Friday, February 06, 2009

Chiconcuac - noon

Aha! I've found out where we are - just outside the village of Chiconcuac. Coming in yesterday, we were so intent on finding the park, we drove right through the village without seeing any identifiers. So we cycled into town this morning, right after the power (and thus my Facebook chat, of course - and the internet as a whole) went down. I should really arrange to have the power go out more frequently, to get me off the computer and out cycling, or walking, or swimming. I was just so excited that the network was actually functioning this morning, I wasn't going to get off until I had read absolutely everything on my list. I had internet access for a while yesterday, but it would have worked faster under treadle power.

This morning, Robin saw that I was connected, so he grabbed his computer and turned it on, whereupon I lost my connection. We thought at first that we had just overloaded the network, but then we saw that there was no electricity in the RV at all.

So off we cycled to town - uphill all the way. We bought a few groceries from a lovely lady who looked at me with a very stern expression, wagged her finger, and told me in Spanish to practice my Spanish! I felt about six years old. Then she smiled, I giggled, and we had a great chat - in Spanish, of course. Once Robin and I had bought our groceries, we cycled home for brunch, stopping first at the town hall, where I noted the town's name. Along the road, we flagged down the water truck and asked its driver to follow us home, so that we could replenish our drinking water supply.

When we got back to the park, we had new neighbours. I said "Good morning" to them, and they looked a little baffled, so I said "Hola!" and they responded. It turned out that they are Francophones from Quebec. I let them know that the water man was coming, and we stood talking for a few minutes in our broken Spanish, mostly, with a little English and French thrown in now and then. I speak no French, so that part was interesting. I asked the gentleman whether he spoke any English, and he replied in Spanish, "Poquito" (a little). They are here to spend a month learning Spanish by living with a family in Cuernavaca. Then they are going to spend another month just exploring. I like that kind of encounter. It's hard for people to stand on their differences when everybody is struggling for words, looking equally foolish.

It also turns out that we didn't break the electrical system. At least I assume we didn't, because the whole town is out, and Robin's laptop doesn't draw that much power!

News flash: While I was connected this morning, I opened my e-mail and discovered that my Found Poetry submission had been accepted. Woo-hoo! I am totally chuffed. My find will be up on the site today http://www.foundpoetry.org/blog/2009/02/from-la-ventosa/. I just hope I'll be able to see it. I'm starting to feel like a bona fide citizen of the blogosphere. Thanks to Kathryn Magendie for introducing me to Found Poetry.


It's just occurred to me that I'm taking part in a small but not insignificant culture change. Whenever I visit people's homes, I am drawn to their bookshelves. Seeing what books they read - and what books they care about enough to keep - can tell me a lot about new acquaintances, and it can also lead me to discover new books, new authors. Now, when I find a new and interesting blog, I explore its Links section and its Blogs I'm Following section. There are some fascinating blogs out there, written by fascinating people, and most of them have Links and Blogs I'm Following sections, too. The web is so full of a number of things - it's a wonder I ever get any exercise!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice job on the found poem-- these have always interested me, so I'm also glad to know about the site.

Sandra Leigh said...

Thanks, John. The idea is pure fun, isn't it?

Kathryn Magendie said...

Oh sandra (as to your comment!) I am a hillbilly from WVA! *laughing* ...my biomom and her family is from WVA, my dad's family is from Tennessee (where as a small child,k I saw a real live 'chicken kill' and then they fried them up *gulp*) and to boot, my adoptive mother is from a farm in Arkansas! ...! haw!

Kathryn Magendie said...

Yay! I went there - Good Job on the poem - :-) very nice indeed. I left a short comment to show support.

Wonderful, Sandra...

Jennifer Taylor said...

Congratulations on your poetry! Yes, I worry that I'm addicted to the Internet. It's a world to explore.

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