Making a Run for the Border

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

It’s been a LONG time coming but we’re finally on the road with the load of tools that will turn Vision Enterprises – the company my husband has operated for most of our married life – into Banderas Bay Enterprises – the company he will operate for the next part of our story. It has truly been one of the most difficult – and annoying – things we have ever tried to pull off. Trying to understand the rules of three countries we will need to drive through has been confusing at best, agonizing at worst. But today we are loaded and headed for the first of the borders we will need to cross.

Because Grant sold his company in Canada, along with most of his equipment – we only have 1 trailer (okay to be fair it’s a really full trailer) of tools to take south. It’s all of the things he feels he needs to be a Mexican building guy. It seems like it shouldn’t be that big a deal. But the regulations are many and seem impossible to navigate. For instance:

We can’t import our business truck into Mexico because of the type and year
We can drive it in as tourists but we can’t leave it there if we fly out – so if we drive it in we must drive it out
If we drive the truck in as tourists (the only way we CAN drive it in) we can’t pull the trailer because it will have to be licensed at the border and only Mexicans can drive commercial vehicles in Mexico
We can’t buy a truck in Mexico and drive it to Canada to get our stuff because only Mexicans can drive a Mexican truck in Canada – even if we own it
So we can’t drive a Canadian business truck in Mexico and we can’t drive a Mexican business truck in Canada – and who knows what the Americans have to say about it all

So we are heading for the Mexican border in our Canadian truck pulling our Canadian trailer where we will meet up with our ‘guy’ Ramses who will help us jump through all the hoops. There is a good chance Ramses’ friend will have to drive with us all the way to Bucerias to keep everyone happy.

It’s not just the vehicles that have made us crazy. The tools. You can’t just show up with a bunch of tools. Over the past few weeks we have documented every nail, every screw, every extension cord (why does Banderas Bay Enterprises need so freakin many extension cords???). Over 800 items have been logged in a spreadsheet with Make, Model, Serial Number, Value and all translated into Spanish. We have an Ebay printout for every one of those items to justify the values. We have scanned and photocopied and hole punched all those lists and put in binders. One binder for American customs, 1 or 2 for Mexican customs.

And now it is out of our hands. We have done our homework. We have made our lists. I have copies of our company incorporation papers, copies of our house lease, copies of the deed for the land we have purchased, receipts for everything I can think of, passports and drivers licenses and car and trailer registrations.

Now it is time to trust. To believe that this is the journey we are called to be on and everything will happen just as it is supposed to. I think of my favorite verse “Whether you turn to the right or to the left you will hear a voice behind you saying ‘This is the way, walk in it’”. It might be easy, it might be hard, but it will be good – because that is how God is.

In the meantime, first stop is to fix the flat tire before we even leave Regina…. Sigh…..

My Other Favorite Country

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

Not sure why, but for some reason I am happiest when I am hanging out with cute Spanish speaking children – and last week I was able to visit my other favorite group of kids in Cuba. This was the 5^th year I have taken a team of divers to train at a Sports school in Matanzas, Cuba. This is part of my job which I think is pretty dang cool. Some of the Cuban divers have been at the school since the first year and they seemed as excited to see me as I was to see them. Lots of hugs, lots of kisses, lots of Spanglish charades.

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Cuba reminds me of Mexico in many ways, but under the surface it is really completely different. There seems to be a common attitude within the people of Latin American countries– a love of family, a simplicity of lifestyle, a lack of material expectations, a pride in music and culture, a unity with the outdoors, a joy in friends and life, a curiosity and acceptance of us visitors. But there are also differences. Mexico is very entrepreneurial. Old women set up a couple of tables in the street and call it a restaurant, teens juggle on street corners, children sell gum on the beach. For good or bad, everyone works to earn a small wage because there is no such thing as government social services. If you want to eat, you have to work. In Cuba, the government takes care of the basic needs of its people and it is very difficult to get ahead in any way. The people are provided with the necessities but the provisions are sparse and there is little opportunity to have or do anything beyond the bare minimum. In both countries, the children I work with are very poor but for different reasons.

