July 9 08 GV Dolores Hidalgo

Awakened by the kama kazi stealth mosquito prior to the 5.40 Church bell alarm. I think the Church Bells is the only prompt and predictable thing in Mexico.

Carl, Sue and I had our first experience at the Gold's Gym...prior to buying our 2 week pass we perused the Photos at the front of Gold"s of LA which has photos and autographs of all the famous members, and decided that I will look like Michelle Feiffer and Carl will look like Mel Gibson after the two weeks, it was guaranteed when we paid.

Had a good breakfast at Plaza one of our two (and basically only) eating emporia in DH --the waiters try not to groan when they see the mob of 16 descending upon them.

After breakfast we went to UTN for our 3 classes in a row. It was gratifying to start to see some familiar faces and to feel a sense of knowing them a bit from the last time we met, and I personally hope that we have the opportunity to work in small groups with the same students again when we go back to the same classes next week, since it helps to feel a connection with them. Although it was good to move from Ice Breakers (since you can only talk about your home town ,family and favorite Mexican foods so many times) to more structured tasks, the level differences seem to be challenging for some of us, since it seems like sometimes the materials we are asked to use are difficult for some of the students. One of the "interesting " lessons included a set of questions such as WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR COLLEAGUE SMELLS? and WHAT IF YOU ARE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND YOU ARE EATING WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS AND AFTER OFFERING TO PAY YOU REALIZE YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR WALLET? OR: WHAT WILL YOU WEAR ON A SPECIAL DATE . I knew there was a problem with comprehension when one of the boys in my group said he would wear a dress on the big date.

In discussion with others it seems the experiences are varied in terms of level of understanding of the students and positive outcomes in terms of impact of the small group conversation sessions.

Our team and a few others decided to forgo the cafeteria lunch and go back into town to eat, and ended up back at ..you guessed it , the Plaza. On our way back the Plaza Central was filled with soldiers and army trucks. Some of our members were sure we were about to observe an insurrection or at least a demonstration. When I asked "que paso" to a bystander, the answer was "Nada" so undeterred , I asked a soldier, who told us that the army school students were on a trip around Guanajuato to sight- see and learn about the military history.

Some of us went off to see the Tomb of Jose Jimenez, the famous Ranchero singer and composer whose tomb is a huge sombrero and rainbow colored serape with names of his songs engraved along it, also some pretty interesting mausoleums and grave sites in other parts of the cemetery. Others had their own adventures--Juani at the Church, observing the charms and prayers pinned on the saints, Jesse with the tourism booth woman in the center square; Ofra buying aluminum foil for wrapping sandwiches; Amelia and Ron doing some local shopping.

The day ended with a special dinner guest, Carl's wife Mitzi joining us at the other (not-Plaza) restaurant , Diana providing the session on tourist destinations worth seeing in DH (a very challenging task given the huge range of possibilities that she had to choose from) and a rousing sandwich making session of Turkey, PBJ and Tuna sandwiches on Bimbo bread for Team 1's trip to Victoria tomorrow, an adventure that we are all looking forward to.