Mexico

March 2010

2010-10-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

March was a complete whirlwind. The first week was all about resting and packing after having two sets of visitors in February and leaving to come to Michigan on the 9th. On Sunday, the 7th, I took a nasty fall down the stairs while carrying the dog. I landed mostly on my tailbone and had a hard time walking and sitting. Claire and I left on a Tuesday and arrived into Detroit around 7:30 pm. Thanks to Uncle Ryan for picking us up! The plane ride was extremely difficult due to Claire's "restlessness" and my inability to sit properly, but I was very excited to be back in Michigan.

The following day was haircuts and driving to Grand Rapids. When I got into Grand Rapids, I had this unsettling feeling. After people had heard about the fall, many said that I should head to the doctor's. I felt that I should've gone as soon as it had happened, but it was later afternoon on Sunday and we were still unsure of the medical care here in Mexico. So Wednesday night, my mom went with me to the hospital. They monitored the baby for quite some time, although to be honest, I wasn't too worried about the baby, mostly my behind! Upon listening to the baby's heartbeat, they noticed an irregularity. They sent me to have another ultrasound and told me to follow up with my doctor the following day.

So, on Thursday I called my doctor and they told me that I had to come back to Detroit to have an echocardiogram for the baby. It was not what I wanted to hear (or do). I had planned on spending the first two weeks of our visit in Grand Rapids and now it was being cut short. The appointment was scheduled for Monday, after I went to the OB in the morning.

Friday was Claire's birthday party with my family. It was a nice quiet night with cake, ice cream, and treats brought from Mexico. She got lots of nice gifts and it reminded me of how we spent birthdays when I was a child.

Can't for the life of me remember what we did on Saturday, but I remember it being a late night because Sunday came way too soon! On Sunday, the Provos were celebrating Vivian's birthday and even though we wanted to go, it was during the two weeks that we were going to spend in Grand Rapids so we didn't plan on attending. Well, since I had a doctor's appointment early Monday morning, we decided to go. We left bright and early on Sunday because the party started at 10:30 am! We had a great time at her Fancy Nancy birthday party. Claire had the best time eating cotton candy, cake, and chocolate fountain treats. This is also the last time Claire will ever have cotton candy, and she knows it! She was a crazy person afterwards so hopped up on all that sugar. Thanks again Provos! :)

Monday morning, I dropped Claire off at Becky's So thankful that we have the best child care provider in the world! It was so comforting knowing that Claire would be there with her and it was one less thing to worry about. I headed to my 8:30 OB appointment, which was a huge waste of time frankly. They looked at me and said, "See you in a week and a half." Then I had lunch with Nicole and she went with me to my echocardiogram. Another pretty big waste of time. They saw the same thing that was detected in Grand Rapids and just said to have my doctors keep an eye on it, but that it would most likely work itself out (which in the long run, it did). At the time of all of these appointments though, they had me pretty scared and worried.

After the echocardiogram, I picked Claire back up and we drove back to Grand Rapids AGAIN! It was a much calmer rest of the week, thankfully. I was to head back to Detroit on Saturday with Claire, but after carting her around so much already, I decided to leave her in Grand Rapids and make the trek by myself.

Saturday was the fundraiser for my godson, Braedon. It was the main reason that I came home in March. I was so thankful that I hadn't brought Claire with me as Saturday and Sunday were packed and I am glad that I didn't have to worry or deal with her! The fundraiser was a long day, but a big success. Sunday was Braedon and Evan's birthday party. It was at a glow-in-the-dark putt putt place. Lots of fun and I was stoked that I got to hang out with my buddy while he putt putted, again, without Claire!

On Monday, I attended a 2 Sisters workshop at the MISD with Nicole. It was AWESOME! They are the most interesting and enlightening speakers I have ever heard. Made me sad that I wasn't in a classroom applying what they were talking about, but at the same time, I could really enjoy the presentation knowing that I didn't have the pressure of trying to remember everything they said and trying to take obsessive notes.

After the workshop, I made the final journey to Grand Rapids. Yes, three times in two weeks that I made the back and forth trip! I stayed until Thursday evening. That night, I had a Grey's Anatomy date with Shelly! I don't think we had a moment of dead space lingering in the air! We never even watched Grey's because we ended up talking, but that is typical of Shelly and I!

Friday came and I had another doctor's appointment. This was my regularly scheduled appointment. Same old thing ~ weight, pee in a cup, listen to the heartbeat, and measure the belly. Besides the heart issue, all was good! Then I spent the rest of the day at Ryan's house (our house on loan) to search for all the last minute things that we still needed in Mexico. At four, I met up with the ladies from AOLV, my previous teaching position for drinks (except me) and some catching up. From there, I headed to Maggiano's for dinner with my Gamma Phi sisters. It was a busy day! I didn't get home until late, but it was nice to catch up with everyone.

Saturday was spent getting ready for Claire's birthday party at Dave's parents on Sunday. I baked the cake and put together all the little details. Later that night, I went out for one last hurrah with Nicole and Jaime Ray. I think this was the night I introduced them to Bravo! at The Village!

Sunday was Claire's birthday party with the rest of the family and friends. It was a rainy day so we were all stuck in the house, but the kids had fun making visors and playing. It was a butterfly/bug theme and Claire's favorite part was the dirt cake with gummy bugs in it! She had a fantastic time!

Our last day in Michigan had finally come and it was another busy one. Claire had a dentist appointment in the morning, her first! She did AWESOME! I wish I had videotaped it. She absolutely loved the dentist visit and talks about going back all the time. When it was time to pick out a surprise, she picked out a toy mirror that the dentist uses to look inside your mouth! I hope she always enjoys going to the dentist. I know it's my most feared place to go so it was a little difficult to be the one to take her! After the dentist, we went to Target one last time! I can't tell you how much we miss Target in Mexico. It used to be our Friday night hang out! Then another quick birthday celebration for Claire at her favorite pizza place, Buddies!

I spent the rest of the night and the next day (5-7 hours total) packing. When you have so much to bring back, it is a totally different type of packing. You aren't worried about leaving behind your sunscreen, you are worried about which items you have to leave behind and hopefully get it there someday. It is very stressful and exhausting. I have gotten pretty good at packing though. One tip ~ kids shoes go inside adult shoes and you have to fill the kids shoes with something, no empty space!

I thought it would be hard going back to Mexico, especially the airplane ride with Claire, but in actuality, it was nice to get back and relax after such a busy few weeks in Michigan! And the airplane ride wasn't anything like the one to Michigan because I was getting better at sitting once again!

Our Second Visitors - Amy and Vinnie!

2010-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

So less than a week from when Dave's mom left, Amy and Vinnie came to stay with us. Amy is Dave's cousin and Vinnie is her Irish (now) husband. They arrived late on Wednesday night. Dave had to work on Thursday so I was the lowly tour guide. Unfortunately, Amy had arrived with a nasty cold which put her out of commission most of the day. When she was up and feeling a little better, we headed to the one of two places I feel like I can navigate myself to, besides the stores in our neighborhood, the Sky Mall (La Cuspida). This mall overlooks the mountains and a greater part of the Mexico City area. The stores there are not that great, but there are many restaurants and it's worth going there just for the view.

On Friday, we went to the other place that I have driven to, the Pyramids. (On a side note, I hate driving in Mexico City and pretty much refuse to drive anywhere, yet, I have driven over an hour out to the Pyramids twice.)

Teotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site of some of the largest pyramids built in the Pre-Columbian Americas. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan) This was my first time to the pyramids so I wasn't sure what to expect. It is a huge complex and we parked in the first parking lot that we came to, which was close to the museum and the area known as the Citadel. Between the Citadel and the Sun and Moon Pyramids is the Valley of Death. I have to admit that I wasn't that interested in going to this tourist site, but once you get there, you are overwhelmed with the enormity of the place.

By this time, I was almost 5 months pregnant and starting to show! We climbed several small structures in the Citadel and dodged all the natives selling crafts and other trinkets. Then we hiked the mile down the Valley of Death to the Sun and Moon Pyramids. Claire climbed almost to the top of the Sun Pyramid. She stopped one landing short of the top, partly because I was afraid for her to go that high (the last leg is pretty much straight up) and also because she was tired. She stayed with Vinnie while I climbed to the top to meet up with Amy. There is a spectacular view and even though I am afraid of heights (and swear to never even go up the Eiffel Tower again), I enjoyed the view and just stayed clear of the edge!

I was so thankful to go the first time with Amy and Vinnie because they were so helpful in getting Claire up and down the pyramid. Going up is actually the easy part, it's looking down and trying to walk down crumbling steps without railings that is super scary. We all started heading towards the Moon Pyramid when Claire started complaining about wanting to go home. I knew this was my clue to head back towards the entrance with her. Overall, she was good and did so much walking, but as the day wore on, it started getting hotter and I knew she had to be getting tired. Amy and Vinnie headed off to the Moon Pyramid, while I hiked back with Claire on my shoulders through the mile long Valley of Death, again. (Now we know that there are several parking lots and it is quite easy to drive to them so you are not walking this mile while pregnant with a child on your shoulders!) We checked out the very quaint (and by quaint, I mean small) museum that consists of four rooms of artifacts (They have just barely scratched the surface of this archeological site) and waited for Amy and Vinnie to return, which was surprisingly a short amount of time considering they climbed another pyramid!

Saturday started off as it normally does when we have visitors (and sometimes even when we don't have visitors), we headed to Bazaar de Sabado. Amy and Vinnie loved checking out the vendors and I think the big purchases were Mexican wrestling masks for Vinnie's friends! After the bazaar, we headed to the neighboring city of Coyoacan. We parked near a plant nursery and decided to try and fit in the Frida Kahlo museum which is nearby. Claire had fallen asleep, so Dave, Amy, and Vinnie went and bought basil plants (something that I had been hunting for since we arrived) and then on to the museum. When Claire woke up, we navigated our way to the museum as well.

The Frida Kahlo museum is one of my favorite museums for several reasons. First of all, it is a small museum that is situated in the house that Frida grew up in and later shared with Diego Rivera. Second, it is such a quiet, calm place that it doesn't even feel like a museum. The house is an old hacienda that has several rooms with paintings by Frida, photos of Diego's travels and work, and photos of Frida when she was a child. It also has many of her belongings and it is set up as it most likely was when she was alive. Her studio has a large library, desks with art supplies, her bed that she spent a large majority of her time in, and the kitchen and other rooms are also staged. It was so nice to sit in the courtyard and chill for a bit before heading home.

Sunday was our last day with Amy and Vinnie. We headed down to Xochimilco, which is a series of canals and all that remains of the ancient Lake Xochimilco. You travel on trajineras (boats) that can hold between 20 - 30 people. When we got into the town heading towards the canals, we were bombarded with men on bicycles trying to flag us down. Dave was doing his best to ignore them and concentrate on driving, but they just kept looking in the car windows and showing us lanyards with pictures of boats around their necks. I said, "I think they are trying to lead you to the boats." So we picked one of the guys and followed him to his parking lot. They gave us a driver and we went to pick out our boat. This was our first time to Xochimilco and we were not versed on how much it should cost. They pretty much took advantage of this fact and we paid an arm and a leg for our boat ride. We have later learned that there is another area that you can leave from that has a set (and much cheaper) price. The other area also has a large market area that sells Mexico's finest! We also did not know that you could bring all your own food and drinks so Dave and Vinnie bought a bucket of beer to bring along with us.

We set off on the canals with a traveling time of two hours. Also, with you out on the canals are vendors selling flowers, fresh grilled corn, and other trinkets and mariachi bands that will tie up to tour boat and play you some songs for a small fee. We traveled down the busy canals that are lined with plant nurseries and refreshment stands selling ice cream and drinks. We passed an area of trees that were covered with old dolls and stuffed animals hanging from the trees. Legend has it that a young girl died there and was said to haunt the place. Shortly after her death, a man purchased the land and when a doll washed up on shore, he believed it be a sign of her spirit so he hung it in the tree. He started collecting more and more of these dolls to appease the girl's spirit. Later, he also passed away in a mysterious fashion and was found dead in the same vicinity that the girl was found. Now, if you go to that area, you are suppose to bring a doll as a peace offering and the place is still considered haunted. (Here is a link to the story: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-island-of-the-dolls-a169586)

It was a great day out on the water, although a little chilly. Amy got suckered into purchasing some jewelry from a vendor that hopped on board our boat. We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the experience.

On Monday, Dave, Claire, and I had to head into Mexico City to meet with the company lawyer to sign some forms for our Visas and since Amy and Vinnie were continuing their vacation by staying at a B and B in downtown for a few days, we all went together. After a short stop at the Visa office and another photo shoot for Claire's Visa, we drove into the Centro Historic district to drop Amy and Vinnie off. They stayed at a great B and B for a few more days enjoying the closer proximity to many of the sites of Mexico City.

We enjoyed their stay with us, especially since Amy is also a vegetarian!!! They were great guests and it was nice to have another couple to hang out with for a few days.

