speakin the lingo, finally. so last night i hung out with some of the new prof´s again. jorge, jorge (roomates, no less) y francisco. francisco may soon join ole victor and i in the apt.

i realized when i was in oaxaca last weekend that i would rather avoid native speakers of english than seek them out. what fun is it to come down here and speak english all the time (this clearly does not include classes!)? anyway, i hear the other two prof´s will be here early next week. it is about damn time. i must confess that this month, and nicole was right on this one, has made my transition so much easier. i cannot imagine having to deal with lesson plans, the language, the place, everything in general, and then having to start teaching 5 or 6 days later. no thanks.

so anywho, back to my point about the lingo. i spent about 3 hours last night talking with the three other profs, they were drilling me about the u.s. why do the estadounidense (us people) only refer to the u.s.a as america? america goes from alaska to tierra del fuego in argentina! why does the u.s. think central and south america are a giant trash can? why do people like george bush? a big one which bothered me a bit is that most people down here feel that the sept 11th attack was fabricated by the u.s. govt. (my roomate did not even believe that the pentagon had actually be struck by a plane! he thought the govt made it up). they blame bush and say that he creates enemies from thin air. i admit this is possible, but i also realize that those who dislike us are very real. i also see why other nations dislike us, why do we use them as puppet states simply as suppliers of oil, for example. anyway, enough of my political thoughts.

the best part is that all of this was in spanish (i have been reading the newspaper and learning about the mexican govt as well, so a lot of the jargon they used i understood). they also readily admit that their own govt is totally corrupt and out of control. good, because i got that impression from my own investigations. either way, they spoke slowly, but not as slowlyas before, and when i did not understand, they often explained their meaning in spanish without using english. and i understood it! sometimes, they used english, but even then i was able to help them when they did not know the english word. i am super stoked. finally, i am making some serious progress. i still don´t like telanovellas, but i may give in and watch them more just for practice.

one month in mexico. five months to go on my contract. i already have offers to visit about ten cities (jorge:veracruz, you have to go, the best city around; jorge2, no d.f. (mex city) is the best, so much culture, soccer, the university (u.n.a.m the biggest university in latin america, has over 300,000 students. no joke. they even have a pro soccer team. there is a nearly an entire city within the city just for them.) francisco says la paz (baja cali) is a place i must visit. we will see if i can actually make it to three of these places. either way i am excitedi also learned a ton about other places, ideas, etc.

i just had a conversation with a new prof who i just met, totally in spanish regarding incorporating english articles for his class into my class. i understood most to all of what he said! and i think he understood me pretty well! this is great. the more i just force myself to do it, the better i am becoming. i am still nervous halfway through the conversation when i realize that he has said two sentences and i did not understand them, but then he brings the talk back around to words, phrases etc. that i know, and i am able to predict the meaning. i test out this feeling by answering with what i think he meant, and it turns out i was close. sweet. i cannot convey how happy thismakes me.

ok, better go do some work. hope all is well up north. and remember, the next time someone says america, make sure they realize that america is all of the americas, not just the u.s.a. one at a time we can make the country a little less arrogant and a little more accepting and tolerant of the neighbors to the south who share the same wants, needs and values as we do. ok, that´s my cheesy lesson for the day. peace in the middle east.