A new development: Classes have been canceled for tomorrow and the next day at all schools in the state of Veracruz, including the Centro de Idiomas here in Xalapa, because of Hurricane Dean. The governor of Veracruz made the announcement today in anticipation of heavy rains and winds in the state. So my first day of classes will begin on Friday, not tomorrow.

And while I have you here, let me tell you what happened to me earlier this evening. On my way home from buying a cell phone for local calls, I stopped in at a small restaurant--I forget the name--located 2 or 3 blocks from my apartment. Pery had recommended it, so I was eager to try the food.

I entered the open door--the doors of every restaurant here stand open because there are so few flies in Xalapa--and asked the waiter if I could buy some consomme with vegetables--to go--that I'd seen listed on the menu at the door. He informed me that the only soup available was a creamed soup. So then I asked for some red rice to go. He showed me a table with the specials of the day, pointing out that today's rice wasn't red (cooked in tomato sauce). When I asked how it was cooked, he explained that it was cooked some other way, the details of which eluded my ability to interpret them, but I did catch the words mantequilla and caldo de pollo, so I asked for two orders (one for today, one for tomorrow).

In a short time, the waiter brought me two large containers of rice.

"How much?" I asked.

I could swear I heard him say, "90 pesos." So I produced a 20-peso bill--mistaking it for a 200-peso bill. He pointed out that I was short. I apologized and pulled out a 50-peso bill and two 10-peso coins--a total of 90 pesos ($8.10 at today's rate of exchange).

Now, ordinarily, I make a rough translation of prices from dollars to pesos by mentally moving the decimal point one place to the left. For example, if a price is stated as $197 in pesos, I mentally move the decimal to the left to get a ballpark amount in dollars of $19.70. But I skipped this step during the soup transaction, or I would have realized that 90 pesos--$9--for two containers of rice was too much.

Thankfully, at this point, the young man took my 20-peso bill and one of the 10-peso coins, pointing out that the price of the rice was 30 pesos ($2.71 at the current rate of exchange), not 90 pesos. I thanked him, grateful for his honesty, and told him what was pretty obvious--that I am still having some difficulties with the money.

The waiter then asked me if I wanted some tortillas to go with the rice, and when I said yes, the young woman making tortillas nearby put four fresh, hot corn tortillas in a plastic bag for me. And THEN the waiter added a bag of two fresh rolls and two packets of after-dinner mints to my cache. I did have the good sense to tip them both and thank them one more time.