Baskets from Metepec and Pewter from BMT

2010-09-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Bazaar de Sabado

2010-09-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

VIP Movies

2010-05-15T20:41:00.001-07:00

Let me give a quick description of the VIP movies. Many of the theaters in Mexico have two different types of theaters - the regular movies and the VIP movies. They only have a few theaters that are VIP and the rest are regular theaters. When you go to purchase your tickets for the VIP theater, they show you a screen with seats for you to choose where you want to sit.

Now the first time that we went, Dave and I got to our movie just a little before the movie started and it was opening weekend, so we didn't get to sit next to each other. He sat behind me. In a regular theater, that wouldn't have been too big of a deal because you are still close, but at the VIP theater, there is so much room between the rows that he had to walk up to my seat! Makes it difficult to share popcorn! We recently got to experience this wonderful treat again when my mom came to visit. We saw The Jones' (or Amor con Contracto in Spanish). It wasn't the best movie, but it was good enough to see at the VIP theater!

Okay, now to do my best to explain how awesome the VIP movies are! The theater is filled with about 50 lush, leather seats. The seats are so large that you could almost sit two people in them. And they recline! Each seat has it's own little pull up table and like I said, there is a ton of room in between each row. The rows start with a single seat (which is where I sat) and then there is another table, with a little lamp between the seats, then the rest of the row is filled with double seats that you can lift the armrest up and have a REALLY large seat. (I wish I would've brought the camera to take pictures, but I had no idea that I needed to bring a camera to a movie!)

Once at your seat, a waiter comes to take your order for food and drinks. They have the usual, popcorn, nachos, candy, but you can also order crepes, sushi, sandwiches, and other delights. And when I say drinks, I don't just mean the carbonated kind! Dave and I ordered a combo deal of popcorn, nachos, and two pops. The pops and popcorn were huge and the nachos were stacked so that they could fit the most chips possible in the container and, of course, it came with jalapenos!

The price of the VIP movies is the same price as regular movies in the States and the combo deal cost around $10! I wish we could get to the movies more often, but without someone to watch the girls, it is a rare occurrence. I know Dave took full advantage of all of our leaves back to the states to view quite a few movies and soccer matches!

Our First Visitors - February 11 - 19th

2010-05-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well, to say I am behind on my blogging is an understatement. I guess I better shorten up my entries and just get them done!

Our first visitors to come stay were Dave's mom, Mary Jo, and her friend, Carol. Carol is a former ex-pat herself, staying in Mexico twice, Sweden, and Italy. She and her husband, Al, have been tremendous help with giving us expectations and ideas for this assignment. If I hadn't had the chance to talk to them, I am not sure I would have accepted to come to Mexico.

Dave's mom got in first on Thursday. (Carol was coming from Cancun and would arrive Saturday afternoon.) We didn't do too much on Thursday and Friday because Dave was working during the week and we only had one car at the time. On Friday night though, Dave and I got to go out to a movie (Valentine's Day) at the VIP movies, while Grandma watched Claire. I am creating a separate entry to describe the VIP movies! It sure was nice to get out by ourselves since that was the one and only time that we have gotten to do that since moving here.

On Saturday, we took Dave's mom to Bazaar de Sabado. We had quesadillas made in the in the center of the bazaar. Fresh and delicious! After the bazaar, we went home to wait for Carol's arrival. Carol took a cab to our house and we enjoyed an evening of catching up!

On Sunday, we woke up to flowers and pastries from Dave for Valentine's Day. Claire got gifts from Mom and Dad, and, of course, Grammy! We decided to head downtown Mexico City to see the Zocalo (the main plaza). The Zocalo is where the Metropolitan Cathedral, National Palace, and Templo Mayor is located. Mass was being said at the Metropolitan Cathedral so we couldn't see it extensively, but we were able to walk in and see a good portion. Next to the Metropolitan Cathedral is Templo Mayor. It is part of the original Aztec city. It was discovered, and part of it was excavated, in 1978. Some of the ruins can be seen from the Zocalo, but there is also a great museum that you can go to, but there just wasn't time to that day.

Our last stop in the Zocalo was the National Palace. This building is still used by government. You must show your passport to get in, but didn't we know this, so Carol sweet talked the guard and he let us in. In the palace, there are large murals painted by the famous, Diego Rivera and beautiful gardens.

Since it was Valentine's Day, there were many people out and about. There was a large, white heart shaped balloon that was filled with smaller red balloons. As usual in the Zocalo, there were native tribal dancers performing for the crowds and the many vendors that sell tribal masks, stone carvings, food, and many other items.

After our tour around the Zocalo, it was time to eat! We had heard about the many wonderful restaurants in Condesa, so with our trusty former ex-pat, we set out to find the neighborhood and find a decent meal. Finding the area of Condesa wasn't so difficult, but trying to decide on which restaurant, and then one to eat at on Valentine's Day, was a little bit of a challenge. We decided on a seafood restaurant and got a seat right away. I never thought I would find delicious fish and chips in Mexico, but Claire and I shared a yummy meal! It was a full and busy day with a good finish!

Monday was a low key day. Carol and Mary Jo rented a car so we weren't stuck at the house all week. We headed up to the "Sky Mall" for a spectacular view and a chance to just get out and walk around.

Tuesday we headed to one of Carol's favorite places to shop...BMT. BMT is a pewter manufacturer that sells awesome serving dishes, picture frames, crosses, and other pieces for your home at great prices. It is located on an inconspicuous neighborhood across from a school in a house. There are only four rooms of pewter, but they are packed and it can be quite overwhelming on your first trip. I picked up a few pieces that are now a part of our growing collection.

On Wednesday, we headed out to Metepec (a town near Toluca and also Carol and Al's previous residence in Los Encinos). The Metepec area has many famous artists that create the popular Tree of Life sculptures. These are usually small trees with intrinsic details that depict Adam and Eve and then also a theme (Noah's Ark, Musicians, etc.).

We met up with one of Carol's friends, Nancy, who showed us around the town and introduced us to some of these artists. We were able to go into their homes and see first hand their work in progress. One of the artists was working on a piece commissioned by a Phoenix music museum. It was an enormous Tree of Life and, of course, the theme was musicians. It stood taller than 6 feet. The curator's wife liked the Tree of Life so much that she was having one commissioned for herself. I purchased a small cross that was designed similar to the style of the Tree of Life, but have yet to purchase one of these myself. A good one can be quite pricey.

On our trip around town, we also stopped at a basket warehouse that Carol referred to as the "basket lady". And I thought BMT was overwhelming! This warehouse was two large rooms PACKED with all types of baskets and weaving. The best craftsmanship of these items that I have seen in Mexico so far. Not knowing when I would get the opportunity to get back to this warehouse, I picked up all I could with the money that I brought! the prices were extremely reasonable and it was hard to choose which items to get!

After shopping, we headed back to Nancy's for lunch. we met her husband, Bill, and sat down for a delicious meal of broccoli soup (which Claire still raves about), salmon, rice, and flan. Nancy and Bill moved to Mexico thirty years ago with their children and have enjoyed living and operating their own businesses in Mexico. This day was definitely a high-light of Mom and Carol's visit.

Thursday was a wind down day since they were leaving on Friday. Our "Newcomers" group has a smaller group that meets up in our area called "The Northsiders". There was a coffee held on this Thursday morning so I went with our friend, Susan, without Claire, an opportunity I never get otherwise! It was a great chance to get out and meet the other English speaking women that live in the area (although most are German or Colombian).

That night, we went to eat at a small Italian restaurant in our neighborhood called Pizza Pizazz. We were told that it is owned by an italian women and her Mexican husband. The pasta and sauces are all fresh and the pizzas are scrumptiously made in a wood burning oven. It was a great finish to their trip!

Friday came too quickly and a taxi came to take them to the airport. At least we knew we would see them in just a few weeks during our return to Michigan.

Bazaar del Sabado

2010-03-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

Bazaar del Sabado is in San Angel, a small community south of Mexico City. You would never know that there was a bazaar, until you turn off the main road onto cobblestone streets lined with artists and booths. At first glance, it looks like you will never find any place to park, but two out of the three times we have gone, we have parked with the same people for 30 pesos and the other time, we found a spot right on the street for free. The key is to get there fairly early though.

The main square of this little town is filled with artists and all their works. Most of it is paintings, but some have sculptures. It seems that the artists have their spots where they set up shop every week.

There is a main building that actually houses the bazaar. It's an old home that is set up in a square shape. All the vendors are around the outside rooms and there is a nice restaurant in the center. Some of the things you will find inside the bazaar are silk flowers, homemade dresses, jewelry, Tree of Life structures, awesome pottery, marmalade and other treats and other upscale items. This is truly a mecca of art and every vendor has something completely different to sell, which is not usually the case when going to a Mexican market.

The restaurant in the center looks fabulous, although we have never eaten there. Instead, we opt to get the quesadillas that are made in one corner of the courtyard/restaurant. They make the tortillas fresh right on the spot and the quesadillas are made to order. You can order just cheese or get a little more adventurous and get mushroom, chicken, huitlacoche (corn mold), cactus and shrimp, and a few other options. This stand is also where Dave gets his harchata drink that he shares with Claire! You can choose to sit in a small restaurant area to eat these or get them to go.

Behind the building is a large tented area that has many more stalls. Here you will find some of the more traditional items in Mexico - more pottery, jewelry, bead work, clothes, scarves, pewter, and other trinkets. There is also a guy who sells these awesome percussion instruments. There is some duplicating of items in the tented area and also along the streets, but for the most part, this bazaar/market is the best because it is not stall after stall of the same items, just sold by different people. There is just a lot of fantastic art here.

We also discovered this past week that there is a whole second square a block away! More artists and more stalls. You can easily spend three hours here looking at everything.

The area that the bazaar is in also has many stores with more art, furniture, purses, and I even found quilt and yarn stores. The whole area is a great way to spend a Saturday morning. It's calm, inspiring, and cultural.

Dulce - January 30, 2010

2010-03-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of people have asked why we didn't bring our beloved cats to Mexico and it wasn't an easy decision to make, but Mexico is not the best place for indoor cats. Here it is difficult to have indoor cats because many of the windows here do not have screens and with the weather down here, you need to have your windows and doors open most days. We were afraid that our cats (who love to try and sneak out) would get out and be lost forever. Also, Pumpkin is 16 years old and I was really afraid of making him traveling this far and Vinnie has been his buddy for almost 11 so I didn't want to separate them. My mom graciously took them in and I really appreciate it because I know how much my sister and her love them. It is comforting to know that they are being spoiled as they are pretty much accustomed. Ryan, Dave's brother, who is staying in our house, kept Bourbon at home.

When we got here, I was missing my four-legged friends. I thought getting a fish would help with some of that need for a pet, but that just didn't cut it. We thought about getting a dog for a couple weeks and decided we thought that if we were going to get one we better get one now before the baby comes so that it could acclimate to the family and so we could acclimate to it. At my first Newcomers meeting, they had a table set up for the group M.A.I.N. (Mexico Animals in Need). Through this group, they help two rescue groups in Mexico City, one of which is called 'Happy Dogs'. One day while checking the posts on the Newcomers Yahoo group, there was a post for a newly rescued dog named 'Lobo'. He was a black lab with beautiful blue eyes. I fell in love with his picture and description. So we contacted 'Happy Dogs' and received an email back almost immediately.

We decided to go check out Lobo at Happy Dogs on the Saturday of Dave's long weekend. We printed up the extremely detailed directions and were very thankful for the time that was spent in writing out those directions. 'Happy Dogs' is only a few exits away from our exit, but the climb up the mountain that took us awhile. When we first got there, I was a little weary of how the dogs would behave and how Claire would react. Claire's recent exposure to dogs is to Ringo, Uncle Ryan's very hyper Puggle. Ringo likes to chew on Claire's clothes and use her as a springboard so she hasn't been all that keen about dogs lately. 'Happy Dogs' houses around 40 dogs and even though they were not all outside, there were still many dogs that came to greet us.

When we walked in the gate, not one dog jumped on us. They were so friendly and calm, all of them! Christine, the owner of 'Happy Dogs' said that most of the dogs just got back from their two hour walk up in the mountains. We started manuevering through all the dogs and trying to get a good look at them. When you start petting one dog, another one comes up and very politely paws at you so that you will pet them too. When you stop petting the one you were to pet another one, that dog starts pawing at you.

We found Lobo off to the side. He was very shy, but also extremely sweet. With one glance at him, I knew he was just not going to be right. He was very big. Here in Mexico, a large dog wouldn't matter so much, but thinking ahead to when we have to go home, a large dog would just not fit in our tiny Ferndale home.

Now, if you know me, you know that I can't just walk away because the one dog that we thought we were going to get wasn't exactly right (and let me tell you the guilt I felt about not taking Lobo). So I started looking around at the other dogs. Most of them were larger dogs. Christine suggested a puppy so that the puppy and Claire could grow up together. I really did not want a puppy because, like Claire, my most recent exposure to a puppy was Ringo. I did not want to go through the biting, potty training, and all the other extra things that come along with a puppy, but I did agree with Christine and puppies are irresistible.