The Sports school we visit each year is a residential facility housing children who train in many different sports: swimming, wrestling, track and field, soccer, basketball, water polo, synchro swimming, gymnastics and of course diving. These children are aged 8-18 and have come from all over the country, identified as children who have exceptional talent and potential in their sport. Some ride buses 2 or 3 hours to visit home on the weekends, but many live too far away and only see home and family a couple of times a year. These children have 1 or 2 outfits to wear, 1 bathing suit, 1 pair of shoes. They live in bare dorms and eat simple meals. Each year our Team Sask divers bring many suitcases (we call them Love Suitcases) filled with gifts from Value Village and Dollarama and our own closets to share with these sweet children. They have much pressure on them to succeed – if they win a medal at an Olympic Games or World Championship, they will receive income for life. This will completely change the lives of their families and I remember one little boy who said he wanted to be a good diver so his mother could move out of her small home with dirt floors. Their coach will also get that same amount of lifetime income for that medal. The income we are talking about is small. Coaches, who are employees of the government, earn $20 per month. A gold medal, will mean $100 a month for life. But that does not mean they will be rich. It is true that the government provides housing to the coaches for a couple of dollars a month, and provides a small food ration, but a pair or running shoes costs $100. 5 months’ salary for a coach to buy a pair of runners. T-shirts are $14. A litre of gasoline is $1.50. So $20 does not go far. That medal is coveted. My good friend Jorge, who is now a coach, finished in 4^th place at the Olympics – can you imagine the pain of 4^th place when 3^rd would give you basic security for life?

IMG_20160404_093459 My favorite little boy is Roberto. I met Roberto 4 years ago when he was 10. For some reason he and I just hit it off and became fast friends. I send him letters and gifts when I know a Cuban coach is coming to a meet in Canada. I tell him to always work hard in diving and in school and in life. Last year he gave me a little sculpture that had my name painted on the bottom. “To Karen, Love Roberto”. I have gotten to know his mom, who brings me fruit and sandwiches when she comes to visit Roberto at the school. I know she misses her son as he has lived away from her for at least 4 years. But I know she hopes perhaps he will win that medal. Will he secure his future with this sport? The odds are slim – but it is really the only hope they have.

Roberto and I in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 – he’s gone from a young boy to a handsome teen and always asks to take a picture with me.

Cuba is changing …. the people are uncertain if they want the change. They worry that they will become greedy or materialistic. I worry for them too. Changing a culture is hard. In the meantime, Roberto and I each shed a tear as we said goodbye. I gave him a leather bracelet to remember me by, he asked when I would be back. Next year right? Yes Roberto, next year. Maybe I will come back sooner this time. I will try. Te amo mi amigo.

This is another new friend. I met Charlie and his mom Daylin last year. Daylin is trying to learn English and I am trying to learn Spanish, so we promised to be email pen pals. Charlie is one of the top divers at the school – he has a shot at that medal. I cross my fingers for him… I cross my fingers for them all.

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Charlie and Emmanuel trying on their wrist guards we brought for them – an important piece of protective equipment that can’t be purchased in Cuba. At first I wondered if I was being manipulated last year when Charlie’s mom asked if I could get him wrist guards – but what mom doesn’t want the best for her child? What if there was just no way to provide the best except to ask a stranger for help?

Adios Cuba. Adios my friends. I miss you already.

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Outsmarted by a Cucaracha

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

I must admit we have been pretty fortunate in the creepy crawly department – we have not had a lot of bugs or spiders bugging us. We spray around the garden and doorways from time to time and have cockroach traps in places where these little guys might try to sneak by us. But the other day, I was sitting outside reading when I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and sure enough, there was a giant cockroach looking me over. So I did what every girl would do – I screeched and put my feet on top of the table and demanded Grant deal with the intruder. Grant doesn’t love them either, so he went inside and grabbed the broom and proceeded to wage war with the tiny dinosaur. Now there’s no way an old gringo is going to be faster than a cockroach, so the creature ran under a plant pot to live another day. I’m okay with the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ theory of pest control and I went back to reading. Grant closed the door to ensure the scavenger did not make his way into our kitchen – and just like that we were locked out in the garden. Our house has a lot of weird locks – and when the doors close, they cannot be opened without the keys. Which were sitting on the dining room table – INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Locked OUT!

