Fiestas!

One of the things I love about Mexico is the fiestas. Boy, do they like to party. Now, before you conjure up images of workplace Christmas parties, fiestas are a family affair.
Let’s take for example a birthday party. All of your family is invited, adults and children alike. If you are specifically invited, it is considered an insult if you no-show. Be prepared to either have a REALLY good excuse why you can’t go, or you will hurt their feelings. So for our friends’ daughter’s 2nd birthday, our whole family and all their friends’ families are invited. No more small gatherings of a handful of children. How extravagant the party is depends on your economic status. This friend of ours is fairly affluent, so the party was pretty extravagant.
When you arrive, you are warmly greeted by everyone there, but especially the host. They help you find a table (yes, it is almost like going to a restaurant), get refreshments for you and serve food to you (either themselves or one of their servers). Usually they visit for a few minutes and move on to visit with others. How often they are back to visit depends on how busy they are and how many friends they need to visit. Typically, we have similar friend circles so we usually sit at a table with other friends we already know. For the adults, that’s pretty much the extent of the day/evening. We chat and visit for hours. That may sound boring, but Mexicans generally have mastered the art of conversation. Even Bill enjoys sitting and visiting with friends at these fiestas.

For the children, the parties are similar to what you would find in Canada or the US, though the theme party is not quite as big here – or so it would seem. Don’t get me wrong – this little girl loves ‘Tinkerbell’ so she was wearing a ‘Tinkerbell’ costume and had a few balloons, but we weren’t inundated with Tinkerbell. Sometimes there are swim parties – this party wasn’t particularly a swim party, but the boys could go swimming as our friend owns the pool and facility.
At this party, they hired a party group that provided entertainment for the children with games, music and piñatas (yes, plural - they do 2). The parents could just relax and visit while the children were occupied. Of course, my kids were a little shy about playing the games as they weren’t entirely sure what they were doing. They played a different version of musical chairs – except they used hats in the middle. They played some games with some of the adults and the entertainment part of the party was over.
Two large cakes were cut and distributed. The cakes (pastels) here are different, though I can’t quite describe how. Sweeter for sure, almost more pudding cake than what we are used to. The boys like it but Bill and I aren’t big fans (just as well for my waistline!) Then the kids play and the adult continue to visit. Most of the parties I’ve been to start at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon and end in the evening – around 5 or 6pm. At least kids parties are that way.
We have been invited to about 1-2 parties per month – either for birthdays, town fiestas, or one quince años (I’ll explain about that in another blog). It is a lot of fun and our boys are starting to expect them. They’ve already started planning theirs. Swimming is a must according to them.

G for Guapo

I just had to tell this little story about G. I've mentioned before the facination that many people have over my children. G gets most of the attention. I think it's cute, complementry, intrusive and a little disturbing all at the same time. I mean, it is always nice to hear complements about your children - but here they are almost revered - and that bothers me. I don't want my sons to grow up thinking that blue eyes and fair skin is 'better' than any other color eyes or skin. It is certainly not what we teach them, and no one has so much as told them so, but there is this facination and attraction in them that they, and we can't help but recognize. All the kids around ask about them - especially the girls. In fact, I make a point to remind them that the color of someone's eyes is not what makes them beautiful - it is what is behind their eyes in their spirit that makes them beautiful or ugly. Still, the boys garner a great deal of attention.


To add to that, G is a curious child. He LOVES to be 'one of the guys'. If any man is working on anything, he HAS to be right in there learning, helping, being part of the action. C on the other hand would much rather be off in his own world imagining other worlds and stories in his mind. This curious and helpful nature of G's grants him even more attention. The men (and ladies for that matter) seem to love him. G is usually right in the middle of the action (unless it's especially dangerous) and sooner or later, he's picked up a tool or shovel and is pitching in.


Today's story is a perfect example of this. There are paving crews paving the road in front of our house. G was outside first thing watching them. I knew he was interested so I instructed him that he could watch from the grass and had to stay out of the way.

Time passes, and I decide to check on him. Now he's standing right beside the workers as the paver slowly moves along the fresh asphalt. The men don't seem to be bothered by him - in fact, they seem to enjoy his company. Still, I remind him to stay on the grass and he'll have to watch from a safe distance.


