The Drive to Veracruz

We drove to Veracruz for a few days before Thanksgiving...

Our drive to & from Veracruz gave us new insights to driving in Mexico ...  

While driving past many "towns" (I call them this because it seems to be the generic term used for any densely populated area of Mexican people who are in the lower economic class than the Mexicans that live in cities), the tiny houses usually have a black barrel on their roof.  When I asked Patrick about it he explained it was their water tank, & it is black & on the roof so the sun can heat the water... It is their water heater, powered by the sun, for free, nice carbon footprint!

We experience Crazy traffic going thru Mex city...

Cars with many more people than seats or belts

A young Baby on a person's lap in the backseat climbing all over the back seat passenger, then clinging to the open window for leverage to pull himself up.... All while the car was driving.  Naturally my mind worries about the baby.

Going thru mountain near Puebla passed a small pick up truck with about 8 people huddled in the bed of a pick up truck under a blanket...this is common means of travel for a few men, in work trucks, sometimes a family will put a few kids in back, not the small ones.. But to see this many people, men, a woman, an old lady, a young lady.. And it was cold... 

At 9,500 ft passed a family riding uphill on bicycles, (temp 14 C )   each w/ a large pack on their back that extended from the bike seat & went up & over their heads.... At first I thought these packs were groceries, food staples.. But Patrick said no, that these people were on a religious pilgrimage!  I had my doubts... But we passed more people like this group on our way to & from Veracruz..

Once,  while in stop-n-go traffic we had a chance to watch a group of these people ride past ... In the rain.. So, in fact, these people were riding with STATUES strapped to their backs... Statues of Mary/our Lady of Guadalupe! 

Saw several  agua (water) pumps on this mountain road, so clearly people travel it by means other than high speed vehicles.. Further evidenced by the numerous mini shrines just off the side of the road.. Presumably for those who were less fortunate on their trek through the mountain trail. 

Large garbage truck w/ 2 young men riding in back, on top of garbage..a few minutes later a bunch of garbage comes flying off the truck & hits the road... ???

I see 2 small boys, age 6 or 7, tops, riding alone in the back of a pick up truck..?? As completely unsafe as this seems to me, I am sure the family is feeling they provide safety & comfort for their kids because this truck was equipped with child size chairs in the bed of the truck!

Just when I thought I had seen it all, we were coming up on a semi truck, & its back doors were flapping open as it sped along on the road... As we neared the truck I could see into the back of it... It was empty, except for the the few old women I saw sitting inside the empty cargo container..  Made me wonder, does the semi truck driver even know about the passengers??

Driving to & from Veracruz we had to go over a mountain... Each way, the clouds had descended onto the mountain top, making the drive.. awe-some.  As we climbed higher the clouds seem to meet the road.  Then we were driving in WHITEOUT conditions, which we have done before,.. in the snow of Michigan.  Driving was like crawling really, because could not see the car ahead of you, nor could you see the road before you..best not to drive off the side of the 2 lane mountain road, which did not always have guard rails!  At some point we came through & were driving above the clouds.. Seeing fluffy clouds below the level of the road or right at the level as we came up & down each side. 

The TomTom navigation system we have did its best to guide us through the densely populated Mexico City, but at any given major intersection, there can be 6 ways to go.. And even though we have the maps of Mexico loaded on it, poor TomTom doesn't speak Spanish at all!!   This means when he gives guided directions, he says, take a Right on frdhhyfsdvubr.   Often we take the wrong Right.. as the highways are overlapping & at high speeds you make split second decisions & the we & Tom recalculate...  One of those times we ended up trying to get back to the freeway but found ourselves driving right thru an open street market.  Unfortunately, this was a rougher looking street market than what I go to, so I was a lil' nervous.. and people ahead of us were basically window shopping out their car windows, so it took a long time to get back on track. 

This trip was a whole new type of driving experience for us, one that is worth noting & remembering..  

Halloween & Dia de la Muerta

Halloween was quite an interesting evening!  Trick/treating in an apartment building can be very productive & efficient!   But catching a elevator was difficult. Fortunately, we started at the penthouse level & walked most of the way DOWN.. 26 floors... In 2 buildings!   Probably only a 30-40% ratio of tenants giving out candy, but my Z & D did well.  

