Friday Night Dinner

Friday night dinner was a load of fun and food.  Peter found a sculpture that seemed to need some additional attention. 





 



Ricardo Ugalde was our host for dinner.  He was accompanied by his fiancée, his 11 year old son, and his mother.

There was much more food than we could eat. 
Ricardo had it boxed and sent to the Bomberos.

 

Friday at the Fair

Friday was exceptional.  In the morning we had a “fair.”  The students dreamed up games that required English for participation and prizes.

    Games included twister, bingo, spin the dial, kick the ball into the goal, break the water balloon over someone’s head and climb the wall.  That’s Philip Stewart again, getting splashed, and yours truly on the climbing wall. 

Thursday, March 27

Thursday afternoon we met up with a class who performed a very old legend of SLP involving witchcraft, executioners, ladies of the night and the police.  They dressed accordingly.  Two of the participants met us in the cafeteria to direct us to the auditorium.  When they walked in we were a bit tongue tied (not knowing they were part of an act which we were about to see).  Here was someone “in drag”, if you will, accompanied by another quite handsome guy who looked like a model from Esquire.  Of course Philip again had to clown and hold the “woman”’s hand outside while I laughed so hard I could hardly take the picture.

Wednesday, March 26

   Wednesday morning we toured the GM factory of San Luis, the technology for which will be described later.  Sorry, GM did not allow photos during our tour of the assembly plant.

Following this we were treated to lunch, power point presentation and music by Jessica Ortiz from the suburb of Soledad – which is technically our Sister City.  The restaurant was genuine Huasteca, the eastern region of the state.  

 

 

 

 

 The students love to talk about Huasteca because it’s just a few hours away and offers tropical climate & vegetation, waterfalls and a chance to swim.  Many Europeans go there for vacations and more Americans too.  (Nice to know some Americans go somewhere other than the Yucatan from cruise ships!)

  Here is a picture of a Huastecan woman in her brilliantly colored dress.  Also a picture of a gate at a private home which we thought was stunning.

 

 

Lunch was delicious and good fun.  We also have with us Karen Stamm who was born in Canada and an accountant by trade, as well as Sandy Moulton who was taking a second trip to SLP and Ann Honeycutt who heads up Sister Cities.  Ann is the main link to the suburb of Soledad and is a link to the programs which involve exchange of firemen, fountains and fire trucks between Soledad/SLP and Alamance County. 

 

 

 

 

And the reason why the “Bomberos” provided our transportation in their bright red pickup and SUV.

 

 

 

Monday and Tuesday

Monday and Tuesday we were hard at work and play with the students of UT - Universidad Technologica.  Our class activities are similar to past visits, listening to their presentations and informally speaking with them in a kind of question/answer format.  They are incredibly sweet and enthusiastic.  We leave with hugs and candy and say tequila” to their cameras.

.  We’ve enjoyed some charming little restaurants along the hotel street, and there is some nice red wine “vino tinto” from Baja California.   Amazing still is that although we are clearly gringos and there’s little tourism here, people don’t stare at us. 

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Sunday brings a bit of shopping and touring in the central historic district with Jim and Jane Romer.  Then interaction with a family of indigenous people, called Huicholes, originally from Jalisco.  Here’s the little guy and his” abuelita”.  National Geographic?

Later in the evening the Romers and we visited and dined with Alejandra de Lira and her family.  Ale is a teacher at the two universities in SLP and has also visited in Burlington.  Her sons are successful in school and very sweet.  Raul at 18 speaks great English – far better than our Spanish.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



March 22, 2014 Our Arrival in SLP

Our very special friend, Hector, picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hotel driving Claudia's new Mercedes SUV.  Wow what a ride.  Next thing you know we are being picked up by Alejandra to go to the local rodeo.  The action picked up fast.  The somewhat underweight bull was pretty quick
and managed to knock over several of the bull fighters.  I do not call them toreadors because this was not your regular blood-letting battle.  This was more an exercise in wearing each other out without deliberate injuries to the bull. 

 


 




Araceli, Ed and Eddie enjoy the show


The bull-sitters competition was really strange.  The sitters had to stay in the chairs until the bull came to knock them over.  Last one sitting wins.  It hurts my bones just to think about it.





Getting Ready Again

Getting Ready for another trip soon.

 

Lyn

Sunday, April 10

We Suttons conclude our visit with a stay at the home of Claudia, who was our guest in Burlington in '07.

 She teaches law and also works in area of child abuse. Between Claudia and her other lawyer friend, a federal prosecutor, we learned of the frustration for justice in the present climate of violence in Mexico.

They treated us to an over-the-top brunch at the Westin, up in the hills of the city.  http://www.westinslp.com.mx/

 

There they talked frankly about the culture in Mexico that's in contrast with the joy and enthusiasm of the students. Instead it's the scofflaw habits of the people and the corruption of some government leaders and police, which hampers effective prosecution of criminals. While use of drugs in the US is certainly fueling the trade, the Mexicans have also increased their own use of illegal drugs.

 

We close sending love and thanks to all who made these last 11 days so special. NUESTRA CASA ES SU CASA.

Friday, April 8

Today was a Friday kind of day ----RELAXED!. Students cooked lunches for us, explaining recipes in English. One teacher arranged a mariachi band and sang with them as her father was one of the musicians. We danced ---NO!! The student who asked me to dance proudly wore a traditional Spanish flamenco costume.

That evening we concluded our teaching week with a farewell dinner at the Museo San Agustin, the multi-star boutique hotel, a short walk from the hotel. First we were guided around the hotel but our pictures can't tell it all, so I suggest you Google this name. It's a work of art and history.

 Originally built in the 1600's as a hacienda , it was used by the Augustinian monks as a place to sleep, as they traveled throughout the country to convert the indigenous people to Christianity. We loved the beautifully painted walls and ceilings; valuable objets d'art; plaques in Latin quoting biblical passages (translated perfectly by our own Jim Romer); French antiques; the chapel upstairs and two large balconies with views onto the city. Then we had cocktails in the lobby as a pianist played music from Cats, Pacobel Canon and other classics. The ceiling in the lobby was originally open but is now covered with gorgeous stained glass. http://hotelmuseopalaciodesanagustin.com/

After a delicious “alta cucina” dinner and more good conversation, we exchanged gifts, made individual comments and thanks, and the Director shared more of his dreams for the university and students. All of us part feeling far more ENRICHED than the day we stepped off the plane.

For those students reading this blog, remember to see TV and movies in ENGLISH and form language “clubs” in which you practice speaking with each other regularly. To quote a Dartmouth College language professor: “SPEAK to LEARN”. Don't “learn to speak”.

Thursday April 7th

We were warned ahead of time that the student projects involving making and presenting desserts (in English) would happen before lunch.  The class period ran over by 30 minutes because no one wanted to leave until all the desserts had been sampled.

The next class period had more desserts but first we were entertained by a Mariachi band that was hired by Araceli who is also one of the English teachers.

The students invited us to dance while the band was playing. 

This was a really long day.  After the Marachi band came more desserts followed by a trip to a restaurant near Santa Maria del Rio.  Then we went to the somewhat primative factory to see how the Rebozos (expensive Mexican scarfs) are made.

Some models demonstrated a few ways the Rebozos can be worn. 

And even some more familiar models.