Ahhhh......good ole....wait what? OK Obama's in ...whew!

Hola amigos,

First off let me just say the "sun is shining and the weather is sweet" here in Austin, this place is hard to beat when it's not hotter than hot. We have made it back to TX and it's so good to see family and friends. We spent the last two months down south in vacation mode after our job ended. I'm so glad we did, but it made it really hard to leave. In reflection all I can say is that it was an amazing experience in an intense place during a transitional period both for us and Puerto Escondido. That crazy little beach town really sunk its claws into us and we'll have to return for a long visit at least. Karlie left for Chiapas-Guatemala-Mex City on Oct.6th. I've been where Karlie was and it is one of the best journeys one can take into the Mayan heartland.
I left Pto. on Oct. 26th for the solo drive home, the first day was ten hrs. to Veracruz and eight to Tampico the next day. No biggie, not much rain, some bad roads here and there, too many speed bumps, a given. I promise that after I left Oaxaca I didn't really see any pretty girls, maybe a couple in the cities. My three day drive soon turned into five and was no fun, just another learning situation and chance to practice Spanish. I got stuck in Tampico for an extra day and then south of Matamoros for another day, where you don't want to be, I promise. Mexico teaches patience but when I was so close to the border I was getting frustrated. I had some brake issues that weren't solved until I got back to Austin. I had to limp the last four hrs. to Corpus and then the last four hrs. to Austin on Halloween to catch some much needed good music. Luckily, I was able to vote in Corpus on Friday.
Right now we need to have a little pow-wow and figure out what to do and where to live in the near future. We were thinking about SF, but we'll see if we are happy here in the US. Usually, it's hard for people to live in the states again after such a different life in a beautiful, tropical fishing/surf village. The only catch of course is money, there's still not much work in Oaxaca. Yoga of course is in demand. For now, we'll be in Austin working and catching up on things til Jan. or so. Karlie and I will travel to NOLA-Houston for Thanksgiving and be in TX for Christmas with our families. A year flies by, lemme tell ya. Austin is now just more expensive and there's a lot more people living downtown and in the '04. "As we go 'round and 'round, life is just a moment in time."

If you noticed the artists that I ripped off in my aging hipster way, then you are cool. Viva Mexico!

Hugs, Mike

I forgot how tiring traveling can be...especially for my FEET! by K_

Oh Mexico, she´s charmed me once again. I have fallen in love with the lush diversity of Chiapas. I can literally feel the pulse of the Maya here. The jungle, Palenque, so surreal and full of energy. I slept in a cabaña literally in the middle of the jungle. And though I felt more at home in the warmth of the jungle than in the chill of the mountains-the humidity in this rainy season was unbelievable. It became the reaason why I returned to the city of San Cristobal de las Casas. I´ve been here in S.C. for 5 days and I love it!!! It´s vibrant, colorful and full of culture, friendly people(who don´t immediately speak English to you just like in Oaxaca), and it´s just the right size. I like this city even more than Oaxaca city and maybe even more than Guanajauto. My Mexican friend Jorge was right in saying that it´s "one of the best cities in all of Mexico."
The past 2 days the weather has been ideal but when I first arrived it was a big change from the heat of the coast(I had to buy some leg warmers!) and the altitude has certainlyh been a little challenging for me to deal with. Even though I already miss Puerto, it´s a real treat to be here in this very Colonial city. Although juxtaposed by Mayans surrounding the city-and peddling their wares inside the city-it feels strange to know that the mark of colonialism that I am emjoying so much is also what´s helped snuff out the indigenous. But all the same it´s notably interesting to see how tightly they´ve held down their roots. I visited a nearby village (san juan chamula) where just 20 min. away from the city ancient ways are a day to day part of life. Traditional dress, traditional music, entire days spent perfomring rituals, all very impressive.
And here in this modern city I FINALLY got to here some live music of another sort. Just as I was beginning to convince myself that cover bands aren´t so bad after all, unless it´s Bob Marley of course, I got to see 2 jazz bands that were so much fun. A jazz quartet of the traditional swing influence and a larger group with a drum kit with a latin influence. All the musicians were young Mexicans full of energy and light and I enjoyed it all with 15peso XXAMber draft.
All of that said, you can take the girl out of the beach but you can´t take the beach out of the girl. I miss fresh coconuts and pineapples, laying in the hammock with the sun burning down and of course the crash of the waves. But for now it´s onward to the volcanoes of Guatemala and much more culture than I ever got on the beach. My first visit to that country and my 3rd country to visit in Central America. I´ll be in touch. I hope the election flurry is treating you well.

