Monday? Back to School!

Our Italian dinner out Sunday night provided more confirmation of just how tightly knit the expat community in Mérida really is. We got to talking to a couple of senior ladies from California, who were smitten with Emma & Lukas and craving some"grandchildren" to shower with attention. Turns out they are friends and neighbors of Cherie's, our new friend from the EducaTE organization. It's really such a small world down here!

Speaking of Cherie, she picked us up the next morning for our second day of shooting for the EducaTE video project we began working on last week. Even though school is out for the summer, she and Aliza arranged for some students to return to the school in Cholul so we could get shots of class in action. We staged some shots of them interacting with the teacher, taking notes, and walking around campus. Once again, Aliza acted as our interpreter.

Then we took a trio of girls for some shots in the brand new computer lab. The school in Cholul is one of the very few to get a grant for computer equipment to expand the curriculum. The computers are used, so some of the mice don't work properly and some of the keys don't function, but this is still a tremendous opportunity for students that would have no access otherwise, and for that the administrators are grateful. Two of the girls have never seen a computer before, so they were feeling a bit intimidated. They got a quick lesson while we got all the shots we needed. We got lots of shots here since it was air conditioned!

Once again, Emma and Lukas were so well behaved; we are so grateful to have two terrific kids! Even with all of the heat and being out of their environment (plus the language barrier) they managed to occupy themselves and have fun so we could get the work done. The young girls they met last week heard we were back in town, so they came by the school to visit. They colored together, played hide & seek, and climbed trees together. Emma tried to organize a game of tag, but I don't think anyone was ever able to offer her a translation!

Then...

back to the house afterward for a bit of rest and freshening up before dinner. We enjoyed some Yucatecan meals on the open air patio at Portico del Peregrino, since the evening skies were clear. Had to swat a few mosquitos away, so the waiter put a repellent coil under our table. That's Mexico!