Almost a Mexican

Uhggg...(Im writing on my work computer which has the spellchecker in Spanish... so good luck hope you can translate bad spelling and grammer. hahaha) so I always feel so bad when I go to write a post and realize its been a few months since my last one. The good thing is I constantly have new readers and some of the old stuff I put up before is still giving good therapy to those who need it. That was of course the original point of this blog. To help out people who were hurting or confused. My heart breaks for all you mommys, papis, wifes, husbands, and children out there who are not together as a unit. Or who are together and are in the weird state right before or after the big more out of  or into a new country. Or those who are still not sure what to do to keep there families together. There are so many stressfull stages to the whole stupid immigration game but when we decided to spend our lives with that one special person its something we agreed to. So cheers to all you ladies and men of steal. Keep on keepen on. You can do this and you will come out shining on the other side.

Why am I so sure of that you may wonder. Well I made it and Im a small town girl from Missour for goodness sakes. I came to Mexico and left much behind (you can read past blogs to find out what) in order to keep my family together and to be with a man who has been more of a blessing to me than I ever thought possible. When I came here 5 years ago... (Oh yes crappy blogger didnt even post a 5 year anniversery blog, it was June 29th). I knew no Spanish... wwhhhewww glad that stage is over. I knew nothing about Mexican culture... I actually got ofended by things that now make me laugh histarically. I was almost always uncomfortable... for the first time in my life I was not sefl confident. Since those days... and they were long and sometimes dark... I have grown in  my walk with Christ, as a women, as mother, as a wife, and as a friend. I am a better person than I would have ever been had I stayed in the states. My mind is opened to so many things that would have never made any sense to me before. I may still have a weak gringa stomach but by golly my skin sure is tougher.

So in June I went and picked up my official Perminant Resident Card. Oh yes its a real card not some laminated crap and its official. Im Perminant. What that means is no more renewing or paying every year. It also means I can get more benifits such as cheaper schooling and such. (which is still in the plans but were broke and cant afford the freaking translation of my transcripts, all in good time). I didnt even have a party. I think we still need to plan that one. On the day of my 5 year Mexico anniversery I was actually in the US at a wedding for a couple of the best friends we have down here in Mexico.

About the perminant resident busness it took me a long time to get here but the laws have changed. Aparently if you are married to a Mexican you should be able to just bring in you marriage lic (if from the states appostleed and translated.), birth cirts and ID´s and can apply right off the bat. It costs close to 400usd. Which is nothing compaired to almost 200 every year for four years. I have heard of a few people having trouble getting this done and others who got it done right away. Here is the thing about the immigration system here in Mexico... well the government realy. They make changes for the better and it takes people and offices a while to get on the wagon. Im not sure why its ok and why it happens but its true. So if the office closest to you gives you trouble it may be a good idea to take a weekend to trip to the next closest one and see how things go. Just always have more than one copy of every document you have. Here is there website which clearly states that this process is now faster and can be done without an FM2 or waiting for 2 years. I would also recomend printing pages from the website to show at the office when you go. Im gona post here the link to the website the part thats in English is extreamly limited so if you dont read spanish well find someone that does to help you.  Again if I were you I would make print outs of the scren shots so if the office gives you trouble you can show them you got it off their site.
Home page:
http://www.inm.gob.mx/

For those who have family who are mexican, click on the second pdf, Im gona try to attach it to this post.
http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Regularizacion_LM

Heres the link for the pdf. ( when it talks about the payments you have to go to the office to get a paper that has all the info. all you do is put your name and personal data and go to a bank and pay it, make a few copies of the recipt when your done.)

http://www.inm.gob.mx/static/Tramites_LM/Estancia_LM/Regularizacion_LM/Regularizacion_por_unidad_familiar.pdf

I think thats all for today I hope you all have a great day and Im sending hugs to all of you who need them.

From the Almost Mexican.

Clearing the air about Canada

Since my last couple posts I have gotten a lot of questions regarding my plans for Canada. I think its because it appears I'm making longer term plans for down here. Which I am but without giving up completely on Canada  The thing is this road to Canada isn't going to be a short one nor an easy one. In the mean time I plan to spend my time wisely and "work as unto the Lord". This means help my work to make changes for a long term betterment, get some schooling, invest in my future of my children, get a perminant residency so I don't have to pay immigration every year,  and use my infonavit to buy a house in Mexico,

Last week I received my letter from CARNA that says they accepted my application and I need to go take my test. CARNA is the collage (board) of nursing in Alberta. To be exact here is the email minus personal details.

Dear Amanda                                                                            This e-mail is to advise you on the status of your application for assessment with the College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA). Please keep this email for your records, as it is the only notice you will receive. Under Alberta legislation and regulation an internationally educated applicant is assessed for substantially equivalent competence at the level expected of the Alberta graduate and the registered nurse (RN) in Alberta. On review of your file, it could not be determined that you currently possess the knowledge and skills (competencies) expected of an RN in Alberta. As part of the assessment of your application, you must complete a Substantially Equivalent Competency (SEC) assessment.  Your application cannot proceed until after you have completed the following SEC assessment(s):
 General Nursing, Maternal/Newborn Health Nursing, Child Health Nursing, Mental Health Nursing

 The SEC assessment takes place in Alberta, Canada, at one of the IEN Assessment Centres of Mount Royal University, located in the city of Edmonton or the city of Calgary. Your English language proficiency has been met at this time. You have two years from the date of this e-mail to complete the SEC assessment(s). CARNA recommends that you contact the Mount Royal University IEN Assessment Centre as soon as possible to book your assessment(s), as dates are booked well in advance.
 An application is considered lapsed if there is no evidence of progress toward meeting application and/or registration requirements for two (2) years. Applicants with lapsed files must apply for re-assessment by submitting a new application and fee for re-assessment and updated documentation.  Application files will be securely destroyed after six (6) years of inactivity, (four (4) years after the date they are considered lapsed).

 This email is exactly what we were expecting and Im glad I have two years to make it up there. Basically there is no way we can afford to go there and I refuse to let my wonderful sister pay my whole way. (Yes she offered the day I got the email). First I need to study and get myself ready, but that is not the only issue. Also I cant let someone pay a ton of money on something which totally rides on how well I do on this test. Just to show you what Im looking at this is how it is explained on their website. 

