Dress Up Days and Independence Musings

I have been excited about Clara starting school for a number of reasons and one of them was for all the dress up days that Mexican preschoolers are expected to participate in.  First of all, there´s Independence Day, where all the children were asked to come wearing some regional costume.  There´s about 8 different regions in Mexico that all sport different ways of traditional dress.  Fortunately for us, Clara´s teacher asked that the girls wear a China Poblana skirt (typical from the state of Puebla).  Clara´s abuela made Clara and her girl cousins china poblana skirts for the bicentinneal three years ago--whew!  (Of course, if we didn´t have one on hand, we could have easily found one at the market downtown.)

The other dress-up days are November 20, where all the kids are supposed to dress like revolutionaries (as it´s the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution).  The boys all sport mustaches.  That´s my favorite.  Then they´ll dress up again on March 21st, for the first day of Spring.  Then they´re expected to dress like animals, butterflies, flowers, etc.  Kind of makes up for the  hardcore-ness of Revolution Day. 

Thanks to Clara´s homework the other day--we were supposed to tell our kids about Mexican Independence and then Clara was supposed to draw something about what she heard--this is the first Independence Day that she´s ever been clued into.  As in, she had a bit of a clue about what was going on and why.  I explained about the grito, when at 11pm on the 15th of September every year the Mexican president (and every governor and mayor) stands on the balcony of the National Palace, waves the Mexican flag, and shouts, ¨Viva Mexico!  Viva Mexico!  Viva Mexico!¨  (He also sends some shout-outs to the big-wig leaders of the Independence movement.)  The president does this in rememberence of Miguel Hidalgo doing more or less the same thing 203 years ago, kicking off the War for Independence.  Anyway, even a few days after explaining the grito to Clara, she remembered it, thought that sounded pretty cool, and nearly

stayed up to watch it.  Maybe next year. 

I was kind of sad that she wasn´t able to stay up and see the grito, too.  It´s very ¨pomp and circumstance¨ and would seem very silly except that it is really rather moving.  No matter what we think about the current president (who gets to do the grito), it´s still touching.  No matter how many thing we may complain about what may be wrong with this country, it´s a time that all Mexicans get together and boldly claim that this is THEIR country and they´re still proud to be Mexican.  Like I said, it´s a bit moving. 

And it makes me sad for my country, in a way.  Despite our fireworks and Fourth of July barbecues and Star Spangled Banners before sporting events, we have no one big ceremony to bring us all together like that.  (Then again, given the US´s rampant patriotism, maybe we don´t need that in the same way that Mexico does.)

So, in the end, I´m happy to be a guest in another country and grateful that I get to see the way that people in other countries get to celebrate being an independent nation, too.    

We´re Back . . . with a survey, to boot!

After our yearly, month-long hiatus in the US, we´re back!  But with readjusting, getting used to a school schedule, wrapping our heads around friends leaving, I was just out of blogging energy. 
But then I remembered that I was tagged in a *5 Things* survey, and realized that this is a project that I can handle in my current, fragile emotional state.  (Don´t worry, I don´t think it will last long!)

So, because I´m still a sucker for a survey, here goes: 

5 Things I Have a Passion For:

• my family
• Mexico (despite that my continued residence in this country is currently driving me nuts)
• a healthy planet
• treating others well (or social justice, or just plain ´ol justice, if you prefer)
• Drawing closer to my Creator, or contentment, or living in the moment, because they all seem to be connected.

5 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

• Walk across an entire state on the Appalachian Trail
• Do a cartwheel
• Do a handstand/headstand
• Go camping with my family, preferably at the Indiana Dunes
• Live longer stretches of time in contentment

5 Things I Say a Lot:

• WHY are you crying?  (I have a two-year-old who has the emotional range of . . . a two-year-old.)
• chingao (but only when I drive--I swear!)
• So . . . (I must begin most sentences with this, as my daughter does, too.)
• 5, 4, 3, 2, 1  (The time frame I give my kids to comply with a request of mine, after I´ve warned them of said change of activity.)
• So are you going to have ____?  (I´m a social eater, so if I´m craving something but know I´m not really hungry, I´ll wait until the hubs grabs a snack, or egg him on until he does.)

