an extra excursion

On tuesday we were invited along with the entire fifth grade class of La Calma for a tour of the Jose Cuervo factory in the town of Tequilla. Here, where tequilla is a national pride and Jalisco is the epicenter of the production, a visit like this is as natural as a field trip to the bread bakery back home. Because we were a school trip, not even the adults were offered a taste. Normally you are offered little medicine cups to see how the product changes as if goes from step to step. The children did get to chew on piece of the agave after it comes out of the oven. Most of them didn´t like it but agreed that it tastes something like a yam. After the tour, we had lunch in the courtyard, took a stroll through the town and came back to school. While we are all fine, most of us are ready to be home. Three days and you´ll see your babies.

If I can borrow an old saw:

"The second happiest day of the exchange is the day we arrive. The most happy day is the day we come home."

You have great children. They are strong, wise and brave and I strongly believe that have gotten out of the trip the things that we all hoped they would get.

Kurt

That´s all for now. This computer wont take photos so Nicky and I will try to get some up soon.

P.S. Thank the buddha for Nicky. She´s been such a help and our skills compliment each other well. At this point I feel safe in saying we will come home better friends than before. Thanks Dan, for the lending of her strength and smarts.

More photos

If this link works, here are some photos from the La Calma group.
There are additional albums located on the very right side of the page.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mexico2009em?feat=content_notification

If I get time at school, I will upload the rest of ours to the site also . . .

Guanajuato

the bus . . .

(copied from Sandi's email) Everyone is having a good time and Guanajuato is gorgeous! It's a hillside town with brightly painted homes on the hillside and lovely colonial buildings in the center along narrow stone streets. It has a very European feel to it, but it is also very significant in Mexican history as the fight for independence from Spain began here.Yesterday, we went to the mine. Getting 15 kids (including two that don't speak English and one with a hurt foot) up and down the steep, ancient stone steps of the silver mine in the dark was an adventure, but all went well. Then we went to Casa Leyendas where they tell some of the many ghost stories that this city is famous for. For the most part, the kids just laughed!We had comida in a lovely restaurant on the plaza, opposite the historic theater. Megan pronounced it the best meal in Mexico so far (she had pollo asado) and Rebecca was shocked to find that she actually liked spinach soup!The kids caught a quick swim in the hotel pool after their day of sightseeing. It was very cold but that didn't stop anyone!We went to a concert at night (the state orchestra was playing at the local theater and we were given free admission) so we spent an hour listening to Mexican classicaL music in a completely packed theater. The kids were exhausted and fell asleep quickly back in the rooms. It was a packed day! By the way, it's a fabulous group of kids! You should all be proud of how well they are doing.
The church built by the owner of the Vallenciana mine after he discoved silver, because he had promised to build a church . . .

at the entrance to the mine . . .

going down, down, down . . .

Unfortunately, there wasn't any silver at the bottom, but it was fun going down.

the pool at the hotel . . .

our rooms were on the 2nd floor

The museum of the mummies . . naturally preseved by the minieral content of the soil . . a very unique occurrance.

A marching band competition in the plaza.

We got to eat pizza while we watched.

Another painting of Hidalgo in the actual building where the battle for independence started.

The statue of Pipila at the top of the city with awesome views . . .

the city behind us . . . (very European)

The bell in the atrium of the Alohndiga (the building mentioned above) . . .

And then we took the bus to Leon, and went to the science center (explora) and had comida in a Mexican restaurant where the kids happily ate hamburgers and spaghetti and played in a great playground . . back home and back to school . . .

Shopping Day in Tonala

On Wednesday, we went to the town of Tonala

where they have loads of fabricas (factories) and many, many stores . . .

This was the glass factory, where they were making vases

The street musicians playing a "marimba"

This is part of the "tianguis", a sort of swap meet. Today was not the market day, which would have had the aisles packed with people. The kids loved shopping !!!

One of the vendors where we bought necklaces

(notice her son in the hamock behind her)

Link to La Calma

Here’s the info if you want to see some photos from the La Calma group:

1. go to www.google.com <http://www.google.com/>

2. on the upper left portion of the window, you will see a link to "more". it is just to the right of the "gmail" link. click on more and you will see a drop down.

3. click on photos.

4. it will ask for user name and password. user name is mexico2009em and p/w is mexicoexchange (all lower case).

5. it will then ask to launch(download) picasa. it is the program that will allow you to upload photos online. it will give you step by step instructions on to post your photos online and share with others.

Vallarta

Here are a few photos from the Puerto Vallarta (really Nueva Vallarta) Trip...

Emmett's parents, Wyatt's parents & Alex's Mom were there, so there are lots of photos of the boys floating about . . . as it turns out, most of these photos are of the girls, because I was hanging out with them. I hope you don't mind.

Maybe when we get back we can get all the photos from everyone onto a CD.

This was the bus - small but very comfy.

We watched Back To the Future, Cheaper by the dozen and

two Harry Potters - mostly in Spanish !!

The scenery was gorgeous and very expansive.

Lots of volcanoes, tropical forests, mountains, valleys . .all very lush this year.

