Still here

I know I haven't posted in a long while and I feel guilty about that, but the deal fell through on selling the ranchito and I gave up waiting around to find a seller and left it in my real-estate agent's hands and hit the road. I am now in Idaho visiting family and having a wonderful time.

I have been studying Spanish and still it goes slowly when you don't have a teacher present to keep you on track and challenged and not being able to converse with Spanish speakers daily is a hindrance. From past experience I know that once I get into usage Spanish, even my limited version, I will improve once I am using it daily. To that end I plan to start using Spanish more in my daily life; listening to Spanish radio, TV and novelas.

I am thinking of returning to Mexico this idea has been swirling around my brain for weeks now and it is getting more and more intense as time goes on. What is it about Mexico that I like so much ? Why does Mexico pull at me like a magnet ? Something to think about. I keep looking at the real-estate ads for Merida and remember all the cute little old houses there in Centro and how things looked and all the places to visit and what the sounds are like there. If you can't stand noise don't go to Mexico there is plenty of noise all kinds of noise; fireworks, dogs, traffic, car/truck horns, music, construction noises, loud talking/yelling, animal noises the whole enchilada. I miss it.

My health has been good lately, knock on wood, no pain no discomfort not fatigue life has been good; I hope it stays that way....

Getting ready

I started sorting stuff to take to Mexico. I have two boxes now one with food stuff, canned goods etc and one of books. The books are mostly on learning Spanish. I hope they will do me service when I get to Merida. I have studied over and over and still don't feel confident with Spanish. I know I speak it like a Gringa in a bad movie I screw up the tenses, word order and use inappropriate terms or forget how to say things altogether. (Sigh)

I stopped by the cardiologist's office today and got new prescriptions for my medications so I can get refills before I leave and take three months supply with me. Hopefully that is how it will work out for me.

I stopped by my mechanics place this afternoon and had him show me how to open the cap on the power steering pump I had tried to open it, but the darn thing wouldn't come off and I was afraid I would break it an then I would have to search for a new one in junk yard-not a happy thought. Joe the mechanic showed me that I wasn't using enough pressure on it.

I called Dish TV today and seem there is no problem with suspending service when I leave which will be a good thing. I have the water company on auto pay as well as the mortgage and electricity so that is taken care of. Got to get the pets up to date on their shots and get a certificate to take with us to the border just in case we get checked. Hopefully the local Vet will cooperate.

There is still a list of things to do some can only be done just before leaving for Mexico. Hope I don't forget anything.

Update

I am sorry for not keeping up with the blog. I don't think I have to many people waiting for my pearls of wisdom about Mexico or anything else for that matter. But, if you have been waiting for another entry I am sorry for the long delay.

A lot of things have gone on since the entry previous to this one. One is my best friend told me she can't move to Mexico as her company wouldn't like it and wouldn't pay her for traveling to and from Mexico. This has put a crimp in my plans to move to Mexico. I also tired of living in a 5th wheel RV and with my best friend we bought a small ranchito about forty-five miles east of Dallas.

Life has had a few twists and turns since buying the ranchito. First I was very ill since moving to the ranchito. The illness was a feeling of being very tired, extremely tired I couldn't work but for a few minutes a day outside in the Texas heat. I felt very frustrated and scared. I had no idea what was wrong with me. Before moving here I had many tests and visits to two doctors who found nothing wrong. On the weekend of July 4th I went outside to feed the animals and I had a sharp pain in my chest. I was doubled over in pain, I was really scared. I slowly made it inside the house and could only get as far as the couch and I laid down because I couldn't go any further. I couldn't reach my cell phone or my nitro tablets in my purse either. I just laid there and waited for ..... well to see if I would live or not. After what seemed a half an hour I felt the pain slowly recede. I made it to my purse and took some medication and shortly felt better, not great but better. I had an uneasy night; worrying myself about what was happening and wondering what to do.

The following day I talked it over with my neighbor across the road-he is an EMT. He said he would have called 911 and sent me to the hospital. He suggested that if it happened again to do that. As my luck would have it the following day I felt pressure and a little pain in my chest. I didn't call 911, I drove myself to the local hospital. they did tests found some blockage in my heart arteries and kept me over night. They called my cardiologist and made an appointment for me.

