As I saunter down these cobbled streets...

Shawn and I have settled into a pretty good routine. We sleep in an
mother-in-law apartment attached on the back of Yoatzin's house. It
is pretty cozy though hot. "air conditioning" is a open window and a
fan on the floor. The evenings and mornings are very pleasant but the
days are very hot. I never feel like I can drink enough water,
especially since you have to buy it first. Apparently May is the
hottest time of the year in the Mexican Interior. I guess the rainy
season will start within the next couple weeks and that should even
out the weather.
Yoatzin has what amounts to a nanny/ house keeper that
works for her and lives there. She is 19 and as worked there since
she was 12. They see her as part if the family. She makes us
breakfast around 9 or 10 and lunch around 3 or 4. Lunch is the main
meal here. The food is delicious but I decided I'm going to keep food
in our bungalo (what they call our apt) because I'm always very hungry
at night.
During the day and the evening we go out for a few hours
and talk with the people of Fuentezuelas. We are trying to learn how
the pueblo functions. We will also have a town meeting everyweek or
so to teach the people o think together to address how they can make
it a better place to live. We promised that we would pick up some
groceries while we are in Tequis(quiapan) today. In Fuentezuelas they
have dozens of kwikimarts but nary a grocerystore for 7 miles. We
rode the bus in today(8pesos) and walked a mile to use the wifi at the
hotel we were using. Hasta la proxima.

And thus my Aztec vision quest begins ...

This morning at 5am the rest of the group boarded the bus and headed
to the airport. Shawn, who had been teaching English in Veracruz,
came up last week to help with the group as he is a veteren of Family
to Family. While he was here visiting he has decided to stay and help
me. This has proved to be a bit of a miracle as neither Kendon nor
myself wanted me to be left alone while I was here but nothing had
come together. Shawn came up with the idea, but will prove to be a
great ally for me here. Plus i'll have some body to pal around with.
This is also the last day in the Villa Florencia in
Tequisquiapan, which is the 5 star hotel we having been staying at by
the invitation of the President of the Municipio. For the rest of my
mexpedition Shawn and I will be staying in the homes of some fo the
great people we have met here.

White-collar meets Blue-collar

Up until tonight i have missed out on the short term projects that the
others have been doing. My roll has been in attending meetings the
first couple days. Friday i had the time available so i said i wanted
to be in one of the work groups. It was pretty hilarious to be in the
back of a pickup with half a dozen others while a group of mexicans
drove us to a construction site to do grunt labor. Only thing missing
is that they didn't pick us up at the Home Depot parking lot. It is
hard work mixing, hauling and pouring cement under the hot mexican
sun. As we worked those that lived there came out and helped us.
Even the woman were in the front shoveling graveland sand. Some of
the women had been cooking on the same stove outside the house on a
dirt floor for thirty years. So having a cement floor is a pretty big
deal.

That night as a reward we were rewarded with a trip to the central
plaza of the municipio seat, Tequisquiapan. It is a beautiful town of
about 30,000 people. Sorry for the brevity. Hopefully I'll find a
real keyboard soon and get access to the Internet for more than a few
minutes a night. Have been pretty worn out this week between the sun
and the long days.

Internet success!

This is going to be short tonight because i'm using the wifi at a
hotel on my iPod. When i vet settled in for the long haul with a
proper key board i will tell about the the last couple days.

A lot has happened in the few days i have been here. Right now i'll
just hit the highlights. I am filling a unique role while I'm here.
The rest of the group, and those that come on the other Mexico trips
that Family to Family, spend their time offering their manual labor to
build cement floors for the poor here. The people of Fuentezuelas are
remarkable because instead of settiling for houses thrown together
from carboard and sheetmetal, the build houses with cement and brick
and cinderblocks. However, because of their poverty they can only
afford to build to single room at a time. The may spend 5-6 years
saving money and building room by room until the house is finished.
They don't have "extra" money to save. The money that they scrape
together is from sacrficing comforts like going without meat for a year.

I'm wiped. Bedtime.

The Final Countdown

     Though my enthusiasm for salsa may indicate to the contrary, I have never placed a single zapato in Mexico.  That will quickly change tomorrow as my plane lands at Benito Juárez International Airport.  Once I rendezvous with my organization, we will board a bus and head for my pueblito home.  This is to be the grandest of adventures as I will be living, with a native family, as a local.  I will have the remarkable opportunity to make friendships and create positive bonds as I work to serve the people.
     The frequency with which I will have access to the internet is not yet known, but I know I will have it.  I will update this blog at every opportunity to provide a window into the heart of Mexico.  Also, if anybody can help me find a sweet template for this blog, that would be terrific.