hey guys sorry for not writing sooner. the computers here wont let me log in very easily. i am staying on campus in a dorm with a roomie, who is cool, and am learning a lot. i will try to call you again soon dad, sorry we missed each other sunday. i think you were out or asleep when i called the last time.

all is well and if not sooner, i will write next monday and let you know about all the fun i had. i feel like i am 15 and at summer camp. but this is actually a lot of fun and very educational at the same time.

hope you are all well.

happy father´s day doughman! hope you are well and enjoying the summer in virginia.

to all you other father´s, i am looking at you jimza, happy day.

father´s day is fairly important down here, but it does not compare to mother´s day. for example, father´s day is sunday here every year. mother´s day, on the hand, is during the week, usually, and all mother´s who work get the day off. odd, no?

anyway, i leave for the good ole usa on monday morning. after a two year absence, i will be back in the us(sr) for about 5 days. going to las vegas! new mexico. ya, doesn´t quite have the same ring to it all. it is a tiny little town in the mountains of new mexico east of albequerque and santa fe. there is some tiny private university and i will be staying on campus, in a dorm, for the duration of my stay. i am going to talk about literature and teaching and the fun that is the international bac. program. should be pretty cool actually because i can make a lesson plan for an entire year during one week. of course, that is assuming i stay teaching where i am next semester.

as usual, my plans are up in the air a bit. i am not 100% sure where i will be in a few months, which is somewhat disheartening as i was hoping to stay at this school where i am. unfortunately, it looks as though there will be no full time positions for the coming year, and that means i make less money for doing about the same work. boo.

i dont know. i might suck it up and stay anyway. i certainly did not come to mexico only to make money. i am teaching literature classes i might never have a chance to teach in the usa (science fiction/future fiction for example), so there are many benefits to staying. i think i am just miffed that i thought there was going to be an opening and now there is not. oh well. suck it up.

enjoy the father´s day weekend and i will write from new mexico if i can (not sure if ¨talent night¨, i shit you not there is a talent night on the final night, will take up most of free time as i prepare my routine. it sounds like summer camp, westview on the james i hope it is not. could be worse i guess. i get to miss a full 5 days of class. that is cool).

anything interesting going on up there?

time flies. hard to believe it has been over a month since i wrote here last.
funny stories, let me think. the problem is that there are many many events i find hilarious, but they have to be pg13 for this blog. if you thought i talked a lot before i left (and i know you all think this), be prepared to listen to stories for days when i return.

so i was at the supermarket yesterday (wal-mart essentially) and was in line with my groceries (raisin bran, juice, milk, habañero peppers, turkey, cheese, apples, avacado- it was a light day because i have been sick and am just getting my taste back). there is a promotion at this store that when you spend 100 pesos (10 bucks) you get a coupon that discounts a future purchase. this month the promotion is towells. ya. not into that.

anyway, a woman and her daugter are in front of me (both wearing large, obnoxious chanel sunglasses that cover their entire faces) and the mother looks me up and down (this is still normal- not only am i dead sexy, but foreign) and then makes her move.

¨do you collect the coupons?¨ she asks.

her daughter´s face goes red and ¨maamaaaaa¨ escapes her lips as she flips through soap opera digest (all names are changed to reflect what you would see in the states) and attempts to put some distance between herself and her mother.

¨why do you always get so embarassed, it is an honest question, and besides, he doesn´t mind. do you, sir?¨ is mamá ´s reply to daughter.

¨of course i do not mind you asking, and sure, the coupons are yours¨

the mother continues conversation with me, explaining her daughter, standing there the whole time, is always shy and embarassed in public when with her. but she, the mother, never understands why. the look on daughter´s face through all of this is priceless- she turns from red to crimson rather quickly and once the line in front dissipates, makes a b-line to the ice cream stand 25 yards away.

just before i pay, she turns to ask me if i am from the states. i smile and respond that yes i am. she says she has always liked gringos, even though so many think negatively of us. very magnanimous of her.

as my items go through, scrutinized by the mother of course, she remarks to the clerk that i should get ¨double points¨ for certain items(clearly she picked me out because she had scanned my basket and knew i would get more coupons based on what i was buying). a brief argument ensues while the clerk says i need to use a certain bank card to get double points. the mother then looks at me, my card (not the one that earns double points) and asks me if i have another.

no shit. she actually tried to get me to pay with another card to get her an extra coupon. well, after that, i expected something more (i paid with my original choice despite the pain it caused her to only earn one coupon instead of two).

she waited for me to collect my bags and noticed, she was on it, that i did not get my parking stub validated. was my car at home? after informing her i did not have a car in mexico (she was rather deflated), she offered me a ride. her daughter, who had returned, was about to explode. and i could tell she wanted me to say no.

so, of course, i accepted the ride.

unfortunately, the daughter was rather young, although mother tried to push her off on me in the car ride, so there will be no dates in the future. i assured her my future coupons were hers and offered my services of private lessons, which may or may not work out.

in the end, an eventful shopping experience. sometimes being foreign is lots of fun. i do not tell the worst stories, the ones where being foreign sucks, for obvious reasons.

i have almost cleared my second sickness in one month (my first was a stomach virus and i ended up halucinating at one point during the fever´s high point, the second was a cold) and hope this fills my quota for at least 4 more months. the stomach illness was vile, so i wont go into details, but it is worth noting that i get sick from eating at restaurants with running water and not stands on the street (i often eat at those places and am fine after). not sure what lesson i should learn from this.

i am excited about my class this summer. i am teaching a science fiction literature class. plus, there are only five students and they are all guys. if i never mentioned this before i must say that teaching only boys is the best situation. true, they can be assholes and little shits, but so can i. in the end, i know what to expect from guys. girls? crying? no way. boys are predictable. i know what they expect and their tricks to get what they want. would i teach at an all boys school? hell yes. teach at an all-girls school? no and never.

