yes, in hell’s waiting room, i am having fun. i will be looking for a place of my own since i think that is the best way to get some good research done. my housemate – j – is belgian, and wonderful. she opened her home to me and is very nice and just great. i’ve already met several people through her, including another fulbright woman here and several yucatecos. her house is even lovelier than the pictures! what else?? i am off to mexico city tomorrow for 3 days of fulbright information — non stop stuff. i hope i can keep up with the gruelling schedule but since i survived the fulbright-hays summer seminar this should be a piece of cake. merida is beautiful. strangely, i have not run into anyone i know though. i hope to find a place people can visit me at – even if it’s tiny tiny! i will sleep in a hamaca and guests can have the bed. i have gone with j to buy a used car at the big free for all lot on sunday in centenario park and learned about all the people who buy and sell for a living and sell stolen cars, met expats and yucatecos, figured out my school area where i am teaching in quite far which is why i want to live in centro, seen a horrible dance to the ymca by mexican and korean teenagers who were presenting some kind of evidence of cultural exchange and obviously did not know baggage associated with YMCA song, eaten ceviche in the local fish market, bought the new game based on the mexican loteria called loteria yucateco, refrained from buying all the kitsch in front of me, bought a lovely mexican cell phone, have a lot off people offer to help me with research, and met many potential research subjects, talked to this mexican architect who “could” be helpful — if only he could remember what i say, realize that everyone wants a gringa to rent from them because we naturally bring a lot of money, found out merida is being developed by the US gay community (all men) and driving the prices up. more to come. my cell phone died due to ineptutude of my US provide, and my new mexican telcel cell phone number is very low tech and costs 40 cents a minute – what a group of pirates. sometimes i think it looks like i am on vacation or something — but i am NOT ; ) although it’s a wonderful good thing.
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