As it turns out, our apartment building cannot accommodate trick or treaters because of our unique elevator-entry-door systems.  So our front door is actually not really a door...  When you enter the elevator, you must insert a special key, coded just for our apartment on our floor. When you input the key, the 6th floor lights up & up you go.   When the elevator doors open, you are in our apartment!  So, this is really safe, no one can come to our apartment without our key!  Well, unless, they are already on the elevator when we call it, then it opens, they are on it, they can see straight into our apartment, & then you ride down the rest of the way together.  This, I have decided is incentive to keep the apartment always clean & for me to always be dressed when the kids are coming or going... Lest the neighbors see me, having a pajama day!!   A few unfortunate souls were already witness to my "morning look" the first week here!  Zach was no sooner on the elevator than I heard Patrick say where is your lunch as the elevator doors close.  I ran to check the kitchen & there it was!  So I grabbed it & called the elevator, whew, no one on it... Down to the parking garage I swept... Then I saw 1 employee, a gardener maybe...  I raced to the car to hand off the lunch only to find out that Kirsti had gone up the service elevator to get it!  So I had to go that route now too, because Kirsti would be pounding on the service door to get in, but I would not there!  To my unfortunate surprise, when I called THAT elevator, there were already 3 people on it!  2 maids & 1 building employee, probably a security guard because he was one of the "men in black (suit)".  I was slightly mortified, and THEN, Kirsti was not even at the service door!  Come to find out later, the poor girl had climbed the stairs up & down because the elevator was not speedy enough!  Good thing she has young legs! Lol

So that was a loooong side bar note about keeping the apt clean, door opening, being dressed, yadda, yadda, yadda!

So Halloween here was on 10/30, with a party on the grounds, there was food & music & paid entertainers in costume... But it was for the wee little ones...

On Halloween, the kids had a half day   - Danielle had a pretty fun day, they had some skits from the drama class, her class included, they had a haunted hallway, candy, lots of free time outside, and of course the kids were in costume.  Kirsti & Zach also had costumes, but no haunted house, they had tons of free time.. In fact every teacher decided it was pointless to try & get much done that day, classes were so shortened. There was some candy thrown about, but when Zachary tried it, he just about choked because candy here is VERY DIFFERENT!  A lot of stuff is spicy!  Covered in cinnamon or chili powder, seriously!  They do have a lot of suckers here, lollies, but many are chalky... Not Zach's fave!  He is a tootsie pop die-hard fan!

So that day I invited ourselves to our friend's complex that does do-door-to-door trick or treating.. And that's where I started this story... Walking down flights of stairs - who am I kidding?? The kids were running.. I am so glad no one got hurt!! They were usually a floor or 2 ahead of my friend and me!!  We managed to catch up only when they found a floor where people were sitting by their doors waiting for the little goblins to arrive.   The few times we caught an elevator were hilarious though... Kinda like one of those  clown cars where the clowns just keep getting out, one after another, after another..  Thats how the elevator looked & felt like... When the doors opened, we practically spilled out into the hallway...

After the trick or treating, the complex tenants were all invited to a potluck in the party room - that easily fits 250-300... They had an inflatable for the kids outside, Everyone just brought something to share & drinks were kinda BYO ...

So it turned out to be very fun & very different from any other Halloween!

Then on Friday Patrick remembered we were invited to trick or treat with the Boy Scout Troop, in the subdivision across the street... So close, how could we not go??  And it was a beautiful night & it was the US Embassy complex, it was more traditional house-like atmosphere, door-to-door outside style....AND, mostly AMERICAN CANDY!!  Kirsti was in heaven to see Reese PB cups & Kit Kats... But not a single Twix to be found 😞

It was great to meet some new people, got some good advise & some travel tips.. Maybe a little vaca at Thanksgiving is in order??

So yesterday & today are Dia de la Muerta... Day of the Dead.  Yesterday was the day you visit / honor your relatives that died young... Today you do the same for your relatives that lived to be old.   In the bigger cities, there is not so much in the traditional celebrations going on...  People set up altars  in their homes, display beautifully painted skulls, have flowers & set out water & favorite foods of their deceased family members.   They make these special sweet breads only at this time of the year, they have "bones" on the top of them to celebrate this time of year.  In smaller villages, there are big celebrations with parades, vigils at the cemetery, much more ornate altars etc..  Maybe next year we can travel to a smaller village to check something out.

