Packing Again

Our time in Casa Guadalupe in almost over. We have packed our things today as tomorrow the next set of folks are moving in. We have one day in between places, so we have rented a car and are heading to Mineral de Pozos which is an old mining town. It is located only about 1 hour away and is a very small town. We have heard you can tour some of the old silver mines and another family we have met gave this town the big thumbs up. It will be nice to see more of the country side of Mexico as well.

Right now the kids are meeting with their Spanish tutor. They are playing games and laughing hysterically so it is nice that learning can be fun. I've signed the kids up for camp 2 days this week and hopefully they will continue to learn more Spanish. They will also go on some field trips and learn more about the culture here.

I'll post some pictures of town from our balcony here. I'm sure we will have an equally nice view from our next house, but you never know. Goodbye to Casa Guadalupe!!!

Mineral de Pozos Trip

Since we had one night in between houses we decided to rent a car and head to a small town called Mineral de Pozos. This town in about 1 hour from San Miguel and used to be a major hub for silver and mercury mines. We stayed in a cute inn called Hotel Posada de las Minas. The roads are relatively easy to drive around here...there are no traffic signals and not really any lanes so you can pretty much do as you want. Also, there are just a few roads in and out of town so it is not hard to find your way around.

Alex is 2 for 2 in Mexico...he got car sick on the short ride to Pozos and it seems like he is making a routine of this these days. Luckily, the trip was short and by the time we arrived he felt ok again. We stayed in the Buena Vista room which did have a lovely view of the town and the church. Our room had several fireplaces and we all enjoyed a dinner out and then hung out around the fire playing cards. Alex and Hannah learned a new card game at camp called Egyptian Rat Screw (crazy name but a great game) so we all had a ball playing this game.This was also the place that I took my first nice, hot bath since leaving Vermont. Ah, it felt good! Casa Guadalupe had zero water pressure so even taking a shower was painstakingly long.

The next day we hired a guide to take us around the mines. Many of the mine openings are not posted, nor are they covered so this can be a dangerous place with kids. We had an excellent guide named Fernando that the hotel arranged for us. He picked us up in his minivan and away we went. He took us to the mercury mines as he thinks they are more interesting than the silver mines. It was fascinating to see these huge ovens that cooked the mercury out of the rock and how the entire process worked. At one point, the mine was over a mile long and this mercury mine was one of the largest in Mexico. Fernando took us down into one of the mines and the kids enjoyed this part the most. We scampered down into the dark and the guide had brought 3 flashlights to help us see. Without light, the mines are completely dark and eerie. I can't imagine working down in the mines and we weren't even that far down. Back breaking labor, dangerous, and dark.

Another interesting part of the trip were the various cacti that we saw. Our guide said that you can be stuck in the desert and live off of the cactus. You peel open the fruit part of the cactus and you can eat the inside which will hydrate you. One cactus had a huge trunk growing out of it and our guide said that the trunk is cut and used to make roofs for houses as it is completely water proof. The flowers of the cactus only live one day...they are beautiful but fleeting. They also have lots of different alcoholic drinks that are made from different cacti. So, we should all appreciate cacti a bit more!


After our interesting tour of the mercury mines, we jumped in our car to head home. We only rented the car for the day (since our daily car rental was about $75) and wanted to use the car to move our suitcases from our old house to our new one. Busy day, but a good one.

Pictures: The family in the mine underground. The big stone structures are the old ovens.  The hole in the ground is the entrance to the mine. Owen is being helped by Charles down into the mine. Interesting cacti...some larger than trees!

Palm Sunday

This is truly the first day of the holy week. Everywhere in the city vendors were selling intricately woven palm fronds decorated with flowers. Most people we saw had bought at least one of these palm fronds and then they are blessed prior to the processional. Each frond was 10 pesos so we bought one for each child. We went to Juarez Park where one of the main processionals was starting. These processionals represent Christ's entry into Jerusalem where he was received by onlookers waving palm fronds. A huge sculpture of Christ  riding a donkey (sculpture dates from the 18th century) is carried from the park and is followed by hundreds of people. This procession continues until it reaches into La Parroquia.