anyway, the class should be cool, even though it is two hours long, five days a week. i hope we have interesting conversations (today´s was great- we discussed acceptance, beauty standards ad how they have changed, plastic surgery, etc- we are reading ¨frankenstein¨ so it is all relevant. talking about these things with just guys is very relaxing).

i will do more writing this summer (my recent one entry a month is not exactly a high standard). hope all is well up there and you are having a good start to your summer. the weather here is perfect. 80´s during the day and high 50´s at night with consistent afternoon storms and showers. ok, if you wanted weather, you could check that yourselves.

i am sad to see duke lacrosse lost in the finals on monday. i never liked john´s hopkins. but, i am glad the guys are getting back to normal (to a very small extent) after all that they have gone through in the last year. i hope events like that dont happen more frequently now.

now that the suns and red wings have lost, again, i am done with both the nba and hockey. damn if the braves didnt start well only to choke over the last week. oh well.

in other news i combed my hair for the first time in two years today. strange. i have not had a haircut since december and my hair is finally getting long (relative) again. no camera so the pictures will come when they do, but i thought i would add that. two years. pretty amazing how short hair eliminates the need for hair grooming. or i am just a slob (probably the latter).

let me know if there is anything specific you want to hear about (new abortion law that has the pope seriously pissed off with mexico, teachers not teaching-strikes, etc.).

take it easy y´all

walking to school every morning i pass a taxi stand (this is about the length of one block-just one curb- and at the corner is a little shack where the dispatch, normally a kid, sits and watches a big tv), and every morning i see some strange movie, normally dubbed or subtitled from english. at 6am or so, the tv i see is usually the last thing on my mind, but i always glance at it as i walk on past.

today, as i was coming to school, i saw something i thought i would never see on mexican news. blacksburg, va. virginia tech. massacre.

almost all of my students today asked me where i was from again. had i ever heard of a uni in virginia called virginia tech?

the questions that people often ask, regarding the usa and its proclivity toward violence, begin again. this time, however, i do not feel so separated from the questions; i do not have the same sort of detached perspective i usually do when i answer them. i saw some pictures of the campus today, mainly of police and wounded students. i have not seen the campus in about 4 years, and it was sad to see it the way that i did. i hope that if anyone reading this knew someone on campus that day that they are ok. i guess there is not much else to say.

Drawing to a close, this semester will be one that at the very least leaves an aftertaste. Not that I dislike getting up and being at work before the sun rises. Nor that I decry going to work six days a week. Even the fact that I regularly spend 12-16 hours on campus is not enough to really get me in a pissy mood (although many would argue that I am often in this kind of mood, or at least that I am an irritable person - enojon is the word used here, and as you might have guessed, it is stronger than the English near-equivalents I have listed). I have made a promise to myself this semester not to bitch about things that I cannot change. Clearly, I have failed to accomplish this completely, but like all ideas in this vein, thinking about it has been helpful (at the very least I like to tell myself this).

Either way, there are just over two weeks remaining until exams. Amazing how fast it has gone (which is probably a testament to the idea that staying busy makes time seem to pass more quickly). But, it is sad that I have not done much traveling this semester (none, really). On the bright side I have gotten to know the city much better and visited many places and areas that I have never seen before. A friend who I met about two months ago and said my Spanish has improved a lot (I saw her for again on Saturday after not seeing her since February). Unfortunately, I had to stop taking my Spanish class because this semester because there was no time. On the bright side I have been seeing a girl here, so I practice my Spanish with her a lot. Give and take. My writing in Spanish is still quite horrible, syntax, etc. (you could also argue my English is not perfect either), but my conversational abilities have improved greatly. Mainly, it is the same problem I have felt since I arrived: reading books in Spanish is awesome, but no one talks like authors write, so in a sense it is not productive.

I read a quote from mark twain the other day I found very funny. The gist of the quote is: every time you want to write the word ¨very¨, write the word ¨damn¨. That way, when you go back and edit, you will simply remove the word.

Spring is here in the city. But it is much like a flagstaff, az, summer in that the nights are still chilly- this makes me happy because I like to sleep in colder weather rather than the heat. The campus is beautiful: green trees, manicured bushes, walks, flowers, everything. There is a small army of grounds crew here that begin at the crack of dawn and go until near midnight. They are here when I arrive at 6am. Weed eating, leaf blowing, watering, grooming in general. Unnecessary? Of course. But it looks amazing. There are lots of benches and areas to sit in the shade (8400 feet up, the sun is still intense) and the whole campus is wireless internet (along with power outlets everywhere), so you can do work wherever. I must admit this is an island in the middle of a sprawling concrete cacophony. And I definitely appreciate how peaceful and safe it is compared to other parts of the city. Living within walking distance means I don’t have to ride transit during the week, so I feel quite isolated at times. But, it is like having a pool in your backyard: you just have to go out and jump in when you feel tired of the everyday.

Ok, I never had a pool in the backyard.

The earthquake here last week never even woke me up. Everyone in my building, except my coworker and fellow compatriot, went into the courtyard (this is merely a fancy name for a grassy area between my building and the landlady´s house) at 2am. Good Mexicans. In 1986 there was a huge quake in the city that killed thousands of people, so since then, the people have learned their lesson. Of course, they forgot to wake us up, but no matter.

All of my students were shocked that I did not wake up for the quake. I told them I lived in Oaxaca for a year and there are quakes all the time there, so I was somewhat used to them. Ya, I am so cool. I know.

While in my class I checked my email and saw a headline on msn about Blacksburg. My first reaction was happy; I thought tech had done something good for a change. As you well know, the news was not good as I had hoped. I am not sure what to write about it; I think perhaps it is better to say nothing right now. On that note, I think I will go.

