Oaxaca never ceases to amaze…There’s always something new. We have been here for about 1 ½ months and still haven’t had a boring week. The highlights from last week have to do with nature. On Thursday, Adia was sleeping in her bed, and I was studying Spanish on our bed when I felt a shaking sensation in the floor. Initially, when this sensation was light, I just thought that a construction crew must be doing some kind of heavy work. I thought of a time last summer in Queens when a crew was working to drill footings into the ground for a new 6 story apartment building at the end of our block. We could feel (and hear!) their work all week. I soon realized that this had to be something different when I didn’t hear anything different and when the sensation became stronger. The bed started to shake and the ground felt more unstable. I got up on my feet so as to be stable in case the shaking became severe and was ready to grab Adia. Apparently, this was the third earthquake of the day, but only the first that I felt. The sensation was a little stronger for me because I was on the second floor where the flexibility of the house can accentuate the sensation. Sarah was at lunch (on the first floor) and didn’t feel the earthquake as strongly as I did. I don’t want to be misleading…this wasn’t some huge tremor. It was 5.5 on the Richter scale. However, in relation to the epicenter, this area felt it the strongest. For a Midwesterner/East Coaster like me, I am not used to this, although we have had a couple of small earthquakes in New York in the past 4 years. There are a lot of west-coasters here and they tend to like these little ones because it means that a huge amount of pressure isn’t building up to a big earthquake, which aren’t uncommon here. There was another earthquake (a bit smaller) on Saturday.

The other natural event that kept this week exciting was rain! This may sound weird…but, on Friday, we had the first experience with precipitation. It was a nice steady rain that lasted for 1 to 2 hours, not a big deal for most parts of the world. However, in desert climate like this, the sewer system isn’t build to accommodate much water. A friend told us that there was minor flooding in some parts of the city. Also, the power was going on and off. Rain is very rare at this time of the year, so this was our second odd experience for the week.

Other highlights of the week include: 1) A cooking class with 8 other students from our school in the home of a local woman…we made Enchiladas Verde con Pollo (chicken). It was quite delicious and a great experience! 2) Going to movies at ‘Plaza de Valle’ or ‘Plaza Americano’ as the locals call it (because there is a McDonald’s, Office Depot, Sam’s Club, etc). It’s helpful to our Spanish learning to hear and understand the movie while watching the Spanish subtitles. 3) Sarah, Adia, and I watched NFL Playoff Football yesterday while listening to live music…2 Mexican men playing acoustic guitars and singing in harmony – beautiful music! It was quite the combination and a fun experience.

That is about all for now…School is still going very well. Both Sarah and I are very happy to be blessed with excellent teachers. While all 3 of us learn more each week, learning a new language is a slow process…poco a poco (little by little).

¡Que tengan buen dia!
Steven, Sarah, & Adia Gabb