Hello again…
First off, I PROMISE I will not send these long, daily “journal” emails on a regular basis. Once we are settled and in a routine, I’ll just send the occasional highlight, nice photo or amusing kid-take on something. So, skip as much as you want or let me know if you want off the list regardless!
2 July
Tried a different route into town, nice walk. We were finally able to change money at a bank. The first day in el centro we went into several banks that wouldn’t change money for non-clients. We finally found a bank that would, but not without our passports (because we had cash, not travelers’ checks, we didn’t think we needed passports). So we had to put it off another day… We stopped by the Natural History Museum to ask about a kids’ sculpture class that we’d seen a sign for, and the woman said the person who knew about it would be in on Monday. But we also asked her about other kids’ activities and she told us that when she was a kid her mom took her to a state sports program (ISSTE) in el centro and to classes at the Casa de Cultura. We’d been told the state sports programs were all quite a ways out of town (definitely not walking distance), so that was exciting. Went to try to check it out, but the gates were locked. We asked several people about how to get in, and they said we had to get the attention of the guard, and that it was a “detalle” (detail) that they’d overlooked that there was no buzzer to get their attention from the street! So I guess we’ll keep trying because it sounds like the best program for the kids (several hours per day, a pool for swim lessons, futbol, basketball, etc). We also checked out classes at the Casa de Cultura, but again, the person who really knew the details wouldn’t be in until Monday. Lots to do Monday morning!
We were all a little wiped and on the far end of town, so we took a taxi home. For the first time, we went through the tunnels that wind under the city. It’s an amazing network of pitch-black tunnels that go all over. All the surface roads in el centro travel in only one direction. If you want to drive a vehicle in the other direction you have to use the tunnel system. Plus lots of people walk in them, too! Though maybe not the longer, unlit ones?? I don’t know the details yet, but I believe there was a huge flood in 1905, and afterwards, they diverted the river that ran under the town and created the tunnels in the riverbed. Something like that…Anyway, it was fun, a little spooky and very exciting for the kids.
When we got home, I left the kids with Nani to explore the small shops just down the street from us (up on the ridge, above el centro). It’s a little commercial area with a fruteria (fruit shop), two carnicerias (butcher shops) and little tiendas that are kind of like 7-11s, except 95% of what they sell is potato chips, sodas, candy, cookies and ice-cream bars. They have a couple cartons of milk, some yogurt and some eggs. No panaderia (bakery) at all. So it’s not the greatest in terms of shopping there to avoid the Mega, but perhaps between this area and shops in el centro, we can figure out making it work.
Nani made another awesome dinner and baked banana bread, despite our loco oven (see below). Once again, not sure what we’ll do without her…
Things the kids are getting really good at:
Shaking our shoes and clothes out in the morning to check for scorpions. Doing a bed check for scorpions. Tossing toilet paper in the wastebasket instead of in the toilet. Brushing teeth, rinsing and washing their faces with water from the jug instead of the faucet. Reminding me to pull out the Purell before we eat when we’re cruising around town. Thank goodness if I explain something to the kids they actually remember it, because I generally don’t!
My favorite thing right now:
Lucas calls the money down here besos (kisses) instead of pesos. :)
3 July
Ventured to the Mega again to get the things I couldn’t find at the local shops. We forced the kids to stay in a cart, so it was much more manageable – phew!
Zeiva requested that Lucas read Henry and Mudge to her at bedtime – a first!
4 July
Happy 4th! Lucas asked if they celebrate 4th of July down here and we explained that it wasn’t a holiday for them. He said they celebrated Mexican holidays at his school, so why don’t they celebrate our holidays here. Good question. While trying to come up with an answer, he added, “also, we’re not jewish and we celebrate harmonica! (yes, harmonica).“ such global citizens we’re raising…ha!
Major successes today. We went down to Escuela Mexicana and signed the kids up for Spanish classes. Lucas did not want to, but after two hours with Gabi, who seems to be awesome with kids, he was very excited about them. Zeiva, of course, had been asking every day when she was going to get to go to Spanish classes with Lucas since the moment I mentioned the possibility.
To sign up for any of the kids’ summer programs run by the state or the local sports/community centers, you have to have mini-photos (like passport photos, but a quarter of the size). I’m guessing they make them little ID cards. You also have to have a medical certification from a doctor that they are healthy enough to participate. Many people warned us that this was a royal pain and that the bureaucracy wasn’t worth it unless you were staying for a really long time. We figured we’d end up wanting to sign up for one of these (though we haven’t managed to sort out where yet), so we decided to try to tackle some of it today. The folks at the Spanish school told us exactly where to go for the photos and the medical exams – this is the first time someone has explained exactly where anything is, as in you could actually find it by following their instructions. And not only were the shops where they told us they were, but they were OPEN, AND the person who does the photos was THERE, AND the doctor who does the exams was THERE, so we actually got both those things done in the span of about 30 minutes. If felt monumental, after a couple of days of circling el centro trying to chase down leads but never really accomplishing anything concrete. The other score was that we’d heard repeatedly about a pool called Los Delfines that offers kids lessons. It is supposedly near the casita, but no one knew where or how to find it, no one had actually taken their kids there, and the maid for the big house next door even told us when we’d arrived that she’d heard of it but that as far as she knew it had never been functional. Turns out the kids’ Spanish teacher Gabi takes her kids there, and she told us exactly how to get there, and EVEN told us the hours it was open AND gave us a telephone number! So we’re liking the Spanish school for reasons well beyond the classes.
