THINGS I LOVE IN MEXICO
1. Fast internet. It´s crazy that here, right across the street from our house with primitive plumbing, laundry facilities, and bare lightbulbs, I´m at this internet cafe with speedy internet. Most people in the US have much faster internet at home than I do though.
2. Gorgeous colorful houses. I wish this one were ours. It´s on a hill overlooking El Grullo. There´s a gorgeous view and flowers and trees all over the place.
3. Watching Edgar share his childhood with our kids. Yesterday he taught them to suck nectar from these flowers. Also yesterday when I was picking Lili up from school, Edgar´s first grade teacher (who taught at that same school, but is now retired and was picking up her grandkids) stopped me. She asked Edgar´s name. She had seen him that morning, dropping Lili off and recognized his face. She was a sweet little lady.
4. Having our whole family together all the time--especially having two full-time parents all the time. The other day Edgar said, "You know, the women here always do the laundry." I asked him what the men do here. "Work." And what are you doing here, Edgar? I think he got the point. He did the laundry yesterday, and this morning I woke up to him doing more. He´s a dear man. He even mopped and made it look like no big deal. The kids are loving all the time they have with him. If only we were independently wealthy and he didn´t have to work!
(From our trip to Augua Caliente the other day.)
5. The wildlife. I know chickens aren´t that out of the ordinary anywhere, but they are everywhere here. This is at Edgar´s Tía Malena´s house, where we visited yesterday. Marcos kept "bock-bocking" with the chickens.
(note also the little papaya tree in the background)
6. I love the vegetation! Amazing trees and flowers grow everywhere year-round and seemingly with very little effort.
7. It´s great to get to know Edgar´s family and friends here. Yesterday we visited his aunt, uncle, and cousins. One of the cousins looks a lot like Edgar´s sister, Elia. Here we are with most of them (the one that looks like Elia is taking the picture). They have a gorgeous view from their house on the hill.
(note the lima tree above us--limas are wonderful fruit, kind of like limes, except very sweet)
Below is Edgar´s friend, José Cruz and then his daughter Valeria. Rubén loved hugging her. He saw a man selling roses on the street the other day and said he´s going to buy all the girls a lot of roses when he´s "Big Kid Ruben Superman." Uh oh.
8. Saying good-bye before we even say hello. I haven´t gotten used to this yet. If you pass someone in the street and you aren´t planning to stop, you just say "Adíos," in a real friendly way. Yesterday I saw a mom of a kid from Rubén´s class at school. I said "Buenas Tardes," but she was already saying "Adíos." It´s kind of nice. I wonder if it would work for me when I´m at Wal-Mart and I´m trying to hurry and I run into someone I know. Could I just smile real big and say, "Bye!"?
9. I love how we are outside all the time. The kids love being outside and it seems like a breathe of fresh air to be out and about. Marcos is loving walking around outside.
10. THE SUNSHINE!
11. My hair is naturally curly here! I love what the humidity does for my parched Nevada-born skin, lips, and hair.
12. How clean everyone is here--especially since it takes so much effort! Every morning shopkeepers sweep and mop (even though they sweep and mop before they close). Everyone is so clean and pressed. It´s impressive.
13. I love the birds that accompany my scripture study in the morning. I love the fresh morning feeling here--well, anywhere.
14. I love, love, LOVE agua fresca! They have little stands here where they have fresh water made from real juice from exotic fruits. The other night, after Edgar´s Tía Bertha finally left, and I had put my pajamas on (again), Edgar asked me out for an agua fresca. I got dressed again, we locked the door (the kids were all asleep and we were only gone for 10 minutes maximum, I promise, Cor) and walked down the street to buy agua fresca. It was heaven! I had pineapple and Edgar had lime with kiwi. They are to die for!
THINGS I´M GLAD ARE TEMPORARY--I WON´T BE SAD TO LEAVE BEHIND WHEN WE GO HOME
1. Our water situation. I have become much better at conserving water. We went through our first purified water jug so quickly. Yesterday I washed strawberries in purified water and saved the water to rinse my boiled eggs in. Then I used the hot water from the boiled eggs to wash dishes. I was proud of myself. I have mindlessly flushed toilet paper down the toilet more than once (and not even because you dared me, Leigh). Some toilets seem more robust than ours, but ours seems terminally ill and as it struggles to flush, I´m afraid I´ve done it in. I also don´t like our shower here. The whole bathroom (which is all tile), gets wet and for hours after anyone takes a shower, I have to roll up my pants to enter the bathroom.
