Volando

Martes, 17 Julio 2012. Taxi over to the departure terminal at 3:30am cost P$100, as we weren't up to walking even three blocks at that hour of the night. As it is it was at least a ten minute ride as one-way limited access streets makes it hard to get back to the terminal conveniently. Waited 15 min for check-in at 4am when gate clerks started, hundreds of people waiting.  While waiting for the first flight, a Chinese fellow sat down beside us and talked our ears off. He was most interesting though. He is teaching Chinese at a university in Puebla. One thing we learned, is that in China children are obligated by the state to take care of their parents. If they do not, and the parents do not have savings to support themselves, the government takes money from their wages to pay for the parents' care.

Most pleased with ourselves, being early and all checked. The lady that checked us in upgraded our seats so that we could sit together on the second flight, without us even asking. She told us to just show our FMM form she told us to fill out, to the person checking us onto the plane. We did not have our original FMM this time, since we gave it up to obtain the five year resident's visa. We walked up and got in the line to get on the plane and lo and behold, the attendant got very upset with us for not having our form stamped. Next time we will know. We were kicked out of line, and had to go to an immigration office to get our papers stamped before we could board the plane. The plane was due to leave in 25 minutes. Boy did we walk fast! Asking here and there where this office was, an attendant told us which was the closest. Made it with ten minutes to spare, a huffin and puffin.

Since we had but the one small bag we were carrying, and we had a five hour layover, we got off the plane last. Mistake. Houston's custom line was a total boondoggle. Many hundreds of people waiting in a long snaking folded line that moved ever so slowly. The line that was for customers with no checked bags was closed. The other area for those with checked bags had 40 stations and ONLY three were open. While in line we kept hearing people say that they missed their connecting flight. One lady came up to an attendant near us and said she had lost her mother-in-law who was in a wheel chair. The attendant started laughing and asked how that was possible. The next thing that happened was an attendant came through the front area holding the hand of a little girl, yelling at the top of her voice a good five minutes saying that this girl could not find her mother. Finally someone in the middle of the hundreds raised her hand. The immigration clerks were taking forever with each party, seemed like everyone had to press fingers down on a scanner to get fingerprints checked. Amazingly, for unknown reasons we were just asked a few brief questions and were waved right through.

Now why did we have to go thru security again? Same hundreds of people. Far more efficient here. However, besides taking off shoes, belts, everything out of pockets, including kleenex packets, the attendants tried to tear out our sewn in extra pockets, not believing they weren't holding anything. Two hours to get thru immigration, customs and another security. Long walk to our next gate. Found a Subway for lunch. There were no empty tables. One table did have some food containers on it, perhaps discards, and we assumed wrongly that the person had left. The gentleman, an airport employee, returned with more food and was not angry with us as he wandered off and found a single seat elsewhere.

The second flight, flying above the cumulus – we had a young fellow from Puebla, Mexico sit next to us. He was most fascinated by the mountains and snow. His English was good. Our flight got into Seattle 20 minutes early. With very fast walking we just made the 5pm Airporter bus. The lady behind us had a terrible cold. Sure hope we do not get it. The second part of our bus ride into Anacortes, the driver let us out at Commercial and 34^th, so we had a shortish walk home. Arrived to find that Sally, the neighbor with our house keys, not home. Thankfully our stashed outside keys were in the right place. We did remember how to unalarm our new house alarm system. Seems that our cats set it off about six times while we were gone. It is very loud and one of the neighbors at least got really angry at being woken up at 5am. We are trying to find out how to undo the outside portion of the alarm. Shower, soup and bed for us. The total trip house to house takes, at best, a bit longer than 24 hours. Today we were up at 1am (Seattle time) in Mexico City, and got home before 8pm, for a long 19 hour day.

Our moving company has been notified, and someone will be here the next few days to see exactly how the movers will handle our goods.  Since much is already packed, they might get it all done in one, instead of two days. We're still planning for the first week of September. Sure is cold up here, summer definitely did not arrive here in our three week absence. Found that the new sidewalk at the front of our house will make the driveway too steep. We told the city and construction company our concerns and they assure us that it will be corrected. Next week will tell. Bye for now--posts will be infrequent until end of September or so.

Oh my, but we do have lots of excitement in store for us! Down our way visiting beautiful Veracruz? Please do visit us. Will be a year before we will actually feel ready to house you in perfect comfort, but so what – feel free to come earlier if you wish, if you don't mind a little indoor camping as we renovate and add on to our new home.

Carmen and Dan

Hasta Luego Fortín

Lunes, 16 Julio 2012. Frank stopped at 7:15am, said he would take us to bus station.  We ate a quick breakfast and he showed up an hour later. The bus which picked us up in Fortín coming from Córdoba, only stopped at Orizaba, and was not a local bus, stopping many times as we had expected. It was a four and a half hour ride, enough time for nearly three movies. Unlike the US, these buses have seat belts and window screens if one wants shade. At TAPO bus station, Mexico City, we shopped for antihistamine & phone recharge card to use in September. Lunch at Church's chicken same like last time. Huge meal. We couldn't possibly eat it all. The five-piece chicken meal was the smallest choice, with at least a cup and half of mashed potatoes and gravy and the same of coleslaw. Two delicious biscuits. Yes we took the extra back to the hotel with us. We took the Metro (subway), with tickets Dan saved from two years ago. We got on the pink line heading east to the Pantitlan terminus then changed to yellow line two stops to the airport. When we got on to the pink line, which was extremely packed, Carmen shoved Dan hard for fear his behind was not inside the door as it closed. From the Metro stop at the airport it's only a short three blocks (across the overhead to other side of the busy multilane street) to the Hotel Aeropuerto, P$590 (multiply by .074 to get US$) for a clean & quiet (room on back side of hotel, away from the airport ). Ate the second half of our meal, watched some TV and to bed early.