What is the SEC Assessment?The SEC assessment uses a variety of methods to assess professional nursing knowledge, skills, values, judgment and critical thinking, and the ability to apply these safely, competently, and ethically in the practice setting. The applicant will be assessed in areas such as:

• medical, surgical and specialty nursing knowledge and skills across the lifespan

• anatomy and physiology and pathophysiology knowledge

• pharmacology and medication administration

• health history and health assessment knowledge and skills

• basic and advanced clinical skills as well as use of current technology in nursing practice

• clinical judgment, problem solving, and critical thinking skills and evidence informed practice

• knowledge of the Canadian health-care system and current nursing practices

• professional responsibility and accountability

• therapeutic communication practices; nurse client interactions and relationships

• cultural competencies

• ethical decision making skills

• regulation of the profession

• CARNA Nursing Practice Standards and CNA Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses

The different assessment methods utilized in the SEC assessment identify whether an applicant currently possesses the competencies that are required to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of the RN in the Canadian health care system, or if competency gaps exist, and to what extent.
Where can you find more information about the Alberta RN competencies?The expected competencies are found in the CARNA document: Entry to Practice Competencies for the Registered Nurses ProfessionWhat is involved in the SEC Assessment?
The email you received from CARNA identified the type (areas) of SEC assessment you are required to complete.
The SEC assessment will take from two (2) to five (5) days to complete, depending on the areas of assessment required. It involves examinations, clinical judgment interviews, and lab and case management situations designed to provide you opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and ability to meet the entry to practice competencies expected of RNs in Alberta.

Again to put this in perspective we are not talking about coming strait out of school and  taking a boards exam which is on a computer and lasts 3-6 hours. This is 8 years after nursing school, 2 years without working, and 2 years working as a nurse in Mexico (which is way behind on a lot in nursing.). This assessment consist of having a written test, interviews and skill lab tests. I know after studying I will do ok but again I'm not going to let my sister spend a ton of money and risk that. My current plan is to not stress first of all. I have learned a lot about the benefits of not stressing since I moved down here. Next I am going to get in touch with the place to schedule the appointment and find out how far in advance I can make it. I feel like in about a year we may be in a place where we can save up enough if added to the possible donations from my donate for Canada button to send me up there. Also I'm starting to look more in detail about how much this thing will cost. I think I'm looking at around 3000usd. 

Yikes that is a ton of money for us. What I do know is God is amazing and if he wants us to be in Canada the money will come in at the right time and the appointment will be made at the right time. 

My focus this year is to stay focused and on the things that really matter. Which is what my inspiration board is all about. And just as a reminder the first thing on my board says:" Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind an straining toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven ward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things and if on some point you think differently, that to God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

The second and third are my family. These things are my focus. 

My pastor said something that struck me as wonderful the other day. He mentioned helping someone push a car. If you have every pushed a car you know it gets easier as the car gets moving and although its almost impossible to push a car around a corner when its stopped its not to hard if you are already moving. He compared this to how it is with God and doing things with our lives. The moment he said it I felt like its how Im going about things right now. Im just running and waiting on god to push me to one side or the other when its time. I don't plan on sitting still, meaning I'm going to start studying and looking to where the money will come from, and in this I hope God will push me in the direction he wishes. On the other hand its also important to say I also know my hope and strength are in God alone. Meaning if we go or if we stay will not determine my happiness. 

I do request prayers for God to give us wisdom,  peace, and understanding. He has been very plentiful in this with me in the past and I know he will continue. Your prayers and thoughts always help. 

Thanks for reading. 

Bienvenido 2013

Quick Spanish up date:
Out of curiosity how many of you read the title Bienbenido Dos Mil t(d)ece   and how many read it Bienvendio two thousand thirteen. I'm finding it more natural to read and think in Spanish. My goal this year is to grow my vocabulary and stop making stupid conjugation mistakes. Often times I try to speak faster than my brain can keep up and I make mistakes, when I logically know better. Not sure if that makes sense to you but that is the case.

FM2 renewal vs Residency

So this year our plan is to get my Permanent Residency here in Mexico. To apply for this instead of an FM2 renewal is basically the same. Every year there is a different basic procedure at the immigration office. This year they no longer let just anyone enter and and get a number (ficha) Now you have to wait in a line which trails down three flights of stairs. Once you reach the desk they tell you if you are missing any documents and which area you will be going to when you reconcile those documents. If you have to return to the same desk that day you do not have to wait in line again. Although waiting in line on stairs for 40 min sucks it actually all moves a lot faster than before. So even though they haven't reached customer service they are at least reaching efficiency. I filled out my form, got pictures taken and wrote my letters at the little office on the corner which does all things necessary for documents. While I did all this with my two oldest girls my husband was waiting in the line on the stairs with the youngest. He came back with a form saying we needed to pay 1,000 pesos. They told us this was going to be the only fee and as you can imagine it was not. We paid the fee at the bank and went back to turn in the papers at the desk. The webpaged showed I needed to show at the window one day before they took their holiday breaks so needless to say I didn't make it until after Jan 6th to go see what the trouble was. This is when they gave me the form to pay 3,850 pesos in order to receive my documents. Sadly enough we believed them the first time they said we would not have to pay more and didn't have enough to pay for it. Now we are waiting to save up the money so we can go pay the fee and turn in the receipt  Ill let you know once that happens to see if I get my card that day or if I have to wait for them to process everything. 

Life

Im loving it, we are making great improvements at the hospital. My English classes are taking off and as always I have a lot of fun doing them. Our schedules are still pretty packed but its in a good way where none of us including the girls are overly stressed but also are not sitting at home boared. To be honest Im loving life. God has provided left and right and any dreams I thought were ruined because we had to move have been exceeded. My girls are growing up bilingual and bicultural. I am becoming bilingual. My husband is at home with my girls so they are getting a strong base of knowing how wonderful they are and getting daily time with Papi. I am working as a nurse and making a difference in a small way. I also still have plenty of time to have fun, play games and excessive with my girls in the evenings. Some evenings papis gone and we have girl nights, those are lots of fun. As always I still miss my family and hate that my girls wont know them better but skype helps us a lot in that aspect and Im hoping one of my little sister is planning on making a yearly trip down to see us. Also my mom should be coming again within the next year. 