2. Laundry! It piles up so quickly. Especially because we are outside a lot and the boys especially get very dirty.
3. My sad cell phone problems. I´m so bothered that I can´t get a signal here. Edgar took my phone to a cell phone place here today. The gal said that there´s only one tower here and that on cloudy days phones don´t work too well. There were a few more clouds yesterday, but not THAT many.
4. The kids´homework. I get resentful when they have homework. I guess we´re trying to fit too much in at once (I know, I´ve never been one to do that!). We are trying to get the kids educated, visit everyone, eat all the good food Edgar loves, have a vacation, and keep the house and clothes and children clean all at the same time. I think if the kids are at school the whole time, the teachers shouldn´t expect us to spend time outside of school on school. I know that´s irrational. We just have other stuff going on!
5. Night-time noises. The kids and Edgar sleep great, but I´m so at home here, I´ve brought my insomnia with me. It doesn´t help that we live in a commercial area. The band of El Grullo practices each night, starting around 10. They´re really good, but it´s bedtime. Church bells ring all night--at least from 4 am on. You can also hear a rooster at any given time. There´s also the occasional drunk singing his way home or someone driving by with obnoxious loud music in the middle of the night.
The positives are definitely outweighing the negatives. I´m sad at how fast our time is already passing. I love waking up each morning and remembering, "I´m in Mexico!"
1. Fast internet. It´s crazy that here, right across the street from our house with primitive plumbing, laundry facilities, and bare lightbulbs, I´m at this internet cafe with speedy internet. Most people in the US have much faster internet at home than I do though.
2. Gorgeous colorful houses. I wish this one were ours. It´s on a hill overlooking El Grullo. There´s a gorgeous view and flowers and trees all over the place.
3. Watching Edgar share his childhood with our kids. Yesterday he taught them to suck nectar from these flowers. Also yesterday when I was picking Lili up from school, Edgar´s first grade teacher (who taught at that same school, but is now retired and was picking up her grandkids) stopped me. She asked Edgar´s name. She had seen him that morning, dropping Lili off and recognized his face. She was a sweet little lady.
4. Having our whole family together all the time--especially having two full-time parents all the time. The other day Edgar said, "You know, the women here always do the laundry." I asked him what the men do here. "Work." And what are you doing here, Edgar? I think he got the point. He did the laundry yesterday, and this morning I woke up to him doing more. He´s a dear man. He even mopped and made it look like no big deal. The kids are loving all the time they have with him. If only we were independently wealthy and he didn´t have to work!
(From our trip to Augua Caliente the other day.)5. The wildlife. I know chickens aren´t that out of the ordinary anywhere, but they are everywhere here. This is at Edgar´s Tía Malena´s house, where we visited yesterday. Marcos kept "bock-bocking" with the chickens.
(note also the little papaya tree in the background)6. I love the vegetation! Amazing trees and flowers grow everywhere year-round and seemingly with very little effort.
7. It´s great to get to know Edgar´s family and friends here. Yesterday we visited his aunt, uncle, and cousins. One of the cousins looks a lot like Edgar´s sister, Elia. Here we are with most of them (the one that looks like Elia is taking the picture). They have a gorgeous view from their house on the hill.
(note the lima tree above us--limas are wonderful fruit, kind of like limes, except very sweet)
Below is Edgar´s friend, José Cruz and then his daughter Valeria. Rubén loved hugging her. He saw a man selling roses on the street the other day and said he´s going to buy all the girls a lot of roses when he´s "Big Kid Ruben Superman." Uh oh.
8. Saying good-bye before we even say hello. I haven´t gotten used to this yet. If you pass someone in the street and you aren´t planning to stop, you just say "Adíos," in a real friendly way. Yesterday I saw a mom of a kid from Rubén´s class at school. I said "Buenas Tardes," but she was already saying "Adíos." It´s kind of nice. I wonder if it would work for me when I´m at Wal-Mart and I´m trying to hurry and I run into someone I know. Could I just smile real big and say, "Bye!"?
9. I love how we are outside all the time. The kids love being outside and it seems like a breathe of fresh air to be out and about. Marcos is loving walking around outside.
10. THE SUNSHINE!
11. My hair is naturally curly here! I love what the humidity does for my parched Nevada-born skin, lips, and hair.12. How clean everyone is here--especially since it takes so much effort! Every morning shopkeepers sweep and mop (even though they sweep and mop before they close). Everyone is so clean and pressed. It´s impressive.
13. I love the birds that accompany my scripture study in the morning. I love the fresh morning feeling here--well, anywhere.