No hay luz

Well, gang, we are still here and still loving it. This entry is by Mike which is rare these days. We are just coming out of our mini summer busy season at the school and the tourists from Mexico City are starting to return to their middle class urban lives. Things have pretty much been the same with me. The weekly jam has slowed but still going, work has been more than expected, not surfing enough, staying off liquor because of Mescal, playing drums here and there outside of the jam with various people, keeping thin and not really eating meat besides seafood, and watching sunsets at our beach bar "Bar Aqui." My friend Jason has returned to Oaxaca for a month of travel. He was here in May and just had to return for a slowing of his daily pace. He brought a couple of friends from Austin with him this time, one being a girl we worked with at Guero's. The couple left after 10 days, they were cool and didn't mind us sucking up their cable tv and a/c. Looks like I will be in Austin for Halloween so get excited y'all. Karlie has travel and study plans in Chiapas, Guatemala, and Mexico City for Oct. and part of Nov.
The big news in Puerto lately is that the Oaxacan Governor, Ruiz, has decided to pump money into this pueblo of 60,000 making it more like Cancun or Acapulco. This isn't the first time that they have laid out big plans here and we'll just have to wait and see where all the $ ends up. They are going to totally renovate the 2 main tourist areas, the Adoquin and Zicatela. The first is the original mexican part and the latter is the last 20 years of sparwl into the main surfing area that now caters to international surfers and backpackers. Close to home, literally right in our driveway, they are widening the highway. As you may expect, if you have been following this blog, there are differences in the way things are done here. The rainy season is the wrong time to do it but they got the 4 million US$ to do it and its on. So they took the curb out, have no drainage plan nor plans for a retaining wall, and the school could have been washed away by all the water coming from the huge hill across the highway. We were out of power for a week (just us and the neighbors), no water for nearly a week. We had water to wash our hands and flush, but not enough pressure to shower. But Ah ha, we had friends here with a room that had hot water. We didn't have to use buckets of water from our cement tank reserve this time, the water was fixed again and it came in on Tues. like usual. Like many things, you just roll with it.
In other news.....we are finished working at the school at the end of the month. It has been a lot of work and really great but we feel the time for a change has come. It's a bit earlier than we thought a few months ago but the slow season is here and the extra time to relax, surf, and travel around the area some will be good. We are still going to be down here for the next 2 months. We scored a really nice place to stay on the other side of town for cheap. It's a total upgrade and walking distance to Playa Carrizalillo, our beginner (that's still us here at the mexican pipeline) surf break and sweet swimming beach. We'll be living where a lot of gringos/foreigners with $ live so it will be different. There are a few restaurants over there we like and the bike shop that I hang at as well. We'll no longer be able to walk to our favorite beach bar over here so an excuse to bike over will work. Well, hope everyone's enjoying all the election coverage. When we figure out where to live and what to do we'll let y'all know. Right now SF and Portland are the places we are considering on the west coast, maybe Seattle still. More later.....

In Preperation for An Unkown Journey

In about a week now I (Karlie, duh)am going to attend my first 10 day Vipassana Meditation here in Mexico in the mountains outside of Mexico City. The place is called Valle del Bravo. I've thought about attending a 10 day sit and when I found out that there's a center here I decided, why not? Well actually there are plenty of reasons why not but since the biggest is fear I can't let that stop me. So, what is vipassana? Vipassana is a tradition of meditation usually held in 10 day courses where those attending have committed to isolation during the 10 days as well as the entire course in noble silence (right, no talking at all) with no other forms of communication. Just you, your mind and silence. Who knows what kind of noise is going to spill out of my mind as I attempt to sit for up to 12 hours a day without moving a muscle, not to mention the physical discomfort that will be inevitable.
I am starting to focus now on goals and other things like this as well as slowly cutting out caffeine and soon cutting out alcohol (always the toughest part for me!). Although I know that once I'm sitting in the silence of the unknown whatever mental cleansing is supposed to happen will no longer be in my control.
One cool coincidence-if you believe in coincidence that is- is that since it's summer (the other "high season" here which lasts a few weeks)there's actually lots of yoga going on! I'm not even teaching right now so that I can take advantage and practice and hopefully open my body up some to be able to sit a little easier. I even decided to fly to Mexico city instead of take a bus to minimize the physical discomfort--thanks IRS rebate!
I'd like to say that I can share photos of the center and my trip but we don't have a cable for our camera so we all just have to wait. I'm super stoked about the trip though. Head for the mountains! You'll be in my thoughts....

