Dress up time for the patriotic spirit. Those are the nietos (grandchildren) of our house mom. Isaac - 5, Elisa - 6mo

Zocolo lit up the night before Noche Mexicana

The national cathedral

Preparations for Noche Mexicana

Independence Day!!! Well it was nearly a week ago now, but it is just now that we've gotten to share. Above are pictures I (Kevin) took from the Zocolo the night before Noche Mexicana. Some pictures in the day were taken before that even as they were setting up for Noche Mexicana. Independence Day is a very big deal for Mexicans, more so than the 4th. Each delegation gives what is called a grito, which they yell out things like Viva Mexico and the crowd chants Viva in response.

Zocolo is the center of the city and a great historical district with the government place and a large cathedral. It is beautiful. This year we were advised to steer clear of Zocolo for the celebration because of the political tensions. Traditionally the president gives the grito at Zocolo, but due to a very tight election, parties are deadlocked in competition. So to resolve the matter they had multiple gritos at the Zocolo. We went the night before to check out all the lights.

As for the actual night we joined our family at their church for a fiesta and then went to a delegation named Coyoacan, an artist and historic delegation, for the grito there. This was much less potent for political drama. It was fun, and then we listened to a concert until about 1:00 am.

Noche Mexicana was fun!

Imprisoned!

This was me Friday morning.

The door to mine and Kevin´s room closes with a lever, one on the inside and one on the outside. When the one on the inside is closed no one can enter from the outside and vice versa for the outside. Well Friday morning Kevin had class at regular time, but I didn´t have to be there until 11, so I decided to sleep in. When Kevin left in the morning around 7:30 he didn´t think twice about closing the lever on the outside. I didn´t think about it either, until I tried to leave at about 10:15. When I realized what had happened I started to go into panic mode. How in the world was I going to get out? I tried yelling for Hermana Nareda (our house mama), but she couldn´t hear me since our room is on the roof. I then tried to see if I could wiggle through the bathroom window.

As you can see in the picture, my head barely fits through! Imagine if I got stuck there and no one could hear my cries for help! AAAhhhh! Finally I realized there was a small hole in the door which I could fit one finger through. I leaned against the door while I used my finger to move the lever over and found myself free at last! I barely made it to school on time, but there´s nothing like a little panic to get your heart pumping in the morning!

Midterms, Rain, and a Great Church

In nearly half an hour Leah and I will be leaving for a weekly prayer meeting at the church. I don´t understand too much of it, naturally, though I expect to catch more this week than last week and hope the trend continues. We really like our small little church. The people are very friendly and have good zest for life. I have been able to begin cultivating some friendships with a couple of the guys, mostly discussing music and how politics works in the respective countries, and whatever else I can muster in not even pidgeon Spanish, but relationships are growing. I look forward to seeing some friends tonight.

Midterms begin for my class tomorrow. We have to give an oral presentation for 5 minutes then answer other students´questions for 5 minutes. On Monday we then take our written exam, so likely I will be studying furiously this weekend.

The week has seen great improvement in my Spanish. I learned how to use verbs in a couple of different forms and despite my vocabulary deficiency I was able to communicate with the family and can continue to do so.

Rain...well I just like to say for those of you in Portland...I know your pain (or in my case joy) because it rains quite a bit here still. We lose the rain in October and then comes the smog from what we here. Also the cold.

That´s about it.

Hair Styles

There are two types of hair styles for young men around my age that I´ve noticed and want to share (Kevin). I don´t have pictures, so you´ll just have to imagine.

Mullet-Hawk
First start with a shorter mullet, not super long in the back, but not buzzed on the top either. Just about an inch or two all around the top and back with shaved sides. Now bring those lines up a little higher so they could almost be considered a mohawk, but not quite, then gel the hair towards the middle from top to back, and there is the Mullet-Hawk...without gel it looks like a mullet.

The Receeder
Many men do not like to get the receeding hairline, however I have noticed now on multiple punk rockers the receeding hairline cut. This is for sure a cut as the prickles of the newly shaved head still stand. Take three fingers or so and put them at the existing hairline. Then mark the spot and start shaving from the front back. Leave the rest of the hair at whatever length it is and you have just got yourself the fashionable receeder.