Alex goes to school/Walmart trip

Alex had her first day at school. 11 children in her preschool class. I think she is really going to love it. None of the children in the class speak any English, but most are girls, so that is a plus. It will be interesting to see how fast she learns the language compared to us old folks! I was the only parent who spoke English, and I struggled to follow as my Spanish is not good enough yet, and they speak very fast. I did have an "interpreter" there who told me most of what was going on. I did manage to introduce myself and Alex in Spanish. I wish I could go to class with her just for the language. I think she will do great. She got a Hello Kitty backpack and lunch box, so she is ready for action.

We are still looking for a rental house, and waiting on a few responses for houses we liked, but things move very slowly here in Mexico. We are looking forward to getting settled in a place long term after the summer in PA, and then the traveling and the temporary rental. A dresser is looking pretty good right now. The roads here are VERY bad. They told us they have cobblestone streets, but I have never seen streets like these. Apparently they never thought about filling in the cracks! So far our right side mirror on the van is "missing", and we managed to scratch the side door up pretty good because we failed to notice the boulder that was sticking out in the road while parking. Good thing we got the used van which now has 95,000 miles on it! Once we find our permanent place, we will be able to park the van and only drive occasionally. Most things are centrally located so we can walk almost everywhere. Joe is offering to buy me a moped to get around on. A lot of the locals are driving mopeds or 4 wheelers. The traffic laws are pretty much everyone for themselves, so they don't bother you unless you crash.

We went to Guadalajara to visit the Walmart, and were almost finished off by a bus! The Walmart had most things you could want. Pampers were $148 pesos($14 USD)for 46 size 5. I do believe that is cheaper than the US. I was tempted to try the local brand, but Joe cautioned against it. My good friend Deb gave me some Pampers cruisers diapers and I have been terribly spoiled by them. It is hard to go back from the Cadillac of diapers! Baby wipes are WAY expensive. I am going to check the bulk at Sam's. The big difference I found from US/Mexico Walmart is that they sell appliances and mattresses here. The food selection is smaller and they have all Mexican labels. Other than that, pretty much the same. They even have Great Value. A gallon of milk is cheaper here, and so is Cheddar cheese! Anything made in China or plastic seems to be more expensive. Almost double. Napkins are reasonable, but paper towels are expensive. We will figure out more as time goes by.

The above pictures are of Alexandra in her school uniform, Brandi and Alan at the park we frequent, and all of us in from of the church near the plaza we go to in San Antonio Tlayacapan.