The People

I haven't met an inconsiderate person yet. Everyone greets us warmly, pays no attention to our limited speaking ability, offers us more food than they have, and are generally just good hosts. One of the best things about Amigos is that we get to meet a large of number of these people through a rotating meal schedule. That is, after the first week of eating just with our families, we eat every lunch and most dinners with other families in the community. Most of the families we eat with also have students in our class, so it really helps us and them believe in what we're teaching.

It's definitely not all school stuff, though -- most of it's a cultural exchange. I, for example, show them Spoons. Or, cucharas, as it will forever be known here. (One particularly zealous little girl dove across the table to grab one out of my hands -- which is ironic, because she's one of the shiest students in the class and needs me to hold hers through nearly every lesson.) They, in turn, show me chile. Many types of hot chile. One particular chile, chile pequine, so scalded my tongue that I couldn't really taste anything the rest of the meal.

More about the people and my gringo tongue later. For now, adios.