like deaner and geaner always say: i can´t put my finger on it. not sure why, or specically one event, but i love where i work. the kids are, like, totally beverly hills 90210, but the other teachers are tons o fun. today is a great day for no specific reason.

doughman, keep on antney about eating with you. he needs company whether he admits it or not and i can guarantee you he is not getting much stimulaing conversation from his crew. when i worked with him we were always talking and i have the feeling that he does want that, although he will never admit it to anyone.

have a great weekend everyone. i know my sisters are rooting with me for the hokies on saturday against georgia tech (well, i hope amy is with me as georgia state has to be some kind of rival to evil ga tech). doughman will be doughman and probably root for the other tech. ni modo!

poppa doughman, do you ever invite antney up to the big house to eat? how interesting that everything is coming full cirlce. i lived in the cottage for half a year and now your semi-son has taken residence there. did you ever live there doughman or just grandma? very interesting indeed.

truckin on here in d.f. i had a birthday cookout last saturday at my house and it was wonderful. a lot of english profs came, but there were many more mexis there as well. as one of my friends from the istmus, you really can never escape it, mentioned, it was one of the more multicultural parties he has ever been to. of course coming from the istmus, there is not a lot of diversity, but still it amused me.

the istmus. land of 115degree days and 100 degree nights. dont miss a thing about it. except for a place to hang my hammock, i love where i live. the landlord is very nice and i teach her daughter english 3 times a week so i am staying on her good side for now.

i now have a stove, given by my landlady, a shelf, from same, a bed and frame, again the landlady´s, and a frig- i bought a used one on the cheap, so life is kind of normal. a friend gave me a t.v., which is kind of good. i watch the news in spanish and the simpson´s dubbed in spanish as well. i must admit i miss the simpson´s in english, i cannot tell you how much better our version is, but it is kind of neat to hear how they say certain catch phrases- bart in particular is hilarious.

i take spanish twice week with a prof here from argentina. there were once four of us english teachers in the class and now it is down to me and one more. so it goes. not sure if the dept will continue to pay my instructor to teach me, basically private lessons, but he spoke to me about it and will trade me one hour for one hour if they cancel the class. he lived in the usa for about 8 years so his eng is excellent but he just has no one to practice with. sounds like a good trade to me if it comes down to it. he invited me to his house for dinner a few weeks ago. his wifeand kids are really nice and she is an excellent cook. it was fun to speak spanish with people who have totally different accents- the argentine spanish is very very different from mexi spanish. plus there was a colombian there as well, an exprof from where i work now, and talking politics with them was amusing and informative. it is always good to get a perspective that is foreign to your own, andthe south american view of politics is definitely different.

life is good in general here. the smog is occassionally nasty, but the other day i got a view of the two huge volcanoes that lurk on the edge of the enormous valley i live in. they are about 18-19000 ft each, much larger than anything we have in the lower 48, and covered in snow. one is slightly active, a few years ago it belched out enough ash to coat the city, but in general it is fairly tame. i like living in the shadow of those two- they are a husband and wife pair accordig to legend. the male, el popo, stands guard over the sleeping female, la itza. lots of legend and myth here in the city and in this country in general. makes you wonder what would have happened in the states if we had bred with the natives instead of killing all we could and marching the rest into the desert to die. this to me is a key difference. mexico, the name alone says a lot, embraced part of its indigenous heritage. we eradicated most of it. one way to go about things i guess.

enough bs for today. hope all is well in gringo-landia (such a stupid word it is just funny). root for the hokies this weekend. hopefully i will get to watch the game, my first in over a year, this saturday. maybe no one else will get arrested betweennow and then. wishfull thinking, i know.

doughman! i was not intending a slight by that statement. indeed you did have a lot to do with it and have been extremely helpful and supportive of all since that morning 28 years ago as well.

very sad news about gilbert implements. i hope that all works out in his favor.

is anthony your new tenant in the cottage?

i cannot remember the last time i wrote a poem, so it makes sense that i did early this morning. i dont like titles for poems, but i guess this will have one. change is good.



