12/20/10

Sorry about the lack of information for the past couple of weeks. My father passed away on the 13th of November and we went back to my Mom's and sister's in New York. We stayed there through the Thanksgiving holiday.
We rented a house in Old Forge for a vacation they following week of Thanksgiving.. Mark and I spent a few days alone there and we went shopping and walking and enjoyed the scenery. We evenspent a day iin Lake Placid. Hethter and Andy were able to come up a couple days later It was so nice to have a get away vacation with them, it had been a while since we had been on vacation together. My sister, Karen, her husband, Ed, and my mom came up for to share our Thanksgiving meal with us. It was very relaxing and the dinner was tastely.
The cabin was of true adirondack style complete witha very warm wood burning fireplace. The wood furniture was of typical birch bark construction. It was very cozy.
After our company left, we tried to drive to Lake Placid one day to ride the bobsleds on the Olympic bobsled run, but......Too much snow!!! We drove for 1 hour and made it about 10 miles, if that. Mark could not see out the windshield, it was beautiful lake effect snow. We had to turn around. We spent the day walking , playing games, and really catching up with the kids. We walked in the snow and had exciting snowball fight. It turned out to be an absolutely lovely day. The snow was beautiful and the company wa awesome!
We traveled back to Mexico for a couple weeks. It was a quick couple weeks at that! I spent one of them running around with a few of the women from the newcomers club doing Christmas shopping. And then we came home on the 16th or so. Mark had to be Santa at his company's children's christmas party and I had a wonderful visitor! Karen flew in on Friday and early Satuyrday morning we drove up to Toledo for my neice's graduation for the University if Toledo. It was so wonderful watching her receive that diploma, she had worked so hard and thorugh so much to get there. What a proud day! We had luch with her, Tina, Ben, Emily and Keith.
As if that weren't enough we got to meet and have dinner with Andy's girlfriend. It wasa very pleasant evenngn and she is a wonderful and pretty girl. Then I got a call from Heather! There is a boyfriend now in the picture! I guess all Mark and I had to do was leave the country for the both kids! I am so glad they are happy and enjoying life.
We will spend Christmas here wiuth both kids. I will leave on Monday or Tuesday to drive Heahter back home, visit with my mom and also get to see my Aunt and Uncle. Who knows, I might even get to see my cousins!
Mark will head back to Mexico on the 2nd and I will stay here as he has to be back in Mason around teh 7th or 9th of January, I thik this will be my last rip home for a while. I need to get a lot more Spanish learning in and I cannot do that if I keep leaving.

My first two weeks of intensive Spanish lessons are complete. Next week I will only go two days a week for three hours each day. It had gotten to the point that I could not take in any more information. By the time I got finished with 5 hours of class and home, I did not at all feel like studying nor could I. And by the end of the week my brain was totally fried. Now that I know some basic grammar, phrases and a little vocabulary, going every other day for a shorter period of time, I am hoping to be able to concentrate my studying on the multitude of voacabulary that I was given these two weeks and just could not absorb. I'll see how this idea works. My classes will still be taught in Spanish. Immersion seems to be a great way to learn. I am trying my hardest not to convert the Spanish to English. I can understand a whole lot more than I can speak. I am keeping my fingers crossed.



Mark has been in Guadalajara (sp) the past couple of days. It has been so quiet around here. He comes home tonight. We have a three day weekend this weekend. So many holidays!! I wish I had known this one was coming and I would have booked us to go somewhere like maybe the beach. I am not quite sure what we will be doing. I do know that Mark finally has the legal authorization to enter into a contract so.... I will finally get my car!! I had to chose a car from the companies who use Makino machines. As you know, I was a bit town between the Honda Fit, Civic, and Nissan Sentra. After having been driving on the streets for a little bit now, I think I want the Fit. Some of the streets are sooooooo naarrow and the parking spaces are difficult to navigate at times. If Mark feels the Fit has the accelleration I need then that will be my little car. I think it will be a 2011 model, and I do not know at all whaat options are available. It will most likely be siver as my choice are red, silver, black, white and possibly crayon blue. Color choices are limited here in all makes of cars. I will have a bit more freedom and grocery shopping will be so much easier.

With Mark going out of town, I had to learn how to drive into the Centro (center of the city) to get to my lessons. I was scared out of my wits to learn. The streets are winding and are not marked well or even marked incorrectly. You learn to navigate soley by your surroundings ( buildings, stores, monuments). The biggest problem I have is losing my bearings. Well, that and I have a huge fear of getting lost here. Mark had great patience riding in the passenger seat while I drove to and from school for a couple of hours. I probably did the difficult part of the drive 6 or 7 times. After I learned how to get from home to school and home again, I then had to learn how to gt to school from Mark's work as I had to drop him off at work before school so I could have the car while he was out of town. I did it and only got misplaced once. Luckily i knew where I was, I jsut did not kow how to gt to where i wanted to be. A quick phone call to Mark and her navigated me back on track. Teamwork. It is the only way to survive!!
Adios mi Amigos!

Espanol

Spanish lessons have begun --uuggh! I do not think I have had to cocentrate this much in 20 years!! It is much more difficult to learn a new language at this age than in high school and college!! Maybe it will stick better once it gets into my brain, well, I guesss I should say IF.

My vocabulary is so small at this point that it is difficult to say what I want. I only know 5 or 6 verbs, three of which are the verb 'to be'. I have, however, made some progress. Mark and I went to the store to find a sewing machine and I manage to say a few things to get my point across.


My sewing room is now set up. All the wools are neatly folded and organized by color. I purchased two work tables yesterday. With the addition of the sewing machine, the mitten shop is now functioning and running.

Funny thing about that...they only sell gloves down here, no mittens!! What a market! My spanish teacher came up to me after class with a crudely made pair of mittens on her hands and asked if I owuld pick up a pair for her the next time I was in the States. What a suprise to her when I said that I make them! I told her I would make her a pair as long as she told me where I could find a sewing machine. She was immediately on the hunt and by the time I left school, we had a list of a few places to check out and had walked through the center of the city talking spanish, well, she did and I spoke my broken works, and looking into 5 or 6 stores for a machine. I can't wait to give her a pair!


Tomorrow we are going to a place to see and learn about the Otomi people who are indigenous to an area near here. We are going with the newcomers club and will be tasting the food and seeing them make their crafts. They are known for using cactus fiber to weave things. We will also learn their customs.


I had a few camera problems recently, I am still planning on getting a few more day of the dead pictures on here if I can manage to get them uploaded.

Buenos Noches!

