Saturday, July 8

Where to start, in this missive-cum-journal entry? I am sitting in my little room, which is across the courtyard from the main part of the house. Everything is stucco, and en un estilo colonial, though the house is only 15 years old. It's charming - the outer walls sealed in colors of dun, yellow, lime and purple, and a deep coral inside the rest of the house. There's an internal "courtyard," too - an upstairs balcony looks down on the living room and kitchen, which are continuous (though the kitchen floor is two steps up from the level of the living room). Although I haven't yet seen a map (I'll have to see if I can get one tomorrow), I know that we are in the old part of the city...

Thursday, July 6

Just a note as I finish up with preparations for my summer language program in Morelia... I leave on Saturday for 6 weeks in Mexico, during which I'll stay with a family, attend Spanish classes 5 days a week at a small university on the outskirts of town, and hopefully get a chance to volunteer and otherwise take part in some of the everyday goings on in Morelia.

This week we had our first appointment at the county travel clinic... and I received immunizations against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, yellow fever, tetanus, hepatitus A, and hepatitus B. Brita got the hep A and B immunizations, yellow fever shot, and a polio booster.

Soon to follow are immunizations against typhoid fever, rabies, and more in the hepatitus series.

The county's travel health clinic was great: they were friendly, thorough, informative, and even affordable (if you consider that the alternatives include miserable illness in the middle of nowhere). Now we're on to researching anti-malarial measures...