When I saw the cardiologist he did some test right away and confirmed a blockage. He told me I was being set up for an angioplasty at Baylor Heart Hospital in two days time. I had just enough time to have my pets put in a kennel and make arrangements with the neighbors to take care of the live stock. The angioplasty went well and I am now the proud owner of a stent in my heart artery, that makes three stents so far. I have been in recovery since the angioplasty July 10th.

I sold the live stock it was just to much for me to take care of, the idea of being a rural gentlewoman farmer/rancher faded fast with my medical problems. I discussed our choices with my best friend and partner in the ranchito and we decided to take a trip to Florida and get away for a while, also to see if there might be a house there that we could buy and move there. My reasoning at the time was I would have a wider choice of doctors and hospital that these facilities would be closer to my residence and I could have a better social life there. We found such a house and put down earnest money and waited for a reply from the lien holder. and heard nothing after a month, not even an acknowledgement of our offer. Both of us got a little upset with this attitude from the lien holder. Short sales are a pain in the ass. We soured on the deal-nice house, but not that nice. We terminated the offer.

So where does that leave me/us now ? I have an RV that I want to sell so I am not responsible for it. I am not using it and every year I keep it the less it is worth, time to get it sold. Then what ? Good question. I keep thinking of Mexico and San Miguel. In my minds eye I can see every corner of the the Jardine and the streets and sidewalks leading there. In my mind I can hear the rockets going off and see them burst in the air and feel/hear the drums of the marchers parading the streets celebrating their culture robustly. I miss sitting at my favorite table in a restaurant facing the Parrish church and Jardine watching the lights twinkle on the church and hearing the bells ring the hour. I miss the musicians and singers on that little park singing old and new standards and enjoying life. I miss it all .....

Trip Plans Coming together

The above photos are from Casita de las flores where I am staying in San Miguel Mexico

This is what I have accomplished so far; I have the plane reservations made and paid for we will be leaving Houston on Continental at about 1230hrs arriving Leon airport about two and half hours later where we will be picked up by a van and driven from Leon to San Miguel which should take about an hour and a half. I have arranged for someone to pet sit my animals while I am on the trip. We will be staying at the Casita de Las Flores, hopefully this will be a good experience.

The biggest surprise is the cost of airfare. The cost to fly to Mexico has risen steeply in my opinion and I grumbled about the price. If I visit again I might try taking the bus from Nuevo Laredo across the border from Laredo Texas. The bus leaves in the evening and arrives in the morning in Guanajato Mexico where one changes buses to San Miguel. Sounds like an adventure to me. Although riding all night through Mexico sounds exhausting, but people do it all the time and survive.

My plan is to travel light, I'll see how that works out. I always take to much of the wrong stuff. My concern now is taking comfortable shoes, most of the streets in San Miguel are cobblestone and the sidewalks are uneven and narrow, sometimes the walk way is obstructed and the curbs are high and difficult to manage for an old lady like me. San Miguel has been nicknamed the City of Fallen Women, so many women have taken such hard falls there because they were so distracted by the views they tumbled off the steps, sidewalks, or cobblestones and hurt themselves. I hope I don't do that, I bruise to easy and being large would most likely hurt something badly.

I am toying with the idea of buying a new camera for the trip just haven't committed to the idea with money.... yet. From the photos I have seen by others this is a beautiful town with lots of photo opportunities. We will be there for a national holiday so there will be more photo opportunities with the fiestas and parades going on to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. I hear it is a noisy and joyful occasion.

So I haven't Posted in a while

I have been busy, I sold my farm in Kentucky and bought an RV.
I have been traveling a little been to Texas first to become a Texan to save on taxes and I have traveled to Idaho to visit family and to Branson MO to see what that was like and I plan to return to Branson to see more shows.

I think I will do this RV thing for a while and get the travel'n urge out of me and then re-think about Mexico. Mexico is always on my mind. I went to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant here in Livingston Texas, it isn't one of those commercial places this is just like the little family run Mexican restaurants in Mexico, simple furniture nothing glitzy or fancy, but is the food good oh ya it is good just like Mexico, lots of Mexicans eat there so you know it is good. When I stepped outside I wished I was back in Mexico. So you see Mexico is never to far out of my mind, what is the saying "once the dust of Mexico settles on your heart you cannot find peace in any other land".

