On why we're here

All I've been blogging about since we arrived is our adventures in travel, eating, and the people we've met along the way. What I've failed to talk about, however, is our students, which is the real reason we are here. It's taken a little while to get the ball rolling, but now we've got a good thing going and some really nice and interesting students. Tomorrow we start going to the North American Cultural Institute to do a short 1/2 hour of conversation with some of the English classes in the morning. In the afternoons we usually meet individually with the students we are tutoring. Shayna meets with Susanna to help her prepare for the TOEFL, Candace meets with Gabriel for the same, and I am now working with Mireya, the lady who works here at the inn, basically helping her with the English she would need to interact with guests here. I also sometimes work with Miriam, Susanna's cousin, who has lived in Miami and is looking to practice her in English some more. In the evenings we have a conversation group and the participants keep changing. Froy, our most faithful participant, is kind of like a Mexican Deepak Chopra, full of wisdom that he wants to share. Tonight we had two new people join. One was Jupiter, a very cool guy that we met at the organic fair yesterday, who makes and sells instruments, 7-seed energy bars, and jewelry. The other was Azael, who runs a juice and sandwich bar just down the road from us. He is the one who makes and delivers green juice when we call and order it. Super, super nice guy as well. In the evenings I also sometimes work with Dani, who does movie and film festival marketing here in Morelia and in Tlalpujahua.

So all in all, a fantastic group of people. It's work, but mostly it's fun helping them with their English, and along the way we learn a little Spanish as well.

I can't get this image to rotate, but turn your head to the left and you are looking down the leaf of a giant maguey, also known as agave. These things are so impressive... almost a little sci-fi they're so huge. I took this today at Tec, the school where we meet Susanna and Miriam.

On the way back to our hotel just before a huge thunderstorm broke out. An interesting, though perhaps dangerous, way to sharpen a knife.

Taken one night during our conversation with Froy. A nice glass of wine lit by a funky Absolut bottle candle holder.