The good things about Mexico are the following:
1. Most refrigeration is turned up too high so when you crack open a diet coke, you get a little frost for your first few drinks, it is a great treat.
2. Raw salt from the sea. It is so good and natural.
Limes, lots of good, juicy fresh limes, not just a dried up brown slice of lime that you get in the U.S., this is serious business down here and you gets lots, usually they bring you a full plate full.
3. You kind of get over yourself here, there are lots of ugly, fat people walking around; so you don’t feel like a whale when you wear a two-piece. I have met a handful of people for the first time here in a bathing suit which is totally not something I would do at home. I am not looking forward to heading back to reality on my swim suit attire when I return.
4. Learning not to worry about Sheraton, it took me until week three, but it finally happened for me, again, I am not looking forward to that mess when I return.
Mexico will sell you anything, they package up used batteries and sell them for 10 pesos a piece ($1). They put them in a little baggie and sell them right back to people. My camera keeps dying here, I think it is the heat, so when I went last night for batteries I had to ask the 8 year old behind the counter running the till not only the price per battery but also it comes in a factory direct package. I struck a deal there, probably the only one I have thus far in my Mexico trip.
Palm trees lean towards the ocean, if you are lost and you are trying to get to the ocean, you just have to drive in the direction of which way the palm trees are leaning.
You can burn the shells of coconuts after you have sucked out all the juice from them. Lots of people down here drink coconut juice with some sort of liquor in it that I have never heard of- Helio says that the dried coconuts make good kinling and they are supposed to be great to cook with on your indoor/outdoor grill. Many homes close to the ocean have piles and piles of them outside in their yard. I wouldn’t want to look at heaps of dried up coconuts every morning over my grape nuts but then again I , often times, have three cars in my yard to look at each morning on my way out.
We made it back to Playa Azul on Friday. We were greeted with such warmth and kindness. Levi has made us regular celebrities. It took us nearly four hours to return here so as Helio was trying to see if a room was available I threw all my normal American rules out and put my kid and myself in their pool. I didn’t know if we would be able to stay or if I would get yelled at but we were both dripping (literally) with sweat that I just didn’t care. Levi, finally, woke back up. I found the cold medicine I packed “just in case” and gave him some as we drove out of Zihuatenejo as he was mental from his cold. I nearly had to ask Helio to pull over to throw up on our return trip. I had two coffees in the morning bc I could, and there was coffee to be purchased, the roads are twisty/windy up the mountain to get back, and I thought that I had given Levi too much cold medicine as he was out cold in the back seat. Luckily, it was just a mixture of the bad experience we had just endured in Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo, the heat, and the meds. He is totally fine now.
As Levi and I were swimming in the pool, the staff ladies yelled down to him by name, “Hola Levi, gracias que regresaste” (hi Levi, thanks for coming back) The people around here want to touch his hair. He works it- He gets a sucker from all pretty near every place we stop and there is an old lady sitting in a chair. Her payback is to be able to touch his hair. It is pretty funny.
The residents of the neighboring town to Playa Azul honestly receive their daily ration of water delivered via horse drawn cart. The horse pulls a cart with a big metal tub of water behind it. The shirtless guy manning the cart then stops at each house and uses a big hose to fill up what I can only assume is something similar to the baptismal pool in Jona.
There is only one kind of gas station here, Pemex. Helio says that businesses here don’t have competition, creating a monopoly for whichever type of commerce you want to go into. The phones are the same way, only Telcel. You know the Mexican government gets a big chunk of their profit, Mexico is so messed up.
I laid in that gross hotel room last night and tried to watch a little news via Spanish/Mexican translation. I saw a clip of something happening on the senate floor. Honest to God, I teared up when I saw the American flag behind the person who was speaking. I have never experienced that in my life. I wouldn’t consider myself this big patriot but when you are deprived of your country for a month (yes, by choice) you start to see the beauty of the United States. I know there is so much bad happening at home, but I just want to be back there. As much as I want that, I am sure I will be totally depressed once I am stuck wearing multiple layers and have to walk those three stinking blocks from the parking ramp to the office. (I hate that walk and it is so much worse when the wind rips through you, thank God for the genius of Apple and their Ipods)
There is a store here on Playa Azul called Jesus y Edgar. I can’t help but silently giggle every time I see it. You would think I would be used to that by now, maybe I am just extremely immature.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
01.04.07 Day 17, Mexico Trip 1
Ixtapa/Zijuatenejo not my favorite place. As we arrived, I felt great relief in the site of multiple story buildings and large graphically composed billboards but as we got into the city and had to interact with the locals, I felt that I was going to start throwing punches. I am so tired of people trying to take advantage of us and myself especially since I am a gringa. You know what buddy- I understand every word you are saying and I know you are not nice. Don’t try to get one more peso out of me.
Helio, of course, did not make a reservation in Ixtapa although that has been the plan for like 3 months that we would go there after the New Year when the prices dropped. (he must have been busy) Well, the prices did not drop and the people didn’t go home. There was some random dude standing on the side of the road trying to hustle Helio into renting a room above Domino’s Pizza for $130. All the other hotel rooms were booked. We tried a few hotels ourselves to make sure and there wasn’t a space available. Mind you during our hunt I had a drippy nose kid sweating in what I swear is 150 degrees down here. And those who tell you “it’s not hot in Mexico bc it is dry heat”- they are liars, it is tropical, greasy and plain icky after a while. As we were leaving Playa Azul, the 5 people who we picked up on our way out to drop at the neighboring town kept saying, “oh you are hot bc you took a shower today, that always makes it more hot” What? I did indeed take a shower and I stood in that shower for like 15 minutes not knowing when the next one would come.