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.

is a virginia jim kind of like a virginia slim? i agree my bearded brother in arms, the true search is for a woman who loves beards. if i may dip from the ¨state¨ stash- ¨well that´s fine for him, but i´m still alone.¨ ¨why don´t you try taking some of your own advice?¨ ok, the last part was definitel more than a stretch, but i felt i needed to finish the cycle.

co-con¨beard¨tadors is rockin. and much like, ¨i´m nice outside¨ will never be too much of a stretch not to make sense. true, it is rather european, but i have always thought that about you ¨virginia¨ jim. euro-jim. how is the married life? canoe on open water? driftin on smooth?

cozumel. beautiful. i have never been there. you should have a killer time. if i buy a jet in the next week i will meet you there and be back home for dinner.

i switched banks yesterday. other than wanting to put a quick and silent to my life 45 minutes into the first transaction, things went smoothly. i am now with a new, better (sure) bank that at the very least is open past 4pm. because you know, 9am-4pm are perfect hours for people who don´t work. and let´s be honest, who with a job would go to a bank? all the time i spent unemployed centered around me hanging at the local bank: nothern arizona credit union, wells fargo in san fran, vt credit union in blacksburg. they were hoppin.

either way, ames, i will be sending you a new card very soon.

wait wait wait. hokies 81, n carolina 80? va tech swept unc? va tech beat duke? va tech and uva are tied for 3rd in the acc? basketball? another big east team, boston college, is number 1 in the acc?

can it be? the football schools are beating the basketball schools?

happy v-day everybody. my school, being very business-minded, has had booths set up for days selling everything valentine. you can even get married for 20 pesos. you get fake rings, a certificate, photo in black tie, etc. and boys can marry boys, girls can marry girls, hell, you can marry five people at once. polygamy. a little bit o´ utah in mexico. somewhere, mr. smith is smiling.

i might actually do something, buy flowers, for vday this year. maybe i am getting weak in my old age. my students, some of whom are the sellers of balloons, candy, ribbons, hearts of all shapes and sizes, have asked about a love interest. i simply tug on the rather full beard i am sporting and tell them that beards do not attract women. i explain that you do not grow a beard to get a girlfriend. this intrigues some. then, ¨why did you grow a beard william?¨ lazyness is my favorite reply.

the beard is in its final days. after two months it has reached burly and now borders on frightening. in other words, i am stretching the boundaries of professional appearance. again. at least my beard and hair are one color (this is a first) except for the gray in my hair. which, still increases. soon i will be all grey i fear. oh well. then i will dye my hair blue and call it school spirit (our colors are blue and white).

so ya, i will let you know how it goes tonight. considering i go to bed by 1030 and my friend does not return from work until 9, it will be rather short whatever it is. maybe a walk. there are 24hr flower stands everywhere in this town (no joke, 24/7/365), so we may walk down to one and see if she likes any. is this something i should do before i see her? i think my lack of understanding of flowers would preclude me from purchasing them beforehand. advice?

in all its glory, i present to you, la jalisiense. it is a cantina (bars where only men were allowed until about 25 years or so ago) where i have passed a few friday afternoons. my buddy c, far right, white blazer (after labor day?) and seated, is a teacher and writer who has his picture on the wall (just above my head in the photo) along with a blurb about his first published book. but, that is not why we are there. to c´s right (your left), is father m. not a priest. p, another teacher where i work, is next to him. r is next to her and the owner of the cantina(black shirt standing) is flanked by daniel (right) and his son(name escapes me). in front is s, p´s husband. awkwardly leaning to get into a shot i presumed i would not fit into: billy. this was back in november, pre-beard days (which is rather burly right now and will be shorn soon), and during my friend´s dad´s visit. the place is great- guns on the wall (supposedly one was used to kill santa ana, and despite the rust and general decrepitude of the piece, i doubt it.), pictures of mexican and central american military men, famous people from latin america and now my friend c. white dude from houston. natually. we tip well= they love us there.

i just finished my own version of hell week. two 16 hour days at work in a row. sweet. well, i have been here for 12 hours today, but, it does not seem so bad. not sure why. i am surviving.

going to more museums on the weekends than i was in the fall, so that is a good thing. one thing mexico city does well is museums. hundreds, probably thousands of them. on everything. i went to the children´s museum a few weeks ago. ya, it was awesome. i was a little big for the playland, but i got to do handicrafts, painted and made a star out of paper i actually recylced myself (i also had fun acting like a child- my friend and i painted each other´s arms when the kindergarten teacher was distracted- who was throwing that paper?). my friend and i had a great time there. we also went to a planetarium a few weeks ago, and the palace of fine arts and monument to the revolution before that as well as four or five others in the past month or two.

well, i am out of here. hope you all have good week.

one of the pictures was from the bullfights, the other was from the roof of my house when we grilled a few weeks ago. i won´t tell you which is which in the hopes that you mistake my roof top to look like the inside of a colliseum and the inside of the plaza del méxico to look like, well, a ratty rooftop.

i am giving a toefl exam this morning to 75 kids who want to go to the school where i teach. they are all eager, snooty, better dressed than me (this takes very little effort actually consdering my rotation of shirts that i wear to work is an astounding 7. i know. i took mcmahon´s advice and decided to really reach for the stars).

i guess it has been a spell since i wrote. lots going on here, but mainly work. a 5am wake-up call, daily, has been strange but i am adjusting. there are definitely some positives to it, but of course it is not the easiest. especially considering i used to work at 130pm when i lived in san fran. but that was years ago.

five weeks in and the beard is rockin. the cool weather, no longer cold really, makes it nice at night, but the warm sunny days make me want to shave. i will try to post a pic at some point. i think this is the sixth winter in a row that i have grown a beard. not shaving is absolute heaven. i recommend all the boys try it at least once.

classes are great. i teach part of a lit. class at the university here, and although it started out strange, it has become better the last few weeks. the schedule itself is ruthless on mondays, i teach 7 classes, and wednesday and friday (i teach 6), but tues thurs is not too bad. good kids mostly. i cannot complain.

hope you are all well up there. know that i am well, albeit a little tired some days, and enjoying myself. my buddy watt wanapha came down to visit the other weekend and we had a grand time. two visitors in one month after a year hiatus. damn. either way, it was good to see him (we went to tech together and both studied philosophy)after a five year break and to talk with him. he is a great kid and kicking ass in ny as an attorney.

hasta luego cuates

so. very. tired.

i arrived this morning around 630ish, meaning i woke up before 6am and arrived when it was still quite dark. so ya, i did take the extra classes. i now teach 7 classes. 5 hours in a row, from 730am to 1230pm. then i get one hour off and go back and teach again from 1330 to 1430. then two hours off and another 40 minutes teaching a university class for my friend. wow. i am worn out. i will definitely make more money this semester, but damn, i am going to work my butt off. oh well, tuesday is a lot better.