But not this year... Its game day... So time to start watching College Game Day... GO BLUE!

Oven-challenged

Oven challenged

I am oven-challenged... Is that the politically correct way to say that??

I have lived in 3 places now, here in Mexico, in a little over 2 months.   Each place has had an oven problem... So I am beginning to wonder, is it ME??  Nah... I don't think so..

The first apartment had a stove/oven combo - traditional looking unit, gas, not electric.   The burners all lit correctly, no problems cooking on stove-top, check!  When attempting to use the oven, simply turning the oven knob to light was not sufficient.  It would ignite a flame but just as quickly it would go out.  It would take approx. 16-20 attempts at this ignition, & possibly 5-7 minutes of gas flowing into the kitchen before the oven stayed lit.  Then, unfortunately, sometimes it would go out on its own, while food was in the oven.  Like the time my sis-in-law, Sarah Jackson, was in town for work & we had her over for dinner... Pulled the chicken from the oven... To find the oven was off, chicken not cooked... Dinner was quite late that night!!  Sarah is a food quality control manager at Dominos, tell me that wasn't stressful to pull out raw chicken from the oven at the designated "dinner ready" time!!  This problem persisted until we moved out.. Landlord said we didn't know how to turn the knob correctly... REALLY??  turning knobs must now be rocket science... Well good luck to the next renters is all I have to say!

The corporate apartment we lived in next also had a gas stove/oven combo. Again, the burners were no problem so cooking on stove-top was no problem.  This oven had a different problem.  The igniter was not working at all, so gas would flow when you turned it on, but no flame.  So we bought a "flame stick", you know, the igniter wand... So when you turned the oven on, & used the igniter wand at the small portal opening where the flame would normally appear, a small flame would catch.  And then... A minute later, the whole oven basically exploded with a poof as the flame caught and travelled to the rest of the heating element.  The first 2 times this happened I screamed as the soot came shooting out of the oven at me & I feared my face & hair might catch fire!  Later I learned to only use the oven when Patrick was home to light it.... He has longer arms to reach in & less hair to catch fire... 😘

Now that we have moved into our final destination... I was hoping the oven nightmares were behind me because this whole kitchen was remodeled 2 years ago. Everything is top of the line. Granite, 6 burner cooktop in the island, oven unit in the wall with the micro built in above the oven, beautiful finishes in plumbing & lighting & cabinetry, really nice! So I asked Patrick if the owners manual was left for us... No, No?? Really?? I am surprised, this digital oven is all in Spanish, chances are pretty good the manual would have had English directions too.  So we translate the oven command buttons & it turns on to preheat - without a hitch - beautiful!!  It even says "ON" in English.  So we make chicken, it cooks for 30 mins & its done, YAY!!

And then 5 mins later, when the food is already out, & we are eating, it starts to beep.  I figured we forgot to turn it off or we turned it off incorrectly, jump up, run to it, its flashing a code "F7", hmmm... I press the button we know to mean stop/cancel, it stops & we go back to dinner.   15-20 mins later it beeps again, same error code.. & oven is still quite warm, but again I turn it off, it stops.  

This went on, over again & again, no matter what sequence of  buttons we hit....  Finally, Patrick flipped the circuit breakers until he got the stove off & it reset itself. 

Then last night I made food for the kids & it cooked fine, after it came out I popped in the long-anticipated & highly desired CUPCAKES!! (Hand-carried the pan back from Michigan this past weekend!).   5 mins after the cupcakes went in, error code "F7" started beeping & oven shut down by itself.  Darn thing never came back on all night!!  Didn't stopped beeping , even when I flipped the circuit breaker either!   Finally, after hours, it stopped beeping, but is still flashing.... Grrrrr!  So those cupcakes were trashed, my oven is not working & I really would like to bake, its a good way, a delicious way, to warm up a house that does not have a furnace!!  Its a bit chilly...

So the oven problems have 2 things in common:

1).    The operator, Me

2).  The brand is Mabe

Personally, I think its the brand that is the problem..., after all, I know how to use an oven & there is nothing to "get lost in translation" when turning an oven on!!

Sure hope the landlady finds that manual!!