This was fascinating to watch as hordes of people started lining up behind the statue of Jesus and at the start a priest gave a short sermon and then threw holy water up and down all of the lines of people. The processional began with loud firecrackers (most main events are signaled by firecrackers) and then everyone started marching. We took quite a few pictures and then joined the processional at the end and marched until the main square. Our kids thought they were going to see a parade, so they thought it was interesting but that our parades at home were better! I guess their religious upbringing is leaving a little to be desired!

After the parade, Charles had gotten a tip about a great restaurant to try. You really would never know about this place unless someone told you. We came to this big door and you just ring the doorbell and they buzz you in. Through the big door we went and into a wonderfully peaceful garden. This is a B & B which also serves fabulous meals. The place is called Posada de Carazon and is such a little get away from the noise of the city. We had our best cup of coffee yet here....dark and rich. We will definitely go back here as it really is such a peaceful place with good food.

Hannah and I then shopped around for a while and Charles and the boys went to the park to play. Later in the afternoon Charles and I slipped away for a happy hour drink and left Hannah in charge. Kids enjoyed a movie and we parents enjoyed an hour sans children!!! A very good Sunday...

The Blue Door Bakery

Sweets! Ah, how the Mexicans love them and now so do we. Today Alex and I found a wonderful bakery a block from the library and the Jardin. You go in and they hand you a big, metal plate and some tongs. You are then free to browse and choose whatever sweets suite you. It was a hard choice. Alex looked all around and couldn't believe his good fortune. We had left Charles, Hannah, and Owen at Parque Juarez so I told Alex he could pick treats for everyone. He picked some sumptuous items such as a cinnamon bun, a chocolate glazed donut, a cream-filled pastry cone, and a big glazed cookie. I added 2 big rolls that I thought would be good for lunch and we gave our delicacies to the lady to ring up. Being my first time, I wasn't sure what to expect for the cost. The grand total was 20 pesos...the equivalent of about $1.80!!! Good for the pocketbook, bad for the waistline!

Treats were enjoyed and devoured by all. I think we found our new favorite place!!!

Easter in San Miguel Begins...

Easter is a huge holiday here in Mexico since the majority of people are Catholic and today was the official start of the holiday with a day called our Lady of Sorrows (Nuestra Senora de los Delores). On this day San Miguel is adorned with purple, white, and green (and alters are created all over the city in dedication to the sorrow of the Virgin Mary over the death of Jesus. These beautiful works of art are dedications to Mary and do not seem sad; rather, the decorations of candles, oranges, flowers, and colored paper seem more like expressions of joy. Surrounding some of the alters are carpets made out of different type of seeds, grains and beans as well as flower petals. Families often plan their alters for most of the year. The event begins at 7 pm and continues well into the night.

We took the kids and went out and visited a few alters and the streets were crowded with families and people of all ages visiting the alters. At each alter, cool fruit drinks and ice cream are offered to everyone. The refreshments symbolize Mary's tears. Every alter also had oranges with gold flags on them...this symbolized Mary's sorrow (bitter oranges) and Mary's joy at knowing her son would be resurrected (golden flags). Many of the famous alters had long lines but we managed to cajole the kids to wait in a few lines.

We also found a very local restaurant in centro and enjoyed fresh guacamole, enchiladas, quesadillas, and cerveza. We could watch the women make our dinner as it seemed this was also their house. We like to go very local when we can!

hIt was a later night for the kids but the several ice creams that they were given at each alter helped give them energy to walk! Our  kids are not used to late nights so we know they are not Mexican. It is amazing the small children that are out at all hours of the night around here! Kids start their 2 weeks of Easter break now, so luckily there is no getting up early now!

Trash and the Circus

So are you wondering what I could possibly say about trash? It took us a few days to figure out how trash works around here, so we thought it was worth sharing. The trash trucks come by at least 3 times per week. One man goes ahead of the trash truck and has a big metal gong that he bangs up and down the street. The first time we saw this, we were just walking and had no idea that a trash truck was soon to follow. It was quite early in the morning as we were walking the kids to school. We took guesses...why could he possibly be waking up this entire city block??? We finally realized this was to alert everyone that the trash truck was on its way. Everyone runs out of their house with their trash and hands the bags up to the driver. It is often quite a social experience as everyone is outside hauling out their trash. Mexico is definitely not green... no recycling that I can see at all.

