Nuestras amiguitas

Another new experience - our friendly little ants are not always friendly. For the first time, our garbage in the apartment was covered with ants, not the tiny ones, but a next size larger - still very small and black instead of the beige tone. Must have been that pizza box. As Carmen picked up the garbage sack, about a dozen were immediately on her hand, and they bit - perhaps love nips. Washed her hand immediately and the redness and itching went down shortly.

Sabado, 14 Enero. Cool and rainy. Dan on computer, working on a letter to his clients letting them know what changes to expect with our eventual move down here. Carmen with her ebook.

Domingo, 15 Enero. Cool and lluvioso again. Dan at computer reading and Carmen reading on her Libre again. We are finding more sources of free books on line. Sent one on to Frank that we both enjoyed.

Lunes, 16 Enero. Finally some excitement today! We met with Iliana, her husband who speaks some English, and her mother, the owners of the property we are trying to buy, along with the realtor, Manolo and Agustín Limón, the notario, at noon in Cordoba. Thinking all would be said and done, so that we could fly back to Seattle. Wrong again. First of all, the notario did not have all the paperwork completed since he was waiting for some more info from the owner before typing it up, so we needed to come back at 4pm. A little more delay, what else is new? The sellers had driven down from Monterrey (where Carmen's brother, Gurney happens to be in charge of constructing Lowes stores at present). They needed to leave very early the next morning

Delaying the meeting presented quite a problem, since the banks closed at that time and our down payment check to Illiana could not be deposited and credited to her account immediately. We all, not the notario, walked a couple blocks to the nearest Santander bank, where we both had our bank accounts. Waited a bit to talk to the bank manager, and then found out the following: Cashier's checks are limited in amount, so they are not an option we can use. Account to account transfers also have a daily limit, less than what we needed to pay today. The only alternative was a bank-certified check, which we could give to Iliana, after all papers were signed later in the day, BUT, we had to go to the bank that actually had our account to get such a check. We all rode in her car to Fortín and our bank where we opened the account. The lady that we are familiar with in this bank was not in today, so we had to deal with someone else. Never as easy as it could otherwise be. In writing the check, Dan followed his usual procedure of writing out the amount in words on the written line, translating to Spanish. Nope - that was not acceptable, he had to revise the wording a bit, so he had to tear the check up and write out a new one. This of course was not noticed by the bank teller until all the processing of the check had been done. This is no small process here. Involves signatures of three people at the bank and a great long time. We all rode back to Córdoba in Iliana's car, happy to at least gotten thru this one hurdle. They let us and the realtor out in downtown, and then proceeded to another government office for another task, working on the capital gains tax issue Iliana would have to deal with the sale was complete. She has maintained her voting address at the Fortín house, so that this will not be a problem for her. Manolo's office and home are downtown nearby and we got out to get some lunch before the 4pm meeting.

Lunch - do you really know what a hamburger is? At the little eatery we picked today, it turned out to be a slice of pressed ham, a slice of processed cheese and the tiniest piece of ground mystery meat (hidden under the other two) that barely saw the griddle. The roll was fresh and delicious. Topped off with a piece of flan for dessert. We have had some very good burgers down here, this was the exception.

We were all back at the office at 4pm. Took a couple hours to finalize and sign the now complete Buy/Sell Agreement. Iliana got our certified check. Was a difficult decision for us all, since the government here has still not okayed the sale yet. As set up at present, a penalty clause says we lose money if we back out, and she loses the same amount if she backs out. And she returns all our deposit if the government does not allow the sale. The house comes off the market immediately. Ultimately not being able to buy the house seems unlikely at this stage of the game, and we would be sorely disappointed, as this is the house we want.

Manolo said he would help transport all our items (a few household implements, small tools and clothing we're leaving) to the blue house either Tuesday or Wednesday, so when we got home that evening, we packed. Good thing that he did not have time to move our goods until Wednesday. We attempted to separate everything into items to stay at the house for us until we return in June, and the items we need to exist here until we fly north this time. Many mistakes were made. Out of bed during the night as we remembered things, as well as changes throughout the next 24 hours. Amazing the amount of stuff we have accumulated (it mostly fit in one layer in the bed of Manolo's FAW pickup).

