Oh boy oh boy! We got our Mexican license plates last nite. Less than 2 weeks after we got here we have plates! This is great, no more worrying about being pulled over and having the car taken from us. I dont know if they would- but they can. So Monday we head to Acapulco to get some documents for me, since I think I'm here illegally! Nobody filled out my tourist visa at the border, well nobody has asked to see more than my passport until we got to the bank. So- Acapulco here we come. I also want to start my citizenship paperwork so it's good to get this going. Hopefully in Acapulco we can go to Telmex too and maybe get our phone...and do I dare to hope? Internet. It's not bad walking to the neighbors, they are becoming quite close with us, they helped us so much and we try to return the favors...picking something up (like cantaloupe & watermelon) when we're out shopping, or lending tools...

We gave another friend a ride to Copala today to pick something up and it felt so, so normal! Little by little. I till have a huge issue with bug bites but  found a bug "lotion" that works, but like right now, I had peds & tennis shoes on so it must have worn off. Now I'm at the friend's with the internet and they have HUGE mosquitoes or some bug with bigggg teeth, and my feet are getting bitten. Shit that will make sleep a bear tonite! I hope I get used to it soon! The electricity was off all day but back now, so in a while we'll go home and sit in front of the fan. Maybe watch a little tv, but watching the ocean still takes up more of my idle time. Or reading, I'm on my fourth paperback in 2 weeks- the hammock just calls my name! Ok all for today!  

Ok so the tv is now working, for some reason we had to leave it on for a day and a half and then it started working. Funy tho' cause of tv, phone & internet, the tv I care about least. Oh well. So the lic plates did not show up, but last nite our friend talked to the guy and the one for the trailer was ready- ha ha don;t care about that one! But he said no later than Friday so we'll see. Just need it so we can be mobile without using taxi's or asking our friends...Last nite we went to a political rally. No we are not involved or want to be involved with Mexican politics- I barley want to be involved with politics in the U.S.!! BUt friends asked us to transport some young people so we drove down to the next town with 6-8 young women all standing n the back of our truck! Ha ha I was the only person nervous!! We met up with other friends at the rally and went to eat afterwards so it was a pretty fun time but I do not want to go tonite. There is a truck driving by right now with loud speakers talking about something. Sometimes it's news, sometimes advertising, but right now I think its politics, which will all be over at the end of the month. We have been invited to a huge fiesta following the elections, no matter who wins, but I have to wear something blue. ha ha Before this I hope to find out the significance of the blue!

This morning we walked and found taxi's to take us to the nearby town in the other direction (yes we drove last nite with no plates but that was kinda in a parade of sorts), anyway today to get the stuff to fix the roof, hopefully before it rains again. I think this will be soon since I was told rain for 3-4 days then sun for 3-4 days...and it's been 4 days of sun. But with no raining inside the house, books and the tv I really don't mind the rain since it's not cold- and my husband dug a trench to divert some of the water flow from the road to our patio- which is our outdoor living space.
 I know I need to find the stuff I brought to teach little kids English cause they are asking me or Everardo every day when I'm gonna start! I am not a teacher by profession or experience, so I am simply going to give it a shot. I did buy a teachers "book of lists" for ESL and joined a website that gave me a few ideas for lesson plans but I think they wanted me to subscribe- meaning give them money cause I haven't received anything for awhile. I did also buy flash cards and some kid dictionaries English/Spanish, and these little kids are sponges. They remember the words I give them when I see them- usually of whatever is close by, like book or waterbottle. The truth is I'm scared and hope I can be of actual service to these kids,

Maybe set a schedule first, like Tue & Thurs from 1-3? Is two days enough or should I be doing MWF, well I'll think about this one but I should start in a week or two. That gives me just a little more time to try to put things away...we still need furniture...

