades. Every seat is sold eight times.
Make room for the coconut vendors and for the hot dog vendors and for the pancake vendors and the raspado (snow cone) vendors and the ice cream vendors. Let them pick out (and pay for—the City needs to offset expenses so every vendor of every type pays) their spots. Make sure the tamale vendors and chili relleno vendors are nicely spread out.
And get the street cleaners and their 55 gallon drums on wheels ready—it’s great part time money high school kids. Have them ready by the dump truck load. They ride low in the dump bed on there way out from the City Yards and ride high on a mountain of trash to get back.
Most important of all, get the maybe a million tourists ready to come to town—maybe only for a day, maybe overnight or for a few days. And those of us living in town, we’ll suspend reality and be tourists for a few days too.
The floats, the marching groups, the soft drink sellers, the tamale vendors and on and on are important, but what really turns the boulevard into a perfect parade route is a million happy, partying spectators.
by Eric, Feb/13/07
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Veracruz |
Jazz Under the Stars
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A sax, percussion, a guitar, and a base—the jazz
was great. It was a free concert in the Museo de la Ciudad and well attended. A couple of folks from the school were there.
They had no idea the indoor concert was under the stars. There had been no reason to look up; the action was all around them on the ground floor.
But then the lights went out. No emergency, battery-powered lights came on; no emergency generator roared into action. Nothing. Well, nothing except more and more great music. The bass wasn’t quite as loud; the guitar was hard to hear. And above, the moonlit sky was visible.
For about ten minutes the slightly quieter jazz continued in pure darkness. The audience continued to listen as if not noticing the loss of electricity. But they noticed, of course. They just didn’t care. Nothing was wrong. The lights went out; that was all.
And ten minutes later the light came back; the guitar came back; the sky faded; the music continued to continue. Electricity comes and goes. (We don’t lose it often.) Good music is everywhere in Veracruz, and about this the people do care.
by Eric, Feb/03/07
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Veracruz |
Not Small Potatoes
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I bought large ones to go with a steak, but I could have gotten small potatoes. I venture to say that in the little corner grocery (14 ft x 50 ft) they have probably
three thousand different items.
I don't know how the owner does it. And I don't know how we'd do without the store. In spite of our best laid plans, we probably go there three or four times a day. True, it might just be for ice cream, but that still counts.
The store is fun to visit. It's a great place to talk about anything. Soccer is always a winner. Even the weather makes a great conversation. Anything in Mexico is something great to talk about.
Veracruz is filling with Oxxo's. They are like 7-11s or Circle Ks. They're showing up on lots of corners. They don't have several thousand items--and definitely not the several thousand we need.
And there's no hanging around at the long counter and talking or listening. Oxxo is a convenience store.
The corner grocery store is a great convenience, but it's far, far more than just a convenience store.
by Eric, Jan/21/07
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Veracruz |
The Pianist Had to Wait.
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Veracruz has a European style opera house. Teatro Clavijero is small, beautiful, has great acoustics, and
doesn’t have a bad seat. Reversed seating is called numerado, and general admission is galleria.
Last night about fifteen of us from the school went to a piano concert. It started late (only ten minutes, but even that’s unusual). Finally, the pianist took his place, focused, and then refocused. We all refocused.
We heard the sounds of children, lots of children. The sounds were ascending—not getting louder but moving up the stairwells. The pianist, all of us, waited.
Light flooded in from opened galeria doors. More than a hundred grade school kids came in, shushed and as quiet as a hundred grade school kids could be.
The pianist, looking relaxed and happy, waited. Veracruz loves its children. The galeria fell silent.
The pianist focused. Liszt, Brahms, Chopin, and well-behaved kids filled the concert hall.
by Eric, Jan/14/07
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Veracruz |
Enjoying Old Friends
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Spanish is such a beautiful language, and it’s a big language. There’s always more to know, more to
understand, more to share.
And so Spanish learners keep on studying. Many students come back to school for a second study-stay. This month 5 students are back for the second time.
And that’s great.
