Journal, January 3, 1976 AM

In yesterday’s scribblings I started out with the heading: January 2, 1975. Brings back memories. I always did that for at least a couple weeks on my class work in grade school.

We went up to Ed Stoll’s to clean up yesterday, with Guillermo, the cyclist. Don came up later on, and we sat around drinking “zarsa” {root beer} and discussing sports, San Antonio {de Belén} and other trivial things. There wasn’t much cleaning to do, so we got it out of the way quick while Don washed his van, and then finished off some near-empty liquor bottles, & started on the unopened Duncan’s whiskey. Ed moves out today, so we helped him move a freezer. We took along the leftover oranges and lemons and the Duncan’s when we left. Jaime took them home (except the Duncan’s, put in safekeeping at Don’s), and promised to bring by half the oranges for our family in the afternoon.

It was really great that Jaime & Pilar came to visit, & talk with Doña Carmen & the kids! She just loves to have folks visit her, & they had never come together before. They kidded Marielos about Felipe’s allusion to her big green eyes, and she just blushed and smiled, and looked cute as ever. <I got a lot of ribbing about Sofia, of course, with Doña Carmen predicting 2 weddings this year, and Jaime plugging a return trip to San Antonio in February!> Jaime’s gone through more than a year of this so he’s making sure I get my share too! <Doña Carmen said I had a pretty novia {girlfriend}, which I took as motherly acceptance of Sofia, but Carlos (Doña Carmen’s brother), who once had a novia in the family, says her Dad is a bad suegro {father-in-law} – he never liked Carlos.> Carlos invited us drinking to celebrate our departure tonight.

I saw Superman on T.V. after supper last night, first time in years! <Went to Jaime’s to see Sofia who had promised to come over, and B.S.’ed with Jaime, Pilar & Don a little.> Jaime ate, & I bummed a tamale, rice & milk. <I started teaching Jaime & Pilar to play Dirty Clubs, but it got to be 7:30 and Sofia hadn’t showed up, so I decided to truck on up to her house, & see what was happening.>

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I ran back down the road to Jaime’s, told them the decision {about going bowling today}, and went for a couple beers with Jaime. We ran in to 3 {Peace Corps} trainees in a talkative mood, & Jaime gave them the lowdown on how to get along in Peace Corps, or to get along you go along, adapted for modern audiences. I added a few side comments, & it seemed to satisfy them. There were no ardent idealists present!