Ooh two days in a row. Well I want to try to be regular, even if it's just for myself like a little online diary. Yesterday afternoon I had got my nails done with Eriika, the daughter of our friends, and she speaks English. So we walked down the road (all dirt roads in this town of less than 1000 people) to see Myra, who gave me a fill. Very interesting process and we'll see if it lasts longer than the 2 weeks they last in Calif. They are shiny like glass and hard. Anyway when I walked home after dark, in our kitchen which is very old with cracks around the windows, there were tons of these huge frantic ants pouring in! Our kitchen is not connected to the rest of the house; it's across a  patio, so they were only there. This morning they were gone but outside, on the road, on the beach, everywhere were these same ants only with wings! It seems they come once a year (another first for me!), and they are a delicacy! The little kids were let out of school early (maybe 9 this morning) to collect them, and there were hundreds on the beach and they were being scooped up too! I did not try any- I spent most of today waiting for the guy from Sky TV to hook up our cable...

Then when he came, it took a couple maybe 3 hours to do- hey just like the U.S., ha ha, and then he told us to leave the tv on, but we could not watch any channels until after he got back to the company (in a nearby town) and the "activated it", that we would see this small box blinking red and then it would be working. May be today or else tomorrow but he said be sure not to turn it off. Hmmm what if the electricity goes off? (Like every day??) For some reason we also had to run to the mayor/commissioner of the tow to stamp the paperwork- I'm still not sure why, most of that conversation took place in Spanish...and I was chasing the clothes blowing off the line. Today is blue skies but really windy. On my shopping list is light bulbs and clothes pins! The guy with our license plates didn't show up yet today so we are still kinda stuck.ok all for now!

OK! I made it! I live in Mexico. This is day one of week two! It actually took us a week to get here but I'm not counting travel time. The travel was it's own adventure, but funny it's quickly fading so I think I'll jot down a little of it. We came thru Santa Teresa cause we were in contact with a guy who works at the border for nationalizing cars, and we couldn't raise anyone at the other borders we were looking at. He told us to send all the required paperwork and it would be ready when we got there. Don't count on this part people! They were very helpful once we arrived, but nothing had been done ahead of time and we sat around for a day and a half at the border. Hot dusty, and for me, minimal Spanish, I couldn't really chat with others sitting around for the same reason. On day 2 we sat for about 5 hours, and my husband had to be with the car, So I sat with the dog, walked the dog, sat sat sat...of course we also got the red light, and of course the whole system went down and the line of cars became 3 deep.
Finally we got on the road! In Mexico- Viva! Pulled over twice in Chihuahua and once in Durango by Federales who all used the strategy that we didn't pay enough for all our stuff. My husband showed them the casa de mansaje  listing and let them know we shouldn't have paid anything (but we did). He thinks they tried it because we were in the desert mountains with nobody around, but that they didn't push him too hard after meeting me cause I was an American (My husband is a Mexican National).  Then on Acapulco we got pulled over a couple of times because of the trailer not having plates (which we had been told to remove at the border), but finally we just put them back on and we were good. So 5 days travel plus 1 1/2 days at the border- we were so happy to get here.

We arrived last Sunday afternoon and the skies were nice enough to hold on until we got the last of the boxes off the truck andout of the trailer. Then they opened with a huge lightening and thunder storm. We know a few people here, and two couples and their families have been wonderful! Monday we got water, Tues gas for cooking and a bank account, Wed we drove to Temetepce about 2 hours away to sign up for tv, phone, internet but came away empty handed. Friday we went to nearby Copala and paid for tv but the hurricane came and we haven't see that guy to install it yet. Today it has stopped raining so maybe he'll come even tho' it's Sunday....

Tomorrow we hope to get Mex lic plates and then we'll drive back to Temetepec for tv- I guess you have to have that up and running before internet, Of course we've heard anywhere from a week to a YEAR to get internet so we'll see. My two neighbors/friends both have internet so I'm using theirs for now.
So I want to end my first post actually in Mexico on a positive note. ha ha let's see- we are covered in bites (my are huge welts), our house is leaking in almost every room, but we are in heaven. We ae eating just caught fish, fresh eggs, and just made tortillas. The other morning having coffee at the meighbors, a school of dolphins AND a school of sharks swam by after sardines- so beautiful! This tiny town is amazing, horses and burros walk around free, and the people are beautiful. Some kids are asking when I'm gonna teach them English....I hope I have a couple of weeks to get settled, including putting stuff away in places that do not have water dripping in! Viva Mexico!