I thought we were going to make it off the island quickly and bc I was feeling a bit crabby with Helio was trying to wait out his goodbyes in the car- sweating. But then he returned and said, everyone is asking for Levi and wants to say goodbye to him. Thus, I had to go say goodbye as well. I was embraced by a few women and children I had no idea who they were, beautiful when you are slimy and they are slimy. Then to my great stress Helio announced we are going to take these three women and these couple kids to the next town. I had to turn around, I nearly started something with him right there. I think I muttered something out loud like “oh dear Lord” and rolled my eyes, I think it was obvious. Then as I tried to cram myself and Levi into the front seat and the five of them in the backseat with all my stuff, they went on and on about the seafood on the island. They asked if I had the shrimp there, I hadn’t. They then shoved one of the two bowls they had with them in my face and offered the spicy smelling shrimp they were bringing along. I declined. The other bowl had cut up raw fish in it. It smelled great in the truck after that.
I had a meltdown when we finally made it to a hotel in Zihuatenejo. It looked like the kind of hotel room that I imagine when I am reading books and people have lost all their money and are hitting bottom. Everything was made out of concrete, the bed base, the dresser, the closet, the walls- the window frame was painted on. I thought we had to pay $100 for that and when Helio said it was actually $130 I had him march right down there and ask for our money back. Of course, we didn’t get it. But I made them give us another room as our air didn’t work, there wasn’t an outlet for my big box fan I have been toting along, and we were put in a room with a huge neon sign of the balcony that said “Hotel Zihuatenejo”. The saddest thing about going to Ixtapa is that I am sure that it would be a great place to visit- with a freaking Reservation! I felt so relieved for like 20 minutes and then my world came crashing down on me. I am sure there was a McDonald’s there and I didn’t get any. I will have to wait until I get back to Minnesota or maybe there will be some in Cuernavaca. We are going there on Saturday and going back to Playa Azul on Monday.
After I called my mom and bawled my eyes out, I found an Internet Café. (I really do feel bad, I sat down on the bed, grabbed the clean towel that was left for showering, put it over my face and sobbed, Levi didn’t know what to do, he started crying too and I just couldn’t stop) Levi is so sick and very difficult to deal with bc of all his cold drainage, heat, and travel time in the car. I really feel bad for him. I discovered that indeed my friend Susan from London got her passport back from the London government, they had to renew it. She and Jonathan, her English boyfriend, are coming. In a way, I guess I did hit bottom in a seedy hotel, like so many novels I have read. I lost it and then found my friend Susan who is going to come and fill out my whole next week. She is amazing and so low key (we are total opposites on the hyper spectrum) she will be great to spend time with. We have been friends for like 15 years, she is the one who was our chaperon when Helio and I started dating and translated for us, and was in our wedding. So our plan is (bc I finally made a plan, I can’t take Helio’s aloofness anymore- or maybe a better word is footloose) We will go back to Playa Azul today (Friday) and either sleep in the car, at Bebo’s mom’s house, or in the hotel, then to Cuernavaca for Saturday and Sunday, then to Playa Azul for a couple days with Susan and Jonathan. Then to Jona for a couple days, on to D.F. for Friday- and then Sunday morning Levi and I board the plane for home. It makes me sad to leave Helio and the sun, but I can’t wait to just have a computer/internet at my disposal (Mexico doesn’t have three way plug outlets, so another tip, if you are traveling with a laptop, bring a plug to charge anything that may need it) and eat anything that is not wrapped in a tortilla.
Helio, of course, did not make a reservation in Ixtapa although that has been the plan for like 3 months that we would go there after the New Year when the prices dropped. (he must have been busy) Well, the prices did not drop and the people didn’t go home. There was some random dude standing on the side of the road trying to hustle Helio into renting a room above Domino’s Pizza for $130. All the other hotel rooms were booked. We tried a few hotels ourselves to make sure and there wasn’t a space available. Mind you during our hunt I had a drippy nose kid sweating in what I swear is 150 degrees down here. And those who tell you “it’s not hot in Mexico bc it is dry heat”- they are liars, it is tropical, greasy and plain icky after a while. As we were leaving Playa Azul, the 5 people who we picked up on our way out to drop at the neighboring town kept saying, “oh you are hot bc you took a shower today, that always makes it more hot” What? I did indeed take a shower and I stood in that shower for like 15 minutes not knowing when the next one would come.
I thought we were going to make it off the island quickly and bc I was feeling a bit crabby with Helio was trying to wait out his goodbyes in the car- sweating. But then he returned and said, everyone is asking for Levi and wants to say goodbye to him. Thus, I had to go say goodbye as well. I was embraced by a few women and children I had no idea who they were, beautiful when you are slimy and they are slimy. Then to my great stress Helio announced we are going to take these three women and these couple kids to the next town. I had to turn around, I nearly started something with him right there. I think I muttered something out loud like “oh dear Lord” and rolled my eyes, I think it was obvious. Then as I tried to cram myself and Levi into the front seat and the five of them in the backseat with all my stuff, they went on and on about the seafood on the island. They asked if I had the shrimp there, I hadn’t. They then shoved one of the two bowls they had with them in my face and offered the spicy smelling shrimp they were bringing along. I declined. The other bowl had cut up raw fish in it. It smelled great in the truck after that.
