Greetings

[butlerpe at PURDUE.EDU]

Professor Amith,
  My name is Paul Butler and I have applied to the Nahuatl summer course that
you are teaching in San Agustin Oapan.  I heard about this course from your
email that you sent to the Nahuatl mailing list.  I graduated from Purdue
University, West Lafayette in December of 2003 with a major in Anthropology
and a minor in Spanish.  I have already been in contact with Beatriz Riefkohl
at Yale and she told me about the rustic conditions in San Agustin.  I told
her that it would not be a problem for me as my family lives in a small
village as well, Salinas Victoria, which is about two hours away from
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.  I have studied in Mexico before, in the D.F. and I
have travelled extensively in Mexico and Guatemala.  I am interested in taking
this course because I plan to go to law school and, later, become a human
rights activist.  I have always felt a deep respect for the indigenous peoples
of the Americas, especially in Mexico because I feel they are the most
important part of who Mexicans are today culturally and socially.  This is
just a little bit about me, but I hope to be accepted to the program in order
to meet my goals of being able to help the indigenous peoples of Mexico who
are so often overlooked by both the government and the public.  I was asked to
send you an email so you would be familiar with me when Yale Summer Programs
contacts you to ask if you have heard of me.  I hope to meet you this summer,
and thank you for teaching a course that I consider to be extrememly valuable.
                                                        Thank you,
                                                        Paul Butler Diaz