A Gringo's adventure in Mexico

I did it! My presentation went really well, and I got a lot of compliments after. Both on the technical content and on my spanish, so I felt pretty good. It turns out that it was really good to have my presentation on Friday, because it gave me all week to listen to the other speakers, make changes in my talk, add relevant examples, and, most importantly, get more comfortable with my spanish. So, by the time I gave my talk, I was sort of surprised that I wasn't that nervous and even felt sort of confident. And I think that helps a lot, because then people aren't focusing on my nervousness about the language, but they are (hopefully!) listening to what I am saying. I had 90 minutes alloted, but I was going strong, so they told me I could have a bit more time. It was a lot of fun, and what was interesting is that so much of what I teach here in the U.S. applied to the biologists in Mexico and their problems and issues. And having been there the week before, I could bring in examples that we had talked about, and they could relate even better.

So, all in all, I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. There was even a representative from the U.S. Consultate who came to hear me, so, of course, then I couldn't crack any anti-Bush jokes! The only problem was I brought home a bad sore throat and am not feeling too hot. Probably brought on by being a bit stressed out.

The meeting was held at the Centro Ecológico, which is a zoo/park outside of town. One morning several us met befoe the workshop to birdwatch there, which was lot of fun. I didn't see any new birds, but it was good to get out and walk around and talk more informally with people. and speaking of informal talk, that was where I had the biggest problems. Just understanding some of the simple small talk stuff. So, I need to switch gears a bit, and study less of my work type vocabulary and work more on chit-chat!

I didn't get to do too much else than go to the meeting each day. We left the hotel at 8:15 a.m. and usually didn't get back til after 6. Sonora is sort of the beef capitol and I ate more meat than usual. One night we went to a seafood place and had a great meal there. I learned about a "mixed" beer drink. It's a blend of a beer, with lime juice, bitters and hot sauce. served on ince, with salt on the rim. I think it was called "michilate" but I'm not sure. It was good!

On Saturday morning before I returned home, I got to walk around the town a little. There is a beautiful cathedral and plaza, but once you get on to the side streets, it reminded me a lot of streets in Leon, Nicaragua.

I made a lot of great contacts, so now I will be thinking about ways I can followup, and see what other projects or trainings might work for the future. So, stay tuned!