I had a meltdown when we finally made it to a hotel in Zihuatenejo. It looked like the kind of hotel room that I imagine when I am reading books and people have lost all their money and are hitting bottom. Everything was made out of concrete, the bed base, the dresser, the closet, the walls- the window frame was painted on. I thought we had to pay $100 for that and when Helio said it was actually $130 I had him march right down there and ask for our money back. Of course, we didn’t get it. But I made them give us another room as our air didn’t work, there wasn’t an outlet for my big box fan I have been toting along, and we were put in a room with a huge neon sign of the balcony that said “Hotel Zihuatenejo”. The saddest thing about going to Ixtapa is that I am sure that it would be a great place to visit- with a freaking Reservation! I felt so relieved for like 20 minutes and then my world came crashing down on me. I am sure there was a McDonald’s there and I didn’t get any. I will have to wait until I get back to Minnesota or maybe there will be some in Cuernavaca. We are going there on Saturday and going back to Playa Azul on Monday.
After I called my mom and bawled my eyes out, I found an Internet Café. (I really do feel bad, I sat down on the bed, grabbed the clean towel that was left for showering, put it over my face and sobbed, Levi didn’t know what to do, he started crying too and I just couldn’t stop) Levi is so sick and very difficult to deal with bc of all his cold drainage, heat, and travel time in the car. I really feel bad for him. I discovered that indeed my friend Susan from London got her passport back from the London government, they had to renew it. She and Jonathan, her English boyfriend, are coming. In a way, I guess I did hit bottom in a seedy hotel, like so many novels I have read. I lost it and then found my friend Susan who is going to come and fill out my whole next week. She is amazing and so low key (we are total opposites on the hyper spectrum) she will be great to spend time with. We have been friends for like 15 years, she is the one who was our chaperon when Helio and I started dating and translated for us, and was in our wedding. So our plan is (bc I finally made a plan, I can’t take Helio’s aloofness anymore- or maybe a better word is footloose) We will go back to Playa Azul today (Friday) and either sleep in the car, at Bebo’s mom’s house, or in the hotel, then to Cuernavaca for Saturday and Sunday, then to Playa Azul for a couple days with Susan and Jonathan. Then to Jona for a couple days, on to D.F. for Friday- and then Sunday morning Levi and I board the plane for home. It makes me sad to leave Helio and the sun, but I can’t wait to just have a computer/internet at my disposal (Mexico doesn’t have three way plug outlets, so another tip, if you are traveling with a laptop, bring a plug to charge anything that may need it) and eat anything that is not wrapped in a tortilla.
01.03.07 Day 16, Mexico Trip 1
You know how sometimes you try to make a moment out of nothing and other times you try to downplay a moment because you don’t want to cry. It is so hard here to not be swept up with emotions, especially when you realize you are just one person standing on an enormous beach and there are fish way bigger than you right out there. It is truly amazing.
There are wild animals all over the place down here. I have seen the following animals just wandering around without an owner, pigs, roosters, dogs and cats of course, cows, and horse drawn carriages. I have seen horses tied up to the front porch of a couple houses here. The house may be falling down but they have a horse to high tail it out of there.
We went for a boat ride in Bebo’s uncles ferry is what I would call it. Bebo and his family live next door to the hotel where we are staying. His wife’s family lives down stream. So we were happily swimming at the hotel when I heard Bebo yelling to Helio from the back fresh water. He wanted us to go with to drop off 2 of his 3 kids so they could go to the fair. I refused at first as there weren’t any life jackets and the boat looked like something I have seen in cartoons or movies. It had a thatched roof made out of palm branches. On the side it says “Gracias a Dios” Thanks to God. On the inside I kept staring at this little painting that said, Jesus en ti confio- Jesus in you I trust. That made me feel a little worried on our way out but I finally got comfortable. Levi has no fear, he wanted to sit up in the front of course. He loves adventure. Helio had him posing like dude in Titanic on our way back. It was actually pretty funny.
On our way back from dropping off Bebo’s kids- we picked up a few other people. Two of which were pretty handicapped. One, I couldn’t figure out if he/she was a boy/girl and the other was in a wheelchair. Helio of course was right there in the water to help get that guy in the boat. (he had the bushiest eyebrows I have ever seen in my life- I would have taken a picture but I didn’t want to be that obvious)
It is so sad to see how people regard this country. They throw trash wherever they feel like it. When Bebo had to fill up the tank with gas he just threw the empty container into the river afterwards. The whole river is covered in trash and it is so sad. There is such natural beauty here and the people just don’t care to take after it.
Levi fell asleep at Bebo’s house in a hammock. I thought had completed the task of getting Levi to fall asleep in the hammock but Bebo’s wife went in to tie it up. It was genius. I don’t have a hammock like this one but it is nylon and really big. Of course their whole house is made out of concrete block walls and a concrete floor. So what they do to make sure their kids don’t fall out is they tie up the top so they can’t get out. I am so going to look for one of these hammocks while we are down here. It is like they are packaged fish in a net swinging in there but wow, I didn’t worry for a moment that he was going to fall out. It was great. For some reason the people here are enamored with Levi. Bebo’s wife kept going into swing him back and forth. At one point she was cooking, dancing with her birthday husband, watching after her 1 year old, taking care of her nephew, and swinging my kid in their hammock. Very talented lady and she can’t be older than 28.
