A Productive Week

Well, I'm about to head back to Denver on Monday. Today was sort of my last day to get things organized before leaving the family to enjoy things on their own, while I go back to work.

Here's what happened the last couple of days:

• The appliance man came today at noon (he said he'd come around nine--some things remain the same across the globe) and hooked up the dryer. So now we have all appliances in good working order (and finally some clean clothes!)
• After driving all around town, I found a place for the boys to take private music lessons--four blocks from our house. Nathan starts guitar and a music history class on Tuesday. Theo also starts piano on Tuesday with a teacher who is a native of Russia.
• Theo has started soccer at an official Chivas training school (the Chivas is the professional team from Guadalajara). The drills are tough, and he will be working his little fanny off every Wednesday and Friday. If he makes the traveling team, he'll be going to Guadalajara sometime this year with the team.
  
• Nathan has found a place to take swimming lessons. He settled for this because he really wants to surf, and his parents insisted that he cannot take surfing lessons until he is a stronger swimmer. So he'll be tested on Monday to see what level he should be in; if he's good enough, he'll train with the "pre-team." The pool is at a swishy, country-club sort of place...very close to where we live.
• After looking at about five places and taking a complimentary class at one, we found a gym for Laura that is not very far, but too far to walk. Aerobics, yoga, cardio machines, and weights, if she wants. I'm hoping she can get there 3 times a week.

And tonight was the real score: we found a taco stand at the corner of Juaréz and Gastelum (easy walking distance) that sells absolutely amazing roasted meat tacos for 50 cents a piece, as well as the most amazing chiles rellenos I have ever eaten. They are served piping hot between two warm corn tortillas, and you eat them with your fingers with a bit of lettuce and guacamole. We stuffed ourselves for $5.00. Then we splurged and bought "paletas Michoacanas," an excellent popsicle or ice-cream bar sort of thing, which come in one zillion flavors. Strawberry was the hands-down favorite (four for $4.40).

We also ran into two families from the school that the kids know: one at the pool, and one along the street as we walked home. This is a town of 400,000 people, but it's also pretty darned small. Laura has now vowed not to go much of anywhere in town without looking half-way decent, in fear that she'll run into the very wealthy parents of her students. (Compare this experience with the parents of the students she teaches in Denver, who are mostly illiterate and have only a couple of changes of clothes themselves.)

Anyway, it was a productive week. I even managed to get some of my own work done!