Independence Day

Last night we were awakened by driving rain and fierce storms. I have a new suitemate from California. At 3:15 a.m. I heard her call my name outside my door. Her door had blown open even though we are indoors. We were a little frightened.

It storms fiercely here many nights in the rainy season. There was terrible flooding in Mexico City this morning. But there was a reward for us in Cuernavaca. As I turned the corner from the hill and enetered the street of my school, there beautifully majestic was Popocatepetl looking as if it were rising from the street next to school in the bright morning sunlight. It´s rare to see the mountain so clearly. What a gift!

Last night a group of students and a teacher went to dinner at Marco Polo, a favorite local restaurant. We ate pizza! There was a student from Quebec who is a financial manager, two women from California, one is a nurse and is here with her daughter, an architect from Tucson and me. It was a warm evening, but we sat outside on the balcony and chatted with each other in Spanish. (It´s still slow going for me, but I´m just blurting out what words I know so far.)

I am aware that yesterday was Independence Day in the United States. I knew John was driving a vintage WWII military vehicle in the annual Chatham Fourth of July parade. He told me he was going to a picnic afterward. For the language students here, it was another day of studying. I did my homework and then joined some women in the afternoon to learn how to cook a special kind of rolled taco and fresh vegetable soup. Yesterday, I decided to wear very subtly red earrings, a white blouse and a blue scarf just to remember Independence Day in the United States. I am very unhappy with the current administration and have been since the confusing vote counting for the 2000 election. But I am an estadounidense and I am grateful for the abundance we have in the United States. I love my country.

The Mexican´s celebrate their independence from the Spanish on September 10. There is a real striving in the Mexican people to make strong families and to live right. Evelia works hard to create excellent, typical and healthy Mexican food for us and for her family. She is proud of the fresh fruit she can serve us from the trees in her garden and the vegetables from the local growers from the market.