Time passes again, and I go out to look for him. The crews have moved down the road a bit, so I expect he is on the grass near where they are working. Hmmm..... I can't see him. I walk towards where they are working. I pass the boss on his motorcycle who motions that my son is there, but I don't see him still. Do you?
Then the nice guy in the red shirt points him out to me. True to his nature, there he is - right in the middle of the action.
The little rascal has worked his way into their hearts and onto their equipment. I check with the boss - no problem -they just want to be sure he stays off the road for his safety. G is grinning like a cheshire cat. G tells me that they offered that he could ride the machine when they are ready. I am unsure about this, so I stick around to watch what is happenning. When they need to move (whatever it's called - lets call it Rolly from Bob the builder), they tell him he has to get down - they don't want him to fall off. G complies without complaint and watches from the sidelines. G also informs me that he was 'helping' to shovel the asphalt. Hmmmm.
I made him come back to watch from in front of the house so I can keep an eye on him. As I am watching from the balcony window, one of the gravel truck drivers stop in front of our house to talk with G. I watch/listen to make sure everything is ok. Yep, they just wanted to chat with the cute little guapo (handsome) boy. In fact, I overhear G invite the driver to go out to the beach to go swimming - to which the driver responds, "Sorry, I have to work. See you later!" Sure enough, a while later I see him in the middle again- so he gets sequestered inside the house. That's the end of that adventure - or at least until they are back to pave the other side of the road.


So -in addition to the cute story about my impetuous son, it always amazes me just how kind and friendly the people are here. He was never in any danger - they made sure of that and I knew he would be safe- but there is no way he would have had this opportunity with unknown workers in Canada or US. He would simply be 'in the way'. Not only was he not in the way, but they were enjoying the experience almost as much as he was.


Machetis are another facinating tool for G. They are everywhere here, and people leave them lying around. We have threatened him with all kinds of punishments to keep him from wielding one. So far, the temptation has turned out to be too great for him- the punishment is worth the price apparently. Even explaining that the Machetis can cut off a limb does not seem to phase him. Habanero Sauce is the next level.......


Mexico is almost taylor made for G. There is so much to do around here. He gets the opportunity to see all kinds of trades and work and loves every minute of it.

G's Eye Incident

Ok for those of you who missed out on this tramatic event - here' what happened to G's eye.

While I was in Canada moving the remaining things out of our house (BTW it is incredible how much crap one family can accumulate!), I get a call almost mid-way through my visit.
Bill calls me to tell me there's an emergency and G is hurt. He starts to explain that they had a fire going in our yard (this is mostly how they handle garbage here - to explain later) and something exploded out of the fire into G's eye.

I ask him if he took G to the hospital yet - oh no, it just happened and G was crying and wanted to talk to me. Ok NOW I freak out and yell at hubby to GET G TO THE HOSPITAL TO HAVE HIS EYE LOOKED AT - WHAT ARE YOU DOING WASTING TIME ON THE FREAKING PHONE!!!! He reminds me that the reason for the call is that G wanted to hear my voice so I quickly tell him I love him and to be brave and listen to the doctor and once again emphatically tell hubby to get his rear to the hospital.

Once I am off the phone - now I cry. I really want to hold my baby. I do my best to not let my mind go to the worst case scenario so I pray and trust that God will protect my little one. I go back to work on packing to try to keep my mind off my G.

I get a call back about an hour later ( that's right - there are no huge waiting lines at the private hospital!) from hubby at the hospital. G is ok -the doctor doesn't think there is any damage to his eye, though they had to wash quite a bit of plastic out of his eye. Most of the damage is to his eyelid. It burned off some of his beautiful, long eyelashes. Bill sent me a picture the next day:

That was probably the toughest time away from my kids I have ever experienced. I started to wonder if they were safe at all away from me (ok I know that doesn't make sense) and I just really wanted to hold my boy to 'make it better'. Of course he was fine shortly after the hospital as daddy spoiled them with ice cream. I couldn't wait to see them again.

I took some pictures when I finally saw him a week later. That was 2 months ago, and as I mentioned in my last blog - he still has a scar.

