jacob l! thanks for checking the blog out. i am glad you found some amusement and also shared your experience with your student. i guess one nice thing about teaching down here is that it might be a long time before i have to grade another essay. hope your semester is going well so far!

doughman, thanks for the update on the car. i should tell you that i did not change the oil before i left so it definitely needs that (sorry for sticking you with that!). also good to hear that the crops are doing well. have you been getting a lot of rain in virginia? tell linda and anthony i said hello. as for a return date, i have no idea.

carolina and greg, i am glad you have taken over the tailgating duties. i definitely hope i can make it back for the tech game in a few years, that would be great!

this weekend i attended my first political rally in mexico. a prd candidate for their july 2006 elections spoke to a crowd of thousands in juchitan on saturday evening. i went with my roomie victor and we met another prof from here, his friend lilia who invited me to the vela (party) last weekend. as soon as we arrived, he wanted to find lilia (open space, thousands of people, good luck!). i thought i would stand in the back away from most of the people (the candidate and about 20 other people were standing on the flat beds of tractor trailers in front of a huge government building and overlooking the central park, market of the city. victor motions me to follow and for the next ten minutes we are winding our way through all these people, mostly older and mostly farmer/indigenous people.

don´t forget i am taller than about 95% of these people, so me winding through the crowd effectively blocks the view of at least three or more people every time i stop, get pushed and bump into others, etc. on top of it, others are making their way through this mass of people. i watched as old women gave strong forearms and hard shoves as they pushed their way through. it was funny until i felt a sharp elbow in the small of my back and turned to find people explaining to me that i would not be able to stand where i was any longer. finally, after some angry taunts by a few members of the crowd, i made my way to the back and safely listened from behind a tree.

all in all, a very vocal and loud affair in which the people cheered and hissed and on a few occasions quite loudly cursed at the stage. i could understand a good bit because the politician used brief, clearly pronounced phrases (typical political stump stuff) mainly to gain the favor of the crowd.

afterward we went to a french style cafe and had crepes (although with salso and mexican ingredients) which were pretty good. i was able to follow the conversation (victor, lilia, her sister mavis and another women whom i had just me) for the two or three hours we were there. they spoke slowly and victor helped a good bit, but finally i am seeing some serious progress with my speaking and listening abilities.

sunday we went to the morning market to get fruit and veggies for the week. this place was huge! probably three hundred yards long and about thirty yards wide. they sold absolutely everything there, from food to clothes, to dvd´s (most of movies that are still out or just left theatres in the u.s.). pretty crazy as there were so many people who come in from all over the place to sell and buy goods. i bought some apples, carrots, bread (pastries) and grapes. again, no frig or place to cook so raw is the only stuff i can really buy.

we went back to juchitan on sunday afternoon to look for a chair for me and to meet lilia and mavis (both of whom have husbands and children but who never bring them when they go out with victor- maybe they are watching the kids?) at a great seafood restaurant. the fish and shrimp and crabs were great and fresh (the ocean is less than 30 miles away), and super cheap. i had a shrimp coctail which is shrimp with some type of sauce including onions, avacado, etc. surprisingly good although i avoided as many onions as possible. five bucks for about thirty shrimp (they are the medium size). great deal. the fish are cooked in holes (the kitchen is right next to the tables and all is outside with only a roof and one wall) and prepared head and all (the guts are removed). the ovens are essentially woodfired pits. excellent food.

we found no chair in juchitan that was within my price range (100 bucks or 1000 pesos). the closest they have to what i want is a recliner. just a simple arm chair can only be bought in a set (love seat, couch, etc). the recliner is about 4000 pesos. i was bummed because i envisioned another week or more on the bed. when we got off thebus last night in ixtepec, victor spotted a chair across the street. the chair is, for my family, like the uva chairs in the basement. for everyone else, they are similar to ones at hotel pools or at the beach. wooden, collapsable, with a cloth that serves to support your body. victor talked the guy down 100 pesos and i know have a chair that only cost 30 bucks (300 pesos). pretty sweet deal. my entire bedroom set was 930pesos, or 93 bucks and includes bed, fan and chair. now i am complete. maybe i will buy a hammock in the near future (they handmake the most beautiful ones down here, incredible colors, designs, etc), but i am going to relax my spending for now. i get my first paycheck on thursday but still have about 500 or 600 of the original $1200 i came down here with.

my rent is 800 pesos per month and i think electric is 25 pesos per month. i only make about 8000 pesos each month, but that should be more than enough for me to save some cash until i have to start repaying student loans in december (can´t wait!).

well, i will write more tomorrow. hope you all had a great weekend and are doing well. write a comment if you get time.