Dia de los Muertos

Today is a national Holiday Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. You know it as All Soul's Day. Yesterday was a holiday for many people, All Saints Day. Belowis a link to the traditional celbration by the indigenous. Put your cursor betweenthe starts and the link will show up.
*** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3obZze-V0YI&feature=related ***
I have also attached a link to a utube video of the celbration of this holiday in San Miguell de Allende. It is about 1/2 hour from our house. This kind of celbration is happening EVERYWHERE. When you see the skeletons dressed like ladies with big hats, those are Katrina Dolls and are designed to remember special things or nuances about someone who is dead. Marigolds are everywhere. the altars have favorites of the departed like breads,drinks, vices, etc. Enjoy!
Put your cursor over the space between the stars below and the link will appear, then click!
*** www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsTJ2qd4-P0 ***
Check out this parade in Oaxaca. Same thing...link is between starts
*** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86_Z0Nscs9g&NR=1 ***
When you visit these links, go ahead and clink on the other videos that are related, they are all great!

Halloween

The big day of the holiday claendar is coming up, Halloween, or Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead, as it is called down here. It is a huge celebration that lasts for days. There are skeletons dressed up in different outfits around everywhere. These things can be found all year, but there are so many more right now. There are so many things in stores like this to purchase. It all has to deal with how they view death. I am attaching an explanation of the holiday so you will be able to understand the things I will be posting in the next few days.


DAY OF THE DEAD IN MEXICO
DIA DE MUERTOS

One of the most typical and well-known celebrations in the entire Mexican territory is without a doubt the Day of the Dead celebration. Throughout the country, in both small isolated towns and in large cities, the Mexican people pay tribute to the dead and to the departed. These festivities are the result of an inter-marriage of the way our indigenous ancestors and the Catholic religion from our Spanish roots viewed death.

The Days of the Dead are celebrated with a mixture of reverence for the departed, revelry to make them happy upon their return, and mockery to defy the fear of death itself. Though details vary from region to region, the basic rituals remain strong: receiving the spirits of the dead at home, offering them food and drink, and communing with them beside their grave. On October 27, the spirits of those with no survivors to greet them and no home to visit are received in some villages with bread and jugs of water hung outside the houses; on October 28, those who died by accident, murder or other violent means are offered food and drink, placed outside the home to keep out the bad spirits of these as-yet unpardoned souls. On the night of October 31, the dead children come home to visit; by midday November 1st, they too must be gone. Bells ring through that afternoon as the adults, or the Faithful Dead, arrive. The family formally greets the adult who has passed away most recently, and through him, the other ancestors are acknowledged. At sundown, the family moves to the graveyard for an all night vigil of communion with the dead. Candles are lit on the gravestones, one for each lost soul. By evening on November 2, the party is over and the ghosts return to the world of the dead.

Most Mexican houses will commemorate their dead by making an Altar and depending on the region the order of the elements will be different. The Otomi altar consists of four levels representing the four seasons. The one in the bottom will be white for winter and there will be seeds and water representing earth. The second level will be blue representing spring, and the offering will be fruit. The third level will be red representing summer, the offerings will be any kind of food. The fourth and most important will be orange representing Autumn. In this level you will find an owl to guide the souls back, a snake representing fertility, a shell to call the spirits with music and a turtle symbolizing eternity. In the center will be a cross made with the cepazuchil flower; on the right an image of Christ and on the left the Virgin Mary. There will be candles depending on the number of departed family, and the candles represent light. There should be a mirror for the reflection of the soul, together with favourite different items that the departed used. There is also a bowl of salt that means purification and of course the paper representing the wind.

Location

Hello again,

I have been asked by a few people to put a map on here as to where we are living. I am going to give this a try. I believe these links are written in black, so, you can't see them. If you drag your mouse over the black gap below each of my typings, the link will highlight and you can click it to be redirected. The first one is very large. There are three links below 3 different writings.
The first link is to a very basic Map of Mexico.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.survivalspanishinmexico.com/images/photos/COUNTRYQTO-country.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.survivalspanishinmexico.com/whereIsQueretaro.htm&usg=__1aNZcZX9MvYtn4EQtgCFSThnabw=&h=496&w=700&sz=94&hl=en&start=0&sig2=kII3eKNZFmVluBJzJDpRPg&zoom=1&tbnid=ISkDPT2j5If6MM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=126&ei=WuK-TIeMJcH68Abv8bDqAg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dqueretaro%2Bmexico%2Bmap%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rlz%3D1T4TSNA_enUS359US360%26biw%3D1174%26bih%3D428%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=468&oei=WuK-TIeMJcH68Abv8bDqAg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0&tx=52&ty=68
The following is a link to a map that is a bit more involved of the country the country of Mexico. We are in Santiago de Queretaro. Mexico City is Ciudad de Mexico. You should be alae to zoom in and out on the map to get our bearings.
http://www.maplandia.com/mexico/queretaro/queretaro/queretaro

Our house is in a town called Jurica. the link below puts you close to it. Our house is the one to the right of the 'A'. It has a large driveway opening and the lot is pie shaped in the back. It is smaller than the surrounding houses. You can zoom in and out of this one also.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=s&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk-gm&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=map

I hope these help. Email me if they don't. And by the way, our mailing address for the next couple years is:
Call one of our cell phones for this info

This is Mark's work address in the states. they are UPS-ing our mail to Mark's work in Mexico. This way we are assured to get our mail and in a timely manner.

Car shopping

We have finally begun the search for cars. And what a trip it is!! First there are no big lots of cars for you to browse through and peek in the windows, not stickers to read the price, of course. It is definately a formal adventure. When we walked into the dealership, we were greeted by a receptionist. She took our information and introduced us to a salesperson. All well and fine....would you like a drink of water, coffee, pop? Normal question here as it is so dry and you always seem to be thirsty. Yes, we take the water. Well, that means you now sit at a desk and discuss what you are looking for, even if you already knew what car you want to see. The sales person shows you to the vehicle in the showroom and stands by your side and explains every little button...helpful. We are looking for automatic transmissions as driving on the roads here is as hazardous as me driving a race car in a race! I have enough to think about just avoiding the crazy drivers and trying to figure out where I am going. The sineage is quite a difference. Sometimes the sign for an exit is after the exit! We found out, you can get all the airbags, front, side, curtains feet, in standard cars only. The automatic ones tend to only have front airbags. OK So do I want to save my life by being able to keep all my attention on the road or just hope and pray the airbags work??? We opt for the automatic and find that a slightly bigger car has the chance of more airbags. There are models of cars we do not have in the US and may of the ones in the US are not available down here.
Oh, you want to test drive the car?? Well, that is not possible of course, you need to make an appointment and come back on another day. And so we did. Talk about a time taker!! We entered the dealership and skipped the water this time...getting smarter!! Now you don't get to drive the car you are specifically looking for. You get to drive their demo car and imagine what it would be like to have the seat that goes up and down. Just imagine what your visibility would be! First, the agent must drive the car to show you how and to work all the features. Then you are allowed to drive, with him in the backseat of course, on their designated route. The better the car, the shorter the route. And did I mention, we were testing two cars in each dealership. One for Mark and one for me. Mine first. Next we drive Mark's . The agent decided she could let Mark drive without doing it first. Mark drove his directly off the showroom floor, as there isn't a demo model for the nicer cars, only the floor model. I think he got to drive it for 6-8 miles. Imagine how that engine might be when climbing a hill or how comfortable the ride must be when you drive over all the cobblestone roads in your neighborhood! Upon return, we had to go in, sit down and discuss what we thought of the car, having a drink. Thought we were And of course talk about how we are going to love that vehicle and how are we planning on paying?? Finally after a couple hours, we are free to go, but they kno, we will be back to buy that car!! We just don't know that.
After a weekend and a couple weekdays, we managed to make it through Honda, Chevy, Ford and Nissan. We are down to Nissan Sentra, Honda Civic, Honda Fit for me. And the Nissan Altima and the Honda Accord. My decison is...Do I want the fun car (FIT) the safe car (Civic 6 airbags) or the smoothest riding (Sentra). Help if you have an opinion!! Mark is still working on his decision too.
Oh yes, and two days after Mark test drove the Altima, the salesperson showed up at the Makino office with "HIS" car!! Nice touch! But he hadn't made up his mind and neither had Makino!