Monedas Nuevas

Domingo, 15 Julio 2012. You probably know what happened first again this morn...more laundry. Then we made it to the nearest restaurant with internet, the Fogon & Paila, by 10:00am. Time to post the blog again and check emails, and this time took some pictures for you. Beautiful open area with such lush vegetation about.  Our afternoon was quiet with napping and reading. The velador stopped by to collect the weekly fee for watching our house. Dan paid him in all freshly minted coins (monedas). We had gotten them in change at the Banamex where we had paid for our IMSS premiums. They certainly look different. So shiny it is hard to see the writing on them. He thought it a good joke when he was told we made these coins here.

Walked to the central park about 4pm, where we enjoyed just being alive, and seeing all the other folks from town doing the same. There was a Telcel booth set up in the park, loud speaker and music blaring as they were hawking new smart phones. Dan walked up and cornered a salesman who finally gave us the needed info to allow us to access our voice messages. Black clouds were roaming the sky, so did not stay too long. Stopped at the grocery store, which is actually a block off our route home. Bought some items for when we arrive in September. Rested. Together we prepped our last fresh orange juice. Sooooooooo good. Enough time for a last laundry of today's clothes. We'll hang them inside and they'll be dry waiting for our return in September.

Telcel

Sabado, 14 Julio 2012. Yep – laundry always makes a nice start to the day no matter what part of the world you live in. We both pitch in, with Carmen doing the washing and Dan doing the wringing & hanging.  Frank and Ania stopped by this morn. Frank needed some books to read. They were on their way for a day trip to Yanga, taking one of their cottage guests to see the area, as the guest is writing a paper on the area. Yanga is a small town east of Cordóba, from which Gaspar Yanga, a Gabonese AfroMexican slave leader led raids on the Spanish supply corridor that ran between the port of Veracruz and Puebla. Never vanquished, Yanga signed a treaty with the Spaniards in the early 1600's, establishing the “free town”now named after him.

We walked up to the park, hoping to find the Telcel store open. Seems like Frank has been leaving us messages, which we have not received.  So we have questions on how to navigate some of the menus and retrieving messages, and can't understand the brief recordings in Spanish that play when we attempt some things.  This is just a basic no-frills model--hate to think how we'd deal with a "smart" phone.  Just need to be shown, and Frank doesn't have this model phone so he can't help with these things. They seem to have exceedingly irregular hours. Closed again, so we'll try to get our questions answered some other time. On to the bus station where we purchased our tickets to the east side bus station in Mexico City (TAPO) – one of the largest in the world which we described in an earlier post. Cost P$304 each, or D$22.50.

Next we trekked thru the afternoon hot sun, trying to find the #64 IMSS clinic we are assigned to. Never found it. Asked several folks and none knew about this new clinic. We even walked to the north part of town that lies beyond the Puebla-Veracruz highway (the autopista), where we thought it might be situated. Is it possible that we misunderstood it's location? We came back to the centro and checked out the Telcel office again. Still not open, so we sat on a park bench in the parque and kept an eye on Telcel for the next hour, hoping someone would show up – surely the store will be open by then. Nope.

Now we crossed the street from the park to the atm at the Banamex, where we did our last withdrawal for this trip – actually got some of the pesos we'll need for our car trip in September. Went to a stationery store, with a sign that said they were Telcel reps, but no luck with advice on our model of phone. Next to the bakery next door which has the best yeast donuts in town. Disappointing that they had but one with sugar only, so Carmen selected another with chocolate frosting covered with sprinkles. All the others on the tray were the filled type, and their filling is not the best. The best filled ones come from the town grocery store—it seems we are getting pretty selective on where we buy certain things, as we come to know the shops in town. On our walk towards home – after our four hours of walking – we stopped by a tiny fruit stand and bought bananas and some sliced and peeled pineapple. Wow – talk about sweet and juicy! Remember that morning laundry? Got it in the house just before the afternoon rain hit.

Con Amigos

Viernes, 13 Julio 2012.  Bread pudding for breakfast. Carmen did laundry from a couple days, plus the bedding. Dan of course did his part by helping to hand ring our the items. Our kitchen sink is a good size for hand laundry. Next Carmen worked on the blog while Dan walked into the water office. The bill was hand delivered yesterday by a man walking from house to house. The bill was higher than we thought it should be because they are billing on average consumption. The average took in the time before we looked at the house, when there was a leak at the meter connection. Dan talked to the office personnel about this and yes, the bill was corrected to the lowest monthly fee of (about USD2.25).

Ania had stopped by while we were hanging out clothes, to see if we were ready to go to her house for the day yet. We just had too much to accomplish before 11am, when Frank had said he would pick us up. Ania went off to get a free facial. Turned out that she was a bit allergic to the products used and her face was red and itchy when she got to the house awhile after we did. We took some pork chops with us. We had expected to be here in Fortín longer so we had too much meat in the freezer. Ania is such a wonderful cook. She prepared fresh beets (remolachas), fresh chayote (squash), potato, a vinegar salad of green and shell beans, rice, bolillos (rolls) and cheesecake for dessert.

