New stuff

It's kinda crazy here, what with reading books to begin classes in a week, working full-time, getting ready to teach in two weeks, trying to get settled in, and, of course, trying to squeeze in some time to visit with my nephews. Love them.
Anyway, here are a few pictures of the new place. The pictures don't really do it justice and I'm still settling in, but you get the idea. Oh, and I forgot to add that my apartment is the top half of a chapel in an old Catholic high school--hence the arched ceilings.
This first picture is my office. I've never had an office all to myself, so I think it's pretty great.

This is a picture from the doorway to my bedroom. Again, this picture is deceptive because the ceiling arches into a strange octagonal middle. Way cool.

This is a picture from the doorway of my bedroom, looking back toward the entry and the kitchen.

This picture is from the doorway of the kitchen, looking back toward the bedroom.

This last one is the kitchen. It's small, but it suits me just fine.

What a week....

Friday--Left San Miguel. Spent four hours laid over in Houston. Arrived in Indy well after midnight.
Saturday--Slept for eight-ish hours. Drove to Des Moines. Met my beautiful new nephew. Fed said nephew a bottle and sang to him a bit (a selection of U2 and Apoptogyma Bezerk songs).
Sunday--Drove back from Des Moines. Started unpacking from trip to Mexico.
Monday--Saw five apartments. Went to test drive a Honda Fit Sport (manual, Blackberry Pearl).
Tuesday--Saw four apartments. Filled out application for apartment in St. Agnus Apartments. Went to Martin to get my office keys and sign my contract. Picked up Mom from the airport.
Wednesday--Got apartment. Went back to Honda dealership for financing and grueling negotiation.
Thursday--Agreed on car price. Started packing to move. Found car insurance. Made appointment to sign lease and get keys for apartment tomorrow.
Tonight--Pick up new car.
Tomorrow--Sign lease. Move. Get Internet. Take Mom and Dad out for dinner. Drive around in my new car.
Saturday--Unpack. Revel in new environment. Probably make Korean fried rice.

Almost time to leave Mexico....

Well, I've turned in papers, read dozens of short stories, wrote nonfiction (weird, I'm better at making stuff up), and walked a lot. I'm kind of ready to head home even though it's been pretty fantastic.
I'm posting a couple more pictures, but I may put more up on Facebook. Anyway, here they are.
This first picture is of my strange pink and yellow room. Notice the mural signed "Jesus J.S. Dic. '02."


This is a sign outside of the hot springs. I sort of thought this was amusing. Notice the fifth bullet: I think it says something close to "We won't tolerate any antisocial behavior that disrupts the peace of this place."


Outside of the city, this is what it looks like: kind of flat and green, and you probably wouldn't guess that this is like 7,000,000,000 feet above sea level. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little.


A group of us went to this really strange church at Atotonilca. They call it the Mexican Sistine Chapel (notice the following picture). Really, this Jesus statue is a large draw, too, because he apparently has real hair and teeth.


This is a picture of the ceiling of the church, with the scaffolding for the restoration work.


This picture doesn't really show the extent of the bougainvillea in this city.


Last one for now: evening overlooking San Miguel.

Two weeks in Mexico

A few items of note:
1. If you haven't heard, I have a new nephew. This is so fantastically exciting.
2. After taking a tango lesson and two salsa lessons, I realize that dancing can be kinda cool.
3. Mole (pronounced mol-eh) is so good, I'm may have to figure out how to make it. Forget that, I'm going to buy some in a can.
4. Had to do a reading on Wednesday. It wasn't the catastrophe it could have been.
5. Went to Guanajunto, but I missed seeing the mummies. Boo.
6. Writers can be harsh.
7. Writers can be great.
8. The breakfasts at this little hotel (La Casa de Elvia) continue to be enough food to get me through much of the day. They have a farm somewhere (not on the premises), so breakfasts continue to involve foreign things like homemade butter, homemade yogurt, and chile killyas. The last one's spelling is questionable.
9. Masses in English are preferable to masses in Spanish.
10. Spanish is much easier than Korean. I don't care what anyone says.

Okay, here's a link to some informational stuff about the program here:
http://lowres.uno.edu/sanmiguel/
If you click on housing, you can see some pictures of La Casa de Elvia.

A week in Mexico

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last few days. Things are going well, I'm having a fantastic time, the weather is beautiful, the people are fantastic, and, yes mom, I'm eating very well.
These first few are from Teotihuacan. Here are some great skeletons that look like they are sitting around sharing a good joke.



Here is some graffiti.


Yes, these pyramids are as high up as it looks.




These next two are from a rooftop restaurant in San Miguel. I ate hibiscus tacos there.


This last one is just a fluke. I hadn't downloaded my pictures before I left, so now I leave you with a question: how is Mr. Susan?

Just a quick note...

I'm just posting this really quickly--
I'm safe and I've arrived in lovely San Miguel. After a brief internet snafu, I'm back online and working feverishly to be ready for class tomorrow. Everything is beautiful and comfortable--I think it's 80 today, and my room is comfortable. I will post pictures when I get my act a little more together.

Getting ready for San Miguel

What I have read in the last six weeks for classes:
1. Cod
2. Stealing Buddha's Dinner
3. Candyfreak (possibly my favorite)
4. The Underdogs
5. Biography of Frida Kahlo (way more than I wanted to know about anybody)
6. A brief history of Mexico (really not that brief)
7. Tear this Heart Out (not as bad as it sounds)
8. The Labyrinth of Solitude (way more convoluted than it sounds)
9. The Death of Artemio Cruz
10. about 10 short stories
11. about 10 essays

What is in my two suitcases:
-new printer, thanks to mom
-all nine books and short stories and essays listed above
-sunblock (lots)
-raingear (plenty)
-a few clothes