There were three puppies there. Two from one litter who were two months old and another one that looked like part Husky that was three to four months old. I loved the Husky puppy. It was black with the markings over the eyes like a Husky. He was super cute, but one look at his paws and I knew we would be getting a large dog! I turned my attention back to the other two. Their mom, Candy, was also at 'Happy Dogs'. She looked like a Saint Bernard, but only the size of a medium sized dog. I was holding one of the puppies and she just slept in my arms. She was so sweet. She also had the better markings of the two. I looked at Dave and he knew it was all over. We decided to take her!

On the way home, our new puppy cried and cried, maybe I should say she wailed. I kept thinking to myself, "What did I do?" and that it was going to be a LONG night. As soon as we got in the car, we started talking about names and before we even got to the bottom of the mountain, Dave came up with the name "Dulce". Dulce, pronounced Dool-say, means sweet or candy in Spanish and we thought it was appropriate considering her mother's name was Candy. We stopped at the pet store on the way home and picked up a bag of dog food and two dog dishes. We obviously weren't prepared for a new dog. We got home and fed her, then got everyone ready for bed.

We fashioned up a box with a blanket and two warm water bottles in it for Dulce's bed. We put her in it and climbed into bed and the whining started! Again, the thought of "What did I do?" crept into my head. Well, obviously the box wasn't going to work. I told Dave to just let her out of the box and put the blanket on the floor. Well, that did it. She curled up on the blanket and slept there the until about 2 in the morning. Dave let her out to go potty and she came back in and went back to sleep on her blanket and slept until morning. I knew right then, that we were going to be dealing with a spoiled puppy!

The first couple of days she whined a bit, but she was very sweet, cuddly and calm. That lasted about two days! After the whining subsided, the full puppy in her came out! She started biting ankles and wanting to chew on pretty much everything, although I must say that it could be worse. She seems to be most nippy in the morning when you have bare feet or ankles and she can be diverted with a toy...eventually. She's still not as hyper as Ringo and she is still cuddly and sweet, just not when your ankle or hands are her focus. (Sorry Uncle Ryan for the Ringo digs, but that little bugger has some energy!)

Dulce has fit in pretty well. She's had her ups and downs and is still not 100% potty trained, but she is getting there. She is smart enough to know that she only goes potty in one spot of the yard and also smart enough to know that one blanket is not enough to lay on, she needs a comfy, squishy pillow or she whines. She loves to play fetch and race around the yard and bushes. She does not love to go for walks on the leash. In fact, she doesn't even budge. She seems to adore Claire, even though the feeling is not always mutual. In Claire's defense, she has ruined two of her kick balls and often takes off with her toys from her rice box, including some of the rice, but I figure it's excellent practice for Claire with the upcoming little sister!

Although, there are still days I think, "What did I do?", overall, we are pleased with our spoiled rotten puppy and hope she grows, with behavior, not in size, quickly. We can't wait for everyone to meet her in person.

Papalote Children's Museum - February 1, 2010

2010-03-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

I am going back quite awhile here! We went to this museum on a Monday that Dave had off from work. We were told by someone to get there early as it seems that the majority of Mexicans like to sleep in and it was good sound advice.

We got there when the museum opened and had a chuckle at the numerous staff that lined the walkway into the museum, each one greeting us with "Hola". It was something out of the movies.

We were a little lost when we first entered because we didn't have a map and everything was in Spanish. We just started heading towards the back of the museum and then up the stairs to start at the furthest point.

There was a small area on the top floor that was for younger children. They had about four computers set up for games (of course, in Spanish), a spot to ride these small trains that you sit on and push with your feet, a cubby with dress up clothes and songs so you could dance and see yourself on the video screen, and a few small slides.

On the bottom floor, they had a mock 'Wal-Mart' set up where kids could go in and pretend to shop for five items. The kids were suppose to be between 3 and 8, but we figured she was close enough, and besides, shopping is her favorite pastime. Parents are not allowed in, but instead peer in through the large windows. We could see them telling Claire five items, but we weren't sure if she completely understood them. After they collected the five items, they brought it up to the cash register where someone rang it up, then bagged it for them and gave them their receipt. Claire thought this was a blast and it was her request to do this activity a second time before we left.

Things were a little different the second time though. We prepped her prior to entering the second time by reminding her that she needed to get only five items and then bring them up to the register. We waited outside the doors forever for Claire to go in! When it was finally her turn, they let in around seven kids, sat them down in a circle, and had a little pow wow with them - kind of campy. Who knows what they were telling them, but just like her daddy, Claire sat there and nodded her head as if she understood. They finally let the kids go off and go shopping, but Claire got too excited again and wanted to fill her cart with more than five items! They stopped her and brought her to the register. Then after her stuff was rung up and bagged, they wanted her to put the items back on the shelf. She didn't have to do that before! She wasn't sure where all her items went, considering she was just grabbing everything in sight, but they helped her put it all back. Then the kids were suppose to put their carts back too and wait for the rest to finish up so they could sit for another pow wow. Well, Claire had enough and she took off for the door to get out! I made Dave explain to the workers that she didn't speak Spanish! I thought she did pretty well for playing along!

There was also a huge outdoor area. It had a basketball hoop out in the middle of a pool of water. There were a ton of balls that you could pick up and try to throw into the basket. There was also tables set up for crafts, play structures, and a giant sandbox. The weather on this day wasn't the greatest. It was cold and a bit rainy so we didn't get to do very much outside. Claire really wanted to play in the sandbox, but being the mean mom that I am, I wouldn't let her because she had on a dress and tights and I knew how that would feel later.

Around the outside, they had a bubble station (much like the one at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum). We played in there awhile, but the tables were up too high for little ones to reach easily and the cold weather put a damper on this activity.

The last area that was for children Claire's age was a sort of 'environmental awareness' area. They had turtles in a large dome that you could watch swim and chicks hatching out of eggs (one chick was out and to be honest, I don't think the rest were going to hatch by the looks of them). They also had a boat where kids could "fish" using a magnetic pole. By this time, the museum was getting super crowded and it was hard to get a chance to use many of the exhibits so we decided to hit the store and the bathrooms and then head out.

Overall, Dave and I were quite disappointed in the museum, for what we paid. This is one of the more expensive museums in the city. It didn't help that it was all in Spanish and I am not saying that they should make it in English, but it just made it harder for us to understand and get the most out of it. Most of the exhibits were for older children and the exhibits that they had for little kids didn't have enough items there for all to play with. I also realize that my other experience with a children's museum is the Grand Rapids museum and it is awesome! Claire did have a good time though so Dave and I realized that as long as she had fun, it was worth the trip, at least once.

Real Del Monte - February 20, 2010

2010-02-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

This is really out of order, but I can't keep putting off the recent activities because I am so far behind. I guess my posts will just have to be out of order!

Thanks to the Newcomers Group of Mexico City, we noticed a tour that was heading to Real del Monte for the day. A small silver and gold mining town that started with the Spanish in the 1500s and then reopened in the late 1730s. Between 1824 and 1848, a Cornish company took over the mines, which brought the influence of architecture, soccer, the Methodist religion, and pasties to the town. Real del Monte has been declared a 'Pueblo Magico', which means it is one of the picturesque towns to visit in Mexico. It is also the most populated city in Mexico at that elevation (around 9200 feet). (We live at around 8500 feet.) Real del Monte is sister cities with Redruth, Cornwall and together they held the first pasty festival this past October. Above the city sits a Cornish Cemetary where all the headstones face towards Britain, except one, the first clown of Mexico who was so well-received by the Mexicans that he wanted his headstone facing Mexico.

We set the alarm early for Saturday morning and took off at 7:30 because we had to pick up Noel, a co-worker of Dave's who was stuck here for the weekend, then get to the church where Newcomers meetings are held by 8:50 am. We arrived at the church a little on Mexico time at 9:05, thankfully they waited for us. We took off immediately at 9:07 and, with Claire and I watching Shrek II in the backseat, we headed toward the town of Real del Monte. We stopped once for a quick, much needed bathroom break at a Pemex, finally arriving at our destination at noon!

Entering the town, you notice a cute, colorful little tourist town. Our tour guide, Jesica, told us that the government gives the building owners the paint to keep up the appearance (much like in the town of Valparaiso, Chile, as seen on this past week's Amazing Race). There are also MANY pastes (pasty) shops everywhere - some 30 different shops. We walked up to the town square, where Jesica told us about the pasty and a brief history of the town. Something that she said that I did not know about the pasty was that the crust was used to hold on to, due to their filthy hands, and then the crust was tossed. She also said that in Mexico, they made one side of the pasty filled with meat and the other side was a dessert, made with apples for example. I think my grandmother would be appalled by that idea!

We then climbed onto the top of the double decker Turibus that tours the small town. This might be a good place to mention that we brought the camera, but Dave failed to notice that there was no memory card in it, so we couldn't take any pictures. He took a few with his phone, but they did not give a good indication of what this town was really like. We started off on the Turibus. I was scared enough sitting on the top level with the rest of our group, but when we started to move, I was worried about my safety. Think small, narrow, extremely steep streets, paired with low, LIVE electrical wires that you had to duck to miss, on top of the low branches that also could decapitate you if you were not paying attention. You would think that they would test these tours out to make sure that it was safe for all passengers riding on the top of this bus, but obviously, they did not. There were a few wires that were buzzing loudly that nearly missed the top of my head. It was a little hard to enjoy the ride because I was so worried about ducking!

Along this route, the bus took us above the perimeter of the city. You could see inside many homes sitting up so high and you were reminded again of the hardship that these people deal with everyday. It seemed to be laundry day and when I say laundry, I mean washed by hand and hung up to drip dry. A long, tedious task for sure. We also stopped at the top of one particular mountain where we could get off for pictures and a few stands were set up with trinkets for sale (that is my polite way of saying junk). Of course, Claire had her eye on a wooden flute and would not let up with the "I wants". On the tour with us was a woman named Rose. She is from Australia and had her niece and niece's friend were here visiting and joined us on the tour. One of the young girls was also buying a flute and bought another for Claire since they were only 10 pesos each. A nice gesture that is still "ringing" in our ears!

Once off the frightening ride (which at one point people literally put their hands in the air as if riding a roller coaster), we took off to a pasty shop to give them a try. Dave ordered a mole verde with chicken and, seeing that there were no vegetarian pasties at this shop, I ordered a manzana (apple) pasty. Dave enjoyed his pasty, even though it was nothing like what we are used to in Michigan. I thought my apple pasty was okay, but the skins were left on the apples and there wasn't a lot of flavor to it. The crust was no where near the delicate, flaky crust that my grandmother painstakingly has labored to perfect with hers, but seeing that Crisco is not a common item here, I will appreciate the attempt. The entire tour group of 13 filled up the pasty shop and all tried one or two at this restaurant.

After our snack, we were on our own to shop the little town. This tourist town would be reminiscent of a small town like Frankenmuth. There is a cute square, next to the Mercado, where a group of girls were trying to catch a pigeon with a crate box, a stick, some string, and pieces of bread. This group of six girls were giggling and seemed to like the attention that they were drawing with their old-fashioned contraption. The shops were all pretty much the same - keychains, jewelry, silver, and a little bit of pottery. Nothing really worth shopping for, especially after my week of shopping with my mother-in-law and Mrs. Steurer! Claire was beginning to get REALLY crabby so we found Rose and Jesica and let them know that we were going to let Tom-Tom take us home, but first Dave stopped and bought a box of sixteen pasties to bring home and freeze.

The drive home was only about 2 hours and Claire and I both dozed off for the majority of it. It was great to get home, although Dave and I both ended up burned in some spots. It was a long day and kind of a disappointing one overall. Maybe I had too high of expectations or maybe I was just overwhelmed by the long drive and traffic. Nonetheless, another town to mark off on our list!

Noise!

2010-02-11T06:11:00.000-08:00

I think anytime you move to a new place there are new sounds that you have to get used to. In Ferndale, it was the darn train, which I never really got used to. Here there are so many more sounds that it is almost impossible to get a good night's sleep.

First, there is the cars. Now, we are pretty fortunate. Our home is at the end of a street in a cul-de-sac, but still there are many cars that drive by at all times of the night. I might also mention that our bedroom sits facing over the street. Okay, so big deal, everyone has cars that drive past their house. The other problem with the cars is that people here feel the need to honk their horns incessantly, at all hours of the night, but mostly at five in the morning. Not to mention that, of course, they can't park their cars without making sure that it is locked by clicking the remote two or three times!

Second, for some unknown reason, there is a rooster that lives in our neighborhood. I understand that back in the day, when there was no such thing as alarm clocks, that roosters were invaluable to farmers to wake them up to get their day going, but in a suburban neighborhood, really? This loud and cheery rooster likes to start crowing at around five in the morning, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't also like to crow in the middle of the night or even day. Quite a confused rooster and it may not live too much longer considering this is one of my number one sleep robber.

Third, the dogs. EVERYONE in our neighborhood has AT LEAST one dog. Now, again, in the burbs in America, the dogs usually go inside at night to sleep in their beds (like our new dog, Dulce), but not here. The dogs here are always outside and ALWAYS barking. Next door, the dog barks so much, all the time, that we have named it "Barky". No one ever tells the dog to be quiet or brings it inside and I have NO idea how this dog hasn't gone hoarse. I guess years of practice. To paint a little more of a picture, let me tell you about who lives behind our house. There are three sheepdogs, who love to howl, and four golden retrievers live next to them. When one dog in the neighborhood decides to start barking, they all bark, and heaven help us when a stray walks by! We are hoping to keep Dulce as a non-barker and so far so good!

