Big-Time Prom Hair

I had my birthday party on Saturday night. It was in the 19th century house of a friend whose great-grandmother was the patroness of Tehuantepec and incidentally the mistress of a powerful president. I would be the blonde slumped over in the middle of the group. ‘Cuz we couldn’t take a picture at the beginning of the night when my dress was crisp, my face shineless and with me . . . well . . . sober, now could we? Later we went dancing. Good times.

You can’t see it but I have Big Time Prom Hair. I told the hair lady (my friend’s next-door neighbor) that my dress was on the elegant side and I needed hair to match. She said no problem and two cubic feet of ozone layer later we had a cascading ponytail studded with a big, pink rose. This is a good look for the women with thick, gorgeous Latina hair, for this WASP, though; she had to tease my baby-fine hair to hitherto un-attempted heights covered by a thin layer of smooth hair to hide the rat’s nest underneath. I woke up the next morning with a small community of hairpins scattered in my bed.

200 For Him, 29 For Me

I broke down and bought the English-language newspaper when I was in Oaxaca City yesterday. Here's the forecast: "IF MARCH 21ST IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Peacefulness and tranquillity are your lot for the coming 12 months. Because you are usually content and serene, you may not actively compete in the dog-eat-dog world of commerce."


I'm pretty sure that means I will be unemployed

Ah, well. Anyway, we had a four-day weekend as yesterday was The 200th birthday Benito Juarez (the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico.) I kicked off the weekend by going to some local springs, the next day I went with friends to the beach, Monday I was in Oaxaca City shopping, and in the evening I went to a cantina and listened to mariachis, drank to tequila and flirted with any boy who crossed my path. Tuesday, I went to the village of Benito as they had a bunch of dancing and music exhibitions. It was lovely. My friend from Kansas (another professor at another university) and I stopped at a resturant with a view for a beer only to have a group of 19-year-olds offer to buy a couple rounds. Not bad for woman who's 29-for-the-first-time, eh?

We stopped by a local artist's workshop before we went to the springs. He was fat and crazy but he does good work.

These are some of the dancers from the bicentennial celebration. You can't see it, but these are actually kids at the age where the girls are taller than the boys. It's fun to watch the part where they are supposed to be stealing a kiss and the little guys have to reach up on tip-toe.

My friends' kid at the beach. This is Andi of the piñata-addiction fame. She's got a thing for water, too.

Secure Balloons

Meet Abi and Andrea. They're the kids of one of my professor friends. This is not some new form native gear. They came over with their folks for dinner and as my child-friendly toys selection consists of balloons or slightly duller knives, the girls got loaded up with globos. Perhaps I've never mentioned that the wind blows to mid-sized-rock-lifting proportions this time of year but they thought it was hysterical to go out to my balcony and let their new toys get whipped away at twenty miles per hour. Auntie Caro didn't have time for this so I ended up tying them to the children. They loved it. Kids are weird.