Our back yard is surrounded by a cement wall – too high to climb and topped with barbed wire. Okay, how about climbing the ladder that leads to the roof where the propane tank is stored? We (okay Grant) could climb the ladder, shimmy down the roof to our bedroom balcony and …. nope the balcony door is also locked and we always ensure the key is out of reach to prevent intruders from getting in. Not considering of course that we might be the only intruders that actually want to try. The windows? All covered with bars. Call someone? No one else has keys but us. And did I mention they are INSIDE THE HOUSE?

Ladder to the roof didn’t help, no way to get my arm in that window and around the corner …..

I admit I started to laugh – or was that hysteria? – cause what else are you going to do when you are locked in the garden with a ravenous cockroach? Our last resort was to try the window close to the door. Yes, it is covered by bars, but maybe if I breath in and twist my arm into a pretzel shape I will be able to reach the door handle. Not. But in the process Grant noticed that the broom he had used to shoo the menacing bug was standing inside next to the door…. If he could just grab it through the window and use it to push open the handle…… Bingo! We’re in. And we now have a set of keys hidden in a place you will NEVER guess but that will prevent us from perishing in the garden we love. Another potential disaster in paradise averted!

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A New Job

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

Today was the start of a new volunteer role for me! Those of you who know me won’t exactly be surprised that I have dipped my toes into the management of my favorite organization here in Bucerias. A few weeks ago Veronica asked if I would join the Steering Committee of the Manos de Amor orphanage. She already has a great committee but they all go back north to Canada or USA for ½ of the year so she liked the idea of me being here year round to lend a hand.

I have been at many committee meetings over the years – in offices and homes and boardrooms – but I have never had a walk to a meeting like this one which ended around a table on a patio under palm trees. Grant had to take our car to finalize our license plates (there’s another blog post for sure) so I walked to the meeting across town. It was so awesome as I walked to be greeted warmly by everyone I passed – and realize how many people I now know in this town. Many people who I have met – vendors, restaurant owners or waitresses, workers from the orphanage or people from the church – calling out “Hola – Buenas dias Karen”. Waving at me with huge smiles. I realized I was walking by myself – down the cobblestone streets, across the beach – with a really silly grin on my face.

Walking to a meeting – better than any boardroom I’ve ever been in!

Like most meetings I have attended over the years we talked about finances and fundraising events and websites (guess who is creating the new webpage ??) but we also talked about how to teach values to children who have never had role models, how to provide the best possible nutrition on a tight budget and how to bring love to children who have been abandoned or even sold into prostitution. It was sobering …. and exciting and while I hope some of my experience can benefit these children that I love, I recognize this will be a place where I will be the one to learn and grow and be humbled and ultimately receive much more than I can possibly give.

Job skills + education + experience + God’s assignment = JOY.

You can’t really ask for a better volunteer job than that!

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

I really love my neighborhood! So often in my life, I drive from Point A to Point B and am surprised when I arrive at my destination. I know you are the same. We put our cars – and our minds – into automatic and forget to pay attention to what is happening along the way. That is quite impossible here in Mexico. For starters, if you don’t pay attention to your driving, you will definitely be killed. Cars and motorbikes cut in and out from both lanes and it is every man for himself. Also, there is just so much to see and no matter how many times we drive or walk down the same streets, I notice something new or different or crazy that I did not notice before.

Today I want to take you on a picture tour of my neighborhood. I will barely scratch the surface of what there is to see but I hope you will feel the love I have for this place and laugh with the craziness of it.

The town of Bucerias is divided in half by Highway 200. To the west is the ocean – which of course means this is the area where the tourists and gringos live and visit. There are restaurants and galleries and pretty houses. The main towns square and the flea market are there. It is fun and you can get by speaking English and eating guacamole and drinking cheap beer. There is an OXXO (like 7-11) on every block. One the east side of the highway is the Mexican part of town. Roads are bumpier, chickens are louder and Spanish is the predominant language. There are gringos like us who live here but they are few and far between. The restaurants here are generally taco stands on the side of the road or in backyards. Instead of OXXOs, there are mini-supers on every block.

IMG_20160312_152837 Grant and I often drive or walk up and down the streets surrounding our house, exploring each block so we know where to find the local mechanic or hardware store or tortilla lady. Today I found a seamstress in a tiny shop – someone I can ask to sew new cushion covers for our garden. Sometimes we look in windows or climb up to look over fences, curious to see how our neighbors live. We feel welcome here, everyone stopping to smile and say “Hola, Buenas tardes”. Children are everywhere and are excited to speak to the gringos. When we drive our convertible around with the roof down, everyone stops what they are doing to wave, and call out to us. Here are a few things you will see when you come to visit us in our colonia.

