Mishaps and Life

Sometimes it seems that life is a never-ending saga of stress and love. It´s been so tough down here. I can´t even begin to describe it, but I wouldn´t change the challenges I´ve had for the world. It has definitely made me a much stronger person!!! The first part of June the house I live in got broken into and my computer and camera were taken. They were the only things. Gotta love that. So unfortunately, my communication with the outside world has been cut dramatically. I make it to the internet maybe once a week. It´s really annoying. What sucks the most about all of it, however, is the fact that all my photos from 3 years were on that computer as well as all my new photos of here and my son. I also don´t have a camera now to record everything again. It breaks my heart everytime I think about it. But stressing about it won´t bring it back, so I´ve done my best to move on.

My English classes are going well. I love it!! I have picked up one private lesson and she is a very fascinating woman. Her name is Bellen and I teach her twice a week at her Spa. Yes, you read it correctly. She opened and runs her very own spa. It´s awesome. She has done so much in her life and it fascinating to hear her talk about everything.

Things with my husband are okay. Ya know, it´s so stressful here and every little thing tends to inflame our stressful situation. He had a bought with the ocean a couple of weeks ago. He got carried out in the tide and almost drowned. Thank heaven that a surfer noticed his distress and got him back into shore. It was very scary and I couldn´t do anything from the shore. I had a sleeping baby in my arms. I freaked out!! Wouldn´t you? To top that off, that weekend, he lost his job. It was SO AWESOME!! Honestly, it doesn´t get much better than getting robbed, almost losing your husband and then having our meager income made even more meager. I love it!!

However, there are a few things that have been great!! Every morning we see our neighborhood iguanas hanging out in the sun. It´s so cool to see those things just right there on the street. Last weekend it finally rained and as we were driving up the dirt road to get to the house, crabs were walking alongside the car. They were good sized. I´ve never seen anything like that before in my life! It was cool.

I finally went skinny dipping in my pool. It´s about time. I´ve been here almost 2 months and hadn´t been. There´s nothing like the freedom of nakedness. Ha! Ha!

My son is so cute. I know I may be prejudice, but he really is!! He is getting bigger everyday and it´s amazing to watch the development. He´s very determined to get his way and will stop at nothing to get it. It´s interesting how stubborn he is. We have a walker for him and our house has amazing marble floors and TONS of space for him to walk/run around on. He is everywhere and we had to put up gates around everything, ie the indoor pòol and the pooltable. If you say no, it automatically means YES. Imagine that!!

The mosquitos are a KILLER here. There is also a red ant that is in everyting and they bite. What a pain. And last night, a bat got into the house. Just a little one, but one nevertheless. We got him out this morning.

That´s a quick update on things here. I hope you´re all well. I would have posted pictures, but no camera. Hopefully one will appear soon. Who knows?!

It's been a whole month!!!

I can't believe that it's been a month. I was telling Maria today that it seems like it's only been a week or so. I can't thank the Lord enough for the people that he has sent me here and my friend Michael who has helped us out dramatically!! The family that takes care of the house where we are staying has become ours. If it wasn't for them and their support and love of us, I don't think we'd still be here. They have helped me out so much with Aiden, cooking and destressing!! My other friend here is Gina. She does the rentals at the Chateau and we've really been a support for eachother!! And then there's Michael. I can't begin to thank him enough!! There aren't words for the appreciation I have towards him!!!

My students are so fabulous and quickly becoming an inspiration to me. I love getting up early to get to my morning class. They are happy and friendly and genuinely excited about learning and having me there. I enjoy feeling accepted and wanted. Does that make sense? My evening students are just as giving. One of them has invited me to his home on Saturday for his 2-year-olds birthday. I'm looking forward to going!! It should be a nice outing for my small family. I'm really hoping that I'll pick up some other classes soon. The school that I'm working for has picked up most likely 3 more classes starting the first of June. I get at least one of them for sure. That will be great! I've decided that my calling in life was to be a teacher. I love it so much!! I'm learning all kinds of things about English grammar that I had no idea about. And it really gets my brain going trying to think of ways to explain the rules that just are "normal" to me in my everyday speaking.

Ben is finally working. Mike told us not to settle, but we were getting desperate. The good thing about this job is that it isn't under contract so we can continue to look for something else in the meantime. He's so much more at ease now that he has an income, a small one, but it's something. Depending on his paycheck Friday, he gets paid weekly, we'll go from there deciding how many more hours he should pick up. I'm hoping that once "on-season" comes back around . . . July . . . something with more money will pop up. It's just that right now, nobody is hiring. We'll see.