School’s an academic space, and even more it’s a human space. We always enjoy being together with old friends.
by Eric, Jan/10/07
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Mexico |
Your Laptop--Even If It’s Broken
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Bring your laptop on down with you even if it’s broken. We have Ethernet, wireless, and even excellent
computer life-saving.
Serafin Baldormar owns a computer networking and support business, and he’s good. Right now he’s getting one of our email computers back on line. The poor computer’s been around the world—more correctly, Chinese language software, Japanese language software, and all kinds of other stuff. The computer has served us well here in Mexico, in Ecuador, in Chile, in Peru, in the US (of course), and it’s like a member of the family. But finally, its innerworkings had been so stressed that it just completely gave up trying to connect to the net.
I, too, completely gave up. I was ready to throw it in the trash, in Spanish we say throw it to the trash, but instead Linda said Serafin was the answer. I’ve been watching him. Over the last two hours or so I’ve seen problem after problem ruled out. He’s deep into nooks and crannies of the operating systems, nooks and crannies I had absolutely no idea existed. Surgically he moved ever closer to the problem.
And now, we’re back on the net (using Ethernet); the months ago lost audio is back, and at the moment we’re moving toward being wireless. I say we because I’m supplying support (coffee, ice cream, cheering and heartfelt appreciation).
There’s lots of excellent talent here in Mexico. Like everywhere, there’s also lots of very bad talent. It’s all who you know. And for us knowing Serafin is very lucky.
by Eric, Jan/09/07
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Mexico |
Wide-Eyed and Ready to Dive In
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A nine-year old from the US is here at the school for an extended stay. Her eyes were so wide, her expression was so filled with happy anticipation—Linda had just set our
Rosca de Reyes on the table in front of her.
The King’s Day Ring, la rosca de reyes, is a ring cake with red and green and yellow and brown candied fruit on top. It’s pretty; it’s delicious, but best of all is what’s inside.
Down here children get some presents on Christmas, but the super special toys are King’s Day gifts. They kids open their presents on King’s Day eve, and the whole family plays together the entire next day.
“Oh no, I thought it would be this big,” said the young girl. Her hands signaled a size of about 8 or 10 inches long. She’d spotted a 2 inch long baby doll escaping from the side of the rosca. There are many more dolls inside. The rosca is cut, and whoever’s slice contains a doll wins.
What’s won is the chance (a social imperative) to give a party on February second. Everyone gathered for the rosca and chocolate milk on King’s Day will re-gather on the second for a “follow-up” party. (Mexico is the land of fiestas.)
A student who’s just arrived from California said they’d had a rosca yesterday brought to work by one of his staff. It was a big one, like ours, and it contained only one doll. “Not down here,” said Elia (and I’m translating). “With only one doll, with only one person ‘winning,’ the party wouldn’t be big enough. We put in lots of dolls—at least four but six is better.”
I sure hope the nine-year old gets one. We’ll ask her to throw the February second party, and everyone, whether or not they also got a doll will pitch in and help. And if she get’s a doll, I’ll have my camera ready to get a picture of her wide-eyed, happy-as-can-be expression.
by Eric, Jan/07/07
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Mexico |
What's a Tianguis?
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That’s a great question. It’s not a flee market; it’s not a thieves market. Most days of the week it’s nothing more
than steel tubes—vertical, horizontal, arched, and crooked.
But twice a week here in Veracruz, it’s a clothing market. It’s snazzy, and it’s cheap. It’s only here Thursday and Sunday. The rest of the week, the vendors are grouped elsewhere—we don’t know where.
Many of the young women who work for us shop at the Tianguis, and so do some of the guys. All of them love to take students there for Out-and-About labs. It’s a popular spot.
“Stores” are formed by hanging tarps from the tangle of steel tubes. Fancy shops also have tarp roofs. It’s all open front onto the interior walkways. And it’s noisy.
A lot of the noise is happy shoppers, most often families, and the rest of the noise is music. From all directions, from all over the place, stereos are blasting out all kinds of music. Most of it costs 20 pesos (about 2 dollars) a CD. Lots of the albums contain far more hits than the 18 dollar CDs in the music stores. The CD are “pirates.”
