December 1

Today was a holiday due to the new Mexican president being sworn in. Apparently, before the new president, Felipe Calderon, was sworn in there were fistfights and chairs thrown between lawmakers in congress, upset over the election. It is too bad this type of thing doesn't happen in the US Congress. Can you imagine Uncle Ted throwing haymakers on the Senate floor defending El Presidente's honor?

This morning we went over to Jeanie and Dennis' house in La Colonia, the Mexican neighborhood 1 mile north of La Penita. They bought an unfinished house from a Mexican family and finished it recently. It's really nice with a great view from their 4th story deck. We walked to the beach from their house w/ their dogs, the waves were crashing like we've never seen before. It had to be really great surfing if you could make it beyond the breakers hitting the beach. The waves were monstrous, one after another. After the beach walk we ate lunch; tortas de jamon ($1) and fresh ceviche. A family across the street had a cat who just had kittens, a litter of 5, so we played with them for a bit. There is a spay and neuter clinic again in January, so Jeanie is going to bring in the mama cat to get spayed. We will have to show Emily's mom these kittens, maybe she'll adopt one or two of them... There are so many kittens and puppies running around here!

In the afternoon we helped Jeanie and Dennis move some palm trees, Mexican style. Mexicans ride in the back of trucks (and cars...like el caminos) all the time. We had to pick three trees up and bring them back to their house in a trailer. We forgot to bring rope, so Luke and Dennis rode in the back of the trailer so they wouldn't tip over (see photo below). Emily and Jeanie were kind of nerviosa, but luckily they didn't ride in the back on the highway part of the drive.


Tomorrow we will do laundry and get packed up to go to Guadalajara for the week. We will likely be able to do postings from Guadalajara because there is a computer lab at our Spanish school. Send us an email and let us know how things are up there!