Day 11: My old Wesleyan friend John Hastings, who has spent five or six winters in Oaxaca, can't run any longer, due to knee issues. But he gets plenty of exercise, including walking and swimming a mile most days. On Sundays, he insists on walking to the Observatory atop the nearby Cerro Fortin. The rest of us willingly follow. A good part of the up and then back down is a long serious of steps called Las Escaleras.

Cristina and John near bottom of Las Escaleras.

We talked all week about making plans for a Super Bowl party at a nearby restaurant, if we could find one that had a TV carrying the game, but made no such plans. Until the last minute. When Jackie and John led us to a restaurant where John remembered seeing part of last year's Super Bowl on a big TV screen. We got there, but no TV. We poked out heads into several dining rooms, and went up to the Terrace. No luck. The owner approached me, asking what we wanted. "Buscamos television para ver el Super Bowl," I said in my best Spanish.

In his better Spanish, he said something like, "Give me five minutes, and I think I can provide it." Next thing we knew, he was climbing a ladder in the main room and installing a projection TV system. A few minutes later, we had the Super Bowl flickering high on an adjacent wall.

Boring game. Until the last quarter. Then quite amazing. With about five minutes to go, I said to Cristina and John: "Okay, if this goes into overtime, we have to buy another round of margaritas." We had already consumed a healthy amount of beer and magaritas with guacamole and chips.

When overtime came, we ordered. The game was over before our drinks arrived, but at least we got one good selfie of Cristina sipping and me hoisting to the Patriots' win. That's our TV projection on the wall above my head.