food & water: the bare necessities

Target does not exist here, and so a part of me died when I came here. But someone must love me, because they do have a Costco here. Costco is my new Target. Although, the other day Bruce came home with a bulk-size bag of chocolate candy bars. I told him to never EVER buy chocolate in bulk EVER again.


Nonetheless, there are some things I have missed. Like brown sugar. The marshmallows here are wierd. I haven't found rice vinegar or sesame oil or Life cereal. And no Crisco. They do have lard, but... the word "lard" just makes me shudder. Luckily, we had to fly back to the States last weekend.

Side note: We'd never gotten our visas stamped when we crossed the border, so we had to fly back out and then fly back in to get it stamped... I know. Ridiculous, right? There's supposed to be an "hombre" hanging out at the border to stamp your visa when you go through, but there was absolutely no one there. So much for border security. Or maybe they're more concerned about the people coming IN to the U.S. In any case, all we saw at the border was a Mexican military tank with a machine gun on top and we weren't going to stop and ask someone where the closest place was for the Americanos to get robbed and shot. We were in Laredo.

Anyway, back to my original story. Food items I have normally used could not be found. But luckily we flew back and I stocked up on brown sugar, Crisco, cornmeal (yes, there is no cornmeal in the land of corn tortillas), etc. I'm also learning that while services here are cheap, goods are twice as expensive. I tried to buy M some simple pajamas at the Sears here and they cost 420 pesos (equal to about $42 in the States). So I also stocked up on clothes while back in the States. For all who want to come visit me, there will be an "entrance fee". I've still got a pretty long list...

They do have great produce here. And stuff lasts longer here with no humidity and such a temperate climate. However, I have to disinfect all of our produce:


Water is also a serious problem. After taking showers at the hotel, I kept noticing my hair smelled a little like urine. Yes, it's true. At first I thought I had accidently rolled into one of L's accidents or fell asleep on a dirty diaper, but oh contraire. I'm fairly certain it was the water. Now that we are in our apartment, I'm not noticing as much of a urine smell, but it is likely I've become (horror of horrors) disensitized to the stench. Although, M's bathroom still smells a little like a skunk died in there and I can't figure out the source. Poor M. Before the option of moving to Mexico came up, Bruce and I had originally discussed China. I was having issues with coming back smelling like fish oil. In hindsight, that would have been better than urine. Luckily, we have a filter for drinking water:


But what can I say. It's all just a part of the adventure, folks.

going private

Hola, amigos. We'll be taking this blog down under, so if you're a reader and you want an invite, leave me your email address here.

living arrangements

These were taken just a few days ago - evidence that we are still alive. Or were a few days ago. Take note of the 7-story wall that surrounds our apartment complex.



Why use just your hands?




Obviously, some things haven't changed.





Kung Fu Panda imitations. Half of their genes come from Bruce.




These next few pics were taken by B. He's a better photographer... maybe it's something about his 4-feet tall perspective.






The following slideshow is for Shauna and Aud who keep asking what our place looks like. There's not much to see. It's an apartment with really white walls, and I definitely need to get some plants in this place. But the elevator opens up directly into our apartment, which is nice. Less doors to deal with. The apartment complex itself is a little ostentatious for my taste - all guests must valet park, if that gives you an idea. But, overall, we feel very safe and happy here!

The view from our apartment windows:

**spoiler alert**

I finished it in 24 hours. I loved it. This is my favorite book in the whole series. And if I could tell you why I love this series so much, than I would probably get over this obsession, but since I can't, I won't. A couple of my favorite parts of this book:

- Bella: "You're killing my buzz, Edward."
- The fact that Book 2 was from Jacob's perspective.
- The maturing of Bella and Edward's relationship and themes of love throughout - between husband and wife, mother and daughter, among family.
- All of Emmett's comments.
- I wanted to just hold and cuddle Renesmee. I got teary at the "we're a team" image she gives to Bella.
- The image of Edward as "the burning man."
- Jasper hanging around Bella all the time, because she was giving off such pleasant emotions of euphoric happiness.
- Seth. LOVED Seth. Reminded me of my brother, Nate.
- Loved Bella's power. Perfect.
- Couldn't stop smiling through the last 3 pages of the book.

I would have to say that, although Stephenie Meyer is not the best writer per se (it's all sort of straightforward, slightly repetitive verbage and, plot-wise, you're not really sure what the heck really happened at the end of it), I think she is a phenomenal storyteller with a serious imagination. I felt all sorts of emotions throughout the book - shock, horror, excitement, hormonal, anger, disgust, euphoria. It was an emotional journey with a conveniently happy ending. This makes some people gag. Not me! I'm all over that.

did you miss me?

Hello, hello? Anyone there? Has everyone stopped reading my blog by now? Did you think we died? Don't worry. So did I. We finally got Internet last night. It's only taken a month. But I'm quickly learning that here in Mexico 8:30 often means 10:30/11:00 (or later) and "mañana" is just another word for two days from now or even a week from now. Gotta love these Mexicans. I was starting to fantasize about all sorts of "would you rather" scenarios. Like, "would you rather sit in a nasty-smelling outhouse for an hour or have no Internet for two months?" Or, "would you rather eat toenail clippings or have no Internet for two months?" That last one was most recent. I was feeling desperate.

Seriously, though. I am in love with the people here. They are so friendly, helpful and patient with my horrible spanish. Aside from the thieving police officers and the traffic that's like NYC traffic on steroids and crack, I can tell I'm going to love it here. I'm also proud of myself! I've really been getting around this crazy city - the safer parts at least. I even returned something the other day. I can usually get my point across, but I'll be darned if I know what the heck they're saying back to me. Most of the time I just smile and say, "No entiendo" and walk away. I have lots to blog about, but at the moment, I have no idea where my camera cord is to upload pictures. Also, Bruce got his secretary to find me Breaking Dawn in english (she had it shipped here from Guadalajara), so I'll be incapacitated for the next few days. In any case, it's nice to be back in cyberspace. I'll be getting back to you all soon...