The circus is coming to town!!! How do we know? Small circus cars drive all over town with these poor circus animals in them (animals are in cages in the back) yelling out of their megaphone about the circus. Every time we see another circus car it has another animal in it. We've seen tigers, lions, and monkeys being driven all over this city. Today the circus was even being announced from an airplane!!! We couldn't figure out how they were amplifying the sound but they sure as heck were. I keep saying how badly I feel for these animals....I'm glad we don't have circuses in the U.S. with animals anymore (at least known that I know about!). Anyway, it is funny how they advertise things around here!

Alex had a field trip for school today and we just had to laugh. The teacher drove his car and all six kids piled into this tiny car. One in the front seat, 4 in the back, and one in the way back. No seat belts. No rules. Just drive.  They went to a B & B which is also a museum that has an interesting collection of masks. Apparently, the teacher hit a concrete wall pulling into the driveway so he dented his car a bit. I guess it will look more like most of the cars driven around here. We have decided Volkswagen bugs are the most popular cars here...you say "Bocho Rojo" as the equivalent for red punch buggy!

Tuesday Market

Yesterday we ventured out to the famous El Tianguis (Tuesday Market). This market is filled with everything....fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, cheese, clothes, shoes, jewelry, toys, pottery, etc. We only managed to get to about one quarter of it but we have lots of weeks for more exploration. Everything is just picked and so fresh. We also found someone who makes fresh cheese and it is so good. Most people go to this market to get everything they need for the week. You can even sit down for lunch as we did. We had no idea what everything was so just decided to choose a place and go for it. We ended up a with the equivalent of fish tacos except the fish was a whole tilapia deep fried and it was served with cabbage and fresh tortilla chips. Then you add hot sauce of course. I will put a picture of it up here.

Last night kids started with their Spanish tutor named Leonardo. He graduated from U.C. Berkley but is a Mexican and is an artist and musician. Last night he arrived with his guitar and the kids enjoyed their hour of learning Spanish and singing songs. Even Owen wanted to listen in as they were having so much fun.

This morning Charles and I followed another Waldorf parent's recommendation and found a very local place for fresh tamales and a local drink. The drink is like corn past, milk and cinnamon and is served hot. It is delicious and sweet. We bought 2 tamales and 2 drinks for the equivalent of $2.50. Not bad and fun to have a Mexican breakfast. You would never know this place existed...just a woman' house with a table set up way off the road. We need to find more of these places!

We wash all fruits and vegetables in an anti-bacterial solution. All the markets sell it and you just place a few drops in water for about 15 minutes. We are inhaling the strawberries as they are amazing around here. Also made fresh mango salsa last night to put on our fish. Delicious!

Xote Waterpark

On Sunday we all took a taxi out to Xote (pronounced Chote) water park. We all needed a day to relax and have fun and this place came highly recommended. The place had a few good slides, although we all agreed that our favorite was the Toboggan. This was a huge slide that you rode down on mats and it literally catapulted you down. Mexico really has very few rules so everyone could go down anyway they wanted. Owen went on a few other slides and they had a lot of different pools all that were various temperatures.

The sun gets very hot here, although the wind when you were wet made you a bit cold. We slathered on the sunscreen, but the children all were red by the end of the day. This was a mostly Mexican hangout and we have noticed that they are a very family-oriented culture. They all came in wheeling their suitcases full of food and clothes (suitcases are used for many things here) and set up camp for the day. Big cookouts, lots of yummy food, siestas, and fun...they have got it right.

We ended the day with some delicious ice cream cones and headed home. Fun for all!

Our Adventure Begins...

 Itinerary: St. Thomas for 5 days and then Mexico for 4 months.

We have finally made it to San Miguel de Allende and are delighted to be beginning our new adventure here. We just finished a dinner of fresh tortillas (made from a woman up the street), chicken cooked over a fire (about $4.50 USD) and rice and beans that Charles made. We love the fresh food that we are finding and we go to the market almost every day to get all the fruit and vegetables really fresh. Our days are slowly getting easier and more settled as we learn where things are in San Miguel and get some rest.

