A few sad things happened at the end of this week. First, Elizabeth had to return to her home and get ready for her upcoming year leading mission teams in Nogales, a town on the border. It was really great meet her, get to know her, and spend a lot of time with her. She is a strong person who will be a great leader and I´m excited to stay in touch with her all the way up north in Nogales!
Second, I had to come to terms is the fact that John wasn´t going to be able to come and visit. It´s been frustrating for both of us. Getting coverage for his patients is very difficult especially because he is in solo practice. He´s trying his hardest and hopefully in the future, a solution will surface.
Because he´s not able to visit, I added on another week here at language school. My meals are cooked for me, I have a hot shower, and I will get another week of learning under my belt. Thanks to donations from Lisa and Mike Baetzhold, Tim and Susan McCloskey, my Aunt Vicki and Uncle Skip, and my grandma, this extra week was possible. I can´t thank you guys enough for your generosity!
I had a relaxing weekend here in Cuernavaca, was able to sleep in, run some errands, and get ready for my last week at school. I´m starting to prepare myself for the next step, it´s a little scary, but exciting too.

I wanted gummy candy for my trip this past weekend, and from the varieties available below, can you guess what kind I bought? (and yes these are the only options. no bears no worms)
1. gummy eggs
2. gummy dentures (yes, that´s right, dentures)
3. gummy chicken feet.

Last week two exciting things happened. First, Friday, I finally got my extended tourist card allowing me to stay in the country legally for longer than 2 more days. The waiting and stamping was the same, however, I took the taxi there myself. This is the first time I ventured out alone and been forced to rely solely on MY communication skills. Well, I got there and back AND managed to have a conversation with the taxi driver regarding our own opinions of the current president of the US. Even though my Spanish is basic, at least I can give my opinion about that! (and most of you know what that is!)
The second interesting event was part of what I call my “Cultural Education Series.” Picture this: A low budget auditorium filled with 600-700 people, a professional wrestling ring, strobe lights and a dozen slightly over weight middle-aged men clad in brightly colored spandex in varying degrees of coverage, all wearing masks covering their entire heads. Yes, you guessed it, Lucha Libre! This Mexican version of professional wrestling was quite the event. For a few dollars, our group was entertained for hours! Not only was the “wrestling” quite the combination of acting and drama intermixed with occasional feats of athleticism, it had a definite Mexican flair. During the matches, the crowd pelted the wrestlers with chicken bones. Plastic bags of questionable refuse appeared along with the occasional plastic cup. Of course, the wrestlers used these chicken bones to taunt each other as part of their act. The fake slap (yes the same one we all learned in 5th grade drama class) was quite popular and the full body twitch was definitely the best way to convince the crowd the wrestler was really “hurt”. They had names like Sangre Azteca (Aztec Blood), Blue Demon, and the apparently famous Hijo De Santo, the son of Santo, a famous wrestler who is apparently now enjoying his life in retirement. It was oddly entertaining, but something I don’t feel I need to see again! The crowd was crazy and the little kids running around in masks bought from venders were a little disturbing. It’s now on my list of interesting experiences in Mexico and on my other list of creative uses for chicken bones! (sorry, the strobe lights and poor over-head lighting made it impossible for pictures but I’d be glad to show you some of the moves I learned when you come and visit me!)

a shot of the Taxco and the "taxi", and Xochicalco, the pyramids and ball courts.

I spent all morning yesterday at the immigration center (equal to our DMV as far as customer service, wait times, attitudes of workers and quality of the chairs...) to get an extension on my visa. FUN! The ordeal isn´t over until I get the final papers in my hand when I return on Friday, cross your fingers everyone! I had a good weekend, a trip to Taxco on Saturday, a historic town know for it´s silver. 3 of us went on the bus, met a bunch of rowdy friars from Amarillo, Texas on the bus, and had a good time. The ¨buses" in the town are hollowed out VW buses with no doors. At one time, we had 15 people in one bus. and all for 30 cents!
Sunday, we tagged along with one of the big groups and when to Xochicalco, a ancient town discovered in the early 1900s, partially excavated. The place was huge, tons of pyramids, 3 ball courts, a "jacuzzi", ancient, of course. I¨ll post pictures in the next few days, when i get to the fast internet cafe. School is going well, missed some of my classes yesterday because of my trip to immigration, but it´s a necessary evil.
Off to do my homework (I know, my life isn´t as exciting during the week, but I can´t be EVERYWHERE at once. be patient, pictures will soon be coming...!)

I thought I would take some pictures of my dinner tonight. Chile relleno (chicken) in tomato sauce, rice, tortilla and for dessert, bananas and cream. I told Gina I was taking pictures because her food was art. She laughed!

Thought I would let you know what I´m eating these days. Today was a pretty exotic day as far as food goes. I had papaya first, for breakfast, and then I had an omlette with cheese and ham. and of course, coffee. I always have some type of fruit and usually some form of eggs. Then, lunch is always exciting. We have soup to start, today it was soup with cactus and cilantro. Then rice is always the second course and it´s usually orange, don´t know why. The final course is always a suprise, and I will admit, I am usually a little nervous until the lid comes off the pot. Today we had mole with chicken and tortillas. Mole is a sauce that is made primarily of chocolate and chile powder. Gina says she doesn´t make it often because Americans usually don´t like it, but, of course, I do. And we always have dessert. Usually, it´s some flavor of jello, sometimes identifiable, sometimes not but this week, we have ventured into real mexican dessert land. Cake with flan, cookies with chocolate, and tonight, we had some type of solid fruit thing, very sweet and I didn´t catch the name. Dinner, at 9 or 10, is jello again, or a quesadilla or cookies. So I´m eating well and healthily. I´m lucky because Gina is a good cook. I´m one of the only students that hasn´t had hotdogs in various forms at every meal! See, there is something to be thankful for everyday!