When we were walking back from Bebo’s concrete house last night I thought I saw a dog out of the corner of my eye- I am a little afraid of the dogs down here, you know they haven’t had their rabies shots. Ah, nothing to fear, that is just a couple of wild pigs sleeping in that bush, not dogs. See pictures.
I have a serious tan now. While sitting on the beach, a lady with a basket balanced on her head stopped and sold me for $2 crema de tortuga, Cream of Turtles, 100% authentic. I was hesitant at first but I smelled it- it wasn’t awful. I slathered it all over my reddish skin and now, no sting and all brown.
We are on our way to Ixtapa today. I must get my things together and put on a tank top, this sweatshirt, not the thing for the beach.
There are wild animals all over the place down here. I have seen the following animals just wandering around without an owner, pigs, roosters, dogs and cats of course, cows, and horse drawn carriages. I have seen horses tied up to the front porch of a couple houses here. The house may be falling down but they have a horse to high tail it out of there.
We went for a boat ride in Bebo’s uncles ferry is what I would call it. Bebo and his family live next door to the hotel where we are staying. His wife’s family lives down stream. So we were happily swimming at the hotel when I heard Bebo yelling to Helio from the back fresh water. He wanted us to go with to drop off 2 of his 3 kids so they could go to the fair. I refused at first as there weren’t any life jackets and the boat looked like something I have seen in cartoons or movies. It had a thatched roof made out of palm branches. On the side it says “Gracias a Dios” Thanks to God. On the inside I kept staring at this little painting that said, Jesus en ti confio- Jesus in you I trust. That made me feel a little worried on our way out but I finally got comfortable. Levi has no fear, he wanted to sit up in the front of course. He loves adventure. Helio had him posing like dude in Titanic on our way back. It was actually pretty funny.
On our way back from dropping off Bebo’s kids- we picked up a few other people. Two of which were pretty handicapped. One, I couldn’t figure out if he/she was a boy/girl and the other was in a wheelchair. Helio of course was right there in the water to help get that guy in the boat. (he had the bushiest eyebrows I have ever seen in my life- I would have taken a picture but I didn’t want to be that obvious)
It is so sad to see how people regard this country. They throw trash wherever they feel like it. When Bebo had to fill up the tank with gas he just threw the empty container into the river afterwards. The whole river is covered in trash and it is so sad. There is such natural beauty here and the people just don’t care to take after it.
Levi fell asleep at Bebo’s house in a hammock. I thought had completed the task of getting Levi to fall asleep in the hammock but Bebo’s wife went in to tie it up. It was genius. I don’t have a hammock like this one but it is nylon and really big. Of course their whole house is made out of concrete block walls and a concrete floor. So what they do to make sure their kids don’t fall out is they tie up the top so they can’t get out. I am so going to look for one of these hammocks while we are down here. It is like they are packaged fish in a net swinging in there but wow, I didn’t worry for a moment that he was going to fall out. It was great. For some reason the people here are enamored with Levi. Bebo’s wife kept going into swing him back and forth. At one point she was cooking, dancing with her birthday husband, watching after her 1 year old, taking care of her nephew, and swinging my kid in their hammock. Very talented lady and she can’t be older than 28.
When we were walking back from Bebo’s concrete house last night I thought I saw a dog out of the corner of my eye- I am a little afraid of the dogs down here, you know they haven’t had their rabies shots. Ah, nothing to fear, that is just a couple of wild pigs sleeping in that bush, not dogs. See pictures.
I have a serious tan now. While sitting on the beach, a lady with a basket balanced on her head stopped and sold me for $2 crema de tortuga, Cream of Turtles, 100% authentic. I was hesitant at first but I smelled it- it wasn’t awful. I slathered it all over my reddish skin and now, no sting and all brown.
We are on our way to Ixtapa today. I must get my things together and put on a tank top, this sweatshirt, not the thing for the beach.
01.02.07 Day 15, Mexico Trip 1
I think it is near to impossible to be sitting by the ocean and feel any sort of angry, sad, dreary feeling. It is just so great here. Today we decided to stay again at the little hotel at Playa Azul. Levi is sick but it has been nothing too major. It is such a great feeling to wake up in the morning and walk across the street to the ocean.
I have finished 3 of the 5 books I brought with me and am half way through the fourth. Helio thinks I am crazy as he has never read an entire book in his life. I read, Levi and Helio chase after people on the beach who have caught swordfish and pose with it like they caught it themselves. I didn’t realize that a swordfish is so blue. -Very pretty.
Our hotel room is sort of like a cave. I am really glad that I didn’t make Helio take us somewhere else though. The whole trip here I kept hearing myself repeat in my head, “I hate Mexico” and now that we have arrived here at Playa Azul I really don’t think that anymore. I love it here and wish we could have stayed here the whole time. I see why some people give up their whole lives to just go a be shore men. I guess I kind of understand Hemmingway now. I still don’t like any of his writing, but I do like the ocean and this sort of life. Although, I still have to say, it seems like people have nothing to do here and just lay in hammocks and wait for people to come by for them to talk to. I prefer to be a little busier than that.