Over my birthday I got to explore Lake Chapala for the first time and I can assure it will not be the last.

Inspiration board
So This year instead of writing resolutions I decided to take a good idea from my sister and make an Inspiration board. As I was telling my husband about it he asked if I could put his goals on half of it. I was so excited about that idea that of course I would do it. As we talked we realized we had the same goals for the year. With that in mind I decided we should just make a family board. I used a picture divider that came in a frame, it had six  5x7 spaces. The first space we put a verse that we decided would be or spiritual focus this year it reads, " Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind an straining toward the gal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven ward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things and if on some point you think differently, that to God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."
Our second goal is to strengthen or relationship as a couple and parents. It has romantic words and sticker and a big number 2. Next comes a picture of the girls with a sticker that says everyday life. We want to remember every day to pay attention to them and talk to them. If you don't have kids this may seem obvious, but those of you who do know that sometimes parents can get caught up in their own lives and forget to slow down enough to sit and really listen to their kids. Especially when hey are still so little, but I truly believe this is very important. Our fourth goal is to become better stewards of the resources and money God give us. We are trying to pray more about our finances. Also we have goals to start savings bonds for each girls for collage this year. Next is that my husband and I both want to further our education in some form.  Last is our Health and dieting. We are both hoping to eat better and exercise  This is a necessity. For example today on our walk to church we tried to race and I didn't run far and was so out of breath it was sad.
The best part about all this was that the Sunday morning I got it done our paster was talking about priorities and I felt like God was letting us know quite clearly that he liked the goals we had made. Its amazing how God speaks to us and so clearly if we only keep our hearts and minds open to him.
We are also doing a "good things Jar" Anytime something good happens this year we are going to save it in this Jar. Every year we talk about our favorite thing from the year before but I feel that we leave a lot out. Also my girls are going to be in on it so if they say its something that needs to be put in the Jar it will go in.
Well I wanted to put a pic of both the board and the Jar but its not letting me send it from my phone. Maybe on the next post

God is good, always has been and always will be.

Incapacidad en Mexico

Well I had an accident with a city bus the other day. It was probably the scariest thing I have ever been through. Sometimes I can still see the bus coming at me and I have to fight off the memory. Im just so glad I was alone and none of my girls or husband were with me at the time. Below are pics and a description of what happened with the wreck. Also here is a description of what went on medically and with time off work. I first went to the clinic that my car insurance paid for and got a letter to bring into the seguro in order to get time off work. That clinic doctor took x rays and gave me pain meds and a neck brace. The next day I went and sat at my IMS clinic from 12 to 3pm where I saw my family doctor. He gave me 7 days off and a paper I had to have my work fill out in order to get full time pay. (that should have been done the night of the ER visit the day of the wreck but since I went to a private one with my insurace I did it then, the letter from the first clinic covered me otherwise I wouldnt have been able to claim it) Basically here if an accident happens within so many meters from your work place its considered a work accident and you get full pay from the seguro.  Thankfully Issac did all the paperwork running around for me but I will explain what went on. He brought the form to my work who sent it to the third party company that actually handles my pay. After they returned it to my HR lady Issac went back to get it and went to the IMS the next morning at 8am. He received a ficha and was sent to a couple different windows for a couple different papers. In the end they made and appointment for me to see the workers comp doctor their at my clinic. I wen and actually didn't have to wait more than  a few min. She agreed that it was a work place injury but because the third party put their address in place of where I work it looked like it happened across town so the IMS would only pay 60percent of my pay. I then called my HR lady very upset and she said the hospital would pay the other 40. I was in quite a bit of pain that first week. The whole left side of my body hurt and I couldn't raise my arms past waist high without pain. The second week after the 7 days I went back to see the doctor. At this point I was still having quite a bit of stiffness and pain. My shoulders and neck were like iron. Because of the pain my doctor gave me anther 7 days off and said within the next few days I should start weaning off the neck brace. Today I am neck brace free and actually cut back on one of the pin pills. Im still hurting but its manageable. Thankfully my husband is one of the best misuses Iv ever know and is doing quite well with helping me heal. I am off until next tuesday in which time I'm pretty sure Ill be ready to get back to work. In the mean time Im catching up with my book (finished book three and am now on book five of Game of Thrones), blog reading (even though I never comment sorry guys I'm a horrible blog friend sometimes... most of the time), my scrap book (finished a mini book for my sis in law, and a md size one for my mother in law, and started on mine), and time with my girls and husband. All these things take no effort on the part of my neck so its good to keep busy. I dont go out much because we are driving our truck which bounces around and hurts my back. Also I went with Issac to my workplace the other day to turn in some pics and driving down there freaked me out so bad I was more stiff when I got home.

Basically after a full stop and seeing one bus stopped to let off passengers on a one lane one way street I proceed to cross.  After the wreck I refused to speak to anyone until my insurance guy came. By then thankfully my English student I was meeting met up with me. Shes actually a good friend and stayed with me the whole time until Issac came and actually even then she stayed. Her presence was so welcomed and calming for me. I understood all of what was going on but it was nice to be able to check with her that I understood. 

As you can see I didn't quite make it across. I looked around the first bus and saw nothing. The bus that hit me came around the first bus going very fast. These are the skid marks of my car. That is how far he pushed me to the side after hitting me. The transitos suggestion to me was to not drive on the small streets close to downtown because, " this happens all the time."

he hit me going full speed as you can see his skid marks start about when mine do. I still don't see how he didn't see me. Also the bus driver never once checked to see if I was ok or asked about me. He just stood around obviously waiting for things to get done with so he could carry on with his day. 

My car was almost across the street when he hit me. As you can see here the front half of my car was almost past by the time he hit me.  Still after the transito showed up, he decided the fault was arguable.  When they say that here they mean they will impound both vehicles and take up to a month deciding. By then they will be paid off and you will end up taking the blame and having to pay for every day your car was in impound. We cut our losses and left.


Yes its been a crazy couple weeks. Hope yours has been better. 

The cold hard truth and a dream

There are a lot of "cold hard truths" in life.  We learn these things at a young age and learn to accept that life isn't always fair. But there are also dreams and "desires of the heart" that are given to each person. Each are unique and special. Each has breath and life and come to being through the creator. As always I know not all my readers have the same beliefs as me but for me and my dreams they are from my Father and Friend.