We paid Frank MXP200 to cover the 7 hours of work David did for us the previous day. While Ania finished up the meal in the kitchen, Dan and Carmen were in the den, using their Infinitum broadband connection trying to get reservations to fly home. We had planned to stop in San Jose on our way, but it was complicated and it will cost but two dollars more to fly to Seattle, then do another round trip to San Jose in a couple weeks. We could have paid for our trip between $300 to $3000 per ticket. As it turned out, the second half of the trip had only one seat available that did not require we pay an extra $50. Today we toted along our little portable printer and printed out our receipt and flight info.

We'll leave here Monday and bus to the TAPO bus station in Mexico City. Then a short Metro (subway) ride to the airport. Just did not have good times out of Puebla. Will stay in the hotel, we used last time, but a couple blocks from the airport, and leave by plane at 6:45am. In Mexico one must be there 3 hours before flight time. Then change over in Houston again, passing thru US Customs there. We're flying United again because of flight times—the other airlines have us getting into Seattle too late for a departure to Anacortes the same day. So we arrive in Seattle 4:45 pm, and then will take the airporter on to Anacortes,

Thankfully got home from Frank & Ania's before the daily thunder storm hit, in time to get laundry off line. It had been thundering in the distance while we were enjoying our afternoon meal on their patio. Gracious but the butterflies here do like to fly close to you. Today's downpour was just that. Tropical rains are not gentle. At least they seldom seem to last long. This one stopped in about half an hour. Then another started up an hour later. We look out our windows to see how long and from which direction the next storm will be. In Anacortes the rains come mainly from the southeast. Not so here. It can be from any direction. Reading time.

Festermicidiendo

Jueves, 12 Julio 2012. Early to rise today. We expected our helper, a fellow on loan from Frank, to arrive at 7:30. He, young David and Manuel the crew boss arrived at 8:15. We could have slept longer. Not that that would have happened with all the early morning noises here. Noise seems to start up at 5am. The boss was just here to help explain to David what we expected of him. We were having the ceilings, which are hard pine wood beams supporting pine boards (above which is our 4” slab roof), all coated with the festermicide to rid our house of the flying termites that occur here. Actually the job went really well from Carmen's point of view. She was the watcher and rarely helper, and took the opportunity to wash and hang some laundry.

Dan used the roller and extension rod to get the center of the room and flat boards, where the ladder would not reach. The liquid is so runny that one has to drain off the roller well before lifting it in the air, to avoid drips and a face-full of splashes. David used a paint brush and ladder to get all the beams (vigas) and edges & corners where the roller missed. We had bought protective masks and glasses which proved too uncomfortable to use for long stretches in these mid-day temperatures. The sprayer we bought provided great coverage but atomized the liquid too much making it hard to breathe, and we don't have a respirator here, so it's use was quickly ruled out. The paint brush we bought from the hardware was a weird thing. Four inches wide, but the bristles were but two inches long. When nearly finished David had a really narrow area to get the brush into, so Carmen offered him her favorite 2” brush she had brought from the US. Some women travel with their lipstick, but Carmen travels with her favorite paint brush. What can we say...? A bit later Dan offered David back the four inch stubby brush, but David made it quite clear that he preferred Carmen's small one. We all took a break around noonish. We asked David to eat with us, but he insisted that he was expected to go to Frank's worksite and eat with his crew. After Dan finished his part inside, he started the front porch. Immediately he got into a battle with a small wasp. The wasp deterred any further work here, and Dan decided that he could do that area when we redo our roof. Needless to say, he was exhausted. The muscles just do not prefer to reach to the sky all day, along with pushing drippy liquid around.

After all was done – all windows open to air out the odor. Dan took a well deserved shower and our helper got back to his other job earlier than expected. After a very brief rest, we walked 16 blocks one way to the bus station to check the schedule, so that when we make our flight schedule, we know we can get to the airport at a reasonable time. Had to make another bank stop. Then walked to the new Aurerra grocery store because it sells the Guatemalan beer (Gallo) that Dan likes. Also cheap, about USD3 per sixpack. This store is the new one owned by Walmart, 13 blocks north of home. (Downtown, el centro, is seven blocks north and then west another four.) We bought some bakery goods. The raised donut was scrumptious, and half the price of one in the US. However the two muffins were maybe a week old. Threw them out. The bread pudding was okay. Now time to read and sleep. Yep – the daily rain storm is now happening. Thankfully it waited until late today. Often thunder and lightening is with it. Yesterday we had one crack of close-by lighting and thunder that sounded more like a gigantic explosion...mostly it occurs in the surrounding hills. In Anacortes thunder is most rare, and we find we actually enjoy the (usually) distant rumbles here.

Ya Residentes

Miercoles, 11 Julio 2012.  What a day this has been! We got our bones out of bed at 6:46 so that Carmen could do laundry by hand in our large kitchen sink. Dan helps with the ringing of the clothes and hanging the clothes up. We have a tight woven clothesline that hasn't loosened up yet and so requires both of us to get the clothes hung into it. A quick breakfast, then the 12 block walk to the closest stop where buses pass going into the city. Just missed the bus we wanted, after the ten minute walk. Another ten minutes before the correct bus arrived. Cost MXP18 for the two of us, or about about 50 cents US per fare. Pleasant ride today. Departed this bus and walked 2+ blocks to the INM office. Carmen of course likes to be everyplace at least 15 minutes early. Dan keeps telling her that is not the way things are done down here. Everything runs late. We were at the office five minutes early and true to Mexican form – no one showed up 'til ten minutes after the hour when the office was nominally to open. Another 10 minutes before the person that could help us arrived. At least we were the first patrons to arrive. We patiently waited in the outer office, then we were called into a small workroom equipped with desk, computer and copier. The young lady asked a few questions, typed in some data off the Formato Básico we had completed, pasted down our fotos in the proper places, got our signatures and thumb prints, and it was all complete. Luis, a licenciado, the office manager in charge (who arrived about 10:10am) signed our cards. Shortly thereafter, we were given our double sided plastic laminated visa cards. We also received our CURP, an ID number all residents of Mexico are supposed to obtain—we now are officially residentes of this beautiful county. We can now officially move our furniture here and can stay a year before we renew the visa for another year.