I bet your English is really good.

Geez, the days are flying by here! This is a reflection on my ethnicity and how the time I've spent here has changed my self perception(Karlie):
Never in my life had I been made so aware of the color of my skin. I grew up in an affluent neighborhood and was socialized with majority "anglo-americans." For the past 8months, living deep in the south of Mexico, I have become fully aware that my skin is the color of the earth.
The variety of questions that are asked of me or comments that are made occur on a daily basis. The most common being "Oh, I thought you were Mexican." or "Parece que tu eres una Mexicana(It seems/looks like you're Mexican)." These comments are usually followed by questions like "If you're American, why does your skin look like that?"or "Oh well, your parents are from Mexico right?" I can't count the number of times I've told people that my family were all born in the U.S. The funniest part is that nowadays my Spanish has improved so much that it confuses people even more!
Students at the school stare at me with a perplexed look on their face and say "SO...are you from here or...where are you from?" Other gringos just assume, "So, you're originally from Puerto..." My favorite comment so far, which inspired me to write this, was from a Southern Californian student who after a bit of a failed attempt to speak to me in Spanish, switched to English with the commment "I bet your English is really good!"
In the beginning, the routine onslaught of such queries left me feeling annoyed, pestered and sometimes offended. Many months later however, I've becoming accustomed to the curiostiy as I realize that's all it is. So the next time someone says " I bet your English is really good." I'll say "And my Spanish is pretty good too."

Not too much to say

Unfortunately some stressful personal events have kept us from blogging lately. However, slowly, things are beginning to mellow out. No worries. Just to briefly share recent good news though....this month we had 4 visitors here in Puerto!!! Mike´s friends Jay, Jason and Alfredo came and half way through Alfredo left and was replaced (to our very pleasant surprise!!!) by Albert. The dudes rented a SWEEEET beach house so we had a blast and got to take full advantage of their luxuries i.e. hot water, A/C, cable TV, maid service, swimming pool...talk about livin it up! We threw a belated birthday party there for Karlie and had plenty of good times visiting with some much needed old skool energy. It was good times all around and we were just as sad to see them leave as they were to have to leave this Mexican beach town. Otherwise it´s same ol stuff. Mostly busy, summer around the corner, the rains have arrived here with recent pleasant breezes to keep things cool.Our boss,Brian will be arriving soon from the U.S. but that shouldn´t change things much. Just a brief post, who wants to come visit next?