One cold hard truth we have come to realize is no matter how hard we work we will never be able to have enough money to visit my family in the states or provide a future which includes collage for our kids. I haven't seen my family in Missouri in almost three years and we do not see any sign of us ever being able to go back to visit. As far as daily life in Mexico, although insanely frustrating at times, it is livable. I have a decent job and we are raising our children the way we see fit. The main thing we are thankful for is that we are all healthy and together. But the fact that I will never be able to pay off my school debts in the states (which may hinder my daughters collage future) nor see my family is weighing heavily on me.

Many times in my life God has helped me to know my next step through odd encounters or what many would call coincidences.  During  an otherwise uneventful two week span I had three people ask me why I hadn't looked into working in Canada. One of which was so persistent he gave me his number in case I needed help getting in contact with doctors there. With that Issac and I began talking with each other and with God about this idea. We have made the decision to pursue living in Canada.

So this now goes into the dream. Many times the "cold hard truths" of life leads us to better opportunities. Maybe this is one of them. Our one focused prayer in all of this is that we can make the transition without being separated. The two years Issac and I were in different countries were the worst years of both of our lives. Even the frustrations of moving to Mexico, learning Spanish, and working in a stifling environment doesn't compare. So far the only problem we see with the Immigration process is paying for it. I easily qualify as a skilled worker and am beginning my process of applying to the nursing board in Alberta.

From what I understand here is the process: I apply to the board and they review my transcripts (fee)- they make a decision on if I'm eligible to take an assessment which includes me being in Canada for a little more than a week (money).  Then if I pass their assessment I do my Skilled worker application (big fee) and hopefully can manage a job offer before moving so the paperwork will go faster. With that qualification I could get hired on as a nurse assistant or student nurse in Canada (moving expenses)  and have one year to take the exam (fee).

We are still unsure as to how we will get enough to pay all the application fees and to actually move. At this point I'm just trusting that God will help us to get the money. Humility and asking for help are things that have always been a bit hard for me and I feel that this is exactly what I'm going to have to do. So now I am going to do just that.

My next post will be a clear break down of all the fees and charges that we will be expected to pay. If I have any readers who would be willing to help us out at all we appreciate it.Also we ask that all of you who can please join us in prayer. I truly believe in the power of prayer and I ask for those of you who can please pray for us in this process, and above all that we are able to stay together as a family.

What Gods will is for our life is what we want, We are going to put forth the actions we know we can and lean on faith that if this is what God has for us that he will open doors opportunities for us.

The inside scoop on Hospitals in Mexico

First of all I have to remind you I'm by no means and expert on this considering this is the first hospital I have worked in. But I do ask our new nurses where they worked before and what it was like. It seems to me that we are the norm as far as private hospitals go. The only place that is more standardized like I am use to is the IMSS.  The other thing about the nursing jobs here is that the pay is so very low. Most nurses get no more than 4-5,000p a month. I am getting more than that because I entered at a supervisor level. The nurses at the IMSS get 7,000 a pay check and only work three twelve hour  shifts per week. Which is way more money and way less hours than me. My plan is to go sign up for a job at an IMSS but apparently it takes years to get accepted into one of the positions.
Basically when you walk into my hospital it is beautiful. It reminds you of a hotel but with nurses stations. The nurses are well educated in school but once they are out the hospitals do not maintain a proper continuing education program. This is something I have been pushing for since I got into the hospital. No one seems to understand the importance of it. Or like many people have told me the higher ups are just afraid to give to much education to the lower positions. This is not only in the hospitals but pretty much is the rule in the work force here. To be honest the only personal experience I have in the states is in Hospitals and the last one was a teaching hospital so this totally rubs me the wrong way. Im going to do my best to keep this post objective and not go into my rants. So here I wont explain how utterly important it is for continuing education in health care.

Since October I have tried to encourage changes such as continued education, starting an orientation program for new nurses, placing resources for the nurses at the nursing stating (drug books, references on processes, an easier and safer documentation practice, etc.) And everything I try to implement gets denied. I am basically not being allowed to do what they told me they hired me for. Finally I asked for a job description because my position was completely made up. I was getting sick of wasting my time trying to plan and implement things when I was always held up and denied at the last min. I had no idea what the heck they wanted me to do from day to day. Now I am a Supervisor B, with basically administrative duties. To explain it best Im doing all the crappy paperwork that the head nurse doesn't have time to do.

The worse part about all of this is that the things they do focus on are so silly. They are insane about the dress code. For example I have gotten "talked to" like three times for my presentation. The first time was because apparently I wasn't using enough bleach on my uniforms. Then it was that I don't paint my shoes enough and the looked dirty. They were clean but scuffed, here you have to wear the old school leather white nursing shoes. Can I hear a Blech from any nurses out there. This last time I was told that my little fly always were to messy and I need to start putting gel in my hair. And don't get me started on my tregas earrings. Basically the supervisor in charge of checking this sort of thing was ticked off because I explained to her that she was doing something illegal and when she argued with me about it I brought it to the head nurse. What was she doing  you might ask. Well in health care we write with pen only in the charts. This is so that nothing can ever be erased. If you make a mistake here you are suppose to put (parenthesis) around it and rewrite what you wanted. One day I found some nurses taking pieces of tape and ripping off what they had written and writing over it. I very nicely explained to them that this is the same as using white out and is illegal. A short time later one of them told me that the Supervisor does it all the time. YIKES!!! So the same nurse who walks around sending people home for scuffed shoes and fly aways thinks its ok to falsefi documents as long as you cant tell. Yes that is what she told me when I confronted her about it. That the nurses shouldn't do it because when they do it its ugly but when she does it it looks nice and you cant even tell she did it. Sigh!!!!!!!!!!!

To be honest a lot of the problems within the private hospitals here (and yes I have asked around) is the chain of command or lack of use of it. For example the above mentioned Supervisor is no more than a supervisor. But many of the changes I have wanted to make the head nurse thought were valid and could work. This of course was when I as alone in her office with her. But when we would bring it to the Supervisor meetings I would be immediately shut down by this supervisor. And worst of all the head nurse would immediately agree her. Basically if it comes out of my mouth they quickly scruntch up their lips and shake their heads no.