Fourth, the noises in the house. Now I know that every house creaks and makes some noises, but like I have said earlier, this house does not have a furnace. Instead, it has a lot of radiators and little, built-in electric heaters throughout the house. These radiators love to make these loud clicking sounds. I don't notice them during the day, probably because I am not sleeping, but during the quiet night, these conduit radiators release an extremely excessive clicking sound. We have been able to hide this noise a little by placing a blanket over the source. These radiatos click and knock whether they are turned on or not.

Lastly, would be the parties. The Mexicans know how to throw a party! There are quite a few weekends where someone in the neighborhood is throwing some bash. There is always a DJ and they play until at least 2 in the morning. Last weekend, Dave and I both incorporated the songs into our dreams and when he went to put the puppy out at three, it was still going strong, just without the DJ.

I know that every neighborhood has these issues, maybe not all of them, but definitely some of them, but I am looking forward to my quiet, Ferndale neighborhood with just the train!

Claire

2010-01-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

One of the most asked questions since we have been here is, "How is Claire?" Well, Claire is great! It took a couple of days for her to figure out that this is our new home and that we will be staying here for awhile, but now when we say home, she asks, "Our Ferndale home or our Mexico home?"

She loves playing with all of her new toys from Christmas and her new rice box. We also have been coming up with a few craft projects. It's just hard because when I find a craft to do, we don't always have the materials and finding them can be a wild goose chase. She absolutely loves painting and that can keep her busy for quite a while! I was trying to figure out what to do with her numerous paintings. I hated throwing them away, but didn't really want to keep them all either. So we created an Eric Carle-esque picture using several pieces of her art. I cut out the pieces and she glued them on the paper. This week we also found a birthday present for Grammy, but didn't have wrapping paper to wrap it with so we made our own. This was a great project as it took almost an hour to paint the paper! After it dried, she got to put stickers on it and I have never been happier for an excuse to use stickers. I get tired of wearing them on my clothes! She also recently has learned how to use scissors and she loves cutting up paper.

Overall, she doesn't seem very affected by the move. I would love to see her playing with more kids, but we need to find them first. I'm glad she can be outside more because she truly loves it. Our backyard here is very similar to home and she loves just running around.

I'm interested to see how she does with our upcoming trip back home in March. Hopefully, it doesn't confuse her and she is excited to come back "home".

Loving the House?

2010-01-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

I have almost been here for a month and I have to say that I am starting to feel as if I am under house arrest! We have one car (a manual nonetheless, which I cannot and will not drive on these extremely steep hills) and Dave is working longer hours here. I am used to him getting home quite early from work, but here it is customary that people get home between 7 and 8. Dave has been getting home before that on most nights, but by the time he gets home and we eat dinner, there's not a lot of time to go out and do anything with Claire's bedtime.

I am let out on the weekends, but an 11 hour day with a two and a half year old can be ______ (fill in the blank). Once in a while we head out after Dave gets home, but then we (Dave and I) forgo dinner and are usually crabby! And there really is no such thing as fast food around where we live. We have a Mr. Sushi and that is about it.

I am also worried about Claire because before we left Michigan, she was a VERY social child. Now, there is no interactions with other children. There is a playgroup that meets every Monday, but remember, I don't have a car. It is quite a distance away so taking a taxi might not be the best idea either, although I am starting to think that we may just have to do that at least once a month. I have tried to work on preschool activities for her, but with just one child, it is hard to get motivated to make lesson plans and to accomplish many preschool activities, since preschool is mostly about socialization!

We have done a lot of painting and the rice box has really come to be a favorite in the last couple of days. She loves her Playdough and books, but there really is only so many books you can read in a day (especially with a limited supply and no library). Unfortunately, even taking a walk around here is not very feasible. Our house is at the bottom of a huge hill and by the time we walk up to the top, Claire (and I) are so exhausted, that is as far as we get! Then Claire insisted that I carry her back home. There are also very few sidewalks to use. Most people are parked on them or they are under construction. Not to mention the main reason that I don't like taking a walk, the cars drive SO fast and crazy!

We are working on getting a car, but it is a slow process here. First of all, they do not lease to people it seems. They lease to companies and Dave is trying to work with the leasing company that gets cars for BASF, but this is not a guarantee. Second, they do not sell too many used cars around here. Most people drive their cars until they die. Lastly, it is not like we have $15,000 laying around to buy a new car. Dave went today to see if we can open a bank account here in Mexico and then hopefully, also get a loan, but again, no guarantees. I do hope we get a car soon, but I also hope I feel comfortable driving around on these crazy streets. Until then, I will be here, in the house, with my two year old, twiddling our thumbs! :)

Needless to say, we are hoping to get a car in the future. We are looking into leasing because it is the optimal

Cooking, Food, and a New Discovery

2010-01-25T12:12:00.001-08:00

Cooking here hasn't been an easy task. First of all, I am used to Dave cooking! He used to get out of work at 3 so he had time to stop at the store, if we needed something, and still get home with plenty of time to start dinner.

Second, we had to start our kitchen staples from scratch because the only food we could bring had to be stuffed into our suitcases and there wasn't a lot of room for it. That means we had to repurchase all of our seasonings and spices, along with everything else that you keep in your pantry. Many times I would go to make something, only to realize that I was missing an ingredient or two, and without a car to run to the store, I had to change my plans.

Third, finding foods that we are used to using wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be either. Things that you would think would be readily available, like corn meal, is non-existent here. Also, the word vegetarian is not in their vocabulary so there are no veggie burgers, chicken nuggets, etc. Dave tried to explain to the people at his work that I was vegetarian and they just didn't get it. A few other items that you can't find here are Crisco (they have shortening, but it's not the same), baking powder, real baking soda, and flavored "milk" creams. The majority of cream sold here is the powder variety.

Fourth, we now live at about 8000 ft., which is higher than Denver. Cooking at this altitude is a lot different than cooking at home. It takes longer for water to boil and, yet, the water evaporates at a quicker speed. Also, baking here is a whole new experience. Even following
the high altitude directions does not correct the issue. When I made Dave's birthday cake, I added the extra egg and more flour as directed, but the cake still spilled over the sides and was not as moist as it should have been.

Fifth, the converting! It gets really annoying trying to convert everything, but some, you just can't convert so you just have to guess. Grams to teaspoons or tablespoons, milliliters to cups, Celsius to Fahrenheit. It turns one meal, into an online searching game that just leaves me frustrated! In other words, cooking here has been a small feat...for me. :)

On Saturday morning, I was checking my email and I had an email with the latest posts from the Newcomers Group. I was looking over the posts and one caught my eye. It read, 'looking for rice flour'. It wasn't so much the post, but the response that got me yelling up the stairs to Dave. One person responded that their was an American grocery store, Aladino's, in Interlomas. I told Dave that no matter what, we were going to go find it after the zoo that day. We did some looking online at maps and at their Facebook page to find their exact location.

So after the zoo, our first stop was a Sanborns. This is an extended version of Barnes and Noble. The have books, newspapers, magazines, music, cafe, and other gifts. We used our Tom Tom to navigate us to the nearest Sanborns, which happened to be in the area Polanco. Traffic is crazy down there (not like it isn't everywhere) so once Dave found a spot, he parked and ran to find the store, while Claire and I sat in the car. Claire reminded me that she has a Map at home in her Backpack and it could tell us which way to go, but she left it at home. (We realize that Dora has taken over our lives!)

With our new Guia Roji book of maps ($245 pesos), we headed off to the Interlomas area in hopes of finding Aladino's. We found a shopping center on the map and plugged it into Tom Tom and just prayed that the store was near the shopping center. We found our destination and, low and behold, across the street from this fantastic mall, was what we were looking for!

We parked in the mall parking garage and walked across the street. The store itself seems to be in a newer development, with some of the stores not even completed. We walked in and right away, I felt at home. The first thing I found was Nestle Toll House milk chocolate chips. I haven't been able to find these in any of the stores we have been too. Claire immediately grabbed them out of my hands and plunked them into the cart. Then I took a glance at the price, $95 pesos, or around $7 a bag. I almost died! I had just bought the same item at Target before Christmas for $2.50! They stayed in the cart for comfort, but later went back on the shelf, as even though I love the milk chocolate chips, I could live with semi-sweet. (By the way, we found milk chocolate chips at a new Wal-Mart on Sunday!)

They an aisle of baking supplies; pans, food coloring, sugars, baking tools. Then I found the Aunt Jemima Corn Meal, Arm and Hammer, and Calumet brands on an end cap. Now Mexico does have baking soda, but according to my new friend, Susan, it is just not the same. I like to cook with what I know because I HATE wasting food and really hate it when things don't turn out right. Now the ironic thing that many people can't understand is that Mexico stores do not carry corn meal. They have corn flour, not corn meal. My only guess is that it seems that many Mexicans do not bake. They normally just buy their breads and sweets at the grocery or other specialty store. I, on the other hand, have been craving corn bread since I got here! So those immediately went into the cart.

We continued through the store and mostly went through sticker shock. Next was the cereal, which was also around $7 a box, and it was mostly the sugary kind anyways. The stores here carry Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Krispies, and a pretty good variety, definitely not the long aisle like what we are used to at Meijer, but cereal was not on the top priority list. They also had an aisle of "real" chips. I say real because Dave bought a bag of Doritos before I got to Mexico and when we opened them there was a noticeable difference. The chips were thinner, spicier, and just not the same as the Doritos at home. Again, good to know that these chips were here, but not on the priorities list.

The next stop was the canned and jarred aisle. Here they had Manwich, pickles, dressings, and other familiar names. This is also where we ran into the only other customers in the store with a, "Hi, How are you guys?" Yes, in English. Another American family trying to decide what was the most important things that they needed at home. We also came across the Crisco in this aisle. Now, again, Mexico apparently has shortening, but it more dry and doesn't hold up as well. These were all items that were going to be on my mother-in-law's list when she comes in 17 days, but not anymore!

Coming to the end of that aisle was the most beautiful site I have seen yet in Mexico. A little green box in the freezer section labeled Morningstar Farms! Veggies burgers, sausage patties, and meal starter crumbles. We had brought as many of these as we could in a small cooler inside our suitcase, but since Dave contacted the company to see if they distribute to Mexico and the answer was no, they have been under ration. Being a vegetarian for over 15 years, people often ask me what I eat. It's very simple. I eat all the things that everyone else eats; tacos, sloppy joes, burgers, chicken nuggets, meatloaf. I just need some help from my friends in the little green box to make some of those possible. At this point, seeing the vegetarian food was too much for me and I teared up a little. Coming to a foreign place is one thing, you adjust the best you can, but seeing familiar foods and brands, made my day.

The last aisle had seasoning packets like Hidden Valley Ranch and Lawry's Brand packets for Enchilada sauce (another thing that I haven't been able to figure out in the stores). They also had International Delight cream, shampoos, and cans of drinks like Country Time Lemonade. Now these are not things that we would normally buy when going out shopping, but that day, they made it into our cart. In all, our grocery list consisted of corn meal, baking soda, baking powder, Crisco, veggie burgers, veggie crumbles, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing packet, yeast, enchiladas sauce packet, French Vanilla International Delight, and Country Time Lemonade. Some of these items we purchased two of so we could pass them on to Susan and her family. It was a hefty price tag in the end, but knowing that these items were there was priceless.

Also, another positive about the day was the area. Not only was there a really nice mall there, but we also got our Costco shopping done and noticed a Best Buy and other great stores all in the same vicinity.

Zoologico de Chapultepec

2010-01-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we decided to get up and head down to the Mexico City Zoo. It opens at nine and we got there around 9:30. We parked in the Anthropology Museum parking lot, which is right across the street. A safe and easy place to park and cost less than $5, so it was pretty reasonable.

The walk to get to the zoo was a bit far, but a pretty and nice walk through the Bosque de Chapultepec. Here the vendors were setting up there stalls. People were also starting to rent the paddle boats to roam out on the lake.

We got to the entrance of the zoo and we were so early that they weren't even selling maps yet. So we set off on our own and followed the signs to the pandas. The Mexico City Zoo is the second zoo that has successfully bred pandas, besides China. Another problem with getting to the zoo so early was that not all the animals were out in their habitats yet. Only one panda was out. What was interesting was that it seemed as though they grow a portion of the bamboo at the zoo. A worker was cutting some down, I can only assume to feed to the pandas.

We walked through two sections of the zoo and then decided it was time to take a brake, have something to eat and then finish up the zoo. By this time, the information desk was open so Dave went and grabbed a map for 5 pesos (less than $0.50 US). We ordered a Dominoes Pizza, but seeing as it was going to take ten minutes, and we were starving, we also ordered fries from McDonald's. We scoped out the rest of the zoo while eating and Claire couldn't wait to see the elephants, since we do not have them at the Detroit Zoo.

