In over twenty years of traveling down here to the Oaxaca valley we’ve seen only three houses of adobe being constructed. Houses here are made from regular or a cement based brick. I think it's because an adobe house has the stigma of being Indio or less than. Too bad. Adobe does have its limitations. It’s harder to hang heavy items on the wall, rain can eventually wear the adobe down, a structure can only be one story, and for security an adobe wall can be destroyed easier. But for climate control, there is no contest. An adobe structure provides much more insulation. Inside our home the adobe walls consistently remain cool.  Selvario is constructing an adobe home in Union Zapata. He invited me to take some photos the other day. Selvario told me that adobe bricks are more expensive than other bricks but they are larger in size. An adobe brick is about 15” x 10” x 3”. Building is also much faster with adobe bricks. The home being built in the photos will be completed in just three weeks. That’s for walls only. The owner hasn’t decided on a roof style yet. Cement roofs are the most popular. With proper drainage a cement roof will last almost an indefinite period. The Spanish tile (teja) could need replacement in twenty years but is much cooler than cement.

Selvario mixing up mud for the adobe bricks.

Cement columns are poured in the corners and in the middle of long walls for reenforcement.

The inside walls will be covered with stucco.

Selvario told me a little trick they use is mixing sand with the mud to avoid mud sticking to their hands.

The owner is a young man that's never been to the States. It's pretty rare when homes are built in UZ without US dollars.

We bought two more hens. Their colors are beautiful. Our rooster Ganzo now rules over all the hens. Poor Big Boy hides over in the neighbor’s yard. Ganzo doesn’t even like Big Boy to come close to the fence. Every once in a while our neighbor’s rooster wanders over to our yard but Ganzo quickly runs him off. Goldie had eight chicks but only four have survived. For the first month Goldie and the chicks were locked up for safety but they now forage in the yard. They still sleep in a fenced area for safety.  We’re not sure what happened to the lost four. Could have been rats or maybe even Scooter. Scooter has proven himself to be a killer of chicks. I’ve had to pay for a few that he killed. I added another nest to our hen house. It too is made from a five gallon bucket but I attached this one from the outside so it didn’t take up space in the hen house. It took a couple of days for the hens to used it, but now they use it daily. We bought our last two hens from Felipe’s daughter Leticia. I wasn’t looking forward to catching them but it turned out to be quite simple. Felipe has a couple of young hound dogs. One of them is trained to catch chickens. He doesn’t harm them. When a chicken is cornered is just sits down and submits. Felipe just picks them up. Incredible!

Scooter checking out Goldie's chicks. Yummy!!!!

The nest I added to the outside of the coop.

Goldie in the brush with her chicks.

Goldie now roams the yard with her rapidly growing chicks. We were going to give the chicks away but have decided to keep them for now.

Our two new hens Sandy and Ashley

We became compadres again. A friend’s daughter graduated from kinder and we were her padrinos. We are limited to nonreligious events for becoming compadres. Weddings and baptisms are out. We watched Denia receive her diploma then went home until three. We then returned to Marino’s for the fiesta. We ate, drank, and danced until ten. It was a great night. Most of the guests were family members. We swapped experiences and thoughts about Mexico and the United States. Of course, Mr. Trump came up in our conversation as it has with many of our friends. Chapo Guzman is also a lively topic right now. Many people view him as a kind of Robin Hood.

Marino's daughter Denia at her graduation from kinder.

I believe the theme for their dances was the fifties.

Excellent food.

Don't remember what made us laugh but it must of been a good one.

Our compadre and comadre.

We danced until about 10:30.

The end of June we celebrated the 3^rd birthday of Ali (Felipe’s granddaughter), Margarita’s visit here (also Felipe’s granddaughter), and our third year here in Oaxaca. We had the fiesta here at our home with about fifty guests. Felipe’s daughter Leticia made tamales, Beth and I bought a cake, friends and family brought drinks (mezcal, beer, and soft drinks).  It was a fun day with piñatas, games, and dancing. Fiestas are special to us when they involve Felipe’s family.

Ali trying to break a pinata.

Margarita with a friend. She'll be going back to North Carolina the middle of August.

This bag of balloons was broken like a pinata. Some of the balloons have peso bills inside of them.

We bought trick candles that don't blow out.

Cups of tapioca.

Me, Mr. Morga, and another neighbor. I think those were mezcal induced smiles!!

