Street School

My Neighbor Kids

A Blog Movie with Class

Julie and Julia (2009)

I don't know how many Blog movies there are, maybe a few more, but Julie & Julia is a good one and a real story. What a deal to have your Blog project first turn into a book and then a movie.

Seems Julie is a bored government worker and a wanna be writer. She somehow comes upon Blogging as a project to express herself and stay busy. She can't Blog her daily life for fear of being discovered and loosing her job. Instead she decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and Blog it. That's 500 and some recipes in 365 day.

At this point the movie jumps back in time documenting Julia Child's entry into an all men's French cooking school in Paris. Julia goes from cooking school just to keep occupied to the notice that her famous book is being published and everything inbetween.

Julie's success starts with her Blog being mentioned in a New York Times article and goes from there. Two women that start at the beginning and end up with huge success. Cool movie and very well done.

Highway Tuba Vendors

Even though this section of highway 54 is actually in Jalisco it's the gateway to Colima. They have been working on widening the section over the canyons for about a year but now it looks like they may be adding another lane or two. With so much hillside to move they have had to close one lane in a few places for the last month.

Stopping traffic for extended periods for months requires vendors and sure enough the Tuba vendors from Colima are stationed at each stopping point. Tuba is a palm drink made from the sap of the tree. It originated in the Philippines and was imported during the Spanish Gallon trade

Tuba Vendor

My front gate project

This is my front gate and I had to put up a wire mesh for two reasons. The neighbor kids down the street got a new puppy that loved to squeeze thru the bars and harass my cats and poop in the yard. The kids were also ringing my front bell a couple times a day asking for the puppy back.

The second reason is when I'm gone I've been leaving food in the garage in case the 'caretaker' can't get the cats back in the house before she leaves. My cats don't mind very well. Of course this garage food was available for any hungry cat in the neighborhood. So now that I'm back a few cats that I don't know feel welcome to come in the house when I'm not looking. They also have a habit pooping in the middle of the lawn.

Today I bought 8 meters of this wire mesh and I had a roll of wire. 8 meters because I was thinking of going two levels high (meter each) with this new fence/gate. Just as I was finishing the car gate about 6-8 kids came over and reminded me that the smaller person gate needs to be covered or the puppy could get thru. I agreed but was gonna probably be a tomorrow thing for me. They were just too enthused to wait for tomorrow so we cut a piece to fit and they did most of the wiring the mesh to the iron bars. Even tho they had not done anything like that before they really tried hard in total earnestness. Cutting the wire, twisting the wire and I only had to give them a few hints.

End result is it is done. Not like I would have done it but it works. And this is Mexico and these were well behaved kids learning and trying. After they had to do somersaults in the grass and take home a few pomegranates (granadas) and limes they found in the backyard.

My front gate


The wire mesh


My neat wire twists


The kids work

Chris turns 5

My friends asked again if they could have a fiesta at my place since their place has no garden and not a lot of space. Yesterday was Chris's 5th birthday (cupleaños) so the fiesta was here. Small, not much of the family, just mom and sisters and 2 neices and a nephew.

Salad, nice cake and a beautiful gelatin (gelatina de mosaico) ... but now I get to ask ... why would you make a gelatin with no flavor or sugar. Is this a Mexican thing or a family thing.

Cleaning up in the morning I decided to wash off the kiddy pool and because we had water for a change, filled it. Of course the kids were not dressed for water play like kids might be at the beach ... so we decided to do it again today with bathing suits (trajes de baño). Marilyn brought over belated presents - two squirt guns that were prefect. This being the first week of a two week school vacation we decided to do it again tomorrow.

The party

Chris cuts the cake

Gelatin

Not dressed for the pool

So they came back today
Birthday party in Joctepec