Transportation

When you watch an old Mexican movie, you always see vehicles on blocks, covered in thick layers of dust. This is a true depiction of my neighborhood. I now realize that all that dust does not mean the vehicles have been abandoned for a long time – it is just that dusty on the unpaved streets. Here are some of the transportation options around here:

Every block has a VW bug or VW van parked on it – I suspect it is mandatory.

Not all vehicles are exactly road worthy – but no point in getting rid of them.

Horses are almost as common as vehicles – not sure what the laws are for drinking and driving a horse but that horse is looking mighty hard at that sign…

Animals

Animals are everywhere – I am sitting at my desk and at this exact moment I am listening to dogs (a LOT of dogs), chickens, roosters, a parrot, and some goats. Check out the tiny chihuahua I am holding – there are more chihuahuas here than Volkswagons!

And lots of cats too….. certainly more dignified

Check out the giant iguana that sometimes lives in the tree next door

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Shopping

You don’t need a mall here – there is lots to be purchased on every block – today we saw fruit and tortillas and bums – and a ton of other stuff. Spices, flowers, pinatas…. what do you need?

A few weeks ago we came upon a woodworker making trinkets to sell at the market. Grant spied an old wood carving of a saxophone player way back in his yard. The woodworker said he had made it 28 years ago and it had stood in that spot ever since. Grant decided we needed the musician in our garden and convinced the old carpenter to sell it. It got a lot of attention driving home in the back of the convertible but it now looks great in the garden. Today we stopped to show the woodworker some pictures of the carving in our yard and he was thrilled! Can’t buy that at Walmart!

This morning we found our new favorite breakfast spot – full breakfast including bacon and eggs and hashbrowns and beans and coffee and fresh squeezed juice and homemade strawberry jam on toast in a pretty garden – for less than $5 – and of course no afternoon walk would be complete without a stop for a taco. (Why does every blog post I do end up being about food?)

A couple of other interesting spots around town.

But there are two places in my neighborhood that I love the most – my church La Fuente Riviera and the orphanage Manos de Amor Casa Hogar. These are the places where my heart has settled and where I both give and receive love when I am far away from my own family and friends.

It is not always easy living in this neighborhood – I don’t sleep that great because of the never-ending noise, I often feel hot and dusty and I struggle to be understood by everyone I encounter. When I walk down the street I risk breaking an ankle on the cobblestones and when I drive down the street I risk ripping the bottom off of my car on the speed bumps. I don’t have a bathtub or a clothes dryer or a BBQ. My kitchen is tiny. But I can truly say that I absolutely love living in this house and in this neighborhood. Every day is an adventure – some good, some not so good – but I have concluded that curiosity and the unexpected life is what keeps us young and engaged in the journey. Never again do I want to move through life on auto-pilot. From now on, I’m going to climb fences, and be bold enough to speak awful Spanish to neighbors and try new food that looks weird. I challenge you to do the same in your neighborhood!

You’re Invited to Dinner!

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

Welcome to my neighborhood! As we settle into a routine here in Bucerias, we are spending more time in our own colonia, Buenos Aires. As you know, we are planning to build a house up the mountain close to La Cruz, but for now we are happy to be renting a house in this Mexican neighborhood. So for the next couple of blog posts let me take you on a tour of where we live and tell you about our daily routine. First of course is the food!

Morning coffee

We always start the day with our coffee in bed or on our balcony, blue sky and palm trees welcoming us to come awake. Breakfast is a vitamin fruit smoothie in the back garden and then we work for a few hours in our office. We have a great setup and as I work I look out the window at the cat on the roof next door or the giant iguana in the tree. Sometimes I take my computer outside to work. IMG_20160303_101548

By lunch time we’re ready to get out and explore the town. Trip Advisor tells me there are 116 restaurants in our little town and we’re determined to get to them all! Most are in walking distance – lots of them offer us a delicious lunch for less than $5. Tortas, tacos, tortilla soup, shrimp salad – those are our favorites.