Martes, 18 Enero. Today we were at the notario's office when he reopened at 4pm (after the two hour lunch break when many businesses in the city close), presumably to discuss our Mexican wills, and the power of attorney which will authorize Ania to sign in our stead, on the actual purchase later at the end of next month. He did not arrive til 5:30pm, in a happy mood, with a screwdriver in his hand. Guess he was out screwing around? Up to now, the notario had refused to hold our final payment check, but we explained to him that no one other than the person the check is made out to can cash it . Still he shook his head no. Then Dan told him that the only other choice we had was to leave the check hidden at our friends' house til they returned from the Pacific coast at the end of February. He leaned back in his chair, let out a hearty laugh, and said, OK, that did it, no way were we putting the check under a mattress or such. As long as we put it in an envelope so that he did not actually see it, he will hold it and give it to Ania when she comes to his office for the signing of the final purchase escritura. We are feeling very good about leaving soon now. We were to come back Thursday, to sign a new, comprehensive paper going to SRE, since all the previous documents had been rejected due to all the sequential and confusing changes to the building's location/address in Fortín.

Miercoles, 19 Enero. Busy day of our life. Well--our present life. Hardly the amount of business that we used to do. How did we ever have time to work?? Walking from one place to another does take longer than driving of course. Plus Carmen tells Dan what she wants to express, when she wishes, and that all takes longer. This morning we checked the bus schedule again. Figured out our preferred way to get back to Mexico City airport. Remember that Dan cannot find ink cartridges here to fit our printer? We took the cartridge we have to the place in town where he got one filled a few weeks ago. This time the lady was going to charge us twice the price. Was it because Carmen was along? Dan of course pointed out that last time it less, so the price was lowered. Carmen carefully kept her wits about her and held the ink cartridge upright as we wandered thru town. No small feat when one must keep ones eyes on the sidewalk at all times because of the unevenness, plus constant chattering while looking around at all the sights. Next we went to the bank to get the final certified check that we will leave here at the notario's office for when the house sale ultimately happens. This was all easier this time.

We now anxiously waited for Manolo to arrive at 1:30pm. He did not. Finally he backed his pickup truck up to our door at 2:30pm. He brought a friend along, who helped. Everything was put in kitchen and the master bedroom. Carmen stowed things away as quickly as possible. Dan took some needed additional measurements and pictures, since we will not be in the house again til June. And yes, we have now created another problem (getting our "stuff" out of the house) if the sale does not eventually go thru. But it will, won't it?

We walked from the house over to the construction site in Los Encinos, to take progress pictures to send to Frank. Manuel, the foreman, pointed out all the new materials deliveries. The first roof level room slab is in place, and the rest of the upper floor walls are going up. Dan talked to Manuel about our own plans for returning to Fortin later in the year, and Manuel urged us to call him whenever we needed a crew of workers.

Jueves, 19 Enero. Yep, the notario had us sign a NEW batch of papers to send into Xalapa, hoping they can finally understand the location of this property we are trying to buy. Last week the country tried to prove that we were buying within the 32 miles from the ocean. We are not. This is not allowed unless purchased thru a trust. No, the notario had not started on formalizing the papers for our wills. Dan had carefully typed out all the info he needed, so what is taking so long? He told us to come back Monday and he will hopefully know whether the SRE office in Xalapa had accepted the papers he was sending to them on Friday, and he would try to have the wills and power of attorney ready by then. Apparently Carmen showed her unhappiness, since she was sure we would be flying away by Saturday. The notario asked Dan if Carmen did not like it here and why did she want to go back so soon.

Sr Limón Krause is becoming quite friendly. We figure he is near 70. Today he was feeling talkative, and showed us how the ultraviolet forgery scanner for money (bills) & checks works--most interesting. We paid him today with a big stack of bills, for some of his work. Will take someone awhile to scan them all, although all these bills were issued by Banamex's ATM in Fortín.. We do not have a final bill yet, so he will wait for the final account settlement til June. Says he trusts us. Then he showed us all the trophies he had won and what they are from: hurdles foot racing, auto rallying and go-cart racing.

Carmen will admit that she went thru an angry stage when we found out that we needed to be here thru Monday at least. However she reserved most of it til we were back home--lucky Dan. She was ready to leave here yesterday. She definitely does want to move here, but until our cats and things are here with her, she wants to be where they are, and there's LOTS to do in Anacortes to prep for the move. Remember it was Carmen's idea to move here to make our life easier. Also it was Carmen who wanted to buy a house now instead of wasting money on a yearly rental. Dan came around to agreement with all of this, convincing as Carmen can be. Since it all had to be done in Spanish, Dan's facility has definitely improved on this trip.

