College-bound or not?
A new report from a CA commission suggests that CTE should prepare HS students for college and/or jobs. Dan Walters in Sacramento disagrees. He thinks that preparing kids with no aptitude or interest in a 4-year degree should be simply prepared for jobs. That we are wasting time, money and in a way, are arrogant in thinking that college is the be-all end-all for all kids. H-mmm. I guess I disagree with Mr. Walters. Why would we want to limit kids to what they can or cannot do in the future based on our assumptions about their aptitudes? Doesn't everyone deserve the same opportunities ... to make their own choices? Why should youth pay for our failings in teaching them, in engaging their interest? Now I have to go read the Little Hoover Commission's findings...

I love youtube ... every one of my favorite singers is on there ... from old Russian rock singer Boris Grebenchikov, to long-gone Brazilian rocker Renato Russo. And, today I found that the most amazing Puerto Rican rock band "Fiel a la Vega" (my idols!) has their videos on there. So, here's one of my fave line from the video below: "Este camino lo camino yo, siempre derrumbando una pared..."




Happy me!

How can anyone not love this?!

successfully infiltrating the local mexican culture ... somewhere in ca.

mlm DRAGGED me out at nine, when she was coming back from her training. literally, she texted, called, texted, and called. so, how could i not go with her? besides, she was hungry. i was really ready for bed. i just needed to put my pijamas on. definitely a skip away from sleep.

she even called me AFTER i had left the house. just to make sure that i was coming with her.

well, there was a party. el comodin - el imitador - was there. and so where all the usuals, plus a few more people. there was no food, tho. mlm casi se muere. the owner, C, reheated some of the tamales for her - they were pretty good. some guy gave us coronas. and we were just about to head home, when I got to dance cumbias with a mexican-cumbia-dancer guy. he he. mclm sabe a que me refiero - very "rocknrolly" cumbia dancer.

let's see:
memo, who is actually called marvin, 18yo, is from san martin texmelucan.
victor, works early, painting, leaves around 10
pedro, chaparrito, from estado de mexico, twenty-some-young
judit, works at boston market, has a 2year old (she crossed the border 2 months pregnant), and lives upstairs from the restaurant
C, owner and 2 brothers (one is married with 2 kids, julio, the other works in the kitchen, forgot his name)
pancho, birthday boy, 27
hector, el comodin, el cantante
oscar, de huejua-something puebla, asked me to dance, works in the restaurant
another couple - don't remember names - they work the kitchen/restaurant on weekends
2 waitresses, forgot names. one is the niece of C, maybe ...
a few other usuals, that i forgot
and other people i've never seen before.

so, there was a lot of dancing. mlm did one long electric slide dance - i think she almost fainted with all the effort. but she was the coolest! there was a lot of cumbia, and norteña, and laughing.

at one point, hector - el comodin - "asked" one of the waitresses to do the waltz with the party boy - who looks somewhat like a narco, with all his nice clothing, and really big bling bling. HILARIOUS. mlm got up and grabbed all the girls and we made a "waltz circle" - and it all DEVOLVED from there. all the girls danced with the birthday boy, his friends - guys - danced with him, too. it was really funny.

eventually, there was cake - y mlm wanted cake ALL evening. she thought there was no cake. but it eventually came out. like at midnight. muy cenicientesco.

oh, and the owner of the restaurant, C, just can't keep our names right. despite mlm doing her best at insisting EVERY time we go there - which is almost every tuesday. "ay, Charlie. es M...!" - can you hear her? very very angry-cute mlm. tee hee. i think all the other people in the restaurant-group, the other guys, girls, everyone, know her name now. the only one that keeps messing it up is the owner.

ok. and now, i have two damn songs in my head...unrelated ... but ....
arjona's el mojado -- "porque el mojado precisa comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno ... mojado ... "

lora's piedras rodantes ...

but i'd say, we've successfully infiltrated, joined ... from occasional costumers, to weekly regulars, to familiar faces (if not names).

Desde Altihuetzía, Tlaxcala, México.

Another trip to Tehuacán over - sadly. How to describe the last trip. I return to an old description of the town: obsessed with image. The town changes all the time - but the changes are superficial: there is a mall, with a McDonalds, a Burger King, a Vips and probably more restaurants. And now, there's Sam's, Walmart (aka Aurrera) and of all things, and Office Depot - which is COMPLETELY empty. Ok, that's an exaggeration: there are 25 employees, just in case there happen to be ANY customers.

But the funniest - saddest - thing in the town is that the idiotic president decreed that we needed three lanes in the two main streets that divide the town. So, instead of one lane of parking - there are now three "high" SPEED lanes which are as wide as a car, but no more. A superficial change, made for the richer people (so they can get home in 10 minutes!). If you happen to be a pedestrian or a cyclist - you are dead, literally. We have to make the town look part of the 21st century - how that actually plays out for drivers, pedestrians, or locals is only thought of AFTER the change has been implemented.

There are a few of those changes elsewhere - the park by the house was "beautified" and "modernized." The corners of the Pastor Rouaix monument park are now wheel-chair accessible. The incline of the ramps is different at every corner ... and if you happen to be wheeled, rolling in or out of the park at the corners - where at least two traffic lanes intersect- the motorized vehicles will probably roll you over!

capuccino parenthesis - i'm sitting at Mision Tlaxcala hotel - overlooking the Atlihuetzía falls and drinking a Mexican capuccino. Mexican - yes - b/c i've never had this kind of capuccino elsewhere, and it reminds me of my childhood-youth in Tehuacan - allit's missing is the company.

I had another thought while rolling - or bumping over the topes on my way to Tlaxcala is that Mexico, the parts I've seen, is still a baroque, or churrigueresco country. Walls upon walls are covered in paint ... every little space of white is always covered with something. Never appreciated the paint on the walls before. Not sure I like it - but at least I have a pretty good idea of where it comes from.