Some of our favorite Mexican restaurants nearby -you can always count on being entertained by some music or shopping or chatting with a friend while you eat! We also love the little taco stands on every corner with the Mexican abuelas (grandmas) cooking the best smelling tacos imaginable.

Afternoons are spent doing errands like paying bills – remember, only 1 errand per day – and volunteering or visiting at the orphanage. Some days we just explore – driving up and down all the streets in the town. If we are cooking dinner, we stop at all the little shops to purchase fresh ingredients – just enough for today! We also purchase food from the assortment of vendors who drive down our street, loudspeakers blaring. I certainly don’t plan menus far ahead – it’s more fun to be surprised by what shows up each day!

Jicama Guy and Corn Guy stop right outside my door

Fish Market and Fruit Store right around the corner – we bought vegetables and mangos and Red Snapper and cooked up this feast.

There’s the La Cruz market on Sundays – fish right out of the ocean, vegetables fresh from the garden and organic honey and eggs sold out of the trunk of a car…

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Always great food to be had at the beach….

And of course there’s no end of weird food stuff – a grilled cheese sandwich out of a vending machine?

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Our little Mini Super right across the street may look tiny but it always has just what I need – and we visit it once or twice a day to get 20 litre jugs of water ($2) or bags of sugar ($0.80) or eggs sold individually for 10 cents each. Fresh tortillas are always warm in the red cooler. It is open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm every single day and the sound of its rolling door going up every morning and down every night is all the clock I need to plan my days. There is something comforting about knowing there is always someone in those white chairs, keeping watch over the neighborhood that I was once wary of but now call home.

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So that’s a food tour of my neighborhood. Next I’ll show you some of the other sights in the streets surrounding my home. It won’t be the same without the sounds, but you’ll get the idea! In the meantime, I’m starving and we have at least 99 other restaurants to check out…..

Shopping for Wheels

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

Now that we are basically settled in our rental home, we have decided it is time to move to the next step of grown-up residency – owning wheels. We have been renting cars when we’re here and it’s really ridiculously expensive. We have long been discussing how to approach the car issue. As you all know – and have all mocked me for – I have driven Milly the Smart Car for many years. I loved her and felt totally safe and comfortable squeezing into tight spots and parking in crazy places. My favorite was the time I parked in the covered shopping cart spot at WalMart. It was Christmas season, which meant all the shopping carts were in the store full of toys and turkeys. Why waste a perfect Smart size parking spot? We have taken Milly to the mountains packed down with ski equipment on more than one occasion – once she sadly returned on the back of a tow truck. But mainly she has been my source of independence and a worthy companion. We had not decided if she would come with us south. German cars are not generally welcome in Mexico and I can’t imagine driving her all that way. She would probably fit in the back of the truck with our belongings but when would that happen?

A Milly Sandwich – RIP

Before we had made the decision, God/fate/Saskatchewan icy roads/traumatized friends stepped in and made the decision for us. Milly is now in Car heaven, revving her motor with the best of them.

So now what? Grant began by researching every vehicle in Mexico. Literally. I want a small car or SUV. He wants a big old truck that can haul his trailer full of tools. I want something pretty and fun. He wants something manly and hardworking. I want an automatic gas vehicle. He wants a diesel manual. We both want room to haul children and visitors. So we have made the marriage-saving decision to buy 2 vehicles. While I know we could easily make one vehicle work, I don’t want to be trapped at home when he starts building.

Apparently even the vehicles here come with their own chickens!

After perusing every online ad we could find, we decided to start by checking out all the used car lots in the area. Generally, vehicles are cheaper in Guadalajara, but I wanted to see what we could find locally. And BAM! I found exactly what I wanted – a baby-blue convertible Volkswagen beetle. After doing some price comparisons online, we decided this was a decent deal. Now we are risk-takers but we certainly weren’t going to buy a car without getting it checked over by a mechanic. How would we possibly figure out that process? I emailed our go-to buddies, Pastor Fredy and Pastor Gregory and asked if they knew of a trustworthy mechanic and of course they came through. Fredy told us that a mechanic would be at the church the next morning to look over all the church vehicles. So we went to the car lot, shoved the salesman in the tiny back seat, put down the convertible roof and cruised to the church to meet Francisco the mechanic. We received a good report and decided this was the car to replace Milly (R.I.P.).