Forgotten Images

I see from the reviewing the posting that Mark's sister, Anne, did that she left out one very important adventure that she and Mark embarked upon. We were out to dinner and the waiter suggested they try a local delicasy. I opted out of this one, but Anne trusted Mark and gave it a try. He had had the dish before and told her it was good. Anne was such a brave sole that evening. First she joined in on the Tequilla Train with Mark and then this! Yes, those are what you think they are......ANT EGGS!!!! They were served cooked and piled high on the plate. Mark and Anne put some in a tortilla, added guacamole, a little salsa verde, top it off with a squeeze of lime juice, and ........ Crunch! Yuuuuummmmmmy, or somthing like that! I guess with enough tequilla in you and your brother at your side, in a wonderful setting, you'll try anything!

Relaxin'

Well, It is Friday afternoon and what a gorgeous afternoon it is! Judging from themorning temperature you would never have guessed this day would turn out so nice. It started out at a very brisk 40 degrees, which feels cooler than it actually is, and it is now about 76 and no humidity, with beautiful blue skies. As I sit on our patio and type I look out over our beautiful gardena nd yaard and listen to the birds chirping. there is a large cage in the back corner that has 5 birds right now and from what I can tell, two on the way. The owner says they will hatch the eggs and we will have many more. All we need now is some comfy yard furniture. I thought you might like a peak at my relaxin' spot so I have attached a video to this post. I need a glass of wine and a friend, sister, daughter, mother, etc. by my side and this would be heaven!!

Tennis anyone??

The Newcomer's Club hads a tennis group. I thought this would be a great group for me to join...A little exercise and a little social time for about 1 1/2 hours. I thought, this will be.....no problem, after a few vollies, my lessons will come back to me and I will be in the grove again....HA! It has been over 15 years since those lessons and serveral joint surgeries. In between the balls that I hit over the garden walls, into the pool, or just plain out of the lines, there were a couple that really looked nice! My serve, though, is another story. I am happy to say the ladies were very gracious and patient. And we did have fun, though I owe some balls since I hit them into another yard! When we get home, I will grab my racquette, go over to the courts and sneak in some practice on the backboard. Hopefully next week will go better!

Anne Waymouth's Visit to Mark and Lynda

I am now on my last day of my visit to the state of Queretaro, Mexico. I lived at Privado de Cedro (Cedar St), numero Dos Cintos Cinquenta (250), Jurica Campestre (the suburb's name), the home of my brother Mark and his wife Lynda. I have relaxed and felt alive. Was it a dream or was it real? People go about their daily lives in this extraordinary place, with old stone buildings and not just a few protected buildings, but the whole downtown of Queretaro, the entire village square of Pena de Bernal. I saw so many plazas and town squares that were all preserved and yet still in use. There is no rush here. People walk, I assume to work or to visits, they sit in the Plaza for lunch and have their shoes shined. I spoke with a taxi driver who spoke with pride that new construction was not allowed in colonial Queretaro. San Miguel de Allende was the same way, with picturesque plazas with manicured trees and fountains lined with colorful tiles. I have so many pictures of narrow streets, and stucco walls, wooden doors or decorative gates. But best of all was entering through the doors into a special world, where each of the courtyards seemed to be just beckoning my arrival. Some courtyards were restaurants and Mark and Lynda knew which were good ones to go to. The courtyards also lead to museums that occupied old convent buildings and plazas lead to ancient churches, many built in the 1700's with architectural detail that amazed me that it was possible so long ago to build things so beautifully. Inside the buildings the ceilings were high and the walls were thick and the interiors were cool and refreshing. Many ceilings had open wooden rafters and others were covered with paintings or ornate tiles. No place was crowded. We took our time and appreciated what we saw. I could not believe I have never heard anything about this part of Mexico and the wonders that exist here.

I am typically not much of a shopper, but even I had my days where I shopped until I dropped. Vendors lined the streets and there were stores tucked away in little crannies of buildings. In one, I saw a sleeve of a sweater that looked interesting to me and I asked the vendor if there were others (otros?). She pulled out more and more, more styles, more thicknesses of wool, some with zippers, others with buttons. When I put on one of them Mark and Lynda looked at me with smiles. The shoulders exactly fit my shoulders; the sleeves were long enough for my arms. It came to just the middle of my hips. I bought it for the equivalent to $20 American dollars. It was 100% wool and thick wool at that. It was great entertainment to browse, to view the stalls packed with housewares, clothes, jewelry, pottery, metalworking, textiles, all hand made. It was so colorful, the pottery glazes, embroidery, and weaving. I even spoke a little spanish. I held up an item and asked "Quanto?" (how much?) I relearned my numbers, venta (20), trenta (30). When I got confused the vendor would tap out the numbers on the calculator. I like to collect things that I can use as Christmas ornaments. There were so many wonderful things for sale for only the equivalent to $2 or $3 American dollars.

The sites were both spectacular and also outside my realm of experience. I must describe the monolith in Pena de Bernal. There are only two others that are larger in the whole world, one is the Rock of Gibraltar, and the other is in Brazil somewhere. I could see it for miles away as we drove there. Mark and Lynda have climbed it, but with my back, it was most magnificent for me just to view it. Mark and Lynda knew just the restaurant to eat at and just the table to sit at so the arches of the window framed the monolith. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. A sense of comprehension suddenly came over me of its sheer immensity when I figured out the specs I saw that moved slowly across its surface were people. But on the drive there, I saw my first donkey in real life, carrying its load with a man leading the way. There was a goat in the back of a pickup truck. And there was a dead horse at the side of the road on the way back. And still the town square was exquisite. It had a real well, and benches built into the stone retaining walls around all the plantings in the town square. Views down the narrow streets had old fashion gas-type lamps with electric in them now and the view down the street framed the sight of the distant monolith. There was great goats milk caramel in this town. Quaint is not a complete enough work to describe all this.