Also the horrible communication. They are giving us a course on Lean Healthcare which is a system of organization and communication from Japan. We used this system at the last hospital I worked at in the states and it was great. But to be honest with the way things are here its next to impossible to implement any of it. We have no intranet, all the supervisors of nursing and the head nurse use the same email address, there is no calender of events or meetings. You usually don't know about a meeting until like 10min before hand. Mind you most of this kind of thing doesn't really reach the patient but turns out to be a horrible working environment. And happy nurses make happy patients.

The few suggestions of mine that have been put into place they are sure to wait a few weeks after I suggest it and then suggest it as if it were their idea. This also is very common in all the workforce down here. There is no since of encouragement to employees who do have good ideas. They are to afraid you will raise up above them. Again this is so hard for me to swallow because the hospital I came from encouraged growth. I never push this kind of thing or try to make sure everyone knows the idea came from me. This is because I know they all know and there really isnt any point anyway. I have finally given up on giving any ideas for the betterment of anything. I realize that if I do they will just get turned down. I have resigned to just doing what they ask of me and no more. My husband made it very clear that this is what is expected here. And Im finding its true. The supervisor I mentioned above has back off quite a bit. This all makes me so sad because I have so much to offer and instead Im organizing the charts of discharged patients and doing secretary work.

Actually I may even look into another teaching job next week that will be the same pay but half the hours. I'm pretty sure I wont get seguro or Infonavit and because of this I have to discuss it more with my husband. But as excited as I was to put my nursing uniform on I think its not where I should be. I haven't even touched a stethoscope in over a month. Athough I hate the job hopping, I guess its ok because Im still learning so much about the work force here in Mexico which is nothing like where I grew up. I had one job from the time I was 16-18 at a nursing home (thats a long time for a teenager). Then another job from the time I was 18-21 at a hospital until I moved to St. Louis to go to school.Thats when I worked at Barns and had that job from the time I was 21-28 when I moved to Mexico. I have almost had more jobs in two years than I did in over ten years of working in the states. I know there isn't a perfect job and the grass isn't always greener, but I think its time to start being a realist and accept that maybe nursing isn't what I should be doing down here right now anyway. I do want to apply at the IMS and maybe even in Tepa. But for now if I can make the same amount of money but have more time with my kids maybe I should be teaching.

Experiencing IMS in the city

Yesterday was my first real experience with the free public health system here in the city. Let me tell you its much worse here than in the small town of Tepatitlan. For my job I have to have a carta justificante when I miss work for an illness. And the letter must come from the IMS not from a private doctor. So although it was obvious that my girls had the pox and I couldn't bring them to the daycare I still had to go to the IMS clinic. I was there from 9-12 waiting. Basically they didn't explain everything to me well and even with my probing questions they were reluctant to fill me in on the whole process. By the grace of God the director of our day care showed up (hoping to get vaccinated against the pox) and she got the full information for me. Here is how it works. We are part of the evening shift appointments. People can start showing up at any time for these slots. The appointments don't actually start until 2pm. But if you wait till then to go there may be so many people already that you wont get an appointment that day. But we were there at 15 min till 9am and the lady seriously thought I would wait from then until 2pm. That is virtually impossible with three kids. Not only that by the time I got fed up and left at 1200 there were only two people there for the evening shift appointments. So I'm thinking if we ever do have to get something from that doctor again (for work, or day care) then we will show up at like one and have to wait until 3 or 330 for our appointment.  During the time we waited we managed to see the dentist who spoke English to my girls and confirmed we have no cavities. YEAH for that one. We will be visiting the dentist in another 6months for the fluoride application. The only thing I felt was missing there was education. Maybe they didn't do it because I still had my work uniform on. Usually the IMS clinic is better about educating the patient. The dentist is not as full and basically you just show up and they check you out. They actually came over to me and asked me if I wanted the check up from them while I waited for the other office.  We almost got the babies flu vaccine but I gave up waiting before that happened. I'm kinda pinching myself for that one. But after three hours there with three girls I was done and so were the girls. We ended up going through the ER and getting Tylenol and my letter from there. I have since lost that letter which I'm also kicking myself for. We also ended up getting an Antibiotic because the oldest on has infections in lesions. The whole experience was pretty horrible and I'm pretty sure we will never use the doctor there unless its absolutely necessary. I'm still glad we have Seguro in case we ever need hospitalization because there is no way we can afford a private hospital. And also the ER was pretty quick and we got free care and medication. Right now the girls are playing well and so far the baby hasn't shown any signs of contracting it from them. I hope if she is going to get it that she gets it soon. I feel like Im leaving something out of the informative part of this post so as always if there are any questions Id be happy to answer them.

FM2 Renewal 2011/Work permit

Im so happy to tell you all that this year was a breaz compared to other years. First off I need to remind you all that I have decided that due to the cost we are just going to wait until next year and apply for residency.  Their is just more paperwork, tests and money involved in the citizenship so we have decided not to take that route. We went ahead and renewed this year. I went in one day that I had off and turned in my paperwork to tell them that I was working. Due to the fact that my FM2 is familial I don't actually have to ask for permission to work. Its more that I just have to let them know kind of like when you move. For that I just had to have a letter from my place of work saying why they wanted to hire me, I didn't even have to have my credentials verified which was nice considering I don't have an apostille nor translation for my nursing degree or license. While I was their for that I asked for the list to renew my FM2. It was very strait forward and easy. She even gave me all the paperwork I would need to pay the fee and to attach my fotos to if it went through. My husband was going to bring it all in for me so the only extra thing we had to have was a typed and signed letter saying that I gave him permission to do so. He turned it all in on the 14th (I would have been late on the 15th, gees Im becoming so Mexicana, lol). Anyway I waited till now to check the status because before it was always after Christmas that they would have it ready. Guess what it was processed completely ont he 14th and on the 15th it shows that I can come pick it up. Holy Cow. But on the site it looks like they are closed till after new year, pues ni modo. Ill go pick it up in Jan.

IM BACK BABY

And I don't just mean to blog land. This title is what I put on my facebook post my first day back in the hospital. For any new readers or anyone who just doesn't remember, I am an RN. I have so missed nursing over the last few years but it just wasn't possible at first for me to work. Its still pretty tough but for the most part I don't have any issues. We had an interesting first year in the city to say the least. But we are moving on and are so excited about the year to come. Nothing is ever perfect but we know that and when you are ready for it... well that makes it a little easier.

