zoos. i went to the zoo on sunday (this was a 3 day weekend, no work on monday to honor the president Benito Juarez´s- and c´s also- birthday- yahtzee) with a friend. i got a little sunburned, damn evil sun, but not bad. i also saw elephants and lots of monkeys. i really like monkeys and have decided that one day soon i, too, will own a monkey. sure, i could go to the market here, where they sell everything, and buy an illegal one (and yes, this thought has crossed my mind at least 4 times), but i have chosen against it. my friend who is a vet tells me bad stories about how i would be contributing to the brutal monkey trade, horrible treatment on their journey from the jungle, etc. i basically stopped listening when i heard that i would be asked to leave my apt if her mother, my landlord, found out i had a monkey. sure, the other stuff is concerning, but let´s get down to brass tacks- i, will, will not be homeless just to have a monkey. now if a place opens up that allows monkeys, well, that might be another story.

i am toying with the idea of getting a used motorcycle. ít will occupy my time (working on it) but might also kill me. up in the air on that one.

not up in the air on buying socks tonight. laundry was closed yesterday because of the holiday and i have run dangerously low because i was lazy and did not walk the laundry down the street last week. oh well, i will buy a pair socks to tide me over until i can get my clothes back on thursday.

speaking of laundry, yesterday i cleaned my apt (i know, i am also surprised) and as usual, i mopped myself into a corner. luckily, this is a planned corner, also where the door leading out of the apt is found, and i do this when i mop to make myself leave and let the floor dry. so, i have the plastic bag of laundry (big and clear so that everyone can see my dirty underwear- actually it is what i receive my laundry in when they clean it so i just use to stored the next load) outside on the balcony ready to rock and roll as i make the last sweep and i am off.

i realize i am wearing flip flops, a tshirt and shorts. it is hot, high 80´s, so this should not be a problem. well, yes it is. no one wears shorts here. well, almost no one (me). flip flops, for guys, are also out. t-shirts, a former staple of my attire, are also out. yup. i wear a collared shirt, pants and shoes every day of the year here. sundays included. even going to the grocery store i dress up more than i did when i taught college in the usa.

ok, so i make my way down the four blocks to the laudry place where they wash my clothes, avoiding the stares of the 10am holiday crowd loitering in the streets, trying to blend. right.

as i near the laundry, i notice the metal storm door is closed. dammit. i walked all way, embarassing myself as the rest of the mexicans stare at the gringo, for nothing. well, i was sweating and dirty (i had been cleaning a not-so clean apt) and decided that i needed to giddy-up over to the other laundry place. i walked five more blocks only to find them closed.

thus, my walk of shame included me returning with head low (could not look the people in the eye who i had just seen 5 minutes earlier). i had brought no money, or i definitely would have scored a cab and avoided it all, but i did not plan ahead as i was mopping myself into the corner.

wait, zoos! i forgot about that. i learned that elephants in captivity have developed a bad habit of rocking back and forth which essentially involves them producing a chemical that numbs their brain to the outside world. this only happens in captivity. also, zoo keepers (even the name ¨keeper¨ sounds negative- nothing escapes. they might as well just say wardens) cut the wings of the parrots and other beautiful birds so that they can be ¨free¨ from cages yet incapable of ever flying.

this might be the first time i have ever been to a zoo. this was probably the last time. disturbing to say the least.


i also saw a kind of monkey that is strong, and mean, enough to kill people.

in an effort to improve my spanish (spice up my life), i have been watching an awesome telenovela (soap opera) called destilando amor. distilling love. it revolves around a tequila producing family and one particularly sumptuous sass-machine by the name of gaviota. or mariana, as she has recently had her name changed to fit with the new life/personality she has made up for herself. i liken it to a mexican dallas, with adhd. the novelas here only las about 7 months, and then they expire. they are all this way, which is cool because actors play new characters every year or so. this is also damaging for people who love the shows though (this is pure speculation, i never liked (watched) la fea más bella and anyone who claims this is lying like j.r.).

so if you are asking yourself what the hell i have been doing for the past month, well, here we are. i also shaved the beard. after 3 months it was a sad day. my students freaked out (the kids this semester had never seen me without it- and as there are about 3000 high school kids here, well, you get the point), which was pretty funny. or sad. the girls unanimously proclaimed: you look better. they could not quite understand how in english this means you looked like chewbaca before. meh. i miss it though, especially as it is chilly again here.

i work a lot, which does not really translate to free time for writing the bloggy blog. six days a week at school, often over 12hours a day (not the 6th day) takes its toll after a while. i am thinking of retiring. what? 25 more years? screw that.

as far as mexico goes, things are relatively tranquil. well, i saw on the news some riots in merida where, surprise surprise, one george w. was visiting. i also saw some footage from guatemala that showed how the people showed up by the thousands to welcome w. i am not sure when throwing metal fences at police replaced cheering and waving the stars and stripes, but leave it to the guats to change things up.

3000 pesos later i am clear to live and work in mexico for another year. yippee. it is strange to think that i pay just to be able to live here. damn immigrants. we should all be deported for complaining.

on a side note they opened a new hooters near my house. since my buddy and i have been making our own salsas (past 4 months or so), we have been talking of going to hooters and seeing if their hot wings (they call the hottest ¨muy macho¨) are really hot or if we have progressed beyond them. i think we have not, but my friend thinks we have. as you know i am a gambling man, so 50 centavos (5cents) is on the line here. the only problem, as another friend pointed out, is that the building is essentially made of glass. and located on a busy street corner near a mall and movie theatre where many students hang out. oh well. next time chipper jones comes into town, we are definitely going.

and after writing more about hooters than the general situation in mexico, i leave you. onwards and upwards.