I felt so fortunate to have my guides Mark and Lynda. I learned to ask for a bottle of water (botillia de agua) sin hielo (pronounced yellow) (without ice). After a few days, I became accustomed to the driving. It is just a different kind of normal. Roads that seem like they are under construction with a last coat of asphalt still to come, in fact, are really done. That is as good as it gets. A old truck with a goat in the back really does share the same street. The dotted lines in the roads are only advisory; sometimes there are two cars abreast, sometimes there are three cars abreast. People cross anywhere; a 4 lane highway is no problem to them, the people just move a bit quicker. And there are speed bumps everywhere. The signs may be advisory, but your speed is definitely controlled. The bumps make you slow down and for what purpose? In one section it appeared to be just for the purpose of being sure we got a good view of the street vendors' wares. But there were the same type of green highway signs that directed us to the cities and towns we wanted to travel to.

Mark knew the overlook to turn off onto that gave us a view of the city of San Miguel de Allende. It looked like a playset from the distance. The cathedral stood out in the center and glowed in the sun light. I saw crocked arrays of stucco homes and the lines of the streets broke them apart. Then we drove down into the city which was deep in the valley. We drove down steep, narrow, streets that were paved with river stones. We parked the car and walked to the cathedral where there had just been some sort of harvest festival. The courtyard had their cultural equivalent to parade floats. There were poles the size of telephone poles that were held together with sticks and covered with colored cactus petals and corn husks and even 2 liter (maybe larger-not standard) pop bottles still full of orange crush. I don't know how it was possible that people carried these immense decorations. There were spent fire crackers everywhere. The cathedral was unbelievable. It was at least 15 stories high with many separate spires; all intricately designed and carved. It was an absolute marvel of construction and built in the 1700's. As we walked down the narrow streets to go shopping I caught a view of the cathedral framed by the narrow streets and it reminded me of the fantasy castle at Disney World with its multiple spires, only this one was real and still in use.

And then there were all the wonderful things that I ate. We ate our way down many narrow streets lined with vendors. There was bread that was sweet like pastry, some with cheese filling. There were roasted pecans with sweet glaze and there were cooked then rebaked beans combined with peanuts and covered with chili powder. There were goat milk caramels and creamy vanilla ice cream. There were fresh potato chips sprinkled with lime juice. The hot chocolate was really liquid chocolate. And these were just the snacks. The sit down meals were really events. Cocktails, for me were margaritas or rum and coke. They served us fresh hot taco chips, pickled vegetables with a creamy dipping sauce. There were fresh radishes sprinkled with chili powder. All of these before the waiter even asked for our order. And of course salsas, tomato and cilantro and another salsa verde. All the times I ate out there was a magnificent spread of these premeal treats. For a supposedly light lunch I had a baked pastry filled with provolone cheese and topped with tomato type sauce and then I had a bowl of creamy black bean soup poured over bread sticks like croutons and a cilantro paste. At another meal, I had stuffed chilis, one stuffed with meat and walnut paste and another stuffed with cheeses. For another meal I had tacos where the filling was served at the table in a volcanic rock that stayed hot for longer than an hour. It was filled with grilled prickly pear cactus, shrimp, baked cheese, grilled chicken and beef all in a tomatilla sauce. And I must tell you that tequila shots followed by clamato is something that cannot be described. It must be experienced. Each meal was at least 2 hours. In one we were serenaded by our own mariachi band and we sang along to Jaun Ton Amera, and La Bamba. At another it was guitar and congo drums that played oldies and latino tunes. To top it off in Mexico, they really know how to do chocolate cake. It was pure decadence. A huge meal for the three of us, with 4 margaritas and two beers was only the equivalent to $60 American dollars including the tip. Like my brother Mark, I enjoy my meals. In this area of Mexico, the restaurants really know how to pace a leisurely meal. Lynda told me a story that she ate our once and did not know you have to ask for your check. They do not just bring it to you. When you are fully done, you will ask for it.

So here are my few pieces of advice to people who travel here to Mexico. Remember that the hot in chilis and peppers is in the veins and the seeds. I took one really big bite of seeds and then I took the sour cream from Mark's potato, and the cheese off of the refried beans. I drank water and ate radishes while my eyes watered and I laughed so hard the muscles behind my ears hurt. Not all bites of chilis are equal. Also beware that you lose more water at the high altitudes. Water normally boils at 212 degrees. For each 500 feet in altitude it boils at 1 degree less. So at 7,000 feet it boils at 198 degrees. You lose more water when you breath and when you sweat. So keep drinking water even if that means finding more bathrooms. I did experience quite a spell of dizziness. Never pass up a good bathroom at a nice restaurant. And Pemex gas stations always have good restrooms. When faced with a choice of a 3 peso bathroom and a 5 peso bathroom, chose the 5 peso bathroom. Let go of all your preconceived notions. Mexico is very clean. There are more people sweeping up the streets than there are at Disney World. Go ahead and try even a word or two of Spanish. Everyone I spoke to was tremendously supportive my attempts to use their native language. I felt totally immersed in another culture, while being only a two hour flight out of Houston. The trip was easy with Lynda's notes. I even saw Mark and Lynda waiting on the other side of glass doors as I made my way through the line at the international customs station. I have never travelled to Europe, but now I feel like an international traveller. I had a great time. See my pictures. Anne

An emergency

On goes a day in the life for me. All was goingwell. The maid showed up and began her cleaning. I managed to get my point across to her that I had a meeting to go to and would return around noon. I even managed to tell her that I wanted to start my cooking lessons upon my return. Then everythign fell apart. I wanted her to decide on what we should cook, something she knows and likes and is typical for Mexico. She was telling me to make a list of ingredients and I was trying to tell her to. Communication for me is still rough. I tried using google translate, and that helps, but if you use anything byut a simple sentence with correct grammar, forget it. I think it is even worse for her. I realized the person who was picking me up for the meeting was fluent in Spanish and I managed to get that point across. Caroline came, go tmy point across of what I wanted, the maid was happy, and we were on our way. Caroline said that on our way home, we'd pick up the maid and go shopping and that she would help us communicate...Yahoo!

Shopipng went wondefully and was quite a learning experience for me. It was nice to have people with me to show me what some of the things are and what they are for. All is well so far.... We are gong to make a chicken soup.