It hasn’t been a good year for rain. It started out well but good hard rains have been rare. Farmers in Union Zapata are beginning to feel desperate. Even farmers with wells are feeling the lack of rain. Wells are drying up which makes it more difficult to get to well water as the levels drop. We are lucky; our well remains at a steady six meters or higher. I measured the other day and our level was seven meters of water. We’ve heard of wells drying up. That means having to pay to have water brought to homes. We bought water for a while. You certainly live differently when you’re buying it. Being able to take a hot shower is a luxury here. Most bathe in cold water. The idea of getting ready for work in the morning and taking a cold shower is not the least bit appealing to us. There are people that prefer a cold shower. We think they’re crazy!

Our friend Felix who sometimes lives next door just celebrated his fifty-second birthday. He invited a few friends to help celebrate. Leticia made tamales. I usually have a few drinks at parties but decided to drink only water. The guys razzed me a little but I stuck to my guns. As I’ve said before you have to be careful with the mezcal. It’s not uncommon to attend six or seven events in a month. That is way too much drinking for me. It’s always a temptation though. Mr. Morga who lives by the highway in front of our house called us the other day to invite us to a comida. He had family visiting from California. It’s pretty rare when we get to have conversations in English at a fiesta or comida. We ended up staying there late. Some of the family had never been to Oaxaca. It was interesting listening to their perceptions of the valley. Following Spanish conversations at a fiesta can be tiresome. Sometimes I zone out and take a break. Mr. Morga did have some good mezcal which I had a little too much of. An interesting occurrence here is that many men when they get up in age drink only mezcal at events. Good mezcal without any chemicals tastes good and leaves no after effects. Many younger men throw caution to the wind and drink anything offered to them. Whopping hangovers! A welcome change here is that it’s very rare when someone becomes aggressive from drink. Back in the nineties is was pretty common. It might be because of the circle of friends we now have. We are also selective about the fiestas we attend.  

For Felix's birthday Letty made tamales before hand and just needed to steam them a little to warm them up.

The gentleman in the middle is a retired physical education teacher.

Manuel's grandson.

Felipe and Beto.

Felix and his son who just graduated from high school.

Scooter looking for hand outs.

At Mr. Morga's birthday party his son in law played and sang. It was touching to see Mr. Morga surrounded by family and friends.

We’ve had to say goodbye to Vic Jimenez who is leaving Oaxaca to work in Puebla. We wish him all the luck. He’s been a good friend and has added to our life here immensely.  Vic’s a fine young man with a great work ethic. Beth and I both would be proud to have him as our son. Best wishes to you Vic. We will stay in contact.

We wish a belated happy birthday to my cousin Dan Self who resides in Washington State. We love Dan and what he stands for.  I would love to get a visit from he and his wife Cindy. Maybe one day!

Felipe is making a little lean-to on his property in front of our house.  He cleared a large area which opens up our view. He lives in Union Zapata so I’m guessing this will be his getaway from the village. Eucalyptus trees are the preferred tree for the four posts that will hold the roof. I believe it is because they don’t crack or split. It’s a real solid, heavy tree.

This view of our house is new because Felipe cleared a lot of the woods away for planting. It really shows how close we are to the mountains.

While clearing away brush Felipe found this large rat snake. It was well over a meter long and quite thick. he eventually wandered into the brush.

The way electricity works down here is that the less electricity you use the more subsidy you receive. There are several levels according to usage. If you go over 500 KW of usage you lose subsidy and are put in the highest bracket. We were using many electrical items and went over 500 KW of usage. Our bill more than doubled. I found out if we stay below 500 KW of usage for three pay periods (that’s six months), our bracket will drop again. We’ve reduced our consumption and are on our last pay period. October should bring us back to thirty dollars a month.

We have a new puppy. Harley is a six week old Beagle. His first night he cried off and on all night. It was pitiful listening to him. We could do nothing to comfort him. He missed his mommy terribly. Never in my life had I considered having four dogs. But we have the time to spend with them and are able to provide food. They are such wonderful companions.

This is Harley, our new pup. Whether inside or out he runs around with his nose to the ground.

We celebrated my birthday in San Dionisio. Actually we received a call from Augustin to come for lunch. When we got there in addition to lunch they'd bought a cake. We'd decided that we weren't going to have a big party. It was perfect celebrating with Augustin, Dalia, and Iris.

We are padrinos to Iris. She surprised me with flowers.

Sometimes Felipe hunts for rabbits around the house. He and a friend are skinning a couple. I hope all those nut jobs don't come after Felipe like they have that dentist who killed the lion. Sorry about that Felipe.

Our friend Beto's daughter Shela just graduated from fifth grade. Because of her high grades she was picked to be in a group that will present the flag during next years events.

Shela's group accepting the flag from the present sixth graders.

That's Shela far right.

Congratulations to Beto and Lucy!!