Basically let me tell you that we have literally taken a 50% pay cut, we moved to a smaller place (which we actually really like), and God blessed us with the fact that we don't have to change the girls school. That is the quick run down.

We didn't have any help with the move so that was a little tough but thankfully we are on the other side of it now. Lucky for you I didn't have net until now so you don't have to hear me complain. lol I still have quite a bit of organizing to do in the girls play area and pictures to hang but that can all be done poco a poco.

The first week of December I will be starting English Classes for the parents from the day care, and anyone else who wants to come. This will help me make up the cost that I owe the daycare. Basically it turns out she is just giving me a location (and clients) to hold the classes. Payments and everything for the class I will be dealing with directly. So now I get to still do the part that I enjoyed doing with the University and actually teach. I'm so excited about that.

Now back to the "I'm back baby part." I am loving the hospital, and I say this after driving home crying yesterday.  I had a pretty heavy day yesterday and then I had to talk with one of the supervisors about a few things that really were not that big of a deal but that were very frustrating to me. Basically I had a patient family member misinterpret my body language. The felt like I was nervous about starting their IV (which is actually something I enjoy doing). The thing is I'm not sure what it is about my body language that makes people think I'm nervous.  I have had the same problem with Issacs mom, and multiple other people. I admit I'm much more high strung than most people down here but I'm not nervous or anxious anymore. If anyone has an idea on what I might be doing that would portray this please let me know. I think getting some insite would help me out a lot. Really the tears just came from frustration and irritation that a patient would misread me. I never have had problems like that back in the states. And its just not something I'm use to. By this morning I had sucked it up and went back at it. That same patient was a lot more receptive to me today and I think realized that it was a misinterpretation. One good thing is we do have quite a few American or Canadian patients and I enjoy getting to help them out. I have interpreted quite a few times and even when they do have good Spanish it makes them feel better just to have a nurse to speak to in English. Right now I'm doing a lot of floor work and I think eventually they may have me doing more office type work but I'm really happy where I'm at. My husband is doing reservations for a rental company from the states and is really enjoying his job also.

Well that's quite a lot of blabbing for one day. I have so much to say about health care here and nursing here but I will save that for another blog. And really I would like to hear from all my readers to know if you would be interested in hearing that stuff. I get all excited about it but aside from the Mexican Trailrunner I'm not sure if you all are interested. Let me know please.

Getting an online income

Gees I remember when I moved to the city and said I was going to start working that I promised not to neglect my blogging. Well guess what happened. Honestly I have been dying to write but some of the stuff I want to write about needs to wait just a few more weeks.

At that point I will have more time for writing and also feel like I can write from a different perspective.

Entonces...

One thing  have managed and can write clearly about is getting a bit of an online income. I have started a profile on ODesk and write articles for a company called. IIU (Internet Income University). This opportunity came thanks to a gringa friend who lives here in the same city as me. I have to say that really this is all thanks to this blog and the friends I have made through it. I met Rhonda through a friend on facebook but who really I originally met here on the blog. So although I have not been a good blog friend I have tried to keep up with people in other ways.

So I wanted to explain a few things about ODesk and getting paid if you live in Mexico. I had to do a lot of reading and figure things out before I found the best way so I want to share and make it a little easier for others. First I must tell you that the incomes on Odesk are all pretty low. But you can make 500usd a month if you work at it and that is a pretty ok sueldo (monthly income) for mexico. With that in mind here is what I found out. Basically the cheapest way to get paid is for Odesk to transfer your money directly to a US bank account (this is free). But if your like me and don't have one nor care to get one there are other options. Transferring to paypal only costs 1usd. BUT and this is a big but... if your paypal account was started in the states or if you put your location as the states when you started it you can not transfer to a bank in Mexico without paying like a 30usd fee (which is a lot of freaking money). So what you have to do is open a paypal account in Mexico and with your address in Mexico. Then you can add your Mexican bank accounts. The only thing you have to remember is that your name on Odesk, Paypal, and bank all should be exactly the same. Also if you transfer less than 1,500pesos you get charged 20p, which really isn't that bad. The other restriction is that if you don't connect a credit card to your pay pal you can only withdraw 5,000p a month. But most likely I will never need to do more than that anyway so this is going to work just fine.

I also want to write more about immigration and obviously what has been going on in our lives over the last months. All that is to come in the coming weeks. Things are going good for us now.

The New Job (first few weeks)

Really at this point its the first month. The first couple weeks were pretty laid back and involved the trip to Zecatecus that I wrote about before. After that its been kinda crazy but we are making it. We are trying to recruit our students and at this point dont have any. I know things always come through at the last min around here and I am keeping the faith that it will. To be honest I dont believe God would have put this opportunity in front of us if it wasn't going to work out. In the way of work we have been spending our days driving all over Guadalajara promoting our program to nurses at hospitals, schools, and scrub shops. At the small IMMS that only have a few nurses we are giving invites to bring them in for a meet and great and others who are willing we offer a presentation to be done at their hospital. So if any of you know of any nurses who would like to have classes with an actual instructor for passing their TOEFL (English test), and NCLEX (nursing boards test) send them my way. Our program also includes helping them to get a visa and a job in one of the countries that our company has an office in. Sorry I'm so in promotion mode I could go on all day. It really is such a great deal for these nurses. Seriously if anyone does have more questions about it please feel free to ask.

Our boss is great and although extremely busy with a lot on his plate he is obviously strongly committed to this project. Its nice because he is easy to talk to and likes to have us all hang out after work. He is good at keeping work at work and hanging out as hanging out. A couple weeks ago our whole family got to go with him to his club and let the girls swim and have dinner. We had a lot of fun and its good to get to know the people we work with a little better.

