Tuesday October 13

Awoke about 15 minutes before the alarm and got the day started in normal fashion. Since I had the extra few minutes I called Ann and talked to her over breakfast. At school I started with the individual help for the home school lessons. It was nice when it came time for Rock and Volcanoes to have my small group of little ones. We were studying layers so I used some pieces of foam to show how layers can bend but still stay in the same position top to bottom. We worked on a coloring page introducing the layers of the earth learning about the inner core, the outer core, the mantle and the crust. We then cut out colored construction paper circles to represent the layers, glued them together and labeled them. I ended the session reading a story to them.
I planned to walk over town to shop for some groceries but ended up just taking care on some things in the apartment and making lunch.
Tuesday afternoon coach Josh came down from the Oaxaca Christian School. I had met him last year wearing a Cowboy’s shirt and offered to forgive him for offending me. He insisted that everyone deep inside wants to be a Cowboy’s fan until he found out I was a Giants’ fan. He then realized that any proselytizing efforts would be totally in vain. When I saw his Cowboy shirt this day I immediately regretted my decision to leave all my Giants hats and tees at home. I was quick to remind him however that the Giants were still undefeated, news which did not seem to really interest him much. He began teaching the elements of street hockey which I really admired because of his way of handling the kids and the simple progression of skills to teach a new sport. The changes he made for the older kids were also so appropriate.
I ate alone again tonight. I opened a can of refried beans, combined half of the contents with some of Debbie’s pasta sauce, cooked the whole mixture down into a loose paste and ate it with taco chips. For salad I had cantaloupe chunks, apple and banana slices and with some of Debbie's home made cookies it turned out to be a pretty good meal. Tuesday evening was spent on the computer with email and lesson preparation for Wednesday.

Wednesday October 14

Awoke about 15 minutes before the alarm and got the day started in normal fashion. Since I had the extra few minutes I called Ann and talked over breakfast. The first section of rocks and volcanoes we examined rocks and tried to find words that described them. We named several rocks and put descriptive words in the boxes next to them. The second school session we studied the parts of a volcano. We have a bulletin board so we looked at it and learned some of the parts of a volcano and how a volcano works. I gave them a sheet to first fill in the areas of a volcano and then color the various elements. Then I gave them some parts that I had drawn on construction paper to be cut out and paste together. These were labeled and displayed next to the earth’s layers.
Kathy and her husband Norm had invited me to join them for lunch in a little restaurant in town. We walked in and had our choice of several small square white resin tables with pleasant fabric table cloths in pastel colors. I had already told them that whatever they were ordering would be my choice. I understood most of what the waitress, an older woman was asking, especially when she asked if we wanted bread. When the meal arrived it was a plate of five or six tightly rolled tacos with a meat and vegetable filling. Spread over the top was a smooth layer of dark brown almost black sauce called mole (pronounced MO lay). It was about the consistency of very thick beef gravy. This area of Mexico is famous for its varieties of mole. Once I was at a table where there were five different moles served in separate bowls down the middle of the table to be sampled or for those who had one particular favorite. Some are named for their color some I believe for regions where they originate or are popular. The meal was consumed with a knife and fork and was delicious!
After lunch I planned to go up to the market to shop. It turned out the Norm had a few things to get so Kathy took the umbrella to ward off the noonday sun’s rays and headed back while Norm and I continued up into town to a large brick building with large open arches. Climbing the few stone steps we entered the high ceiling masonry edifice filled with stalls of various sizes. Many were on raised platforms particularly those offering produce which was piled on waist high shelves. When I indicated I wanted manzanas (apples) the woman handed down a battered pan that fit on a scale for me to choose those I wanted and hand them back to her for weighing. The same routine was followed for beautiful ripe plum tomates. I got a cantaloupe and bananas also. Most shoppers carry a plastic shopping bag. I had two in my back pocket but did not have them out so my purchases were given to me in a light plastic bag. Norm, the more seasoned shopper had his in his hand so his things were handed to him and a plastic bag was saved. I needed eggs so Norm headed home as I walked to the back of the building past flower stalls and eateries to a place I had gotten eggs last year. After some miscommunication I got six eggs in a small clear plastic bag and headed back to the center. I got home in time to soak some of the produce in the iodine solution before returning to the school to hang out with Coach Josh and learn more about the fundamentals of street hockey.
After class I walked back to town to shop at a little store that was closed for lunch or siesta when I was there at noon. Entering the store I greeted the proprietress as well as I could. It is polite in Mexico to always chat before conducting business. My chatting is usually to explain I no hablo in muy bien en Espanole. That usually gets us off on the right foot. I wanted some grape juice but settled for apple. I bought a three liter Coca Cola to take to the weekend card game slash supper combination, a stick of montequilla (butter) and a small package of arroz (rice). Then I remembered I had forgotten my bolsa (bag) so I just paid up, grabbed them all and headed back to the school. There I found my shopping bag and put the stuff in before heading back to the apartment for a light supper, some reading and preparation and to retire for the night. The internet went out while I was looking at volcano sites and I thought something was wrong with my computer.