Make a Run for the Border

*The photo is of our humble abode. Ye ole school house.**
Six months have quickly expired(we've lived here in Puerto for half a year now logging a total of 11 months in Mexico in less than 1.5yr.) and that meant that our visas and permiso for the 4Runner will have expired as well. This resulted in 20 hours of driving to the Mexico/Guatemala border in just 2 days!!
The days before leaving we were both pretty nervous about facing "La Migra" and had high hopes that we wouldn't get sent right back to the U.S.A. Friday a.m. at 7 we set off on the windy mountain passes between Oaxaca and Chiapas to the border town of "Tapachula". 10 hours each way complete with multiple military check points where we stopped and searched each time.
Driving in the middle of nowhere Mexico is always an adventure. Views include your typical:runaway animals, scary drunk pickup truck drivers, loads of men standing in the beds of trucks hair blowing/faces bright and almost always smiling, families piled onto motorbikes, vendors in small towns pushing whatever fruit is in season(currently:mangos,yum!)...breathtaking flora and vast, undeveloped oceanfronts. Part of the challenge of this type of drive is finding road food, especially when neither of those partaking prefer innards, sausage(hot dogs, the Mexican sausage),or chicken. On the way there we had to settle for a shrimp cocktail served out of the back of a pickup truck. The fare served Karlie well but left Mike sick by the end of the night, a rare malfunction of "the machine.". On the way back we were lucky enough to find a "modern" hotel that had breakfast: fruit salad and white toast for Karlie/Huevos Rancheros for Mike and cold, thick, flavorless coffee for all!
Upon reaching the hundreds of yards before the Guatemala border our truck was bombarded by Guatemalan men, standing on the truck, looking through the window, offering to take us across, shaking us down for pesos. It was a little uncomfortable but of course we were prepared in that we had no valuables whatsoever and only 1 change of clothes each inside the truck. On the Mexican side we encountered and spoke to several Immigration officers, telling our story, pleading to get the paperwork completed without having to enter Guatemala. The only hitch was that since we didn't get our exit stamps in June last time, we are technically already on an extension. Rules and laws are negotiable here so we didn't know what to expect. There are limits to how long you can stay as a tourist and with a vehicle, but at the border anything goes. It's like, well, you're ALL the way the hell down here.....Another "real life" Spanish test. All of the men were quite kind and in the end, the man in the passport office quietly decided to stamp us (ahh the pound of the stamp: one of the best sounds in all of Mexico that no one can argue) once again for yet another 180 days. He even refused cash as encouragement. We were so incredibly grateful for not having to walk into Guate.! After receiving the "magic stamp" we drove back to the first office to get a new permiso for the vehicle which was equally painless and all things considered could not have gone much smoother.
So that's our story, here we are legal again, continuing the Mexican adventure.

Here's a Bonus Photo: I taught my neighbor to hula hoop today.

This is America. She's 9 years old and lives right next door along with about a zillion other kids but she's the only one we have a relationship with because her mom cleans the school and America helps Michael with chores like washing the dogs and the trucks. She had never seen a hula hoop before and the first question she asked was "Por que no se caye?"(Why doesn't it fall down?)She learned in about 5seconds. Unfortunately it's very likely that someday in the not so distant future that property will be taken over by rich white folks.

Hooray! Un Retiro de Yoga(Yoga Retreat)

Well, I was fortunate enough to have yet another AMAZING teacher enter my life albeit a little late but better late than never huh? She lives in Zipolite which is less than an hour from here so it's WAYYYYY too bad I didn't study with her for the past 5 months! I just spent the past 5 days on retreat with each day beginning at 5am with 2 or so hours of vipassana meditation and then pranayam(in laymen's terms, sitting perfectly still and quieting the mind and then working with the breath)and after a break 3hours of hard core, very deep therapeuticly based asana(hatha yoga)! It was a swift kick to the butt and a much needed opportunity to play the role of student and not teacher. Plus I learned a tremendous amount of innovative new stuff and as always with retreats am cleansed and redirected. Unfortunately I won't have another opportunity to study with her again while I'm still living here as she's off to study/travel/teaching and won't be back until after our visa expires but at least now I know she's here. The beach in Zipolite is quieter and smaller than here even though, funny enough, it's the only beach in the entire country where nudity is accepted. The bonus to the whole thing was that everyone participating except for only 1 person spoke Spanish, Mexican or not and I had tremendous opportunities to practice and I think I can officially say now that yes I am more or less fluent in Spanish which is SO exciting! OM!I'm back once again in the real world but we're so very slow, only 2 students next week, that it doesn't feel so real but we're not complaining too much.

There is some strange research being done in the world.

So it's Sunday and it's the low season and I have nothing to do today but surf. I surfed this morning and before going back out this afternoon, I have been doing some virtual surfing. I checked out Julia's blog
http://www.julitasramblings.com
which lead me through her friend's live journal to find this: http://www.hackerfactor.com (click on gender guesser)
I can't figure out if I think it's interesting or just plain STUPID! It's this program where you can't enter text that you've authored and based on your word choices,etc. it will tell you if you are male or female or...get this...WEAK male or female which according to the gender guesser may indicate that you're European! ha! I entered several pieces of text that i've written and now I'm so confused as I could be a male, weak male, or a weak female. Note that not in any of the text that was analyzed was I considered as a female! In fact, according to the gender guesser I'm more likely to be a male and maybe, just maybe I'm a WEAK FEMALE! I'm sure Mike would not appreciate me writing this but I entered one of his blog entries and it said "weak male." Maybe he'll find the humor in it and flex his muscles.
By the way, somehow I'm just not computer savvy enough to get the links to appear properly. I don't get it. well, you can all cut and paste and who's reading this silly thing anyway, much less following the links?

