(Domingo 11-
Sábado 17 Agosto) Sunday we awoke to
the songs (?) of guinea fowl. We assume they are living in the
forest, free, a block away, because they seem to wander a fair
distance. Yesterday breakfast was steak and eggs, pastry, yogurt and
fruit to build up energy lost friday. This morn we indulged in our
regular oatmeal with banana and yogurt, plus a half cup of either tea
or coffee. A bit of cleaning, not much. Made and baked a small
batch of chocolate chip cookies. Then a spanish lesson on the terraza off the bedroom. The mandevilla vines are providing lots up color up here.
From early morning
til late afternoon, we heard most enjoyable spanish music playing.
Probably emitted for and by the mechanic working on a truck, but a
half block away on edge of the street. It's very typical to hear
music from a radio or other playback gear in the wind, and nobody
thinks that they might be playing too loud. So it helps to
appreciate the same sort of stuff that your neighbors do. Usually
it's cumbia, ranchero or norteño, and sometimes classical, so
we have no complaints yet.
Since we finally
have our Residente Temporal cards, monday morning Dan wanted to walk
into town to see if we could get our INAPAM (National Institute for
Seniors) cards, which will grant us dicounts on fares, entrance
tickets and such. He got all the paperwork together while Carmen
hung out two loads of laundry, totally filling our lines and getting
all our jeans and other heavy items cleaned. The sky looked a bit
iffy, but we took a chance. Seems that we must go back to the DIF (Integral Family Development) facility next tuesday with our papers.
On we walked to the
bank ATM, to the hardware store for tubing to make three more curtain
rods, to the paint store to ask why some of our house has the new
paint going blotchy whitish (they said we must put another sealer
coat on and then another coat of paint), to an office supply store to
ask where we can dispose of a printer that needs repair that Dan is
unable to fix and is now surplus for us, and finally to the flower
market. No the true citronella plants have not been found yet.
Couple blocks further and a motorcycle pulled up next to us. This
happens amazingly often with vehicles, wanting directions. This
rider happened to be our mailman. He had two magazines for us.
As we are now only
three blocks from home, we passed a block from a dentist that Carmen
wanted to try. We walked down the hill, rang the big bell at the
door. The dentist had 45 free minutes. Okay, that should be enough
time for a good cleaning. The IMSS dentist, where Carmen has gone
for dental care this past year, just plain does not do much for the
teeth. Not only did this dentist do a great job, but she speaks
english! Seemed expensive, compared to the dentist Dan has been
having cleanings with, but she did do a good exam too. With the type
of fluoride treatment that was used, Carmen could eat or drink
nothing for an hour. Also this dentist explained how to brush the
teeth differently because of so many crowns.
Finally home and
started some chicken and veggies cooking to which dumplings were
added. Hanging the wet clothes out earlier was successful. The
laundry was back inside before the rain started about 2:30p. Dan
spent much of the rest of the day preparing all the paper work plus a
letter to take to the aduana at the port of Veracruz tomorrow.
This needs done to make our “temporarily imported” car legal for
another three years.
Our orquideas pleasure us when they send out long stalks and flower -- they don't all do this at the same time and it's a surprise when all of a sudden another blooms forth.
Down, down and away
towards the coast tuesday morning. Couple of quick stops first. One
to see if our vacuum cleaner was repaired – no it can not be
repaired, but it wasn't ready to pick up. Walmart was second for
mosquito repellent refills for the plug-in gizmo, cat food &
litter, and an mini addition to our cellphone minutes. We hardly
ever use it, but it seemed wise to have it functional since we were
taking a trip into the unknown.
We opted to take
the autopista, the toll road that goes right into Veracruz As
we progressed down from our elevation of 3000 to sea level, we passed
thru a very green and lush landscape of rolling hills where lots of
corn and sugar cane was growing. Closer to the coast the vegetation
is more low jungle, with less visible agriculture. Our round trip to
Veracruz was 158 miles, so about 90 minutes down and the same amount
back, barring any unforeseen stops.
We were concerned
about being able to find the aduana adminstrative office where
we had to renew our car for staying here another three years, running
concurrent with our new Residente Temporal permits. No address
available, so we sort of went by what Frank could describe from years
ago. Ah – thought we found it on Google maps – and so easy, it's
right downtown opposite the wharf area! After driving into the port
area, we could find nothing relating, so we asked a lady at a gated
entry. Seems it had been moved since Frank was last there. She told
us to go left on the next road and follow the road over a bridge and
past a water company and the next turn would be what we were looking
for. We drove for some time, finding no water company, but there,
finally, was the main entrance to the port. At that gate the
attendant told us to turn around and continue on down the road we had
been on, just past a sewage plant (aguas residuales are
treated there).