Isn’t it ridiculous that I make decisions based on monetary considerations? If I choose the logic that says take the highest offer, work for more, refuse a piddling amount, why I am here? See you in Saudi Arabia.

What does it mean when I, others, say that I, we, no longer speak the same language? A paradigm shift is a bullshit, 21st century phrase that only signifies if you understand your present paradigm. If not, wander along and leave the thinking to the media which tells you what to eat, wear, say, watch, read, study, love, hate, forget. Remember.

Can you really change in 18 months? What is it that you changed? Did you change it, or did it change you? What does ¨it¨ mean? These are the ramblings of one looking for an answer using a system of signs that, although they permit, do not promote, introspection.

There is a story that Socrates (or Plato, depending on whether or not you even believe Socrates existed) related in one of his early teachings. When writing was first created, the god who created it took the idea to the wisest person he knew. This person, a king, offered numerous objections, rather criticisms. He said that writing would make people forget. If you don’t have to memorize anything, i.e. you can write it down, then what will you remember? Also, the king said it would make fools feel they had knowledge. Anyone can go to a teacher and listen, take notes, then repeat the words written on the page. This, in no sense, signifies understanding, knowledge.

As you might imagine, the god was none too pleased with this reply. He had created the first artificial technology, writing, and wanted what any inventor, and god for that matter, does: praise. Not receiving the appreciation he felt he deserved must have been quite a blow. But, he was a god, and in general, life is pretty good for the gods. Eternal life, wild and outrageous powers, good times.

My argument lacks both novelty and entertainment value. Those two definitely work against me as the old and boring are often brushed aside in favor of something shiny, shimmering, still in the plastic. Retire meant community.

Walking around this city you see the influence of us(a). actually, you must work not to see it, and then, really, you are simply lying to yourself. Progress. Such an innocent word on its surface, especially as a verb, yet the problems arise when you make it a noun. As in, ¨gazing out from her 25th floor apartment balcony, the steel, glass and general progress the city had made were blinding.¨ she cannot see anymore. Probably does not want to, truly. Can you explain to someone without vision what a skyscraper looks like? Can you impart the sound of a jackhammer to someone without hearing? These are artificial creations, to be sure, but substituting these for natural examples makes no real difference. Language, then, fails. The break down occurs, and you either move on to something else and forget, or, repeatedly knock your head against a wall. Which is better? The result is roughly the same.

Is progress really a gift? Everything I see here tells me it is. The people are often eager to remind me of wonderful advances the city/country has made in the last 15 years. I am typing on a laptop by the way. My hypocrisy knows no bounds.

So maybe this lack of understanding is simply a feeling. Poets, authors, bryan adams and the bee.gee´s have been trying to educate us on the finer points of feelings for a long time, yet I think we still have not come to understand them very well. If we did, would we still need these people or simple rewind the tape and listen to it again?

Have I explained it? Does it seem like I really even tried?

I must say relationships down here are interesting. Dating, in general, involves something more than what I was used to. Of course, every ex of mine would probably say my main problem was not really trying. Not investing. Sure. I wont disagree simply because I, apparently, could care less. So what is different down here? Knowing that there is difference between us, more than male/female stuff, simple communication becomes rather interesting. When we all speak the same language, we think we understand. When we don’t, we know that we are missing something. But somehow, you cannot really know what that something is. I would argue it was always a lie to assume we understood each other. The same language ensures that the words will be familiar, not that the meaning, intentions, feelings, implied by those words will be comprehended. I have dated girls that speak excellent English and those that speak none. As you might have guessed, the level of English has nothing to do with it. It is the part where you want to understand the other person that makes one viable and the other a flop. So is that so different from any other relationship?

I use the dating metaphor for a reason. At some point or another, everyone reading this has been on a date of some kind, or been in some kind of loving relationship (gender is not important here). I cannot assume any more than that, but I would imagine there has come a time (unless you happily married/became the permanent partner of the first person you ever dated) when you think that you and the other person do not really speak the same language. The words are there, clearly there are some types of feeling (revulsion, hate, indifference, etc.), but the words you both use no longer (if they ever did and you were simply not delusional-in love) signify the same thing. Then, you may make the analogy that one person is speaking a separate idiom (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian) than your own. Try explaining that to someone not involved and you will often receive a look of sympathy, which probably implies that the person either does not really care or thinks you don’t know what you are talking about. Either way, you come off sounding odd.

Hence, me saying that I do not speak the same language as many people in my own country seems either quite strange or stupid. However, that has no bearing on the fact that I feel as I do.

On a side note, I feel like a teenager again. I met this girl about 4 months ago and have had a lot of interaction with her since, but now somehow I feel different toward her. But then you don’t want to make a move and look like an idiot if she does not feel the same way (our relationship is not one of simple friendship, it is a little more complex than that). So what do you do? Well, if you are a coward, like me, you do nothing different. You make an effort to see the person more, but then you wait. Why? Weakness is all I can imagine. Well, that is not true. of course I can rationalize it any number of ways to make myself feel better, but I wont. In the end, I might just simply enjoy feeling strange around this person.