Aiden continues to make new noises and sounds on a daily basis. Today he's discovered that his vocal chords make a very loud and piercing squeak. Not something I particularly like!! However, his personality is unbelieveable!! He is so happy and cheerful all the time. It's been interesting to watch him grow . . . not necessarily physically . . . but mentally and emotionally. He's very smart and knows what he likes and does NOT like. He's very vocal about it. He knows he's cute and plays that to his advantage. Maria and he family give him so much love and attention that he is almost unbearable when they aren't here. He still LOVES to jump in his jumperoo but he's now learning to walk in a walker that we found in the office. He's really good at going backwards, but I'm guessing in time that I'll be chasing him around the house. He also continues to love the water. Any kind of water whether it be the pool, the shower, the kitchen sink or the hose. He discovered that yesterday. He had his first professional massage today. He pee'd all over he and the kitchen table. I can't begin to put into words my embarrassment. She only laughed and told me that that was pay enough. The Mexican people sure love kids and don't give a second thought to burping in church, farting at the store or peeing all over them. Kudos to them!! Ha! Ha! The other day I was teaching Maria how to bake brownies. We gave Aiden the spatula. The attached picture is of that. Man did he love it!!

Yesterday I witnessed a funeral parade. It was truly fascinating!! There was the hurse and then people walking behind it and following the people walking was a band playing very happy music. Because the person who had died had been a taxi driver, there were about 50 taxi's following the band. It was very interesting. Maria was with me and I asked her if all funeral processions played happy music and she said it was up to the family. I would definitely want a Happy Parade!!!

Another thing here that I've noticed is the amount of people they fit into a car. When I was back at the Ranch, Ben's uncle showed up in a 2-door car. I watched as 8 people emerged. Besides the fact that they were CRAMMED in there, there was no airconditioning and it was about 95 degrees outside. It was unbelieveable! It's totally normal here in Mexico. I always wondered why the Mexicans in Salt Lake tried to get as many people in the car as possible. Now I know. That's what the do here. Seatbelts and Carseats for kids are non-existant. Ben's sister had never put a seatbelt on in her entire life and had to ask me how to do it. I was SHOCKED needless to say!! I just have to remember that this is a different place with different perogatives. Not exactly what I would choose, but ya know, they aren't me!!!

It's been hot here in Manzanillo! 85 degrees with the humidity making it about 120. I'm NOT kidding!! I changed clothes yesterday about 5 times in an hour. I have to dress nice for work in the morning, and then I have to plan my wardrobe around carrying Aiden. He pulls on my clothes until they're almost stretched out completely. I tried to wear a dress yesterday, but learned very quickly that it didn't "breathe." Therefore, it will not be worn again until it cools off a bit! If any of you plan to come visit, PLEASE wear "breatheable" clothing!!!

My Little Man

Well, we've been here about 2 1/2 weeks now and things are okay. Ben is still not working and I only work 4 hours a week, but we're hanging in there! Thank heaven for our little man!! He is so happy and good that we are able to keep going! He lifts our spirits minute by minute. I can't explain it . . . I know all parents feel that way, but I do especially!! We are in such a stressful situation that it's so wonderful having a happy baby that loves to smile and laugh! He has been an absolute joy and is that way for everyone that he comes in contact with. You can't help but fall in love with his smile. I thank God everyday for him and his fabulously sweet disposition! The attached video gives you a little bit of the joy we get on a daily basis!!!

This Week . . .

Things are moving along here. I finally have a job that I can tell. I didn't want to jinx myself by telling everybody. I tend to do that! I'm working at an English School and at a hotel as concierge. I'm really excited about both of them. I taught my first class this morning. It's at a business called Tuny. They catch fish and can it, I think. I have 6 students and they all speak English, I just help them continue their pronunciation and grammar. I'm learning a lot of grammar that I didn't already know. It's kind of interesting. This morning we had a lesson on opinions and how to defend your opinion. We had a pretty good debate about a few different topics. It was great! I was very impressed with their ability to speak English. Tonight I am teaching another class and looking forward to it! As for the hotel, I went in to meet the owners on Saturday. I had already spoken with the owner's daughter and she didn't think I could do the concierge job because of my lack of Spanish. I completely understood, but she really wanted to find another job for me at the hotel. When I met her parents on Saturday, they really wanted me to work there in some capacity, they really wanted me for concierge, but also felt that Spanish was needed. I met with the Manager/Other Owner of the Hotel who is Mexican, and he wanted me for concierge. He felt that they had enough Spanish to cover me. I just have to practice a lot. So, I went in last night and he told me that I was to start Monday. I'm really excited about it. Of course it's hardly any money, but at least it's full time and something coming in. So, my schedule is as follows, or what I want it to be,
7-9 English Teacing
9:30 - 5:30 Concierge
6-9 English Teaching
Yes I wll be VERY busy, but I love to be busy and if I love both jobs, I should be very happy!!! We really need to work on getting Ben a job. It's killing him and in turn killing me!! Aiden is doing well!! He is loving it here and getting SO much attention. In all honesty, it makes me crazy because he wants me to hold him every second of every day. Not okay with me!! But he is so dang cute!!! That's just about all that is going on. Today we may go to the beach or to see Spider Man 3. I don't know. I teach again tonight. Have a great day!!!