Dan is eager to start on work on the house--and Frank's construction guys are ready to pitch in on anything we want to do there. In deciding which house to buy we had several things to decide upon. One, if we purchased the brand new built-to-order house we were considering, Dan would have no fun working on it. Two, if we had chosen an older not-quite-right house, we both would have had too much work to do the rest of our lives, and never had the true comfort of the house. Three - our choice. This being a house in really good shape, that Dan can have some fun with. It needs nothing done, but has room for various projects that will make life easier and more lovely in the end.

Ideas for the blue house include: New full bathroom and closet the on lower level to be put between the dining room and the other structure which is a laundry facility. This area is presently outside at the back of the parking area which has pavers on it. The dining room space would become a bedroom, should we ever become infirm enough as ancianos to want to avoid the stairs to the upper level. At the same time the roof of the new room will be an open terrace, accessible from the master bedroom upstairs. Sometime we take off the cracked tiles off the upper roof and recoat the cement roof, then put new concrete roof tiles on. (The clay tiles we can save from this operation will be stashed to insert in the lower roofs to replace ones that crack in the future.) Next? Last year when we were in San Marcos, we very much enjoyed the rooftop covered deck. Yep, this we might have too, someday. Should be able to see forever up there. It will be three stories up, and will need a welded metal stairway from the new terrace to the roof (also giving us easy access to the tinaco up there). Dan says he'll start another blog to consolidate all the building and renovation details, and pictures, as we experience them.

Of course there will be many flower boxes added, and plants added in front and back of the house, for Carmen to care for. We already have the three bugambilia trees, and other smaller plantings. We spent time today at a plant nursery. So many to choose from. Oh, what fun we have in store. We hope our chosen house will be a place of long term joy for us.

Viernes, 20 Enero. Today our big experience was going to a restaurant which is three blocks from our house. It is a beautiful spacey open structure with roof partly thatched and partly tiled. It has a large outside charcoal grill. Prices seem good. We were served a plate of tortilla chips with a molé sauce over. Very good. Dan had a Filete Tampiqueña, tender thin beef with a side of rolled enchilada and thick refries with a different taste - good. Carmen chose the BBQ pork ribs. They were good, but hard to cut from the large bones. Seemed to take more energy to get them to the mouth, than what they gave in return. Both had garnish of slice long green grilled pepper with a bit of heat, plus Carmen had a grilled white onion. Carmen was hoping for the lamb meal, but it turns out that it is served only on weekends.

After the meal we decided to walk down past "our house." We actually were to the west one block and walked the extra few blocks down past a new development of houses where we had toured one of the houses a couple months ago. Here we walked another block further south and discovered there is a dirt road going further south thru the cane fields, which looks mightily intriguing. As you see, we are near the south end of town. We then walked the one last block to the east, then three north to our house. Yep, it is still there, just waiting for us.

From here we walked straight north to the main road between Fortín and Córdoba, 10 blocks. Dan wanted to visit a store there to look at a wood treatment for all the wood in our house. They will deliver the 19 liter (5 gal) bucket when we need it. Next we walked on a curve back south past a couple blocks of open-front flower shops. Oh my, petunias, impatience, geraniums, gardenias, gerber daisies, roses, palms, orchids, on and on of all those semi-tropical delicacies that we so carefully care for outside in the summer and inside our house for the winter in Anacortes. How will we ever be able to limit our choices?

Todavía aquí, aprendiendo

Lunes, 2 Enero.  It was lovely today so we put our chairs outside and read. We were not reading actual paper books. Dan was in the shade with the netbook, and Carmen was in the sun with the reader. Saw some huge bright yellow butterflies again. They had been missing thru the past couple weeks of cool weather. While reading we enjoyed all the many Mexican neighborhood sounds, including the birds and fluttering butterflies. One must listen really hard to hear those butterflies flutter. More often, we saw the shadows across our books. 