Long travel day to St. Thomas...we dodged Canadian geese while landing into DC (Hannah was petrified, Alex and Owen thought it was cool), we had to wait on the runway in DC for a fox to get cleared off the runway (they have foxes in DC?) and then in Charlotte we were next in line for take off when we had to go back to the gate since we had a horrible smell on the airplane that they needed to check out. Must have been bad, since we all had to get off the plane and wait for another one to take us to St. Thomas. No driver in St. Thomas to meet us even though we had called him with our new flight time. After some phone calls, he arrived one hour later. We asked for fast food since it was 9 pm and the kids were up at 4:45 am and were tired and hungry for dinner. Driver took us to a place called Duffy's Love Shack (the name says it all) and he said this was the best place to go to get something quickly. We ordered and in the meantime Hannah and Alex got to experience the island bar scene (yikes). Nothing like their first bar experience with their parents! We finally got our food 1.5 hours later...yes, this is fast food according to island time!!! By that time, Hannah was almost collapsed and the boys were losing steam too (and we know how hard it is for that to happen). We finally arrived at our unit at 10:30 pm and fed the children. So much for getting to the island at 4:10 pm like we were supposed to!

Anyway, we all crashed but the kids were up early, grabbed their suits, and out they went. The unit was on the beach and we all felt the irresistible pull of the ocean. The ocean is full of beautiful color and you can see clear to the bottom. Charles and I honeymooned at this resort so it was fun to be back. There is a great snorkeling reef right off the beach so the kids had fun looking at the beautifully colored fish. The reef has certainly gotten worse over the years although we still saw amazing fish, huge brain corals, sea fans, sea urchins, and thousands of little minnows. We were only at this beach for 2 days and then transferred over to another hotel where Charles' work branch had booked rooms for a few nights. We spent our days on the beach and in the pools. We had a lovely time and it was great to see the island again.

Getting to Mexico put our patience to the ultimate test. We missed our flight connection in Mexico due to a late flight and a short connection. Spent 3. 5 hours on the phone trying to get new tickets, spent the night in a hotel in Miami, and filed a claim for a lost bag. The next day we caught another flight to Mexico City. Since we never travel without a child getting sick, this time it was due to bad chocolate milk purchased at the Mexico City airport while we were waiting for our driver who hadn't showed up yet. To calm the tired children, I bought Nestle chocolate milk and some cookies from a small tienda. They ate the cookies and played cards while I tried in my poor Spanish to figure out the pay phones to call our driver. Two nice gentlemen helped me buy a phone card and then use it in the pay phone. Our driver was in another terminal and had mistakenly thought we were arriving there. Phew! I was a bit worried that no one was there to drive us. We got in his car and started on our way when Owen tells us his belly hurts. Then tears so I know it is bad. We have NOTHING with us so I end up grabbing our driver's trash bag and finding a coffee cup which Owen proceeded to throw up in. He was quite neat in his retching so most landed in the cup. We get settled again and Owen looks fine now when Alex says his belly hurts. Yikes! He ends up throwing up too. Ah, life with children. Once the chocolate milk was out of their systems both boys were fine and declared they were hungry!!! Our driver knew of a local truck stop that had some good local food, so we had a nice hot dinner after that. The highways are rather new, but filled with huge mac trucks that travel from Texas through Mexico. We ended up driving almost the whole way to San Miguel in the dark which had not wanted to do. I think I spent most of the ride praying that we would arrive safely since the truck traffic and driving is a bit wild. Kids fell asleep for the last part of the ride which was a blessing. We found our house without a problem and breathed a sigh of relief to finally be at Casa Guadalupe.

The house is totally cute with outdoor patios, flowers everywhere, a fountain in the entry way, and lots of levels. The roof top deck is a great place to view San Miguel and all of the surrounding buildings. Church bells ring at all hours and the roosters start early so we have found it is best to go to be early and rise early. All of the streets are cobblestone which is very quaint but does a number on your feet after a while. We spent the past few days walking everywhere so feel like we are learning the city bit by bit. We are only about a 15-20 walk from centro which has a main square where a lot of people relax and hang out. Stalls are filled with fruits (which we don't eat) and homemade tacos, tamales, and other street food we haven't yet identified!