The next tricky issue was to get the money together. There was no way to get money from our Canadian bank to the car dealership except the old-fashioned way – withdraw cash from an ATM at the Mega store. So we maxed out the daily limit on 5 credit cards two days in a row until we had the needed giant pile of cash. In 2016 there really has to be a better way! Once my purse and Grant’s pockets were bulging, we snuck around Mega store, taking sharp turns around corners to ensure no one was following us. As if Mexican cartel banditos were hiding in the fruit department of Mega grocery store spying on old, sunburned gringos.

The car had a couple of things that needed checking and the mechanic had suggested a tune-up, so we were told we could pick her up at 1:00 on Thursday. Now I totally didn’t believe it would be ready at 1:00 but we went to the lot – come back at 6:00 they told us. At 6:00 we arrived with our giant and secure Ziploc bag full of cash to complete the transaction. After the ceremonial counting of the cash, we were given a receipt and all of the original titles and paperwork. We knew the car had originally come from the USA but we did not know that it had never been licensed in Mexico before. The salesman had promised he would help with the licensing process, but he definitely had not mentioned that we would have to go through the whole process of getting it licensed in a new country. I see a bureaucratic nightmare in our future.

By about 7:00 we started getting nervous. Two business type men had shown up and driven away with our cash but our car was still nowhere in sight. It was still at the mechanic’s shop – on its way any second they said. The dealership lights went out, everyone started leaving. Our salesman told us “Follow that guy in the white truck, he’ll take you to your car”. Now that didn’t sound like a good plan to me – but I really wanted to see my car since my money was long gone. We backed out of the lot, prepared to follow the random guy in the white truck….. and it was nowhere in sight. So now the money is gone with the business guys, the white truck that knows where our car is has left us behind, the salesman has gone home, and we are standing at the side of the road in the dark wondering what the heck is going on. I did have the cell phone number for Pepe, the dude who had taken my car to the mechanic’s shop and I called him with just a hint of panic. He told us he was on his way and within a couple of minutes my new car pulled up alongside us, ready for me to drive her home.

We verified that it would be okay to use the dealership permit until we got our own plates the next morning (Oh definitely!) and that their insurance would cover me in an accident on my way home (Oh no… there’s no insurance on this car. You have to get your own but the insurance office closes at 2:00). I KNOW I NEED INSURANCE BUT YOU TOLD ME TO COME AND GET THE CAR AT 6:00 AND I WOULD HAVE A TEMPORARY PERMIT AND I WOULD TAKE THE CARD HOME AND YOU WOULD HELP ME GET ALL THE PAPERWORK DONE TOMORROW!!!!! But senora, the insurance office closed at 2:00 – you can’t get insurance now. Yeah ….. I got that…..

So no way am I driving a new car home without insurance. It’s Mexico people – there are crazy drivers and mountainous speed bumps and a variety of loose farm animals and chickens – I am not sending another good friend to Car heaven without insurance. So we headed home with no money and no car, trusting that tomorrow would be a better day.

To be continued…..

Today was indeed a much better day. It is so true that everything looks better in the daylight and that held for us and our car-buying adventure. Now I’m not saying everything went smoothly today – we still spent 3 or 4 hours going from office to office. I’m not even saying it’s all done. We are still waiting for our final registration and plates which will take another week. But we have a temporary sticker and I am driving my own car. Is there a moral to this story? Well, life in Mexico is not easy. Bureaucracy sucks. Mexican time is unpredictable. Speaking Spanish is really important. Convertibles are fun to drive and now I can do it all year round. Insurance offices close too early. Life is the place where patience gets you through or frustration takes you out. If you love where you are and what you’re doing, it’s all worth it!

It’s all worth it!

Guess I better learn to drive here!

Heading into the Mountains

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

Yesterday was another memorable day as we drove 2.5 hours up into the mountains to meet a new community and some sweet new people.

I find that my heart is very soft here and I cried lots of tears as I hugged young children and senior citizens. We ate authentic Mexican dishes given generously and proudly and were graciously welcomed into tiny simple homes.

In October you all heard the good news when Hurricane Patricia swept passed the populated areas around Puerto Vallarta but you may not have heard how the communities in the mountains were affected by the rains. Rivers overflowed and many villages were badly damaged by floods. La Fuente Riviera Church headed up to these villages at that time to deliver food and clothing and in the process they formed new relationships with people in the town of Mascota and surrounding villages.

