A Regular Mexican Work Day

The lights in the smoky club seem to dim and brighten depending how many of the band members are playing. The eclectic ecltro-jazz band switches seemlessly from Jimi Hendrix to Charlie Parker to blues. I recognize from people from a conference at work earlier in the day, and we chat about international food security issues and our favorite street food vendors. For $2 I get a beer and a pile of spicy peanuts while listening to live music for a few hours. It's the perfect way to end the 10-12 hour days I put in at work.

There are some language barriers working in an all Spanish-speaking environment given that I don't speak much Spanish. We're making it work though. Currently, I'm designing a new website for two organizations, trying to get some GIS maps worked out, starting to sift through years of audio and video files to upload, and beginning to create a database to expand the international reach of the organization's research. No exciting field trips this week, but the better my Spanish becomes, the more I'll be able to conduct my own interviews in the local communities.

The photo is my little buddy Amiliano. He's the only Chicklet kid I actually like. I let him where my sunglasses around and people buy more chicklets to take his photo. He's a bit shy about his own life, but is extremely curious and likes to tickle tourists (not a strategy that works for the old street vendors I've noticed).

Tonight I've been invited to go salsa dancing with a group of Canandian and American folks. The work week doesn't actually end even though the weekend begins. Puedo dormir cuando soy muerto.