Can you spell Guacamole en Molcajete?

Today when we walked into class, we were handed checks for $1500 (we are getting three installments). Last summer, I sold myself into Chinese slavery in order to get a "free" trip. This summer, "they" are paying me to hear experts lecture, to take tours, to see Broadway shows and to drink Vodka tonics in the Rainbow Room. Does anyone know how I can get this job full-time?

This is a picture of the view from the Rainbow Room...in Rockefeller Center, where my favorite new sitcom is based: 30 Rock, with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. We had a drink here (yep, that's the Empire State Building) after seeing a Broadway show that is getting a lot of buzz lately, Spelling Bee. Jon, Kristin and I were able to get "student rush tickets" for $25 each...what a deal! By the way, if you go to the half price ticket booth on Tuesday or Thursday afternoons, you can walk right up and have your choice of about twenty shows. Anyway, we loved this quirky, fun musical. They included people from the audience and so had to use a lot of improvisation, which is always so impressive if done right. My favorite two were a little girl who looked exactly like "Little Miss Sunshine" and a Rabbi who smiled through the whole thing. The Rabbi kept spelling words correctly that he was supposed to get wrong (and therefore exit the stage) and the little girl, well, I don't think this is the last time she will be on Broadway. She took a bow and after the show we talked to her outside...she was still beaming, reveling in her fame. Anyway, smart, smart writers and actors. We laughed all the way through...it was politically incorrect on all levels. So much fun. Tomorrow night I am seeing The Year of Magical Thinking...a play based on the book by my writing idol, Joan Didion, and starring Vanessa Redgrave. Did I mention I am getting paid to do this?

We had the afternoon off, so many of us took advantage of "Restaurant Week"--you can eat lunch at NY's best restaurants for $24 from a fixed menu. I went with the Rosa Mexicana group and had freshly made guacamole, a salad of chicken, avocado, jicama, oranges and cucumbers, enchiladas moles (a sauce made with chilies, almonds, raisins, Mexican chocolate and bread) and coconut flan. The best part of the meal was Sandra, pictured here, because she had NEVER tasted guacamole before....never! And you get to see the event captured on film! Actually, until today, she had only eaten Mexican fast food. Her favorite taste? The mole. But here is a secret that I am only going to tell you: my mole is better. I have eaten it in Oaxaca, you know, so I don't mean to brag or anything- I am just stating a fact. My recipe is from a Oaxacan mother, and I can put just a little more Mexican chocolate in it, if I want to.

Our cafeteria at I-House is actually not bad. We eat there for breakfast and sometimes for lunch, but only because we were forced to pay for it in order to stay here. My favorite guy on the line is very cheery and is always speaking Spanish to people in line. So the other day I answer him in Spanish and we have a nice little chat. He is from Puebla. When I tell him I've been there, of course he lights up and says:

"So, you have had the mole!"

I say, "I love the mole!"

He tells me he has been here for fifteen years, and that he doesn't miss Mexico because "The USA is the best!"

"But the food is better in Mexico," I suggest.

"Ah, but my wife is from Puebla! See?"

Yes, I do see! So with that story, I will leave you with a picture of coconut flan, with sugared mint and dried pineapple on top!