Weekly Update/Joe's Birthday

Hola!!! It has been an exciting week here with the Day of the Dead. They don't really have Halloween, although most of the children know what it is. We went to a Halloween party at some American friends house, and it was mostly us and a bunch of kids. It was fun though. I always think Alex is getting big until I see her around a bunch of 8 yr olds. We carved pumpkins and had a big pinata (check that thing out! $65 pesos for custom made) Alex loves the princesses, and Alan loves Elmo. Joe got the costumes when he was in Vegas. Then we went trick or treating. Only about 1 in 10 houses was giving out candy, so we had to walk a bit more, but they got a good amount of stuff. We tried to stick to the Gringo neighborhood. I am posting some pictures of the kids and such.


The Mexicans use Nov 1-2 to remember those family members who died. They buy these very elaborate wreaths and have parties and such. It is similar to Memorial Day for us, only they take it up a notch. They decorate the graves and hang out there and eat food, sing songs, and party all night. We went by a cemetery today and they had vendors with food, flowers, etc setting up outside. They did have a procession of sorts that went right by the house with a small statue of a virgin? They did not say it was Mary, and it was sanctioned by the Catholic church because the altar boys and priests were involved. If you double click the picture, you can see the statue. They have it on top of the truck. It is very difficult to understand some of it when the language is still not strong for us. Either way they had a little carnival for the kids, and fireworks and such. It was all good until the church started blowing off these bombs at 6:00 am the next morning. When I say bombs, I mean BOMBS. Sounds like a canon. Very loud. Joe thinks it is a half stick of dynamite. We are approx 1 1/2 blocks directly diagonal from the church, and they are close and loud. The only one who didn't wake up was Alex. I swear she could sleep through a war. The Mexican people are always up for an event with food and music and such. We heard a saying that says, "Mexico is easier to love than to understand." That is VERY true. In a country that has a good bit of poverty, why is every kid here running around with cheetos and pop and always snacking on something?

Joe had his birthday, and is now officially 40. Alan and Dan paid for a trip for him to go to Vegas and they had quite a trip. Dan sent me a few pictures, and I am going to attach. The deal was that I did not pack a suitcase for him, just a few necessities, and they were going to provide the wardrobe for him. I guess they found a few select clothing items that would have made your average person take a serious double take, but then again, they were in Vegas. Notice I said average person. Is that pink tie dye, and what does that shirt say? Not Mastercard, Master Pimp? Aren't those pants a bit tight? Where do you find these things? They had a ton of fun and I am forever grateful to them for footing the bill and the arrangements for the trip. Joe is already talking about the next trip. He did get a chance to do some shopping while he was there, which was nice. Toys are very expensive in Mexico. Actually anything that is imported from China has a HUGE tariff on it, so it makes most of the plastic stuff expensive. Your average barbie doll here is about $140 pesos. In the US it is about $5 dollars. Even though they have Walmart and such, the prices and the selection are different. He did get the kids some stuff so that we have Christmas covered here, and he paid for it all with his winnings!!!!! Thanks guys. For Joe's actual birthday, Alex was sick, and she didn't go to school because I didn't want her hacking on all the other kids, so we went for a drive and stopped at the Burger King playland. It was just like the US. The prices were about the same too. We had Whopper combos for Joe's 40th. Now thats living, right?

Other than that, it is just the same things. The weather here is PERFECT. It is cooler at night, so we actually do use a blanket, and you sometimes need a long sleeve shirt in the morning until about 9:00 or so, and then it is sunny and a high is the 70's. The rainy season is over, so it probably won't rain until April. Alex is doing good in school. She is using Spanish words a lot, and doesn't even notice it. When I take her to school, the teachers talk to her in Spanish, and she responds with yes or no answers, so I think she understands more than she knows. Joe and I are still struggling with the language, but now everyone around here has seen us with the kids, and they know we live here, so they are patient with us. Hey, they need to make money too, so they are very willing to accommodate the caveman language we are using. Alan has learned the word, "no", and is using it. He also knows, "Hola", and yells it at everyone we pass while he is on the stroller, or those he sees in the street. Very cute. I never put a lot of thought into socks until now.......

