Week One in Mexico

Wondering about our experience so far, here is a long recap of last week.

Our first night in Mexico was miserable to say the least. Rowan and I were both sick from the altitude. It's 7,250 ft above sea level here and College Station was about 400ft. Rowan was up at least every 30 minutes and we were all COLD. The weather is temperate here but at night in these old, concrete homes with no heating, it gets cold. After about 24 hours both Rowan and I started feeling better and we are both acclimated now. We also scored a space heater, so no more cold nights.
Sybil, a new colleague of Esten's, took us to Wal-Mart the day we got here to buy food. Wal-Mart is new, clean, and very nice compared to everything around it. We had low expectations of what we were going to be able to find here. This is what we found:
*The organic section is about the size of what our old grocery store had for diabetics. Ketchup, rice, soymilk(thank my lucky stars), spaghetti - the basics.
*The produce department is ok and everything is sold by the kilogram. I'm clueless right now of what things cost. We bought potatoes, apples, bananas, strawberries, onions(with the outer layers peeled), lettuce, tomatoes, etc...
*The eggs and milk are not refrigerated here which is different. I know from Esten's parents that eggs can go without refrigeration for a long time if they haven't been washed, so I guess that's the theory here. It is just odd to pick your eggs up off a pallet in the produce section.

Later in the week we went to the Bodega in Texcoco to grocery shop again. We were told there is less international food but cheaper prices. When we walked in I wasn't sure if we were at the club or the grocery store. They play music, loud and all of the locals are singing and dancing along. The selection there wasn't great but we'll survive. One thing Esten and I noticed was the vast amounts of mayonesa they sell. Half of an isle was all mayonnaise. We walked the isles and gathered easy to prepare food stuffs and then we made the last turn and BLISS, the bakery. A kilo of corn tortillas for 5 pesos, conchas, bolitos, and all of the Mexican pasteries I LOVE. We bought Manchego (sheep's milk) cheese and cheese from Chihuahua Mexico to melt on those fresh corn tortillas. Well worth the selection sacrifice from Wal-Mart.

Since we are limited as to what we can cook due to our skeleton of a kitchen, the stores seem fine for now. Our "furnished" kitchen came with three pots, we bought a frying pan, 4 forks and knives but only one spoon. We called to request more spoons and they brought us a blender and toaster in addition to the spoons. I wouldn't say we are roughing it but we are living as minimalist for sure. I'll be so excited to reunite with our belongings. Our permanent visas are being applied for this week so fingers crossed, we'll have our stuff by the end of February.

I was told that living on campus is good in the beginning because it's safe and people speak English. Safe, yes! Gated and guards on duty 24/7, people don't even lock their doors here. People speak English, NO! My Spanish speaking skills and comprehension have been put to the test from the second we walked in our house. Sabina, the housing lady, quickly walked us through the house speaking Spanish the entire time, just as quickly as she was walking, with the occasional head nod and Si! We just kindly nodded back and replied, Si! Although I only understood about 50% of what she said, I heard, "Do you need help cleaning?" as if she were speaking English. Esten said my eyes lit up and I replied, "Si, Si!" The next day, Socorro, came to ask me when I needed her. We had to get the neighbor to come and help us secure the days and times but I hired a cleaning lady within 3 days of being here. She came for the first time on Saturday and I must say she out cleans any maid I've seen in the US. She cleaned all of the floors, did the dishes, ironed our clothes, cleaned the bathrooms(even wiped down all of the walls), swept our front porch and who knows what else. She left here with 120 pesos (~$11) and was grateful for it. She'll be back Wednesday. I LOVE Socorro! After we get our belongings we are going to ask her to cook dinner once a week and pay her a little extra. My only duty now is the laundry. We have a new washing machine and a closed in patio that has rope strung to hang the laundry on. It's different and you have to keep on top of it or you'll never catch up. No complaints from me.

Because we live on-campus, we have to catch a ride into town to shop and it has left us feeling isolated. However, we found out that Esten is getting a car this week so we'll get to do some exploring soon.

Today I picked up the paperwork to enroll Rowan, part-time, in the daycare here. As I write this I can see the daycare out of our bedroom window. There are several boys here about his age and I think he will benefit from playing with them and learning Spanish from the caretakers there. We'll see how it goes. It's $100 a month so why not try it, right?

