Just a quick update, we will be moving into our "real" house next Friday. Hopefully, by early the next week we will have internet in the house and Rebecca will be able to spend hours updating the blog with all the events, sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of our experience here in Monterrey. Sorry for the news blackout as of late, but I am not smart enough to have figured out how to get temporary internet in our temporary house.
Andy
The nice lady who helped me load my groceries into the van when I was holding my sleeping Rachel, and then took my cart back for me. She spoke Spanish to me the whole time, and all I could say was “Muchisimas gracias!” What a nice lady.
The mountains that surround the city. I can figure out where I am when I look at Saddle Mountain and Chipinque Mountain. They are very beautiful, especially on a clear day with blue sky behind them. Last weekend we took a drive up Chipinque mountain. At the end of the road there is a hotel, playground, snack bar, and two awesome tall cement slides. Everyone brings cardboard to sit on and slide down. It was fun and it had great views of the valley.
The younger Hermana who taught our Relief Society lesson on Sunday. She used visual aids and spoke very clearly, so I could actually get the idea of the lesson. She also handed me a Spanish hymnal last week so I could sing along. I need to learn her name.
Listening to Andy speak Spanish with everyone. I don’t know why I like it. Maybe just because I admire that he can speak so well. I’m always the one just nodding my head with a goofy smile. Soon, I’m sure I’ll be able to express myself clearly…I’m learning a little every day.
The colorful playgrounds for the kids. Every park has all of those old metal playthings that are pretty-much illegal in the states because they are unsafe. Unsafe, but really fun. The kids love the spinning merry-go-rounds. At the parks we’ve been to, the equipment is well-maintained and painted nice. They’ve been fun.
Full-service gas pumps. All gas stations are Pemex here. There is no other brand. And all of the pumps are full service. I haven’t gotten gas by myself yet, but it seems really nice to not have to get out of the car. You only have to tip the guy like 5 pesos, 50 cents. I think he’ll wash windows too.
Retornos. Retornos are like built in U-turns, but you don’t have to wait for the stop light. I am often passing where I am supposed to go, so it’s nice to know there will be a retorno coming up soon on whatever road I’m on.
People here dress up a bit more than in the US. Men’s shirts are usually tucked in. Women usually wear heels and often wear dresses or skirts. This isn’t dependant on how nice or expensive their clothes are either, though there are many affluent Mexicans here.
It’s true that I’m not very grateful for things until I don’t have them anymore. I usually think this about my friends or my health, but lately I’ve been thinking about garbage disposals. What a wonderful invention! It chops up unwanted food and sends it down the drain. I love that! In this house, we don’t have a dishwasher (well Andy and I…I mean automatic dishwasher), nor do we have a garbage disposal! I really haven’t missed having a dishwasher, but I do miss having a garbage disposal! I’ve been reminiscing about the days when I used to just dump the kid’s leftover soggy cereal into the sink, flip the switch, and let the disposal send it away to who-know’s-where. Now, I have to strain the soggy cocoa puffs and frosted flakes and dump them into the garbage. It kind of grosses me out. I’m sure I’ll get used to it. It’s funny, even houses that have dishwashers still don’t have garbage disposals. Anyways, to look on the bright side, that is really my only complaint about living here. Not too bad, eh?
Sorry, I lied. One other little complaint. No good hamburgers. Not even at Chili’s. That’s it…I’ll stop whining now.
This is our front little courtyard. I didn't get the front patio in the picture.
This is half of our backyard. There's a big tree right in the middle of it, so this is the left half. Not very big, but I think it's pretty, and we have more yard than other FSOs.
This is the view from our front entry room. All the floors are limestone tile, I think (a pain to clean by the way) and the house is very empty. The kids and the toys are all that belong to us. Does our furniture look familiar Erin? Lindsay? Sunny? Everyone says that in the foreign service everyone has the same furniture in their houses (our houses are furnished by the state dept.).
Jake playing video games. I think you can see the dining room behind him. The kitchen is on the other side of the right wall. Bedrooms are off to the left when you enter the house. I can't wait to get into our real house. I just won't feel settled until we have our own things, and I've decorated and found a place for everything. Hopefully soon!
We crossed the border at the Columbia Bridge. This was not one of the bridges in Laredo where we were. We were advised to use this other bridge because it enters Mexico in Nuevo Leon, the state where we’re living and working. People at this border crossing are familiar with the consulate, so I really think it was the best choice. Also, there were hardly any people going in either direction on this bridge. We thought they would make us unpack both of our cars, but luckily, with the diplomatic passports, we can’t be searched. Whew. Our cars were packed to the brim. We parked so we could get our cars registered, and after about an hour of running back and forth from office to office and filling out forms and making copies of documents, we were on our way. We drove for about 2 ½ hours until we reached our sponsors in Monterrey. It was my first experience driving outside of the US. My only near death experience was when a semi-truck driving the opposite direction was passing a slower vehicle and he was still half-way into my lane when he reached me. I swerved in time, and I’m glad I had that little experience, as it gave me a little taste of how people drive here. Our sponsor family met us just at the city limits of Monterrey, and led us to our temporary home, Carl’s Jr., and the grocery store. That evening another little family from the ward came to visit us. It was so nice to meet these American families and make some new friends, and it was so nice to finally arrive in Monterrey!
