More baseball (and new friends)

What a night! Last night we went to another baseball game. We got home really late so I didn't have time to post anything then. I had a great time, though! And as usual, the actual game wasn't the most interesting part. We sat in the very top row close to an opening so you could see out onto the street right outside the ball park. Usually we just watch all the foul balls go over the side of the stadium and comment, "There goes another car!" This time, we actually got to see a ball hit a bus driving by outside. I sure would have hated to be the person sitting at the window where it hit!!

I was sitting next to a couple of my friends, and for the first part of the game we made some kind of comment each time the beer vendor came buy to sell beer to the people sitting around us. So we knew that the guys next to us had had quite a bit. But then, about halfway through the game, the guy two seats down the row from me started talking to me. He actually was very cordial and nice, even with the beer. I found out that he is a teacher from a school in the Mixtec region of the mountains about six hours away. There were around five younger guys about my age with him (not drinking beer) that he said were his students. They were almost all from remote parts of the state; not 'city slickers.' He's actually from Juchitan down on the coast. He's thirty, has five kids, and speaks very, very fast!

It was really interesting to talk with him, and it was great for my Spanish because he talked so fast. They mentioned that they thought my Spanish was really good, so that was encouraging. We talked about the game, about where I'm from/why I'm in Mexico, about Oaxaca, etc. He also asked me if I had been to the bad parts of town like the night clubs and such (When he was on subjects like this, my Spanish struggled most. A slightly different vocabulary than I'm used to...). And of course he said that I should go with them to the clubs because there's lots of beer, dancing, and women. :) :) When in doubt about what to say, smile and shake your head "no."

First pic: My new friends. The guy in white is the teacher and the person I talked to most of the time.

Second pic: Two of the guys with me at the game. The one on the left is visiting from Michigan and the one on the right belongs to the household where I'm staying.
Third pic: Tato, the Guerreros mascot