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!!