Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Little update

So, I feel a bit compelled to write simply because I said I would... I am sure the details of my days are of little interest, and I am sorely lacking in sensitive cultural reflections or wild adventures so far. As it is Mexico, many things are a little slow in getting started. There has been a lot of comical wandering around with my housemate looking for things that turn out to be closed (this or that particular restaurant, various offices for biking or other excursions to the Pueblos Mancomunados in Sierra Norte, el cine, etc., etc.). I think yesterday after class we walked nearly 10 miles around town (no exaggerations, for those of you who know that I am prone to that) and our big accomplishment in the end was an ice cream in the zocalo at 9pm. Which, I have to say, just isn't so bad.

I've had two days of classes so far, and they are intense. Three students, one teacher, and four hours of no English. After these eight hours the last two days, I've forgotten that there are any tenses besides the subjunctive.

Tomorrow despues clases, mi maestro is taking me to some place outside of town where a priest ("como un santo") runs some sort of facility for homeless and/or orphaned children. There is the possibility that I will work there doing something a few afternoons a week. I'm very interested to see. The city itself is a lot more affluent than I remember it being 11 years ago (though Oaxaca is still the 2nd poorest state in Mexico). It is also quite a bit dirtier, with many more cars, many more people, and many more Americans.

I would like to have some pictures to put up here, which I suppose means I will have to take some. In the meantime, a piece of a soccer game I watched on Sunday in a park behind my house.