Hell’s Half Acre

The boys and I are headed to Merida this afternoon to start our journey to the US.  We have been lucky enough to be able to afford an annual trip for a number of years now and this year we’re going back for a bonus party – my folks’ 50th wedding anniversary.  We are first heading to Merida though, so Kilo can get neutered out of Sissy’s sight.  She was so distraught at the thought of further surgery for the puppy, that we decided to take some extra days and have him neutered in Merida.  This also gives us a chance to have Pike seen by his orthodontist for a brace tightening and that will hopefully mean he’ll only go one full month without a tightening.  He has weathered the retainer and braces bit without a peep and I’m really proud of how he is taking responsibility for his dental health.

Jamie and the girls will stay here until mid-August and then fly our carrier of choice (coach is like first class with them), Mexicana, saving his back and allowing the girls to skip the drive portion.  Course, now that we’re all getting ready to leave, they might be second-guessing their choice to fly, but I doubt it.  I’m sure Jamie has decadence planned while the cat’s away.

I spent much of July in denial that we were actually leaving, but it has only taken a few days of dedicated packing and organizing to get things ready.  But we’ll see, when Jamie leaves, just how ready we were, as he’ll have the mop-up when he gets ready to leave.  The trailer A/C is fritzing, the recamera A/C is ok but fritzing less so, and he has a nice little list (which he will probably ignore).   I ran yesterday for the first time since my last injury and my knees are only a little achy (I’ve done 11 miles over the last 2 days but very little of that running) so I’m not surprised.  I’ll try to update from Merida as now that I’ve finished my breakfast I’m itching to attack the lists again.

Right now, we’re thinking Merida, Coatepec, Pachuca (IIRC), Bernal, the Sierra Gorda and Jalpan, Xilitla if only to stop at the women’s cooperative for breaky, Rio Verde, Saltillo, Del Rio, border, El Paso or Pecos, Santa Fe (NM), Klingman (AZ), Bakersfield (CA) and the SF Bay Area.

Looking forward to no mozzies and no tabanos.

I’m not sure if I offered my daily sacrifices to the Dark Lord when we lived in a stick house; I pretty much gave up the elixir once I fell pregnant with Jesse and it was no sacrifice whatsoever.  Morning sickness will do that to you.  Things you thought you couldn’t live without, that the Earth would stop spinning on its axis if you stopped, you gave up in a heartbeat.  After he was born I was breastfeeding, then pregnant again, and breastfeeding, rinse, wash, repeat until Ellen turned 6 or so.  But when we left the stick in 2004, I started to dabble and now I’m a full-fledged devotee.  But I’m a weird devotee.  I have been to Starbucks maybe twice and was flummoxed each time, ordering a “normal, strong, black cup of coffee.  Do you have that?  Just normal and strong and black.  Yeah, about that size.”  As long as it is strong and not bitter, I’m pretty happy with any blend and generally have no idea what I’m drinking.  Right now, I just know the beans come from Coatepec (I don’t like the Chiapas beans) and “my” little old Italian roaster makes me a “Cubano” roast.  Rich and dark.  His quality control isn’t the best (or maybe its his eyesight) and sometimes the Cubano is more Italiano, but I really don’t care.  Since we left our stick I’ve been making coffee either with a cotton “sock” or filer and cone.  A few weeks ago Jamie bought me a $80/$6.15USD coffee machine and boy has life been easy.  I can’t believe how enormously EASY it is – no balancing of the cone inside the cup, hoping it doesn’t fall over and spill the percolating coffee on me, the counter, the floor, and no spilling boiling water on me (I am amazed how often I’ve been doing that) before getting it to the cone.  Life is good.  I lurve that little machine and the thoughtful man who brought it to me.  He should get a reward, doncha think?

We were recently at Costco in Cancun and bought a ceiling fan.  We’ve been dealing with floor fans for the years we’ve been here – the mozzies can be absolutely FIERCE during certain seasons of the year – and Jamie had it installed within a week.  We’re not convinced it is really going to make a difference but are hoping that between mozzy screen (still haven’t purchased or hung) and the fan, we’ll be more comfortable and be able to actually use the comedor in the summer.