After lunch, we headed off to find the bathrooms and the elephants. We came across the bathrooms and had to pay 4 pesos to go in. The bathrooms were very clean and well-maintained. I think many people think of Mexico as a dirty country, but all the bathrooms that I have gone into here have been very clean and they have hand sanitizer everywhere, in fact, we had to put some on before we could even enter the zoo.

So with lunch and potty breaks taken care of, our little navigator told us to head to the elephants. Dave and I thought we were lost for awhile because we couldn't find them, but then realized that their exhibit was there, just empty. We tried to ignore Claire in hopes that she would forget about the elephants with everything else to see, but we finally had to break it to her that there were none at the zoo.

The last part of the zoo we went through was the bird area. They have a large human birdcage that you can walk into where the birds fly around free. As it was getting late in the day and we were all getting tired, we opted out of that part and looked for the exit, but not before we stopped and got a McDonald's ice cream cone for Claire!

Before going to the zoo, I looked up a few websites that had information on it and found some reviews too. Half of the reviews were really good, but the other half said that the zoo smelled, the habitats were sad and pathetic, and the animals were treated poorly. I must say, that I didn't agree with these reviews. Of course, not all of the exhibits were as large as they should be, but they all were very clean (as was the rest of the zoo) and most animals were eating fresh fruits, veggies, and we saw one zookeeper feeding some of the smaller monkeys a slice of bread. There were two areas were smelly; the ducks and I can't remember the other animal, but both ARE stinky animals and I didn't expect it not to smell.

We left the zoo and took the long walk through the vendors, which were in full swing at this point. The bad reviews also complained about these vendors, but they didn't harass us as we walked past, like the reviews said. It was just amazing to see SO many vendors and they were mostly selling the same things - balloons, puffed snacks, toys, candy, Mexican wrestling masks, drinks, and hats. We made it back to the car and shed a few layers of clothes seeing as when we got to the zoo, it was probably in the low 60's, but when we left, it was closer to 80. Overall, a good trip for all.

The Rest of the Weekend and a Continuation of Dave's Birthday

2010-01-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we unpacked a little more and then headed to Home Depot to get a few more household items. It seems like we are starting all over from scratch with this house. We still needed a broom, mop, bucket. Things that I already have at home, but now have to repurchase here because they would've weighed too much to bring. (I found out that Susan and her family got to pack up a large moving truck with all their house belongings, including their grill, outdoor furniture and everything! There house also was not furnished, but it sure would've been nice to not have to worry how much "weight" we got to bring.)

After Home Depot, I took Dave to the mall that Susan and I went to the day before. We walked around a bit more, checked out the view, and grabbed a Starbucks. This is also when we walked all through 'Idea', the IKEA ripoff, and got a few more organizational items. It's nice to know that we have a store like that around! It was getting past naptime so we headed home. On our way home, we saw a market right below the mall. It was super crowded, but good to know that it is there every Saturday and if we get there early enough, it shouldn't be too crowded.

After nap, Dave and Claire finally went to El Globo and then to the park in the neighborhood. While they were gone, I quickly unpacked some more, baked a chocolate cake, and hung up decorations to celebrate Dave's birthday. He was surprised (and so was Claire) when they returned. We had leftover sushi and desserts. Claire got a cupcake (she only ate the frosting off the top), and Dave and I shared tiramisu and a chocolate dessert with raspberries on top. Delicious!

The rest of the weekend, we spent unpacking and doing a little more grocery shopping. We got it all put away though by the end of Sunday and it feels so nice to have most of our belongings from home!

Dave's Birthday!

2010-01-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I am about a week behind on blogging, but I will try to keep up from here on out. When Claire and I got home from the Newcomers Meeting, Dave was already home and sorting through boxes! Yes, the shipment did end up coming at the end of the second week. What a great relief!

We started right away with getting all of Claire's toys and clothes out. She was so excited to see all of her things again and so were we! After two weeks of Mr. Potato Head, tea party, and Legos, we couldn't be happier to see all of her toys!

We started unpacking some boxes and got through pretty much all of Claire's stuff and the kitchen boxes. Then we decided to get ready to go out for Dave's birthday! We were going to go get Mr. Sushi and some desserts from El Globo, a bakery nearby that sells a lot of different delicious pastries and breads. We got dressed (I actually put on some makeup) and then the lights went out.

In true, Friday night fashion! I couldn't believe that for two Friday nights in a row, we had no electricity. We thought, oh well, we are leaving anyways, but when we got out to the car, we realized that we couldn't go anywhere because the car was inside the gate that is powered by electricity! Now, I thought, "There has to be a way to get out of the gate, even if there is no electricity", but Dave couldn't figure it out. Now, in his defense, it was raining and it was getting dark and the flashlight just wasn't helping enough. (Yes, we bought a rechargeable flashlight after last Friday's outage and an extra candle!)

So back inside we went. Claire had already eaten so I used the charged computer to let her watch part of Shrek. She was already exhausted from the long day and her short 30 minute nap so she was ready for bed early anyways. She went to bed and Dave ordered Mr. Sushi over the phone.

So Dave and I had a romantic candlelight dinner eating California rolls, Mango rolls, Miso soup, and Tuna (for Dave). Afterwards, we pulled a couple of our Costco chocolate chip cookies out of the freezer and had dessert. Then we headed upstairs to watch Arrested Development on our portable DVD player. Not exactly the way we had planned the evening, butWell, I am about a week behind on blogging, but I will try to keep up from here on out. When Claire and I got home from the Newcomers Meeting, Dave was already home and sorting through boxes! Yes, the shipment did end up coming at the end of the second week. What a great relief!

We started right away with getting all of Claire's toys and clothes out. She was so excited to see all of her things again and so were we! After two weeks of Mr. Potato Head, tea party, and Legos, we couldn't be happier to see all of her toys!

We started unpacking some boxes and got through pretty much all of Claire's stuff and the kitchen boxes. Then we decided to get ready to go out for Dave's birthday! We were going to go get Mr. Sushi and some desserts from El Globo, a bakery nearby that sells a lot of different delicious pastries and breads. We got dressed (I actually put on some makeup) and then the lights went out.

In true, Friday night fashion! I couldn't believe that for two Friday nights in a row, we had no electricity. We thought, oh well, we are leaving anyways, but when we got out to the car, we realized that we couldn't go anywhere because the car was inside the gate that is powered by electricity! Now, I thought, "There has to be a way to get out of the gate, even if there is no electricity", but Dave couldn't figure it out. Now, in his defense, it was raining and it was getting dark and the flashlight just wasn't helping enough. (Yes, we bought a rechargeable flashlight after last Friday's outage and an extra candle!)

So back inside we went. Claire had already eaten so I used the charged computer to let her watch part of Shrek. She was already exhausted from the long day and her short 30 minute nap so she was ready for bed early anyways. She went to bed and Dave ordered Mr. Sushi over the phone.

So Dave and I had a romantic candlelight dinner eating California rolls, Mango rolls, Miso soup, and Tuna (for Dave). Afterwards, we pulled a couple of our Costco chocolate chip cookies out of the freezer and had dessert. Then we headed upstairs to watch Arrested Development on our portable DVD player. Not exactly the way we had planned the evening, but we had the rest of the weekend.

Newcomers Group

2010-01-21T13:48:00.001-08:00

So last Friday, Susan picked Claire and I up at 8:15 to head to the newcomers meeting that was at 9:30. Even though it is not "far" in miles, with traffic, this trip can take over an hour. It was interesting to see a new part of Mexico that I hadn't seen yet (past the grocery stores) and it was even nicer that Susan was driving her automatic, instead of Dave in our manual!

We arrived to the meeting and it was not exactly what I expected. I signed in and paid my dues for the year and took a look around. It is held in a church common room and there are tables set up all around the room. Some people are selling stuff, some are helping out a cause, and some are handing out information. There weren't a ton of tables filled, but the ones that I checked out were the animal rescue group (of course), the girl scout table (which was selling some sort of "treats", but they were not the true girl scout cookies), and a woman who was selling French children boutique clothing. There was also a table set up for the oatmeal that I brought in per the group's request for a local hospital.

The center of the room was set up with smaller circular tables for you to sit at. Susan, Claire and I chose a table and grabbed a snack. Susan introduced me to some of the woman that she knew and some that she just met. There definitely seemed to be cliques, but I didn't expect anything less than that. There are always going to be people who tend to gravitate to certain people.

The meeting started after about a half hour of mingling. Again, not the meeting that I am used to sitting through! They started with announcements, then a woman from a local charity spoke. This charity helps children who are in abusive homes. They give them a place to stay, go to school, and get some counseling. They have a teacher on staff and she talked about how a nutritionist is now coming to help them balance the meals for the children. All of their food is donated so for a while, if they received sausage, that is what they would have for days. Now they are trying to get a variety of foods donated. Of course, in the middle of this woman's presentation, Claire had to go to the bathroom so we left (the front of the room), found the bathrooms and then headed back. By the time we returned, they were going to play Bingo for charity. Susan and I opted to skip out of this and instead headed to the English used bookstore that they have on the premises.

Susan found some books for her girls and, of course, Claire couldn't leave without a few, even though the children's selection wasn't the greatest. We left with a Zoo Book on otters, The Lion King, and a Duck Tales book!

After the meeting, we started heading back and stopped at a mall to have some lunch. This mall is much better than the other one that is close to us. Mostly because of the variety of stores that they have and the unbelievable view! It sits up high on this mountain and you can see really far (as long as the smog isn't too bad!). This is has a Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, pet store, kid's play store (think Jungle Java meets Creative Arts Studio all on a smaller scale), Idea (an IKEA rip-off), and a fabric store. It also has a ton of restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen, Chili's, Shakey's, an Argentine, Mexican, and Italian restaurant, which is where we chose to eat.

The restaurant (Italianna's) wasn't very busy and in true Italian restaurant fashion, gives you bread to snack on while you are looking over the menu and waiting for your meal. What's awesome about the bread though is they give you oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in, which is the way we eat it at home! Yum! We both ordered four cheese pizzas and chatted more about the differences between the States and Mexico. By the time we left, Claire was just a second away from meltdown. Time to get home! She fell asleep on the short ride home and never got a longer nap because when we got home, Dave was there and so was our shipment!

New Friends

2010-01-19T11:11:00.000-08:00

Before coming to Mexico, I had talked to my mother-in-law's good friend, Carol. She and her husband have done many international assignments - Mexico (twice), Sweden, and Italy. Through Carol, I learned about the "Newcomers Group of Mexico City". It is a group for new arrivals and long time residents to help people meet other English speaking families through social and charitable activities. I had perused their website many times prior to arriving here, but as soon as I got here, I decided to join up.

Right away, they set me up with their Yahoo group. Through this, I put out a message letting them know that I was new and where I lived. Within a few hours, I received two emails from people that live in my area, Susan and Ginger.

On a side note, many people thought that I would be living in an "American" neighborhood and had preconceived notions that I was going to be surrounded by Americans. In actuality, there are around 300 people signed up for the newcomers group and there are 23 million + people in Mexico City! So not a large number in comparison. Also, I found out that there are even fewer people that live in our area because the majority of the newcomers live in the downtown area of Mexico City. When you tell people where you live, they give you a quizzical look and say, "Where?", similar to when I tell people that the majority of my family lives in Burnips.

So the first email I received was from Susan. She also comes from Michigan! Her husband works for Ford and she lives down the road from us! It doesn't get more exciting than that! She has two daughters aged 10 and 13, who go to a British school called Greengates. The most ironic thing is that Susan and her family live in one of the homes we looked at and it was our number one choice! I can't remember the number of the house in the blog (I want to say #12), but it is the one with the fish tank in the wall. Susan and I emailed back and forth a bit and she said she would be happy to take me and Claire to the Newcomers meeting on Friday, Jan. 15th.

Ginger, the other person who emailed me that day, also lives in the vicinity. She lives right across the street from Superama. This is Ginger's second stay in Mexico. She was here before for four years back in 1998. She is married to a Mexican man and they have two boys aged 3 and 2 months. Ginger called me and we talked for an hour about just about everything. She is a great resource to know and speaks fluent Spanish. I felt very lucky to have found these two woman within the first two weeks of living here!

Claire Antics

2010-01-13T18:33:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned the pet stores briefly, but a funny story came about from our trip to the pet store. When looking at the snakes, I didn't want Claire to be scared of them so I said, "Look at that snake. He looks nice." So after visiting the pet store, we made a new pact with Claire and told her that if she stays in her new bed for 7 days, she can get a fish. A few (sleepy) days later, we were reminding her of her reward when she through a curve ball at us. She declared she wanted the snake. I told her we couldn't bring the snake home too because he would eat the fish. Very matter of factly, she stated that we could just leave the fish at the pet store. Let me reassure you, we are NOT getting a snake!

We still haven't gotten our shipment from home so we are very limited with what we have to play with. We have Legos (that were Daddy's old ones), a tea party set, and Mr. Potato Head that Dave bought down here at Costco before Christmas. Despite the lack of toys to play with, Claire has been great about using her imagination and getting through the days much better than I can say for myself. The other day, she was sitting at the table coloring or something, and she decided to take off her socks, put them on her hands, and call herself 'Swiper' from Dora. This went on for the next hour. At one point, she handed me one of her Carebears, then came back up, snatched the bear, and said, "You're too late!"