We washed the vegetables and then out came the cutting boards, and knives and we were on our way to lesson humber 1. I was cutting cabbage and Betty was starting to cut corn off the cob. The she quickly left the kitchen. Upon her return she has a tissue wrapped on her finger and came to show me that she needed something. So smartly, I deduced, that she neeeded a band-aid. I got them out for her and she ren out to the sevice sink and ran the water, I stepped out there only to see blood pouring down the drain...a simple band=aid would not do! I promply grabbed one of Mark's white handkerchiefs, got it wrapped around her finger, raised her arm above her heart and squeezed the brachial artery in her arm...that slowed the bleeding down cnsiderabley. Well, enough to be able to see that she needed stitches!...Hmmm, I have no car, absolutely no clue where to get medical help, and how do I tell her we need to go to the hospital??? Oh yeah, Caroline, my friend. Well, calling her is a trick..I thought the telephone gettone in Italy was bad! Here you have to dial a certain way if you are calling a home phone, cell phone,. or from a house phone or ell phone. I could not get her. I really think her line was busy. No problem, I know a lady a couple houses down, she can help, I called her house...she was out, her husband could not help, he wa on a confernce call and she had the car. What to do??!! I called Mark. He called the lawyer (seems a bit much, but we are responsible for the maid and the lawyer has been a saving grace through our learning experiences and adaptation to the country and his office is 5 minutes from our house). But of course, this day, he was not in the office. He said he'd call his office and see if he had a legal aide that was free to come help. OK, so Mark is on the phone with me and on another phone with the lawyer. I put Betty on the line so he could tell her what was happening. Mark could not get her to understand, so he put someone else from work on the line. I could her e the maid, Betty, " No, hospital" but the legal aide was still coming. While all of this was gong on the maid has such a sense of obligations, she insisted she direct me and continue our lesson! At that point, I ws ready for a glass of wine and to forget dinner...wine ans cheese sounded fine with me! Whe the aide got here she took one look at the cut and told the maid she WAS going to the doctor and the hospital if he said she needed stitches. Off they went...laundry on the line, more in the wsher and dryer, kitchen in an uproar...seems normal to me, so I finished putting the soup togther..my way not very Mexican, finished the laundry, and did the dishes. The maid and aide returned...two stiches, antibiotics in hand,, and maid ready to get back to work.. Amazing . She went straight to the laundry room, questioned the laundry and I shoed her the clock. she was to have left a half hour ago and needs to catch her bus home. She felt so bad that I did the finishing of everything. She has such a sense of obligation, It was all normal for me, I do it every day...even when she is not her, I guess that is not what is normal at all.
On her ay out the door, she checked the soup, added some spices, and kept reitterating shewill be back on Thursday (her other normal day). I guess she was afraid she might not have a job after that.
Ahh well, it is al in a day,,,As sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives!!

The grocery store

Howdy everyone,
We are back in Mexico and will be here for a few more weeks.

Mark and I went for a drive on Sunday to a town that makes furniture. Most of the furniture is fairly primative, but some of it has wonderful carvings on it. Some are carved to look like basketweave. You can have anyhting made that you want. All you have to do is give them a design. You may not get exactly what you thought, but it comes out really nice.

On the way home, we passed a 'Mega' grocery store. Ok, we'll bite, so we went in. The store was on the second floor with a parking garage on the first. "Different", we thought. So you think...how will I get my groceries, in the cart, out to the car? Good Question! But even before that is answered, how do you get your grocery cart up to the second floor? We had to ride an escalator up to the store. No, not your normal escalator , of course. This one did not have any steps. It was a moving ramp. Ok, so up we wnet and shop, we did. It was like a good super walmart with a bit of Wegman's thrown in. A good store, not that I knew what any of the already prepared foods were, but I will learn. And so for the rest of the adventure....we had to get down to the car with our purchases. I said, "Mark, you take the cart because I know I won't be able to hold it on the escatlaor! He did...and he let go ! On purpose. Seems that somehow when the cart is on an angle there are brakes! Fancy that. Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives!

I think we will be back in the states from Oct 15-25 or 26.

Hola from Mark

Hola everyone.
This is the first time I have ever blogged!!!
I see in the Blog you are getting a good feel for life around Queretaro. It really is a beautiful city but I question if you are really getting a feel for Mexican Life.
Just to give you a little bit of a feel for things I will detail my story form last week. Lynda was up in New york with her mom, and I was alone down in Quertaro.

Wake up Tuesday morning to the sound of my blackberry going off. Note it is pointless to use a normal alarm clock as the power goes out at least once a day. I go in to take my shower ------ Hmmmmm cant seem to get any hot water. Now I am running late, but I am quite awake.

Make a quick cup of coffee and grab a granola bar. Note to self when I get home I have to figure out why I have no hot water. Go to work all day (This really needs to be the subject of a future blog)
Come home starved. Have to make some dinner. Decide on one of my personal favorites, a huge egg fritata. Pop open a beer, Cut up some roast chicken left overs put them in the fry pan , put in some frozen veggies ( Note: only Lynda has learned the proper fresh veggie cleaning technique Mexican style), Chop up some bacon, and some sun dried tomatoes , Get out the cheese, Scramble three eggs in a bowl, Oh this is going to be good, Pop open a beer, go to start cooking, No flame.
Hmm----- I think I now know why I had no hot water NO GAS!!! Oh well, Next note to self , find out how to get gas. Pop open another beer, and figure out what to do for dinner now.

Wed Morning: wake up, take a shower, Oh Yeah ,( note to self definitely have to figure out how you get Gas). Go to work, ask: How do you get gas. Oh it gets delivered, well that sounds easy. Oh but wait you have to actually be there to pay for it as it is delivered. What? I cant just have them bill me for it? Oh no you gringo. No checks either cash only. OK ,how much is it going to cost. Well that depends on how big is your tank and what neighborhood you live in. First of all I have no idea how big my tank is, I don't even know where my tank is, and whats this about the same gas costing more if you live in a nicer neighborhood. Oh my, we need to ensure the communists currently in office don't get wind of this spreading the wealth technique. (I surely will not invite them to read the blog) I am told its easy you just have your maid do it.
Hmm thinking to myself, OK do I let my maid who gets $7 per day know that I have all kinds of cash in the house so she can pay an unknown amount when gas is delivered, do I take a day off from work and wait for the gas to be delivered, or do I tough it out?
Pretty simple answer, Tough it out cold showers ever day and microwaved meals for a week no problem.
Finally Saturday arrives!!! I am home believe it or not they said your gas will be delivered between 6:00AM and 12:00 on a Sat Morning. Ding Dong 6:30 AM goes the door bell the gas man cometh and I was glad!!! Three men come put a step ladder up the side of the house drag this huge hose up to the roof and fill the tank!!! A couple thousand pesos and presto we have hot water. I am in my glory as warmth streams over my body until a sudden shiver hit me.
How do I know when I am running out of Gas again.
So goes the trials of this stranger in a strange land.
Tu Amigo en Mexico
Marcos

Home

We are back in Cincinnati and will be home for a little time. Mark will leave for Mexico on Monday the 30th and will be back in Cinci for Labor Day weekend through the 14th or so. Lynda will be staying in cinci from now untl mid September. Hope tp see many of you!

