Mi Vida Loca en La Ciudad Heroica

Hello, all. I had a brief bout with gastroenteritis today and yesterday, but I'm feeling a lot better now. I guess it was something I ate!
Anyway, things are pretty busy down here. I was invited to give a presentation at another local university on Teaching English Phonetics and I have been preparing for the past week or so. I will be giving the talk on Wednesday and it will be nice to add some Professional Development to the old Curriculum Vitae. I've got my Powerpoint and several activities planned. I'm a little nervous, but I'm also looking forward to sharing the information I have gathered. Plus, it will only be a small audience of about 20 people. The last (and only) time I gave a professional presentation was at CATESOL in Pasadena last year. In fact, it was a joint presentation with my friend Greer, who will be coming to visit next week! I will be fun to have another visitor and to show her around.
In other news, some of you may have heard (from a source who shall remain nameless) that I am considering staying in Mexico until December. This is true; however, it is not any more definite than when I said in a recent blog post that I'd be leaving Mexico in August. It's just hard to know these things even a couple months in advance. I would say I am a person who has a high tolerance for ambiguity, living in a world where people like definitive answers. It ain't easy, folks. I still really enjoy my job and the multifaceted experience of living in Valladolid. Here I have been exposed to Mayan cosmology and I have access to healers and spiritual counselors in a way that I never imagined.
I am coming up on the 10 year anniversary of the first time I visited Valladolid with my Baba, back in 2000 when she took me on a trip to Cancun. Believe it or not, when I was 18, I truly did become enchanted with this little colonial city. We stopped in Valladolid in the central square on a day trip to Chichen Itza, and, in the 45 minutes I had to explore the plaza and old streets, I recall wondering what it would be like to live here. After the trip, I thought about Valladolid, La Ciudad Heroica, many times, but I didn't think I'd be back to visit, let alone to live here. So there is definitely something special that has brought me here to Yucatan, and I guess out of respect for it, and out of a general belief that life calls me to be where I need to be as long as I am connected to the Source, I am leaving the door open to stay and learn here a bit longer...
Of course, I do long for drinkable water, Trader Joe's almond butter, and countless other luxuries of the American lifestyle. And I miss my family and friends! But I am going to make the most of this unique experience so that when the time comes for me to teach somewhere else, I will be ready. There is still lots to do!