Fran Returns to School for Second Semester!

Ha Ha...well, I got the San Felipe mountains in focus!  This was taken on my roof a few days ago.  I'll do better next time!

Fran is going back into the ring next Tuesday, February 4!  Today she left early to sign up for classes and choose her professors.  Because of her high grades she has been put into the "A" group, which means her classes will start early every day, and she will get off earlier in the afternoon.  The "B" group will have a later schedule and not be released til 7 or 8pm.  Other perks hopefully include getting first choice on electives -- she had to take Banda de Guerra last time and had to march around in the hot sun beating a snare drum!

During her long Christmas break she attended classes in English at the Oaxaca Lending Library where she got a scholarship, and continued intermittent classes at the Learning Center.  Yesterday she had to "try out" in order to get a high-level instructor at the Learning Center to coach her on Integral Calculus.  She passed the try-out but said it wasn't easy, and that the instructor -- very valuable to her because he teaches calculus at another technical school -- gave her a bit of a hard time.  Where math is concerned, Tough Love seems to be the preferred method here.  Or maybe just Tough!  The attitude of professors towards students is a bit militaristic to my sensibilities, but Mexico is a much more authoritarian culture, and maybe that's what it takes to weed out students that are less than 100% gung ho.  Fran is pretty focused on her standing in the class, not just passing the courses.

The break was good for Fran.  It gave her the chance to relax a little, concentrate on other things such as English and reading, develop her social life, and no doubt reflect on her experiences last semester in anticipation of what is to come.

Oh!  Also her brothers visited Oaxaca while I was in the States.  Here's a couple of photos, one she took of her brothers in her village some months ago, and one taken over the holidays in a cafe this last Christmas break...

Next year I plan to visit her village with a couple of her donors and I can't wait!  It's not going to be an easy trip, but it will certainly be an adventure!

Back to the subject of her studies...Fran is still very much on trial until the end of her first year, and cannot fail a class.  I know that's not going to happen, but Fran worries!

It has been really cold this winter so far, and we are in for more of the same through February.  Thanks to some donors who visited over Thanksgiving (you know who you are) she was gifted with some warm winter clothes -- and her mother sent her back from her family visit to Cuicatlan with a heavy warm blanket that smelled like remote pueblos I have visited -- of the cooking fire.

Please join me in sending Fran good energy for her upcoming semester.  We are both so grateful for your interest and your help!  Now that she is back in school, I will be blogging more frequently.  Abrazos!

A Whole New Year!

I often surprise myself with how hopeful and positive I feel as each new year begins, but this year seems particularly promising.  I don't know why, but I feel that many people will reach a greater understanding of what needs to be done to protect the earth and the living beings who live here, and will actually start to act.  Brilliant, caring young people like Fran are filling up the ranks behind us and we cannot imagine from our own limited experience what they will be able to do.  Our job is to see that they get the best education possible, and all the encouragement we can give them.  Of course, "best education possible" is not only what they learn in institutions.  If we can't bring out their nascent curiosity about the world and give them the tools they need to advance their skills and solidity as human beings, simply "going to college" will not help them reach their full potential.

Fran and I are back from vacation and settling in before the school year starts.  She is beginning English class today.  My friend David is just now helping her get to know her new laptop, a gift from two supporters.

Last semester she was acknowledged by her teachers as one of the top 3 in her class and I am sure she is preparing to make a similar showing next semester.  I have never observed a person more skilled in organizing her life around an important goal, and following through to the end.  And she is not grim about it!  She is obviously taking great joy in the opportunity she has been given, and has expressed gratitude for the people resources who are assembled around her.  Her energy is high!

If you are interested in contributing for the first time, even a small amount, please email me at lcassady@gmail.com and I can tell you how.  For those who are already contributing, both Fran and I continue to be in awe of how you make her new life a real possibility.  Thank you.