What time is it where you live? We still haven’t had our DST change; no springing forward for us. I was told that it would be this Saturday night, but when I woke up this morning, nobody else seemed to think that was the case. They haven’t mentioned it on the tv or in the newspapers either, so I’m assuming nothing chronological took place. That being said, we’re an hour behind Minneapolis and 2 behind Boston… does that mean we’re only one in front of Vancouver?
This week has been whirlwind-ish in the same way that all of the weeks have been. School was school-y, but nothing happened that deserves a rant here. Nothing I can recall, anyhow, which means that my blood wasn’t boiling too much. Pako and I did some shopping at the market and he took a picture of me picking out tomatoes because for some reason, he found it amusing. You can tell from the expression on my face how I felt about the whole situation. 
Petra returned from Acapulco on Wednesday after about a 2.5 week stay. We’re happy to have her home as she laughs more than anyone and keeps the atmosphere light. That Tekila just cracks her up!
Saturday was a big day both here and in Minnesota! It was my Mama’s 60th bday and so she and my dad celebrated in style in downtown Minneapolis! I can tell you that I was jealous of my plans and my lovely mother advised me to wait until I was 60… ha! 
Here’s the last family picture we took (their last night in Zihua, Feb 27th, 2010) and I’ll eat my hat and yours too if you think she looks a day over 45!
Saturday also had me teaching a class at the Technical College here in Zihua. The class went well despite the fact that there were no lights in our regular classrooms and then no electricity in the outlets in the classrooms to which we moved. My class is a really good group of kids (and by kids I mean they’re 19-22…) and they want to learn. Even though their language level is pretty low in English, we joke around and play lots of games and we have a good time. This week I put on a wacky fashion show for them where I mixed and matched such interesting outfits as: Pako’s XL athletic shorts, a tube top and super high heals, topped off with a baseball cap that has a fish running through it. Not surprisingly, I did not document this extreme demonstration of fashion sense and thus will not be submitting a picture to this week’s blog. The “kids” had a good time laughing at their goofy teacher and practiced a lot of colors and clothing vocabulary, which in the end, was the whole point of the spectacle. The most nerve-wracking part of the class was that it was my turn to cook lunch for the other English teachers! It wouldn’t have been that bad except that my colleagues are mothers and veteran cooks. They’re also Mexican and thus used to a different style of food. I made a slightly modified version of my mother’s chicken salad and they ATE IT UP. Literally. They loved it and asked for the recipe. PHEW!
After my class, we headed to Lorena’s house just to say hi for a minute. It turns out that her dog, Mimi, had 10 puppies the night before! They were SO cute (as evidenced by the included pic)!!! 
They were just teensy and all different colors and hadn’t yet opened their eyes or began to walk. Mimi was a gracious mother and let us hold them and pet them, but she barked up a storm when Tekila tried to get within 10 meters of the pups. It’s going to be hard not to take one home with us, but as Mimi is not a small dog (and I’m guessing the street-dog-daddy isn’t either), we’d have no room in the apartment for the pup after it reached 2 months of age. Lorena and Tito will keep at least one pup and they’ll be giving the rest away. Anyone want an adorable mutt? It’s free if you can get to Zihua in the next couple of months!
From puppyville, Pako and I headed to Papanoa, a town of about 5,000, down the coast about 60 kilometers to the South. 
My gringa friend Chandra and her surfer (now) husband, who is from Papanoa, were having a wedding at a really gorgeous spot on the beach. So we drove down, only missed one turn by about 50 yards and made it 5 minutes after the scheduled ceremony time, but 45 minutes before the actual ceremony started. It was just a symbolic wedding ceremony as they had gotten married by a judge in Zihua the day before. So it was short and sweet, with Chandra and Angel thanking their friends and family for sharing the day with them and then exchanging their vows. At the last minute (literally, as the ceremony was happening), Chandra asked if I would translate some of the Spanish for the English-speaking guests, to which I happily agreed. Then there was food (about 6 different kinds of meat) and dancing. Pako and I only stayed for a little bit because it was an hour and a half drive back to Zihua and we were anxious to get through certain towns before it got too late. We got to chat with a family from Northfield, MN who were thoroughly enjoying the weather and the culture of their mini-vacay. It was a really enjoyable experience and we’ll be headed back to Papanoa to surf (Pako didn’t stop commenting on the waves the whole drive up) with Angel and Chandra.
We got back into Zihua around 9 and since we were all dressed up, headed out for an ice cream with Petra and Tekila. Then we all fell into bed and tried to sleep despite the usual Saturday night mélange of sounds that eminate from the thousands of infonavit residents. Today I’m finishing up my lesson planning for the week and then we’re heading over to Lorena’s to celebrate her birthday (March 22nd). Signing out for now, hoping you and yours have fabulous weeks and that the weather continues it’s warming trend!
Abracitos mis seres queridos!
Leyah
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