Now, about 10:20am, across the street to the Ofix store to get copies of our new cards made to take to IMSS (Instituto Mexicano de Seguridad Social) to sign up for health insurance coverage. We called Frank to meet us at IMSS since we were but ten blocks away and we would walk there. Turns out that Frank was already there waiting for us. This walk took us thru parts of Cordoba that we have not seen before. We have heard such horror stories of how long and complicated this process all takes, we were of course dreading the experience. Well let us correct this myth! We were treated very well. First of all one lady told us that our birth certificates would have to be translated into Spanish by an official at the SRE office downtown. This was disappointing to say the least. However a fellow around the corner asked to see our papers (two copies passport, two copies visa, two copies utility bill in one's name, two copies apostilled birth certificate). He asked us to have a seat outside while he went to talk to the supervisor about the situation. All our other papers were together in good order. No we did not have to have the translation done. Just had to walk across the patio to another office to another person and have our SS number assigned. This was the first step. Took all of maybe ten minutes. Unfortunately Frank did not have his birth certificate with him, so we suggested he not wait around for us and that we would get back to Fortín on our own by bus.

With our numbers in hand, we went back to the first office and each completed a little paperwork declaring our health situation. The only bad part of the process was that we now had to go to a bank to pay the annual fee for the coverage., and no banks anywhere near this office. Given minimal directions, off we happily go and we walk and we walk and we walk--------Oh my land, where is that Banamex office? Thought it was going to be but a couple blocks! We stopped at a fire station and asked directions. Firemen (bomberos) are always helpful. The fellow was surprised we were on foot, but assured us it was just ahead around a curve and past the traffic signal. Many blocks later of trudging along in the hot sun, getting thirsty and hungry, and past two traffic lights, Dan again asked directions. Back a street and down another road. Finally we see a Banamex bank in the far distance. This was at least 15 long city blocks from where we started. Upon arriving at the bank sign, it looked like only an ATM was there. We persevered and found the full teller area tucked behind a dark covered parking area. Parking lots here are a rarity, and banks normally sit full front on the street.

 We both agreed we were too exhausted to walk back to the IMMS to give them the receipts for the payments we made. Walked a couple blocks to a bus stop and caught a lucky bus heading back towards Fortín—Dan was sure the driver recognized us. He stopped exactly at 19^th street where the IMSS office was but a block away. Found that we needed one more copy each of the receipts, so Dan dashed right across the street where a tiny store made copias. Handed in our final paperwork, and got a copy that we could take to the new IMSS clinic in Fortín after August 3. Total office time, minus the trip to the bank, about 1.5 hours. Our benefit year will start on 01 August and will have to be renewed each year in July. For the first year we are covered for local clinic visits and emergencies. Full hospitalization coverage will start the following year. We will go the the local clinic after we drive down here in September, where we will turn in our fotos to get our ID card and get a physical to formally begin our coverage. Hopefully by then Frank will have had his physical and can tell us where this new clinic is. As of now, we have no idea where it is. The annual cost of USD267 is the highest rate since we are over 60 years of age.

Walked a block out to Avenida 11 to catch a bus to Walmart. We have certainly seen another part of Córdoba today. We needed to pick up a couple curtain rods, plus safety goggles and masks to protect faces for those who will paint the festermicide tomorrow. In Fortín we got off the bus right at the end of Calle 11 Sur, due north of our house. Actually the bus stop is a bit further on, but as we have noted – the bus drivers seem to know us already. It's a pleasant walk south to the house, which as mentioned before is kitty-corner from the new church, whose nave and transept are grass covered and mowed regularly, still open to the sky.  Here's a view from our front porch.  

Prepared and ate supper, or was it lunch, at 5PM. Dan fought with the bathroom sink some more. The drain problem seems to be solved, having built up the gaskets with liberal applications of silicone caulk—now the problem is the packing at the faucet handles, which will require a deep socket wrench to access (among the tools coming down with our furniture). Carmen called Ania and asked if we could spend a few hours at their house Friday, using their internet, in order to make air reservations home. We'd like to stop by San Jose, CA to visit friend Peggy for a couple days and then home again, if the flight times & fares work out. All in all a most satisfactory day, capped by a brief deluge of rain just before dark. All that worry about the hassle of getting our visa and IMSS coverage was for nought. Life is good.

Aguilas Arriba

Martes, 10 Julio 2012.  It rained all morning, with it only about 71ºF in the house. About midday the Fester folks brought by a five gallon pail of the wood treatment, while Dan was working on sketching bathroom elevations. Then the birds began to sing, indicating that the rain was over. The hot sun rapidly dried all the puddles. So we took the opportunity for a turn thru town, stopping first at another locksmith's where we dropped off the second bedroom door lock cylinder to have it's keys made. Then to the hardware store for a paint roller & tray, a telescoping handle for the roller, that will reach those 10' cathedral ceilings and a 4” brush—this should have us all prepared for our helper coming in on Thursday. On the way back we tapped the atm at the Banamex to replenish the pesos, and got our keys.

Carmen cooked another delicious meal: breaded fish with migas, fresh broccoli and sauteed potatoes with onions. We both need to rest up, as we are feeling pooped from being on the go constantly coupled with the mental toll of doing it all in a foreign language. Yesterday we saw what appeared to be some eagles (aguilas) soaring high above--not so very different from the skies over Anacortes, it seems.