The Best Cat EVER, in the whole entire freakin universe!!

On April 3 my best friend and the most amazing feline to have graced my life will be escorted out of our mortal world. He's not very old but he got very sick and I am so sad that I am so far away and cannot say good bye to his little black face. I hope that all of you who knew him will take a moment to send him some lovin energy and remember what memories he may have given you. This photos is pretty crappy and does him no justice but it's the only one I have right now and you can form your own memorial image.Om. Peace be with Severs. Now at least one of us really is "withoutcat."

Hola Everybody it's Dr. Nick by Miguel

Things have slowed down at the school lately but we are still as busy as any of the staff seems to want to be right now and the job is ever demanding. Semana Santa passed again and was pretty cool in Puerto. Last year we were in Melaque and it was pretty gross, but the crowd here was much younger and middle-class. There was a bunch of non-mexican music by mexicans all over town on the beaches and some good DJs kickin it late night. It had a spring break vibe but not in the cheesey let's get wasted and act like a bunch of idiots American style. We actually stayed up and danced until the a.m. one time which never happens.
Last weekend we went to Huatulco down the coast a bit to get away for a change of scenery. It has a bunch of beautiful bays that are scattered along the coast some with resorts, some with palapa restaurants. It is The "greenest" resort/town in Mex. and has a cute little plaza, clean wide streets,and tourists complete with $7 cans of Guinness. We went out in the kayak and saw whales UP CLOSE--it was so rad and saw turtles doin it (see previous post)! By now Karlie has seen the full life cycle of turtles since a couple of days ago she saw newborn baby turtles right out of their shells. Yep, pretty great.Semana Santa was just starting when we were in Huatulco but got reved up mid-week. Its weird though because the flora in Huatulco is different, its deciduous forest and brown right now,where here it's green and tropical.
I started a weekly jam at a beach bar that is run by a cool Italian guy. I inquired because it says "jam session" on the menu, and we sparked the music up again from his old bar. It's been going on for a couple of months and is one of the only things happening on Sunday nights on Zicatela. We have had a variety of musicians show up, some for a few weeks, and its been a lot of fun. I bring my kit and ashiko hand drum, usually there's a guitar of some sorts, or a violin, synth/drum/loop/etc toy, mic, ukulele, horns, percussion but no bass yet! It usually goes on for hours and I load up when people are still showing up to play or hang.
The swell here is picking up for the season. From now until Oct. there will be waves here, the mangoes are starting to fall off the trees and it is gradually becoming HOTTT. We are just keepin busy and looking for more and more shade.
A mechanic or two are trying to rip me off on repairs to the school truck, I'll let y'all know how it turns out. Seems like its a "classic" and I'm sure it will be an adventure/learning experience as everything here seems to be. Viva Mexico! wey, pero no mames. (if anyone out there understands that whack ass Mexican slang we will be ultra impressed)

Huevos de la tortuga (by Karlie)

Yesterday I was privileged to witness one of the most amazing things I've seen so far in this life time. I was walking along the beach just before sunset and ran into a friend. We decided to sit and chat and watch the sunset together and soon after we sat we realized that there was a big mama turtle about 2 meters away from us diligently laying her eggs in the sand. She was at least 2 feet in diameter and absolutely breathtaking. There were about 8 people sitting around her as she did her work. Then a lifeguard realized that she was there and he went to get a bucket and wait for her to finish so that he could collect her eggs and take them to the nest. Since sea turtle eggs are a delicacy for both humans and dogs the local lifeguards here who are also keepers of the local environment dig up the eggs and take them all to one spot where they can remain protected until they are released. My friend and I watched the 10foot waves crash as the pink sun descended and sky divers were released over head, Puerto Escondido at it's best. Soon the lifeguard lifted the turtle's bottom to see if she was finished with her work and then he moved her aside as he dug up each of her eggs and moved them for transport into his bucket. All the while that he was gathering her eggs she continued her work of burying them in the sand. Unaware that she wasn't above the nest anymore, her fins kept working and moving the sand behind her. I was able to look her in the eye at that point and that was the most amazing part: she was SO focused on protecting the eggs. I could actually feel it and see it in her face. Soon it started to get dark but I stuck around to watch her tail as she waddled back to the ocean and then with the help of the lifeguard she was swept up by the surf and disappeared under the waves.

