¿Que es un callejeada?

I’ll tell you what it is. We met in the center of town. We were all given these tiny porcelain cups that were worn around our necks. Then these cups were filled with Tequilla. The Mariachi band began to play. The singing starts and so does the dancing. Once everyone is in a good mood, and the sun starts to set, the singing and dancing and drinking take to the streets. We wound our ways through the tiny streets of the city. It was quite amazing. Every few blocks we would stop and dance. The people of the town would come out to watch, clap, and enjoy the party. After marching around for more than an hour, we ended up in this big square. It was nicely decorated and there was plenty of food (and more Tequilla). The dancing was lots of fun. There is a group of people that I have hung out with this week. Most of them were in my class that I taught. The girls were from Hungary, Italy, Brazil, and Italy, and the guys were from Argentina and Mexico. We have really had a good time together. It was quite an experience.

PETA-SHMETA

Tonight we got to watch a typical Mexican rodeo. It was somewhat entertaining. My favorite part was when a caballero would chase around a bull, grab it by its tail, and pull it to the ground. That was entertainment. You won’t see that in America.

Menudo in Mexico

My title was originally ‘Mande Mexico” because most Mexican use the word “mande” when they didn’t hear something or they want you to repeat something. But eating some very tasty menudo on Saturday night forced me to change. I traveled to Zacatecas on Friday and arrived at the hotel late that night. For a surprisingly short distance, it took me all day to get here. I’m sure I paid too much for the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel but oh well.

My hotel is on the edge of the town center and the city it quite pretty. It is located in the center of Mexico about 400 miles north of Mexico City. It is quite an old city and still has the colonial feel to it. I believe it was founded in the late 1500’s.

I taught a class on Saturday and Sunday to a group of people from 12 different countries. Even though most were from Spanish speaking countries I taught the class in English. After the class on Saturday some of the local participants took me around the city for a bit and then I went to one of their homes for a small dinner. The menudo was very tasty.
I also had some other fruits and such that I had never tried before. Another funny thing is the house where I visited, they had a big eagle in a cage on their front porch. You would never see that in the States.

On Sunday night I went to Mass (I couldn’t find a iglesias Mormona). It is quite entertaining. I also hiked up the big hill (Cerro del Bufo) that overlooks the city. It is quite an impressive view.

There is a congress that runs all week so I’ll be pretty busy (selling my wares as my mother puts it). The people here in Zacatecas want me to come back next year to teach another class.

If anything unusual happens, I’ll be sure to write about it.

Spent the afternoon surfing at Pacific Beach! 

Surfin' in San Diego

Well, my travels took me back to a place that I was with my family just a couple of months ago. One of my favorite beaches, Pacific Beach. I'm here teaching a class this week. Most everyone is from the States, with one guy from Denmark and three people from mainland China.

On Monday, I was able to spend the afternoon in the surf and had a wonderful time. Man I love the beach! Had several fish tacos at Rubios. You just can't get enough of them. My highlight of the day was watching a homeless guy take a piss on the beach not far from a family that was sitting on the sand enjoying the sun and sand. Lots of homeless people here. It is sad and disturbing. I want to take them to a hotel or somewhere where they can take a shower, wash their clothes and eat a good meal. But then I feel overwhelmed because you can't help them all. I go running every morning and they are all over the city, sleeping in all of the cracks and crevices of the buildings. Here I am carrying my laptop (my life) around and their "life" consists of a plastic shopping bag with maybe a comb and a pair of underwear. Actually, I wonder what is in their bag. I wonder what their plan is? What do they think they'll be doing next week? Next year? Ten years from now? Same thing? Wow, I kind of went off on that tangent.

I am running in the morning. As tired as I am, I am still glad that I can pull my lazy ass out of bed and work up a sweat. I'm here for one more day then I head off to the heartland of Mexico.