Haciend Tues. Aug. 3, 2010

The Hacienda

Today, Mom and I both packed to head back to the states. My vacation is over and hers is just beginning. We will leave the house around 4am tomorrow to get to the airport, and I will make it to Rochester by about 5pm, IF (and that's a big if!) there are no delays this time around! After buzzing around like busy little bees this morning, Dad picked us up to go to Mexican lunch at the Hacienda. The building basically looks like a castle and you eat in the courtyard. It feels about a million degrees cooler in the shaded courtyard then it did getting out of the car! People are known to start "lunch" here around 2 or 3 and not leave until after 8pm. I can see why! We started with a plate of Carnitas... and by a plate, I mean one plate with meat and guac, another of cilantro and onions, another of limes (YUM!), a bowl of green salsa, a bowl of red slasa, and 2 baskets of tortillas. That alone could make a lunch. Then came the menus. I wanted to be Edith Ann and eat THE WHOLE THING! So, we picked 3 items to share - a sweet chili rellano, enchiladas in a green sauce, and Dad's favorite - Aracherra steak and chorizo sausage. The rellano looked similar to the one in Bernal, but was very different. No cinnamon this time! There were pecans in the sauce, almonds in the stuffing, and the pepper had not been breaded and fried. It was, however, equally delicious. The enchiladas and steak were quite good as well. All the while, Mom and I were sipping on a Margarhita. The first few sips made you go, "BLEACH! TEQUILA!" but, after a few minutes, they had you singing the Tijuana Brass song, Tequila! Dessert, however, was the crowning jewel of the day. We all split a mousse with a name that I don't remember, but it didn't translate to English anyways. It had a white cake bottom, white mousse, white frosting, which I think was really white chocolate, but Mom disagrees, AND a fruit gel layer on top with a hint of dark chocolate hidden inside. The fruit tasted like nectarines mixed with mango and something a little more tropical. Can I just say that it was the best thing I'd ever eaten and leave it at that?! We boxed up what we couldn't eat and rolled ourselves out of the restaurant. Since then, I've been moping around the house not wanting to leave Mexico. It is absolutely gorgeous here, there are amazing sites to see, and did I mention just how delicious the food is?! I'm sure you'll miss Mom's musings while she's in New York and Ohio for a few weeks, and you won't know what to do with yourselves each morning with those extra few minutes back in your life. Might I make a suggestion? Look up flights and plan a trip down!

Heather

pictures of Bernal

Monday August 2, 2010
Delores Hildalgo is a town known for Talavera pottery. It is identified by brightly painted and often very intricate designs. We went there to find water jugs to have in the dining room and on the terrace. We drove to the city and went straight to the center oftown expecting to see this everywhere. We found a small artisans market and a few things. We walked around the center square and noticed there werer more bees ther than we have ever seen any where…odd. I did an internet search on my phone and found out the town is known also for its exotic ice cream flavors. We then noticed all the ice cream vendors handing out tastes. Of course we had to taste. You would not need to buy an ice cream cone after tasting form everyone! There was lime, beer, tequila, whiskey, caramel, chili, mango, cheese, corn, cherries and pecans and pine nuts, and a lot we couldn’t understand. It was so much fun!! The last one is the one Heather got and also a lime one, Mark got chocolate, and another one with caramel and some strange fruit. Lynda had a cherry one with chocolate chips, mixed with a chocolate one, and a lime. The lime was amazing as was so many other flavors!
We were going to go back to the car and go somewhere else, but on a whim I asked someone where the artisans were and it turned out they were only 4 blocks away. So off we tread. The street was definitely under major construction. No problem, just wait for the grader to pass buy and you can walk right through the zone to cross the street, but don’t trip over the string lines to mark where they are laying new sidewalks. The artisans shops were interesting. Very small but crammed with stuff and great prices. Because of the construction, everything was covered in dust as the shops do not have doors, they are just open to the street. We picked up a few items and decided to head out. As we were leaving town we stopped into more pottery spots and picked up a few more items.
This pottery is going to add some color to our house and everything in it is white or black. So today I found 2 planter pots, a basket pot for a table, 2 large water holders with stands, one small bathroom water jug and a square plate. Heather found a few baking dishes for a friend. Success for all

Sunday August 2, 2010
Today we really took an adventure. We drove three hours towards Mexico City to a town called Teotihucan to visit the pyramids. It is believed that they were built in 600BC and at that time, the city was bigger than Rome with an estimated population of almost 200,000. But the population disappeared and the Aztecs later found the site. The Axtecs then believed the city was the city of the gods, due to the pyramids that were there. They believed that some of the structures were a burial site. Modern science had proved that the Aztecs were correct. The pyramid of the sun is the third largest pyramid in the world having nearly the same base dimensions and the Cyclops in Egypt, but not the same height or construction. This pyramid rises more than 20 stories high and is climbable.
WOW, says Heather. We were in awe over the site which has only been being uncovered since 1998, but small efforts had been being done throughout the 20th century. Two hundred and forty eight stairs, oh my gosh, to the top! And we climbed them all. What a gorgeous site from the top. There was amazing landscape and inexplicable site of the ruins.
Mark is sure the creators of Indiana Jones movies got their set designs by visiting this site. We spent all day wandering around, trying to figure out what some of the structures were, climbing, climbing and more climbing. We climbed the pyramid of the sun and the pyramid of the moon and several other littler things.
We touched 3000 year old paint and got the energy from touching the pinnacle of the pyramid of the sun. Heather knew a lot of the history of the people and area as she had taken a class at Geneseo about all of this. She was so excited that she got to see it. And we were glad we were able to take her there.
The drive was uneventful until coming home when we came across a road blockade made by many Federal police with machine guns and bullet proof vests. No problem, they asked where we were from and what we had been doing and waved us on. We think there were looking for drugs as we were so close to Mexico City and saw them searching vehicles that they had pulled over to the side of the highway. We drove through some of the most beautiful country side we had ever seen. Kind of gave me the feeling when we drove by some of the mountains out west, but we seemed to always be surrounded by mountains.
A lovely day had by all.