Last week I was sent to Dallas which is where the base office is. I realized while there that there isn't much I miss from the states any more. I was surprised by how groomed everything is, I think I had forgotten what a difference mowing and trimming a long the highways makes. ;) Aside from that it was only the first day that people thought I was strange because I had to think for a while before I spoke. I kept trying to think of what I wanted to say in spanish, then have a little you dont need to do that conversation in my head, then remember to actually talk to the person I was looking at. I was able to meet my supervisor who created the curriculum I will be using to teach my class. We were able to sit and really hash out how the classes should go and basically planned out my first couple weeks of class. I was also able to meet all the people at the base office that I have been communicating with via the web and that was nice. I of course had to make a trip to Target and the Dollar tree while there but for the most part of the trip it was all work. Oh but I got some good ice cream, got to eat a Sonic, and got to eat at this awesome Indian/fusion restaurant that is owned by my supervisor and her husband. Food is always important on a visit to the states no matter how short.

As for our immediate future Issac will be doing a lot of work from home the next couple weeks and I will be continuing our promotions with other people at the school. Its been tough keeping or getting the girls on a good schedule and keeping my house in order. But really my husband is so wonderful and and is doing his share. We just haven't quite fell into our niches yet. And really we cant, there is so much that I cant do around here right now. It seems like we will be getting a big change every couple weeks now for the next few months. For example my mom shows up next week and this will help us a lot. We are so excited to see her its been a year for me and Issac hasn't seen her other than the web cam since he moved here four years ago. Then a couple weeks after that the baby is due. Then comes the holidays and in January we will actually be teaching and not just doing the promotions. Then my mom will be leaving two weeks into January. I sure hope Issac and I ready to do three kids and both working by that time. lol We will be I know but its and interesting thought.

The Move

Ok its taking me forever to get this out. Here is your warning that I am not going to read over this before I post it. If something doesn't make since just ask. lol
Its over but was not even close to being smooth. Seriously I know that patience is a vurtue that I need a lot of work with. Since moving to Mexico I have done much better with this, but I am still challenged to my brink sometimes. Let me tell you if what happened to us after me posting my last post had happened two years ago I would have been physically ill with stress. And although I wanted to reach out and rip a few heads off I actually tolerated it pretty well. Its not always about how you feel or what you want to do but what you actually do. ;) This is a change that can only be attributed to the work God has done in my life. Basically I just kept reminding myself of how he has never... ever... ever let me down or left me in the streets. And that kept me as cool as I could be.
The evening that I wrote my last post we got a call from our lovely reltor friend to say that the papers we had were not enough. Right away we told her to forget it all and we would look for another place. We told her we would need what we had given her so we could use it somewhere else. She told us to call next time we were in Guad and she would meet us to give us the papers back. At this point we were waiting on the call from the truck guys who were to help us move. We just figured we would let them know it fell through and that we would get back to them when we needed them. We also had a good friend and a cousin of ours "on hold" as far as helping us with the move. Around 7pm the relater called back and said as long as they could get a copy of my FM2 papers everything would be ok. We were a little skeptical but told her we would go with it. The truck guys called us at 8pm and agreed that 10am the next day was best for them anyway. I then called our friend who was on stand by and he also agreed. So as late as 9pm the night before we realized we were really moving the next day. Issac and I spent the next few hours packing last min items and tapeing up all the boxes. (we had left most of them open in case)
The movers were actually there early and had almost everything loaded before any of our other help showed up. On the lunch break one of the guys said, " its really rare we show up and people have everything packed up and ready to go." Then the other guy looked at him and said,"Actually, it hasn't ever happened before today." Issac and I found this amusing.
Thankfully I then went with our friend in his truck and had the movers follow me to the house. We actually only had to turn around one time and it was within the neighborhood that we were moving to. We arrived with all our stuff at the house around 2pm. This is also when Issac arrived to meet with the reltor to get the keys and sign the contract. She called him when he was about 15min away and said the contract wouldnt be ready until 5pm. He explained to here that we had hired people waiting at the house and could we have the keys to let them put our stuff in the house. The answere was no and that we couldnt have keys until the contract was signed. To say the least Issac was livid, they also informed him that he needed to get another copy of the fiodors ID. So Issac then had to turn around and head to a different part of Guad to get that copy made and proceded to the notaries to see if he could convince them to bring the keys. They were stuborn about the keys but gave us the ok to have our truck unloaded into the parking area of the house. Our movers put my entire house in the front yard basically of this this house and long story shorter, lol, we sat outside until 630pm when they land lady showed up with the keys. By this point I had meet a lot of the neighboors and found out there is a guy that kind of works the area and has for many years. He along with my friend who had stuck with us through all this ended helping move all our stuff inside. We simply set up the beds and crashed that night. We then had the whole weekend to get things together at the house and my first day of work was that Tuesday.
So thank God we are done dealing with the reltor and only have to deal with the land lady who is actually a very punctual and nice lady. The only issue we had witht he house was that the water wasnt working right but it has an underground resivour and a pump that we used until we figured out how to get the water service connected. Now we have our net and water and are happy campers. Im so thankfull for everyones prayers and well wishes. Somehow God was able to give me that peace that passes understanding during all this. A lot of it was because he provided me with fellowship during the wait. Our friend who helped us is a fellow Christian and it was good to have him around. Ill post about the job in a different post and pictures are to come later maybe not till next week of the house.

The Big News

No, we haven't gotten our clarification ultrasound yet so this is not to tell you the sex of our baby. But because of what I'm getting ready to tell you we can now go get the ultrasound. God is so amazing and works in ways that we would never dream up or imagine (and I have a huge imagination).
Ok so do I have your attention yet.... are you curious? lol

Well here is how the story goes...

A little over a week ago I received an e-mail from a friend (who I meet through blogging http://wagamamawonderings.blogspot.com/). It was nice and simple and had a link to a job req on creigs list. She simply stated she thought of me when she saw it (we are convinced now that God put my name in her mind at that moment). Out of curiosity I clicked on the site. It was a job posting for a nurse to work in Guadalajara teaching nurses how to pass the nursing exam that is required in the US. That night I told my husband about it and we decided although we were not exactly looking for a job that since it was sent to us maybe we should check into it, in case it was from God.
Last week I sent in my resume and they quickly responded with an application for me to fill out. I did this, still not thinking much of this because as you all know I have been down this road before and it didn't turn out well. But I got another quick response, they wanted to meet me. It just so happened that the president of the co would be in Guadalajara the following weekend and wanted to meet me. He also would like to do a casual phone interview and see a picture of me before we meet in person. So I sent them my new majic jack phone number (thanks again Rebecca) and a cropped head shot of me. I talked to Issac about all of it and we decided we could head up to Guad on Sat after Issac got off work to meet them if I felt the phone conversation went well. We were a little unsure because just to make this trip we were literally going to use every last penny in our savings to get there. Needless to say the phone conversation went great and this guy was very friendly and open to options. He mentioned at the time that he was also looking to have an English teacher and if I or my husband wanted it that would be more money for us. This sounded great except that being in a new city we would want one of us at home and we planned on mentioning this at our meeting. Thankfully we were able to get Issacs aunt and grandma to come over and sit with the girls that after noon and evening so we were comfortable with where they were and we didn't have to tug them a long with us.

