I just found Free Rice, which is a charity site that donates 10 grains of rice to the United Nation World Food Program for each English word that you can correctly identify the meaning of.

I found it pretty hard, my vocabulary is not as large as it should be. Some of the words I was asked included: casque, duenna, newel, panegyric, oppugn, hidebound and thaumaturge. I got thaumaturge wrong, it means magician. You can use your dictionary because the site doesn’t seem to be timing your responses. But you need a pretty good dictionary since many of the words won’t be in a basic English dictionary. Have fun!

Here are some long-awaited photos of the street cat I rescued a couple of weeks ago. When I found her lying in the street she was so dirty that she could not hope to clean herself and she was listless from undernourishment.

We cleaned her up and have gotten her spayed, and she’s had her first round of shots. She’s had several weeks of eating regularly and of getting lots of attention. And now she’s strong and healthy and thinks everything is a toy!

This cat is tall and “leggy” and has a loooong tail.

We’ve gotten to know this kitty pretty well and she is one of the most loving cats I’ve ever known. She LOVES to be kissed, in fact smooching her is about the best and most sure way to get her to start purring.

This cat stares right at you, and her eyes are so pretty that you want to fall into them.

We’ve also noticed that this cat is STRONG and she’s a great jumper. She slim and a little tall and doesn’t have an imposing presence. She doesn’t look especially strong, but looks can be deceiving.

Purring – You can see she’s missing part of her left ear.

This kitty has been around the block. She’s already had a litter of kitties and can’t be more than a year old yet. She’s missing part of an ear. And her tail has a small and endearing little kink in it from some unknown trauma.

I absolutely hate to part with this cat, but I must find a home for her. So if you know of anyone who wants a loving and wonderful cat please let me know.

I have this lovely friend who is from the U.K. But just give her 5 years, and she will be more Mexican than my husband. She came here because she adores Mexico. And she came here intent on helping people less fortunate than herself.

Yesterday she told me she had found her true calling and that is teaching English to Mexican public school kids. Lots of expat teachers here teach English to wealthy and middle class Mexican kids, in private schools. But for a foreigner to go work in a public school setting is quite unusual, and it represents a true labor of love for my friend.

Needless to say I’m so proud to be her friend! I’m so proud to see her giving her best to these kids who’ve barely ever seen foreigners and have barely spent time with any native English speakers. She will make a big difference to those underprivileged kids, and Mexico is lucky to have her.

[You go girl!]

Even though Hurricane Dean didn’t hit us it did cause some extra drama which has been a challenge to get over. If I intend to stay in this area long-term I’m going to have to get better at handling the pre-hurricane it-could-hit-us-but-probably-won’t stress thing. As it is now I pretty much become a babbling idiota by the time it’s actually known if the hurricane in question will hit us.

And now, one week after Hurricane Dean didn’t hit us, I’ve got insomnia and am irritable and am constantly fighting headaches. Some of this is just due to it being the first week of school, and I’m not yet used to getting up early. And some of it is due to the fact that I’m behind on all my work due to all those hours of hurricane preparation. But I am recovering one day at a time.

Today some friends and I took some money and goods for donation to a Mexican charity called Caritas that is working in the areas that Hurricane Dean destroyed. Many of those affected by Dean are rural poor practicing something pretty close to subsistence farming. And the hurricane took their homes, and the contents of their homes, and their livestock. And in many cases the hurricane destroyed their crops.

So if I think that I’ve got anything to complain about then I’m full of it!

Here’s the Caritas Web Site – it’s in Spanish.

People have been asking me how best to support the many people and communities that were devastated by Hurricane Dean. My recommendation is to make donations directly to either the Cruz Roja Mexicana (Mexican Red Cross) or to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cresent Societies (aka the International Red Cross).

The Cruz Roja Mexicana web site provides information on how to make a donation via a wire transfer (which many people may find too cumbersome to deal with).

The International Red Cross web site allows you to make a donation via credit card, and you can specify that the money be used specifically for Hurricane Dean relief efforts.

• Donate To Cruz Roja Mexicana
• Donate To International Red Cross

For more information on the International Red Cross response to Hurricane Dean please click here.

For more information about the International Red Cross and it’s many national Red Cross chapters click here.