Ten years ago this month, hubby and I arrived in Dalian, China where we were to spend the next semester teaching English at Liaoning Normal University. There were six of us on the native English speaking staff and this week four of us were together again for the first time since we completed our contract there.

Richard M (yes, there were two Richards on our staff of six) and his wife, Colleen, who was with him in China are Americans who, after spending a few years living in China, Cambodia, and then Vietnam, have retired to Coatepec, Mexico. They are close to our age and were the only other couple amongst the teaching staff, so we spent a lot of time together in China, even climbing the Great Wall together. This is our third visit to their home here.

Cliff, also an American expat, was our lead teacher in Dalian and after also living in various locations in Asia, he retired to Xalapa, a larger city just 15 km from here. He arrived shortly after our last visit to the area four years ago.

On Tuesday, Cliff came out to Richard and Colleen’s and what a reunion that was! The afternoon was spent reminiscing, laughing together, looking at the yearbook that Cliff had so thoughtfully brought with him, and enjoying a delicious seafood meal prepared by Richard M.

Then yesterday, the four of us met Cliff at Parque de los Tecajetes, a beautiful jungle-like park in Xalapa. Though not a huge park, it was easy to forget that we were in the middle of a city.

Although you can’t see any in the photo above, the pond was home to many koi. If you look closely though, you’ll see a couple of the resident turtles of which there were many. Here are two others sunning themselves in a sheltered nook.

The egret and the greckle seemed to be posing for me!

And, of course, there were flowers! Flowers in February always amaze me.

After enjoying a stroll, we had a delicious lunch together in La Estancia de los Tecajetes, a beautiful traditional Mexican restaurant overlooking the park.

That’s Richard M, Richard D, myself, and Cliff. Thanks to Colleen for taking this and a couple of the other photos.