The meeting went better than either of us could have ever dreamed. And thankfully we were better than what they thought they could have found also. My husbands English is close to perfect and to be honest he knows the ends and outs of grammar better than I do. OK I'm sure you believe that you all read my blog. lol Not only am I nurse but I have a lot of experience educating other nurses and my Spanish is good enough to help me convey what I need to to these nurses in both English and Spanish. So there you have it we were both hired and told so that night before we even left. I will be completing all the paper work by mid next week and my start date is the 1st of October. The classes do not start until Jan 1st but the next few months will part time work recruiting nurses who want to enroll in the school. We will be traveling to conventions, hospitals, and schools to get our name out there and get our student enrollment up. Im so excited about all these opportunities. I get to go to Zacatecas with them for my first assignment the 1st of October. This will be a whole new experience for me and Issac because he will be staying with the girls. Speaking of which they were totally ok with being sure that our classes are spaced in a way that we will have plenty of time to switch of with the kids. Seriously we would have never dreamed up a more perfect situation for ourselves. This weekend we will be in Guadalajara looking for a house, bank, school for Alana, etc. etc. So all who pray shoot one up for us. I'm convinced that this is from God so I know he will help us to get all things in order by the right time but extra prayers are always good. ;)

Dios Sabe, verdad!!!!!!

I was telling a friend the other day, I wonder if God will always turn me on my head when I least expect it. Most likely the answer is yes, its called refinement, hes making me into his diamond and I'm loving it. Just seeing what he has done inside of me over the last two years even is amazing. The old Amanda right now would not be sleeping, Id be biting my lips, Id be fretting. But not now.. the what ifs are not coming.. the how will we such and such is not coming. I'm secure in the fact that God will carry us through this. Sure we have to do the leg work and investigation on things, but he will provide all things in the end.

La Cruz Roja

As an update since I decided to stay home with my girls and not freak out on finding a job a new friend got me into the idea of volunteering again. He is a med student in Guadalajara but is from my town. I met him at a friends house on Easter and he introduced me to some of the people at the Cruz Roja in town a week later. Also thanks to his persistence I was able to talk on the phone with the doctor who directs that particular branch and get an appointment with him. As you might not remember from a post a long time ago, I have in the past attempted many times to reach this doctor to no avail. At that appointment while I was waiting I realized that the copies of my lic and BLS card were of my expired cards. So after talking to him about everything I brought this to his attention and he asked me to go get him a copy of the new ones right then. He said he would be waiting on me and that there was a place to make copies one block away. Well that one was out of order and I ended up walking more like 10-15 blocks total before it was all over. But hey I got the copies and returned, and we can all use a little exercise. After sitting down he explained that I also would need to provide a solicitu (not sure I wrote that right) but basically a formal request to volunteer there. He said I could bring it by any time over the next week or so because the other director who would have to help with the decision would be out of town on a honey moon. No prob but what the heck did I just walk 10 blocks to make a copy for if I was coming back anyway. Well because that's just how things go here. All in all the doctor was very nice and seemed excited for me to help there. From there I went home and quickly had the letter written up. Due to being out of ink and other issues it took me till this week on Monday to bring him the letter. I was so surprised when he called yesterday and told me I just needed to go into the Cruz Roja and talk to a lady named Sandra. I went when he said she would be there.... And you'll never believe this.... SHE WAS ACTUALLY THERE. This is a first for me with them. lol She said I could come when ever I want as long as I wear a white uniform and bring a copy of my credentials for her to have on file there. I explained that Saturdays would be good for me and she was happy because apparently they are slammed all day. So now to get a uniform. I haven't worn a white uniform since nursing school this will be fun. We are planning a trip to Rio Verde this weekend so I wont get to start till next week but either way its coming and I'm excited. I had a dream last night that I was back at my old work place but working as a floor nurse. Its funny because it felt so nice and all day I was thinking about it. I'm glad to be at home with my girls and I know its where I need to be but nursing is in my core and I cant get it out nor do I want to. Whoo hooo so here is to some possible exciting posts about the difference of nursing here and there. And also exciting that I will be getting out there and forced to make another drastic step with my Spanish. I so need this I'm at a plateau right now and I think this will help a lot.

Decisions

When we were out getting my pictures printed we stopped into a school for English because we heard they were hiring. Due to my recent crazy wanting to do something outburst my hubby suggested we stop in to see what we would have to do to get me started. They gave us a number for a school in Guad that I would have to attend to get a teachers cirt. They practically begged me to call and go to the classes and come see them as soon as possible. The problem is that the classes are 4 days a week for 2 months and Guad is 2 hours from here. I have a not quiet one month old and am determined to nurse her until shes 9months. (sigh, triple sigh) We plan to call today and see if there are any compressed classes. They have a new class staring in the end of May so Im thinking the next one would be July and maybe Id be more ready for it by then. They way they were acting I think there would still be plenty of openings in 4 or 5 mo when Id be ready to go get the cirt and start actual work. I asked her how much Spanish was necessary and she said the less the better. Well there you go thats my kinda place. ;)I feel so torn, Im so ready to work again and honestly we could use the extra income but I also want to stay home with my girls. Im sure IM not the only mommy who feels this way so if there's any advise out there from other moms please leave it. We have enough savings for me to stay home another 6 mo or so but should we really use it up on regular living what if something big happens and we need it later. ARRRRGGGG. Ok now Im thinking about it to much I need to just wait until we call and get all the details. The good thing is that I know I dont have to wait until Im speaking fluent Spanish to work. I just have to find a way over the classes in Guad hurdle.