Mexican sounds: Where to begin...  Train whistles. They bring back memories from early childhood for Carmen, since at that time she lived in a small town where one train a day went thru. Actually there was a train station there. Always was a happy event in her daily life back then. Of course there were the train trestles over the river in midtown that one was not allowed to walk across, but of course it was so daring and fun! Other sounds: Probably mentioned most of these before – The knife sharpener man with his whistle to let you know he is near, the propane truck with that specific tune (that we are getting tired of hearing many times a day), the children yelling at play, the occasional street hawker, birds squawking or singing, dogs barking, buses, cars and trucks passing by, many people walking and chattering, the church and city hall bells, loud music coming thru open windows of homes, and from many open-front stores, and of course, the school PA system. If one is near a walled compound, otherwise undistinguished, you know when you are near a school, even without the PA announcements.  Some school classrooms are open to the outdoors and of course there are bands and sports outside. Sounds from 7am til 7pm, since there are two class sessions a day. Think we might miss the school sounds when we move to our house, though there is a smaller suburban grade school four blocks further south of the blue house. Yes this is a loud noisy country, and we love it.

Martes, 3 Enero.  Bus into Córdoba. We have been searching high and wide for contact shelf liner. The kitchen cabinet shelves look almost brand new in our house to be, and we wish to keep them that way. Since we were early for the notario, we stepped into an Ofix supply store which we pass a block before his office. There, the first thing we saw just inside the door, was stacks of exactly what we wanted! Many colors to choose from. We went with the clear so that we can still see the attractive dark wood shelving. Still had extra time, since we were to meet the realtor there at 11am, we did not want to be early, so we wandered the store, but found nothing else that we just could not do without.

Still were a minute early. This does not sound like much, but right away the notario came out to tell us that the papers had been transmitted to Mexico City from Xalapa and we should get back to him on Tuesday before he'd know anything. Being finished with our notario meeting, we met Manolo, who was five minutes late, at foot of stairs. Discussed our situation, and went our separate ways. Next we went to Waldos, the dollar type store which is next door to the doorway that leads upstairs to the notario's office. Here we bought floor mats, canisters, metal hangers and some apricot jam. Happy bus ride back to Fortín, which under most conditions takes a half hour or less.

Jueves, 5 Enero.  Walked the 4 blocks to Frank & Ania's obra (worksite) and took some pictures of the progress since they left for the Pacific coast. We made a bit of a shopping tour of the town on our way back home. The vet was not in. This vets office is a few blocks from our house. No, Dan and Carmen have no daily need of a vet, but our cats must have a doctor eventually. Next stop was the grocery store for some odds and ends including some for the new house. Tried several stores for boric acid and finally found one 10gm bag at a farmacia, where we also bought 10ml syringe. Dan has been reading up on termite control, since they can be a problem in this warm climate. Seems that boric acid is a good riddance to them. Upon returning home, Dan emailed pix to Frank and worked on stuff for Don Clark.

Viernes, 6 Enero.  Cut our loaf of Rosca de Reyes bread, a ring-shaped sweet bread which is baked with a tiny plastic baby inside, representing the Christ child. The person who gets the little figure is supposed to buy the tamales on February 2, Candlemas Day. This posed a problem, since as Carmen cut the bread round, Dan said, oh I see the baby's feet sticking out of the loaf. So Carmen pulled it out. Now the problem. Which one of us has to buy the tamales? Dan first saw it, Carmen first touched it. As the rest of the bread was cut later , would you believe, Carmen bit into another baby – guess it really is her with the tamale bill. The odd thing here is that the two tiny forms had their hair parted on the opposite sides. Figured it was so the Mother could tell them apart, or was it Jesus and Bizarro Jesus?

Today met the notario at noon with Manolo also present, and we learned that SRE in Mexico City rejected the paperwork due to an address confusion. Had a long session of trying to figure out what to do, as the boondoggle seems to be due to Fortín having changed the street numbers several times and two offices in Fortín showing different avenue names. The notario finally got a plat map showing that the property sits at the corner of Calle 11 Sur and Avenida 21. The original deed for the house shows Avenida 27 “renamed as Avenida 19, “ google maps shows Avenida 15, and the two offices in Fortín shows Avenida 19 (property tax office) and now Avenida 21 (plat records). Why this wasn't nailed down originally when our paperwork (showing Avenida 19) was started is due to Fortín's earlier unwillingness to testify to anything to SRE. Now SRE in Mexico City is calling on them to write a definitive statement as to what caused all this mixup, and Manolo took it upon himself to go talk to the mayor and get a signed document to clear it all up. This of course meant that the paperwork all has to be changed to refer to Avenida 21 and then sent in to Xalapa again, from whence it goes to the big city one more time. Our meeting broke up with everyone with some degree of aggravation.