Documentary Film Recommendation

There's a great little theater here that's run by a Canadian kid. He's been around for quite a few years and has changed locations in the past few years since his place has become more popular. It's called Cinemar and it's a book store,video rental, hangout, with a home made theater that seats 12 AND has A/C(now that's livin')! Occasionally we stop in to partake of the A/C and the screen that's larger than our 14" and with a much better picture. Recently we saw a French Canadian film called MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES.
We highly recommend it. It's about how industry has effected geography and it's a little dark, but there's a lot of found art in it and it's highly thought provoking. We're destructing the planet in ways you might be aware of but it's different from a photographic point of view.

Top Ten Hip Hop Songs White People Love (oh, and let's save the planet)

So my friend Julia's blog turned me on to one of the funniest things I've read lately...it's another blog. It's called Stuff White People Love. Pretty funny! http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
It's an ongoing list and my personal favorite is "Top Ten Hip Hop Songs White People Love". Another thing that white people love is Recycling(read that one too!). This is the perfect segue to our newest piece of news. Puerto Escondido is now recycling plastic. We're not talking Euro-US curb side fancy recycling of course but it's a start. So starting this week we're going to start collecting the plastic bottles that students toss and take them to the recycling center. Then we can all feel like we're saving the world and stuff and maybe people in this town will even begin to burn less plastic so we can all breathe easier.
Well it's almost March--beware the Ides!--and Feb. was equally as busy for us as Jan. but the winter rush is calming down and we're still busy but not so slammed. In other news: Our next door neighbor's property went up for sale last week for the hefty sum of 2million pesos(really just about 200K usd). It will be interesting to see if it sells quickly as they hope it will so that they can go from having literally nothing to the house they've always wanted. Pretty surreal.
Mike's music project has been going well and it's fun. Reggae,jazz,improv...lots of Manu Chao covers, some Mexican standards, very Mexican in a way but very fun! There's a weekly Sunday night gig at our "regular" beach bar that's been consistently crowded and people really seem to dig it! Mauro, our friend the Italian bar owner seems pretty stoked about it and there are some regular fans turning up. It also seems like they may have a Wed. night standing gig at a popular,hip spot called Casa Babylon. I wish we had some photos to share about all this but right now we have no camera although hopefully one will be shipped to us soon.

Not your ordinary birthday party

Last week we attended a birthday family gathering unlike any other we'd known before.( -And for those of you who are familiar with Rainbow Family Gatherings, the pun is intended. It was strikingly similar to a rainbow kitchen meal- )Our next door neighbors invited us to their grandmother's 85th birthday. It was a perfect opportunity to get a big dose of Mexican culture even though there's a small part of us that thinks they just keep trying to get us out to the sticks because they want to sell us some of their land. Whatever their intentions are however it was quite the experience. So on a Monday evening off we went out to the hills of rural Oaxaca to encounter where the elders of our neighbor's family live. The grandparents and great grandmother stay in a very small 1 room cabana and live traditionally. There is an outdoor earthen cooking area, a full size soccer field complete with sticks in the ground fashioned as goals, lots of empty space and no electricity or running water.
When we arrived the women, barefoot and with braided hair to their waists, still had masa on their hands from making tamales and we were offered fresh coconuts that were gathered for the occasion. These particular coconuts were young and perfect and brimming with coconut water as sweet as it gets. We sat and talked with the grandpa as the kids played a soccer match and the women washed dishes. Soon more family arrived as the sun began to set an kerosene lamps were lit around the picnic table. In this family when it's someone's birthday, a meal of tamales is prepared for the whole clan. The meal that was prepared was very traditional for Oaxaca: chicken mole tamales(probably one of their very own chickens from the coop) wrapped in banana leaves, atole(a sweet corn meal drink), and later pineapple "dulce tamales" for dessert. We ate in the dark around the picnic table while the birthday honoree who not only prepared the meal also served it. There was no gift exchange or songs to be sung only a family of people happy to share a freshly prepared meal.
As soon as we ate one of the eldest grandchildren who is also a teacher at our school came bearing a more modern tradition: a birthday cake! Everyone oohed and aaahed at the perfectly decorated cake and the grandmother spent several minutes debating with herself about where and how to cut into the masterpiece until eventually everyone started chanting "Muertelo! Muertelo!(Kill it!!)" By this point there were no more styrofoam plates to be had and there was little silverware to begin with so we all ate cake with our whipped creamy fingers.
Several hours had passed by the time we finished the cake so we said our goodbyes assuming that we would be giving rides home. And what started off as giving 1 neighbor boy a ride, quickly snowballed into loading the 4Runner up with as many people could possibly squeeze inside of it as is typical in these parts except no one was hanging out of the bed of a pickup truck.

