Toma de protesta

Domingo 29 Dec- Sábado 04 Enero   We continued enjoying the children coming by in the early evenings, entertaining us with their El Viejo dance and song celebrating the end of the year.  This all stopped on New Years Eve, when firecrackers galore exploded all around until 2:30am or so.  ¡Feliz Año Nuevo a todos!  Opportunity to dispose of leftover fireworks kept the neighborhood noisy in the evenings, for the rest of the week.

The 31^st we walked into town and watched and listened to the toma de protesta, the swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected mayor and his city council members. (Protesta in this sense is an oath, so this means a " taking of oath.")  We have tried many times to be at the plaza central or city hall for various events, but this is the first time we did it right – all because Dan can now better understand the news on the XHFTI-FM, the Fortín radio station, which we listen to each morning. There was a huge video screen on the front of the city hall building that showed images of life in Fortín. A big covered stage was set up on the city hall front steps, with lots of people in attendence.  The sun shown down and the clouds just held off long enough for it to be a very pleasant time.  Lots of policemen about, as is typical, but this no longer bothers us.  At least the local cops don't mask their faces, as do the Policia Federal, purportedly to protect their identities and families from the criminal/gang element they have to deal with.

Thursday was our big day away from home. We were at our family IMSS clinic in Córdoba at 8:30am for our monthly appointments. We forgot a watch, so we do not know how long we waited, but Dan finished the book he took along. We then discovered that our usual doctor was on vacation, but we dealt with a very thorough young female doctor. She took a really long time with us, even reading our care summaries we brought down from our doctors in the US, in english.  Dan's labs came in with no flagged numbers.  He did get a prescription filled for prevastatin, but learned that it would only be provided this one time, as it is expected that once LDL levels are lowered they can be maintained there by diet/lifestyle.  He's been self-medicating with half the dose prescribed in the US, and had expected to continue at that level.  But, IMSS will only dispense statins if regular blood tests show that one has persistent high cholesterol.  Doctors here reject the premise that a low maintenance dose, for the rest of one's life, is called for.  The only way around this is a cardiologist's order.  Lastly a fairly quick stop at WalMart, and back home to stash our purchases.

When we got home, we found Carmelo waiting for us. We took care of him, buying a few new plants for our growing collection. We immediately headed out to Orizaba. We got there about two o'clock and by that time we were starving, so we popped in for lunch at the Chinese buffet. Then we shopped for a few grocery items at Chedraui, where we had parked the car. Carmen went back to the car and took a wee nap while Dan walked a couple blocks to a large Aurrera supermarket to check it out. The main reason we drove to Orizaba was to make an appointment with the IMSS hospital's rheumatologist for Carmen's six month scleroderma check up due in April. We had a long wait. Dan tipped his head back and got his nap. We finally got home at 4:30pm. A long, tiring day...

Saturday Carmen potted up some new plants, and transplanted others. Dan shopped online for his tax prep software, and paid all the outstanding taxes and bills he had been putting off until the new year arrived, and started downloading annual mutual fund reports.  It feels like our winter weather has arrived and the next cold front (#24) is supposed to be here in two days. So far the early-AM night temps have not gone below 50, but this time it will probably go into the 40s.   Time for heavier comforter on the bed.