It was a Night to Forget!!!

It was a night to forget!

Danielle was invited to a birthday party of a classmate, which was immediately after school.  Since we are new to the area, we did not understand where the party was taking place. The parents names were not on the invitation, we didn't know if they spoke English, so really, it was quite irresponsible or way too trusting on my part, but I let Danielle go to the party with the birthday girl directly from school as thats what the kids worked out when I asked for information and directions etc.. Of course the party was planned just 1 week prior to the event, and with sports and other after school stuff these details were only worked out on Wed., the party was Friday. 

I should preface this story with my personal experience here so far has been that the Mexican people, here, in this part of the country anyway, have been so amazingly kind, honest & trustworthy in every way... That is another blog all together!!

So I blindly sent off my youngest child yesterday to school with a bday present, and our phone numbers to call us when she is ready to be picked up.   The only thing we did know, was that the party was in Interlomas, a different city. A city we knew, a city we considered living in, but we ultimately decided the drive was a hassle for Patrick & the kids, who work & attend school in Sante Fe. 

So during the day I called one of my friends here, who happens to live in Interlomas, they have taken us under their wing a bit (thank God!), & asked if they wanted to meet for dinner at the mall because Danielle was somewhere in Interlomas & we needed to collect her at some point. After further discussion, my friend helps me realize the party D is at, is at the mall!! And she also reminds me about Friday traffic and suggests I not travel to Interlomas @ 5:30... She says...Give it some time...

So.. We now live in a corporate apt, on a freeway.. We see traffic.. BIG TIME!  So we watch the traffic & decide to leave a little before 7pm. We have not heard a word from D, but we are not worried because my friend also told me that Mexican birthday parties are long events.. Not 2-3 hours... That I would want to get her before it would even be done...

We leave-

We decide to take the toll road in our town to avoid local traffic we see on side roads. Good thinking & 5 pesos well spent! We round the corner & come to a screeching halt!!!  And there was sat for ... Probably 10-15 mins, waiting to pay the toll & exit. 

Then we were to creep our way thru the city and on to a service drive to get to the next toll road which gets us to the city of Interlomas.  The experience is still too painful to account fully, but the distance is maybe 5-6 miles.  But we were going no where fast! The tension in the car was mounting, Zach & Kirsti bugging each other, my neck getting stiff, Patrick's jaw was clenched... The wrong thing said got snapped at.. It was UGLY!  

I was starting to say prayers as I was getting a panicky feeling, we had been in the car over an hour now and we were still in our own city!!!  And then it happened, a warning signal sounded from the car, en Espanol, of course!!  But the gist of it was, the transmission was overheating and something was going to happen in 8 minutes.. !!!  That is what the alarm signal was telling us!! And of course blaring that wonderful alarm sound, adding to the ambiance of the car "mood" !!

Now, I was panicking!  Patrick, not so much.. That's why we are good together - I need his calm!

So, this was happening & I came up with the idea to ask our friends in Interlomas to go to the mall & collect Danielle because I was pretty sure we were going to break down on the road in the middle of all this traffic!!

Seriously, where did all there people come from? Where were they going? Did they all decide to wait like we did? And what if a real emergency happened?? I think a person would die waiting for help! If our car breaks down, we are going no where, we will never get to pick up Danielle.. It will be the worst thing ever... Especially since we needed to get to the mall to get to a bank, we were nearly peso-less!  Well, it could get worse, it could be raining...

Fortunately our friends answer the phone & agree to go find Danielle at the mall.., some small level of anxiety reduced..

The phone rings back, the person asks for me.. They say they are at the mall they have my daughter, could I hold on please... Anxiety wave rises... Then the mother of the bday girl gets on & her English is quite good, whew!  She asks if I am coming for D..... I am explaining we are coming, its now been over 90 minutes in traffic, car about to break down, friend coming for D.. Apologies all around!!  I could just die!  And the car alarm is still screaming... Patrick keeps the car in neutral whenever possible to keep the signal quiet & eventually, we make it through the most unbelievable traffic intersection we had seen yet!  Even the police were stuck in this one!  After that intersection we see the toll booth, get on the road and FLY DOWN THE ROAD!!! Really, we get to Interlomas in like 7 minutes!  We get to our friends house where Danielle is waiting, it has been over 2 hours since we left our house.  In a situation of little to no traffic, that drive would normally take 20-30 minutes. 