Today my man turns another year over.  No appliances to note there, but I had to mention it.  We’ve both been hit hard with a summer cold but life just keeps getting better and better and every day I find more to love in that man of mine.

I am going to try to finish this up now – terribly disjointed, I suppose, but I’ve been trying to update for a couple days now and if I don’t finish now, I may never finish.  We got a huge new piece of furniture for the recamera; Mom and Dad and Michelle and Chris will recognize how nice it will be to visit in the future with a place to put their stuff.  And after 5 years of no place to put our clothing (seriously, we’ve not had anything but Stuffing In a Cube storage) we now have DRAWERS and cubbies with DOORS and I have a DESK!  Just in time, as I finished the transcription course the other day and am now job hunting.  After filling each and every day with study I can now take a breather before I fill each and every day with job hunting, work and study for the FSOT.

And that’s all the news that’s fit to print.

Really.  I am continually astounded that as the mother of 2 teenage boys I love them more day by day.  I love how they correct me, how they enlighten me, how they encourage me and how they challenge me.  I even love to hear Pike tell me how wrong I am.  I didn’t think I’d love little men more than babies but thankfully they grow so slowly that while looking back it happens in the blink of an eye, in the moment the passage of time is perfect.

Pike is becoming so mature and industrious.  He has responded to every educational challenge I’ve thrown at him and takes total responsibility for getting the work he’s decided to do daily done.  He is so loving and caring to his sisters and the last time he babysat and Ellen was upset, he worked his ass off to help her feel better (and succeeded!).  The girls adore him and look up to him and he is a wonderful model.  He has been repaying his debt (lost retainers) by cleaning the palapa and does a great and thorough job.  He is sprouting a second language and picks up words and concepts quickly.  He is so different from me and can always turn my heart to happy.  He is a joy of a son and I wouldn’t want him to change a thing.  Well, maybe if he let his beautiful curls grow…

Jesse is becoming such a man.  Now that his hair is gone, his face has changed so much and he looks so much like a young man it is scary.  He is slowly continuing the journey of independence, but he is very much a little boy at heart.  He can have a hard exterior but is very sympathetic and caring on the inside and constantly surprises me with his insights of caring.  He is so quick it is scary.  He picks concepts up amazingly fast and applies them.  He is gentle with the littles even when they drive him insane, and they regularly drive him insane.  He is always asking how he can help out, and he pitches in without complaint even when he’s wanting to be elsewhere.  He still lets me hold him on my lap and suffers silently the adoration of his crazy mama.   He fills my heart and I wouldn’t want to imagine life without him.

I’ve just spent a couple days holed up in the trailer which really, is a shame on so many levels.  Since January I have not been able to run injury-free.  I honestly don’t know what to do at this point but the most obvious option is simply not an option.  I will not stop running.  I don’t know how I got to this point.  I was a swimmer all my life – AAU (yes, the old days) and then Master’s competitions.  Then I dallied in triathlons and even completed a 1/2-Ironman length one at one point.  I moved from the longer tris to cycling and was climbing mountains and cycling 100K’s through my 6th month of pregnancy with Jesse before moving inside and riding rollers until around the 8th month when I stopped.  But I really never saw myself as an athlete.  Back when I could have been considered one, when I went to international invitational meets and swam with Olympians and did mental training (along with dry-land and double workouts) I really was just going along with the flow.  After writing all that out, I suppose I was something of an athlete.

But then came 4 kids and at least 50-60lb and I morphed again into “mom” and there I’ve been for 15 years.  Last year I started getting sick of being fat and I dropped 13 kilos without too much trouble by walking and watching what I ate.  Since January of this year I’ve been running and trying to get to a 10K length of run but keep getting hammered by injuries.  My damn calf muscle just won’t cooperate with my wishes and while I’ve dialed my speed from a 10 min/mile to 11-12, I won’t entertain the thought of not running.

So I injured it again a week or so ago, and I’ve been pissing and moaning for the past 2 days thinking “woe is me” because I can’t run.  What a waste of 2 glorious days on the Caribbean.  So I’m back to walking for the next couple weeks until it heals (again) and I do the injury dance again.

