Back by popular demand! (Thanks Marc)

Having recently learned that my reader has been sitting on the edge of his seat axiously waiting for my return to the Web, I've decided to restart this here blog thing.

Our return from Mexico was not the end of our travels, as some of you may know. Almost as soon as we retrieved our laundry from her parent's dryer, K and I were off again to visit law schools in DC, Virginia and our beloved Carolina del Norte. I won't bore you with the details, but fast-forward to an award letter from Northwestern University in Chicago offering practically a full scholarship and we were on a plane to the Windy City. within days.

Chicago was great, if a bit cold (it's just three winters, it's just three winters) and the university was impressive. So much so that we are all but ready to load up a truck and move to the north side of Chicago by the end of July. Some nice neighborhoods up there, and plenty of hardwood floors and exposed brick walls.

In the meantime I've been slowly remodeling the basement apartment in la casa de mis suegros, under the tutelage of my father-in-law. The old red carpet installed by the previous owners is slowly disappearing, being replaced by sturdy tile. We were inspired by our time in Mexico, where even the driveways are tiled. When we swept the floor in our apartment in Valenciana and realized how much dirt you can really track onto a floor, we vowed never again to have a carpeted floor.

Ademas, I quickly realized that all Mexican men seem to know how to do many, many things. Fix cars, tile floors, blacksmithing, you name it. Even Orlando, who would not strike you as the sterotypical macho mexicano, was a teacher who repaired and programmed computers on the side. Faced with this image and my own lack of usefull skills (Copyeditors will be the first left outside the walls to die when the revolution comes) I realized I needed to upgrade my skillset.

While I've been in the basement, K has been volunteering at the local WIC program as a translator. We've also gone down the the Community Free Clinic in Corncob. For the first few nights, there were only a handful of spanish-speaking patients. The other translators kept telling us they were usually so busy that sometimes doctors were chasing them down for help. We didn't really believe it until one night when we ran all over the building from room to room to pharmacy. Each time we approach a latino patient (actually, mostly latinas) they alsways look at us funny, like "What's this white boy going to do, use flashcards?" But so far we've done fine.

I've had some temp work at the Hospice in K-Town. Should have more soon. Also applied at the Buckstar down the road where the suegros like to go. Mas dinero, por favor. As much as I like getting in touch with my masculine self working on the basement, I'd also like to have an income again.