Chicos guapos en uniforme...

This would be the boy... boldly taking the midfield...

This is my brother... on the other side of the field... such a nice-looking field too :-P


And then this is all of us... being silly.. after a very hot day and lots of very messy fun :-)

SooOOoooo...
Those are the pics of our little adventure... sorry that they're so hard to see... but there it is... proof that we did actually shoot each other :-P
Fun times, fun times :D

♪ Viva México ... tierra bonita de Dioooos ♫

We are out of the World Cup. Argentina beat us at today's game. Very sad news, but still an amazing game. In terms of game quality, México did better... wish that could help us qualify to the next round.. hehe.. But we played a "cleaner, more organized game," in the words of the Argentinos themselves... and they sure gave our better rival a very nice scare. We scored the first goal during minute 5 of the first half... gave away a goal not long after (and that one should have been taken off because of the 'dangerous game" clause... blind ref also missed a couple other calls.. but it was a goal either way)... they didn't let the Argentinan's break the tie until overtime. And we had control of the ball 85% of the time... The team did very well. By the end of the second half, both sides of the game thought we'd win. We lost (mainly) because of one very big mistake... but I will concentrate on the rest of the game. Very proud of our team. Very much so.
And as Quijote put it, "There's always next time." We have the world's youth championship... beat Brazil just a month or so ago. So just wait a few more years... We'll get them... Muajajajaja.... and I will have my revenge...

Swapping names...

Hmm.. I don’t think I have much to write about lately… at least not about life in Juarez, which has been so wonderfully uneventful. I love being lazy…
I did have a fun conversation with Dad about our last name the other day, though. I knew I have a “false” last name already, but the story hadn’t been explained to me before. As it is, my family is split into three. But to make things a little less complicated, the point of this story is that just a couple nights ago, I discovered that my grandfather is actually my great uncle. I never met my biological grandfather! ...This whole thing cleared up so many questions for me… My dad has my great uncle’s last name because Dad was adopted by my grandmother’s brother after her second divorce, and our last name is not even my great uncle’s last name either. The last name is originally my Dad’s grandmother’s second husband, who gave his last name to my grandfather (the man that Dad calls Dad, since he raised him) so that my grandfather could take a job in the customs agency. My dad’s original last name is Romero. Very Spanish. Too Spanish, at some point in the very near Mexican history. And my biological grandfather’s name is Antonio Romero.
Crazy stuff. I am so glad I can freely say that now.

It seems there is much traditionalism in my family’s blood… and yet there’s also that innate rebellious tendency. My paternal grandmother comes from an old family of politicians and landowners (which was the same thing at the time). And yet it seems to me that as their offspring (all of them!) came of age, they tried to get away from the political and social restrictions of being a part of an old family, went north and forgot the southern parts of Mexico, and married (and re-married) outside their social class. I think it’s funny that as they rebelled, they did so in a very traditional way! Dad converted to Methodism. My aunt raised a politician… and each of my dad’s brothers (really his cousins) who are not in politics or customs are in trade (a vestige of the landowning times, in my opinion). The result is a wonderful tangle of a family that I swear could be the center of some book … on any topic of your choice. We are all free thinkers, and yet so traditional. We all have an inclination to either the arts and the spoken word or the commercial world. And we all read at least a book or two each month. We are all so much alike and yet we are all so very different. And I think it wonderful how a person’s family has such a great effect on that person’s character and personality… even if they’re not even aware of it…

Last time I visited Grandmother I ended up writing a lot of her stories, and after my conversation with Dad, I practically forced him to dictate to me the story of his family -up to what he knows, which is his grandmother’s life. I’m afraid that all of this history will die in one of the many dark holes of my mind ...if I don’t write these stories down. The history of my family, of where I come from… and such fascinating stories, so many explanations to so many questions cannot just be forgotten.
So that’s the story of how my last name got changed.

Funny how I corrected everyone at SMU for fear of turning into Ms. Cruz...

So I thought bullet points would help me be brief..

It is bullet points today! I’m feeling lazy…
** FATHERS DAY tomorrow…** and we’re spending it at my aunt Sandra’s house in El Paso… not sure that I like that so much… we should be spending fathers day with our own separate families… you know, for the sake of immediate family warmth and privacy... but then again, that’s me… maybe Dad doesn’t necessarily want something so darn exclusive… and also very importantly, my grandfather is the father of four fathers, and I’m sure he wants to spend fathers day with his junior fathers and with his daughters (including my Mom). And with all of us. Sorry. Meant to include us little people too. Not that me and my cousins are not important. We just don't have a vote. Say! I meant say. Either way, we’re going to El Paso. Oh... and I cannot fail to mention that our gifts are at my sister’s place, and she hasn’t gotten home yet! We are leaving so early for church tomorrow… how on earth will we get that box on time? But I have been good and have not made my people uncomfortable with my opinion of all of this… and… I have ranted. That’s my venting for today. so I won't say anything... we'll just figure it out.
* Mothers day was great… there… lol… I feel so much better already :D