I got comfortable with our hotel room and then when we returned from three hour favor of driving to pick up a friend’s wife from work it was dark. The electrical pole that is right outside our room was sparking- our roof is made out of dried palm branches. When Helio asked me what are you staring at as I was frozen in my tracks staring up at the potential source of the end of my life, I just pointed up. He went to talk to the hotel staff about it and of course came back from his conversation, reporting, “they say, that it always does that, not to worry, nothing will happen” You would never get away with something like that back home. I will be happy to be back in the land of code regulation and common sense in a couple weeks.
Helio has a family friend who lives here on what I would call an island. His name is something but I don’t remember- they call him Bebo. On one side of the strip of land the hotel is on, there is the ocean, on the back side is what they call Agua Dulce- freshwater. They fish for shrimp there. It is beautiful at night and I never want to go back to Jona. It is so gross and dirty there. Bebo is a fisherman. He sleeps in a hammock in the day and waits until it is dark to go out and fish by moonlight. These are not ordinary fisherman, they don’t use a motor on their boat, they use paddles. They also don’t use fishing poles, they use nets. The boats are super low to the water and I refuse to “try it out” as I have been asked. I keep remembering a story my mom told me about how she was somewhere in Mexico and in order to get to a different location they had to take a boat and she saw her life flash before her eyes during that ride. I don’t want to have a similar experience.
Helio was so smart and brought the coffee pot with on our new “Travel Mexico” trip. It is the one thing that brings some sort of familiarity to my day. That coffee pot has seen its travels, starting all the way from
Walgreens on Hiawatha.
I finally got full and had a hot shower. While day dreaming in the first hot shower of course my mind made the parallel of full belly and a hot shower, finally, it is almost like I have been in jail for the last couple weeks. Not anymore, now I am living in paradise, the name of the hotel tells me so- Paraiso, Playa Azul.
Our bathroom is a toilet on one wall and a shower spicket on the opposite wall. I am so so happy to have a hot shower that I think that I have taken the longest showers I have ever had in my life. When I am standing in the hot stream I can’t help but think of the water pulling the caulk up around the toilet, but I don’t have to live here, so I will just continue to shower and let the water pool around the toilet.
I have finished 3 of the 5 books I brought with me and am half way through the fourth. Helio thinks I am crazy as he has never read an entire book in his life. I read, Levi and Helio chase after people on the beach who have caught swordfish and pose with it like they caught it themselves. I didn’t realize that a swordfish is so blue. -Very pretty.
Our hotel room is sort of like a cave. I am really glad that I didn’t make Helio take us somewhere else though. The whole trip here I kept hearing myself repeat in my head, “I hate Mexico” and now that we have arrived here at Playa Azul I really don’t think that anymore. I love it here and wish we could have stayed here the whole time. I see why some people give up their whole lives to just go a be shore men. I guess I kind of understand Hemmingway now. I still don’t like any of his writing, but I do like the ocean and this sort of life. Although, I still have to say, it seems like people have nothing to do here and just lay in hammocks and wait for people to come by for them to talk to. I prefer to be a little busier than that.
I got comfortable with our hotel room and then when we returned from three hour favor of driving to pick up a friend’s wife from work it was dark. The electrical pole that is right outside our room was sparking- our roof is made out of dried palm branches. When Helio asked me what are you staring at as I was frozen in my tracks staring up at the potential source of the end of my life, I just pointed up. He went to talk to the hotel staff about it and of course came back from his conversation, reporting, “they say, that it always does that, not to worry, nothing will happen” You would never get away with something like that back home. I will be happy to be back in the land of code regulation and common sense in a couple weeks.
Helio has a family friend who lives here on what I would call an island. His name is something but I don’t remember- they call him Bebo. On one side of the strip of land the hotel is on, there is the ocean, on the back side is what they call Agua Dulce- freshwater. They fish for shrimp there. It is beautiful at night and I never want to go back to Jona. It is so gross and dirty there. Bebo is a fisherman. He sleeps in a hammock in the day and waits until it is dark to go out and fish by moonlight. These are not ordinary fisherman, they don’t use a motor on their boat, they use paddles. They also don’t use fishing poles, they use nets. The boats are super low to the water and I refuse to “try it out” as I have been asked. I keep remembering a story my mom told me about how she was somewhere in Mexico and in order to get to a different location they had to take a boat and she saw her life flash before her eyes during that ride. I don’t want to have a similar experience.
Helio was so smart and brought the coffee pot with on our new “Travel Mexico” trip. It is the one thing that brings some sort of familiarity to my day. That coffee pot has seen its travels, starting all the way from
Walgreens on Hiawatha.
I finally got full and had a hot shower. While day dreaming in the first hot shower of course my mind made the parallel of full belly and a hot shower, finally, it is almost like I have been in jail for the last couple weeks. Not anymore, now I am living in paradise, the name of the hotel tells me so- Paraiso, Playa Azul.
Our bathroom is a toilet on one wall and a shower spicket on the opposite wall. I am so so happy to have a hot shower that I think that I have taken the longest showers I have ever had in my life. When I am standing in the hot stream I can’t help but think of the water pulling the caulk up around the toilet, but I don’t have to live here, so I will just continue to shower and let the water pool around the toilet.
