Winter 07/08

Just when you had almost forgotten about my blog, here is the holiday edition which was written on the last day of 2007.

Yes I'm still in beautiful Oaxaca, Mexico and loving it. Especially now that I have so much free time to fully enjoy it. My last day of teaching was about three weeks ago (followed by final exams, grading, etc) so it’s been pretty relaxed around here for me lately. I’ve been doing lots of mountain biking (riding as well as exploring new trails) with some great local and American rider/adventurers (see pics). There is so much good riding within a half hour drive from town. Besides that, some friends have been here visiting from the PNW and some more are coming in January so we’re not taking any big trips out of Oaxaca this winter. There was already one beach trip this month and there’s going to be another in January. This is a great time of the year to head to the beaches in Oaxaca or even to be in town for that matter. A typical winter day here in the city gets up to the mid 80’s and down to the mid 40’s at night. Add another 10 degrees for beach temps. My full time schedule doesn’t start till February, so if you can come down before then, you definitely should.

For Dia de Muertos we went to the biggest cemetery in town to see how elaborately it was decorated (see pics). To celebrate Thanksgiving, Alder and I hosted a big potluck feast. Everyone pitched in and we had more delicious home cookin than we knew what to do with (see pics). A couple days before Christmas, we went to the traditional radish carving contest in the zocalo (central plaza). Pretty amazing things these folks can do with radishes (see pics). Then on Christmas Eve we were invited to a dinner party at Alder’s dissertation director’s house. We ate more great food not to mention that all the guests received several presents each. Tonight for New Year’s Eve, we’re getting together with some friends for dinner and a night out on the town ending up among the crowds in the zocalo for the fireworks show to welcome 2008.

Probably the most exciting thing that’s happened since my last blog is that I got a scholarship for a correspondence masters program in educational technology with the Tecnológico de Monterrey and University of British Columbia. I had to pass a monster entrance exam (similar to the GRE, but in Spanish) which involved taking a bunch of preparation classes, lots of studying, tutors, etc. The 70% tuition scholarship was offered to professors at URSE (the university where I teach) and it seemed like too good of an offer to pass up. The great thing about it is that I don’t have to stay at URSE or even in Mexico to complete the 2.5 year program as I’ll be completing most of the coursework online and can be anywhere I can access the internet. ‘Classes’ start in mid January and I’ve cut back and arranged my schedule to teach from 8am to 1pm so I have the rest of the afternoons to study. URSE is really supportive and encouraging myself, as well as three other teachers I work with who are also starting the program, to further our education. We definitely bonded from going through the exam experience together and look forward to be able to study together.


That’s the news from Oaxaca. My internet connection has been kinda hit or miss lately, but I'm switching to cable on January 5th and looking forward to getting caught up with all of you via Skype. If don’t know what that is or if you’re not using it, sign up and we can talk for free.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!