It doesn't seem to detract anyone from talking about how 'guapo'(handsome) he is. He will tell you himself that he has a lot of girlfriends. He will also tell you that he's not allowed to kiss any girls except on the cheek until he's 16. I've made sure he understands that! Here in Mexico it is customary to give a little kiss on the cheek - between women, children and adults and between the oposite sex - although between the oposite sex so far seems to be hit and miss - maybe only for good friends and family. I'll have to find out more about that. The French in Quebec have the same kind of tradition, except for them its 2 kisses- one for each cheek. And men kiss women on the cheek for friends and family or to show a desire for friendship. I am guessing that it is along the same lines here.

Anyway - sorry for going off-topic - but we originally told the boys they couldn't kiss girls at all until they were 16. Then they started freaking out when the girls tried to kiss them on the cheek - so we had to revise the rule. Now he knows it's ok if the girls kiss him on the cheek - but that's all.

So now those of you who were uninformed are updated as to the eye incident.

So now more details on the garbage thing. I don't know if it's because we are in the country or if it's just part of the way things are here, but recycling is definitely not happening here - unless you are talking about buying your Coke in the retro little glass bottles and returning them to the store for a refund. No recycling for paper, plastic, whatever. We have yet to meet the garbage collection guys to tip them ( a must here) and let them know we want our garbage collected. Most people in our little town would rather burn their garbage than tip the garbage guys - which explains why they don't automatically pick up the garbage. There is a dump in the neighboring town on San Isidro, but usually Bill forgets, and by the time he gets home, it's too late or he doesn't want to go back out to go to the dump. As a farm boy - he sees nothing wrong with burning it- especially since they are doing anything with it at the landfill anyway. I must say I am starting to see his point of view.

Ahhh la vida en Mexico!

TTYL

Leafy and Cole the Lizards

Ahh Today's adventure. Ok seriously. Almost every day is a new discovery or adventure here! So this day is Lizards. We have two iguanas that live outside my kitchen window. The border of our yard is a small canal. They sun themselves on that canal almost every afternoon along with a baby one here or there. So the kids are always looking for these guys. Lucky for the iguanas, as soon as the door to our house opens, the iguanas disapear, so the kids have learned to watch them from inside the house. Leafy (named by G) is always sitting directly in front of the window, but Cole (named by C) sits further down, which makes picture taking difficult. We think one might be female, but since both are sheding their skins right now, we are waiting until they are finished to get a better look at the colorings, etc.

Whew! a pet I don't have to explain to my children CAN NOT LIVE IN THE HOUSE!

More adventures tomorrow......

Day 2

Day 2 wasn't near as exciting as Day 1, but still part of the adventure. In the morning, we went into the nearby town for a couple of errands, and had lunch at a fairly new restaruant. Bill likes to frequent this place as the owner speaks English and the prices are very reasonable.

Even better as far as my kids are concerned is that they have children around the same ages to play with. They all had fun while the adults visited.

Now, off to Veracruz City - or as it is called in our area "la puerta" Or Veracruz porte. We went to get some various things for Oasis. After that - we spent about 2 hours at Walmart getting boring mundane stuff for the house.

Bill had been living like a bachelor- 3 plates, some really cheap crappy utensils, one pot and one frying pan. Yeah right. He couldn't believe how much all that 'stuff' cost. In comparison with Canada, it was a little bit cheaper, but most appliances, household items, etc. are only about 10-15% cheaper here, a few things are more expensive. Its the food and everyday living items that are sooooo much less expensive in Mexico.

Well after a full day of shopping, it was time to head home - again - and late again.

We've Arrived!

Yea! We’re in Mexico!

It was a very long day- but an exciting one nonetheless. Our flight was due to leave July 9 at 8:00am. We brought our two cats, Tigger and Panther, with us to go on the flight under the seat, so the airline told us to arrive at the airport 4.5 hours before departure. I asked two different employees about this and both confirmed absolutely that we had to be there early and that someone would be at the airport to deal with the cats at that time. Ha! Luckily, I have learned that we don’t ALWAYS have to obey them with respect to arrivals before flights. I did not however want problems, so I decided that 3.5-4 hours before was early enough.

Fortunately, my parents happened to fly in the night before from visiting my Sister and her family out east. They stayed overnight ( and stayed up late helping me pack and finish stuff in the house). I pulled an all-nighter getting everything packed and dealing with what would not fit but might come on the next trip. We pulled the boys out of bed at 4:00, dressed them, grabbed the suitcases and headed out the door.

