Limes

10.2.07

A gray morning greets my sleepy head and doing exercises to the news wakes both body and mind. Whenever I think I've got hold of this language, I am reminded that real people speak very differently from the lovely Patricia with whom I'm studying each afternoon. But it's good to hear the real thing, even when much goes over my head.

Anther morning at CASA although today slower because it is "colder." One client doesn't konw how pregnant she is and I delight in seeing the partera use a small kind of ear horn to listen to the baby's heartbeat instead of a stethescope. Her big belly jiggles like a mass of vanilla pudding as they palpate the baby and I imagine swimming again in that safe place. While waiting for more to happen, I do have a lovely long chat with one of the students about her visits to the U.S. where she stays in nunneries, yet goes shopping in big Escalades. It's the best of all possible worlds for her because she loves MX for living; los E.U. for buying.

The afternoon breaks hot and clear again and I head to a mercado, see some incredible fruit and vegetable displays. Taste the delicious carnitas made by a man who rocks back and forth while hacking away at the pork which has been boiled in oil, creating slithery slices of unctious meatiness.

Spanish is much easier with a tutor, than out in the real world and I swear I will start conjugating the subjunctive again one day. But for now, it's fun to platicar about any and everything and simply be corrected. I have met a couple with 2 young kids and will take advantage of their inside scoop on SM over dinner tonight. It's ever interesting to me why people move, especially when the language doesn't come easily. But here it seems to be a spiritual draw that brings ex-pats. That and the real estate prices.