Finally here for good!!

Well we made it. Not without mishap however!! My mother and i drove from Salt Lake to Phoenix without any problems. I stayed there for 2 days with my mother's best friend Suzi. It was great to finally relax after a week of packing and cleaning. However, it was not good to have 2 days to continue to stress about getting across the border!! I was so nervous, I had heard horror stories. NOT my favorite. I finally talked with Ben on Saturday night and we planned to meet at the border at 7:00am. I got to the border and got flagged over to the side. I put on a smile and got my shaking knees under control and got out of the car. The man smiled, asked me what I was doing and sent me on my way. I was shocked. As I crossed into Nogales, I looked for Ben, I actually spent 2 hours looking for Ben. He went to the wrong border crossing. By the 2 hour mark, I had lost it and started to cry. Right in front of where I parked there was a money exchange store and the guy that ran it was so nice to me and helped me look for Ben. I was very thankful considering that border towns tend to be very scary!!! We got on our way at about 9:30 and drove until our fanbelt went out at about 7:30pm. Thank heavens that we found a garage and pulled in right as the car died. The mechanic told us that everything was closed because it was Sunday and we would have to wait until tomorrow. The owner ran right over and told us that he would take Ben to the AutoZone and get the part. Of course it took 5 trips to AutoZone to get the right fitting belt and I stayed at the mechanic's shop waiting patiently each time. The owner came over and spoke with me in between each trip. Ben told me later that he had spent the entire time talking about me and how beautiful I was, how nice me legs were and that he wanted us to stay in his City. He would have me work in his shop at the computer and teach English in town. It was hilarious. Ben and I call him the horny grandpa. It was funny! We slept in the car at a gas station with about 5 other cars doing the same thing. We made it to the Ranch that night and promptly went to bed. We spent the next few days sitting around and I went CRAZY!! Sitting around is not something I enjoy for too long!! By Sunday I was so ready to leave. I spent the day at the hospital with my sister-in-law, my mother- in -law and a couple of other ladies in the Ranch. Negra (my sister-in-law) couldn't go to the bathroom and decided that the hospital was the place for her. Boy was that an interesting adventure!!! We sat outside in the waiting room, which was literally outside for 4 hours. In the meantime, a minivan pulled up and a couple of men carried in an old man that looked dead. They put him on a stretcher in the hospital then rolled him out in front of us into another part of the hospital with a white sheet over his entire body, including his head. Isn't that what you do with the dead? It was very interesting. They promptly announced his death to the family and they of course showed grief and then left. Just after that, a hurse pulled into the waiting area asked where the body was and then left. About a half hour later, he came with a coffin in the back. They took it into the room where the old man was, put him in it and then carried it back through the waiting room and into the back of the hurse. It was all rather strange!! After Negra felt better, we went home. I began packing up the car. For those of you who know how much I love animals, this next part will have you feeling for me. Ben's family has 3 dogs. One female and two males. The two males are sweethearts and are craving attention. I give it to them because nobody else there does. It drives me crazy!! So anyway, the older one and I have become great friends over the course of the past couple of months. While I was packing up the car, all of a sudden Perro went crazy, ran under my car, rolled around, made horrible noises and then ran into the bathroom, jumped into the tub and promptly died. It was AWFUL!!!! I bawled and bawled. My mother-in-law couldn't understand why I was so upset. She could've cared less. As well as everybody else in the Ranch. I was physically ill!!! I then became the laughing stock of the Ranch. Everybody knew I had cried over the death of the dog. It was horrible!! I was very ready to leave there, needless to say!!! So early Monday morning, we left and got to Manzanillo around 3:00pm. I'm really glad to be here. However, as we got up this morning, we found out that it is a Holiday and NOTHING is open. How annoying!! So, Ben and I went to a few Hotels, got numbers and names of all the Human Resource people and then bought some groceries. It is only about 85 degrees here, but the humidity KILLS me! It feels like it's 100 degrees!!! GROSS!! Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more productive!!!