Everyone has been wondering how Claire is adjusting, and I think she is adjusting just fine. She misses people from home and talks about them all the time. She colors pictures for everyone constantly and loves to look at everyone's pictures on Facebook! Other than that, she loves being able to go outside, even though we haven't gone outside a ton because of the cold and rain, it is still more than we would at home (at least with Mommy!). She likes the open space in the house and watering the plants.

Video Tour

2010-01-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

Finally! This took an hour to upload, but hopefully it gives you a good idea of the layout of our house.

Video Tour

2010-01-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the House

2010-01-10T13:30:00.001-08:00

Picture 1: kitchen = no heaters at all
Picture 2: A view from the front door. Trying to show the openness of the house and how it goes all the way up. You can also see into the kitchen.
Picture 3: The formal living room and gas fireplace.
Picture 4: The door leads into the kitchen, but I was trying to show the little electric heater that is suppose to heat up the downstairs. Behind me is the formal dining room, to the left is the bar and the open ceiling to the skylight.
Picture 5: Bar to the right, formal dining room to the left, TV room behind me, and formal living room straight ahead.
Picture 6: TV room where the little gas stove is. This is where we spend the majority of our time.

One thing to notice is that the floors are all cold, marble tile. Also, the windows are not typical of those in the US. They are one pane and there is a gap under the front door. We need one of those bean filled draft keepers! :)

Weather/Heat

2010-01-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

So I have been trying to explain the heat situation all week to everyone back home. I will try again with some video and pictures in this blog.

Everyone keeps saying, "At least it's not 0 degrees there!" and although it is not 0 degrees here, it is not "warm" like everyone seems to think. The high temperature since I have been here has been around 63 degrees. At night, the temperature gets down to around 30-40 degrees. Mexico City is in the middle of the country and has a very high elevation. (We are four hours from any coastline.) Where we live, Sayavedra is even higher into the mountains than Mexico City, so I am guessing that we are a few degrees cooler than the temperature there.

So, yes, the temperature outside isn't awful. It would be like a cool spring day, but it is not the outside weather that matters, it is the temperature inside.

Our house has very spacious rooms, marble tile floor, many windows and the floor plan (that you'll see from the video) is completely open. In other words, there are no "floors", but instead you can see all the way to the top of the house from the lowest point in the house.

The way they heat homes here is very minimal. They don't have furnaces, or at least we don't have one. We have two gas fireplace/stoves, some electric wall units, and other radiator units spread throughout the house. Some of these are not even worth turning on as it is futile to try to heat the house with them. We also turn the gas stoves off at night because we do not want to waste the propane or let them run nonstop.

The average temperature in the room where the gas stove is runs from 17-19 degrees Celsius which is equivalent to 62-66 degrees Fahrenheit. I am not sure the temperature of the rest of the house because there are no thermostats, but this room is the most closed off compared to the rest of the house, and therefore, I am guessing gets the warmest. Most homes (well, at least mine) keep there thermostats at 68 degrees on average and when I am cold, I kick it up to 70. Here it can take the entire day (or at least morning) to get to 66 degrees inside. I must also mention that there are no heaters in the bathrooms, which makes it very difficult to get out of the shower!

So, as I am not trying to complain, but rather explain why it (or at least I) am so cold and can't seem to get rid of my darn runny/stuffy nose. In Michigan, I hated going outside because it's so cold, but here I hate going outside because when you come in, you can't warm up! January is the coldest month on average and I do hope that when it gets warmer, the house will also warm up, but for right now, I just feel like I am on a never ending, bad camping trip (and I hate camping)! I hope I explained this a little better, but I also hope that I haven't deterred anyone from coming to visit us! It's got to warm up soon! :)

More Shopping - Costco

2010-01-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

Off to Costco today! The Costco in Mexico is pretty much the same as the Costco in the US. Usually when we got to Costco in the US, we just buy milk, eggs, bread, and fruit. Our trips there aren't very expensive, but in Mexico, the most American items are mostly at Costco. Plus, we needed some major household items.

We walked up and down every aisle, except the middle aisles with the clothes and media. Our biggest purchases were wastebaskets and rugs. Other than that, just your usual groceries.

On the way home, we were driving up the hill to Sayavedra when a pack of five dogs came running across the road. Of course, my first instinct was...DEER, then I remembered that I was in Mexico! A few yards up the hill again, we saw another dog run across the road. These didn't look like mangy, wild dogs, but something tells me that they didn't have homes either. Very sad.

On our way back home, we drove through a different part of the neighborhood and we think we discovered a park! Our neighborhood is pretty large with 2000 families and the park isn't really close enough that we could walk, but just discovering a park nearby is huge! Now, it just needs to stop raining so we can go there!

Today was overall and uneventful day. I am still trying to get over this cold and runny/stuffy nose. Hopefully, the rain will stop soon and it will warm up so I can get over this sickness!

Tonight was a difficult night for Claire to go to bed though. After sleeping with us last night, she did not want to sleep in her own bed. She screamed and cried and being the stubborn little girl that she is, refused to lay down on her pillow. She lost TV privileges tomorrow and I don't know if that is going to be harder on us or her. Finally, around 9:15 (an hour after putting her to bed), she was tired enough to lay on her pillow! Her goal is to go to bed cooperatively and stay in her bed for a week so she can get a goldfish!

Power Outage

2010-01-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

So it's Friday night, we are waiting for Dave to get home after being stuck inside the house for ten hours. Claire has eaten her dinner already because it was taking Dave extra long to get home due to the rain (apparently, rain is to Mexico as snow is to Michigan) and the fact that he had to stop by Superama to set up an appointment for the propane company to come out (because they never came back this week like they said).

I was just finishing up our dinner when the lights went out. Of course, my first thoughts were, "I'm not using that much power that I shut everything down, am I?", then thoughts from the movie Scream popped into my mind. Frustrated and tired of answering Claire's statement of, "turn the lights back on Mommy" about ten times, I called Dave. He was at Superama dealing with the propane company. He was also suppose to pick up milk at the store, which I told him to forget about and get home! It was about 6:15 pm and we were on borrowed daylight.

So earlier in the week it was no propane, which meant heat, stove, and hot water. Now, we were dealing with no electricity, which meant no phone, lights, and also heat in the bedrooms (as those run on electricity). Thank goodness in my packing frenzy before we left, I packed a small LED flashlight, otherwise the house would have been lit up by the illumination of our cell phones!

Dave got home and let me know that it was the entire neighborhood that was without power, which squashed the two previous thoughts of overusing power and mass murderers. Still frustrated nonetheless, we ate a semi-cold dinner by hanging the flashlight from the chandelier. It was suppose to be Family Movie Night, but without electricity and no idea when it would be back on, we weren't thrilled about using the computer battery so early in the evening, so we decided to head out to the mall.

The mall is pretty close and it is fairly new. A few common stores that are inside were Athlete's Foot, Nike, and Osh Kosh. Since Christmas is such a huge deal here, the decorations were still up and that made Claire happy, but confused at the same time because she was wondering when we were having Christmas again.

Most of the stores in the mall are the usual clothing stores so not much for Claire (or I at the moment) to look at, but we did check out the movie theater and a few pet stores, which they have two inside the mall!?!

The pet stores were quite similar to those in the US with rabbits, ferrets, a ton of birds and fish, mice, snakes, spiders, lizards, and dogs. The one unusual thing though was that there were no cats. They sold all the usual pet foods and supplies, including cat food.

On a side note: Back when we were potty training Claire, we told her that when she was potty trained, we would get her a fish. Well, with the move, we thought we better wait until we got to Mexico and that would be a good pet to have here. Looking at the prices of the everything was a little bit of a shock. For a critter cage fish set-up, the price was $30. No filter, but it did come with the rocks, decorations, etc. Even a regular small fish bowl was around $20. (I kept thinking about all the critter cages that I had at school for the science kits!) A gold fish was around $6.00, albeit they were of a heftier variety. That being said, we are still not sure on the verdict of getting a fish.

The largest store in the mall is called Liverpool. It would be equivalent to Sears in the US with selling a little bit of EVERYTHING! This is where Dave bought our dryer. When he purchased the dryer, he got a giftcard for $80, but of course, we left that at home!

Throughout the mall I kept seeing advertisements for Krispy Kreme, which is funny because I had just been thinking about doughnuts earlier in the day and I never eat them. So, now I was on a mission to find Krispy Kreme! We had walked throughout the entire mall and had pretty much given up. We went back into Liverpool to look through the store and there it was!!! The bad thing is that the store was just about to close so all the regular doughnuts were gone! Not to leave without getting at least one doughnut we settled on the one of two flavors of chocolate frosting with white sugar cream in the middle. Not my favorite, but Claire was pretty happy with it.

It was time to head back home and the whole time I was crossing my fingers and toes that the electricity was back on, but getting to the gate of the development, it was clear that it wasn't. We all came inside, got pajamas on, brushed our teeth, and crawled into our bed to watch a little bit of Finding Nemo before falling asleep. I wasn't about to leave Claire in her room without the power on for many reasons, but one was that not knowing when it was going to come back on and not knowing what lights were on and where. I didn't want her waking up in the middle of the night because her room was flooded with light.

We all fell asleep for awhile, but around 2, I woke up and couldn't fall asleep. There is something about complete and utter darkness that is unsettling to me. I am used to the street lights that are on outside our window and being in a strange place with nothing but darkness left me sitting awake listening for strange noises.

Hearing Dave stirring, I told him I couldn't sleep so he offered to go get my Ipod so I could play some games. Ironically, while he was in the kitchen getting it, the lights came on. He was able to get all the lights turned off and with my street lights outside peeking in and my Ipod, I finally fell asleep an hour later.

I don't know how often this happens. Dave said it has happened once before on a Sunday afternoon for about 5 minutes, but he has also been at work most days so he may not even have known that the lights were out. All I know, is that after a long week getting used to a new place and things, troubles with heat and propane and lights, I am glad they are back on for this rainy Saturday.

Superama - New Food Experience

2010-01-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night, Dave's friend, Fernando, his wife, Rosie, and their daughter, Erin, came over to our house to welcome us to Mexico. Fernando lived in the US for two years while working at BASF with Dave. I was able to meet them once at one of Drag Day's gigs.

We showed them the house and discussed our trip here and talked about doctors, schools, etc. Then they took us to Superama. Dave had been to Superama before (and it is the closest store to our house, but Wal-Mart and Commercial Mexicana are both just a few more kilometers). He didn't like it the first time he had been there because the store is small and it was crowded. Dave was trying to look at all it had to offer and he said it was too congested for him at that time.

Going through with Fernando and Rosie though was very different though. Although the store is small and more busy than Wal-Mart, it felt like we were the only ones in the store. I hope they weren't embarrassed with showing us around as we were definitely foreigners. It was just so nice to have Spanish speaking people with us!

I had a lot of questions with the produce, although it is not THAT much different than in the US. The few things that I did notice that were different were cactus and these little orange fruits that I have never seen in the US. Rosie said they are a traditional fruit to have around Christmas although she is not a fan. Fernando said that they make a punch at Christmas time and these are usually in them.

As I was curious about the cactus, Fernando said we should get some and he would cook it up for us. He also got some pumpkin flowers to also try.

We continued through the store and another big discussion came with cheeses. Mexicans have a lot of different kinds of cheeses! Superama especially has a large variety of them. I think we got three different types that night. My biggest problem with their cheeses is that they are not all pasteurized. I have already broken enough rules with this pregnancy it seems that I am not willing to try an unpasteurized cheese. Thankfully, we did find a goat cheese that was and the other cheeses were of a mozzarella/provolone type.

The last thing I wanted to find out at this store was how to buy bread. They had nice loaves sitting out, but I didn't see any bags nearby and the bread almost looked like decoration sitting there! Well, you need to go over to the counter and get tongs and a tray to put the bread on, then you bring it back to the counter and someone bags it, weighs it, and puts the price on it. I suppose if I had stood there long enough, I would have seen someone do this, but having some added guidance made it so much easier.

One thing else to note about the store...January 6th is Day of the Kings. For this day, everyone buys a special loaf of bread in the shape of a large oval. It is somewhat sweet and had cherries on top. They had at least 50 boxes of this bread and it was the end of the day! Dave said that the price of the biggest box was 250 pesos (or $20). Inside this bread is a charm of a baby and whomever finds it must have a party at their house on February 2nd with tamales. Also, kids get more presents on this night from the Kings. Claire did not, her presents will come with the shipment!

Back to our house we went. Fernando cooked up the cactus (which you saute in a pan until it isn't slimy), pumpkin flower/cheese tortillas, and just cheese tortillas. We had three different kinds of cheese for dinner. One for the cactus (a sort of fresh mozzarella), a white cheese with the pumpkin flower, and manchela (another white cheese) in the tortillas. Thank goodness we also cooked up some battered fish too, otherwise I think I would've been still hungry after they left!

I tried the cactus first. It wasn't spit out gross, but definitely an acquired taste. I thought the consistency was similar to asparagus/green beans, but more slimy. I can't really describe the flavor, except that it was a bit bitter. The pumpkin flower was next on my plate and that wasn't too bad. I think the hardest thing to get over with that is the texture of eating flowers. Of course, all this was somewhat masked with salsa and sour cream.