Damn, it's beautiful here!

This is a link to some photos taken on one of the tours we offer in the area. We go to an iguana/turtle(land)/croc sanctuary run by "Galo" at sunrise/sunset where they breed and release the animals around Oaxaca and Chiapas. Then we go down to the beach and walk to a small lagoon where we see a bunch of birds and more crocs. The guide "Cleto" pushes us around with a pole as to keep quiet (and not pollute) to check out all the birds. Sometimes the 10+ ft. crocs will leap into the air a few feet and nab a bird, but thankfully we haven't witnessed that.


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=36891&l=4d8fe&id
=593345978 (Link won't fit across)

Also, check out the surfcam that Mike set up at the school:

http://www.puertoschool.com/surfcam.html

Other than that, we've been busy running the school and trying to put together other tours that we offer. Karlie's teaching yoga 3 times a week and Mike's looking for some musicians to jam with again. A bar owner the other day from Italy said he wants to have a weekly jam session there on the beach, we'll see if its a drum circle or plugged up band style. Mike might be the house drummer! The weather has been pretty much perfect, too bad no one can make it down here to visit, we're pretty much going to be here until November so y'all make some plans. Lovin' y'all.

Spendin' Pesos(by Karlie)

It's been a long time since I've frivolously spent money on fun clothes. Sure, I bought an $8pair or used Banana Republic pants to keep me warm in northern Cali. and my mom bought me a great new bathing suit that doesn't even budge when a 6 foot wave knocks me on my arse. But not even for Christie's lovely wedding did a buy a new dress. Although I must say I looked smashing n the one I dusted off from inside the storage unit! So it's for all these reasons along with the fact that I've made some extra money teaching yoga(since when there's no studio to cut into your profit even though you're hardly charging anything-it adds up quick!)that I decided to splurge on these FAB new board shorts!! What student loans? IRS who? I've got some great new shorts to surf and chill in! See the photo? They're the Mexican flag so they're like a fashion statement(trust me they are, this is the beach...not the city)and a souvenir all in one!

Puedes decir OCUPADO?(Can you say BUSY?)

Hey kids, check out the skydiver in this photo. So first off I know you want to hear about the latest trials and tribulations of our living in a very different country right? Our latest adventures include having to pay the customary policia bribe for a parking ticket and seriously, you can haggle everything in Mexico. It ended up being 50%less than it "should have" been. Today we opted not to take showers and go out to eat in lieu of washing dishes so that the "tinacos"(big water reservoirs on the roof)don't run dry before the water from the city comes in tomorrow--uh, we hope. When we say NOTHING is consistent in Mexico, I guess it even carries over to the inner workings of technology as we spent HOURS today trying to fix a paper jam in our ever important printer. It works for now, fingers crossed, thanks to Michael oh and did I mention that our 2nd car(piece of crap suburban that belongs to Brian)that already wasn't running now won't even accept a jump start and is totally dead? woohoo!
We knew that Jan. was the "high season" in Mexico but man is it EVER! We've been juggling students and teachers for days now, squeezing people into groups and even turning people away. We may even have 2 tours to do this weekend-one on Sat. and one on Sun. Fielding phone calls, emails, walk ups, having intermittent meetings with teachers and trying our best to hold it all together and keep everyone happy...that's what we've been up to as of late. That's about all the energy I have to contribute right now, we're hungry!

