"Mi Casa Es Su Casa", My House is Your House

Raramiri is a teacher at the secondary school that Mike and the kids are attending. He is Enock's nephew and one of the four that will be traveling to America for the new teacher exchange program. Our family has spent a lot of time with him. We look forward to showing the hospitality to him in Oregon that he has shown us in Mexico.

Raramiri and Maddy have been very good friends. Madeline helps him with his English. They have a special and unique friendship. Raramiri, a single, 31 yr old teacher, has told us that when he grows up, he'd like to have a daughter just like Maddy. He appreciates her energy and enthusiasm for life. One day, Maddy was having a tough day and was down cast. Raramiri went out of his way to cheer her up. He couldn't stand to have seen the positive energy gone even for one day.


Raramiri owns three houses, two in La Huacana and one in Morelia (the city I love!). We went with him to Morelia this last weekend and slept in his house for two nights. He has made it clear that "mi casa es su casa". Funny thing, he really means it! We can stay in Morelia at his house anytime now or in the future. I have begun to speak of the house in those terms. When I stepped off the porch to take these pictures, I announced that I wanted pictures of "mi casa" in Morelia. Raramiri in turn says, "let's return to Tammy's house".

In a year our family will be coming back to LaHuacana to stay for a month and we will be living in Raramiri's house in LaHuacana. Since Mike's sabbitical will have been used up, he will be using accrued vacation days. This allows us to go home and study Spanish diligently for the next year and then to come back to brush up on it with our new Mexican friends.

Gwen is Teaching Molly Spanish

I was delighted when Molly brought home Gwen on the second day of school. Every since, the two girls have been connected at the hip. Gwen is a very nice young lady and speaks no English. This is a real plus. Molly and Gwen are constantly learning each other's language. They have to work hard to be friends. In fact, Gwen is constantly teaching our whole family.

Gwen and her parents invited our whole family to go out to dinner on Friday night. Since her parents don't speak any English either, we had a very quiet evening. No, not really. (It's never quiet with the Knutz's!) Mike is good at making conversation even if people can hardly understand him. Both of Gwen's parents are teachers in our community.

Cooking Lessons the Hard Way

The Culprits

Next time you see these little bugers, proceed with caution. They only look harmless. The rest of the story. . .

What I didn't know while I was stir frying this meat with the above peppers, was that my mouth, lips, and hands would soon be on fire. I laughed last night as I read Joellen Armstrong's post on her experience with making salsa. She learned too the importance of using gloves when working with peppers. The irony of Joellen chopping in McMinnville while I was chopping in La Haucana, learning the same hard lesson. She, however, ran to google and found the remedy. Toothpaste cools pepper burns. Wish I had known. . . What was crazier is that while I was making dinner, our Mexican friend, Fernando was present and quickly cautioned me not to touch my face while chopping. I thought I hadn't but it was soon revealed that I had many times! My hands were still burning 24 hours later. I don't know what these little peppers are called but Fernando said they are of the hottest available. They added a nice flavor to my beef I must admit, without being overly potent. This cooking lesson I had to learn on my own, by trial. Today Loopay came over and I talked her into making salsa right in front of me. Yummy! I now have all the secret ingredients to Mexico's finest fresh salsa! We had been experimenting at home but nothing compared to this. The secret is lime juice and salt. I will post the recipe next time. I left my notebook at home and want to give you the name of the right pepper to use.

Oh, and what is that funny tube thing around my neck? It is a balloon that has been filled with water. Madeline learned the trick of how to keep her mom cool in Mexico. She keeps two in the fridge at all times, one to cool, one to refrigerate while the other is in use. I often wear them in the afternoons, especially while I cook. Isn't Maddy clever?