I haven't updated you with all of the new things Rowan does and says so I thought I should catch up. He is running and climbing with the best of them now. He was actually climbing up a slide yesterday! This past weekend he learned to spin around in circles to make himself dizzy. Watch:

Crazy baby! He is starting to talk, he makes the correct sounds for lots of words but can say Mama, Dada, and hot clearly. He also knows the sounds for cows and chickens thanks to a few weeks that we spent in Fredericksburg with Moms and Pops (They have cows and chickens.) He is starting to eat better for us, which means he is actually trying things. Today he had 1/4 of a bagel with cream cheese and strawberries, chicken salad and cheese and a coconut cookie. If you know Ro, you know he turned a corner in the eating department. So much has improved in a week, probably because he has some stability in his life, after that month of couch surfing.

Pardon the Interruption

But we were "homeless" and parading ourselves and baby around Texas visiting. We had lots of fun and took 0 photos to prove it. Fast forward to Jan. 4th when we left for Mexico and we'll pick up there. We made it to the airport in Houston with more luggage than anyone should ever have to deal and hopped on our short flight to Mexico City. Rowan slept pretty much the entire way and was an angel, just as expected. We got the green light in customs, so no searching of our luggage and then we were picked up by a CIMMYT driver in a 15 passenger van to accommodate our luggage. We came to Mexico thinking we were getting a one bedroom apartment, but were pleasantly surprised to get a 3 bedroom hacienda. Flamingo pink too! The place is empty but once we get our belongings here Casa Siete will be HOME. Rowan and I battled the altitude for about 24 hours but we are both feeling much better and are getting settled in. Here are some pictures of Casa Siete.

This is the view from the front. Like the color?


This is our backyard, small and fenced in by hedges. But just beyond the yard is a huge playground area for Rowan.


This is Rowan on his first expedition to the playground.


Our view of the mountains. That's where we want to live when we move off campus.


Rowan "helping" sweep the kitchen this morning.


So all is well here in Mexico and I'm going to do my best to keep all of you updated much more frequently. Come see us!
P.S. Happy Anniversary to Us, 3 years.

Happy Birthday!

One year ago today our beautiful baby boy was born. Can you believe it? He has gone from our helpless, "noodle" of a baby to the oh, so mobile and curious toddler in 365 days. Amazing. We had his first party at his Aunt Bunny and Uncle Tom's house in Austin. I made him a birthday banner which we hung on their porch.


And Esten and I slaved over these monkey cupcakes which were homemade carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting. The face is a ginger snap, the eyes are M&M's, the ears are mini oreos and the nose is chocolate ganache. They were soooo good.

Rowan was impressed with our singing as you can tell.

And he even tried a little bit of the icing. He's still not big on the eating thing and so my mental picture of him covered in icing and having cake all over himself didn't happen. This is what I got.

There was not a shortage of gifts for this little man. He got musical instruments, puzzles, trucks, blocks, a barn with animals, blocks, books, crayons and did I mention blocks? He for some reason loves this little Papa Smurf that John and Jess gave him.

It was a fun day and we had a great time. This past Saturday we had another party for Rowan at the San Antonio Zoo. We invited kids to this one and they all had a blast.
We started off feeding fish and goats. Then the kids got to pet a hedgehog like creature. Here is cousin Mara petting Sophie.
This is Rowan being helped by Daddy, petting Sophie.
Rowan having a second round of happy birthday and a bit of cake afterward.



The rest of the day was spent exploring the zoo. This is a group shot at the end of the day.

Dr. Mason

After many long days and late nights of writing his 200 page dissertation, Esten is officially Dr. Mason. He defended his dissertation last Thursday. His parents came to town and we celebrated with a happy hour and dinner. Now it's crunch time with our packing and preparing for Mexico.

This is Dr. Hays and Esten.



Title Slide from Esten's seminar.

Walking

I think we now have to say that Rowan is walking. It's his primary mode of transportation. I can't believe it. Today was one of his first days to try walking in the grass with his shoes. Here is a video clip of his walking:

Bluesy Ro

I mentioned the Harmonica skills a few posts ago, well...

Happy Belated Halloween

We opted to dress Rowan and stay home this Halloween. Ro handed out candy to a few trick-or-treaters and showed off some unforeseen walking skills to his Grandma and Grandpa. It was like he had been walking for months. But no worries he's back to his falling self again.




We stayed home because we took Rowan to his first Aggie football game. He was tired after all of that excitement. Here is Esten and Ro at the game.



Our packing is getting underway over here. My parents took a trailer and truck full of stuff this weekend and I'm wheeling and dealing on craigslist. Our dresser and bar stools are gone today. Hmmm, what to do with all of the clothes in the dresser...