Vacations are Necessary and Good

Now I get why working people need vacation time...to take care of all the shit you meant to do but didn't have time to cos everything work related was too pressing. In the past 3 days (allowing one day off for crashing after Christmas week of ridic)

• Rooms have been cleaned, including floors mopped
• Laundry has been done
• Fake college IDs have been made and laminated
  

(for serious...bus fares are half price if you travel during vacations with a valid student ID, and once we get out of the state of Guanajuato (where it's obvious we have fake university ID cards) we'll be saving like $100 each on the trip to Oaxaca.)

• Puppy has been given a place to stay until January 3.
• Same for fishie.
• Wrote thank you notes to the kids who got me holiday presents
  

annnnnnnnd...

• I translated a synopsis (yes, 5000 words can still be considered a synopsis) of the boys's explanation of why it's important to study a theory of a mind without a body.

He is setting up a web site (and got a real graphic designer to make it not suck) about this thing, and I just wanted to get the translation out of the way so the site would be DONE. So, I did. My brain almost imploded though. But I'm pretty proud, even though it probably sucks, cos it's my first real translation. And my name will be up on the web site saying that I am the translator!

Anyway, tomorrow it's off to León for Christmas with the boy's mom's family, and then from there to Oaxaca City for real vacation. A trip to Taxco aka silver Mecca has been promised at some point on the way back, so I am more than stoked.

Hodgepodge

I guess when life actually becomes interesting, professionally and personally, there's not that much time to document it as it happens. It's only when everything is over, and there has been time to forget a lot of the details

First and foremost, the puppy is pure, unadulterated awesome. Except for when she pees on the floor. Her favorite games include chewing up empty plastic bottles, chasing her tail, and trying to eat everything in sight. Her name is Malinche, which was the name of Hernan Cortes' Indian translatress/guide/mistress as he set about conquering Mexico in the name of God and the Spanish king. Nowadays, the word malinchista, in Mexican Spanish, is a derrogatory-ish way of saying that someone prefers foreign things to their own native heritage. It's like the opposite of a xenophobe, but not in a good way at all.

The pictures are already kind of old, taken when she was 3 months old. Now she is 4 months old and already substantially bigger. She's an American Pit Bull Terrier, and I was kind of apprehensive about getting a pit bull initally - probably for the same reason everyone is a little freaked out when they hear that someone has a pit bull. But she's only agressive with other dogs, not with people at all, and only when she wants to play. And I can't take her out for a walk without getting stopped literally a dozen times. Awwwwwww what a cute dog! What's her name? What breed is she? Is she for sale?

No, most definitely, not for sale.

At school, in the last 4 weeks, there has been field day, exams (writing of (4 x 2 versions per group), administering of (4 x 2 days each), and grading of (92)), 92 second bimester grading sheets to fill out, the Christmas pagent/concert (setup and attendance), and normal daily class routine. So, needless to say, I have not had much free time. I still really like the job though. The kids are fun, my coworkers are great, and hopefully all my visa paperwork will be taken care of in January.

And now it's vaycayyyyshuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn...going to Oaxaca right after Christmas, back on January the Fifth. Huzzah.