Guía Telefónica

Lunes, 09 Julio 2012. Carmen is getting antsy to get back to her cats. She feels guilty having someone else caring for our gatos, once again. The alarm we installed has gone off a few times. No break in – just the cats setting it off apparently, one time at 5am. We hope Sally has been able to move stuff around so the cats, no matter where they roam, are not within the motion sensor sensitive zone.

This morn we went to the Fogon & Paila restaurant for breakfast so that we could use their internet. This was recommended by the señorita at the INM office, so we could track our visa application. We found that our visas had been processed and registered, but the questionnaire that was supposed to be there, was not. So we bussed into Cordoba to get some help from the folks at the INM office. The young lady who helped us last week was having a sick day, so we talked to the manager, who was doing his job & hers today. He made a phone call, as he was unfamiliar with the new online features of the new immigration law now in place. Had us go to the bank to make our payments for the No Inmigrante Rentista visa, MXP1451. This means that the total cost of changing from a tourist to a resident has been MXP2001, or about USD148. Our visa, a coated ID card, will be ready Wednesday, and they can take the questionnaire answers from us then. With visa in hand (plus apostilled birth certificate, proof of residence, fotos, etc), we plan to go from there on Wednesday directly to the IMSS office, about ten blocks away. Frank will meet us there, since he wants to apply at the same time.

A day with lots of walking. First to Sears to check out appliances—looking for a stack washer-dryer combo. Same model we've seen elsewhere, a Mabe lavacentro, but more expensive here than in other stores. Then, a half a block from Sears, we met our lawyer in his stairwell, on the way out of the office. He finally told us that we did not owe him any more – we were even, and as yet the SRE had not sent any refunds that we had been told might be forthcoming. Next to the tourist office to find where we might get a phone book—they weren't sure, but gave us an extra copy of last year's edition. Then to Telmex, the phone company, where we investigated service packages, and, oh, by they way, could you spare a guia telefonica? Nope, but they directed us to the phonebook publisher, Sección Amarillo, many blocks away. Sure is hard to get one of those here—you'd think all those Wolley Segap advertisers would want one in every home. Why do they not just sell them, if giving them away is such a problem? Reluctantly the publisher finally gifted us one—we noted that the next edition comes out in September. Now to two hardware stores searching for galvanized sheet metal to make flashing and fencing for the gatos. Finally caught a bus to the drop off 12 blocks from home.

On the way home we took a five block detour to go to Franks place to talk to his foreman. Asked him to stop by our place after work to look at the jobs we had when we get back in September – for when Frank is done with them. Here's a a picture of the fachada of the new house.  When we got home, Dan started drawing up some sketches for the ground-floor bathroom addition with second floor terrace off the master bedroom. About 6pm Frank stopped by with Manuel and the whole crew, on the way to taking them all to the bus to Coscomatepec, where they live. It was raining so a climb to the roof was out, but Dan & Manuel scoped out the jobs. Turns out work has progressed enough that Frank would be willing to give up one of his crew for a day or two to get the Festermicide painted on to the ceilings in our upper floor rooms. Hurray!

Día de Descanso

Domingo, 08 Julio 2012.  Dan worked on the computer putting together a payroll help sheet for his clients, while Carmen did final cleaning. She worked on the outside of the last office window, the double dining room door, and the downstairs half bath, which was major filthy. Plus hand scrubbed the upstairs bathroom floor three times. Lastly scrubbed all the downstairs floors again. Just can not seem to get them clean of a gray dust. Perhaps one will have to get used to everything being gray dusty here. Cooked lunch and took a nap, and Dan took the opportunity to take a rest (descanso) too. Later we walked into the park to see what was shaking of a Sunday evening—it was dry today and the previous Sundays were a little wet for such an excursion at the end of the day. Dan had a paleta de coco and Carmen was not feeling hungry. Walked the three blocks down to the motel where we stayed at last winter. Owner/Manager Carlos was there. Asked where we could find or buy a yellow pages phone book, which will facilitate finding all the stuff we need for our home setup and renovations. He suggested we visit the Telmex office in Cordoba, and gave us approximate directions. He thanked us for the nice report we posted here earlier, about the comfortable stay we had here last winter.

Tinaco Limpio

Sabado, 07 Julio,2012.  Surprise surprise, the nearby restaurant was open. We shared each other's meal as is often the case. Carmen had a giant bowl of Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup). For Dan a Mixiote de Borrego plate—succulent lamb cooked in paper with seasonings including an avocado leaf, accompanied really good rice, a salad of fresh tomatoes with sweet onions, plus refried black beans. Probably the best restaurant meal we have yet had here.. That was late yesterday afternoon

To start today off right, Dan climbed the ladder in the main bedroom, Carmen filled and lifted up to him a large syringe filled with Festermicide which Dan squirted into the ceiling beams where we thought there were termites..

Made our daily tour of town. Little more extensive than usual. We visited the key shop. The fellow there was not the one that knew the job. We were unsuccessful in locating either of the other two key shops we have seen in town. Visited the fellow who might be hired to make flashing for our house. At the grocery store we bought fresh breads (baked in the store), yogurt and lots of veggies – green beans, corn on cob, broccoli. Also more bleach since Dan might need more for sanitizing the water tank on top of our roof. Cannot find any of the right kind of fencing in town to keep cats in. Maybe we should just forget it. The problem is that this house sits much closer to the street than kitties are used to. Plus there is far more traffic here than in Anacortes. Only if you have loved kitties, will you know our dilemma.