Addy, Rebecca and Talia all had their hair braided on the beach.
Megan thought about it, but decided braids were not for her.
Addy loved them, until the bangs, which are tapered, started unravelling, and she's already taken them out !!! Rebecca still has hers.

On Saturday, we went to the local water park with great slides and a lazy river.
Off-season, we had the park to ourselves - no waits.
We also had the great opportunity to go into the Dolphin tanks and swim with the dolphins.
In truth, we just stood on the edge of the tank while the dolphin swam past us and we petted him - it was very cool. We also took photos hugging the dolphin.
Those are coming home with the kids !!

yeah, yeah. The drinks were non-alcoholic, but very tasty !!

Jacuzzi and room service in the hotel room - nothing like the life in a 5 star hotel !!

The view from our balcony - pretty great !!

The beach. What more can I say??

The pools, the sunset.

The water was soooo warm - even in the ocean !!!

Photos from trip downtown Guatalajara

This is one of the paintings by Clemente Orozco depicting the heros of the Reforma

Enjoying "desayuno" at the "loncheria".
They ate "molletes" (these ones were like cinamon toast) and pancakes.
No one is starving yet !!

This is a frieze of the history of Guatalajara,
located on the back side of the Teatro de Gollado,
one of the significant landmarks of historic downtown.

"The Immolation of Quetzacoatl"
the famous feathered serpent of the Aztec

"Our Gang" at inside the government palace.

We're still here - another quick update

Hi all,

It's Tuesday morning . . .sorry we haven't posted anything yet. We've been very busy over the last few days. All the kids are doing great.

The kids fiished up the last few days of school . .they did yoga, computers and chess club. Last Wednesday, Kurt and the director took them on a great field trip to downtown Guatalajara and they saw famous Mexican murals, had breakfast in a authentic Mexican market and visited the 300 year old buildings.

On Friday, Nicky joined the group and we headed out to Puerto Vallarta, on the bus. It took about 6 hours along vry windy roads, but it was gorgeous scenerty, a little like Hawaii, very lush and tropical in some places. Lots of little towns. When we got to the hotel, the kids were in heaven... 3 pools, a very warm ocean and all the food and drink you could want.

We got back Sunday night, and they are all back in school now. Tomorrow we are taking them to Tonala, where they have a huge craft bazarr (tianguis) - a cross between a farmer's market and a swap meet.

OK - now we're going to attempt to load up the photos . . .

Quick update

Today is our first excursion. We´re going to the historical downtown district where they will see wonderous things. I´m bringing the camera and will get the pictures up soon. All the kids are in great spirits. They all like the school and are grooving into life here nicely. They continue to get along as a group very well and I´m really pleased.

more later, maybe.

Be Well

Kurt

At the bienvenida and the School

Here are the long awaited first photos. Excuse the contractions. Im working on a spanish keyboard layout and I cant get an apostrophe to come out. Clicking the photos will bring up a bigger version.

The Street the school is. The blue entrance gate is directly to my right. This is an area that used to be very agricultural and is now being developed with modern housing developments. Imagine Ventura County 40 years ago. As will be seen in the following photos, the school is clean and in good repair. Right next door, behind the orange wall in the following photo is a house that would not be out of place on the culver crest.

The entrance

From the entrance gate looking towards the back.

From the middle towards the entrance gate where the above photo was taken.

This is the middle referenced above. On the right is a cafeteria and on the left is a patio area that is used for various purposes such as an arts and crafts room etc.


Looking to the rear from the middle. These are the rooms where our kids are.

This is at the Bienvenida. Lucero, in the center is Rebeccas host mom and the smiler on her right is Carolina her mexican sister.

The site of our bienvenida.

The street where the school is located. Imagine the surprise or shock of our kids when they were brought here. As can be seen from the other photos, while small the school is clean and in good repair.

This crew you know. They are working as a team very well and Im happy to say that the mexican and american kids are mixing well too.
Rebeccas host sister with friends. Ive met over 50 people over the last 6 days.

Rebeccas host dad, Ramon. A great guy and makes a really good Tequila

Addys family. The father was working and didnt come to the bienvenida.

Thats it for now on the photos. I have more in the camera and will probably dump them all to a photo site so I can clear out the camera. Tomorrow were going to the historic downtown district where there are buildings that were built before America was even a country.

Bienvenida

I'm abandoning the facebook page except to maybe announce that theres a new post here. So, three full days in and it´s full steam ahead. I´ve met all the families and they´re a great bunch. Everybody is fully on board and committed to the exchange. All the kids are behaving about as I expected and here, that's a good thing. Surprises are bad. Today was our bienvenida and I was very pleased with our kids. All five of them are bonding as a team and they and all the mexican kids and our kids played together well which doesn´t always happen. Tommorow is our last free day and I won't see any of them but Sandy Ritchie and I will be getting together to hang out, chat and do some planning. I´m going to keep this short and try to get some pictures up.

Big mad props and s kiss to Ruth for acting as a message relay.

Be well my friends and don't worry. These are great kids and they´re doing fine.

kurt

First Pictures

The Kids

Zapopan Archway