So who knows maybe next year I'll be back in Mexico writing more about my adventures there :)

Why Mexico?

Why Mexico?
To most of my friends and family the idea is either a wonderful idea or a misguided adventure of an old lady who should know better than to run off to some country that is full of danger and bafflement. "Don't you know that Mexico is full of.... well Mexicans and Banditos"," don't you read the the news?"

Well, yes I read the news and it seems no more scary than most places in the U.S.A. . I find the fact that the U.S. is filling its jails and prisons as fast as it can build them to be sign of our times, not a good sign either.

There are many Mexicos, there is a Mexico of legend, geography, climate, history, cinema, culture, drama, and many other classifications. My Mexico is what is in my mind and heart, an ever expanding vision as I learn of her history and culture. Will she fascinate me for ever? Let's face it when your past sixty your forever is not that long.

Maybe someday I will tire of the church bells and rockets going off at dawn, and the roosters crowing. Until then I will take it as it comes one day at a time and see where this leads me. So far the journey has been very interesting. Learning new things has almost always been a thrill for me, so Mexico is a country full of new things to learn and wonderful people to meet and stories to tell.

First I have to get there.

Lake Chapala

Lake Chapala located less than forty-five minutes from the second largest city in Mexico Guadalajara. The lake is about fifty miles from end to end and twelve miles across at the widest. This large body of water helps mediate the temperature of the local towns and villages around the lake at an altitude of about five thousand feet or so. Reportedly the area enjoys some of the finest weather in the world with only a few days a year getting into the forties and a few over eighty. Of course when I show up the weather gets into the forties and I didn't bring enough warm clothes so I had to buy a Mexican lady's poncho to stay warm. Then the next day it warms up, go figure.

There are mountains on both sides of the lake. The village I stayed at the mountain was rather close. This mountain and lake area gives some dramatic views. The vegetation can be dramatic, at various times of the year different trees are in bloom and flowers seem to bloom all year around. This is the first place I have been where the poinsettia when planted in the ground can become a beautiful tree. Avocado trees are plentiful as are orange and mango trees, fresh coconut is sold at roadside stands by machete wielding vendors, a common snack is coconut meat with chili powder, I prefer coconut milk and rum :)

The bougainvillea vines are every where and cascading over garden walls in bright colors adding to the beauty of the area. When plants bloom in this area they are very colorful and profuse in their blossoms. Geraniums are planted in the ground like perennials as well as in pots, Lantana grows like a weed, a beautiful weed and blooms the year around. So many plants grow so well that gardening must be a joy.

The end of the day, the sunset, is watched by natives as well as visitors as slowly the sun sets at the west end of the lake and the mountains turn various shades of blue and purple than shadows cover the lower parts of the mountains and the last of the sunlight shines on the water with the lights twinkling from the villages across the lake. Such a tranquil scene as the light fades and the birds fly by in large flocks heading to their nightly roost. Then it is time for the cocktail hour in preparation for the evening meal with friends, life is good at the lake.

How it all started sort of

This blog is my diary of what I hope will be my Mexican adventure/saga. I have had this idea of living in Mexico off and on running through my mind for years and years. Now I feel is the time to take that bold step and make the idea a reality.

Let me introduce myself I am a retired lady who is living on a farm in Kentucky. This farm has been my project for a couple of years and now I am close to having done all I can do with it and I am looking towards a new adventure.

My family is used to my strange (to them) ideas and Mexico I think may actually seem tame in their minds when I mention it. So first I am doing my research on Mexico using mostly books and the internet. I have also started studying Spanish, which is difficult when you don't have any Spanish speakers around to correct your pronunciation and word usage. That can be corrected once I am in Mexico. The next phase is the initial trip to Mexico to compare the reality with the idea.

Why Mexico? That is a good question, I think for me because it has lots of history, a very different culture than in the U.S. and the customs, way of life, attitude is .....well Mexican. I also like Mexican food and some Mexican music. The colonial towns and villages both fascinate and please me. The colonial style homes seem so right to my mind, the layout is comfortable and pleasing to eye as to the mind. I also like fireworks and there are lots of fireworks in Mexico. Will I like everything in Mexico? I don't think so, there should be some things I won't like the question is will it make a difference.