Upon arriving home, Dan changed into work jeans and laddered up to the tinaco on the roof (up onto the roof over the dining room, then lift up the ladder to that sloping roof to get up to the upper roof). Fortunately he can hook the ladder top over the upper roof -wall edge so once it's in place it doesn't slide off the lower roof. With some WD40 and a wrench he unfroze the tank drain valve, and set the tank to draining. He pulled out some greenery that had taken hold  in the little walled area that surrounds the tank, and pitched it down to the ground.  You will recall that when we inspected the house prior to purchase, the cover had been off the tank, open to ashy rainfall, critters, algae growth from the sunlight coming in, etc, so we were expecting the worst for this cleaning

Using a new mop to scrub the inside of the tank from the access port in the top, the apparently clear water got dirtier and dirtier the lower it got. Unfortunately the drain hole is a few inches from the actual bottom of the tank, so that last five gallons or so, by this time almost thick mud, came out a mopload at a time. Then Dan called down to Carmen on the ground, who took this long opportunity to weed the backyard parking area, to turn on the city water again, and filled the tank with about 15 gallons of fresh water, dumped in the liter of bleach, and repeated the process, this time with a much cleaner final rinse out. Water on again it filled with clear water with the bottom now satisfactorily visible. Once off the roof, he ran water thru all the lines and cleaned out the fine screen on the kitchen faucet which had been partially plugged with the crud coming thru the lines. Glad to have that job done. A shower and a libation to toast the successes of the day.  Salud! 

Paraguas

Viernes, 06 Julio 2012.  People here seem to often carry an umbrella (paraguas). More often used for the sun (so they become, instead, parasol). We just try to walk mostly in the shade, crossing the street as necessary to obtain it. This morn el Pico de Orizaba is in hiding. Seems unlikely that we will see much blue sky. Only 69 in the house. We did leave windows open last night. Yesterday while cleaning windows, a largish house gecko (geco casero) popped out of the top of the window frame – gave Carmen a bit of a thrill. Ania later told us these lizards (lagartijas) are called besuconas because of the kissing-like sounds they make (beso=kiss)--we heard these weird sounds last night and couldn't figure out where they weer coming from.  Later in the day, Dan saw a large dragonfly on the inside of a window screen. Beautiful dark with green bars. Carmen took a large, clean, yogurt container to capture him and put him (or her?) back outside. On the other hand – we have discovered a smallish black spider that is able to jump and turn all directions. One met it's death by a fly swatter. There was no way to get it just by hand because it can move too quickly. Dan has packed some of his electronic gear back into a suitcase for storage. We have decided to have an exterminator come in and do his thing this next week. Then we have talked to a carpenter about doing some inside ceiling work. We can manage sanding and refinishing all the wood window frames, but the ceilings really stress the arms and neck.

Just looked towards Mt Orizaba again and what a beautiful site. The top ¾ of what we can see looks to be wrapped in whip cream! Such fun we have been having, deciding on all the changes we can make here. Closets, cat ramps and shelves, plant areas, to fence or not to cover the outside wrought iron fencing with tighter mesh to make more cat secure. Oh joy – Dan just discovered that the long kitchen window has a screen that also slides. He is presently cleaning the missed area under where the screen had been sitting. The plan is for Dan to attack upstairs bathroom sink again, applying a very liberal amount of silicone caulk. Maybe this time a miracle will happen?

Need to do our daily walk into town. This time we need to get some more photo copies made for the government, and see if the metal shop can fabricate some sheet stock into flashing for us. This is another item that seems to be impossible to find in this part of Mexico. Might try the nearby restaurant for some Azteca soup. Will it be open this time? Or will we stay here and lay out a spread on our elegant dining room table, which is actually our multifold ladder complete with scaffold panels. Ladder also does double duty as a drying rack when it's rainy out.

Día de Flores

Jueves, 05 Julio 2012.  No, there seems to be no reason for fireworks here. Or is there? When we were in town for breakfast and computer access this morning, we saw many very well dressed students, accompanied by their parents, also in their Sunday best. Many boys and girls had the same pale green-gray plaid bottoms – being slacks or skirts. The tops were white with red ties, all presumably the school uniforms colors. Many were carrying bouquets of flowers. Graduation day – summer vacation is starting. This certainly is an area of flowers. People buy and have cut flowers for every imaginable happening or event. This creates much visual beauty, but is hard on Carmen's allergies to many of the strongly scented varieties. This picture is flowers from our front yard, sitting on fireplace mantel. The red is Bugambilia (Bougainvillea), the yellow is Copa de Oro (Allamanda cathartica), and the blue flowers are yet to be identified. Spent a long time at the cafe near the park, catching up on emails and getting the blog days posted. Yep, we visited the hardware again. Then across the street to see if the large bakery had any must buy item. Nope. There are several large bakeries in town that we know of, plus some smaller ones. Next we stopped by the locksmith's – no luck, he was off on a job and it was unknown when he'd be back. Up the next block to the other large grocery store. No oranges here. Around past the old railroad station and down to the electric company to get the receipt we needed with Carmen's name on it. So the electric bill is in Carmen's name and the water bill is in Dan's name. We each need a bill in our name for when we apply for various government permissions.