We had a great time with Fernando and Rosie, but they had to leave because Erin (who is almost 2) was, understandably, getting fussy and Claire needed to get to bed too! I am very thankful for the insight they gave us, even though it seemed so obsolete to them. More importantly, it was just nice to have company!

Address

2010-01-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here are the addresses. I don't know if what you send will get here. The people from our cultural training were very pessimistic about sending things, especially new things. If anyone is willing to try it though, it would be much appreciated! Even a letter would be great!

The home address is:
David Haverland
Castillo de Pisa No. 44, manzana 100 lote 28
Colonia Condado de Sayavedra
Municipio: Atizapan de Zaragoza
Estado de Mexico
52938
Mexico

The address at Dave's work is:
BASF Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. / División Coatings
Attn: David Haverland
AV. 1, #9 PARQUE IND CARTAGENA
Tultitlan, MX 54900
Mexico

Our First Shopping Trip - Wal-mart

2010-01-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest chains in Mexico is Wal-mart. Fortunately for us, there is a brand new mall going in close by and there is a Wal-mart in it. Getting there directly from our house is another story. It is quite bizarre to me that they just do not have a turn around to get into the mall. You have to go a few kilometers past the mall, get off at another exit and turn around to come back toward the mall. An added five minutes easily.

Like I said, the Walmart is in a mall on the second floor. As you round the escalator to go up to Walmart, there is a pet store with puppies and kittens. I couldn't help but stop and want to take them all home. Not only because they were absolutely adorable, but also because they all were in cages with grates and nothing to lay on. It made me so sad to see them in this way. There was a beautiful German Shepherd, a Westie, and some other breeds that I am not sure of. I believe before too long, we may have a new family member to take care of! It must be able to ride in a carry-on in the plane though.

Anyways, back to Wal-mart...Claire is at the point where she refuses to ride in the cart all the time, so the next option at Wal-mart was to let her use her own mini shopping cart. As this was her first attempt at driving a cart, I didn't expect much, but she was terrible! She ran into everything and almost everyone, of course, using the word "crash" and laughing. There is a parent handle on the mini cart and I told her I had to hang on to it so she didn't lose me, but she was not thrilled about it. Neither was I considering she kept running me into the shelves, but I felt it was a necessity for the other shoppers! She also has a bad habit of picking up everything off the shelf, including eggs (to check them). By the end of this trip, I finally curbed her of this by just having her point to the things she was interested in. Let's hope that lasts!

There were quite a few familiar brands at Wal-mart; Heinz, French's mustard, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Parmesan cheese, Cheerios to name a few. The hard things for me to purchase were fruits/veggies and milk products. I wasn't sure what all the fruits were and they didn't "look" as nice as we are used to in the States. We did purchase strawberries, bananas, limes, lettuce, onions, sweet potatoes, pineapple, and a mango. They also had frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peas, and other vegetables. We got many staples including sugar, flour, Ruffles :)!

Overall, we spent $100, which I thought was pretty good considering that we bought quite a few groceries and other household items. It was a productive shopping trip and, everyone is so worried about safety here, but Wal-mart was very safe!

Day One

2010-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I woke up with high hopes of feeling refreshed and ready to start unpacking and making this place our "home", but all of that was squashed by an overwhelming headache, stuffy nose, and no voice. In other words, I felt like crap! I got up and started to move around to get Claire breakfast and put things away, but I was quickly aware that I needed to head back to bed, which I did for about two hours of solid sleep.

When I woke up, I thought again, that I would feel better and I would be ready to get moving...wrong! I ate something for lunch and meandered around the house trying to be productive again. Some repairmen stopped by to fix the heater in the back room and were using some aerosol spray which added to my headache so off I went again to bed for a few more hours.

I really don't remember the last time I felt so awful. I usually refuse to use the word sick, instead I might say that I am feeling a little under the weather, but this time I wasn't going to deny it, I was sick.

I woke up again and knowing that we needed to go to the store, I sucked it up and headed to Walmart with Dave and Claire. I was really tempted to stay home, but I wanted some say as to the things he was going to buy and I didn't want to miss the first shopping trip with Claire.

When we got back home from shopping, we made dinner (spaghetti, peas, and garlic bread). Then we got Claire to bed and watched Desperate Housewives on Slingbox, while I chatted with Shelly, Nicole, and Marnie on Facebook! After that, I knew that I had overdone it again, so, yep, we went to bed at 9:30, hoping and wishing that I would feel much better in the morning.

Travel Day

2010-01-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

We woke up at 6 am after going to bed around 12:30. (The entire previous day was spent packing our 4 suitcases, 3 carry-ons, and 3 personal carry-ons.) Dave's dad was coming at 7 to take us to the airport. When I woke up Claire, she asked if it was time to go to Mexico! She was in a good mood considering that I had to wake her up and she usually sleeps at least until 7. A quick bowl of cereal for her, showers for us, shoved whatever else we could fit into the suitcases, and we were off.

Dave's dad picked us up in the Terrain and it was full to the brim. He could barely see out the back. I was already worried about us getting through three airports with all this luggage.

We arrived at the Detroit airport (a cold 7 degrees outside) and checked the 4 pieces of luggage to be shipped to Monterrey, Mexico. Then quick good-byes and off we went through security.

Claire did extremely well through this part and didn't even give us the usually "Why?" assault. She just took off her shoes and coat and followed all the directions. We decided to make her wear her monkey backpack that has a parent handle for easy wrangling and I am glad we did. We waited for our first flight, me with the luggage, and Dave and Claire wandering through the airport. Dave got us lunch before we boarded (at 10:10 am), sandwiches for us and a bean burrito from Taco Bell for Claire. (What else do you eat before heading to Mexico?)

I thought Claire would be really excited about the airplane takeoff, but she was too short to see out the window and didn't even know we were flying in the air. All she cared about was when she could use the Ipod! The first hour and a half went by pretty smoothly. Claire ate an oatmeal packet that we brought (thanks Marnie for the awesome suggestion). Then I decided that it was naptime, the only problem was that I had to get the Ipod away from her. She tried using her yelling voice to create drama and, of course, drive me crazy, but finally it passed and I got her to sit with me. After twisting and turning for at least 20 minutes and me glaring at Dave who got to sit by himself on the otherside of the aisle, she fell asleep for the rest of the flight!

We got to Monterrey and had to go through immigration and customs, then had to reclaim our luggage to transfer over to AeroMexico. All of this actually went smoothly, considering the amount of walking that we had to do and the number of times Claire asked if she could have her sucker yet. Finally, we rechecked our luggage and sat waiting for our next flight for two and half hours. Thanks to the internet site 'Slingbox', Dave and Claire were able to watch Olivia and Handy Manny to keep her busy while I tried to get a little bit of sleep. This is the point in the trip when I felt the worst with a headache, runny nose, and just exhausted!

We got on the next plane and I was awarded a seat by myself since there were only three seats across. Too bad this flight was only an hour and forty minutes! Even though this plane was small, it was nice because they check your large carry-ons at the steps of the plane (yes, I had to walk up steps to get on this plane!), so all we had to worry about were our personal carry-ons and Claire. The funny thing is that some man took Claire from me and carried her to the plane. I don't know which one of us was more weary, but we went with the flow and it wasn't a big deal.

We got to Monterrey at which point I was ready to fall over. It was 7:15 Mexico time (8:15 pm Michigan). We got a taxi and by looking at it I was afraid we were never going to get all the luggage into the car and that we were destined to use two taxis, especially after seeing Dave's dad's SUV that morning, but somehow it all fit and we took off for our new home. For some reason, there was a lot of traffic on the toll road and it took us an hour and forty five minutes to get home. Claire fell asleep after about an hour into the car ride, which helped, but by this time, I was so miserable that I thought I was going to throw up in the car and all the way I just kept saying, "we've got to be getting closer." My nose was so stuffy and runny and we had run out of Kleenex at this point. The next best thing I had to use was a pair of Claire's underwear that were in my coat pocket because we put her in a Pull-up at the Detroit airport before we boarded the plane. Note to self: bring a hanky for the next travel day!

We arrived to 44 Castillo de Pisa at 9 pm and it was raining. I got Claire inside and laid her on the couch. She was so tired that she stayed sleeping for about ten more minutes. Just enough time for us to get all the luggage into the house and call home to let everyone know that we had arrived. The house was freezing because the heat had been off for two weeks so Dave had to go outside (yes, outside in the rain) to turn on the propane. We turned on every room heater we could find, made some dinner (Easy Mac and Veggie Chicken Nuggets), and all went to bed in our room, Claire included. Thank goodness there is an electric blanket on our bed, unfortunately it only has one setting: hot!

No one seems to quite understand about the weather in Mexico. Everyone keeps saying at least it's not 0 degrees outside like Michigan! No it's about 61 degrees here right now, but at least at home, I could have my home temperature at 68 degrees. Here, it took two days for the house to reach 64 degrees. It reminds me of a bad camping trip where you just can't get warm. Not to mention that today the propane went out so we are starting back at square zero. I am really looking forward to our shipment to come since we have our amazing space heater packed. I only wish Dave had made it more clear that we should've packed our second heater!

2009-10-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Well, things are really on the move now.

Cultural training...check!
Visas...check!
Mexican Consulate in Detroit tomorrow morning and Dave heads down to Mexico next Wednesday.

It's time to start packing and panicking! All day long, I walk around the house and think, do we need to take that? Today it was hampers. Do we take hampers? Will there be something there to put our laundry in or do we just throw it on the floor. And while I'm thinking about it, what about laundry baskets? We are only allowed a certain amount of weight to ship down. And that is a difficult thing to fathom, especially for someone who can't live without a LOT of books.

The other frustrating part about packing is that once we are down there, we are stuck with whatever we have until someone comes to visit. We thought we could count on people shipping things, but we were told that the mail delivery service is super unreliable and that they will tax us on anything that is shipped to us! I hope there are a lot of people that are planning on visiting so I can get some of my favorite Trader Joe and Target supplies!

Thankfully, Dave will only be gone for 2 and 1/2 weeks before coming home for Thanksgiving, but the long haul will be from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Then we all head down in January!

Moving Date?

2009-09-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, after months of answering the question, "When are you moving?" with a ridiculous, "I don't know," I can finally say there is progress. Dave spoke with the Mexican HR Department today and they are putting together the contract on house #9. Apparently, houses are now moving quickly in the area and if we don't start moving the paperwork along, we would be put in an apartment -which is not happening. The HR person also said that the Visas should be released by the 2nd week in October. What that means exactly, I don't know, but it is progress.

Dave and I decided though that with the date of departure moving later and later, that I would just stay in the states until January. Otherwise, we would be flying back and forth for Thanksgiving and Christmas and this way, we can save the money for other flights home.

2009-08-18T10:29:00.001-07:00

So, house number 12 has been rented out! (Sob, Sob). Although I thought that it was too far away, I loved that house. So cool.

Having a hard time with the housing people on getting some good concrete answers. House number 9 is still available and I think we are going to ask for that one next. Dave asked for a few more options in Chiluca, but the real estate woman sent him apartment options, which is not an option.

Dave is on week two of his language classes. He goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-5pm. I still need to take the first step in signing up, but I will soon, if I have to.

Other than that, no new news. No date as to when we are leaving, nothing is packed, nothing has been signed. I'll keep you updated.

Newest News

2009-07-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Dave found a great website that has a ton of information for people living in Mexico for work. Check it out if you have time. There is a lot to read, but it seems up to date and it is giving me a better sense of what I have to look forward to.

http://www.paguro.net/expat-life/local/mexico/

It looks like we are not moving on September 1st as of right now. We have to wait for our Visa's to be ready so we aren't sure of the exact moving day. We will just have to keep you updated.

Language Classes

2009-07-21T04:32:00.001-07:00

Sounds like Dave will be signed up for language classes soon, which makes me very happy. We both need a lot of help in this area. I am not holding out too much hope for me in that area, but I sure hope Dave gets a good refresher so we can get around more easily down there. I'll keep you updated.

Top Pick

2009-07-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we told BASF that our top pick was house #12 on Friday, but now I am not so sure. It is the only one not in a neighborhood and I am starting to think that that is going to be very important. They also said that the owners of #9 are going to put furniture in the house and send pictures to us. That will be helpful in our decision too.

Comments

2009-07-17T19:22:00.001-07:00

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Top three houses

2009-07-17T08:02:00.001-07:00

Dave got the call today that we need to list our top three houses (in order). Any input would be appreciated! We are looking at Houses #9, #10, and #12. I will try to post the map later. I need Dave's help.

Decided?

2009-07-15T07:49:00.001-07:00

Not sure if anyone is keeping up with this, but if you are, then you will hear it first. It is (pretty much) decided that we are going. Maybe I am just having a hard time actually coming out and saying it. I realize it is something that will help Dave out and also something that I am not willing to look back on and wonder "what if?".

Now I am buying books on living in Mexico and trying to figure out what REALLY needs to go, what doesn't need to go, and what to do with the crap that stays here.