12.31.06 Day 13, Mexico Trip 1
New Year’s was of course a bust as well. We went swimming again at Atotonilco which was fun. Levi loves to swim and is so good at sharing with other kids- toys and things like that. I am always so proud when there is a little kid screaming because they are afraid of the water and my kid is trying to either comfort him/her or jump off the deep end. We came home and had a long nap. The water and sun do that to a two year old. We then went over to Jose Luis/Rafa’s parent’s house. The outdoor courtyard there is great but that is about it. The inside, I don’t want to spend any time in there. We then went home to what I thought was the end of the day. Jose Luis and Raul came over for a little bit and when we were sitting at the table I thought I heard fireworks going off. I tried to tell Levi that was the case and Raul and Jose Luis started laughing, saying, no those are gun shots. I guess it is Mexican tradition to shoot off your pistol to bring in the New Year. They then went on to say how many people end up dead from stray bullets around this time of year. I then opted for bed- no need to get myself dead over a crazy Mexican tradition. I woke up about 45 minutes later to about 20 people sitting outside with Helio- that’s enough to make a mom crabby. I struggled all night after that to get Levi to sleep.
The bathroom stalls here are so super duper small. The Mexicans do not understand knee space. I literally have to sit on the toilet sideways in order to shut the half door when I try to use a public toilet. Mind you, there are not any toilet seats, but I think you all know that already. There is something very gross about sitting on the rim of a toilet. I guess the benefit of such a small toilet stall is you never have to guess if it is occupied, if it is- there are feet hanging out the bottom for sure.
We are supposed to start out Mexico tour tomorrow- Playa Azul, Acapulco, Puebla, D.F., I am so ready. I can’t stand sitting in Jona anymore. I have to say though, it has been nice having Jose Luis and Jodi around. We were able to talk for about an hour last night about how angry they were the whole time they were going through this immigration thing last year. Jodi said, “just think Manda, I know this means nothing now, but once he gets his papers, it is just over” I have known that but it just is such a foggy goal to aim for. You just never know when it is all going to be over. I never in a million years thought that when I married Helio and started the immigration process that it was going to be this hard. I expected it to be challenging but I did not think that the government would enforce us to be separated for over a year. That is enough to make one crabby all the time. When Helio left the driveway back in September, I guess it was better being delusional, I really thought he would be back in 4-6 months. When Levi and I return, it will only have been 2 actual months of our waiting process since his file wasn’t transferred until November. Regardless, I am going to start calling in February, which will be 4 months from his original appointment date.
The bathroom stalls here are so super duper small. The Mexicans do not understand knee space. I literally have to sit on the toilet sideways in order to shut the half door when I try to use a public toilet. Mind you, there are not any toilet seats, but I think you all know that already. There is something very gross about sitting on the rim of a toilet. I guess the benefit of such a small toilet stall is you never have to guess if it is occupied, if it is- there are feet hanging out the bottom for sure.
We are supposed to start out Mexico tour tomorrow- Playa Azul, Acapulco, Puebla, D.F., I am so ready. I can’t stand sitting in Jona anymore. I have to say though, it has been nice having Jose Luis and Jodi around. We were able to talk for about an hour last night about how angry they were the whole time they were going through this immigration thing last year. Jodi said, “just think Manda, I know this means nothing now, but once he gets his papers, it is just over” I have known that but it just is such a foggy goal to aim for. You just never know when it is all going to be over. I never in a million years thought that when I married Helio and started the immigration process that it was going to be this hard. I expected it to be challenging but I did not think that the government would enforce us to be separated for over a year. That is enough to make one crabby all the time. When Helio left the driveway back in September, I guess it was better being delusional, I really thought he would be back in 4-6 months. When Levi and I return, it will only have been 2 actual months of our waiting process since his file wasn’t transferred until November. Regardless, I am going to start calling in February, which will be 4 months from his original appointment date.
12.30.06 Day 12, Mexico Trip 1
Yesterday morning (Friday) I had to go over to Helio’s aunt’s house for breakfast. They served pozole (chicken and hominy soup) and hamburgers for breakfast. My pozole is much better- greasier bc I use pork & chicken, for more flavor- there were 13 people for breakfast until the second wave of Helio’s family arrived which brought about 6 more people. That is a lot of people for a morning meal. When they asked me “Manda, do you want a hamburger” I nearly choked on my Coca Light. Thank God for Coca Light, without it, I would get nothing all day. The breakfast conversation consisted of two of Helio’s uncles trying to convince me to feed the meat of a parrot to Levi to get him to talk. As much as I appreciate their concern and that they are willing to offer their advice, it is not something that I am willing to feed my kid. When Tio Marcos arrived from the house next door, he had a wide open fly that was direct in my line of view as he approached the table to sit next to me and a bag diagonally strapped over his chest with a machete in it. Not sure what he needed it for, but he had a knife in case someone needed one.
I had a dream last night that I met Mark O’s little boy from Ethiopia. He liked to sing the itsy bitsy spider and was very sweet. I can’t wait to meet him.
The outlet plug-ins are super loose here. I can’t keep my computer plugged in let alone get a connection speed that works. I can’t wait to get back to modern technology.