In our wandering about Córdoba today, when we were actually looking for a chemical company to buy a larger quantity of boric acid, we happened upon an artesanias (handicrafts) shop along the south side of the central park of Córdoba. Here we found and bought, after sampling, some really good wildflower honey, much better than the stuff in the grocery stores. Carmen was also oohing and aahing over a tiny glass dragon in one of the stalls. Maybe she will buy it after she has a shelf in the house to sit the fragile guy upon. Next stop was Walmart to buy a step stool/ladder, blanket and foodstuffs. We have already looked at these and other stepladders several times, in several stores, figuring we needed one to reach the upper closet shelves, and ceilings & window tops for basic cleaning chores. Still took us a lot of ups and downs on the selection in the store before we settled for a more stable one, considering that as we got older we'd appreciate the wider steps and hand rail.  We are probably great entertainment for other shoppers in the stores we visit.

Sabado, 7 Enero.  Manolo emailed us today and said that he obtained the necessary papers in Fortín and took them to the notario. The new documents will go to Xalapa with the notario's visiting daughter Sunday, and she will get them to the SRE office Monday morning. Found boric acid paste among the anti-cucaracha stuff at the Urbina hardware in Fortin. L­ounged in the sun again while reading. The internet connection seems to have failed, so no blogging or other fun internet things. Dan worked on finishing up the Operating Agreement for Don but couldn't send it on to him.

Domingo, 8 Enero.  Beautiful warm day. A few days ago, going thru our clothes to determine what would stay here and what would be worn home, we discovered one of Dan's shirts hung in the closet (as yet unworn on this trip) was starting to mildew. Today was a great day for laundry, so it got washed and hung in the sun. Luckily this was the only item in the closet with apparent mildew. Yes, we are learning about keeping windows open to cut down on mold and mildew. Who would think that more humidity could cause more work with housekeeping.  Of course, there is no central heating in homes for a drying effect.  We're thinking of investing a propane heatstove for just this reason, even though it will get used only a little bit each winter.

At noon we took a bus to the huge Chedraui store located in a mall at the south edge of downtown Córdoba. As we bussed thru the area that takes a long time on Wednesdays because of clothing sales along the street (an itinerant market area, or tianguis), we saw only car sales today. Lots of used cars, by owners. Here at the Chedraui store – similar to Walmart, we bought what passes for complete B vitamins (cheaper than the drug store in Fortín), lansoprasol, a mattress protector we liked, and some more food to store at the house so there'll be meal-makings when we come back in June. Found another popular chinese buffet restaurant but a block from this Chedraui, which we'll visit some other day. Interesting that the only other such buffet we found was close to Orizaba's Chedraui store.

Bussed back to a few blocks east of Walmart where Dan had the Sunday special, paella (clams, crab, shrimp, chicken, pork, chorizo & veggies, cooked in a delicious saffron rice – half went home for a meal later in the week) and Carmen had a fantastic arrachera (a charcoal-grilled, thin sliced flank steak) plate, served with a bowl of most delicious beans with meat in broth. Appetizers included tiny new red potatoes in a small bowl with a thin pepper sauce over them and fresh tortilla chips with a tomatillo and a red hot sauces. What a meal! All, with a large tip, for about $21 US.  This meal and the Lebanese buffet in Orizaba have been our only meal splurges, leaving lots of restaurants to discover when we're here full-time.

This Sunday evening was so lovely that we walked to the park – especially great turnout, probably because the past two Sundays had been rainy and cool.  Lots of  happy kids trying out their new Christmas toys: bikes, skateboards and the like.  Churros from a stall vendor for Carmen and creamy pineapple paleta for Dan. Tonight's entertainment was a group playing mostly various drums, then later a troupe hula-hooping, juggling--we did not stay for later when they amped it up doing all this while unicycling. The orange yellow moon!!!!!!!!!!! It was near full as it came up behind and thru a huge tree, then rose into the dark sky. What a way to end a day...

Lunes, 9 Enero.  We have been worrying about our return to the US, not knowing what would happen next with this house purchase. Dan called US Airways to advise of our need to cancel our return flights, and now we thankfully have open return tickets, and don't have to firm up again until we have a solid date we can actually leave on. Bus to Córdoba, and Notario Limón confirmed all was delivered to the SRE offcie in Xalapa. Walked over to see big SuperIberia grocery store a bit north of downtown, and next to the huge public Mercado Revolución, (where we had a quick look-see). Then over towards the river, a few blocks west of the market. It was quite disappointing looking down from a bridge, a sad and seemingly not well-maintained area.  Perhaps Orizaba's river walk is so touted that twin city Córdoba did not want to copy-cat the idea, and so the riverside doesn't get the attention it could merit. We both had similar thoughts of winning the lottery and helping fund some cleanup here.

