Okay, I'm not as stupid as first feared. I got to my Teaching Grammar class and no one, NO ONE knew anything about past participles or 3rd person singular or copulas. And some of these students are already teachers.

In San Diego, even more rain this weekend! I had a quiet few days, Hector spent the weekend in Guatemala between work weeks there. I went for a few long walks, between rain showers, and had dinner last night with Dave at Kitima. Just trying to be frugal and studious. Translation: dull. I'm ready for a trip!

TGIF

When did I become so old and stupid? At the end of my first week of classes I'm exhausted and confused. I can't remember which textbook is for which class (granted, they all are connected to teaching English) and I'm not sure if I'm doing the right homework. It reminds me of the shock I went into when I attended the Spanish immersion school in southern Mexico a few years ago. For ten days I was a nervous wreck, not sleeping, walking around in a daze. Then, one day it all just changed and I got it and became the star pupil. Hope that happens here, but for now I don't know a past participle from a gerund.

Hector is back on the road again (and not here to do my homework for me) and I'm doing a few measly jobs but spending most of time being a student. Most of my classes are filled with giggly Asian girls over here from Japan or Korea to get some sort of credential for back home.

Bit of a gloom at our house. After much anticipation over the supposed new international staff for Hector's company, it turns out that almost everyone got fired from the International Div. and there are no plans to hire anyone new. That rather puts the kibosh on our overheated fantasies about ending up in some exotic locale. Of course, there has been no official word to Hector but still we moped around, kicking the cat, for a couple of days then just decided-- what the fuck. I'm still going to do the teaching certificate program (beginning next week) and we'll sit tight for a bit. Hopefully, our planned (and ticketed!) trips to Panama and Istanbul can still be managed.



Currently it is raining like crazy here. Usually, when the weather forecasters are screaming "storm of the century!" like they did all last week, it means that it will cloud over and you may need to turn on windshield wipers. But this time they were more or less correct. San Diego...code orange...heightened alert!

Redwood Highway, part 2

Kenwood Inn

Now where was I? Oh, yes. Driving out of Mendocino. We took an easy meander north and arrived in Kenwood early afternoon, all drizzly, cold and foggy. I don't know if you've ever been to the California Wine Country before but it's a real experience. For one thing, it's really picturesque. We stayed at the charming Kenwood Inn and Spa, got upgraded to a suite with fireplace and jacuzzi tub. It was pretty nasty out so we stayed by the fire, killing off a good bottle of wine. As a matter of fact, we spent pretty much the entire 2 days at the hotel-- steam room, heated pool, breakfast room, winebar, room service, reading our books in front of the fire. Armchair travelers.

2 days later we drove in to San Francisco, over the Golden Gate. Checked into the Renaissance Stanford Court on Nob Hill and that night we met Hector's brother, Jorge, and his family (in town for shopping) for drinks at the St Francis Hotel on Union Square. We had dinner at Cafe Tiramisu on Belden St.

Next day, hiking at Muir Woods, hamburger in Sausalito, drinks at the Fairmont Nob Hill. We also visited Grace Cathedral. Next day we flew home, joined by all the traveling holiday families, cranky because they didn't get what they want for Christmas.