We open the car doors and fall out, and poor Zach starts to cry!!  My poor guy has had a headache for sometime, and standing up made him feel like his head was going to split open!   I could cry for him.. A coke and some chips and 2 motrin later, he is ready to head to the mall to finally get dinner... We are all starved! It is almost 10pm!! 

Of course, the food court is closing up, the movies are open, the indoor ice rink has a little league hockey game going on... The only quick food, fast food open...??? Yup, 

McDonalds, ugg!

The kids were thrilled... 

Patrick & I came home to eat leftovers & cereal & catch the last 2 innings of the Tigers game.  

By the way, it only took us 15-20 minutes to get home!

 

Small Victories

Small victories 

Recent small victories this week had me smiling...

We moved last weekend to a temporary corporate apartment.. It is located outside of town, on a freeway, literally! Very busy & difficult to get into & out of the complex!

This means learning new driving routes!  

So this week I learned how to get to the kids' school 3 new ways!! All on my own, all without getting prior directions from anyone, and all without being late to get the kids!!

Also, with this new driving confidence, I attempted to find my way home via new routes... The first time was a major fail.. The road took me out of town but into a totally different direction.... But I got myself turned back and into familiar territory before getting drastically lost!  The next time I attempted the new route home I guessed correctly & learned a new way, and I learned I need to trust my FIRST gut instinct more often.. It has usually been right!

I have been able to navigate the grocery store a bit more quickly also, I still don't really know exactly what the cashier says to me, but we both understand each other pretty well.. Even when there was a price discrepancy.. Of course I am in no position to argue my point for customer rights if I wanted to... But I digress..

I successfully had a conversation with the security guards at school, I could tell them the reason I was coming to school was "Mi hija esta enferma" (my daughter is sick), they asked where, I answered the Primeria escolar (elem schl), & they asked my name, her name & I understood & answered... I was on cloud nine! This whole "conversation" was about 60 seconds long, but I was feeling pretty happy - and that allowed me to use my best head nodding and Si,Si... When talking to the parking guards as I pretended to know everything he said to me & then I went ahead & did what I usually do.. Park in the garage.. & walk up, like I am a pro or something, haha!

I am getting very good at my aggressive driving! I drive between lanes, I am even merging over multiple lanes sometimes... And...Sometimes, I don't even use my turn signal!! Truly Mexican!!  I pay ZERO ATTENTION TO SPEED, except when I see a speed bump!! Those are waaayyyy more important than a police officer!  In fact, I have never seen the police pull over a traffic offender here in town, then don't even stop to help cars on the side of the road who need help. They do drive around with their lights on all the time.  There is one police vehicle in the same exact spot every morning, to give the illusion of regulating traffic... And it truly is an illusion as that vehicle sat there, with an officer in it each morning, for 2 weeks, with a flat tire!!!  That officer could do no more to stop traffic problems than he could to catch a thief!

I have learned to stay away from the far right traffic lane pretty much always... Because in that lane a taxi is likely to stop at any given moment to pick up a rider, or drop them too.  Also in that lane the green buses, public transportation, stop on a dime for the same reason. I swear, there are not always real "stops", people just wave & the bus stops.... Which is why you just avoid the far right lane and always avoid those green busses!

The beautiful, warm, sunny weather is finally here!  We made it through the rain... (I really love Barry Manilow songs!). So, it does not feel so much like Santa Fe is the Michigan of Mexico anymore.   But, holy smokes, it was a really long rainy season, gratefully, unlike many towns in Mexico, we sustained no damage from all that rain.  Our biggest problem as a result of that rain are the big pot holes; feels like they swallow up my focus!!  But they are ever vigilant here, they usually get fixed quickly!

So, next on the agenda...

Going home to pack up the house for the final move.. That will be a BIG VICTORY, considering all that it has taken to get this far, and considering it has been 12 months since Patrick was offered the job.. Its time to start living this adventure, learning this language & fully living here!!

Street Market

Going to the street market 2 weeks in a row & I know this will be my Saturday morning routine from now on... Only thing that could change might be the people I go with...

It makes me feel so alive & instills a desire in me to cook & be healthy when I see the beautiful & abundant assortment of fruits & veggies. It also piques my curiosity to see whole pigs and chickens being butchered before my very eyes!