Everytime we come into the city, we make an effort to walk down different streets, to come to know the neighborhoods better. It is a hilly place, with only a few blocks in width on ridgetops running with the avenues, before the streets dip down steep one or two block hills. On the bus ride home, we had just crossed the train tracks near the autopista overpass, coming into Fortín proper, when a train that had just passed whistled close by. Wow! Was it ever loud as we sat there backed up near the tracks, waiting for traffic to clear. Upon arrival in Ftown, we ordered a pizza from a new place, and waited the 20 minutes in the park for it to be baked. We ordered the Italiana with sausage, pepperoni and salami. Hmm... The pepperoni was about right. The salami had a strange texture and the taste was near right. The sausage? Well lets just say that it is hotdogs cut up. Do you feel the attitude behind this writing?

Martes, 10 Enero.  On the bus after a leisurely morning, and we discovered why one does not sit over the tires in the back. Did not know a bus ride could be so rough. Arrived at Sr Limón's office at 1:00pm, but his secretary had no word for us yet.  Finally found Kedrop (Alaway) for MXP$286 at Farmacia de Dios, way too expensive for allergy eye drops. Will have to bring supply from US. After leaving the notario we tried to find Manolo at his office, with no luck. We decided to walk south over to Avenida 11 along Calle 2, and passed by the huge IMSS hospital. Discovered a discount kitchen wares store with a tall lever-type orange juicer like we had in our restaurant (which Dan had bought in a market in Mexico many years ago).  We'll want something like this when we buy oranges by the sack--who wants frozen or bottled OJ when local oranges are so cheap and plentiful?  Went to the obra and took pictures of progress, but will have to wait for internet service to be restored before sending them and passing on a message to Frank telling him he'll need to send more money for building materials. Went back to the vet's office. He was out on an obstetric call, and apparently makes pet house calls. We talked to his assistant this time. She says he speaks some English.

Carlos said the internet bill was paid online but that Telmex had turned it off in error thinking it was unpaid. They seem to be in no rush to restore it. Carmen called again to confirm that our prior cancellation of air tickets had indeed happened. Seems our late lunch of leftover pizza and paella did not quite fill us up for the day, so we supped on blue cheese and crackers. We bought more blue cheese a week ago, and to Carmen's surprise Dan for the first time in her history, complained that she had more than her share of something, the blue cheese, which was true. This new wedge was cut down the middle to be carefully watched.

Miercoles, 11 Enero.  The flight we would have been on left this am from Mexico City at 7:00am. How much longer will we have to be here? This morning there is still no internet. Early afternoon Manolo came to our motel for the first time.  Seems he had sent us two emails that we had not responded to, due to the fact that our internet was out.  Bet he was worried that we had left the country.  He wanted to discuss the whole situation and see if we could work something out so that we could get back to the US sooner, and his client would be sure to get paid.  We arranged to meet him at the notario's office on Thursday at noon.  The internet came back on at 3:30pm.

Jueves, 12 Enero.   The meeting at the notario's office became a bit heated, but finally it was decided that we could draw up a legal buy/sell contract with the present owner (who is a lawyer, now living in Monterrey).  We will all meet Monday at his office.  We and the owner will sign papers that will guarantee the property will not be sold out from under us, that the house will come of the market and that the price will hold the same.  Will give the owner 24% down.  Then when final papers are back in a month or so, we will pay the final balance.  In order to sign the final papers, we either have to be here to sign, or we can give someone a limited power of attorney.  Frank and Ania have agreed that one of them will do this for us.   BUT here is the next catch - they are not back here til the end of February.  Frank might be here earlier to continue the work on their house.  So there are still details to work out before we can be sure of things and fly back home.  Meanwhile, we will be able to put our many things that we have purchased into the house, after Monday's contract is signed.  There is no escrow service here, which makes these things more complicated.

Viernes, 13 Enero.  Just realized this is lucky Friday the 13th.  Dan quietly got out of bed and left Carmen to snuggle in for another hour.  She does so love that time in the morning.  She asked him to turn the sound off on the computer, which he did.  Then he suddenly realized that he had an incoming skype call from his daughter, which of course did not make it's usual sound, the sound being turned off.  We had a good chat with Heather and her two daughters.  Just after finishing breakfast, we got a skype call from Carmen's brother, Guy.  Does this not prove that today is a lucky day?  This day started out rainy.  Now the sun is burning thru!  Hope it stays.  Sounds like Anacortes might get snow today.  Carmen was hoping to be there for one last snow storm -- Dan was hoping that all the snow would have already be done and melted off the ground before having to return.