Back towards our house to a fruit market to buy more oranges, then to our favorite grocery store. We have been not seeing the manager from this store ever since we arrived last week. He was there today and we all joyfully greeted each other and shook hands. Carmen waited with our other purchases on a bench at the front of the store, rather than checking our other items. Dan bought a couple small items. He found salt that has some thing in it that keeps it pourable in this humidity. Now approaching home, we had one more stop. Dan needed to go up the hill to Franks new house to borrow his hacksaw to saw a piece of plastic pipe for that bathroom sink that still is not useable. He also wanted to take some photos of the changes in the structure since our visit here last winter. Carmen loaded up with all the purchased items, plus computer, to carry everything home and leave Dan to do this last walk by himself. Must admit that she was rather loaded down, which gave Dan a bit of a worry. Carmen had walked but a block when she heard this familiar voice asking her if she'd like a taxi ride. Oops – hope the driver did not expect to be paid. It was Frank. He then met Dan at his construction site.

This afternoon several little boys have been having fun hitting our doorbell and running. What fun! Dan got the mailbox installed. Hopefully no one can steal it. Carmen continued cleaning windows and this morn washed and hung out the final curtains. Plus she sprinkled bug poison around outside. Dan also invented a way to keep our windows from banging shut with the breezes. Being a gardener at heart, Dan also went outside and pruned back some more bouganvilla. Had a HARD rain for a short time this afternoon. Within an hour the water had mostly dried up. Pretty amazing. The temp in the sun this afternoon was 98ºF, and in the shade it was 72ºF. Got to start thinking in centigrade it seems. Bed time!

¿Cohetes en El Norte?

Miercoles, 04 Julio 2012.  Had we been in Anacortes today, we would be hearing an occasional fircracker (cohete) and be anticipating the city's annual fireworks (fuegos artificiales) display. Mexican Independence Day, which we experienced here last fall, is celebrated much less explosively.

We called Frank for his dentist's phone number, the notation of which we apparently left in the US. We are both ready for a cleaning. Dan tried Wendy, the dentist, but got no answer. A bit later Frank stopped by and he took a seat on the office floor where we were both working on the blog. He read all we had found out about applying for IMMS health insurance, since he plans to go with us and also apply for it. As he was about to leave he asked if we'd like a ride to anyplace since he had a bit of free time. His wife was out walking for awhile so he did not need to rush home for further instructions. As if that happens! Dan gave Wendy another call and she could take us this afternoon at 4pm & 5pm. Great, one more item we intended to do on this trip that we can cross off the list!

Frank dropped us in the middle of Fortín near his atm. Saved us 12 blocks of walking. When Frank dropped us off, he asked what it cost for the taxi into town. To his surprise we had no idea, as we have always walked. We had never taken an in town taxi here, just between here and the cities that flank Fortín on the east and west.

First we walked to the bank for the atm. Next the hardware and bought hooks for windows and hardware to install our lovely mailbox on our gate. Next to a locksmith's stall to get some duplicates made. Two worked but the third needs some more grinding to fit the padlock. Next to the Fester store for some festermicida, a wood preservative. Fester is a well-respected brand of specialized coatings and selants. Bought a gallon of this liquid to paint on wood to discourage termites and repel water. Walked home with time for a bite to eat and a wee nap, before going for a bus to take us to the dentist. Well relatively near the dentist. We managed to get an 11^th avenue bus which is what we wanted – except all these buses are not equal. We wanted one that went all the way down 11^th Ave, but this one turned at 10^th street so we had to walk on down the three blocks to 4^th street. This way be got to walk by a beautiful little city park.

We arrived at the dentists office a half hour early – and guess what – this is one of the places that closes between two and four. We walked to a restaurant a block away and shared a soda pop. Carmen took her appointment first. We had taken the computer with hopes that the dentist office would have internet. No such luck, so Dan caught up on the local newspapers there. She does a really good job. MXP500 each, about USD36 – sure beats the $140 each in the US. There is also a dentista but three blocks from our house that Carmen will try next time. If all is well, we could perhaps change just for the convenience of going to someone five minutes from home.

After leaving the dentist, we walked the 10+ blocks to the notario, along a cross-town route we had not traversed before. Always good to learn of specialty store locations for some future shopping need. We're still trying to pay our land lawyer his final bill. No such luck. He told us hi from a distance, but he had a terrible cold, so would we please come back next week? Did one ever have so much difficulty paying a bill? Just up the block from the lawyers office is a Waldos dollar store. As in many local stores, no one is allowed to take a package or even a purse into a store. All must be checked. Dan stood outside the door while Carmen perused the store for goodies. She found a small mop to be used to sanitize our tinaco (water tank on top of our house). Sent Dan into the store while Carmen stood outside with our backpack containing the netbook. Dan bought the mop and a box of candy and marshmallow cookies that Carmen had been eying. Bussed home. Was interesting carrying the mop on the bus.

We decided to treat ourselves to some Aztec soup from the nearby restaurant. Took our supplies home first. Happily walked the four more blocks, only to discover the restaurant closed again. The hours posted are 7-10, everyday. However this is now the third time we have stopped there and found it closed. Had some fish nearly thawed in our frig. Discovered we had no salt, so used some thyme and parmesan cheese and crisped it in oil. Yum. Fresh tomato, avocado and blue cheese salad with fresh lime juice. Guess it was good that the restaurant was closed.

Ducha Caliente

Martes, 03 Julio 2012.  Out the kitchen window, Carmen saw a propane truck go by and told Dan to go see if it was stopping nearby. Dan saw it pull into a side street a couple blocks south and dashed after it. He asked the driver to please come to our house, which they did. The two fellows working the truck, inspected our whole system, and told us that our rusted tank of 300 liters has probably five more years life in it. They tried to start the hot water heater. Dan kept coming into the house and told Carmen there was a gas smell. Nope she could not smell it, she was however getting a headache. Finally they gave up on the hot water heater and came inside to be sure the stove was connected properly. After checking it all thoroughly, they started one burner and HUGE POOF of flame from all six burners. Unbeknownst to any of us – the burners were all turned on to full on. (Was this how it left the factory, or was this a joke on the gringos?) Luckily no one got burned. Now that the stove was no longer sucking up all the propane, the water heater lit with no problem. Were they expecting a tip? They did not charge for all their extra time of inspection. The propane cost the equivalent of $1.79 a gallon US.