la victoria

we no longer share a language
ni lugar (space/place)
rather the you in i continues
at a clip clearly registered
behind these pale eyes (skin).
smog-choked heavens
bleed tinny-voiced reminders
my South now 13 months away
carries me to a grave
with daily viewers and few mourners
(pocos son los elegidos).
though you fled first
(do i grudge your escape or my emptiness?)
i found the tracks heading west
gentle snows marking an outline at my side
and penetrating cold.
birth days celebrate mothers
not bundles of flesh too fragile yet to feel
so save the band those who hear
paste sloppy phrases on paper
written form is dead, too.
tengo suerte
rain´s voice needs no translation
victoria means triumph here
what did it mean there?
see me for i am you (we)
she
goodnight- buena noche




interestingly enough that is 28 lines. just noticed it actually.
the spanish is fairly simple-
ni lugar- nor place
pocos son los elegidos- the chosen are few, literally, but the religious will see something different in that phrase(as it is intended down here)
tengo suerte- i am lucky
la victoria- could mean victory/triumph or, for example, if i said ¨el will,¨ i would simply mean the person will. people put the article, el or la, in front of names sometimes. it does not mean the same as writing ¨the will¨ for example. it is quite common and is merely a personal reference.

depending on if we ever spoke of this, you might know that i think birthdays should not celebrate the child but the mother. the kid did very little whereas the mother did everything and carried the most risk. again, just my opinion, but i want to make it clear that the above is not sad or meant to be that way. if you believe in duality there is always death in life and vice versa. this is not a depressing idea for me, it is life. life is destroyed to feed people- corn dies to feed animals.

again, not trying to be morbid. i am quite happy today, but i must admit that on my bday i always spend a lot of time thinking about my mom. it is unfortunate i did not know her very well. life is difficult.

i hope you all have a great day up there. i am working all day and then proctoring an exam for 3 hours tonight so i can earn some extra cash. hence, my day is planned. i am having a bbq this weekend to celebrate my and two others bdays. should be fun. second birthday in a foreign country. strange to think of it that way, but here i am.

totally spaced on this yesterday: happy birthday greg bragg! his bday was the 14th, not the 15th, which is today, but as i said, i flaked and forgot. not sure if he has ever even read his blog, but i hear his wife has.

well, today is independence day and i am typing on this blog. that can only mean that i am sitting here at work, and you guessed it, loving every bleeding minute of it. the rest of the country is celebrating while i will be teaching young minds about dependent and independent clauses. yahtzee.

have a good weekend; root for the hokies (not to have any players arrested) and cowboys; and like i said yesterday, head to your local barrio for a wild time tonight and tomorrow.

later jones

first, poppa doughman, i want to let you know that all efforts are appreciated. the new wife, and the kids of course, are quite happy to hear that there might be a station wagon or mini-van waiting upon our arrival (date to be announced). on the down side, none of them speak english. hence, i am hoping that the old saying is not true- can old dogs learn new tricks? one might argue that you are not old. as i see more and more grey in my own hair, i realize that this argument holds little water. i mean after all, you are a grandfather now. nevertheless, i believe that asking you to learn spanish (you are only one person) versus asking the new señora davis (there was no argument over her taking my name without hyphens) and the two chiquiquitos (little dear ones- frist lesson right there), to learn english is a better option. you are one, they are three (keep your fingers crossed for number four!). i was not a math major like my brother, nor did i go to the ivy league schools he went to for undergrad and grad, but i think that even i can comprehend that equation.

good that that is settled.

as far as the richmond times goes, i will forward the picture from the wedding (a bit hasty as shotgun weddings go) asap. i am the really white one in the picture. the little misses is quite impressed that you are so accepting of her and her family. did i mention the new ¨davis¨ clan will be much stronger? think of it this way, we can now field and entire college football team (and i mean all those on the sidelines, including coaches and trainers and back-ups). davis reunion 2010, tentatively titled ¨we are family- somos familia¨ will be held in madison mills- i put the notice out now so that my other siblings, including older brother(s) can also attend.

i also won the lottery (1000 pesos, which, what with the peso likely to undergo a severe devaluation as the ¨shadow government¨ takes effect this week, should be worth roughly 10 cents american). i know. the news just keeps improving.