To describe the event, I really do have to start at the beginning... We arrived at a side street that is normally used for traffic M-F, but on Saturday its all street market- at least 1/2 mile long.  A chubby cheeked boy knocks on our car window asking if we need parking...& guides us to "his" spot against the curb which was reserved by upside down 5 gallon buckets.  He will now "watch" our car, and his other customers' cars while we shop. 

Our first veggie stand is the primo stand of the street, has best selection, best location & the girl working it remembered me from last week - or she is a really good sales girl & just made it seem like she did.  She answers Q's, help package up what I want & then volunteers to hold our bags under the table to pick up upon our departure, because they are chock full of leafy green, earthy-smelling veggies!  

As we make our way through the stands that are erected each week, one next to another, I wonder if their placements are assigned or first come first served each weekend..

The veggie stand is next to a fresh fish stand, where huge fish are being expertly filleted - with skilled precision & speed! Of course Kirsti does not like the smell... But it could be the huge vat of oil in the stand behind us, frying pig skins that adds to the aroma.. Or the stand next to that, where the pig was just butchered, his whole head sitting on display, that may be part of what she smells... No coincidence I guess that these stands are side-by-side. What one discards, the other fries & sells as his product.   

No matter, onward we go.. Fortunately, today we have Kirsti's friend & her mom by our sides, to help translate & answer questions about Mexican foods.  Not only do we have food to browse, but a selection of household items, like vegetable brushes & soaps to refurbished blenders - very handy for making smoothies from all this beautiful fruit!  There are shoe stands & purse stands - calling out to Kirsti.. And then several stands that were selling make up. All of it looked new, but all of it out of any sort of packaging... Kirsti said she needs mascara... Not from here I tell her!

Kirsti's friend's mom is looking for a hen.. A chicken? I point to a stand.  No, she wants the mother of those chickens.  Now, what that looks like, compared to the chickens I see on display I do not know!  We inquire a few places & learn we will have to come early next Sat., to get that prized possession. As proof that the owner of the stand really in fact carried hens earlier in the day, she rips open a baggie with the head, larger feet & some innards that earlier today belonged to a hen, that some other, lucky shopper got to take home... So I will have to wait a week to see a hen versus a chicken..

I buy beautiful fruit, pomegranates that are green on the outside, but have a zillion perfect red jewels inside.  How do I know I have good ones?  The stand owner expertly cuts them open with a razor blade, now I too, know this valuable skill that will save stains on clothes & causes the loss of precious juices!!

I also pick some apples, they have produce stickers on them... Product of ?? Guesses??  Product of the USA.  Interesting, huh? 

So we walk on, we meet a woman with an iguana, a huge iguana, clinging to her shirt... Its her pet, they pose for pictures for us.   We pass stands where dried beans & even dried shrimps are sold. We see a stand with large trays of paste - molé - this is something I know nothing about yet... Other than it makes a dark, rich sauce & it contains chilies & chocolate. 

Continue to steer Kirsti away from purses, so she settled on some candies.  Across from that stand was a woman with a propane tank with a huge griddle on it.  I have seen a few women like her, making things on these griddles so we ask..  She made a paste from blue corn. She grabs a handful & kneads it into a ball then flattens it to a thin tortilla, she does this in like 60 seconds!  The she adds refried beans, cheese, meat.. whatever you like, & folds edges so the thin seam in on top & drops it on the griddle... I really want one.. But still too skittish about my food intolerances & know I need to wait a bit..

People are everywhere, bumping into each other, shopping, selling, eating!

There are massive food tables-like lunch lines set up... You get your taco or whatever & walk through the condiment line to fix it your way.. Then walk & eat - this is their FAST FOOD!   I saw kids eating giant corn on the cobs, on a skewer, corn on a stick!  The ingenious part was their use of a cup cake liner shimmied up the stick to catch drips or falling corn kernels!   Here, in Mexico, people eat corn differently..

They slather it with mayo, not butter!

The kids today had the corn rolled in shredded cheeses (let me say, cheeses here are different, yummy, so don't judge this concoction.. Yet).

And finally, all corn is GENEROUSLY sprinkled with chili powder & then lime squeezed on top! 