I built a table today. Pretty exciting. Went to the home depot, bought some 1x4´s, ½ inch plywood for the top (I doubled it up). 42 inch square top, 32 inch legs (I am finally putting into practice my dream of making things my size- I have often thought sinks, toilets, counter tops, etc. were made for people not my size). I am making it like a cantina table (which if you have not been to mexico you probably don’t understand). Each leg is two 1x4´s nailed together at a right angle (this make a small pocket in between them) which opens to the outside, and inside this angle I made two shelves, about 20 inches apart, so that you can put a drink, or two, in the leg- this frees up the surface for cards, computer, books, food, whatever. I am going to make a lip around the top edges that will rise about ¼ inch over the top of the surface- this will make a shallow, I don’t know, pool for lack of a better word. The logic behind this is that if my friends and I play cards you can toss a card across the table and it wont fall on the floor. Basically, I have created something that would be excellent for small children and babies- difficult to knock something off the top onto the floor and it keeps liquids away from the action (like a high-chair probably). I did not have a table before, so now I can type at home, do work here more easily, have people over to eat without having them sit on the floor or eat from their lap in a plastic chair. Mighty domestic of me. I also now have a place to put things when I come home from school, etc. otherwise, everything goes on the floor. Not really hygienic I guess. I suppose it is time for me to start getting it together. It also implies a sense of permanence I was never really ready for before. The less you have the easier it is to leave it. That might say more about my personality than I care to admit, but there it is.

I am going to build bookshelves next. My dad and Anthony can be proud that I finally put to use the skills I learned with them. Working with wood is fun. A hammer, nails and tape measure really go a long way. I also have an artist friend who is going to paint the table for me. Not sure about the design just yet, but I will try to take a picture of it at some point to show you. Somewhere in Richmond jimmy d is proud of me. Or paul, z-moves, sinc. I am certainly not on a par with them, but hey, you have to start somewhere.

in every situation there are always surprises.

first of all, happy holidays to all. i hope the xmas and new year went quite well. feliz año nuevo y espero que todo fuera bien para todos.

i came in a little early today (there are no classes but i thought i would get here around 8 because starting next week i teach every day at 730am) and had an unexpected visitor.

my schedule for next semester was fairly good: mwf- 730-1030 (3 50minute classes), break, 1330-1430. tu/th- 730-830, 9-1030, break, 1330-1430. i was teaching 5 classes for a total of 19 hours a week. last semester i only taught 5 classes, 15hours a week, and was not too stoked about the money i was making (hence the private lessons). last semester i had a lot of free time. what we do with our free time is often unproductive(professionally) and in this city, requires some sort of money. in other words, i was spending almost as much as i was making each month. not good.

thus, a bump of 4 hours would increase my salary a fair amount, and with the other private lessons i was giving, should have given me plenty of work while silently removing some free time. i was pleased for the most part because i would be giving a literature course and a media, culture & criticism course. smooth sailing.

upon my arrival at 8am or so, i walked into my new office (i now am on the opposite corner of the top floor with an office overlooking the green side of campus- two walls are actually floor to ceiling windows and glass; i also only share the office with one other person- my new supervisor j, who is from canada) and sat down to read for 20 minutes or so. ever since moving offices a few days ago, i have felt great because it seemed as if i were starting over again in some senses.

my surprise came around 9am when my buddy c came into the office. he is a coordinator of a class i thought i would be teaching next semester, but at the last minute i was offered something different. he was definitely supposed to be in a meeting (there is a faculty meeting for those full-time staff), so i thought he was playing hooky and wanted to go get a coffee or something.

he first asked my schedule for next semester, though he knew it (he also lives in the apt under me and we hang out fairly often on the weekends and during the week- we also go to the gym sometimes and we went to coffee shops in the mornings over xmas break to get work done- he is finishing his phd thesis). he then asked me if i wanted more hours.

ok, take a look at my schedule again. i teach 3 consecutive hours (2 diff classes) monday wednesday and friday. 3 hour break until 1330 when i teach another hour. tuesday is not as heavy. do i have space? sure. keep in mind i will also be working once a week or so giving 45 minutes of lecture to a college course (substituting for this same person), and also once a week i will be proctoring a toefl exam (3 hours, usually in the evening or on saturday mornings).

what time are the classes and when? 2 new classes, one new course(writing intensive), from 1030-1230 mwf. in other words, my new schedule would be from 730-1230 mon, wed, fri (3 different classes) and then one hour off and teach again from 1330-1430. 5 consecutive hours. i have never taught that much at once. i have only had 3 different preps (preparing 3 separate classes) once, back in 2000 in the o.c.(virginia that is). 6 more hours of teaching would give me 25 hours a week. not a lot compared to some schools in the usa, but for someone who worked only 15 one month ago, it feels like a lot.

so, what do you think i did? did i take the job? or, did i pass on it because it would overload my schedule, give me no break or preparation time during the day, and generally wear me out?

million dollar question

semester begins on monday. yeehaw

happy birthday amy! this damn blogger thing is not working again i am afraid.

another update- the last post i wrote over a week ago and have been trying to publish. maybe i will keep this site. i must say i hate blogger right now though.

in oaxaca there is more violence and almost 7 months later there is no solution to the conflict. 7 people died last weekend and it will probably just get worse as neither side appears to be giving anything.

hokies? uva(uva, by the way, means ¨grape¨ in spanish- vt means nothing. not sure what that says). i did not watch the game but read about it today. sweet. action.

i went to a blues festival on saturday. this city is incredibly fun and has something new everyday. i cannot say enough how happy i am here.

hope all is well up there. we are in exams right now so i am at school less but grading more. give and take.

I am done with blogger. i made a few posts that showed up blank over the last two weeks, and it sapped my desire to write more. if you have ever written a document/paper and had the computer not save it before being able to print, etc., then you you know the feeling.

