Talk to the Owners Night - Noche Libre #4

I'm actually enjoying blogging about our adventure, and one of the things I like to do is find a common thread about the day for a post. Some days are just a random series of unrelated events, but every so often things just come together by themselves. Tonight was one of those.

Normally we have Thursday as our date-night, but there was a back-to-school night presentation at our school, and I really wanted to go. Bryce and Laurel's teacher gave a talk for about an hour (all in Spanish), and we learned that what she has to do is very difficult. The class is combined with first and second graders, with a variety of abilities, which poses one challenge. The other challenge is that some kids speak little Spanish, and some little English. So it is extra challenging. Nevertheless, Maestra Catalina - with the help of Señor Thomas, are able to break up the groups and give them individual attention over the course of the day to make it work, even though it is difficult. Maestra Catalina has about 20 kids in the class - 8 first graders and 12 second graders. As our primary goal was for the kids to be immersed in Spanish and Mexican culture, the less-than-rigorous academic piece of the Waldorf style doesn't really bother us. It occurred to me that Bryce and Laurel are getting a much greater Spanish immersion experience than Sue and I, and for that I'm slightly jealous.

After back-to-school night, we picked up Bryce from his math-games tutoring session, and returned home briefly before going out. Our neighbors from Florida were also on their way out, so we joined them for hora feliz - happy hour - at the Sunset Bar. They have been coming to San Miguel for a while (since 1975 I recall), and we had a nice time chatting. The bar owner Linda came and chatted with us for a while too. She has been here fifteen years, and built her Casa Linda hotel, restaurant, and now the Sunset Bar all from a dilapidated piece of property she acquired fifteen years ago. She even lives in the hotel. I think she really enjoys her life here, and she has a really positive vibe about her. I hope to see her again.

For dinner, Sue and I went to Woolis Kahn, a bar/restaurant that she had been to on her previous visit. We had a few appetizers: Fish Tacos, Empanadas, and Guacamole. The Empanadas were the best part, and they came with a delicious peanut salsa, which was really special. As we were awaiting our drinks, Lori the owner came up and chatted with us. She bought into the business a couple of months ago. Apparently, the economy, the swine flu, and the border drug wars have had a negative effect on the San Miguel economy, even though the drug cartels and swine flu thing is nonexistent here. We can see other signs of economic slowdown by talking to individuals here: Rocio's husband lost his job, Antonio has had to reduce his fleet from seven to two cars, etc. And the restaurants are by-and-large usually empty. But there are still Americans coming here, and the vibe is upbeat, in spite of everything else. I think that's a part of the culture here, and it's infectious.