Playing tourist again

Saturday July 31st…Our 28th anniversary! And onwards to Guanajuato.
We thought we were on our way to Oz, but...holy cow, we are not in Kansas anymore. Beautiful scenery and wait, there is a horse out there, no, it is a man plowing between the rows of corn using the old plow and horse method. We are stopped on the highway, mind you, under a no bicycles sign, and along comes a rickshaw type bicycle passing all the traffic, no problem. Soon the reason for the stoppage comes into view.. One mangled station wagon, two mangled bikes and hundreds of bottles of Coke spewed all over the highway….a coke deal gone bad…kind of like Mr. Hawver’s watermelon fiasco. As we pass the man on the bicycle started picking up some of the bottles and put them in his basket. As if this wasn’t enough laughs on a highway, traffic suddenly swerves left revealing an ambulance. It was not just an ambulance driving down the road, it was following a bike race!!! In the right lane of the highway!! Probably the cause of the great Coke bust!
From a bit of research, we knew the streets of Guanjuato were quite curvey and maps never contained all of them. As we were driving down into the town, there were people along side of the road waving and yelling at us. We waved. Then we noticed one of the men was holding a map…Good idea, let’s pick one up…we struck gold! Turns out the guys handing out the maps will get in your car and direct you into town and parking. You could also keep them with you to be a tour guide. Well we screwed up. After he got us to town, we said Thank you and went on our merry way. First, the market..Oh my Gosh Busy, packed, labyrinth, Carnitas totas! And a great leather purse. Onto find the temple that our guide had said would be great to see and so a candy store with 300 kinds! Up the hill we hike. Our map said it would be about a 15 min. walk. After an hour, straight uphill, we asked directions. We were right on track but 1 ½ kilometers away. Up we went. About a half hour later we asked again….3 kilometers more….Finito Bandito, we flagged a bus and went back down into town. So, besides just leaving streets off, maps of Guanajuato are not to scale, at ALL! On our bus ride we cud have walked faster, why… because we were following a semi pulling an over width bulldozer through the narrow winding hilly streets of the town. We made it to where we could easily walk and got of that heated tin can!!
We found a ‘fanicular’, an incline rail car. We boarded and went up to the most gorgeous view of the city/. Somehow we lucked out and got front and center for the view out the window. Too cool. After we were down we decide it was past lunchtime and found a great lunch spot in the shade. We were obviously tourist of the US persuasion and every vendor person stopped by our table to try to sell us things. We even got serenaded by a picture perfect Mexican singer!! It was a great break. We found callenda baso, the kissing street. It is street or alley way that is no more than 24” wide. Legend has it that two lovers who lived in different houses, one on one side of the alley and one on the other, could kiss good night over the balconies. If you go there and kiss it will being you 7 years good luck. If you go and don’t kiss, 7 years bad luck. So we kissed in the alley on our 28th Anniversary!!n We did a bit of shopping and jewelry looking and decide we had best get out of Dodge before dark as we no longer had a driving guide. Tadah!! We were great. Heather sat in the back seat with 4 different maps and I had one in the front. We managed to navigate out of twon without getting lost and then back to the highway! All in all, forgoing to a lace we had never been before, we did superbly!

spreading my wings

Friday July 30th,

Big day!! It is finally guaranteed nice weather so we drove Mark to work and finally headed to Bernal to climb la Pena! Amazing ness, we did not get lost and we managed to find parking. In front of us lay a challenge to scale the monolith!! We embarked on our momentous journey at 8:45am with, oh no, the bathrooms were not opened yet. Oh well, we’ll probably dehydrate anyways as we are only carrying 2 bottles of water. Heather was excited and began the climb in a hurry, only to realize in about 15 -20 minutes, that the altitude makes a difference in your breathing. We started at about 7200’ above sea level climbing to 8000 feet. Frequent rests to absorb the vista was the ticket. It didn’t take too long to adjust, maybe ¾ of the way up. The scenery was breathtaking, literally, oh no wait, that was the heighth. The path was rocky, no, bouldery and narrow but fun. When we reached the top, of where you can go without rock climbing gear, it was awesome! 275 degree panoramic views that were absolutely awesome. Heather decided to boulder up another 30-40 feet alone and had a grand time. I stayed back to take pictures of her. We made it don in record time. What took us 2 hours to go up, took about ½ hour to go down. We were almost running. We were feeling awesome, was it the magnetic force of the laPena or the fact we could breathe easily?
It was now time to move the car and embark on our shopping journey. Bernal is known for wool and bread. What an awesome combination. We nicknamed it the sweet town. The bread is light and lace with a sweetened cream cheese mixture with sugar sprinkled on top served warm out front of the bakery. Free tasties! They also cooked these flatter breads on a griddle out front. We tasted and bought them both! The scarves and wraps are beautiful. And the loomed rugs are amazing. I want them for our house but want Mark’s opinion on them and need the sizes. Heather found a couple wraps and bought jewelry from the artist himself. She found a Queretaro opal necklace and another one that was kind of green. He had done some silver wire work to mount the stone. We took the trolley ride to see the sights of the Puebla de Bernal. There was a hotel that looked like a little town with an astounding view of la Pena. We took the trolley so we could end up at the weavers, but ours ended at the church. Later in the day we saw a tour group go into the weavers area and just joined them at t eh back of the line. The looms are very old and worn and they are so fast at their work. There were piles of rugs, blankets, woven artwork and sweaters everywhere. The town is also known for the Gordita wars between the women in town. We thought we’d be brave and go to one of the trashy looking gordita stand to try the fare. We got to where Mark had had one in the past, started to walk in and chickened out. We were scared of the afteraffects to our stomachs and headed to the hotel restaurant that we had spied earlier. The place we ate at had a gorgeous view of the monolith and the food was awesome. Heather had chicken Mole and I had, be jealous here Ed, Chile Rellanos. We voted mine the best. Being the sweet town, it was filled with meat, I think , and mangoes and spices and the sauce on top was Mexican cream with cinnamon, some sweetness and then sprinkled with pomegranate seeds..Oh my was that tastey!! We were very successful and went on our way back to pick up Mark form work. No Problems!
We changed into nicer clothes at Makino and went to Hotel Diamonte to have a cocktail, some chilied peanuts and a view of Queretaro. Well somehow we ordered our Margharits wrong and ended up with tequila, and lime juice on the rocks. Better luck next time. But it was a pretty view and great conversation.

The past week continued

Sunday morning seemed like it was going to be an ok day to hike the monolith,La Pena de Bernal. Queretaro weather was predicted to be clear in the morning with rain int he later dya. Well, as we drive there it seemed to get cloudier and cloudier. When we got to Bernal, you couldn't even see laPena. Just clouds. We changed out minds and headed back home and then off to San Miguell de Allende. Wise choice. Heather says mmm, shiney! It is a town know for metal work. Though there are wonderful things from a lot of other towns also. There are many american retirees living there. We had so much fun going through the aritsans market. Great buys. Our luch was GREAT!! Mark had aracherrar steak fajitas...oh my gosh was it tender, no joke, he could cut the meat with the side of a fork. Heahter and I ordered limonade for a drink. It was huge and wonderful.. It is made with mineral water nad lime juice and agave syup for sweatener. Kind of like a margarita withourt the tequilla, but very refreshing!

