in response to ames´ pregunta(question), within the last ten years, mexico has switched to daylight savings time. thus, when the usa changes time in the spring and fall, so does mexico. this was done partly in response to business concerns between the usa and mexico(keeping time the same between the two countries) and, according to the government of mexico, in order to save energy. of course, how this really saves energy is anyone´s guess, and according to my friends, this was a pretext that masked the true intent of the govt to simply mimic the usa.

thus, there is god´s time, and the govt´s time. many people in my pueblo(town) have agreed to ignore the govt and keep to god´s time. of course, not everyone follows this system, which leads to a lot of strangeness as most stores open later and stay open later than others. then there are those that change time. it is weird in that there is no system or set pattern. you dont know who follows which schedule until you either ask or see that they stay open later than others. and dont bother asking what time it is, bc it leads to a confusing coversation where people ask you which time you mean, then they try to figure out time it is based on what you are saying but invariably there is confusion as to what the original hour is (whatever original means) and then adding or subtracting an hour. seems simple, but it never ends up being so. strange.

today is my good friend oscar´s (from puebla, the one in the glamour shots pictures) last day. i am sad. no tengo ganas que hacer nada. i dont really feel like doing anything. just bummed out in general. plus it is painfully hot already.

if today were the first of august, i would say forget teaching abroad and come back to virginia.

if i came back to virginia, i would look for work teaching or just take the year off from teaching and work for anthony.

if i worked for anthony, i would try to buy some cows to help earn extra money (or talk to poppa dough man and see what he thinks about potential ways to make more money).

if i went back to virginia, i would try to do a lot of hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail (j-felony, this means you would be involved). i would also look into getting a used kayak and start paddling again.

if i returned to the states, i would probably never again leave for such an extended period of time but would devote the next 3-4 years to paying off my student loans.

if i left spanish speaking countries, i would look for a way to keep practicing my spanish and possibly look into classes in another foreign language to further my education and to meet new people in area since the number of friends my age in the orange-madison-culpepper tri-county area equasl zero.

if the first of august had just rolled around, i might actually try to do a little travelling before i came home. maybe head down to costa rica, going through guatemala, el salvador, nicaragua.

if i relocated to the farm, i would be around for harvest time and hopefully learn more about that process. in my old age (i accept that 27 is not old, but try telling that to my students) i have a new respect for farming in general and find it amazing that there is a large working farm that has helped pay for many of the things i have done in my life.

if i returned home, i would once again try to learn welding from poppa dough man. i made one attempt in the fall of 2000, but i picked up teaching not long after and never really got anywhere. i find it fairly sad that i never took advantage of living with a person who taught welding. nor did i ever learn about farm work other than very basic operational duties. (now that i am writing all this down, i realize how ungrateful i was/am for all the opportunities i had. maybe since i left home to go to school when i was 13, i somehow got into my mind that the only way to learn was to leave home. that was foolish.)

if i swung back into the o.c. this week, i would get to see the leaves change color on the blue ridge mountains. i miss how beautiful that is.

if my time were up on my contract, i would only have lived outside of the states for one year. not a very long time. i might be disappointed in myself for giving up so quickly.

if i quit my job and bailed to return to a non-teaching job in the states, i might lose some momentum as far as returning to school for a phd. i might not ever go back to school.

if the states were in my near future, i would appreaciate many more of the advantages and little things that i took for granted for the first 26 years of my life. wearing a jacket, the olor (scent) of autumn and snow would be three things i would definitely look forward to intently.

if a one-way ticket home were to be bought, i am not sure how to go about doing that. i might just go the airport and fly standby to atlanta or dc. if atlanta were my destination, i would hang out with amy and master james for a spell, then catch a train home. i like trains.

if all the ifs in my life were to be tabulated, my future would seem bright and limitless. though they will not be, i still see mi porvenir(all time after today) as something quite interesting and slightly unstable.

if you have never read a poem entitled ¨if,¨ you should. there is also one in spanish, entitled, obviously, ¨si¨ without the accent on the letter i, which means, clearly, ¨if¨

if wishes were fishes....

today is the 15th of may, 2006, not the first of august. but if it were....