Helio finally started to feel my pain with can’t really eat anything problem I am having. He decided that we would go to Cuautla last night for a real dinner. So, I banked on it all day. When we finally got to Cuautla last night, Helio couldn’t find the seafood restaurant that makes Mojarras (which I love, it is a deep fried sea bass that you put salt, lime, and Valentina hot sauce on, super good with tortillas, rice, and beans) He thinks they closed the restaurant. So, he said, ah, they have great pizza at this place- not the case. The pizza down here is awful. They don’t put sauce on their pizza. So our pizza was bread, with cut up hotdogs, pineapple, and what I think was mozzarella cheese. When we were waiting for our pizza, I noticed two different flavors of hot sauce on the table and a bottle of catsup (not Heinz). The folks here put ketchup on their pizza with hot sauce. I watched everyone in the restaurant do so. Gross- I asked for Parmesan cheese and the waiter looked at me like I was demanding and just shook his head, to me, meaning- lady, we don’t have that kind of stuff in Mexico, go back to where you came from gringa. If you go to Mexico- bring a sack lunch. It makes you very sad when you can’t eat for weeks at a time. Those of you at work- beware- I totally feel a need to cook a bunch when I return, just because I can. Funny, I never thought of myself as a food and beverage snob, here I appear to be a totally stuck up princess. Helio has to make excuses for me every time we are to eat with people he knows.
We are to go to Nancy’s house tonight for New Year’s Eve after we go swimming again at Atotonilco. I am hoping that Levi will be flexible and sleep at her house. It is just down the street from where we are. Helio says we are leaving on the 2nd and I am dying to do so. I want to go to a bigger city where at least they have a McDonald’s. In error yesterday I asked Levi if he wanted French fries, thinking we could get some when we went to Cuautla, he started jumping up and down. I need to find a McDonald’s for him, poor kid, he has a little of the Montezuma’s revenge as well, which is terribly gross for his mother.
I am praying that Helio moves to Cancun after we leave. Therefore, if we have to come down and visit again, we will be in a very tourist area with food options and a beach. They have to have a Starbucks there. I need some coffee.
I had a dream last night that I met Mark O’s little boy from Ethiopia. He liked to sing the itsy bitsy spider and was very sweet. I can’t wait to meet him.
The outlet plug-ins are super loose here. I can’t keep my computer plugged in let alone get a connection speed that works. I can’t wait to get back to modern technology.
Helio finally started to feel my pain with can’t really eat anything problem I am having. He decided that we would go to Cuautla last night for a real dinner. So, I banked on it all day. When we finally got to Cuautla last night, Helio couldn’t find the seafood restaurant that makes Mojarras (which I love, it is a deep fried sea bass that you put salt, lime, and Valentina hot sauce on, super good with tortillas, rice, and beans) He thinks they closed the restaurant. So, he said, ah, they have great pizza at this place- not the case. The pizza down here is awful. They don’t put sauce on their pizza. So our pizza was bread, with cut up hotdogs, pineapple, and what I think was mozzarella cheese. When we were waiting for our pizza, I noticed two different flavors of hot sauce on the table and a bottle of catsup (not Heinz). The folks here put ketchup on their pizza with hot sauce. I watched everyone in the restaurant do so. Gross- I asked for Parmesan cheese and the waiter looked at me like I was demanding and just shook his head, to me, meaning- lady, we don’t have that kind of stuff in Mexico, go back to where you came from gringa. If you go to Mexico- bring a sack lunch. It makes you very sad when you can’t eat for weeks at a time. Those of you at work- beware- I totally feel a need to cook a bunch when I return, just because I can. Funny, I never thought of myself as a food and beverage snob, here I appear to be a totally stuck up princess. Helio has to make excuses for me every time we are to eat with people he knows.
We are to go to Nancy’s house tonight for New Year’s Eve after we go swimming again at Atotonilco. I am hoping that Levi will be flexible and sleep at her house. It is just down the street from where we are. Helio says we are leaving on the 2nd and I am dying to do so. I want to go to a bigger city where at least they have a McDonald’s. In error yesterday I asked Levi if he wanted French fries, thinking we could get some when we went to Cuautla, he started jumping up and down. I need to find a McDonald’s for him, poor kid, he has a little of the Montezuma’s revenge as well, which is terribly gross for his mother.
I am praying that Helio moves to Cancun after we leave. Therefore, if we have to come down and visit again, we will be in a very tourist area with food options and a beach. They have to have a Starbucks there. I need some coffee.
12.29.06 Day 11, Mexico Trip 1
I had a terrible dream last night that Levi wasn’t really mine and I had to give him back. (He was actually Jackie Maher’s little boy, the Kohler rep) I was sobbing in my sleep and kept calling my mom to say, what do I do? Levi means everything to me. I think that being here in Jona makes me feel like I have nothing familiar and Levi is the only thing that keeps me feeling normal. (Him and my laptop) I am getting ready to blow this pop stand.
I think I passed the threshold from trying to be humored by this experience to crabby about it yesterday (Friday). I am sick of little kid birthday parties and stopping at everyone’s house to just say “hi”. There has to be more to a day than that. There is more to me than just producing children and watching them swat at a Paper Mache cartoon characters. I want to do something. I tried to explain to Helio that it isn’t everyone who gets to take a near month off from work and go sit in a foreign country. I want to take advantage of my time. I don’t mind doing nothing; let’s just go do it at the beach. I want to go shopping. Helio has a hard time even giving me pesos to buy a diet coke with. (Coca light) I am going to confiscate the money that I had him recently take out of the account and hold on to it. I am sick of asking and being given a lecture every time I spend money about how long that could last him vs. me wanting to buy more soda. I keep telling him, people here may be poor but we are not poor. He doesn’t see it that way.