The next turn again
looked like the right place, so in we turned. The guard said yes,
just park in the lot and go to the last office in the modern new
structure. Confusing. The actual “last” office seemed to be in a
secured area. Again Dan asked where we needed to be – assuming we
were in the wrong place again. But no, we only had to walk back a
couple doors and talk to the lady in charge of admittance to the
facility. Whew, we made it, and it was not all that difficult,
thanks to Dan's understanding of spanish. Oops! Apparently there
are very few people at this port's office trying to renew their TIP
(temporary importation permit). The lady had to make several calls
to find out how to process our request. She had us fill out and sign
in a registry book. She then gave us visitor badges which allowed us
into the next building. She kept some of our documentation, which
made us a bit nervous. Must say – everyone we encountered here was
extremely pleasant and helpful!
We were escorted to
another office upstairs. Here were four ladies. Only one knew what
to do with us. The others just sat there and ate candy – a
meringue that looked scrumptious. Yes, to her surprise, all the
papers we needed were there in the packet, plus we had the extra
copies needed. Dan is so great about researching everything as
thoroughly as possible. Still – you never know. Upon Claudia's
approval, we were escorted to the final office in the building, the
buzon (mail room). Here the clerk checked all the papers
again, stamped everything and informed us that everything was correct
and one of the copies would now be sent to Mexico City. He returned
the other stamped copy to us as proof of submission. From there we
would, presumably, receive notification later that all was in order..
When? Who knows? While we stood in the office a hard hard
rainstorm passed over.
We are
now relieved of the tension from this morning's searching thru a
strange city. Sat in the car and drank some water and ate our
morning donut. On the way back, Dan decided to take the drive thru
the city instead of the more direct route. We did see the beach and
ocean, plus the historic downtown. The massive well-cared for
buildings are the pinks and yellows with a spanish/caribbean flare.
Very busy streets, being about noon. After a few tries we found the
main route out of the city. This is Mexico's largest, oldest and
most significant port.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracruz,_Veracruz
On our way out of the city we saw a
Little Caesars pizza restaurant. Stopped, ordered a deal which
included one to go. The clerk gave us one. Dan understood it was
the one to go and a fresh one would be served to us for there
shortly. Meanwhile many pizzas left the kitchen. Finally we decided
something was wrong. We opened the box we had to start in on that
and found it not cut. Hmmm, must be they do not cut the ones to-go.
Dan took it back to the counter and found that he had misunderstood.
They gave us two fresh pizzas, both cut into wedges, and we ate a bit
and got back into the car with Carmen driving for the first time
today. Dan was very thankful that he got some relief from being
behind the wheel and could stretch out. We had just remarked that
we'd be home shortly, when Dan suggested rather strongly that we get
off the thruway and take the local road. No, Carmen preferred to
stay on the autopista until we could get off in Córdoba near
Home Depot. Carmen doesn't like driving in traffic if she can help
it.
She did remark that there were suddenly
a lot of trucks and they seemed to be slowing down though. Well they
were slowing down all right! To a dead stop! Here we were just
beyond the last exit before Córdoba, and were stopped with almost no
cars and hundreds of trucks, bumper to bumper. Saw a couple small
trucks and cars drive across the rough median, which hours later we
finally checked out, but felt we might get stuck in the mud, so
stayed in line. About once an hour for the next SEVEN HOURS we were
able to drive forward for a distance of a truck or two, no more!
While here there were two torrential rain storms. It meant closing
the windows and suffering great amount of sticky heat. What could be
holding us up? Heard no sirens. Finally a couple ladies walked by,
going back to their car, with food. Dan asked if they knew the cause
of the traffic jam. Yes, they did know. It was some group
manifestación, a group action trying to prove a point.
There was a continual flow of people walking past selling treats –
you know – those deep fried goodies, dried bananas. a few with
beverages. Luckily we had that extra pizza and a large bottle of
sidral (apple soda pop) which was part of the “buy 2”
purchase deal. Also had a few cookies and a small bottle of water.
Though we rarely drink soda pop, it was wet, and the sun would have
been much hotter, but thankfully, there were many clouds.
As darkness came on, the air started
cooling. We had no blankets or warmer clothing and started to now
worry about that situation. Also, all the truck drivers were getting
out of their trucks to pee. Not so simple for Carmen. Much longer
and it would have happened though. About nine o'clock both lanes
started moving slowly. Carmen told Dan, back in the driver's seat,
to quickly change lanes so that we would be in the right hand lane
when the first available exit came up. Dan got half way over when a
dead stop in traffic occurred, with us straddling both lanes and
unable to move. Now we were in a pickle! If left lane moved and the
right did not, we would be caught blocking both lanes. Come 9:30
both lanes started moving, though the left moved first. People
behind us started tooting horns before the right lane moved enough
for us to finish our move into the that lane. Now you understand,
the windows are steamed up and the rain is coming down in this pitch
darkness, with tail lights blinding us. As we drove a bit further,
we discovered why we had been able to move a wee bit now and then.
We thought a couple vehicles were being let through, but no, there
was a large pull off on the right and trucks were pulling in there to
sit out the wait, thus leaving a space to be moved up into.
