So on Sunday we did a 4 hour walking tour of Oaxaca that included several churches, including the cathedral and the Santo DOmingo church of Oaxaca. Also included in our tours were the ancient acqueduct, the zocalo (plaza) which is currently a squatter city full of tents, sleeping bags, and tarps because the municipal teachers of public schools are on strike, and the mercado where we saw clothing, arts and crafts, and traditional oaxacan cuisine which includes different moles, chiles, chocolate, and chapulines (grasshoppers) which are an essential part of the diet because in this "tropical area" there is little beef production and so grasshoppers and other insects are an essential part of the diet for protein. In the afternoon we ate and walking throughout the streets in the rain which continued for the third straight day of our stay. At lunch we ate a buffet consisting of chicken, pork, chiles rellenos, vegetables, and desserts. Our drinks included horchata, beer, and mezcal, an alcoholic drink not so different from Tequila made from the maguey plant and very popular in Oaxaca. During the evening we all rested as the first day of school begins for students today on Monday. Thus far, the trip has been a very good one and though I anticipated the streets of Oaxaca being flooded by Americans I was somewhat surpised to see so many European tourists especially franceses and alemanes (germans). The weather in Oaxaca has been a pleasant change. It has been raining lightly every day that we've been here although today it appears as if it might not continue as the skies are partly cloudy but it doesn't seem as if there are rain clouds in the sky. Our students will be in class from 9-1pm and then will participate in an intercambio (english and spanish language and cultural exchange) with Mexican students. Lunch is from 2-4 and then from 4-6 we will return to the school where students will participate in other classes such as cooking, dancing (salsa/merengue/cumbia), ceramics, conversation, weaving, etc. From 6pm the students are on their own although we are thinking of getting together with them at our hotels to discuss any observations they might have and to continue practicing conversation until dinner time.