Los Oscars en Espanol

Watched some of the Oscars: in Spanish. I wondered how it would work, with a live show in English that people here seemed interested in watching. I think it must be just slightly delayed, because the commentary seemed to know what was about to happen, who was about to be a presenter and what they would say. And then voices in Spanish would immediately translate what was being said: a woman’s voice for the women and a man’s voice for the men. I could hear the English quietly under the translating voices. (But for Buzz’s “Spanish mode” there was no need to translate.) I quit after the documentary awards. I’ll have to check who wins later on the Internet.

One of my Mexican friends back home said there would be lots of white people here in Cuernavaca, and there are, but they are not Americans. Many are Mexicans: the local population is not especially Indian or mestizo looking. My host and all her family look very much descended from the Spanish. So do all my teachers at the school. We do see foreigners here, but the other night at Los Arcos for salsa dancing the people we met, whom we thought might be gringos, turned out to be French and Cuban. They are all studying at the local university. Except for the people at school, I have not met other Americans. I occasionally here English being spoken, but more rarely than I thought.

I have also heard that the school once had up to 200 students per month, and this week we will be down to about 10. They used to make use of two buildings, and now they are thinking of selling one. They say it is the economy, but I think they are not giving enough weight to the bad press Mexico is getting in the states.