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.