The circus, Alex got her ears pierced

Time is flying by here. The weather is fabulous. It is truly one of the best parts about being here, especially when we know it is COLD in Colorado and other places. It was sunny and about 80 degrees today. We went to the circus, and it was great. Both of the kids really enjoyed it. Alan sat very good and paid attention for almost the whole thing (1 1/2 hrs). For an amateur performance, it was really quite good. They drive around with trucks blasting the announcements (in Spanish of course) but they have trailers with cages with animals. You can go up to the trucks a buy tickets to the show. We have seen the tigers many times, a kangaroo, some lamas, and some miniature ponies. One thing we did discover is that the tigers are very neat, but they are not in the show. Just the cages outside. For the entire thing being in Spanish, it was fun to watch. Mostly some low grade acrobatics, but they did have a big ball that three motorcycles drive in at one time. It was quite impressive, except they seriously need to tune those machines up. I was starting to become concerned that we might all asphyxiate from the exhaust while watching a bunch of crazy acrobatics in a giant blue tent in Mexico. We also about lost consciousness while laughing so hard when the tightrope walker repeatedly bagged himself while bouncing on a rope to "She Bangs" while wearing something stolen from a Brady Bunch episode. Well worth the money if you ask me. We would definitely go again if it comes to town.

Alexandra got her ears pierced today. She had been asking for a long time, and we finally said yes. It is very common here for girls to get their ears pierced at birth. Literally before they leave the hospital. All the girls in her class have them, and she was very concerned that she was missing out somehow. It was worse for me than for her I am sure. We had to buy the earrings and take them to a doctor or pharmacist. I find it extremely odd that in a country that you can buy just about any drug over the counter, but you have to have a physician pierce your ears. Where's Claires when you need them. Almost any jewelry counter in the US does ear piercing. The earring that we bought had a point on them, and a ball on the back that you screw on. The pharmacist just soaked them in disinfectant, put some numbing stuff on her ear lobes, and shoved them right through. She was so brave. She only cried just a bit on the second one, and once she found out it was over, she was A-OK again. She is so proud. I hope it all goes well after this. She is definitely a girly girl, so we have a long life of girly stuff. She is adorable though.

Joe and I found a babysitter and are trying her out for the second night. She speaks NO English, and we speak little Spanish, but Alex seems to like her. She probably feels like she is at school. She is a maid for another friend of ours, and she has three kids of her own, so crying probably doesn't bother her a bit. Her name is Lulu. We also got the house sprayed for roaches and such. Every morning since, we are excited to get the "count" of dead roaches and such. We have not seen any more scorpions, so that is good. As long as we don't all die of an unknown cancer later in life, it is working out great. The guys who sprayed the house is the "rooster" guy we spoke about early. He told Joe, "it kiills eeveryting!" He was right. As long as it doesn't kill us right? Not much else for now. I will try to include some more pictures of the Circus. My ESL article was published in the paper, so I am going to write a Circus review next.

Pictures are of me and Alex and with her earrings, the tigers that are paraded around town, Joe and the kids, and Alan unhappy about his pacy being taken. Until next time......

Crazy busy doing what??????

Hey Everyone. Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. Joe and I have been very busy it seems, but what we have been doing is a mystery. I have been teaching my class two days a week, and I really like it. I wrote an article for a local newspaper here, and another small publication. Nothing great, but I am going to clip them for sure. Joe and I have been looking around for other interesting things to write about.