Yesterday we went to the small town of Tecuani, a farming village nestled in a beautiful valley. It is a peaceful village, but the people are poor. In October, the church met the principle of the school and asked “how can we serve you?”. He asked for help painting portions of the school and the surrounding fence. So yesterday we took a team up to paint and hand out clothes and shoes and to play with the school children.

While everyone else was scraping and painting and working hard, I was snooping around the school’s 3 classrooms. As I walked by the Grade 3/4 class, I heard in perfect unison and in perfect English “Good Morning”. Then they burst into laughter – they were excited to practice their limited English with a gringa. I applauded with great enthusiasm and they sang me a song. Then the teacher of the Grade 1/2 class invited me in to spend time with her class – practicing introducing themselves in English, counting to 20, asking me questions, and finally singing me a song about elephants. Then the tricky part – they asked me to sing the song back to them in Spanish – which I did (okay with a bit of mumbling!). They were so shy and so well behaved and so excited to show off their language skills and I was blown away by this community that ensures its children are educated and are learninga language that will help them succeed – even though there is no English spoken in their town.

We then wandered around the town, meeting the curious townsfolk. The most moving moment of the day came when we met Candio, an elderly gentleman living alone in a tiny cement one room home. Pastor Fredy asked Candio how old he is and he said he is 85. Fredy then asked when his birthday is and he said the 21^st of January. Fredy confirmed “21^st of January? That’s today!”. The old man’s face lit up and his toothless smile broke into a grin “Then I guess I’m 86!”. He invited us in to sit with him, we sang him Happy Birthday and gave him his first Bible and a toque for the cold mountain mornings and prayed with him. He said we would always be welcome in his home. I sat beside him and as I saw his eyes fill with tears so did mine. Such a humble and simple life – and yet generous. I know Candio is lonely and I so hope to visit him again someday.

Showing us how he used to blow this horn to call his cows

He says he will never take his new hat off!

This flower that I saw yesterday reminds me so much of so many of the Mexican families I meet – my eyes tell me that they are too poor, that happiness cannot flourish in the poverty and struggle. But then I see a child laugh or an old woman smile when I greet her and I see that there is life and love that continues to bloom in a dry and broken country. How I long to be able to pour a cool drink of God’s love on the places I visit.

And so I continue to wonder what my calling is here – where should I dig in my hands and my heart? Where can I serve most effectively? What do I have that others need? For now, I am enjoying exploring this beautiful country and meeting its amazing and resilient people.

Unfortunately, yesterday I also met its ravenous mosquito population and apparently I was a delicious gringa buffet! Today I pay the price….

Weekend!

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

Weekend! We’re currently living this weird life – a mash up of vacation, working from a distance, retirement and everyday life. We’re trying to figure out a routine that includes the regular stuff like laundry, office hours, church, volunteer work, house cleaning, grocery shopping, iguana recovery, garden tending, etc. We’re also keeping some time for fun and exploring and learning how to embrace new experiences. So Saturday is a free day that we will need to learn how to fill.

We did have one errand to do on Saturday. We have decided that we are only going to plan to complete one task per day. Everything I read says every little thing is just harder here. You can’t easily pay your bills online – you have to stand in line at a bank or office. And whenever I walk by a bank – especially on a Friday – there are super long around-the-block lines. Yesterday we needed to pay our telephone and internet bill. So that’s all we planned for the day. No point getting uptight – let’s just expect to wait and leave the day with the flexibility to handle whatever the line looks like. And wouldn’t you know it – we realized we could pay the bill at the Oxxo (equivalent of a norther 7-11) and we were done in 5 minutes. So we had a whole free day ahead of us – no one to see, nowhere to be, no tasks needing care.

So what else would you do in paradise? We packed a picnic, wrestled the lawn chairs away from the still visiting iguana, packed up the boogie boards and headed to the beach. An absolutely perfect day – waves large enough to give us a ride without filling our cavities with sand and sea creatures. It was fun and might even qualify as a bit of exercise.