14. I love, love, LOVE agua fresca! They have little stands here where they have fresh water made from real juice from exotic fruits. The other night, after Edgar´s Tía Bertha finally left, and I had put my pajamas on (again), Edgar asked me out for an agua fresca. I got dressed again, we locked the door (the kids were all asleep and we were only gone for 10 minutes maximum, I promise, Cor) and walked down the street to buy agua fresca. It was heaven! I had pineapple and Edgar had lime with kiwi. They are to die for!
THINGS I´M GLAD ARE TEMPORARY--I WON´T BE SAD TO LEAVE BEHIND WHEN WE GO HOME
1. Our water situation. I have become much better at conserving water. We went through our first purified water jug so quickly. Yesterday I washed strawberries in purified water and saved the water to rinse my boiled eggs in. Then I used the hot water from the boiled eggs to wash dishes. I was proud of myself. I have mindlessly flushed toilet paper down the toilet more than once (and not even because you dared me, Leigh). Some toilets seem more robust than ours, but ours seems terminally ill and as it struggles to flush, I´m afraid I´ve done it in. I also don´t like our shower here. The whole bathroom (which is all tile), gets wet and for hours after anyone takes a shower, I have to roll up my pants to enter the bathroom.
2. Laundry! It piles up so quickly. Especially because we are outside a lot and the boys especially get very dirty.
3. My sad cell phone problems. I´m so bothered that I can´t get a signal here. Edgar took my phone to a cell phone place here today. The gal said that there´s only one tower here and that on cloudy days phones don´t work too well. There were a few more clouds yesterday, but not THAT many.
4. The kids´homework. I get resentful when they have homework. I guess we´re trying to fit too much in at once (I know, I´ve never been one to do that!). We are trying to get the kids educated, visit everyone, eat all the good food Edgar loves, have a vacation, and keep the house and clothes and children clean all at the same time. I think if the kids are at school the whole time, the teachers shouldn´t expect us to spend time outside of school on school. I know that´s irrational. We just have other stuff going on!
5. Night-time noises. The kids and Edgar sleep great, but I´m so at home here, I´ve brought my insomnia with me. It doesn´t help that we live in a commercial area. The band of El Grullo practices each night, starting around 10. They´re really good, but it´s bedtime. Church bells ring all night--at least from 4 am on. You can also hear a rooster at any given time. There´s also the occasional drunk singing his way home or someone driving by with obnoxious loud music in the middle of the night.
The positives are definitely outweighing the negatives. I´m sad at how fast our time is already passing. I love waking up each morning and remembering, "I´m in Mexico!"
5 comments:
I wish I could send you some earplugs. I don't know how people sleep without them.
I love the pictures and updates. What a delight.
If my eyes aren't deceiving me, Edgar is smiling in the picture of him and Ruben in the pool. It's as rare as a picture of me with my eyes open.
I think it's great you sneaked away for a mini date.
You look beautiful in your pictures. Such long hair!
I should write my comments in list form. They're a little scattered.
I love you. I miss you. I'm going to try to call you later. XOXO
I miss you! You are amazing to go to Mexico and be such a star. I am at Dad's room because I went to public school. There is a new 8th grader named Maria who is from Mexico. She can't really speak English. I talked to her, but It was kind of hard. Also, happy late birthday Lili! I like Lili's birthday extra because it means my birthday is only a month away!
Have fun in the heat!
I'm so mad at your phone for not working so I'm going to tell you what happened tonight via comment. Leann Kelso went to the hospital. She is transferring to Sparks tomorrow. We have Rebecca and tomorrow after Elisa has a track thing we are going to get all the girls. Then when Leann gets out we will have her too until we can get her a motel room or apartment in Wells. She needs to get away from Paul. I wish I could tell you all about it, but no, you have to be out of the country, and unavailable by phone!
You should have put as a positive that you are out of mud!
I loved the picture of you. You looked so radiant and happy. I love the updates... what an adventure.
We miss you. When we got home from SLC last night and drove by your house, Luke lamented that it was still dark. It just doesn't feel right to look out and not see your light.
Have a wonderful, wonderful time!
Hi Olivia! Wow! What an exciting adventure. How fun to read all of this (I am already feeling grateful for laundry day tomorrow with a washer). What a neat family you are, and what great experiences you are giving your children. Hope you keep enjoying that beautiful place! (P.s. I found out while conversing with a ward member, that they grew up right by your family and your dad was his young men's leader (or something close to that)! Dave Sorensen. It was so fun)
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