5 Books/Magazines I´ve Read Lately:

• Yellow Rose by Gilbert Morris
• Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
• The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond
• The Sunday newspaper
• Managing Mexico by Sarah Babb

5 Favorite Movies:

• Big Fish
• V for Vendetta
• Pride & Prejudice (both the Kiera Knightly and BBC versions . . . they both have their place)
• The Illusionist
• The Princess Bride

5 Places I´d Like to Visit:

• Ravenna, Italy
• I´d like to float in an innertube in a cenote in the Yucatan
• Baja California wineries
• I´d like to walk across at least part of northern Spain on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage
• La Huasteca region of San Luis Potosi

5 People I´d Like to Tag:

• Mami from Our Little Life
• Amanda from Borders Aside
• Krystal from Love my Husband More Than the USA
• Linda Lou at Good2Go2Mexico
• Sarah, the Greenga Girl

¡¡¡¡¡¡???????????¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡??????????????¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡????????????????¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡??????????

Note:  While I was gone, my computer got a makeover and a new version of Windows was installed.  I´m so excited and this is working soooo much faster.  Awesome. 

          But on the downside, this version of Windows was bought in Mexico and has therefore changed my English keyboard into a Spanish keyboard.  Ugh . . . (On the upside, I can now write in Spanish and include all my ñ´s and accented vowels fairly effortlessly.)  But I do have a wrack my brain a bit to figure out where all the punctuation marks should be, as all the stickers on my keyboard are still those of an English keyboard.

          And, for some reason this will not let me highlight information, so I can´t link the abovementioned blogs.  ¨sigh¨    I´ll be working on this.  And working on figuring out where the star symbol went.

      But YAY for faster internet!

Signs of Fall . . . already?

Yesterday at the butcher's I noticed a bowl full of pomegranates on the counter.  As the butcher handed me the 10 hot dogs I came in for, I asked if they were selling the pomegranates. 

Nope.  They were giving them away. 

Free pomegranates! 

I must have looked pretty excited about that, because instead of giving me two free pomegranates that I thought was reasonable, he chucked FOUR in the bag! 

The butchers are now officially my favorite neighbors.  ;)

So, for a grand total of 30 pesos, I walked out with 10 hot dogs and 4 very robust pomegranates. 

What a great day!

Parque Deportivo

Two years ago, dear friends of ours moved away from Saltillo.

Almost exactly two years later, they were able to come back for a visit!

We planned on meeting up at a park the other day.  My vote was all for the Gran Bosque Urbano.  They haven't ever been there, and I can't spend enough time there.  However, they have fond memories of the Parque Deportivo.  And, as their time in Saltillo is more limited, we met up at the Parque Deportivo.

I was so glad we did.

While Clara and I have been there before, it was when she was a baby and couldn't enjoy the park.  Furthermore, she was strapped to my back in a baby carrier, which made me hot and exhausted.

This time around we took full advantage of:

The giant slides!

More giant slides!

Swings!

More play equipment!  Although it was the icky, run-down variety, there were a few useful, safe-looking pieces.

The lake!

With ducks, so Joey could use his amazing quacking skills!

We did not take advantage of:

The tennis courts

More tennis and squash courts.  They apparently offer tennis leagues and classes for all ages, every day of the week, morning and afternoon.  Information in the clubhouse.  (Not sure where that would be.)

Mechanical games!  They weren't running the day we went.  Whew!

We did see these little, four-wheeled "bikes".  I was fascinated.  After watching them throughout our picnic, I decided that we HAD to go on one.  As I loaded kids into our chosen vehicle and was about to wheel away, reality crashed down on me and the man who was renting the "bikes" demanded payment.  Of course.

Turns out they're $20 pesos for a 10 minute ride.  Not bad, but I normally wouldn't pay that much for a mere 10 minutes.  However, after being embarrassed by almost running off with one, I probably would have shelled out whatever he asked. And, it turns out that 10 minutes on the little track they have is more than enough time.  My 10-year-old co-pilot was pretty exhausted at the end of it!

So, thank you friends for re-introducing me to the Parque Deportivo!  We will be back.

*******************************************************************************
The Parque Deportivo is just north of the Walmart on Reforma.  It's very, very close to the baseball stadium, and it hugs various buildings on the UA de C campus.  Coming from downtown, I took Coss east, to Nazario Ortiz Gonzalez.  Turn left on Nazario Ortiz Gonzalez, and almost immediately took a right on an unlabeled side street.  Parking on the street--so don't leave ANYTHING valuable in your car!

