it's the weekend!

It’s Saturday afternoon and I have just come back from a trip to el centro historico with Eva, who is lovely and really easy company. Puebla really is great – there are loads of markets selling craft stuff and food, and there’s a nice ‘vibe’. I now have lots of credit on my Mexican SIM card (as I realised yesterday that I’ve been paying a scandalous amount on my UK phone – £2 a minute and 40p per text – I must have clocked up at least £60!

Though Eva thought she’d be able to live here for free for the duration of her stay she’s been told she has to find somewhere else to live which seems a bit unfair as she’s an unpaid volunteer. She tells me she’ll have to find a job of some sort and work less for Juconi. In a year’s time she’s going to Germany to do a master’s degree in international development management and knows she’ll end up in mucho debt. She’s pretty focussed as her decision to come here was to get experience of working for an NGO. Proud to say we spoke in Spanish most of the time – she’s lived in Canada and speaks good English. I’ve given her permission to correct my Spanish, which she has – quite a lot, but it’s a good way to learn.

While we sat at a café. A man came round playing that tune they always played in Speedy Gonzales cartoons, badly on a violin. There are lots of little Mexicanas – I feel quite tall sometimes. Eva tells me there are lots of tourists in Puebla, but because most of them are Mexican, I can’t tell. The double-decker tourist buses are certainly full.

Yesterday I went to the casa juconi with Emily and have been charged with painting a mural over the next two Fridays. I came back here and designed a couple of ideas, and will do another in a bit, so they have something to choose from – there are lots of murals in the case already (see above, mine won’t be half as detailled, given the time I have). Became really tired yesterday afternoon and had a long, deep kip, and slept loner this morning (til half eight!). Tonight we’re going out. I was meant to meet Lucia last night to go to some free concert but she cancelled in favour of a talk on racism in education – I did not wish to go to that (in Spanish or otherwise!).

Anyway, not much new to report (though everything is new to me). I think I may have another kip!