We went to Andrea’s (Rafa’s youngest) birthday party last night. The piñata was twice the size of Levi. Levi was a bit nutty the whole time because his mom didn’t think ahead and give him something to eat before we went. He yelled and ran around during the pallasos (clowns) skit. I get so uncomfortable when my kid just won’t behave like all the other kids especially when we are the only 2 gringos in the group and the clowns continue to say to my kid “seintense guero” (sit down whitey). We were told to arrive at 5 but of course the party didn’t get started until 6:30 and they didn’t eat until 7:30. He was so hungry that the soupy tamales they served were just fine by him. I nearly started crying. I just want a regular plate of food where it tastes good, was prepared hygienically, and I get full, preferably with a great cup of coffee and a to-die-for dessert after dinner. I haven’t had a meal in who knows how long. I literally had tears well up in my eyes when they brought me my plate of soggy tamales, a small bun with something that tasted like tuna on it, Jell-O (the hard kind made from scratch, not the Bill Cosby Jell-O) and wet cake that sort of looked like hosed down tiramisu after it sat on my plate for a while. The only thing I have eaten for the past couple days is buttered noodles with parmesan cheese and orange juice, and those are things I look forward to. I just want some food and I don’t want to get sick from it.
Helio has become crabby with me and has taken to calling me a “Reina” -queen. I am really trying to make do here but this feels crazy. I have had 1 hot shower since I arrived, I am hungry, I feel like I am constantly at a family party, I haven’t had a moment alone with Helio and haven’t had this much time to parent Levi since he was an infant. I am glad to have the time with Levi but when he wants to run all over and not listen, I just want to bring him to daycare and go to work. Does that make me the world’s worse mom? I am sure that many people talked about us after the birthday party last night and I hate that. You are just put so on display and I am so tired of it. -Especially the women. Jodi and Jose Luis were there and they kept trying to tell me that things were fine; they just don’t have a super active 2 year old and a husband who thinks that it is fine to let him stand up on the chairs and stick his fingers in the cake before it is cut.
Well- I am off to try to get a better attitude about things. Maybe if I had some me time and a little bit of privacy I could turn this boat around?
I think I passed the threshold from trying to be humored by this experience to crabby about it yesterday (Friday). I am sick of little kid birthday parties and stopping at everyone’s house to just say “hi”. There has to be more to a day than that. There is more to me than just producing children and watching them swat at a Paper Mache cartoon characters. I want to do something. I tried to explain to Helio that it isn’t everyone who gets to take a near month off from work and go sit in a foreign country. I want to take advantage of my time. I don’t mind doing nothing; let’s just go do it at the beach. I want to go shopping. Helio has a hard time even giving me pesos to buy a diet coke with. (Coca light) I am going to confiscate the money that I had him recently take out of the account and hold on to it. I am sick of asking and being given a lecture every time I spend money about how long that could last him vs. me wanting to buy more soda. I keep telling him, people here may be poor but we are not poor. He doesn’t see it that way.
We went to Andrea’s (Rafa’s youngest) birthday party last night. The piñata was twice the size of Levi. Levi was a bit nutty the whole time because his mom didn’t think ahead and give him something to eat before we went. He yelled and ran around during the pallasos (clowns) skit. I get so uncomfortable when my kid just won’t behave like all the other kids especially when we are the only 2 gringos in the group and the clowns continue to say to my kid “seintense guero” (sit down whitey). We were told to arrive at 5 but of course the party didn’t get started until 6:30 and they didn’t eat until 7:30. He was so hungry that the soupy tamales they served were just fine by him. I nearly started crying. I just want a regular plate of food where it tastes good, was prepared hygienically, and I get full, preferably with a great cup of coffee and a to-die-for dessert after dinner. I haven’t had a meal in who knows how long. I literally had tears well up in my eyes when they brought me my plate of soggy tamales, a small bun with something that tasted like tuna on it, Jell-O (the hard kind made from scratch, not the Bill Cosby Jell-O) and wet cake that sort of looked like hosed down tiramisu after it sat on my plate for a while. The only thing I have eaten for the past couple days is buttered noodles with parmesan cheese and orange juice, and those are things I look forward to. I just want some food and I don’t want to get sick from it.
Helio has become crabby with me and has taken to calling me a “Reina” -queen. I am really trying to make do here but this feels crazy. I have had 1 hot shower since I arrived, I am hungry, I feel like I am constantly at a family party, I haven’t had a moment alone with Helio and haven’t had this much time to parent Levi since he was an infant. I am glad to have the time with Levi but when he wants to run all over and not listen, I just want to bring him to daycare and go to work. Does that make me the world’s worse mom? I am sure that many people talked about us after the birthday party last night and I hate that. You are just put so on display and I am so tired of it. -Especially the women. Jodi and Jose Luis were there and they kept trying to tell me that things were fine; they just don’t have a super active 2 year old and a husband who thinks that it is fine to let him stand up on the chairs and stick his fingers in the cake before it is cut.
Well- I am off to try to get a better attitude about things. Maybe if I had some me time and a little bit of privacy I could turn this boat around?
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