Modelos

I can’t believe it’s September already. The whole city is already decorated for Mexican Independence day the weekend of Sept. 15. It’s quite a sight, much more impressive than what we do for Fourth of July in my opinion. I hear the parties will be spectacular, too.

This week went by quickly. On Tuesday, I met up with Samuel Bigeleisin, the religious leader at the Jewish nursing home here. I had contacted him last week to see if I could join his community for Rosh HaShanah (the Jewish New Year) services next week, and he asked me if I’d stop by sometime before then to chat with him. Technically, Mr. Bigeleisin isn’t a rabbi, but he’s taken on that role in the nursing home. He seems perfect for it, though. He’s extremely animated and intellectual. Every few minutes, he’d think of another book or magazine he had to show me and jump up to pull it off the wall-to-wall bookshelves lining his room. After two hours, I could barely see past the pile of literature in front of me.

Wednesday, I gave my third Rotary presentation to the Cuernavaca-Juarez club, the one that my counselor here, Robert Winter, belongs to. I’d met most of the members previously at a party at Mr. Winter’s house, so it was easy to stand up in front of them.

Thursday, Sheila and I went to an amateur modeling competition at a club called El Alebrije with her host family. Her host mom’s granddaughter Monica was one of the 14 contestants. An hour and a half after the show was supposed to start, the models finally came out. (Welcome to the ways of Mexico.) The girls were easily all gorgeous enough to become models, though they’ll need some work. I often felt like I was watching a bunch of kids playing dress up because they didn’t have quite the right expressions or poses or walks. But aside from their carriage, the rest of the show felt very professional, from the lights to the music.

During clothing changes, the organizers brought out dancers, including a belly dancer (what is it with Mexico and belly dancing?), a salsa/pop trio and two women who twirled ribbons and chains lit on fire. It was a lot of fun.

I’m still having trouble communicating with the paper, but was eventually approved to work on a piece about folk dancing. Hopefully, things on this end will start moving quicker soon.
Enjoy your weekend!