We arrived at the airport and set about looking for Mexicana Airlines. They are now flying direct from Calgary to Mexico City and we were trying their service out. Because they are new and a “other” airline in Calgary (meaning they are not Air Canada or Westjet) they are kind-off off to the side and have no permanent signage. Guess what? The ticket agents don’t arrive until 3 hours before the flight –and even then they need time to set up before they are ready to help us! That was probably the worst part of the day – wasting time in an empty airport with two very tired boys, two very upset cats and a mommy who hasn’t slept in I don’t know how long.

Because we are moving and not just going on vacation, we needed to take as many personal items as possible. Each of us brought 2 x-large suitcases that all weighed exactly 50 pounds (the airline limit before you start paying $$$). We had to bring each cat in separate soft kennels and then each boy had a backpack of toys, coloring books and whatever else they wanted to help keep them busy and feel secure. I had my laptop back with important documents and my purse. So imagine this sight (because I wasn’t smart enough to take a picture)- Me, the boys, and 11 pieces of luggage.

Once we checked in, we still had two kids, the two cats, two backpacks, my laptop bag (which is pretty big), my purse and me to wander the airport with for the next 3 hours after spending about an hour walking around with all the luggage. Like I stated earlier – the worst part of the day. We had breakfast at Tim Hortons, the boys pretended to play video games (I didn’t put money in them – with their imagination – I don’t have to) and we finally went out to our gate.

Getting through security, we were quite the spectacle. They wanted to scan the cat kennels without the cats in them, so each of my sons took a cat and carried them through the metal detector. I couldn’t take a picture then, but here’s the boys holding the cats now. We definitely had all the attention of every one there. It was quite a site to see. I was a little concerned as there were two of them, and some stressed cats and an airport full of people. If one or both of my cats got away from the boys, I could have a real situation. But the boys held on tight, the cats were a little sleepy from graval, and the security people were good about getting the kennels back to us quickly. All is well.

We still had plenty of time to waste before departure, so the boys excitedly watched the various preparations involving “our plane”.

They actually did great on the flight, and only started to squabble when we got near Mexico City. Mexicana still serves a hot meal, so we got breakfast #2 (my youngest slept through it) and they took turns sitting next to the window.

Upon arriving in Mexico City, we had a couple of hours between flights to find our next gate. A very nice man, Carlos, was waiting in the walkway with a wheelchair to help those who needed it. I guess we were quite the site because he offered to help. He put both boys together in the wheelchair, both cats on their laps, the backpacks on the handles of the wheelchair and pulled my laptop bag (which has wheels). He found out where our gate was, and took us all the way through customs, translated for us, and to our next gate. He was terrific – I am truly grateful for his help. I only wish I had tipped him better (my brain was still not functioning correctly, and I wasn’t converting the pesos vs dollars very well). Anyway, I hoped he is blessed in other ways for his help. If I ever see him again, I’ll be sure to make it up to him.

What we found at our gate was very cool. Now, I don’t know if Nextel has the corner on the market in Veracruz and Mexico City or if it’s spreading through the whole country, but nowhere else in the airport did I see Nextel radios (walkie-talkies) to this extent. It seemed almost everyone at that gate had one, and was using it. You could hear the ‘beep beep’ of the radios everywhere. (For those of you who have never seen mine or me use it, there are commercials on TV where they promote them for construction or for firefighters for example). Veracruz is well known for music and food (much like New Orleans). Sitting in the gate were a group of guys playing music –just for kicks. That might annoy some, but to me it was cool. A preview of the way of life we are moving toward.

When we arrived – and all of our luggage (whew!) – we went through customs again, this time in more detail. They ‘imported’ the cats and another guy helped us get our luggage out the secure area to finally see my husband and his personal assistant. Yeah! We made a couple of stops on the way home- and it started to pour rain. We skipped the restaurant (would you believe we settled for McDonalds?) and headed home as all our luggage was in the back of the pick-up truck.

We tried to cover up the suitcases that had paper type items in them and drove home quickly. It stormed so bad we lost power minutes after arriving home. So much for the ideal arrival to our new home! Everyone was so tired, we all just went to bed.