Marco at the Lavandaria

Marco is a neighbor of Evelia´s who runs a laundry service just down the street from the school. He is a good friend of Evelia´s daughter, Veronica. He and his wife run an open air laundromat in a little store on the street. All the students take their weekly laundry to Marco and he gets it done in a few hours. I took my laundry to him last Saturday and he has waved at me and greeted me every day ever since. This is the kind of neighbor I´m experiencing in Mexico.

I have about 90 minutes of homework every evening. Last night as my reward after finishing my homework, I turned on the soccer game between USA (Estados Unidos) and Argentina. I really enjoyed watching it and hearing the Spanish commentators. GOOOOL!!! When anyone scores that´s what they scream. Unfortunately, USA lost to Argentina 3-1. Evelia does´t watch soccer, but lots of Mexican do.

I have my first exam on Monday. Andrea and I finished the first lesson book today. Some of the students went to the major outdoor market in Cuernavaca. I am getting ready to go to the silver capital of Mexico on Saturday, so am staying home this afternoon.

Going to Church in Cuernavaca and a Trip to Mexico City

The Church of the Sacred Heart in Cuernavaca is a 15 minute walk from my Mexican family´s home. Evelia goes to that church. I attended the 7:30 service on Sunday and to my surprise the priest looked very much like my friend Edgar Hallock at Grace! I thought of Edgar on Sunday as the priest celebrated Mass.

Women are not ordained in the Roman Catholic church, but a lay woman, Maria helped the padre up the steps to the altar, led the chanting and served the consecrated bread to the congregation. Maria also prepared all the majestic and beautiful varieties of flowers in many large vases all around the altar and the church. There is a room at the back of the nave just for flower preparation. I thought of Barbara and Mary and the altar guild as I prayed for Grace Church on Sunday, the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist.

Sunday I took an excursion offered by the school to Mexico City with other students to visit two art museums. One was the former hacienda of Dolores Olmedo. Her collection of ancient Mexican indigenous works, ancient works from Asia and paintings by Diego Rivera was enormous and impressive. For our brown bag lunch we ate in a flat bottomed boat with a picnic table on it and sailed on the canals of Xochimilco. Mariachis, flower vendors, food vendors and camera vendors had their own boats and sailed alongside the many other boats selling their wares or services - lots of music, laughing and dancing! The islands and canals were created by the Aztecs.

After the boat ride we drove to Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera´s home, casa azul, in the art district of Mexico City. There was a large open air market near casa azul where many artists sell their beautiful handiwork. Sunday was sunny and warm. Some people were playing music and dancing all over the open air market. The artitsts were selling their beautiful work. There was a church across the street where a band was playing outside. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with new Spanish words and so many interesting places to see after one week in Mexico. But I have loved every bit of my time in Mexico so far.

I expect my camera to arrive on Thursday, so I hope to start posting pictures. Hope I can figure out how to post the photos on the blog!

I have just completed my first week of immersion in español in Cuernavaca. There are three Swiss students, one Austrian student and three of us from the United States. On the first day we studied español and then rode the bus to El Centro. There we saw for the first time Cortes´Palace, the Cathedral and the government buildings. Cuernavaca is the capital of the state of Morelos.

I am living with Evelia Urbano and her two adult daughters. My room overlooks her garden where there are papya, mango and lemon trees. She serves me fruta from her jardin every day. There are beautiful yellow-breasted canaries that live in her trees. They are as plentiful and our robin red-breasts in Plainfield. Their singing is exquisite and they coo to each other every night. Evelia speaks very slowly and helps me speak proper Spanish at mealtime. She has already become a good friend.

Yesterday we went to the Museo Muro and saw many paintings by Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera. The museum has a wonderful collection of Mexican painters from early 20th Century and current artists. Tomorrow, we´ll take an excursion to Mexico City and visit Frida Khalo´s home and museum. Everything is in español. That´s the idea! And I´m learning many Spanish words and phrases. The speaking is going very slowly, however.

I left home without my camera so there are no photos yet. John is shipping my camera to me. What a guy! I hope to be able to share photos soon.

New photo of John and me in St. Tropez

I found a photo of John and me in St. Tropez, France. We went to a wonderful Roman Catholic service in French for Pentecost Sunday. John even sang the responses and they were in French! What a way to spend the birthday of the Church and celebrate the many languages of all God's people around the globe!

Returning from the Mediterranean

John and I returned from our Mediterranean cruise over a week ago. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed being with my brother, sister-in-law and our nephew. Now, I'm planning to travel to Cuernavaca, Mexico. I have spent each morning reviewing Spanish on my newly purchased Rosetta Stone download. This has been a wonderful addition to the year of tutoring we just completed with Profesor Chica at the rectory twice a week!

I have all my vaccinations and have even done a "trial run" with my packing. I plan to take all carry on luggage even for the two months I'll stay in Cuernavaca. I'm taking Grace Church T-shirts to give to my host family and Grace Church stationery to give to Senora Urbano in whose home I will live for a month.

I will miss walking Misha. She is my "prayer puppy." She prays with me every morning. I'll miss John, too. But I don't have a good photo of him with my new camera yet. Maybe he'll come and visit me in Mexico in August. Then, I'll post his photo!

Blessings to you all. I'll be flying to Mexico Sunday and I can't wait!