End of the day

Cuernavaca and all other towns and cities in Mexico have a wonderful bus system,  from the large luxury bus like I road in from the Mexico city airport to Cuerna;  to little vans that go everywhere.  I need two different ones to get from home to Communidad and back, taking about 35 or 40 minutes.
  12, 3 or 1, to get down the main roadway from the school to get to the place that I then catch bus 6.  The first bus is probably a 30 passenger plus standing room, if needed. 
Bus 6 is a van called a Collectivo that in the States would only be allowed to carry 16 people max, counting the driver.  At my stop I was the last allowed in;  one woman did not make it on.  I brought the number to over 27.  I was standing, of course, with my butt barely allowing the door to close.  When you stand, you hold on to bars mounted in the ceiling, trying to keep yourself and your bags from landing in anyone's lap, as the bus goes up and down hills, around tight corners and over numerous bumps.  The problem for me is also that I need to bend a bit to keep my head from pounding on the ceiling.  The other problem is that the only thing I can see is the roadway sliding by the side of the bus, which makes it hard to know where my stop is.  Even tho we were down a few passengers by the time I was to get off the bus, I discovered, when I looked around as the bus sped off, that I was 4 blocks early.  Four uphill blocks.  So I walked the rest of the way as the sky turned orange, pink and bright blue. 
Today is another good day and even tho Norrah and I can not seem to understand each other, we have the start of a nice friendship and I am told my Spanish is getting better already.
And tomorrow she and her girls are coming over for a swim in the Casa Hoy pool.
A very good day.

Kidnapped

I had some acquaintances who said,  "Aren't you afraid to go to Mexico?". I asked them "What do think might happen?".  They said,  "Well, there are a lot of kidnappings."
So here is my kidnapping story.        And so soon after arriving, just like they feared.

Today was a day off of school for the kids, since it is the last day of the month.  Only teachers and their own children were at the day care.  I came to help the teacher,  Norrah,  and her 8 and 12 year old daughters see if puzzles had all the pieces etc.  After a couple of hours Norrah asked me something and I understood none of it. After another try she beckoned me to follow her.  I heard some music near the corner and thought she wanted me to see what was going on.  She then tells me to get in her car with she and her girls.  She goes driving off.  I have no wallet, no phone, no water,  nada.  She drives around twisty streets in a part of the city that is totally unfamiliar to me for a good 20 minutes and then pulls over and tells me to 'get out'.  That is the only English she knows.  She then treats me to a delicious lunch of blue corn tortillas with mushrooms, cheese and sauce,  plus a plate of nopales (cactus).  Her girls try to help me understand what is going on and we have a great meal on the side of the street.
  I learn that she moved to Cuernavaca about 2.5 years ago from the frontera of Texas.  She is a Chiropractor who works out of her home in the afternoons after teaching in the morning.  She is divorced and has a son in the University in Monterey.
She again tells me to 'get in' and we go off to Costco where she gets filters for her water and  to a place to get soft serve ice cream with fruit that we all share.
On this journey she invites me to go with them to a town that I have never heard of, which I assume is nearby, for either a week or a weekend for a celebration around Semana Santa--Easter.  She said the school is closed for 2 weeks at that time.  And it will only cost about $80 for however much time it is.
I said 'yes'.
Then she remembers that we are supposed to be back at school.  Which cracks us both up. We have been gone about 2 hours.
She then drops her girls off at their home and drives me back to the school.
So,  if you get a phone call or Email from a Norrah,  send her as much money as you can otherwise I may never be able to come home.
And that is the tale of my kidnapping in Mexico.

Comunidad de los Ninos

Unfortunately I can not get the photos off my phone but there were no photos of the adorable children anyway.  They only allow occasional photos of the group and at the end of a project or outing.
I will definitely take some at the end of the art projects that I have planned to do when my Spanish gets better.
In the mornings I am helping the teacher in a Waldorf based day care.  It is a class of 8 children ages 8 to 12.  They do art and play before they have lunch at noon and go on to school for the afternoon.
Monday the teacher talked to the architect who is helping them claim more land to terrace for a garden out of the barranca.  (A barranca is closer to a gorge than a ravine but something in between.). I played with the kids which was a little difficult because I did not know the kids, the language or how the program worked.
I thought I was being asked if I wanted a drink of milk but 'bebe leche'  is the name here for Hopscotch.
It has been a long time since I played Hopscotch,  I did not win.

Tuesday we went to a Children's. Museum.  I could not understand much and then  my group ended up taping a radio show,  which is comical when one of the announcers,  me,  does not speak the language.
In the afternoon. Charlie and his novia, Gloree took me to the phone store to get a phone plan.  $100 pesos for the sim and. $250 pesos for 30 days of a good plan for me.  About $30 dollars US total give or take.

Today in the morning I helped the kids plant some flowers in the garden and clean out the art room.
They are great kids and they are being patient with my Spanish.
Then I helped the women who work in the kitchen sort bins and mounds of fruit,  chilies ect.  They get them donated and need to toss the rotten ones or cut off the bad part.  Everyone is so patient with my bad Spanish.
I still can not figure out how to get my photos from my phone, so I will post some on Facebook and post this now because I want to share today's adventure. 
The worst fear of some of my acquaintances happened;  I was kidnapped.

Casa Hoy

My new home for the next few months.  The pool and garden.  View from my bed and view out my back window.
Using my tablet is still ponderous and frustrating so we will see how much of this I do. 
I ran into someone I met in Cuernavaca the first time I visited here and who I have run into every time since.  He said my Spanish is much,  much, much better.  Progress.!!

Leaving home

Roses and Sadie to bring me home. 
Many of you know that the biggest difficulty of embarking on this adventure is how to provide my dog Sadie with the love and exercise she needs while I am gone. It has finally come together.  She will stay home with Jose and have long walks everyday with Loren.  I think she will be happy and I will not worry about her. 
When the time is right in May,  the roses of my carino and the friendship of Sadie will pull me home.