so independence day is tomorrow. i am working. which rocks as you might guess. tomorrow night in the zócalo (main square in city center with the government buildings and 500 year old cathedral) the president gives the ¨grito¨ (which means ¨shout¨), ¨viva méxico¨ to comemorate the first call of independence that was given 140 years ago (roughly). it is a tradition. he also rings a huge bell. people show up around 7pm for the festivities, which really kick off around 11pm, and it gets crazy. if there is no barrio in your town, then you dont know what a mexican party is truly like. that is sad. if you do have one, go check out tomorrow night. you will be impressed. get a cab home.

luckily, for 50 days there have been protestors, roughly 400,000, living in the same city square where vicente fox, current pres, gives the grito. they claim election fraud, which has been denied but could be true- do you trust politicians?- and have decided to stage their own rival ¨grito.¨ in the same city square. at the same time. should be fun.

on saturday the army marches through the same city square as a show of pride and salute to the country. the president, fox, one of the people accused of fraud, is in control of the army. the people living in the zócalo are against fox. a few hundred thousand soldiers are going to descend upon the area where 400,000 protestors (likely swelling to close to 2 million) are living. the army is bringing tanks. and lots and lots of machine guns. the protestors are bringing 70 years of pent up aggression and distrust of a shitty and dubious government, and the mentality of people who have lived in the streets for nearly two months. if there were pay-per-view for this, you know i would be there. i shall avoid this area, however, and watch the news coverage later on in the day.

did i mention shadow government? that is what lopez obrador (amlo), the loser of the election, is proposing. felipe calderón (fecal- i know, this means shit), the president-elect, has kept his mouth shut. really this is just what méxico needs to solidify it as a nation not ready to be trusted. two governments? sweet. two presidents? perfect. no one trusting anyone else and a denial of the outcome of supposedly free elections? democracy.

viva méxico.

busy busy busy. today i am sick, which sucks, and i was sick the whole weekend, which is even more of a downer, but, there are positives. i now have a stove. i cooked my first meal (eggs, potatoes, peppers- jalapeño and habeñero, and chorizo) sunday morning. sweet action.

i went to a concert in the auditorio nacional on saturday. it is a great venue and some very big people have played there. kind of the kennedy center of mexico. kind of.

i went to a futbol match (soccer for us). it stunk. 0-0 tie. so, my friend c and i decided to go to see something with guaranteed action. bullfights. something is going to die, matador, picador, bull, spectator, something. guaranteed action. it did not disappoint. a bloodly affair to be sure; however, there are many redeeming qualities. i truly enjoyed it. a matador was gored during the first fight (there are six bulls and normally 3 matadors) so he never came back. this left two people and five bulls. the weakest matador got three bulls and it showed by the end. his final kill was horrible and it took 7 or 8 attempts to plant the sword deep enough into the spinal column of the bull for it to die. very bloody and the crowd was mocking the matador fiercely. in the end, it stinks for the bull that the guy can´t finish. weak attempt. either way, this is the rookie season. the varsity starts in november and the best fighters from all over the world come here (it is the largest bull ring in the world). needless to say, i cant wait for november now.

lots has happened. i have a full-time place to live. i give private lessons for about 5 to 7 hours a week to supplement my income. i am buying a fridgerator on wednesday. i have been living out of the country for over a year. i have some fun new friends. i am married with two kids and a mortgage. yup. i keep on truckin.

i need to write more, but i also need to grade exams. grading is going to take precedent here. being sick is slowing down everything i do. however, it is making me lazier so the more exams i grade the better the grades are getting bc i feel like writing fewer comments. kidding. kind of.

this is life actually. we are judged based on the disposition of the person doing the judging. good day? better chances of a positive outcome. shitty boss and your kids hate and wife hate you? yup, you are totally getting that speeding ticket.

one year later. still kind of blows my mind. i am much happier here in the city. i am not saving money like i used to, far from it, but i am able to do and see more. lots of culture and cool activities. this place is amazing. i now feel confident to invite any of you to come visit. ok, wait until early winter after the elections are cleared up. do you guys even know what is the deal down here in mexico city? 400,000 people living on the main artery of the city: it is permanently closed and has been for over 5 weeks. president unable to give state of the union address. huge civil unrest. mayhem. it is wild. plus, i live 12 miles away, so i am close enough to see but far enough away not to be effected. sweet action.

hope y´all are doing well.