Our first few days we opened a bank account (we heard ATMs were subject to fraud frequently), got a library card (the library here has a great section of English books), found the mail office where our mail is being forwarded, located several grocery stores (one is even all organic), and found some good places for ice cream (have treated the kids every day). Our first day I tried cactus which tastes something between an asparagus and a green bean. The salsas and meats tend to be spicy and very good. I'm going to like learning more about cooking Mexican food!

Yesterday we all took a taxi to the Waldorf school to meet their teachers and check out the school. It is located about 15 minutes outside of town although the school bus takes about 35 minutes. The school grounds are quiet, peaceful, and very dry at the moment (rains come in June). The school is small with several different buildings for the classes, although each building is filled with color and lots of natural things. The teachers suggested we come to an open house today and have the kids start today instead of waiting until Monday. Kids looked at us a bit terrified but then resigned themselves to the fact that, tomorrow, indeed they would be at this new school.

Owen jumped out of bed today excited about his day. He got dressed and ate breakfast then ran around the house with excitement. Hannah and Alex were a bit tentative but we all managed to be out of the house by 7:25 am to catch the school bus. We did snap 2 quick pictures of the kids which I attached to this Email (more pictures to come). We met a few families at the bus stop which was a nice way to start the day. I rode the school bus with the kids for the first day and then got to observe all the classes. The kids got off the school bus and went right to their classes without really looking back. I guess our visit the day before met its purpose as they were comfortable enough just going on their own. Even Owen grabbed on to the rope that they give to the preschoolers to make a train to go to their classroom and said "Bye Mom". No tears, no fuss. Just bravado. I just stood there and watched as the 3 went off...proud of them and also got a twinge of what it must feel like for my parents to have watched me learn each day to be more and more independent. Due to the open house I got to observe all the classes and was quite impressed with the intertwining of music, movement, and art that is part of the curriculum. I watch Owen grind the millet for the oatmeal and he had the biggest smile on his face. Hannah and Alex were together for the first 30 minutes and they were singing and dancing to Spanish songs (well they were following along as best as possible). I'm glad they will get to experience this different type of schooling and I think they will really enjoy it. The teachers help translate when needed and they are the stars of the English class.

I caught a ride back to town with a parent and then Charles and I picked the kids up from the bus today. Kids were all excited to tell us the stories of the day. Owen loved his day, Hannah enjoyed it and showed us a beautiful drawing she had done, and Alex was talking about his art class and learning symmetry while not being thrilled that all students learn cursive writing in the 1st grade (something he hates and is not good at). Hannah also gets to participate in a pentathlon as her class is studying ancient Greece. They practice the 5 events and then will take a trip for 3-4 days in May to compete. Hannah has some work to do to catch up, but the bus driver (who is also the movement teacher) told us he could help her practice after school. Everyone is so genuinely nice here. I guess you could say we had a very successful first day of school. Now the kids can enjoy the weekend not worrying about Monday. We treated them all with ice creams after wards and showed them our next house which we move into in about 10 days. Of course, they only have next week for school and then are off for the next 2 weeks for Easter break!

Should I mention this next part? It is life living in Mexico so I'll add it in. I went to tuck Owen into bed tonight (after reading a story on his bed which is on the floor) and pulled the covers down for him to crawl in. I went to turn out the light. and Owen starting getting in when suddenly he cried out that there was a big bug in his bed. I ran over and sure enough...a SCORPION right in his bed! It started scurrying and I started screaming. All I had with me was Owen's big dinosaur that he sleeps with. The scorpion started crawling under his books and trying to get away. They are scared of light and we had obviously disturbed him! I didn't want the scorpion to escape but had no shoes near me. So I kept screaming and at the same time was batting the scorpion with Owen's dinosaur to keep it from moving out of sight. YUCK! Charles ran up with shoe in hand and squished it. Loud popping sound. Kids were freaking out asking if we could move back to VT. Thank goodness Owen jumped out of bed since the scorpion had touched his shirt, but not his body! Now Charles and I are reading all about scorpions to know what to do if one of us gets bitten. Apparently, beds are supposed to be off the floor by about 20 centimeters which we didn't know. So, Owen is sleeping with Hannah and will never again sleep on the floor! Charles has carefully kept the scorpion to ask if this is common...hopefully not!!