Here is a note about the medical care and facilities. Alan had a bad string of diapers (if you know what I mean), and we started to get worried, so we took him to the doctor here to get checked. Turns out he has an 'Intestinal Yeast Infection". Who would have thought. They think it was something he ate, or found somewhere. The amazing thing was, it cost us out of pocket less than $100 dollars. We had a doctor appt, a lab test on one of his diapers, three different medications (two prescriptions), and about 6 bottles of Gatorade. The doctor was awesome. We never even saw a "nurse" accept to drop the diaper off, and get the test results later that day. We got there when the place was just opening (they only make appointment for tests and specific things), and we waited about 10-15 minutes until the doctor could see us. We went right into his office, he asked all the questions and filled out the paperwork. He spoke PERFECT English. He examined Alan thoroughly, and wrote up a prescription and a lab order for the next diaper. It was amazing. The doctor charged $150 pesos. PESOS!!! That is the equal to about $15 dollars. The lab was the most expensive at $29, and the medicines and Gatorade were the balance. The worst part was we were told that Alan could have no bread, pasta, or juice for a week. Can you imagine what you feed your child with no bread or pasta. He has had a bunch of eggs, cheese, bananas, and Gatorade this week. He does seem to be getting better, but he HATES to take medicine. I have to hold him down and hold his mouth open and keep my finger in there until he swallows, otherwise, he will spit it out. I know the stuff tastes OK because Alex licked the dropper and said, "MMMMMMMM", so I am not sure what the problem is other than he hates you to tell him what to do. He saw Joe put the medicine into his Gatorade one time, and he REFUSED to drink it. After that, I just force feed it to him.

Joe got a surprise trip to Vegas this week for his birthday. His brothers paid for the ticket and we sprung it on him at the last minute. He had NO clue. I packed his computer and a few things, and called a cab (our landlord), to come get him. He was a bit confused as to what was happening, but he left, and I haven't heard from him. I am sure they are having a good time. He will need to come home just for the rest when they are done with him. Alan and Dan had an idea to buy him some clothes for his trip, so I didn't pack him anything but an extra pair of undies. He left with only the clothes on his back. Hopefully, customs didn't give him too much trouble for going to the USA for 5 days with nothing but a computer, a shower kit, and an extra pair of undies. Then again, it is Vegas. Knowing Dan, he may be showering with his clothes on a few times.

Not much else going on for now. I should have some good stuff in a few days with the Vegas update, and such. The weather here is beautiful every day. The high is around 80, and the low 60. It did rain yesterday, which is unusual during the day. It usually rains at night, and clears by mid morning. With the rain, I wasn't able to hang clothes out for a few days, so I got a bit backed up. Of course I planned to wash the sheets, which take up most of my lines just with them, so it pushed me back another day. Alex found a small scorpion on the back patio by the washer this morning. It made me a bit nervous. I squished him, but I wonder if there is more. They can be a bit dangerous for the kids because they are so young. So far we have only seen two, and the other one was across the street under a rock. I have heard other people report seeing more, so hopefully they will avoid us. We are getting used to the roosters and dogs. It does seem that I am sleeping better. There was a band practicing for a while that was playing until 3 am, but they have seemed to move locations lately. We still don't know many of our neighbors other than in passing. The language barrier is a bit of a problem so we are mostly polite in passing. I am sure they all talk about us though as we are the only Americans they have seen with no maid or gardener. The family across the street is Mexican, and they have both.

We started going to the local church, and they have a fair amount of children there. They have several missionaries that attend that do not know how long they will be there, so that accounts for some of the children. Alex does OK, and Alan sometimes falls asleep. He is just 18 months, and sometimes that morning nap just doesn't wait. The biggest problem is that he usually fusses quite a bit before he will fall asleep, so that can cause a problem. Most of the people there have been wonderful, and they have ESL classes, so I may switch next year depending on the arrangement. So many of the American/Canadians we have seen here are somewhat disgruntled. Not sure what the story is. The rest look like they are about to drop dead at any moment. Clearly here for the health care?????? If we would have know there would have been so many retirees, and so few younger people here, we may have picked another location. Until our language skills improve, we are somewhat limited. Once we can get in with the Mexicans, we should be good to go. We do have an invite for a BBQ this weekend, and other prospects in the wing. We will see how it goes. Will post soon.........

Pictures are of an activity at Alexandra's school (notice she is the blonde), meat delivery, and another visit to the lake. The liros are gone now and it looks good.