I got back from the Fulbright Orientation last night at 9pm. I'm sitting here at my computer desk this morning, drinking iced coffeed and making a list of the roughly 14,376 tasks I need to complete before I leave the country on Thursday, August 9.

Isabel called me this morning on her new cell phone. My brother David and sister-in-law Carmen had taken Isabel and César shopping for a mobile phone plan and for groceries yesterday. I found out that the apartment manager didn't follow through on her promise to replace the broken Murphy bed in their apartment with a new one, however. Isabel said she will report the problem first thing on Monday morning.

I've been looking through some of my photos from the Orientation, remembering the wonderful people I met there, most especially the Mexican teachers and their families who are going to far-flung places in the U.S.--like Juan Antonio from Ensanada who will teach at a middle school in Minneapolis; Alma Salazar from Sonora who will teach at a high school in Maine; Fernando Alcantar from Mexico City who will also teach at a high school in Maine; Alfredo Jimenez from Puebla who will teach at middle school in New York state; Manual Luna from Mexico City who will teach at a middle school in Minneapolis; Rita Cano from Morelos who will teach middle school in Montana; Paolo Trejo from Mexico City who will teach at Cece Daniel's high school in Castle Rock, Colorado; Miguel Hernandez who will teach at a high school in Minneapolis; and María Villa of Mexico City who will teach in Halifax, Virginia.