My boys CUT THEIR HAIR!  Well, they actually had ME do it, but my curly, golden, long-haired boys cut their beautiful hair and it is short.   Pike looks absolutely HANDSOME and Jesse, who could never look anything but GORGEOUS looks like he’s aged about 5 years.  The cut really flatters him (if I do say so myself) but I really miss his golden locks.  He’s had hair down to the middle of his back for many years now and he looks like a different kid.  Well, honestly, young man.  Both boys are doing amazingly well in Judo and I kiddingly banished Jesse from Judo when he told me he wanted his hair cut DUE to Judo.  Can’t wait to hear what the kids say when they see him.

We’re almost certain that the boys and I will road-trip back to the US for my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary (and our annual visit) and I am trying REALLY hard NOT to spend a month or two driving back.  There is SO much I want to see that we’ve missed in Mexico.  Right now, I’m thinking of heading up to Merida to visit Jonna and Mimi; then to Uxmal with a night in Ticul, then either to take the Emerald Coast route to Poza Rica and over into the Bajito or head over to Cordoba and Orizaba and meander about in the hills and valleys of those amazing volcanoes.  And then, where to exit?  We’re hoping to meet up with our friends Jody and family in the 4Corners area (Durango/Chama, etc.) but at the rate I want to leave the country we’ll never make it out.   Our last trip down the Emerald Coast I really wanted to explore the missions along the road from Xilitla to Pachuca and I’m also dying to explore Bernal.  So who knows.

We’re starting to think that we’ll never move the trailer out of here and are thinking of permanently settling it in, but that will be AFTER we rennovate Merida.  We’ve decided to start working on the Merida house when we return from the US and I’m really looking forward to Merida in the winter.

After taking 7 months off of my MT (medical transcription) studies, I’m almost done with the 18-month course and wondering if I’ll find a job.  Gulp.  I’m also starting to study for the FSOT as that is about a 2-year process, but our next family goal.  If nothing else, I’m never bored.  And that can only be a good thing.  And now, I’m ready for another cup of coffee.  How bout you?

The mosquitoes are getting so horrifically bad I can’t imagine them worse.  I’m sure they were this bad last year, but they are INSIDE as well as outside and l was up at 3am this morning with bites all over my arm.  I hate those little fuckers and can’t imagine that Jonna and Mimi are having a worse time in Merida.  I wonder if I think this every year.  At any rate, I’m seriously thinking of wrapping the palapa in mosquito netting.  Really.  Srsly.

I wanted to end this with a huge brag on my eldest.  Being the eldest, he normally is first in all things, best at all things he gives an effort to, and everyone else plays catch-up.  But since the boys started Judo it has become more and more obvious that Pike has a real talent there.  Not sure if it is all athletics or just Judo, but he really shines at the studio.  So much so, that the other day the sensei congratulated him heartily and the entire class has on occasion recognized his efforts with cheers and encouragement.  Neither Jamie nor I were around when the sensei gushed at Pike and Jesse was the one who let us know.  He was so full of pride for his brother’s accomplishment that he was bursting to tell us as soon as he could get it out.  He was completely able to put himself and his “first-borness” aside and revel in his brother’s accomplishments and not only feel great pride in what Pike had done, but couldn’t wait to let us know about it.  I couldn’t love him more for that or feel more proud of both boys.

I’ve posted TWICE now in my head and I can’t believe there isn’t an application available yet to move posts from my head to the blog without my intervention.   Sheesh! Continue Reading »

I have been chasing my tail a bit this year on the FM3 renewal.  They’re asking for more involved paperwork than last year and today I finally tracked down a translator with a seal.  I showed at at immigration this morning after thinking I had all the paperwork in order and could at least get the paperwork STARTED, only to find I’d brought 1 wrong piece of paperwork and 1 that needed translation.  My FM3 expires in 5 days so it is getting down to the wire.  Luckily, instead of simply sending me away, I was shown to an attorney’s office who was very happy to charge me $400/page to translate my paperwork.  Ouch.  Even in pesos, ouch.  Then I spilled some coffee on her assistant’s closed computer and the day got very bad.  She was cursing in ENGLISH so I knew it was going to be very bad and very expensive.  Strangely, after all the cursing and trying to clean it up, they were both very comfortable letting me leave taking only my name and cell number.  BUT before I managed to spill coffee on the computer, she walked into INM and got my paperwork started for me!  So the tramite has begun and I won’t be fined for renewing late.  I can only hope.

