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.