En una pila de espera

Monday, 26 Dec.  A lazy day, and we did nada but some walking up in the central park, and some reading.

Tuesday, 27 Dec.  Bus to Walmart.  At leisure, poking about here this day.  We selected some dinnerware.  A set of four each of dinner plates, salad plates, bowls, cups.  Glasses were separate, so we asked a clerk there doing restocking, if she could find us a box to put the glasses in, which she cheerfully did.  Bought some good kitchen storage containers.  These need to be tight to keep the zillions of various ants out.  One simply must learn to live with these creatures.  Actually they aren't so bad you know--if you leave a spot of anything on the floor or counter, it will be cleaned up by morning.  We also purchased towel set, spatula, cutting board, and of course the Xmas candy was on sale.  We looked longingly at the rompope, but Dan remembered it being cheaper at the grocery store in town, so we waited on that, besides we already had lots of heavy items to balance while on the bus.  We had also spent some time leaning our heads against all the possible pillows and finally selected one, but as it turned out, it was just too much to balance, so back on the shelf it went.  Not quite the same as shopping with a car. We find it the hardest getting off the bus, since one must get out of his seat and balance all to the door before the bus stops, and of course the bus always gives a mighty jerk as it stops.

After we got home, we immediately walked to the grocery here in town.  Needed some breads, fruit and veggies, plus that bottle of rompope, which Dan can drink and Carmen can smell of.  The inexpensive brand was all sold out, and what was left cost more than that left back at Walmart.

Wednesday, 28 Dec.  Back to the bus we went and off east to Walmart again.  Decided that if we had two guests for a meal, broke one plate, what does that leave us?  Now our math is pretty good, and we figured that would leave us short the next time we had two guests for dinner. Yes, we bought another set of dinnerware.  This time we took the large light bright green cloth bag we were given when we purchased some barley at a health food store in Orizaba for Ania last week.  Thank goodness!  The pillow went in, plus the candy at a further price reduction, plus a few food items.  This time we also bought a mop bucket, which held all our smaller stuff, plus that longed for bottle of rompope (cheaper today), though we have found no nutmeg to top it with.  No wall to wall carpets or even many area rugs, presumably due to high humidity conditions, so a mop bucket is a must for the tiled floors.  We figure the long handled cleaning gear can be purchased at the local stores.  Another load to balance on the bus.

Exciting trip home.  All went well 'til we were but a few blocks from our stop.  The bus was zipping down the avenida into Fortín, when a large dump truck charged out from a side street.  Brakes squealed and the truck stopped within inches from the side of the bus.  Sure made the old hearts tick faster!

Thursday, 29 Dec.  A beautiful morning --first thing Dan walked over to Frank's building site (the obra) to find out if he had a blank CD-ROM to receive a copy of architectural software we brought down with us.  He was not there, but was struggling with folks at city hall getting his building permit straightened out.  Hopefully this will be all OK before the day they leave for the Pacific coast.  The guys said they'd give him a message to contact us. A little later in the morning both Ania and Frank stopped by to chat a bit.  We were invited to their home for a luncheon.  Upon arriving, Carmen immediately complimented Ania's mother on her sweater.  Oops--language barrier.  The compliment was misunderstood and the lovely lady said something and was about to cry.  Ania immediately stepped in and corrected the misinterpretation.  Carmen felt terrible.  There after we all spoke slower and more distinctly.  Had a marvelous meal as usual, and Ania and Frank had to meet with their architect a few blocks from our motel, so we said we would walk on home from there.  When they eventually move to their new home and us to ours, we will be but nine blocks from each other instead of a few miles.

We were running low on cash, so we walked up to our bank .  Everything here is paid in cash.  Since Carmen's fingers are too short and stubby to get the ATM card back out of the slot quickly enough for the transaction to take place, poor Dan has to suffer through getting cash from both our cards.  Suffering is of course good for the soul.

