I'm a slacker

Well, I promised to update more often, but I haven't. I'm sorry.

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend. Read my book, which I am getting close to being done with. Watched some football. The Chiefs won, Broncos lost, Cowboys won (the only reason I mention it is because Ryan is a huge Cowboy fan and forced me to watch the game). All in all it was a pretty good weekend, lots of relaxation, no car crashes, no one that is close to me died - I call that a pretty good weekend.

There is one more day left in October. There are 30 days in November. And I am in Mexico until December 8th. That makes 39 days left in good ole (not New) Mexico. I hope you all can survive without me - I know I couldn't. Think about it - I didn't.

Sorry this has been such a lame post, but I don't know what else to write. You all are free to send me ideas as to what I should write about, I wouldn't mind.

Later.

Here's what went down yesterday.
Ryan got off work at about 7. Marcela called him and asked him to go pick up a huge painting and take it back to our house. So Ryan followed her to the house and put it in his truck and was following her home. Yesterday afternoon it started raining, which in turn made the already bad roads terrible.
A lady driving in front of Marcela suddenly decided to brake for no apparent reason, which caused Marcela to slam on her brake which, you guessed it, made Ryan hit his brakes. Ryan's truck decided that it wasn't good enough to stop and slid along the road until something made it stop. Yay Physics! Boo for it being Marcela's car!
Now, here's where the problem comes into play. They both pulled over and assessed the damage. The policy in Mexico is to call the Police about your accident, as well as "Transito" or insurance assessors. Ryan could not find his insurance information in his truck, so he called our house. I had to find his insurance information in his room, and try to find the 800 number to call, but I couldn't find the exact packet of papers, and therefore couldn't get the right number.
No matter, though. Marcela's insurance guy put Ryan in touch with his insurance. All is good.
Then another phone call comes for me and Ryan asks me to grab all of the packets of paper about his car from his room, get in a cab, and come over to where the crash was. So I dig through his room another time, grab another packet, and start jogging down the street looking for a cab. On my way down the street, a couple of guys pull over and are like "Where ya goin?" I tell them I'm heading to San Pedro and they offer to give me a ride down the street to another intersection to save me some cab money. It was sweet.
Well, I finally got in a cab and had a nice long chat with him while we drove almost cross town. The cab was about $60 pesos which isn't alot compared to the States, but it's 4 times the amount I pay when I go to school. I got there fine and everything, but the insurance guy that was there was from the wrong company. By then it had been at least an hour and a half since the accident, and we had to wait another 20 minutes for the Transito to arrive and then a long time for them to assess the whole situation.
Overall it was a very exciting night...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...Learn to Face the Strange

A few changes have been taking place here in Mexico lately. Most noticibly is the extreme change in temperature. One day it was about 90 F and the next it was about 60 F. All overnight. Now, to us Kansans, 60 degrees doesn't seem that bad - maybe time to put on a jacket and some jeans. Not these silly Mexicans. They are throwing on their winter jackets - and I'm not exaggerating. It was not uncommon to see people at the Tec walking around with a winter hat on, a scarf, a HUGE winter coat, and gloves occasionaly. Meanwhile, I'm strolling through in a T-shirt and shorts....
I haven't done a whole lot lately, other than read my book. I have to finish it by the end of next week and then write a 12-15 page paper on it, in Spanish. Should be more than exciting.
I watched the Monday Night Football game at Bennigan's with Ryan and a few of his friends. As you may have guessed, Ryan wasn't very happy with his Cabelleros.

ttocS

EXPOTEC

While in Kansas last week, I was told by many of you (my fans, I guess you could say) that you check my ramblings nearly every other day. I would like to say that I am sorry for disappointing you. I know that I haven't been writing much, and I'm going to try to work on it.

I miss the cold. When I stepped off of the plane in Wichita it was 43 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 6 degrees Celsius. When I stepped off of the plane in Monterrey, it was about 97 F, or close to 36 C. A 50 degree difference, for those of you that can’t or don’t want to do basic math. I was not excited to come back to the heat.

Last Wednesday night, we – Ryan, Gabby, Ben, and I – went to the EXPOTEC. EXPOTEC is an event put on by the school that showcases all of the states of Mexico. There are 31 states and 1 federal district, in case you were wondering. Anyway, the students of the Tec that are from the different states cook traditional foods from their area. It was excellent. I think I’ve found my new favorite kind of cheese: it’s from Oaxaca. It’s excellent, and none of you have any idea! I hope that I can get it in the states, because it makes some excellent Quesadillas.

At the EXPOTEC there was a band playing called La Gusana Ciega, or The Blind Worm. I surprised myself and everyone else by singing along, but not knowing why I knew the songs. Yesterday I was looking through my music and found that group and listened to their CD and finally made the connection. Jared had given me their CD before I left and I had listened to it a few times.

Well, that’s about all I got. I hope everyone had a good week.

Everybody's working for the weekend...

Is anyone else waiting in DFW for their flight crew to arrive? I didn't think so. I've been sitting here for about 3 hours. The crew is supposed to arrive in DFW, terminal B, at 12:05. I'm sitting in Terminal D. I expect we depart at about 1 o'clock, even though the schedule says we'll be leaving at 12:25. We'll see.
I almost missed my flight in Wichita. It turns out that everyone decided to arrive at the same time, for the same flight to Dallas. I got checked in and through security and boarded on the plane in about 15 minutes. It was exciting.
It was a fun weekend. The Emporia/KSU(Rafi) crowd is good. The wedding was a success. The reception was a fun time. Family fest was exciting.
I got some kitchen utinsils for my birthday: A cookie sheet, garlic press, measuring spoons/cups, and some other things.
Overall the weekend was a fun time. I hope everyone had as good of a time as I did.

Over and out.

Hooray Mexico

Today at lunch Senora asked me if I was sad because Jaime was gone. I pretty much told her flat out, not really. She laughed. It was a good time.
Ryan and I are going to a function on Wednesday for a group that he belongs to. It's a group of people that weren't born in Monterrey or in Mexico. He said there are people from all over the world: Pakistan, US, England, South Africa, the Phillipines, etc. It should prove to be a good time. Ryan and Marcela will be there, so there will be people that I know. Not much else is going on, other than watching some Monday Night Football. I hope everyone has a good week, because I know I will.

Take er easy.

It's now the best month of the year

Well, classes are still going well. Mexico is good.
We had a barbeque yesterday. Ryan and I went to the store and got Portabella Mushrooms, Bell Peppers, Onion, Tomatoes, and Serrano Peppers. We soaked the Portabellas and the Bell Peppers in a mixture of Balsamic Vinager and Olive Oil.
Ryan's friend, who happens to be named Ryan also, and his wife Marcela came over.
They brought the meat. It was imported American beef that had been marinated in the bag. They also brought a few ribs of Borrego, or lamb.
I was the official cook. I grilled up the Portabellas, then the Peppers. Then the Serranos and the tomatoes. We mixed the Serranos, the Tomatoes, and a diced onion together, to make some dang good salsa. While the salsa was being kept warm on the grill, I continued to grill some of the other things. We made Quesadillas too. Next was the meat. It was excellent.
I spent probably at least 2 hours in front of the grill yesterday. It was nice to be able to cook again.

So, Jaime left today. He decided that he wanted to move closer to the Tec, so he's moving in with his friends. I've got a nice big room all to myself now. That's about all I've got.

Oh yeah, The Chiefs won today, in case you didn't see the game. It was 41-0.
Have a good week.