I have to say, it was interesting, it has piqued my curiosity...

We walk back to the car, collect our bags at the veggie stand where they were waiting for us.. The stand "girl" will not accept a tip (??), she is happy to be needed & be helpful!

We get to the car & the chubby faced boy appears to collect his fee - which is whatever we want to pay him because it is after all, a free street..  So our friend asks the boy a question, the answer is the amount of  "tip" she is going to give him... He should be able to answer this Q & be thrilled to receive it.... He cannot answer the Q.... She smiles & gives him the pesos... Our hearts break as we drive away, knowing this is 1 mile from where we live; in extreme luxury, sending our children to one of the top schools in Mexico... This sweet 10yr old boy did not know the answer to 5 x 5.....

KidZania

We went to a birthday party on Sunday, at the mall in Santa Fe, to a place called KidZania..... It should be called Utopia!
The concept is genius! It is a 2/3's scale city, designed for kids to experience jobs and how an economy works - but totally fun!

It starts off by buying an airline ticket into the city.. kids pass thru airport security (like in the good ole days) and then walk thru to the city of KidZania. 
Once there, its like Emerald City in the land of Oz... everything is amazing and perfectly awesome looking...WHAT TO DO FIRST?? 

Go cash in your ticket at the bank for $50 Kidzo dollars.  You can then go out and start supporting the economy by buying stuff or services.  My kids were so overwhelmed by choices they ran around looking at stuff for a while.  First thing they did was to go rock wall climbing - but it was actually building climbing.  They could choose which of 4 building faces to climb.  Inside the building was an obstacle course and some fake windows to look like a dentist office etc.  At the end of the obstacle course - and one of the building faces to climb - was a free-fall bungee drop of 2 stories!  Of course that was something next for my kids to do & a fave of the day! 

Danielle went to a Radio station to be a DJ / news reporter, she got a CD copy of her program. Zach just had to go to Domino's to make his own personal pizza. You could go to the chocolate store to make personal chocolate candies in a mold, or go to Coco-Cola and sterilize a bottle, take it thru the stations of filling and capping and labeling and leave with your own bottle of coke! 
You could experiment with cereal and make your own variety, or go to McDonald's & make your own personalized cheeseburger or shop at Walmart. 

When you run out of money.....You have to GO TO WORK!

So then you can go apply for a job - at places like DHL delivery services, and make deliveries to the stores all over the city with the schedule you are given and if you get all the required signatures, you will get paid upon your return. Danielle & Zachary were Security Guards. They had to go collect money from stores and take it back to the security department for deposit to the bank. Zach was also a Fireman.  This job had more training and would pay more than the security guard.  After the training, the firemen got on an actual firetruck... that drove... around the city!!! It was so cool!  Then they came back to the burning house and put the flames out with their hoses spraying real water!  Each kid was wearing a real, kid-sized fireman uniform - so stinking cute!!!  Now this was not Zachary's finest moment.  After all, we are living in Mexico, where everyone speaks Spanish, so naturally, everyone in KidZania did too, and so... training was in Spanish  BUT, there was a video too & really, you did not need to know Spanish to understand.  And sooooo he was not "feelin' it" and thus NOT the BEST fireman.  When it came time to get paid, Zach noticed the kid before him was paid more than he was... And so I had a little talk with him, about the realities of life... his poor attitude was seen and thus it was reflected in his pay!
If the kids had wanted to make really good money, they could have gone for training to be a doctor!  That's where the big $$ is made!  Those kids rode in the ambulance, brought back patients, performed fake surgeries, the whole 9 yards!

So as parents, you can either come into the city (paying a lesser fee, but not participating at all), OR COMPLETELY DROP YOUR KID AT THE DOOR OF THE CITY!  All kids (& parents if inside the city) wear electronic tracking devices/watches.  Each time a kid participates in any activity, as a job or as a customer, their tracking watch is scanned.  They know where your kid is all the time. When your kid leaves an activity, they are scanned again.  We went into the city, because we had no idea what the place really was, but other parents merely dropped and went shopping, at the fabulous Santa Fe mall with 300 stores in it (yup, you read it right, 300 stores, including 2 full size McDonald's,  8 different frozen yogurt or ice cream stores, 6 levels!)