Friday, 30 Dec.  Oh yea!  Another bus ride.  This time back to Orizaba, to check out the two bus stations, to see which is the best to leave from when going back to the Mexico City airport.  Or perhaps we'll take the more frequent route to the TAPO bus station, and taxi or subway from there to the airport.  Another perfect sunny day with a slight breeze.  Again the city streets were crowded, but less so than right before Christmas.  Visited both bus stations, but maybe ten blocks apart.  Then walked the few more blocks to the Chedraui store, similar to Walmart.  Again we carried rolled up in Dan's pocket, that nice large green bag.  Good thing.  Dan carried home a toaster oven.  Carmen had the second new pillow which we again took a long time "trying on", plus another bag of things: a set of sheets, a few foods and some bakery selections.  After the shopping, we lugged our items to a Chinese buffet that we had discovered a block away.  Fresh and delicious.

Now for the bus ride home.  Now you understand that Dan has a big box, plus he is paying the fare, since Carmen has two bags, one being very large, but not so heavy.  This means that Carmen got on the bus first. While some buses are very new, there are some dilapidated models still in service.  This was one of those. Sorry, but Carmen starts giggling when she remembers this episode.  What a sight we must of made for all those sitting behind us.  Carmen chose an empty set of seats, sat down, and started scooting over to the window seat - nothing unusual about this.  She seemed to get stuck and pushed over harder, since the bus had started jerkily moving, and Dan had now arrived and was anxious to sit down beside her.   Well he sat down!  and down!  He thought he was sitting on Carmen's leg, so he hopped back up sputtering a bit, only to discover, there was no seat there!  The cushion it seems was loose, and it had partially traveled under Carmen as she moved to her seat and therefore it was only half there, canted at an angle, for Dan to sit on. Carmen had very large bags and it was most difficult for her to adjust herself, wedged in between the rows, but Dan was finally able to drag the seat cushion out from under her and back to it's proper place and he finally got planted, shoving the seat cushion back with his legs.  Just another thing we will hope to be aware of in future expeditions by bus.

Later in this eventful journey, a musician boarded, and serenaded the passengers with a tuneful combination of guitar and Incan panpipes played at the same time, interspersed with a ballad he sung.  We don't often tip for something like this, but we made an exception for the skill with which he entertained.  Coming into Fortín, this time we stayed on this bus to see where it would journey after passing the boulevard at the bottom of town.  All the many bus lines take different routes.  Lucky this time.  We got off but two blocks from the motel.

Sat, 31 Dec.  A quiet day at home. Did a turn around the park as evening settled in, just to see if anything was happening to celebrate the last day of the year.  A few boys dressed up with fake beards were about, and some stuffed old man (Father Time) dummies sat on porches waiting for midnight.  As in the states, we bailed out early and were well abed by the time that moment arrived, heralded by some big firecracker explosions around town.  I suppose one of these years we'll learn what happens to those stuffed characters.

Domingo, 01 Enero.  A sunny, warm day, with occasional passing puffy clouds, follows a warmer than usual night.  We can always tell how cold the morning is, without consulting a thermometer. by the temperature of the hot water in the shower.  As the heater is outside, hot water must flow thru pipes exposed to the ambient air and embedded in the concrete walls before arriving at the shower head.  If we don't have to add cold water to temper a scalding flow, then it was a cool night and the morning hasn't warmed up yet.  We walked about a bit today, enjoying the additional warmth.  We saw no evidence of any big  public celebrations the night before, no any ashes that might have been left from burning effigies of Father Time.  Tomorrow, we hope to get out of this holding pattern, and begin to perceive some additional movement in our effort to buy the blue house.

Dan has discovered that the US Internal Revenue Service has drastically altered the rules for income tax preparers this tax year.  In light of this, and considering our spending a good part of the year down in Mexico, Dan has been working on a letter he will be sending to all his clients, notifying them of changes in the services he can provide them for their business accounting.

Lunes, 02 Ene.  Our closet here at Suites María Antonieta is getting packed with all these things for our house that is not our house yet.  If the deal somehow falls through, what a state we will be in.  We have advised our motel managers, Carlos and Sandra, that we may have to extend our stay a bit, should we have to change our return flight date.  Today, Frank and Ania have left for the west coast at La Peñita for a few months (their digs there are about 1000 yards from where our friends Merv & Delia stay each winter).  We will visit the obra every few days that we are here, to take some pictures of the progress to email them.  They showed us a hidden key for the chalet at home, so that we can leave all our stuff there if need be.  We are presently impatiently waiting for a call from the notario to hear how things are progressing.  For the meantime, we are in a pila de espera (holding pattern).