* Update on the Mundial! (world cup) Mexico has tied with Angola. Very humiliating. We are playing against Portugal next Wednesday. We absolutely have to win. Also, around 5,000 Mexican people have been cheated out of the last game and will not be able to go to the next. A company offered a packet that included tickets for 3 games and then only gave them tickets for 1 game. Apparently the company didn’t buy the tickets on time. I say they sue. Heck, I say they all leave without paying! They should take some stuff with them too, like Hebrews did in Moses' time. Ok... sorry... they should just get together and do something. anything at this point!
On a prettier note, there are over 50 thousand Mexican people in Germany right now… and after the first game (definitely NOT after this last one…sorry.. I will continue) the German police was trying to get 45 thousand people to leave a particular place in the city where the game took place. I’m not sure how you call these type of intersection, but there is usually a monument in the center, and then a circular street around it at which three or four streets converge. There is a specific monument in Mexico City called El Angel de la Independencia. It is in the center of an intersection of this type, and it is also the center of fun filled (music, dancing, facepainting, flag bearing, etc etc) celebration after important games. Well, somehow, thousands of Mexican people noticed this monument in Germany.. and somehow all these people decided to go there and celebrate. After some time, someone was gracious enough to let the German police, and they did what the Mexican police does in Mexico City. They joined in. They closed the street, took care of the people there, and celebrated with them.
As manners dictate it is due to German friendship, the Mexican reporters returned the favor and gave a 30 min special on German people. Well, half of that was true. The special was actually a series of clips made by German men to their Mexican mothers in law. Great stuff. Apparently, there are many many couples of German men and Mexican women. And you wouldn’t believe the kinds of things these crazy German young men said to their beloved Mexican mothers in law. I really enjoyed it.
Warning: this is all a second hand story. You may want to visit the web for specific data, as stories within my family, as the boy knows by now, tend to expand.
Another important note to make is Mother has given up on TV. The cable is not working. There is something wrong with our card. And, “There is football and nothing else on this thing” Mother has said. And the TV has been monopolized by my surprised and excited brother and Dad. They never get to hold the remote.

** I'm giving Math and History classes to my little kids... I think I'm learing more than they are :-) I'm also forcing them to learn a psalm and a poem each week. Starting with Neruda's XV.
**Hmm… currently reading. Not exercising. But eating very well. Need to drink more water. Need to get my summer reading from my peer guide… need to paint my mom’s furniture (yes… I admit it… I still haven’t done it…) … need to go shopping! And I need to start on those French classes next week (not my fault, I was supposed to be contacted by them). I also need to decide when I will be leaving to Boston so I can buy that ticket already…
Need to visit my friend Val (are you reading this thing still, girl?) and need to visit Grandma Velia. and I would really want to go visit friends and boyfriend in Dallas. I wonder if Dad will let me get away again... one more week. I miss the Minino so much already.
** LOL... Good Lord... so much for the laziness... ok… no more bullet points. This hasn’t helped any.

*** AAaAaahHg! *** Heat Wave!!!! ***

It is Mother’s birthday today! We had a serenata last night, right at midnight. It was a trio of voices and strings… a gorgeous present from my Dad. We had vienettas afterwards and then the trio went on with their serenades and the rest of us went back to sleep.. with the voices of the three young men lurking in the back of our minds.
We woke up late this morning and went to Viva Mexico, a restaurant that specializes in Southern Mexican food, for lunch… great stuff.. And now everyone’s taking a siesta.
The boy left on Saturday, and missed the wave of heat by a day. It has been blazing hot these two days.. all the air conditioning of the world seems to be insufficient! We will surely melt, all of us, and the city will go back to the desert times…
Of all the things (we did so much last week!) that my family, the boy, and I did, a few of them really stood out... One was a conversation the boy and I had about maquiladoras and their effect in Mexico’s economy. I realized I need to start doing some reading on my country’s economic state.. I am sure a few people out there have some theories on what it is that this country needs… My personal opinion is that we need education. Higher education. We have too many low income, barely educated people. We need to increase our middle class numbers so that our way of life will also improve.. and I think we can do that through education…
Paint balling also stood out. I took a few pictures of that… I’ll post those as soon as I develop them. And then, of course, the movies. One of them wasn’t just bad. It made me mad. I find entertainment at the expense of other people’s pain infuriating. So I will do what the boy did and think it’s not real (even though the sinking of a ship is an all too real tragedy to many people) and not think about it any more. The other one, Proof, I liked a little better. I had a strange feeling of incompletion… I think it could have had a better ending to it. But the rest of it was great. Movie night, either way. Good memories.
And then the fair… Quijote was commenting on the beauty of our city (so much of it could be seen from up there!) when the roller coaster’s little thingy that we were riding started moving and caught him in the middle of his last word… it was great… “What a beautiful vi ..eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew”

On other news, it turns out I’m getting interviewed by the city’s newspaper about a summer ESL program I started at Anapra a few years ago. It’s exciting! I’m hoping I’ll be able to recruit a few people for this little project I have… I will keep you updated :-P !
Oh… and I’ll be teaching summer French classes… apparently… although I haven’t even reviewed my ridiculously bad French in like 3 years and haven’t spoken any of it in a year or so… oh gosh… let’s see how that goes…

Well, I have to go. Naptime is over : )

Gosh it's hot down here!!!! those three-showers-a-day days are looming...