When I was at INM, the receptionist recommended that Scociabank did legal translations of the documents I needed (but I had lied and told him I’d already checked and they’d said they didn’t) and after the fracasso with the laywer I figured I needed a new translator.  So I checked with HSBC (who told me their executives could only answer that question and that they’d be in in an hour or so) and then at Scociabank.   I cooled my heels at Scociabank just waiting for some executive to simply answer the question and after 15-20 mintues, I had my answer, “no”.

At home, I was able to contact some computer repair folks and the lawyer and with no demands yet being made on me to replace the 6-month old laptop (which had only a 2 month warranty – don’t ask),  I arranged for contact between the lawyer assistant and the computer technician and I am hoping the cost will not be too dear.

By the end of the day, I had managed to get Pikey’s retainers replaced (for only $1500), the translation begun (pick it up tomorrow) and 3 out of 4 kids to Judo.  Both boys were in their judo class, Jamie and Sissy were at Sam’s getting crap for tomorrow’s excursion and Ellen and I were buying dinner (tamales sold on the streetcorner).  The tamale lady recognized me from last week and we tried chicken mole, chicken in green sause and another chicken I can never remember because it is a word I don’t recognize.  We sat on the curb, watching the black clouds roll in from the north, certain harbringers of rain, and listened to one of the “viene viene” guys singing a haunting ballad.  The parking lot was vast, the sky darkening, our bellies were filling with warm delicious tamal and we had a haunting meoldy to accompany us.

It really was a perfect day.

Plus, I now have a little slave who will be working off a $1500 debt.

I’m in the middle of an op report (flexor tendon repair, if you were really wondering) but I had to stop, get up, walk outside and enjoy – if not only for the loss of power but also the draw of the rain…

Day after day of dry and dust and finally RAIN!  The amazing freshness of the smell, the drop from 112F/44C to 85F/29C, the renewal, the loss of internet (satellite ), the sound of the drops and tiny waterfalls cascading all over the grass roof, the puddles of toxicity collecting in the road, the deep grounding it produces.  We each individually gather together to watch the clouds gather, to watch the osprey and large birds riding the thermals and being chased by the downfall, to smell the first smell of rain, to hear the first patter and to exclaim and wonder as the smell gets stronger and the drops begin to fall.

We cannot help but wander in the great drops, feel the cool wetness and drink deep of the earthy smell.  As the frequency of the downpour decreases, we wander away and the littlest kids come out, whooping and jumping in the toxic puddles, creating ginormous rooster tails with their bikes and luxuriating in the lovely wetness of the rain.

Many months ago, either Solidaridad (the municipality) or Playa del Carmen (the city) installed a tope and a police quasi stop (they hang out in the middle of the road and ocassionally will slow people down) just on the south side of town.  The tope was an absolute killer – double skyscraper Dots Bots – and the entire car would continue shaking for about 15 minutes after we would cross the tope.  As with all topes constructed out of Dots Bots, one or two bots eventually disappeared making the crossing of the tope simply monumental instead of horrific.  Then one day, soon after Semana Santa, the topes (both northbound and southbound) disappeared.  The quasi police stop (that isn’t a stop and is now merely Cans of Fire®) continues and at first, even the taxistas hit their flashers and slowed to a crawl before remembering the axle-eating tope was no longer alive.  Now everyone flies through, though, at the speed limit of 80kph.  So it begs, really and truly BEGS the question, “why did they put it in and then take it out?”  It was put in well before Semana Santa, so I can’t believe it was soley there for that 2-week period.  It was working, and working well – we were all frightened of that damn tope – but why take it out?  There were only 1-2 bots missing so it was still very effective, and it is just one of those thinks that makes you shake your head and realize you’ll never understand the culture.