Or, the Ruta 6 (orange buses) go past the Walmart on Reforma.  Get off at Walmart, cross the new, big, red pedestrian bridge, walk north a block or two, and BAM!  There's the park!

Photo Fails

While we had been planning to drive to Indiana for our annual trip to the midwest, it turned out that it wasn't a great deal more expensive to fly.  A bit more cash for one day of travel versus 3 or 4 solid days in the car?  Sign me up.

However, this meant that we had to get Joey a new Mexican passport.  We hadn't planned on renewing it, as they don't check documents on this side of the border when entering by car.  But the airports sure do.  And the Mexican government decreed last year that ALL Mexicans entering Mexico needed to have a Mexican passport upon entering Mexico.  Merely providing children's birth certificates would no longer suffice.  Now, I don't know what they might do if I were to plead ignorance of this new rule (fines, no doubt), but it seems to be a matter of pride for Mario that the kids also sport their Mexican passports.

So we renewed Joey's passport this week.

Or we tried to.

And we tried.

And the third time was a charm!

This passport photo, while adorable, sported hair covering his forehead.  No dice.

Retake.  Clean forehead.  But the pixels were too obvious, apparently.  And there may have been too much hair around his ears.  

Despite being washed-out, this ugly polaroid was the winner.  Never mind that Joey doesn't look like himself. 

So, if you're in need of Mexican passport photos for Mexican nationals (the visa office for foreigners is much more forgiving), find the one photographer in town who still uses film.  Not a digital camera. While it was a pain to get his pictures retaken this many times, I am glad they didn't send our completed passport package off to Torreon, just to have the photos rejected there and start the process again, a week later. 

If you're in Saltillo, looking for non-digital passport photos, JR Botas, right across the street from the passport office, provides that service. 

Complete with a spray bottle of water and free use of their comb.  Which I clearly used liberally. 

Vacation Bible School--Mexico Style!

This year, the stars aligned so that . . .
   
 1) we weren't on vacation, and
 2) Clara was finally old enough

to attend Vacation Bible School! 


OK, truth be told, she and I helped out at Vacation Bible School at the International Church when she was 1, so this wasn't exactly the first time. 

But this time it's at our neighborhood Catholic church and,

        1) it's her first time going by herself
        2) it's all in Spanish (OK the International Church one was, too)
        3) we could see snippets of how "Vacaciones con Jesus" works without this year's Christian-Publisher-of-Choice's-Themed-VBS-Curriculum.  For those of you doing VBS in the US--don't get me wrong, I've done plenty of VBS in the US and have experienced and enjoyed that pre-packaged, themed curriculum.  But I miss singing standard songs, as opposed to Themed-Song-of-the-Year.  (On CD, with full band accompaniment . . . I used to be the piano accompanist.  I'm still a little bitter about getting "fired" because my job got automated (although I realize the necessity in most communities.))

First of all, it may prove helpful to give one a little background about summers in Mexico:

     1) school gets out at the beginning of July.  Kids only have 6 weeks of summer vacation. 
     2) Everywhere and their brother sets up a side business during those 6 weeks, offering "Summer Camps."  Camps often in the loosest terms, as the library runs a 6-week long "camp", many gyms offer "summer camp", the museum offers a "camp", even an apartment down the street from me that was for rent a month ago, is now offering "summer camp".  (There is the occasional place that is actually a camp.  Whew!)
      3)  All of these places charge a hefty fee, of course.  Why else are they all crawling out of the woodwork?  (OK, I don't think the library does.  But everyone else does.)
      4) Did I mention that you send your kids there every day, almost all day, for the entirety of their summer vacation? 

Now, yes, I realize for most families these are needed and wonderful services, because most families don't have a parent at home for most of the day.  So, yay Summer "Camps"! 

However, we're not one of those families. Organized activity all day, every day for my four-year-old sounds a bit much to me. 

So I was thrilled when my church announced VBS for preschool-elementary aged kids for two weeks this month.  Two weeks.  10-12.  For free. Awesome. 

As I told Clara, it would be practice for school.  She'd have real teachers, have to navigate Spanish on her own, and I would not be there.  Good practice for both of us.