And there are tables. Lots of tables and mostly full. They’re in rows, and one family’s seating picks up where another family’s seating leaves off. The people are so friendly that there is no need for individual tables. Everybody sits together. And they eat, and eat, and eat.
So a tianguis isn’t a flee market or a thieves market. And it’s not a street fair. Nor is it a bunch of clothing retailers or a bunch of music stores or run-on restaurants.
For us, and for you, what’s a tianguis. A tianguis is an adventure in happy Mexico.
by Eric, Jan/04/07
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Veracruz |
Two Hours in the Market
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It would be easy to spend all day in the central market, but Out-and-About Labs only last two hours. Mercado Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla has hundreds of puestos. We’d call a puesto
a stand—a vegetable stand, a flower stand, a dry goods stand.
There are fifty or maybe even a hundred vegetable puestos. Many sell the same thing. I’ve never known what causes a person to choose this one or that one. Some of the sellers have been in the same puesto for years. So, my best guess is customer loyalty.
One likes to talk with old friends, even when shopping for carrots and chilies and potatoes. The market is full of conversations.
Some stands only sell citrus. Some only sell brooms and mops. There are butcher stands, some for beef, some for pork, and some for chicken. The meat hangs (un-refrigerated) above butcher counters. You can point at exactly the piece you want. (We don’t buy our meat at the market.)
There are canaries and parakeets, curtain rods, clothes, shoes, and shoes, and shoes. There are a few seamstresses, shoe repairmen, and a bunch of tiny individual kitchens, all in a common area and all serving to a common set of tables.
You’ll also find fresh flowers, potted flowers and plants, tools (of assorted quality), herbs, dried chilies (probably 30 varieties) repair parts for blenders, magazines (new and used), school supplies, natural medicines, and so much more I can’t begin to remember it all.
Two hours just isn’t enough time. But it doesn’t matter. You hop on a bus at our corner, and hop off six minutes later right in front of the market. You can go as often as you want.
It’s one of our favorite places. When two hours just isn’t enough for you, we can all go back together.
by Eric, Jan/03/07
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Mexico |
Mexico's Architecture
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The school is in a wonderful piece of old Mexican architecture. All our students are out for the weekend. All our staff has gone home to celebrate the coming of the new year. Linda and I are
here all alone—but that’s okay since all alone together is the purest of happiness for us.
What we can’t decide is where to be as we sit together. Right now we’re on the two-seater in the living room. We’re looking at the high ceilings and the arches and the concrete handrail that runs up the stairs. In a little while we’ll sit together out back in the open, covered classroom area. It’s a study in architectural volumes that Mexico does so well. After being there a while, we’ll probably go sit on the roof and look at the ocean. Or maybe we’ll got to a balcony to look at it.
Then maybe we’ll be together in the space next door. We just picked it up, and we’re busy remodeling it. It’s even bigger than this place. Its upstairs front deck is a great place to sit together. But sitting on the huge front porch, wrapped with ornate wrought iron, is fun because of all the people passing by. Also, there’s the outback turtle pond (without turtles).
The school is loaded with great places to sit around and study or practice Spanish or just to sit around and be together.
Usually we sit here and there and everywhere throughout the day and evening talking and practicing and visiting with students. But tonight, all alone together, we just can’t decide.
by Eric, Dec/30/06
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Mexico |
Mexico’s Merchant Marine Academy
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It’s right around the corner and right on the ocean. We’ve walked by it for two years every time we go to the school’s small craft. I’ve tried to get in for a look around, and today, finally,
I made it.
There’s a mockup of a ship’s bridge in which they ignite a smoky fire, and the students must enter in near zero visibility to “save” shipmates. The planetarium is fun, the ship machinery shops are a special treat to me, but best of all was (school’s out and nobody is there) getting to go to the restricted area high up next to the dome.
The view is fantastic. I was looking right along the seawall (it’s open to tourists) all the way to the mouth of the harbor. I had a bird’s eye view of the docks and the ships loading and unloading. We see them from dockside all the time, but this time I saw them from above. Even turning inward and looking across the rooftops deep into the city was beautiful.