So we realized we were going to be at Kidzania for A WHILE... we stopped trying to make the kids (ours and the others near our kids' age that we were sorta keeping track of) stick together .. we realized nobody was leaving the city without us... So the kids were 'on their own'.  They were in heaven....Utopia!
We stopped looking at our watches, we gave into the reality of their joy and before we realized it, another 2 hours had passed since last looking at the clock, and the mall was closing.  We had spent 7 hours in KidZania, and the kids had only scratched the surface of all that this place has to offer!

The kids left with their official driver's licenses from go-carting and a few dollars left over.  We realized too late that we could have gone back to the bank and deposited the money in an account in their names and not have to keep track of the dollars at home and remember them for next time...chuck-e-cheese coins  & tokens come to mind.  We also realized too late that they could have gone and purchased a Passport.  With that, every time you complete an activity, the store stamps it, that way you can keep track of what you still need to accomplish inside KidZania...

This place is the brainchild of a Mexican entrepreneur who solely owns 3 of these heavenly locations in Mexico City alone.  He has franchised them in other parts of the world now, Asia, the Middle East...The Facebook page does not have a site or date listed for the USA, yet.... Maybe I should contact Bill Gates?  Many thanks to our friends, Bhavani & Aravinda Thota for inviting us to experience the world of KidZania on Sunday, it was awesome, great, more fun than we could have dreamed of.....UTOPIA for kids!

Apartment search...

The apartment search has been harrowing, which is not what I expected!  When we came to search for a home last January, we saw about 18 places maybe.. And most of you know the whole ugly, sorted story... Patrick got the flu, I was on my own, he never saw most of them we had to pick - and when we did, proximity won out.  We then found out we had been suckered into all night dog barking, Saturday night fiestas until 3am, and we were 1 VERY UNHAPPY family!  Fast forward, thru the ugly fight to break the lease and here we are, arriving in Mexico City August 17, ready to search again!
Amazingly, the relo company lined up 2days of back-to-back, to back-to-back viewings... And Patrick was of course too busy to see them with me -his "job thing"! Everywhere I went, I saw something I liked, a beautiful kitchen, or big bedroom for the girls to share, but then there would be no outside lawn that was common area for the kids to play or run.. Or no pool, or no gym -total deal breaker for Mr. P90X!  So it was not looking good... Then I came to realize while I was now driving everyday - and I am getting better at Mexican driving, Sarah J! - that if we lived where I wanted, we'd be spending a whole lotta $$ cha-ching on toll roads! It was looking like we would spend, ready for it? $12-18 per day, that's American $$ I am talking, not pesos! To live in the community where I thought I wanted us to be.  So now.... We are back to looking, right around where we are, just trying to distance ourselves from the all night partying dogs! We had found the perfect place... Had my wish list items, a little private garden/lawn -almost impossible to come by - I have good taste! And a balcony too, I had wanted one or the other, this place had both, who wouldn't like that? And... It had a DISHWASHER!  Now, in Mexico, a dishwasher is a maid, not an appliance.  This one had the appliance.  All apartments have big open gaps for  the appliance, this is where you put your garbage can.  Then you hire a maid.  She can live with you, or just visit as many days a week as you like.  But to not have a maid, is to be depriving a person of a job... And as an American coming here and wanting a DISHWASHER appliance, I am getting "the look", you know the one... But really, it's because I am so Eco-friendly, a dishwasher uses less water than hand washing! I can have a maid, I am getting used to the idea... But I am thinking I will hire a maid that is a fabulous cook and one that can help me learn Spanish.  The dishes can go in the dishwasher!
Well, that fabulous apartment was not to be.. It was was more expensive than we were expecting... The landlord asked for more rent than originally said he was willing to rent it for.  Renting here is like buying a house in the USA.  You make an offer, then negotiate it, have a walk through... The landlord can sit on the offer a few days to see if they get a better offer...ugg! So we let that one  go.  Come to find out, it still has not rented.  So today, if we find out that our  latest offer was not accepted, maybe we will go back and low-ball that place again?!? 

So here we go....

At the suggestion of several people who have enjoyed my commentaries so far on FaceBook, but mostly due to the encouragement of my friend, Lisa, who helps me trouble-shoot/research so many things I mean to get to, I am going to give this "blogging" a try.  So here we go....