September

It was to be my second time in Mexico. I had come three years before on a two week vacation, but this time I was going to be spending a whole school year here before I saw England again.

I set foot on Mexican soil at around 7pm on Friday September 7th 2000 at Mexico City airport. It had been a near perfect journey, but the flight had been 11 hours and it had been about 20 hours since I had woken up on that Friday in Dawlish, Devon. The journey wasn't over yet. I was quickly through the formalities, collected by a teacher from Greengates School in Mexico City, and whisked away to a bus that rattled my jaded body for three hours towards the city of Queretaro. There I was met by Peter and Julie Nevett and eventually delivered to their house in Tequisquiapan about an hour later. Journey over!!!

Over the course of the following week, which by the way led up to the Independence day celebrations, I was to discover the many sites and sounds of this small beautiful city. These photographs were all taken one week after having arrived, and show various views around the central plaza.

I could hardly ask for better views from my work place. The grounds were surrounded by scrubland filled with various forms of cacti and mesquite, and the backdrop of mountains has been something I do not think I would ever tire of seeing. I did not bother to own a car in Mexico. The 25 minutes walk to and from school each day was good exercise, and took me past interesting viewpoints. I was also soon going to realise that the sun shone every day and even on days that started cloudy, the clouds could be very interesting.

September 15th is Mexican independence day, and in 2000 this fell on a Friday. The children were all encouraged to come to school dressed in very Mexican costumes, or something that

symbolised the struggle for independence