Today's English lesson

My neighbor is in his second quarter of English in his first year of Secondaria.  He had some in Primary but from what I saw it was not worth counting.   He was given this paragraph in English and was to translate it to Spanish.  I thought it could have been somewhat easier without the "science" but that's his assignment.   He thinks he can tell the teacher he did it on his own but don't think that will fly.   I suggested he say he used Google because at his level I don't think he could do it in a week on his own.    I used Google because my translation  would have been only close.  Bad might be better than good in this case.   He also has to read the English aloud.    We'll see

Small Intestine

The small intestine is a long, thin tube about 1 inch in diameter and about 10 feet long that is part of the lower gastrointestinal tract. It is located just inferior to the stomach and takes up most of the space in the abdominal cavity. The entire small intestine is coiled up like a hose and the inside surface is full of many ridges and folds. The folds are used to maximize the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. By the time the food leaves the small intestine, around 90% of all nutrients have been extracted from the food that entered it.

Intestino delgado

El intestino delgado es un tubo largo y delgado de aproximadamente 1 pulgada de diámetro y aproximadamente 10 pies de largo que es parte del tracto gastrointestinal inferior. Se encuentra inmediatamente por debajo del estómago y ocupa la mayor parte del espacio en la cavidad abdominal. El intestino delgado se enrolla como una manguera y la superficie interior está lleno de crestas muchos y pliegues. Los pliegues se usan para maximizar la digestión de los alimentos y la absorción de nutrientes. En el momento en que el alimento sale del intestino delgado, alrededor de 90% de todos los nutrientes se han extraído de la comida que ha entrado.

A lesson in fractions in Melaque

Back in Melaque after two weeks in Seattle visiting friends and family.   Everything in the house and yard were well taken care of by my neighbors.   Getting used to the humidity but it's cooler than it was 3-4 weeks ago before I left.   Hopefully a trend for the rest of the year.

On the half empty plane from LA I sat next to Marta who's mom owns Alice's Restaurant in Barra.  She had a friend picking her up and she offered me a ride rather than paying the $430 pesos with an airport taxi.   I paid for her parking and bought a few beers on a stop in Cihuatlan.  They let me off in Jaluco and I grabbed a local taxi to Pinal Villa.

Hugo and Oscar and families were waiting under the palapa when I arrived.   Got all the latest updates from them about the house (few water leaks on marquesina) , their lives (guys are working and kids back in school), the flooding a few weeks ago from the heavy rains ... and I brought out a few 'up north' presents for the kids.

Today Lorena came over with Yari and Yari's math book thinking we could look up the answers to her fractions assignment on a link in her textbook.   Found the site does not exist any more even tho there are lots of links to it on the Internet, so we sat down and went thru the 20 or so problems.  I could remember most of it but the terminology and explaining in Spanish took some thinking.  The hardest part was determining which was largest - 2/5 or 1/3.  I finally remembered you need a common denominator for a proper comparison.  Been too many years since school type problems.  We'll see how she does next week but more impostant she understands than just gets the right answer.