I’ve spent all day in the house, sick from eating who knows what. I’m holding my Cipro in reserve for something really bad though…lets just hope it never comes. I should be on my feet again tomorrow, and if not, I’ll make good use of that traveler’s health insurance.

Well, as with most things on this trip, camping didn’t go exactly as planned. It rained, so we only spent one night, and it wasn’t too rustic- no woods in sight! Basically, it was this water park filled with water from the hot springs, with pools of variable temperatures, water slides, and a little grassy area for camping. But who’s going to let a little rain spoil a good camping trip?? To my amazement, we set up eight, yes, eight, tents in the rain, including one that we named “the White House” since it was rigged up with two poles and a huge white tarp (the family thought that one was hilarious). Everyone kept their cool (an impressive feat!) despite having over 15 kids running around in the mud. After dark the kids and I scrambled into bathing suits and jumped into the steaming pools to warm up. Good times .

The next morning, the adults made a group decision to pack up and head home instead of spending a second night in the rain. We spent the day at the water park, running from the scalding pool, to the cool pool, to the waterslide, etc…. and stuffing ourselves full of fresh corn tortillas accompanied by a variety of fillings. Oh, and the s’mores were a big success! Various people asked me how I learned to make them, to which I could only reply “umm…I just know? Everyone in the US knows how to make them.” Such a simple question about s’mores demonstrates the value of possessing the social capital of mainstream America. Learning a whole new set of collective knowledge is a daunting task, especially when all of our institutions are designed around the American funds of knowledge. The impact of this is most visible in public schools, where many times first- and second-generation immigrant youth are denied biculturalism and bilingualism (assets!) through English-only teaching. Ok, enough ranting for today…although that “Growing Up Mexican in American Schools” class always seems to creep up in my thoughts….