Madeleine and Earl served at IMEB (same school where Ronit volunteered) and just returned home. This was their welcome home party. Madeleine is wearing the typical San Marcos traje (clothing). We are standing in front of the Guatemalan flag.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, MADELEINE AND EARL!

Greetings from Salamanca, Spain!

We had a great trip home. We had to be in the U.S. for 7 weeks in order to get our student visas (for 6 months in Spain), so we made the most of it. It was a WHIRLWIND trip to Southern CA (in Brea with Tom's mom/step-dad/brother but visiting people in Redlands, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Van Nuys as well as in Orange County), Northern CA (Ronit's grandma in Santa Rosa, aunt/auncle/cousin in Sebastopol, and cousin in Berkely), Idaho (Ronit's parents), Washington (Ronit's best friend Cindy -- short trip, though!) and Texas (making future plans... we flew instead of driving, though -- neck/back issues). And Tom even made it down to visit a pastor in Ensenda, Mexico. It was also good to see our docs re accident injuries and have some more tests and treatments -- plus our doctors have become our friends after seeing so much of them!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all our family and friends who housed us, had us over and/or made the effort to come out and see us! Although we were initially frustrated that the visa process required an unplanned and expensive trip home, it turned out to be a huge blessing because we were able to connect with our family and friends.

The trip back to Spain was LONG. It should have been so easy: Los Angeles to Chicago ,less than a 2 hour stop-over, then Chicago to Madrid. That was the plan. Well, things did not exactly go as planned: We spent a night in New York, encountered the rudest-ever airport employee (long story), "enjoyed" an additional stop-over in England, and arrived at our final destination about 30 HOURS LATER and a bit poorer than expected (items purchased when our luggage temporarily disappeared, airport prices, unsuccessful but expensive phone calls trying to cancel our Madrid hotel, etc...). The one really cool thing that occurred was that we were allowed to spend about two hours in the "members-only" lounge in New York (free massage, free food, comfortable seats) and were upgraded on the NY-Manchester flight. WOW, how the "other half" live! That helped, but we were tired and exhausted. I normally cannot sleep in public places (like airplanes) but I was dozing off anywhere and everywhere halfway into the trip and for a day or two after!

So, we finally arrived in Salamanca, our July-August home! We have a great studio apartment (1/3 the cost, nicer, and closer than the school-provided housing). It is right by the school, so I am able to come home and lie down during the 1/2 hour break (which helps my neck/back), we have everything we need and more, and it looks out onto a courtyard.

Salamanca itself, a UNESCO "World Heritage Site," is an incredible place! It is a university town in every sense and boasts the oldest university in all of Spain (and one of the oldest in Europe). The university structures and all other buildings in the old quarter (where we live) and many in the new part of town are all made of a unique and beautiful material called stone from Villamayor. The stone and the architecture are gorgeous. Tom says Salamanca may be his favorite town in all of Europe. (Tom has actually visited much of Europe, so that means something. So far all I've seen of Europe is Spain -- plus airports -- but we are going to take some side trips soon.)

The best place in town is the Plaza Mayor, larger and more beautiful than most. It is still the heart of the city and is nearly always full. There are often expositions of some kind or another there and last weekend we experienced a fascinating drama. There were four small stages set up in each of the four corners and one small round one in the center. A portion of the Plaza was temporarily gated for set-up and when it opened up, people poured in -- I was literally being pushed forward by the crowd. Then the drama began, and it moved through the crowd, which parted and followed the drama as the actors moved from one stage to another or as the action took place between stages.

Another interesting thing about Spain, Salamanca in particular, is the different schedule people keep. The Plaza Mayor drama began at 11pm and there were people of all ages, including families and young children, wandering through the streets before and after. Last week there was a school party which Tom and I showed up for at 10pm and there was literally no one but the owner there; we went home and found out things started at midnight. Thankfully our classes run from 3pm to 7pm, so there are no early mornings to follow these late nights.

Classes have been a little less thrilling, though. I love learning and, despite all my Latin American experience, I haven't had much Spanish instruction and have a LOT to learn, so I was really looking forward to school, but... Because of my real-world experience and reading, my vocab is strong and my comprehension level is high (my speaking ability has always been my major problem), so I am bored out of my mind as the instructors basically repeat themselves over and over for other students. There's also the fact that our classmates are younger and it's an open question whether they're really here for Spanish or for the night-life and experience. (Spain does have more bars than any other country.) It's also physically difficult for me to sit through 4 hours of classes (even though I bring a funny looking pillow with me and rest at break). I'm thinking maybe the fall will be better both because I hope to physcially improve more by then and because we're more likely (I think) to have some serious students as opposed to summer vacationers.... we'll see.

From a professional perspective, it has been very interesting to be the language-student (rather than teacher) in a language-classroom, though. I am making mental notes that I hope will improve my teaching in the future.

Tom is also busy with his computer programming technology courses.

More about Guatemala and Oaxaca next time, but two quick mentions and thank yous: Carlos and Maria Ricoy were in Oaxaca in June and were a great encouragement to the Perez family (Elpidio, Angelina, Lucy, Miriam, Rebeca). Madeleine and Earl are back in the U.S., having completed their volunteer commitment in Guatemala and having done some great things for IMEB and San Marcos. We had the pleasure of visiting them, attending a Welcome Back party for them, and talking through some Guatemala issues.

We really, truly plan to get some pictures up and update the blog... next time.

Hope you all are enjoying a fantabulous summer!

Love,

Ronit and Tom Ricoy