It has been excellent practice.  She was a bit nervous the first day, but fortunately for us, our neighbor, the oft-mentioned Rosario, who Clara loves, was teaching VBS the first two days.  Smooth sailing.

Then, in typical Clara-fashion (much like with her failed dance class in January) she decided that she had enough of VBS after the first day.  Too bad.  I told her we committed and that she was going every day.  This is why this is practice for school.  I can see her coming back from school her first day, brimming with stories of the things she did and how she loved it.  Then declaring that she had enough and was not going back.  Sorry, kid.  That's not how school works.

Anyway, we plowed through, and she was a bit sad that there wasn't any VBS on Saturday or Sunday.  We arrived a bit late on Monday, and when we walked in it didn't look like there were any available seats.  But after a second or two of standing in the doorway a table full of girls pulled out an empty seat and enthusiastically waved, "Clara--come sit over here!" 

There are only about 4 preschoolers in the group, and Clara is the only one without an older brother or sister, so she is very popular!

So how does VBS work without the pre-canned program?  Stretch your memories people--just like it did in the US twenty years ago!  (This is one of those instances that I LOVE when Mexico seems to be a generation behind the status quo in the US.)  They sing--sometimes without accompaniment!  They color.  They hear stories.  They play games.  They have snack.  It seems to work out well. 

And do the volunteers get exhausted by doing VBS for two weeks?  Not at all--every two days, there's a new group that does it!  At first, I was a little concerned about this staffing shift.  Who would watch out for my baby?  Not to worry--Clara's new best friends (of the 8 & 9 year-old set) are all tripping over themselves in the effort to help her. 

She mentioned today that they love her and she loves them. 

I think VBS has been a success! 

Will I Be Known As THAT Lady?

After a great month of being a hermit, I decided I needed to shake things up a bit.

Then I realized that the Fourth of July was rounding the corner and I hadn't celebrated it for four years.  Time to break that tradition.

Over the last few months, and particularly weeks, gringos have just been coming out of the woodwork in Saltillo.  In April, I met a fellow gringo at our OXXO (convenience store) who lives a street away from us.  He and his wife have been dividing their time between Saltillo and the US for 10 years--how have I not run into them before?!?  Then a few weeks ago, not one--but two--new gringo families started going to the International Church. I've met one family.  The other family has been slipping by me.  However, I almost ran into them at the grocery store checkout.  I think the wife/mom recognized me from church.  She seemed to smile at me (we were a good 30 yards apart, so I couldn't be sure) and I was about to yell, "HEY--WANT TO COME TO MY FOURTH OF JULY PARTY?"

Then I decided that I didn't really want to be known as That Woman Who Yelled At Me At The Grocery Store, so I let her go about her merry way.

Then again, maybe I do want to be known as Crazy Gringa, as I met another half-gringo/half-Mexican family a few days later at the vaccine clinic (seriously, we're coming out of the woodwork).  We exchanged pleasantries as we were leaving the clinic, "How long have you been here?  Where are you from?", etc.  It was on the tip of my tongue to invite these complete strangers to my Fourth of July party.  Like me, she has been here since her marriage in 2007 (which she did not seem to think it was the amazing coincidence I thought it was, *sigh*).  Unlike me, she had the air of someone who had an outside job (ie:  engages in adult conversation on a daily basis) and yelling at them across the parking lot to invite them to my house might make me appear odder than I already appeared.

OK, maybe it doesn't take a "real" job to make that seem real odd.  

But despite all my missteps, we did manage to gather some friends, both new and established, and we celebrated the US, in our own ways, 3 hours south of the border.  I'm not usually one to be an organizer, but I'm glad I did.  It turned out to be one of my favorite weekends of 2013. 

On the other hand, with my Permanent Residence card en route, it been getting clearer to me that this odd focus I have on finding gringo/foreign friends is a bit skewed.  Not that I don't love my international community here--I do, and I sure don't want to lose any of you!  However, I do speak Spanish fluently and I do live clear across town from the "international" section of town, so having a clear preference for English-speaking friends seems a bit silly.  (Which I don't know is a real preference.  It's simply easier to make friends with others who don't already have family and scores of friends based on a lifetime of living here.)

So, in light of this, perhaps I'll host a posada at Christmas for my neighbor friends.  And my gringo friends.  It's a rather all-inclusive time of year.