Now at this point we have someone delivering our propane, large drinking water jugs, caring for our garden. Bit different from the US. While the fuel truck was here, we looked out front, and low and behold, there was Ania and friend Lucy walking south past our house. Dashed out to say hi. Later we saw them going north past our house. They go for several long walks a week. This time we stopped them for a longer chat. Ania had brought us a couple plants on Sunday and I knew the one was spearmint, but I had forgotten the other name. It is a cilantro – different from what we are familiar with. Nice to be able to chat in English. A bit later Frank stopped by for a bit with some books. Our house is but 9 blocks from the new house they are building.

Yes, Dan thrashed on the bathroom sink again. Will it ever be leak free? Would be a real shame to have to pull it out, as it is handmade and very much complements the tile finish in the bathroom. We did indeed celebrate the end of the day with our first hot shower (ducha) here. More thunder showers. Actually earlier today, we saw a rainbow over the banana field to the east. This morning Mt Orizaba was magnificent!

Migración

Lunes, 02 Julio 2012.  Took a bus into Cordoba. Visited the INM to continue the process of obtaining our long term No Inmigrante Rentista (non-immigrant resident living on funds brought from outside Mexico) visa. Were told we had to go to a bank to pay the fee – sort of a federal deposit arrangement, as they do not handle money at the IMN office itself. The Banamex, just across the street, had a line out the door and over two blocks long. Luckily we could go to any bank, so we instead chose the Santander bank where it was only a twenty minute wait, inside and air-conditioned. Paid MXP550 each. (One just does not plan to use a bank on the first of the month here, at least not Banamex, which used to be known as the Banco Nacional de México. This is mostly a cash society and many are paid on the first of the month.) Then we returned to the INM, with a recibo for the payment we had made at the bank. The next step for us is to check online next Monday morn, fill out a short questionnaire and then come in to the office again and our visa ID cards should be ready for us. Wonder if it will really happen that way, with so little hassle?

Next we visited many, many hardware and plumbing stores for parts that we had not been able to find in Fortín. Dan says that we did not find a DAMNED thing. Lots of walking and finally found that in order to catch our bus, we again had to walk a long ways back across town. Took a bus back towards home and stopped at Walmart, where we bought a good selection of meat, since we now have a frig. Yay – Carmen gets to cook again, a favorite activity! Took bus on home. Walked the last nine blocks. Got home just before the daily rain.

We have had one day without rain sometime during the 24 hour period. Either short showers where the ground dries off in a couple of minutes it seems, or torments late in the day or during the night. But, this is what keeps western Veracruz green, lush and full of free-flowing watercourses.

Another long day. Wondering just when vacation or retirement starts. Or is this what retirement is really like – perhaps we should go back to work? No, we would be twiddling thumbs without the challenge and enjoyment of the “nesting” tasks that we've set before us.

El Conejo

Domingo, 01 Julio 2012.  Today is election day. Went out our front door to go four blocks to the Restaurant Fogon & Paila for breakfast. Oh how disgusting! Something had barfed up a huge amount on our low front porch wall! Will clean it up when we return. We did hear a cat fight last eve. And here we were thinking our two darling kitties would not be bothered by other cats. Best breakfast at this restaurant. More food for the money, and a wonderful ambiente (ambiance) with Mayan décor, including the palapa-styled roof and open air walls,. Since we were checking emails and making our first post about our arrival here on the 27th, we had lots of time to eat everything put in front of us. First time we remember having corn tortillas that tasted of the charcoal grill. Yumm. Nice being able to use free internet with the purchase of a lovely meal. We now know of two such places.

Home again. No further walk into town today. We happily walk thru our front gate, towards our front door – screech goes Carmen. Remember the barf from earlier? Well – the whole dead rabbit minus its throat was laying in the corner of our front porch. Carmen got hold of herself, walked into the house for paper towels with which to pick up this big what looked like a fully adult rabbit (conejo). Walked it across the street and deposited it in the banana field. Back to the house for the offering on our cement rail. What ever will we do with extras like this when eventually the banana fields turn into house lots & neighbors?

Another cleaning day. Dan called Frank to let them know that we did indeed have a phone now and invited them over for the afternoon, for crackers, cookies and fruit. Yes, and cold Guatemalan beer too, thanks to the new frig. We muchly enjoyed chatting with Frank and Ania. Shortly after they left, our doorbell rang. Seems this area has a roving watchman (velador) and he suggested a 15 peso contribution a week for his watching our house or a little more than a buck US. Hope he is worth it. His whistle sounded about 2am the first night we were here. This afternoon Dan printed off more copies of our escritura. He also used his shiny new ladder and climbed to the top of the separate laundry building in the back corner of the backyard. There was a big water puddle (charco) up there. The cap to the propane fuel fill valve was loose on the roof, partially blocking the scupper (drain) so Carmen elevated the broom to Dan so that he could brush the rust off the tank, clean out things and sweep the water toward the drain. Turns out that the roof slope is wrong. Just another repair job waiting. We might never run out of fun jobs here.

As much as we love going in to the Parque Central Sunday eve, we were just too tired. Did manage to read for a short time.