Jamie and I took a date night tonight and headed to the tourist side of town.  He bought a moka frio at some coffee place but it has already been about a year since we were last in the tourist area of Playa and I got fed up pretty quickly.  I’m just not used to the hawkers and crowds and after re-injuring my 1/4-healed calf in Yoga this morning, I was tired of shuffling down the street.  So we headed to a PAN rally and I got elote on a stick (with limon, mayo and chile) and Jamie got a chicken tamal.  The food cart lady either had never seen a gringa eat elote or thought I was crazy because she sure tried to make Absolutely Certain that I wanted elote and the fixings.  She was cracking up the whole time but had no problem with Jamie’s tamal order.  We sat at a fountain, surrounded by families and kids, with the PAN rally on the right and a martial arts movie projected on a wall on our left.  The perfect end to a perfect date.

It looks like the kids will be taking Judo classes.  I’ve been wanting to enroll them in some kind of classes, to expose them to local kids and to broaden their horizons, but their staunch desire to sleep until afternoon and play only with our (now in Canada) Canadian neighbors put an end to that pipe dream.  They checked out the taekwondo class yesterday and decided today that they much preferred Judo.  The boys will be in a 2-hour class 3 to 6 times a week and the girls in a 1-hour class 3 times/week.  We’ll try it a month but Pike already wants the “uniform” (kimono).  We’re starting to come back around to our routines and life is good.  It is also starting to warm up, but nights are still cool.  81F/27C at 11pm tonight as I post.

It’s been about a week since the first case was discovered in Mexico and we’re pretty much the same as when we started.  Three of the four kids have had some virus and were all better yesterday.  Today Pike is worse again but no fever, so I’m not going to worry too much.  Unfortunately, he’s got a birthday (BIG THIRTEEN) in a couple days, and I’m hoping he’ll be feeling up to celebrating by then.  After reading that humidity seems to keep the germies somewhat at bay, I’ve turned off the A/C in the trailer and converted Pike from an “All A/C, All the Time” boy, to sitting outside and enjoying the fresh air boy.  He is now making up his food list for his birthday fest so we can shop til we drop today in preparation for the festivities.   Tomorrow is International Worker’s Day and Mexico (as well as we, when we were in the US) celebrates, and then we’ll all be taking the next 4 days off as Mexico tries to decrease the spread of the new virus.  That’s about all the virus talk I’m up for today.

I don’t know why I continue to run when it seems like I’m constantly injuring myself.  I tore/strained/pulled a different calf muscle last week (my sister is certain it was a kharmic equation) and began running again a couple days ago.  I’m still recovering from a fall I took (injurying my patellar tendons) and I still can’t stretch the quad on that leg.  So why do I do it?  What motivates me to continue to try to run in the heat and humidity and injuries I continue to reap?  I honestly am stymied but I’ve found something that doesn’t really feel like exercise and I am loving the results of this “non exercise”.  I gained 3 kilos during the visit of my family and I’m down one as of yesterday, but I seem to be forever stuck in the 77-78 kilo range.  I’m hoping that this redoubled effort to lose the 3 I gained will result in further loss; down in the lower 70’s.

I thought we had found a muchacha for our palapa – she did a marvelous job last Tuesday and I expected her to return today, but either our immense load of dirt and mess caused her to run for safety or she’s under the weather or something else.  I really hope she comes back.  She could do some magic cleaning and I even bought her some Fabuloso.  Maybe I should use it myself.  And that’s the news from the Caribbean – now I need to clean and clean and school and find a printer.

I’m not sure why I insist on running

At least once a day we’re mopping the floor of the comedor.  With copious amounts of water, soap and sometimes bleach.  There is SO MUCH water on the floor we need the squeegee and mops and many rags to get up all the cleaning items.  Are we addled by the influenza porcino?  Nah, just absently allowing the washer to overflow again.

Jamie worked his magic fingers on our washer and it is spinning its heart content again, but in order to get all the water out of the drum, we need to lower the exit hose to a waiting garrafon.  Except sometimes we forget the hose is in the garrafon and an entire rinse cycle spills on the floor.  So again, we have a Very Clean Comedor.  And again, our neighbors wonder why we’re such clean fanatics.

Jamie also recently worked his magic fingers on the van and we have moved from a frequently working van to an always working van.  Much more convenient that way.

The boys are on the mend, the sore throats going away, fevers decreasing to 38C and under, and we’re now bracing for the economic fallout and possibility of a pandemic that the flu may bring.  We’re hoping for a nonevent.