I am going to look for a new blog site that is better and actually works.

it has gotten quite cold here. nights in the 30´s, days in the low 40´s. i have a vest and a rain jacket. slightly unprepared for this weather, but i bought a new blanket which keeps me warm at night. just like air conditioning, there is no heat in this country (outside of upscale hotels where i dont go unless a friend comes in town that works for a big company that will pay all sorts of cash for a huge, comfortable room- yes, for this and other reasons, i want my friend to come back and visit again). thus, most teachers are sitting around in their offices in big sweaters and gloves. the students look like icecubes. for the most part, i love it. when it gets cold i put on a stocking cap and am fine. i love the cold. i cant wait for it to snow (it snows in the surrounding mountains). most of the cold weather has to do with the location i believe. we are well over 8000ft, higher than flagstaff actually, which offsets the fact that we are so far south. chilly.

to counteract this, i have been eating incredibly spicy food. i now make my own salsa, which really has been a long time coming, and doing a fantastic job of it. two of my friends who live in apt building and i cook about twice a week, and one person always makes the salsa (we all like very spicy food). it has been a lot of fun actually. i like cooking in general, but it is more fun with a few friends and a dart board. it passes the time i guess.

i also began making hot wings. really, this was bound to happen as my penchant for our fine feathered friends has exponentially increased each month i went without them. i also make my own sauce for these bad boys, which although does not quite burn your fingers, sets every other part of the skin (and tongue) it touches on fire. not a good idea to touch the wings and then touch any other part of your face (a lesson i learned when trying to blow my nose- the sauce is also a wonderful decongestant.) good times.

yesterday was revolution day. holiday. long weekend. i stayed in town and hung out with friends and actually did some work yesterday. the runner-up in the presidential election officially declared himself the ¨official/moral¨ president of the country and a few parades were canceled due to protestors marching in the streets. good to know that almost five months later there are still problems with the presidential election. no was killed, however, so i think that is a positive.

i have my schedule for next semester. i will not be full-time in name, but will be working almost 19 hours a week and getting paid more. although i wont make as much as a full-time person, it will be more than enough to relieve me of having to do private lessons. i also will have a new schedule- i start teaching at 730am every day. this is good and bad. more good than bad though as i will finish each day at 1330. this leaves my afternoons free, although i will be teaching a small portion of my friend´s university literature classes twice a week. he has meetings during the first 30 minutes of each class, so i will begin with them. pretty good deal, he pays me, and i get to teach the literary theory component of the class- cuban b, who is taking another lit theory class right now knows how much fun this should be. no, i actually like theory and only teaching these kids basic concepts and major theorists should be fun.

i am no longer teaching esl classes. i am teaching 3 literature classes (folklore-mythology from all over the world, including a lot of native american works) and two media and culture classes. the second set of classes should be very interesting as it is essentially a rhetoric and lit course blended together. this schedule is perfect for me. i am actually teaching the courses i went to school to teach. i did not think i would be able to do this in a foreign country. in short, i am extatic. i am also going to start of literature group with a colleague of mine and we are going to recruit other professors and university students to participate. our goal is to create publishable texts: articles, short stories and poetry. this is also something quite exciting as 1 year ago i never imagined anything like this happening.

as usual, i am quite upbeat about everything. a few weeks ago there was ver bad news from my pops, not a health concern thanfully, and though this put me in a bad mood for a while, you cannot live like that forever.

i will extend an invitation to any and all who would like to visit mexico, but i know that it is extremely unlikely anyone will take advantage of it. understandable. if peaches is still out there, please know that you are also invited. do you have any more hints for me peaches? your identity is as unknown to me as the number of times i have died my hair.

and jimmy d, yes, you are correct. i do need a digital camera. let me get through december and once i start getting paid again in late january i will make an investment.

on a side note, i have thought of unplugging my refrigerator to save money. if the air in the house is as almost as cold as that in the frig, it would be silly not to do so (unless you want to argue that the internal thermostat would automatically stop the motor from coming on if this were indeed the case- you would be wrong bc the freezer portion is also located inside the regular frig part. and as the only thing in the freezer is coffee my friend caro brought me in september, i think this would be ok.).

if any of you have any favorite mark twain short story title you want to share, let me know. i am working on the assignments for my folklore-myth class and want to find some good writers(preferable from the usa and also from the south) to introduce the kids to. if these stories can be found online, well, you just made my job that much easier.

this had better work this time.

Happy Birthday Doughman!

i hope you have a great day and a relaxing weekend. If you find out the news today, or by monday, please let me know (not through the blog, send me an email to will_i_m@hotmail.com).

also, yesterday was my god-daughter´s, alexi natalia chavez rodriguez vega, birthday. she is now the big 1.

here is to you both!

today is the second day of the dead. today is for adults, yesterday was for the children. a celebration of the dead and remembrance of the departed. really, it is a lot more healthy than it might initially appear on the surface. the dead are said to be able to communicate with the living, and this is why there are offerings on graves. to appreciate the dead, the living make offerings of the dead´s favorite things- food, drink, clothing, anything.

i must say that in oaxaca this holiday was a lot stronger. perhaps the people in the city have lost some of their heritage. perhaps they have other things to do. i wont judge this, but i must acknowledge the difference. it is striking.

on a positive note, my papa´s birthday is tomorrow! happy b-day doughman! man, 75 years come and go like a flash don´t they? the last time i saw you, over a year ago, you didn´t look a day over 73, so you´ve got that going for you at least. good to hear you are getting the crops up with little problems. are you playing tennis? shooting?

a positive for me is that i will have a slightly different job next semester. i am going to be teaching bilingual students (their english is comparable with an average high schooler in the states amazingly) in an advanced program. we will do literature, cultural analysis (advertising, film, bias, government and media, propaganda, etc). also, i will be teaching advanced writing and critical thinking skills. in other words, this will be like teaching very high level school kids or low level university students. in short i am really excited. my main supervisor and another friend spoke to the main boss and told her that what i am currently teaching (esl) is not utilizing my training and background. i will know next week what my schedule will look like, but this is something i am very happy about for numerous reasons. i like what i am doing now, but as i have said numerous times, this is not really my future. teaching literature and critical thought courses, on the other hand, is exactly what i want to do.

however, until a contract is signed, this is all just possibility. fun to dream a bit.

after a long wait, i have an address. it is very very long, but here it goes.

