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2/12/01 Hotel de la Soledad, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico

Monday morning we went to see the kids at school at 8:30. There was an assembly for the whole school, as there is every Monday morning. Our kids were the stars but first there was the ceremonial presentation of the Mexican flag by an honor guard. The Mexican kids were all very well behaved, standing in perfect rows in their groups. They all wore clean uniforms. One uniform was for kids scheduled for PE , another for kids doing all academics that day. They rotate. The behavior of all the kids put USA kids in our schools to shame. It was easy to spot our kids, they were the ones wearing an assortment of colors. It might be a good idea for the next year's group to purchase uniforms for our kids. They might feel less conspicuous and the uniform sweater and skirt would make nice souvenirs. Just a thought.

Another thought, we need to start now on fund raising for the Mexican kids to come here. Perhaps that should have been the focus of fund raising in the first place. We can all afford this trip for our kids much more than they can. Can anybody out there start asking the local wineries and such if they could contribute? The money should go to HALL: They can get it to the Mexican families in return. Perhaps an appeal to Ray Holley for some publicity? We don't have much time.

Anyway, back to the assembly; After much ceremony our kids were introduced and stood in front. We parents were then taken on a tour of the school. We saw their computer lab, consisting mostly of what looked like old 286 machines with a couple of Win 98-capable units. (Do you have old computers to give these people?) The library was nice but noticeably lacking in books. There was a kitchen where the girl students learn to cook. Another class teaches sewing, again for the girls. For the boys there is a wood shop and a printing class that uses a 70-year-old press with linotype that they learn to set in galleys. They produce some very nice products such as business cards. All notices sent home to parents are run on that press.

After the tour was done at about 10 we said our good byes to the kids. Some were doing just fine, others looked a little shell-shocked.

I spent most of the rest of the day walking around the city. Later, I showed some of the moms how to use the internet cafe to connect with their email or set up a Yahoo account so hopefully their spouses and others are getting email. I sent you the short email asking for the Kodak adapter thingy. I am still unable to find one locally and I have no way to get the pictures from the camera to the computer yet. Hang in there, I will get them to you. If I do get them on the computer I will then need to use a faster connection to send them.

The internet cafe place is actually primarily a phone service that rents phone time but also has about 12-15 computers networked together. They appear to be new P3 machines but they all share the same internet connection. Based on the miserable speed I suspect the connection is simply a dial-up that one computer shares with the rest. If I go in at an odd time it is merely slow and irritating. If I go when most of the computers are running it is virtually stopped. It would almost be worth getting my own ISP for the minimum time, say a month, and dialing from my hotel room. The hotel charges 20 pesos per local call. ($2US). I saw another place down the road this morning while I was running that was open at 7AM. The one right next to the hotel opens at 9 and closes at 9 at night, maybe at 7 at the other place it won't be so slow. Erika supposedly has a cable connection at her house and she will let me use it so when I get the digital photos on my computer I will send them via Erika's connection.

--Bill Tomkovic