While the kids were in school my mom and I also found a little hole in the wall where we had delicious gorditas – fat, fluffy corn tortillas made while we were waiting and stuffed with your choice of a variety of dishes which were all laid out in tubs in front of the tortilla griddle. A dollar a piece (one was plenty for my mom, and the two I couldn’t resist left me stuffed) – yum!
We also suffered a major disappointment. The ISSTE sports/community center in el centro that I was so excited about (despite the locked gates) was open today, but the guard said that the entire program was cancelled this summer because the pool was closed due to a broken pump and a part they were waiting on. Next summer, he said. So we may be looking out of town (i.e., not walking distance) for our main, daily summer program. This is a huge bummer for me, but I’m hoping at the very least we can sort out the local buses. I’m not keen on taking taxis in general because I’d like us to be walking as much as possible regardless, but we had a harrowing taxi ride home today that didn’t help (though I’m sure the bus rides have equal harrowing potential). Zeiva is shocked that EVERY green taxi (i.e., all three so far) we get into lacks not only car seats but seat belts. She thinks we need to try some other kinds of taxis (there aren’t any…).
This evening was rough. Many meltdowns in a row because the kids were tired. We shifted them off the bed-at-10:30 pm and up at 9 am schedule to start Spanish classes, and the only way to do this was to wake them up at 7 am. I got “I want to go to our real home now. I don’t LIKE Mexico. I DON’T want to be here. I want a hug from PAAAPAAA” through heart-breaking tears a few times tonight. Snif…
I also haven’t mentioned the neighbors yet. Short story is that they are an Australian family of four, mom and dad work in management for the nearby mines, kids are Maya (10) and Harry (8). They are all nice, but the kids seem bored out of their minds. They’ve lived in various parts of Mexico for 6 years (i.e., Harry only knows Australia from holidays) working for the mining company. Maya speaks Spanish quite well but Harry does not (they have been in bilingual schools until coming here 6 months ago – I think this is the first time they’ve been at a mostly Spanish school). Lucas and Zeiva immediately run to play with them whenever we get home, which at first I thought was kind of nice. The problem is they speak English exclusively and the bigger problem is that I often find they’ve wandered inside the big house and are watching TV!! Not ok with me! It turns out they are going to a summer camp in Texas for a month starting tomorrow. They really are nice kids, but I’m really glad we’ll have a break from English playmates and the television menace.
Weather has been so wonderfully mild – maybe mid-70’s, no humidity whatsoever, and the city just seems to get more beautiful as we walk around more and start realizing we kind of know where we are.
I’ve attached photos of our place. Most are taken from turning 360 degrees in the same spot in what is basically the center of the casita. Photos start at the front (double) doors.
Lucas is sleeping way up in the loft bed and Zeiva is on a roll-away cot underneath. Once my mom is gone they’ll probably sleep in the enormous bed with me (or at least in my room). Their current beds are up against a rock wall that just seems way too easy for critters to climb on.
In this photo looking back on the house you can see the bedroom (also double) doors in the middle past the round patio, the outdoor table and front door are behind all the potted plants on the left. Everything left of that is the main house, as is the area above the main doors (the second story window). And the area above the rest of our place is a double car port. We're on a steep hill - the street level is a story above us at the carport level. We come in a big wooden door in a huge, continuous rock wall along the dirt road at the top of the stairs on the right of the photo. You can't really tell in the photos looking out onto the garden, but at the edge of the garden there is another rock wall that drops another 15 feet to the remainder of the hill, which leads into a completely undeveloped valley that extends to the huge rock formation you can see off in the distance. So, despite it being a 15-minute walk into el centro, this is literally the edge of town.
Gorgeous place, for sure. Definitely not a typical Guanajuatan dwelling (I'll send pictures of all the amazing but not big or fancy wall-to-wall houses soon). But we’re struggling with a problem water heater (plumber is coming tomorrow – we’ve yet to take warm showers) and semi-typical things (at least in my experience in Latin American countries, though we're not paying Latin American prices for this place!) such as a stove whose dial reads 1 through 5. Yes, there’s a thermometer inside, but no matter where we turn the dial, the stove is either at 200 or 400 degrees. ok, ok, not much to complain about! :)
Love,
Us
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