ITESM-CCM
William Davis
Departamento de Inglés
Oficinas 2, 3 piso
Calle del Puente 222
Colonia Ejidos de Huipulco
C.P. 14380
México - D.F.


yes, there are 8 lines. i recommend doing it just like that and try to remember the accent marks (although if they are missing, it should not be a problem).

i welcome any and all mail and thank you in advance for it. do tell me when you send it so i can tell the secretary to be on the lookout for me.

ok, off to grade exams. just over two weeks left of class and then final exams! wow.

last night was interesting for numerous reasons. a friend from oaxaca (she is from the capital city not feliztepec) came to town for work and called me to go out. as i dont work on friday until 1130, of course i went. we went to dinner in a fancy-pants area, her company put her up in an amazing hotel in the zona rosa (which is, along with roma and condesa, the trendiest to place in the city right now) and then went to get a drink.

she begins telling me about the teacher strike in oaxaca (yes, almost 6 months later, the kids are still not in school and nothing is really being resolved). a rather beautiful colonial city has gotten uglier and uglier as more people live in the street, spraypaint 400-500 year old buildings with childish graffiti (no matter what you think of the cause, the decorations look like the handiwork of the 8 year olds who are not currently in school- save for the fact that 8 yr olds give a good god damn about politics). the kids cannot go to school with professional teachers (i use the word professional quite loosely here) and when a group of parents got together to teach the kids a few hours a day, they were physically blocked by teachers. sweet.

also, the children cannot go to the parks and play because so many of the union members (it is not just teachers who are angry, many other groups have jumped on the pile) cannot all fit into the shit-strewn (this image is literal and figurative) historical center (zócalo) so they have spread to some neighboring parks to, well, protest (read- make handicrafts to sell to foreigners who stand under spraypainted walls that say- fuera extranjeros- foreigners get out and other anti-capitalist propaganda). thus, the kids are rather afraid to go the parks as they dont want to get involved in any of it. also some undesireables are part of the cause, and this worries parents.

one teacher went against the union and stated that he wanted to return to work. he was found with his throat cut soon after. no arrests were made.

can´t you just taste the pride that i feel when i tell people here in the city i was ¨a teacher in oaxaca¨?

if you are caro, or one of the stragglers from oaxaca who is reading this, you will probably mock me (as caro did numerous times) for my new stance. i have turned a bit on this teacher revolution. true. however, i also feel that the initial struggle was somewhat just. i do not think that this continued effort to remove a (corrupt) politician (i think the two words are redudant: you choose which one you want to use) is winnable, nor do i think that this should stop school (keep in mind the teachers are still being paid normal salary).

see caro, you can leave the country but not completely.

my friend visiting from oaxaca who told me a lot of the above wants the govt (military) to come in and bulldoze everything. including the people. i will leave that for you as a sentiment that many in this country have (not all of course).

anywho, enough seriousness for one day.

while having a few drinks, chatted for an hour or two and listened to some incredibly loud enlgish 80´s music, mixed with mexi-rock. as my friend was essentially dancing in her chair, and doing her best to involve me, i asked if she wanted to go find a club to dance (if you have known me before this country, you understand the lunacy of this proposition coming from me). this, apparently, was what she was waiting for, as she finished off her drink and attempted to kill mine as well in an effort to get to the club asap.

we went to one place with a cover (boo), so i hesitated and she kindly assented. we found a second place (they are literally feet away from each other in this neighborhood) without a cover. my my, i mused when we entered, sure are a lot of boys in here. hmm, there seem to be 4 girls, and one of them is with me.

i need not tell you that i was welcomed with open arms and offers of drinks, until they saw my friend holding onto my arm (the moment of confusion in their eyes was precious). we (my friend and i, not the dudes and i) danced a bit, then, shockingly, closed at midnight. i know. how does that happen?

well, the next place had a small cover but live music. we entered.

mistake.

the band, though energetic, was a salsa band. this is not exactly something i can fake too well (dance floor in center, women and men twirling rapidly, somewhat frenetically, in all directions). next thing i know, i am in the middle of semi-professional dancers and making a fool of myself. not to mention sweating like a whore in church. but, i must say i had a grand time. my friend is a good dancer and did her best to lead me, well, into not hurting her or other people in the general vacinity. success.

i want to learn how to salsa dance. it seems like a lot of fun, but i fear it may be beyond me. let´s be honest- it is beyond me.

in case you were wondering, the answer is yes- i have now shaved outside, in front of about 150 spectators. i also shared a sink and shaved simultaneously with a young man who has the beard capabitlities of me at 13(nonexistant). as you might have guessed, there was a free promotion and i received a vibrating razor (don´t laugh as this is quite real and made by gillette), a little towel that i can now use as a sweat towel at the gym and deodorant. there was no way i was passing this up anyway, but all my students (this happened out in front of the classroom building) were trying to get me to go. one of my best students, whose english and knowledge of coloquial phrases is often frighteningly good, told me the hottest girls in the world ¨touched his face¨ and he fell in love. in his words- ¨billy, you gotta go¨.

as advertised, the girls were gorgeous and argentine (south american women, at least from brazil and argentina, what is up down there?). i walked down the steps from the building and found a beautiful young lady speaking to me in italian-sounding spanish- again, i so want to go to argentina- about the beneits of vibrations aloe-vera and vitamin e. ya, i was not really paying attention to the words perse, but then she reaches out and cradles my face in her gloved hands. weird. her hands, oddly, were vibrating (special gloves that imitate the movement of the razor). she asked me if i wanted to try a demonstration, get free shit, lah blah blah. i asked if she would be in line wth me, she said no. as my heart sank, i saw the prize in the crappy box of cereal- free stuff. also there were plenty of other women to entertain us in line (women were turned away, even those who wanted to shave part of their legs, not just get a free razor for their boyfriends). sorry girls. boys only. yahtzee

i will write more about this next week bc it just turned funnier and funnier. have a good weekend knowing that the hokies crushed clemson (after getting whipped twice earlier this month, i know).