Monday Heahter and I set off down the main street of Jurica, the colony wer live in, to find the health club. Voila we made it and got past security and to the main door. there we had to wait for security to let us int he door and sit in the lobby while waiting for someone who spoke some English. The security guard did not take his eyes off us. It was gorgeous. We are now gathering all the necessary paperwork to apply for a membership. That afternoon we waited at the house for the delivery man to bring a mattress we had order. He was only 1 1/2 hours late, but hey,no problem!

Tuesday we called a taxi to come pick us up at our house to take us shopping at the mall for houe necessities. Wow were we proud of ourselves, with my limited vocabulary at this point I couldn't believe we did it. We bought dishes, placemats and napkins and a water dumper. Water is delivered to your house in 20 Liter jugs. Ther eis this dumper thing that you put the bottles in so you can tip and pour them. Hilarius trying to put this all into the taxi for the ride home. We had lots fo high fives after this trip. My qworld just got a bit bigger!

Wednesday we decided we were so good with the taxi that we would try it again and be tourists in the downtwon of Queretaro. Success! We went to the mission and convent for a tour. It is where the Aquaduct ends and is the neatest most amazing place. It was built sometime in the 1500's and had indoor plumbing and a refrigerator made with tiles and evaporating water. Too cool. We shopped and had a lovely lunch in the garden area of an old hotel. The art gallery was an old baroque building that was in excellent shape. One of the exhibits was painted white walls with blue painters tape in large shapes of eagles, woman and some other things.
Oh yeah, poor Mark, he had to work, but we had great evenings sitting outside with a lite snack and a glass of wineand good music.

Thursday was the scariest and most satisfying day! We decided I needed to just bite the bullet and start driving. the only way to do that was to drive Mark to work. so I could have the car. Carrying purchases in a taxi was difficult especially when you wanted to jump from store to store. As were were getting ready to leave ont his grand excursion, our gardener showed up with his neice to be our maid. She will teach me cooking one day a week and do some cleaning on another and shopping with me for the cooking day. Any ways, that interrupted the flow and we were then in a hurry to get Mark to work. The three of us jumped in the car and I had to drive. I felt like a 15 year old driving for the first time. We realized int eh haste of our crazy morning that we forgot the map and my phone. Heahter and I would have to navigate home from Mark's office with no fall back, no getting lost or making a mistake. Those crazy Mexican drivers!! They are the nicest people face to face, but put them behnd the wheel of a car and the are maniacs!! But...Score! we did it!! In the afternoon we went out shopping for odds and ends for hte house. We had to go down Berbardo Quintana...a very busy road. Driving here has a similarity to Michigan in that you can't make left hand turns and do these crazy things called returno...a u-turn to the rest of us. Well, those are difficult and confusing on Bernardo Quintana so Heahter and I timed our trip perfectly so that we never ahd to head back from where we came and mjust kept heading int he same direction and then straigh onot Mark's work to pick him up.. he thought that was hilarious. but I felt quite succesful that I made it driving on my first day without any problems!! pictures of our adventures to come int eh next couple days

The past week

I arrived in Queretaro on Monday July 18th. An excited Mark met me at the airport where I arrived without a hitch with dog and 3 suitcases in tow. We settle dinto our house that Mark had already begun the cleaning and settling process. On Tuesday, he went to work and I continued the cleaning process. I successfully walked to the grocery store in the afternoon foar a few items. Wondersw never cease, I managed to purchase waht I needed, pack them into my back pack and walk back to our house without getting lost!! The backpack was quite heavy. I have learned to think about what I am packing into it now.

Heather arrived on Thursday. We were so excited to greet her at the airport, as we had not been sure, all day, that she would make it. From Rochester, she had to make a connection in Newark...which ended up being 2 hours late..so much for layover time! When she made it to Houston to catch her next plane, she had 15 minutes to deplane, get from one terminal at one end of the airport to another terminal at the far end, board and shut the door. She made it, only due to her resourcefulness. She managed to ask everyon in the rows of seats ahesad of her on the Newark - HOuston leg, if they would let her off the plane ahead of them when they landed. She also managed to get a handicap sky cab to give her a ride after she ran along side of it for a while. She went to bed soon after a tour as she was BEAT!

On Friday Heather helped set up many computer connections for me...like this page. We did a bit aoround the house, went to the grocery and enjoyed having each other's company. Mark came home from work and we all went to Old Centro Queretaro to show Heahter around and have a wonderful dinner on the square with music and fresh air. Heather ordered a Molcajete filled with wonderful taste treats including cactus, bacon wrapped cheese stuffed shrimp, chicken, veggies and sauce that was good, but spicey. She put these items into the wonderful tortillas that they served. Lovely evening.

On Saturday, we planned to go to Bernal, but the rains of the rainy season decided to begin. Climbing and hiking on rock in the rain on a steep slope fifn't seem to be the best idea for the day so we went to Tequisquiapan instead to shop for basketry and wine and cheese. Well, we found out that things don't open until after 11:00 am and it was 9:30. So we walked and looked int he rain at buildings. We canme across a basket museum that was open and decided it was a great idea to tour. It was interesting on many levels including translating spanish to english. We each made a napkin ring and went on our jolly way. By now things were open and we decide to shop. We found the most wonderful candy. Dulce de Leche candy. It came in a wide variety of flavors, Mark got coffee, of course, and Heather and I shared Lime. It was a milky sweet hunk of deliciousness. We then went to the artisan market to find the pecans that Heather had read about during a internet search of things to do int he area. The pecans were in the artisan market being cooked in a huge copper pot with sugar, honey , cinnamon and who knows what else. They were like little bites of pecan pie. A half pound disappeared in no time at all. Low and behold we did not find any baskets we wanted to buy in this town supposedly known for its baskets.. Oh well. We had lunch aoutside at a cafe listening to wonderful music played on something that resembled a marimba. Lovely. On our way home,we stopped at the Queso museum and ranch. There theyaide their own cattle to make their cheeses. Absolutely wonderful. They made a few cheeses that are ususally made of goat milk out of cow milk.. We love d it, we had a tasting of the cheeses out on the land of the ranch under a tree. Teh the rain began again and we went home. Such a lovely day!

Lynda's first post

I am starting this blog so you can keep up with our life here in Queretaro, Mexico. Pictures will be posted and journal entries will be written. I am sure some days will be filled with great adventures and others will have many trials and tribulations, but that is all to be expected of this grand journey.