From Michigan to Michiuacan

12:13pm

Last night, in the cantina in Coyoacán, out waiter asked us where we were from. (This seems to be a common question that we encounter.) Rafys answered, "Soy de Chile," and I answered, "Soy de Los Estados Unidos." "¿De cuál estado?" he asked me. "De Michigan," I replied. To which he said something like, "No, en realidad es de Michuacan, no?"

Today, at the SMEE conference, one of the speakers spoke of the organic products from Michuacan, and the idea of "from Michigan to Michuacan" came to my mind. Is there a good university connection in the state of Michuacan? Could students from SNRE undertake projects there? I know that my interest is one drawn from the assonant association between the names of these two states, but I think that such a linguistic, auditory linkage could be very useful as a mnemonic device, which predisposes itself to a greater utility.
But it also lends itself to the name of a book. Perhaps a travelogue of a roadtrip from one state's capital city to the other's? The distinct landscapes and peoples lying in the thousands of kilometers between the two would provide an interesting subject for study (just as any travelogue that links two places can make for interesting reading).