do you ever do things to provoke a reaction? i like to ¨tap on the glass¨ so to speak. this was the way i described my personality in the istmo, to a large extent. i brought up politics and almost always chose the opposite side of whomever i was talking with. it was fun. for me. well, my post about ladies from the istmus has indeed provoked a reaction. i thought there might be a few lingering students from there who read this blog. i was right. and apparently, at least one of them is a female. and she seems nonplussed to say the least (that was the comment about me not being able to handle istmeñas and that chilangas (females from the d.f.) were more my speed. touché). sometimes you have to rattle the cage to see if there is still anything left inside.

anyway, that is that.

peaches. we are going in circles here. i again claim that i have never been to the four corners, which means that some of the information you have given me is difficult to place. ok, so it has only been a few years since we saw each other/ spoke. where was this? va? ca? az? co? nm? nv? i need a tad more info because i am still a little lost. also, you could write me using a nondescriptive email addy.

doughman- why are you going to switch from corn in the middle of the harvest? is the corn too moist? that is too bad about butchy. tell antney that if he needs someone to help him run the new business or any help at all to let me know. but tell him that if he needs money, he better talk to a bank. or is the First Doughy Bank still open?

c-line- let me see if i can explain what is going on with me. i work for the tecnológico de monterrey, a great high school/ undergrad/ grad school with 33 campus in the country. there are two in the capital city (where i live now- el distrito federal, d.f., or mexico city to be clearer) and 31 others spread throughout the country. the high school has about 3,000 kids. the uni about 7,000. a good size really. it is one of the best schools in the country, and it is definitely the most expensive. the campus is technologically hooked up- there are power sockets at every bench and table on campus, and wireless internet allows everyone to use their laptop (required) anywhere and at any tme.

the campus is in the south of the city, about an hour by metro from the city center. i live about 15 minutes walk from campus in a residential area with trees, great restaurants, big grocery stores, a movie theatre and just about everything you could want. it even has very little traffic and only light pollution.

i work 15 hours a week. 2 hours m/w/f and 4.5 tu/th. easy load really. i have an offer for next semester although i doubt i will get full-time. my classes next semester should be more advanced and i will be teaching more advanced writing and critical thought classes (there are some incredibly advanced students here).

the kids are good on the whole. quite trendy, a little bit like 90210 as far as dress and fashion go- they make me look like an old man with no taste. the truth hurts i guess.

i love where i live. there is something to do at all times, which is a nice change. also i have some very good friends here.

my spanish is still progressing. i take a class twice a week with a prof on campus- my dept pays for the class. fluent is not a word i would use to describe, but very funcitonal. i can do and explain almost anything i want- although i felt stupid in the grocery store yesterday. i was checking out and put my little basket under the conveyer belt (the store is owned by wal-mart so it looks the same as the usa grocery stores- with many of the exact same products actually). the man at the check looked at me and asked me for something. i had no clue what he wanted; i dont drive-obviously- so i had no ticket for him to validate; i have no savers-card- you know, vip, mvp, whatever. thus, i was stumped. he repeated his question when i asked him what he said. i then blankly, and quite sadly, said a phrase i hate to use- i don´t understand. he then explained it- i want the thing you just put on the ground- ah! the basket. well, at least i learned a new word. i felt stupid, but it wont be the last time.

in other words, i still make mistakes and my vocabularly is not on a par with my english vocabulary. however, i can normally get the gist of conversations and movies, etc. my friends gave me a t.v. so i watch a little at night (the news is easy, so are telenovelas- soap operas- but some humor is difficult. the simpsons, dubbed in spanish, is damn difficult. so it goes.

my job is great; i like where i live; i am reading a lot of books in spanish; i am meeting new people- although i always want to meet more. no complaints really. i could be making more money- i teach 3hours each week of private lessons- but i am doing ok there as well. three months in to this new city i would say i definitely made the best decision possible for me.

i think i answered most of what you asked. let me know if not.

and jimmy, you said it my friend: somebody wake me up when the sloppy joe´s are done.

now peaches, let´s be fair. it has been a long time since i have talked to anyone in the usa, save my father who i spoke toon the phone in april. so, certainly it has been a long time since we have talked. please, feel free to send me an e-mail, stillwill.i.m@gmail, and we can catch up. i have never been to the four corners. as far as long walks, i have been on many in my life, although i must say that the junction of utah, colorado, arizona and new mexico is a place i have never been.

perhaps you have me confused with someone else peaches. although, to your credit, you have driven me somewhat crazy over the last six or eight months trying to figure out who you are. dine´e, hopi?

little blue dune buggy, in the sand. little blue dune buggy, in my hand.

i have a cocktail recipe for you today. first, take one part hillbilly from va (mixer) and add to a pint glass heated to 110 degrees f. , make sure to include 90% humidity (container), mix with 9 hours on a campus with no a.c. and absolutely nothing to do for hours on end (active ingredient). remove nearly all friends and interesting people (mixer).

shake.

serve.

this my friends is a recipe for a successful blog that will occupy large portions of previously unused time. you will find yourself writing inane drivel once, twice, thrice times a week.

the problem, clearly, is that once you have engorged yourself on this concoction, you see no real problem. the drink is good. or if not good, not bad. you begin to change the way you think. there are no more worst case scenarios. you are highly bored and you no longer are really able to know it much less do anything about it.

then you move to a city. not just any city, now, a fun town. lots of people, tons of things to do. suddenly you no longer spend so many hours at work (you are also not required to do so) and you find yourself walking up and down streets you do not know in search of a metro station which may or may not be just around the corner. and you do not care. life, suddenly, is much more interesting. everything you do is fun or will be soon enough.

this is where i am. i really like this town.

not sure if anyone still reads this, but if so, i have a question for you. any suggestions? is there anything you have wondered about this place but never known how to ask? now is the time.

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.