We have never been so glad to get off
from a highway and have no desire to get back into our car for a
while! We had wondered what it was like for those folks who got
caught up in one of these traffic stops. Now we know! If onlys. If
we had not taken the tour through the city. If only we had not
stopped for the pizza. Dan's “if only” is – if only Carmen
had taken one of those exits he wanted. Well, would we have wanted
to miss this new adventure? YES!
There were good times in our long wait.
We were forced to just sit and relax and we had nothing with us to
read. We both had naps. At one time we were parked next to a field
of long grasses with butterflies fluttering about. The sky was
fantastic with such a variety of clouds and colors, when not raining.
Even the huge rain drops were intriguing as they landed on the
windshield and ran down it, but the din of the drops on the roof was
almost deafening at times. We inched past a tent of sorts where
someone must be living or storing stuff. Across the highway were
some chickens pecking for yummies and a long-necked white goose
strutting about. The tree varieties across the hills and valleys
were interesting, and yes the birds were singing, announcing each
time when the rain had stopped! The big plus – we had each other to
be with and talk to. Everyone needs a time like this on occasion.
During the hours in the car, we
attempted to find news on the radio to explain what was going on, to
no avail. The next day's newspaper revealed all. A year ago, a
bridge on the federal highway thru Coscomatepec, a town 20 miles
north, washed out. The residents there have had to detour around the
spot, and were getting fed up with the lack of action repairing the
bridge. More than a thousand of them traveled down south tuesday
morning, and started a manifestación that blocked the
autopista at the toll plaza at Fortín at about 8:30am. They
also blocked the free route to Orizaba, at the intersection a few
blocks west of our home. The result was no east-west traffic thru
the entire region for 11 hours. Late in the evening a representative
of the federal transpo department signed an accord with the group,
promising that repairs would start on the bridge next monday. At
9:30pm the blockade was lifted, letting the 20km of stopped vehicles,
in both directions, to move. Apparently, vehicles were still
crawling thru the toll plaza at 2am, as it took over three hours to
clear out the 12+ miles of stopped rigs. We were fortunate to have
been able to get off at Córdoba when we did. Turns out that our
extra time in Veracruz didn't result in getting stopped on the
highway, as we would have been just as surely caught, just a few
miles further along had we gotten out of the city earlier.
Needless to say, we slept in wednesday
morning. Work was done on filling, sanding & staining the
upstairs TV shelf, curtain tie-backs were put in place, bug spray was
applied about the place. A day of odds and ends. About noon the
city crew arrived. All the sand they had left on the road to
continue with cement work, had washed down the road with the
torrential rains that happened the past few nights. They worked for
a couple hours and ran out of supplies and left for today so have to
return, tomorrow?. Still wondering if they plan to rebuild the
stairs on the sidewalk that they tore out for repairing a water pipe.
Friday we had another one of our
whirlwind days. Did many little chores, leaving home early with the
car. Drove into Fortín where we went to the Banamex bank to get
some pesos. Since our present auto insurance (purchased in the US
when we crossed the border last september) expires in a few weeks, we
are shopping for a replacement policy. Santander bank offers it's
autocompara service with multiple insurers, so we stopped
there to give them our info and will return for the quotes next
tuesday. Could have done this online except the website doesn't
recognize our model Ford. Drove a few blocks more to drop off the
printer that Dan can't make get past an error message—if they can
fix it they can perhaps resell it. Next stopped at the city flower
market. The lady there thought she might have the citronella plants
by saturday. Across the street for gasoline. Next stop was to pick
up our vacuum cleaner that apparently can not be repaired here, due
to Hoover not having repair or parts service in this country. Next
vacuum we buy will be made in Mexico, probably a Koblenz.
Now for a fun stop. Visited Dr. Soley,
the dental surgeon who did the work on Carmen's teeth. He had asked
to borrow some books to read to practice his english. We took him
four all different types of stories and writing. He can tell us
which one he likes best and we will then know what to take to him
next time. He had no patient at the time we were there, so we spent
an hour chatting. He always likes to chat about his and our lives in
general. Next a visit to IMSS to get Dan's consultorio assignment
corrected. He was supposedly changed to the same as Carmen's,
consultorio 5, last April, but when there this past month the doctor
could not get Dan's file to come up. We had to take our paper work
to two different offices, but did in fact get it straightened out.
Finally to the Soriana grocery store on
the east side of Córdoba. We discovered that the store brand of
oatmeal is better than other avena we have purchased here.
Dan found some pepitas (dried pumpkin seeds), and we picked up
some odds & ends we had been looking for without earlier success,
like food coloring. Dr. Soley had talked about loving pancakes, with
syrup, so Carmen bought some syrup to go with pancakes for breakfast
tomorrow morning (and some cajeta, caramel cream made from
cooked goat's milk, for Dan) – we usually just use honey or jam..
Just beyond the check-out counters, there are a variety of fast food
take out facilities. We had seen the chinese foods last time here
that had looked really fresh and good. So at the KungFu shop, we
each selected three entrees plus rice for 60 pesos each, or US$4.65.
This is giving us at least four days meals, such huge servings we
got! Finally home!