Restricted “deck” it might be, today. Right after the holidays I’m going on a campaign to make it a “tourist stop” for our students. I’ll let you know.
by Eric, 12/29/06
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Veracruz |
Plus One Dollar A Day
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You can walk to the malecon, or to the zocalo, or the beach. It’s not really big exercise, but it’s healthy. Or for a dollar
you can ride there and back on the bus.
You’ll want to go out in the evening. You’ll probably want to take the bus, and so you need to budget this extra dollar a day. But if you’re trying to control costs, that’s all you need to budget.
A dollar a day (if you want to ride)--Monday through Friday a dollar a day is all you need in addition to our school’s weekly price. There are no hidden costs, no surprises, no “optional activities” list. Everything we do at the school is included in our price.
Here’s my caveat—you will have to eat recalentados for dinner. The freezer has plenty of leftovers, and everyone is welcome to them.
But that’s it. The Thursday field trip is included, all daily outings are included, study materials are included, breakfast and La Comida are included, personal laundry is included, internet access (including use of our email computers) is included. The list is on our Prices page.
You know, right from the start, what school will cost.
Weekends are on your own—your room remains yours, of course. (And usually there are plenty of recalentados.)
by Eric, 12/27/06
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Veracruz |
Looking Back Over The Stats
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It year’s end, and like everybody, we’re looking back over how things went. They went super, but there are always things we can make even better.
One big thing is
that our instructors and charlantes depend on what they earn here at school. We use mostly part-timers. We do it so you’ll get a broader variety of native speakers with whom to work and practice (we try to have you work or practice with at least 10 during a 2 week stay). Also this is their fun job, and it shows.
We staff to be able to maintain small groups even at peak enrollment. That means that during average enrollment we are overstaffed. We should tell staff to stay home. But we won’t.
Money is tight in Mexico, and the economy is harsh. Their part-time money for working with you is very important to them and their families. So, we pay them whether we need them or not. This is bad business. Here are some stats.
Over the year our classes averaged 2.09 students. Our fieldtrips averaged 1.39 students per charlante, and our Out-and-About Labs were almost always one on one.
So, is bad business in this case actually good business? Over and over, our students tell us it’s good for them. Good for you is good for us.
But far more than anything, it’s good for our staff. Paying them whether we need them or not—it’s not bad business; it’s fair and just and respectful. It’s good business.
by Eric, 12/26/06
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Veracruz |
A Working Christmas
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We don’t close for Christmas. And since we’re open we have a lot to do. That’s because we don’t let our staff or teachers work on Christmas day. Christmas is
for family, and the staff has all gone home.
But Miguel and Rafael are here working. They’re not regular staff (although they’re related to a staff member). By working two weeks at Christmas, they make enough for Miguel to afford spring semester at his university. He and Rafael will work here a couple of weeks this summer, and that’ll cover fall semester. This very little bit of money means affording or not affording higher education.
Next Christmas Miguel will be graduating. Rafael will only come back to visit. That’s because Miguel will be making enough to help him afford college, and also their sisters, Adriana and Estefania. Family taking care of family is an old and beautiful Mexican tradition. In small ways and only now and then the school gets a chance to help the tradition stay strong.
by Eric, 12/25/06
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Mexico |
Our Third Christmas At The Language School
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Time flies, as they say, when you’re having fun, and today is our third Christmas Eve here at school. Noche Buena—that’s what it’s called, and it is a most special night. I’ve never seen so much
food as we saw last Christmas Eve. Families come together and sit around a feast big enough for an army. Everyone eats too much, and even so the serving platters look to have been barely touched.
It’s great—all the left over food is just another excuse to get back together to try and finish it all up. The same groups get back together on Christmas Day and laugh and talk and eat and eat. We’d say they are eating the leftovers, and they say, with warmth and beauty, that they are eating the recalentados, the reheats.
Family, friends, and spending time together, maybe that’s why time has flown so fast. Maybe that’s why we have so much fun down here. And maybe that’s why having the school and all the happiness that goes with it for us is like a Christmas present.
by Eric, 12/24/06
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