The Rest of the Trip . . .

Manzanillo looks like it's going to be great!! We found a house, it's REALLY small, but has 2 bedrooms, a new fridge, microwave and stove, a washing machine and air conditioners in all the rooms. It's completely furnished and has a front and back yard. I'm really excited about it! Ben and I both loved it! The job at the Port for Ben looks really promising and I've got a couple of leads with English Schools and at a hotel. It just seems that things are falling into place. After we left Manzanillo, we went back to the Ranch and boy is that different!! There were HUGE alacrans (scorpions) on the bathroom walls, I actually washed my clothes by hand, I had to deal with a MAJOR language barrier, but hell, what's life without a few challenges. :) I'm back in Utah until Thursday and that is a disaster in and of itself!! I'm trying to pack up, clean and sanitize my house, get a million errands ran and fix things on the car before the big drive down there. I'm excited and nervous, but I know it's for the best. It really should be something else. Please remember that our door is ALWAYS open for you to come visit. We now have an extra room for you and will feel hurt if you don't take advantage of it!! Have a great week and I'll add more when I get down there sometime next week!!!

Getting Here . . .

Well everyone, we made it!! It was sure interesting getting here! Most of you know that I brought 4 kids with me including my own. For the most part they did pretty good. Security was a little stressful getting through in Utah. However, once in Mexico, the fun really started!! I had six 70lb bags that I had packed. The kids had 2 between the 3 of them and boy was that a lot of work. In Salt Lake, I had my sister and her husband helping pack everything. Once in Mexico, I had myself and 4 kids. Thank goodness for the kindness of others!! I had quite a bit of help and had no problem tipping!! Ben was of course late, as usual and we had to wait outside the terminal for him. When he pulled up and realized all the bags we had, he about died!! I had tried to warn him, but I'm guessing he didn't quite understand, I don't think anybody really did! Once in the truck we made way for La Piedad. Of course we hit traffic, it was 85 degrees and the air conditioner didn't work. Does it get better than this? I don't know . . . Once at the ranch things went well. The kids were thrilled to be there and frankly so was I. We put the jumper together for my nino and it took him awhile to figure out that it would jump like the one in Utah. Once that was figured out, it was like riding a bike. We put it outside and he went to town. I don't think the people at the Ranch had ever seen anything like that and would sit there and watch and laugh. After the first day, it was like I had never left. All the little kids came around and once again I didn't understand anything that was going on. There are 3 little girls that NEVER leave, the typical Mexican hospitality. Ha! Ha! We spent one afternoon picking garbanzo beans and hay for the cows. That was fun, something I had never done before. Other than that, the Ranch was pretty uneventful. We are now in Manzanillo and getting here was once again an adventure!!! We got about 25 minutes out of La Piedad and hit a cop stop. Because our license plates were from Utah, of course we got pulled over. I'm sure it looked funny, two Mexicans and a Gringa with a kid. They checked the car for drugs and such. They also took the car's registration and Ben's license and checked all that out. It took about 45 minutes. We got on our way again and made it here about 8:30pm. Aiden did great until we actually got into the City and then it was a done deal. However, our rooms were ready and cool and bed was something I was looking forward to! The bed back at the Ranch just about killed me and here the mattresses are brand new! FABULOUS!! The day after we arrived, we went grocery shopping to get the food and just hung out. Ben and I got massages and his sister sat in the pool for an hour. She's never been in a pool before and never seen the ocean. It's been fun to see her reactions!! Today, I had my job interview and on the way there, we got lost . . . of course. We finally found the place, right where we started and I met with Troy. He was very nice, however, I don't speak Spanish and he was unable to help me. BUT . . . I got the inside to getting Ben a job and we're going to get his resume over to Troy tomorrow and get that underway. Troy gave me a bunch of places to try to get a job teaching English. I checked out two of them, but of course they were all closed because of the Holiday this weekend. I've got numbers and will try to get ahold of them next week. Tomorrow we are going to look at a house to rent. It's small, but has 2 bedrooms and fully furnished. It also has aircondioning, a must considering the weather is unbearable until November. It is only 85 degrees, but feels like a million with the humidity. I am loving it though and am excited to finally get down here. Aiden is so happy and loves all the attention he gets! Ben is so happy to have him here. My little nino isn't so little anymore. He just keeps porking out. It's unbelieveable!! He went swimming with his poppy yesterday and today and just splashes the water everywhere. He LOVES it!! He's going to be a fish like both his parents! I hope everyone is doing well and hanging in there! Check for updates later this week!!