I met Guillermo “Memo” Gomez-Abascal as part of Palo Alto’s Neighbors Abroad Sister Cities student exchange in 1981. I spent six weeks sharing a bed room with him in his family’s home in Oaxaca; he spent six weeks with us up on Byrd Lane. There were a total of 30 of us — 15 from here, 15 from there — spending the summer together, learning each other’s languages and culture.

His sister Mercedes “Meche” Gomez-Abascal spent the 1981-1982 school year living at my family’s house, and attending Gunn, although ironically her best friend from Oaxaca Ivonne Ballesteros stayed here too — with the Moore’s or the Power’s I recall — and in some ways Meche missed out on becoming more of our classmate at Gunn. Stupidly, I also had her lovely picture — she was a real peach — Meche the Peche? — put under “A” rather that “G” in the yearbook which might confuse some people, and disrespect her ancestors. This still bothers me.

Memo visited me in Palo Alto for the first time in thirty years, for four nights last month. We got a meeting with Mayor Sid Espinosa, to brainstorm exchanges and initiatives with both Oaxaca and Memo’s employer, Ibero-Americana, a large and highly rated Jesuit University — think, Santa Clara University crossed with UCLA or SF State — there are 2 million Jesuit university students worldwide, he says — he works on continuing education programming and curriculum, and is an engineer — and we also met on Cali Ave incoming Vice Mayor Greg Scharff.

Memo was pleased that Oaxacan cuisine per se was acknowledged here, or example in Ron Kent’s Oaxaca KItchen booth, we checked out one Sunday.

Here I gift Memo a Acoma figurine by Virginia Lowden, a Pueblo Potter I met in Santa Fe last year. I am trading it, belatedly for the barro negro ocarina shaped like a cat I took home from Oaxaca in 1981.

Here I glimpse Memo descending the steps of the Cantor Museum.

Here I spy Memo sampling the tequila at Reposada — I never realized until he me enseno that the name references the aging process of fine spirits.

Memo hopes to return to Palo Alto in March with a group of high tech executives who will tour Stanford and other tech firms; I would gladly assist as driver or unofficial host if called to duty.

Long live the Palo Alto Oaxaca exchange.

Postscript: Although we missed her in December, I ran into not Missy Anderson but her husband Howard Look, at a soiree that arts commissioner (Jim and) Trish Collins hosted for her or their mutual new neighbors last month, in January, in their lovely professorville home. As befits a former high tech executive assistant, Missy has done the best job of keeping track, by mail, phone and social media, of all the Oaxacans we know or knew. I ran into her parents, Arden and Marilyn Anderson, when Mrs. Anderson testified at the public hearing of the potential community value of the Stanford Hospital expansion and “renewal”.

Reposado