In the evening we decided to check out the festival in Bucerias Centro (downtown). We had no idea what craziness we were in for. Mexican people are ‘lively’ at the best of times – but give them a festival and you reach a whole new volume level. It was like the fair at home – food stands, liquor stands (ok that part’s not like at home), children’s rides, dancers and singers and vendors everywhere. At home, the fair is at a fairground – a giant piece of land where vendors and rides can be spread out. Here everything is just dumped in the middle of the already narrow streets. Every street is filled to capacity. The irony is that this 8-day festival is to honor the Catholic patron saint Our Lady of Peace. The absolute last thing I saw or experienced last night was any semblance of peace! On the last day of the festival, all the fisherman in the region will form their boats into the shape of a cross out in the ocean and will arrive in Bucerias for a blessing for the upcoming year. It was an interesting view of a Mexican celebration – and as was to be expected the music went long into the night.

Parade float heading to the church

Cause nothing says Mexican cultural festival honoring a Catholic saint like Indian belly dancing….

Poor Poncho had to shove his Restaurant sign in the middle of the leather belt booth so people would know he was still open!

Sweet toque and delicious corn!

Seems like weird prizes at the arcade booths??????

This stuff looks more familiar….

One last update on our iguana infirmary. Our injured friend Iggy has been with us since Wednesday. She was obviously not well after getting a chomp taken out of her tail. She has been mostly sleeping – first on our window sill, then wrapped amongst our lawn chairs. Grant the animal whisperer chatted with her often, gave her water and beans and fruit. We thought for sure she must by dying as she wasn’t moving much. But today she got up, sat in the sun in the garage for a while and finally wandered off down the street. And not to be forgotten, Iggy left a rather large pile of lizard poop by our front door as a last gift. Great.

Crazy Critters

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Karen moves to Mexico

One thing Mexico has is lots of critters – some good, some not so good. We have met only a very few of them, but I’d like to introduce you to some who have visited us.

The Cute Critters

As always, Grant attracts all kinds of cute creatures – they just love him. So we’ve met a LOT of kitties and dogs. Of course, what is cute during the day is a sleep hazard at night. So it is a bit of a love/hate relationship with each animal we see. It is never really clear if these animals have a home and just choose to avoid it or if these animals are strays.

Neighborhood Critters

These animals live in our neighborhood and roam the streets like an inner city gang. They clearly believe this is their hood and who are we to argue?

The Creepy Critters

These are the things I am not so keen on – especially in my home or yard. But they were here first and I am trying to come to a negotiated space agreement.

We have only had a couple of these cucarachas – and I have purchased all manner of traps and spray to keep it that way. They run faster than the wind and are giant. Giving them their own very popular Mexican song seems ridiculous to me. Gross.

IMG_20160109_094926

Spiders of every shape and size are around – but we have only seen a couple in our yard. So far so good.

Tiny geckos can be seen running up walls and trees. Geckos have the same place in the lizard family as kittens do in the wild cat family. They are the cute version of scary critters. This little guy was living in our guest shower for a while and although it always made me scream when I saw something scurry out of the corner of my eye, I was okay with sharing the bathroom with him. The guy on the right was just hanging out (literally) at a nearby outdoor restaurant. Better than the wasp infested lights we have up North!

Yesterday I was not so keen on sharing my space with this guy I saw sitting on the wall in our garden. Every time I came outside, I heard something run behind the fence so I figured it was a cat. Not so. If you look up on the wall you will see this black lizard looking down on us. He was pretty shy and really just wanted to get some sun. So I gave him lots of warning (coughs, door slamming, yelling) before going outside.

My explanation to Grant was “I don’t like the black lizards. But I’m okay with the green ones – they’re not as scary. Who doesn’t like Iggy Iguana?”. No sooner had I spoken these words then I went out my front door and what do I see climbing up on my window sill? Yup – a big green one. And it turns out I don’t like them either. This poor guy had an injured tail – probably a dog bite – so he wasn’t moving too fast and just wanted a place to recover. He sat on the ledge for 24 hours and when he finally moved this afternoon it was just to go a few feet further into the garage, nestled amongst the lawn chairs. Hoping he moves on tomorrow – I’m thinking of a Sunday picnic which means I’m going to need those chairs.

So those are the critters we’ve met so far. There are also some amazing colorful birds and butterflies and a hummingbird who visited. Haven’t met any snakes or scorpions but I know they’re out there waiting to introduce themselves at the right moment.

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Karen Moves to Mexico

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