What is that asst. directors of an international language school do anyway?

Lots of people have asked by now "So, what is it that you're doing?" Yeah, what the heck are we doing to earn our little keep? This question inspired the following list.

**these are in no particular order**

Communicate with the director via e-mail and Skype (so cool)

Make sure apts. are clean and ready for people moving in

Meet w/accountant 1X every 2months and pay taxes at the bank (fun lines)

Complete all accounting documentation 1x/month

Set up and provide transportation for all tours(lagoon/iguana sanctuary, waterfall hike, for rock climbing Mike is the belay guy so he actually facilitates everything as well, unexcavated archaeological site, etc.)

Occasional e-mail correspondence with incoming students

Create spreadsheets for all student billing and collect/document all student payments

Document all surf board rentals and facilitate repairs

Setup students who choose to take surf lessons with their surf instructor

Mike is giving 2 hr land lessons on surf theory compiled by the director

Do payroll and scheduling weekly

Pay Homestay families weekly

Setup those students who are participating in a homestay with their families

Create student schedule weekly and then monitor it daily especially when new students appear mid week or make changes

Check email to maintain sufficient correspondence and get new student reservations(we call them "ressies")from our boss in Vail,CO

Water plants,trees and maintain greenery and drip line systems

Feed Dogs 2X Day and bathe once a week

Pick Up Dog Poop every morning and treat dogs little tumors, injuries from escaping and fighting, etc.

Shop for the school and do repairs for the school's chevy suburban beast

Deal with all the little problems that arise, handyman type stuff

Set up and maintain live surf cam

Lower and raise the school flag according to the wind

Propagate and plant fruit trees on the grounds as needed

Sweep the grounds or use the blower after windy days

Monitor and delegate chores for the neighbor kids

Keep all teaching materials organized and updated

Meet and greet new students, while making sure that all students and teachers know there schedules and balances



Details, details, details........ya know, work!

...Felicidades y Prospero Ano

Karlie writes: Our NYE, mellow and pretty uneventful though it kept us up until 4:00 which is SO unheard of for us these days but I guess NYE is the day, if any. We ate a lovely Italian dinner with a couple from Seattle who had been staying in one of Brian's apt. for the month of Dec. and then walked to a restaurant on Playa Zicatela where we waited a good 15 minutes for 1 round of drinks so that when 12:00 rolled around we toasted with imaginary drinks in hand. My favorite part of the conversation that night was when Suzanne(see Seattle couple)said that I saved the entire state of TX by my sparkling personality! I think this is really funny because Suzanne is originally from Germany and had had only 1 extended encounter with a Texan which ended in being pulled over by the cops. She said that since she had not been acquainted with any other Texans she was left to judge an entire state by the unruly crazy guy who got pulled over and none other than everybody's fave ol' Dubya so at least now she doesn't think that the rest of you are equally idiotic. After drinks at 12:15 Leo and Suzanna were ready to go home and we had an invite to go to a party where all the cool kids would be only obviously we're really not all that cool because we couldn't find the party. So we opted NOT to go to a "rave" that the local Italians threw at the local all night club and instead encountered a DJ playing some decent music at an overpriced bar and took our own cheap beers onto the beach outside of the bar where we could enjoy the music for free. Then all of a sudden it was 3:30 and that was that. We're still working a lot sometimes and I've been teaching quite a few private yoga classes and my group classes which most of you already heard about(www.temazcalli.com)start in a week. Things look to be very busy this month. We already have 20 students committed to study, not including who ever else will pop up at any given time. And besides learning about our job we've been learning to deal with all of the details of TRULY living in Mexico(like negotiating loans with neighbors, battling insects and rodents,inconsistencies, and battling a constant influx of dust). We kind of have to start getting used to critters and pests. Today Mike took a student to a nearby archaeological site and came back with a tick-yuck! He said "It's like the wild west around here!" Gotta love it.