Updates

Sunday, May 17, 2009
We came to the mall near our house today after we found out that they have free Wi-Fi so I am finally able to update the blog. Today we went to church and it was so good to worship with our friends here again. After church, we took Juana to our house so she could see it and we also had lunch. She was our first house guest to have share a meal with us at our house. After that, we walked Juana home and we were able to see where she lives and we also went over to the Dixon's. The kids got along very well. They started here at EV last September. They have one son, Luke, who is nine years old. After We visited at their house, they came over to our house so now we know where more people live. Well, since the rest of this blog is so long, I will leave it at that for today.

Here is news from the Friday and Saturday.

Friday, May 15, 2009

We are now on our third full day here. This morning we got all the bedrooms arranged and set up. Of course we don’t have beds for the kids yet but they are sleeping on blow up camping mattresses that we were advised to get before coming. It was very good advice. It feels good to have some rooms looking like they are put together and more like they are part of a home. It is wonderful to hear the kids’ talk about our house. Erin says she likes it better than any of our other houses. Jonathan, this morning, said, “I love this house.” Erin told Jim that she and Jonathan were all settled in to their rooms and asked if we could get a dog now. He told her that we would talk. We actually saw one at an adoption place yesterday that fit the perfect description of what we wanted. We want a dog that is good with the kids but can be a watch dog. We also don’t want one less than one year old. We saw a one year old Mexican dog. That’s what they call them and you can tell because they just have a certain look. It is more like a mutt dog but the shop keeper said they are very noble dogs and good with kids. Erin was looking at a cute puppy but we will hold our own on that one. We are not getting a puppy.

Jim picked up our new dryer so now we have our refrigerator, washer and dryer. Because we can only take so much money out of our bank account each day with our ATM card, we had to get each piece separate. We are very pleased with our purchases because after pricing the same units in places like Walmart, we basically got the dryer for free, not a bad deal. Jim also said that he has not seen a refrigerator as big as ours in any of the stores we have compared with. I have washed one load but we can’t use the dryer until we get a converter for a different kind of gas. So, this afternoon we need to get some clothes line, clothes pins and hangers.

Last night we went grocery shopping. I will say it was not a fun experience or as easy as I may have made it out to be before we left the states. I forgot my translator so when buying things like flour, I kind of guessed that I was buying regular white flour. You can also only get flour in 1 kilo bags. The laundry soap aisle was incredibly difficult. I think I ended up buying what is the equivalent to Tide. The only reason I think that is because it had the same coloring and design. Think about going into your local grocery store and not seeing anything familiar and not being able to read the packages. We are also finding that the stores are not organized the same way as in the US. You may find cookware on one side of the store and expect to find the bake ware in the same place. But no, the bake ware is over by the small kitchen appliances which are also on the other side of the store from everything else you would use for the kitchen. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

Some of the groceries are very expensive. Things that are cheap in the states are very expensive here. I looked at very small bag of chicken nuggets and they were 149.50 pesos. That’s equivalent to about $11.50 USD. My guess is that it is because it is all processed but I hope their sign was just wrong. I didn’t buy any. I also looked at hot dogs and they were almost $3.00 USD for a small package. I guess we won’t be having hot dogs unless they are cheaper at Costco. So, I bought some dried black bean and some rice and I got my Mexican cookbooks out. I will be looking for some recipes. Other items are pretty close to the same prices as in the states. The kids are doing so well with everything that it is boggling our minds. Jonathan was complaining last night that we have not had any real Mexican food since we left Matamoros.

Last night we had our first dinner here in our new house and it was on Erin’s birthday. I found it takes a lot longer to cook spaghetti noodles because of the altitude, but they do cook. I also made a cake which was cool. I had to cook it for about 10 extra minutes but it turned out really good. Erin was happy.




We are waiting for a power bill from the landlord to be able to set up Internet at our house. You cannot sign up for it without a power bill for this address. It doesn’t have to have our names on it so they are trying to just get one from the landlord and not have to wait until it comes to the house. For those that have e-mailed me, I am sorry for not responding. I have not had a chance yet to check my e-mail. When I get to EV I have had just enough time to post the blog and then we are on our way again.

Good news, the landlord just stopped by and gave us a copy of the power bill so hopefully Jim will be able to set up a time with Ryan to go set up the Internet installation. So, on Mexican time, hopefully we will have it set up within one week. I guess we will see. That’s all for now.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Today we went to look for furniture. One of the couples here, Rene and Kate, took us to where they got their furniture. It is rustic looking, very durable and not too expensive. We really liked there furniture so we decided to buy our furniture at the same place. We picked out a couch, love seat, chair, coffee table and two end tables for the living room. For the dining room we bought a table with six chairs and a hutch. For the kids’ rooms we bought bed with drawers under them and they each got a night stand. Erin got a full size bed so that when we have company (hint, hint) they can sleep in her room. Jonathan got a twin bed. We got a king size bed with draws under it, a dresser with mirrors, and two nightstand. We also got a computer desk, an entertainment center and a book case. All of that came to 21,500 pesos or $1,653.00 USD. We thank the Lord for the good exchange rate. Rene talked to them about the price and they threw in free delivery. We will receive the furniture next Friday afternoon. We are all very excited about it. Once we got home and looked at our space, we tried to figure out just where everything was going to fit. I am sure we will figure it all out once it gets here.

We also made another purchase today. Remember we had told the kids all along that we would get a dog when we moved to Mexico? The Mexican dog we have been looking at is a bit malnourished and he was abandoned but he has always seemed very friendly. Well, we bought the dog today and brought him home. The first thing we did was give him food and water and he devoured both while wagging his tail. I told the kids that he would need to go out soon after he ate but we didn’t do it quite soon enough. He went upstairs with the kids and then proceeded to pee while walking down the stairs. We immediately brought him outside and he did the other business also. At least we have all tile floors which are much easier to clean. Tonight we took him for a walk and passed a veterinarian’s office and brought him in. We asked how old they though he was and the vet figured he was about five to six months old. Well, so much for not getting a puppy. The adoption place told us he was a year old. Jim asked how big the vet thought he would get. The vet said he was a very common dog and he will be about 20 kilos. After converting that to pounds, Jim said that would be about 45 pounds. He seems very well behaved for a puppy. He already understands that he is not allowed in the kitchen. The kids named him and his name is Nacho. Jim and I kind of liked Lucky or Happy but Nacho is what his name is. I think he will fit in very nicely with our family.


On the way home from our walk, there was a turkey in a yard that we past. It was pretty funny because it was almost like a guard turkey. It was gobbling at us quite a bit. I took a picture of it and I am not sure if it was Nacho standing there or the flash from the camera, but the beard on it turned bright red. Then he was puffing up his feathers to show how big he was. It was pretty funny.



Tomorrow is church and we are very excited to go. We have not been to church in several weeks and we always enjoy worshipping with the people here.

I hope to get this blog update on the blog tomorrow so it is not back dated too far. I know it is hard for our family and friends when they don’t hear from us and we will be very happy when the Internet is installed at our house. Jim and Ryan will be going on Monday at 8:30 AM so we are hoping that it will be installed by the end of the week. We are missing the contact with everyone also.