We still do not know exactly when this adventure will start, but it has been said that September 1st would be the beginning date, which would bring us home February 2011. It seems so far away, but hopefully it goes fast! I have to figure out what to do about school. Hopefully, I can I take online classes through Oakland University. I also have to figure out how to tell work.

I will keep this updated as much as I can for all who care to know. :)

Update

2009-06-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

Dave got the new policy from work yesterday for the terms regarding international relocation travel and the new policy established in April states that in order for families to relocate with the employee, the assignment needs to be longer than 12 months! It would've been nice to know that before going down there! That is something new to think about!

I was just settling on the idea of 12 months and now I have to rethink this for 18 months to 2 years. It changes our plans for a second child as well. We were going to wait until we got home to have baby number 2, but that just seems too long to wait.

On another note, it may work out for getting back into the work force though. If I am gone for 18 months, I could come back and substitute for half a year in hopes of landing a job.

More for my brain to process. I'm open to comments, so let me know what you think!

Thoughts

2009-06-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well, all the houses are posted. Now it is just a waiting, question, and decision game. Yuck. I think this will be the most difficult thing that I have ever done in my life. I used to do a lot of daring adventures - going to Washington DC in middle school, moving away to college without knowing anyone, going to France for our honeymoon, but this feels different and I think it is because of the long length of time that I will be gone. I have, obviously, never been away from all my family and friends for so long and I do not look forward to it. I am a somewhat introverted person, but I still love having people around to hang out with. Ugh.

House #12 - The Basement and Maid's Quarters

2009-06-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

House #12 - Last Pictures!

2009-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

House #12 - Last One!

2009-06-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is the last house and it is tied with house #9 as my favorite. The only thing I do not love about this house is the location. It is on a street that seemed a little busy and it is a little bit farther away than all the other houses.

There are a lot of pictures for this house because there were so many awesome things about it so here we go...

The first thing that you notice about this house is the massive front door. This house had a ton of beautiful wood and the front door was just the beginning. When you enter the house, straight ahead you see a fish tank built into the wall that separates the living room from the dining room. You walk into a small foyer that has stairs that lead up and down. Let's start upstairs...

Upstairs there are three bedrooms with unbelievable views. Two out of the three bedrooms have window seats and they all have their own bathrooms, which was obviously a trend with the houses we saw. Also upstairs was a loft area with HUGE built in bookcases, which would be an awesome office. If only I could drag all my books down there. Those bookcases are going to be very lonely and just calling for my books!

Going down the stairs, to the right is a spacious living room and the dining room is straight ahead. I almost forgot to mention the most important part - the bar! It is in the living room, tucked away under the stairs. To the left is a bathroom, a dinette area and the kitchen. There is also a patio off the kitchen and dining room where you can sit and overlook the great view. The patio has stairs that lead down to the back yard and lowest level - the playroom. The playroom is a spacious room in the basement with another bathroom and maid's quarters. The backyard is a decent size and there is an outdoor grill there too.

The things I liked best about this house was the view, the wood, and the layout of the house. I hope the pictures showcase how cool this house was.

House #11 - More Pictures

2009-06-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the upstairs pictures for house #11...

House #11

2009-06-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning we heard the goods news that we would only see two more houses! After such a long Friday, I was very excited to hear that we would be done early, little did I know that the rest of my afternoon would be spent sitting in the car in horrendous traffic.

House #11, Vista Esmeralda, is located in a new area that they are developing. In fact, this house was only a year old. This really wasn't a house thought, more of a townhome. It was in a gated sub division where the homes all looked the same. The only one we saw of it's kind. A Colombian family with a one year old lives there currently and we were told that they needed to move closer to the city and that was why they were moving out. I didn't exactly buy that story though, don't ask me why, but it just seemed like a line they were feeding us.

This house had all the features of a new home - built in lights on the stairs and in the doorways, new appliances, and no grass in the backyard! It was a little smaller than the other houses, but all the furniture was contemporary and the women living there said that there were four schools in the area for children who spoke English.

When walking into the front door, the bar area was to the left, along with a guest bathroom. To the right was the living room, followed by the dining room, that was separated by a free standing fireplace. You can get to the backyard through the dining room. Straight ahead from the front door is the kitchen and the stairs leading to the second level.

Upstairs, there was three bedrooms, again, each with a bathroom and a bathtub in the master bathroom, and one had a loft. There was also another living room area upstairs.

House #10

2009-06-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Almost there! This was the last house that we saw on Friday night. It too is at the end of a cul-de-sac and VERY close to a little playground with a play structure, track for bikes, and see saw. This house was not furnished and we aren't sure if that is good or bad. We did like all the work that the owner recently did to the house and the spacious rooms. Dave did not get as many pictures as we wanted because the camera battery was dying after a long day of snapshots.

When you walk into this house, it opens up to a large living room. In this area, there was a lot of plant life. There was a few plants that separated the living room from the dining room and there were plants (very tall ones) leading up the stairs. It had a huge kitchen and pantry and, we think, another family room in the back of the house.

Upstairs, there was a sitting area right at the top of the stairs, kind of like a loft. There is three bedrooms, each with a bathroom. This one has a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. It also has two other half baths downstairs and, of course, the maid's quarters.

There isn't too much more to say about this house. It didn't have the unique twists and turns that a lot of the other houses had, but it was open, clean, and in a great area, which was the appeal. I love the fact that the park was literally next door and there is a shopping area that is nearby. (I think walking distance.) And it was in Chiluca, the area that I liked best.

House #9 - More Pictures

2009-06-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

House #9

2009-06-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorites! It was large, beautiful, and was at the end of a cul-de-sac. There were three little boys playing outside next door and it had the most beautiful landscaping of all the houses.

Right when you walk in, you see a ledge that overlooks a lower level of the house. It is separated by some plants. I wonder how much Claire would be into these, digging. To the left is a sitting room with a fireplace. Follow that around to the large dining room, another breakfast nook that overlooks the backyard, and a beautiful kitchen. To the right, when you walk in, is a bathroom and the stairs to go up to the three bedrooms and this house has a bathtub! There was a lot of stained glass and I almost forgot to mention that this house also has a bar. There was a gate surrounding the whole house and this one in particular felt the safest to me.

House #8

2009-06-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

This house was ok. It was pretty open and just plain. It was unfurnished so it was difficult to get an idea what it would like with furniture. There were a few drawbacks with this house that makes it a no - no bathtub, and all the bedrooms were downstairs with giant sliders that you could exit out of. I really didn't like the fact that you could enter the house from any of the bedrooms downstairs.

It had a beautiful backyard though and a cute neighborhood with a park really close. Also, the owners son lives next door. I wasn't sure if I liked that or didn't like that.

House #7

2009-06-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

The older man who lived here found out that I was a teacher and wanted to show me something that he just learned about in Switzerland and is now selling. It was a system where kids could learn on their own through a series of pictures and custom magnets that only fit if the answer is correct. He showed us the system, but the types of things to learn (the ones he showed us) were a little bizarre - types of dogs, wood, beans, and self-portraits. I am not sure what age level these are meant for, but I don't really need to know different types of wood, or beans.

House #7

2009-06-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

This one was interesting. It was in a sub division that would be similar to one here with a golf course. This house was actually the basement of a larger house. The couple that owned the house were older and spoke a little English. There was a lot of "extras" outside. - a basketball court, mini soccer green, and outdoor grill. I won't say too much more about this house though because it was ruled out early due to its size (only two bedrooms), ugly furniture and curtains, the many stairs that led down to our entrance, and, again, no bathtub.

Houses #6 - More Pictures

2009-06-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

House #6

2009-06-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, This is one of our favorite houses. It also was in Chiluca. It has a large side yard and another back yard. The side yard has a bathroom that you can only get to from outside - for all the parties that we will be throwing! The only bad thing was that it doesn't have a fence around it.

When you walk into this house, you walk into the living room to the left and a bar right in the center of the house. There is also a guest bathroom right by the front door. When you go left, there is a dining room, kitchen, and breakfast nook that looks out to the side yard. The laundry room was also right off of the kitchen, which I have always wanted and the maid's quarters were up the stairs in the laundry room. Another nice thing about most of the houses we saw was that they have these huge pantries. This one had a pantry with a loft for more storage.

This house had many twists and turns. It seemed like everytime you went one way, it just kept going around the corner.

Also, in the front of the house (off the kitchen), there was a studio room. They currently had a ton of boxes in it, but it was a large spacious room that could be a playroom, extra bedroom, or office.

The back of the house had a workout room, again with a loft. Not sure what you would do with that loft, but whatever. It also has three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and another family room. We really loved this house because of all the stone and brick work, but it doesn't have a bath tub! Unfortunately, that may be a deal breaker! There are lots of pictures so I will try to post them small.

House #5 More pictures

2009-06-23T12:52:00.001-07:00

This is the downstairs level, backyard, view, and the front of the house...

House #5

2009-06-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

The next house was in a town called Chiluca, and it was probably the area that I liked the most because it was newer, in a private zone, and was closer to the stores. It was furnished with decent and minimal furniture. I would rather have less furniture and be able to add a few things than live with some of the over crowded houses. This house also was very open and well-lit. Probably the best features in this house was the two gas fireplaces. One upstairs and one downstairs. The major drawback on this house was that there is no bathtub, which is a necessity for Claire.

A quick description of the house...You walk into the front door to see the stairs on the right going downstairs. Straight ahead is the living room with a great view. To the left is the kitchen, maid's quarters and small dining room. To the right is the formal dining room. Downstairs there is another living room and three bathrooms. This house also had three full bathrooms and one half bath.

House #4

2009-06-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

This house we didn't get to go into because apparently there was a "lighting" problem and the owner wouldn't let us see it. It was a huge house up on top of a hill with very few neighbors. The house was divided up into three sections and we would rent the smallest section. We were able to peek in the windows and it looked really nice and it was furnished with modern furniture. The only information we have on the house says that it had two bedrooms, which wouldn't be good for housing visitors. I loved the location though because it was new and had a beautiful view and it was by some horse stables and a park.

House #3 - More Pictures

2009-06-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

House #3 - Pictures

2009-06-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

House #3

2009-06-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

House #3 we called Tamesis. It is the name of the street that it is on. This house was HUGE with four levels. The front room was used as a child's play room as you can tell with the little house. Right next to the play room, was another sitting area (the yellow couches) and this areas overlooks the lower level of the house. Across from this room was another room that was like an office. The stairs were directly in front of you when you walked in the door and the playroom and sitting area were to the right and the office was to the left.

Going downstairs, there was a grand living room and dining room. Through the dining room a large kitchen with another small eating area. There are huge windows with a nice view out the kitchen/dining room/living room.

If you down another level, there is a large open basement with a bar. (Many of the houses had bars-large bars. I told Dave he would have to get large cutouts of his friends to put at the bar so he could enjoy it with them.) There was another bathroom down there and the maid's quarters. Out the back doors, there was a sloped yard with fruit trees. Limes and peaches for sure.

Upstairs, there was four bedrooms and a loft between two of the bedrooms. There were two bathrooms upstairs, both with jacuzzi tubs.

This house was really big, open, and well-lit, but it also had the most gaudy and old furniture. It looked very Victorian and I couldn't imagine sitting on it and relaxing. I also wasn't so sure about the sloped back yard. There would not be a lot of room for Claire to run around and play.

Some of the views

2009-06-22T11:08:00.001-07:00

This is a little bit of the view going up the hill to the other areas that we looked at. The last one shows the guard house that we had to pass through to get to this area. They were working on another one that would really be our entrance, but this one is another that leads to another area. We were just rerouted through here and it was suppose to be back to normal in twenty days.

House #2

2009-06-22T06:03:00.001-07:00

The second house was also in Satelite, not in the area we wanted. This area is close to the main road that runs through all of Mexico City (it seemed) called the Perferico. It is insanely busy and they are creating another level so the traffic is worse right now because of the construction. This was in a small gated area, but it didn't seem ultra safe being so close to the busy area. This houose was also not furnished. It was a wide open space with a lot of white tile throughout. The stairs going up were in the middle of the layout. They separated the living room from the dining room. The problem with them was that there was no railing on the side and it seemed very dangerous for Claire. This houses had a nice yard, as most of the houses had a small, modest yard of some sort. It had four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.

House #1

2009-06-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

There are no pictures from this house because we forgot to get the camera out, but it didn't really matter anyways because it was not in a location that Dave or I would be comfortable living. It is close to Pizza Hut, Costco, and the mall however. It was in Satelite and just had security on the outside of the house. There was a fountain (they said it worked, but it wasn't turned on when we visited, nor did it even have water in it) in the entry way. It had a courtyard in the middle of the house, but no grass or yard. On the other side of the courtyard, there was a maid's quarters with the laundry and above that was a small studio that could be a playrooom or gym. It had no furniture in it yet, but the curtains throughout the house were really old, dingy, and gross. It had a lot of built-in cabinets, but the wood and everything was kind of miss-matchy. Overall, it was not a good first impression when looking at houses. I like my small house here, better than that house.

First Post

2009-06-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

I am going to start a blog so that I can relay everything about Mexico here, instead of Facebook. That way only those that want to read it can and everyone else won't have to be forced into reading boring posts!