More odd things about Mexico Aug

So a few oddities that I havens mentioned before. I realized the other day that I was growing accustomed to them so I thought Id better share before they seem no big deal to me.

Advertising. So most places around here wont spend the money on getting commercials on TV. So what they do is have someone drive around with a sign on their truck or car for their company and yell through a bull horn their deals. This made me quite angry when I first got here. The gas companies all have their own song and diddy. I catch myself singing along as they drive by now. These are gas co that fill your house gas for you or sell by the tank.
Beggars or whatever you want to call them. Sure they say they are asking for a case, but who really knows. Like in St. Louis the dudes on the street in t-shirts selling candy saying its for starving kids. Anyway they walk right up into a store when your shopping and ask you for money. Also the workers. Can you imagine someone not getting arrested for that.
Street vendors. Man the street food is to dye for here. :) But seriously its so good a I cant even tell you all of it but a few are: the mixed fresh fruit bags with fresh squeezed lime and salt (chili powder if you want). Yummy, Also boiled corn with crumbling cheese, lime and chili. (If you'v seen Nacho Librea they eat it on there), Of course the Tacos. You'll crave them forever once you'v had a taste just ask Shawndra. There are a lot of others but those are my favorites.

I am in love with this place. Im so glad Iv gotten to see the brighter side of Mexico. Monclova is where his mom is working at the childrens home. That town is so ugly and dirt and dust are everywhere and it gets cold in the winter and super hot in the summer. The weather here has been great. Hardly ever over 75 and usually a nice breeze. I have no AC and haven t even missed it not one time.

privat vs clinic Aug

So as I said before we found a great Dr. We then went to see the hospital he delivers at. They gave a a tour and a price list. The rooms are so much nicer than the ones at MOBAP. And Shawndra Issac will get his own twin bed (pillow and all). The price for the entire visit is $1,000. (that's food, anesthesia, meds delivery, dr. all) Now they also have clinics here where the service is practically free. Im just worried we wont get the same personal treatment. See in Mexico if you are working your (Issacs) social number gets activated and you and your family (me) can get free health care. This prvt dr. we saw actually gives his pts his pager number. If I have problems I page him personally. But Issacs fam and some friends are acting like were crazy. So I may check into the clinic thing. We shall see. I think to use the clinic I have to have a more permanent status first anyway. Our next apt with the pvt dr. isnt for another month. What do you all think. Man that hospital was so nice and for $1,000. That's nothing compared to what you pay in the states. I know it would be money we could save. But having a baby is no joke and Id like it to be as comfy as possible. Anyway Im open to opinions as always.

Pregnant in Mexico Aug.

So as some of you all know a few months ago when I met Issac in Canada for a few weeks we tried to get pregnant. It was perfect timing according to my cycle, but God wasn't ready and we were a little bummed but knew he would do things in his time. Im amazed at how he proves this to you. So today we went to the Dr. and saw our little pea on the screen with a beautiful beating heart. I was way nervous about the Dr. appointment. IM pretty picky about Doctors due to my nursing career. This dude was great. He knows a little English and I a little Spanish. Issac was a smooth and gracious interpreter, and Alana listened and played well during the appointment. God is so good. So Im about 7 weeks pregnant. And yes that's how long Iv been here. We must have conceived like my first or second day here. I already asked and yes, they do have epidural. He says I get it when Im ready. Whoot Whoot. We will of course wait until we have to get it like we did with Alana. I think that's why she came so fast. So there it is we have number two on the way. Man Alanas gonna be a great big sister.

Slowing down July 18th 08

So as you all know (I think) my life before coming here was insane hectic. I was managing a 50 bed unit and a Neurodiagnostics unit at one of the biggest hospitals in the states, doing all house maintenance and taking caring care of Alana with little assistance. With out any other details you can understand that my mind and body was use to going 90 miles a min. This is why I was nervous about the whole house wife thing. I was afraid of the need and thrill I get from being busy. Well Im finding that this is just right, and my thrills come from other things. I am actually able to relax and spend "quality" time with my family. I found out today what that meant and I look forward to more revelations that are similar. While Alana was eating her breakfast and I was having my coffee it dawned on me that I was strictly paying attention to her. This may not seem like a huge revelation but were talking about someone who seriously has a hard time not multitasking. If Im not having more than one conversation I get board and begin one with myself in my head. Or if my hands are busy and not my eyes then there must be something around to read. And if Im not multitasking I tend to feel anxious, or distracted and unable to focus. So Iv been here what 3 weeks now and I find myself sipping my coffee and watching Alana eat. Im thinking of nothing else just how beautiful she is (and have you ever noticed how someone glows when they can tell they are your only focus, not the main focus but the only.) Gosh I pray that God will allow me to stay home with all of my children until they are all in school. Im gonna love this new section of my life. She is so amazing.

Things I didnt expect in Mexico July 12

Ok so instead of going into a whole narrative about my first few weeks here Ill tell you of a few funny oddities Iv found. Trash. This seems so simple. Cut and dry. Well the first week Issac tells Shawndra to listen for a cow bell. Yes you read it a cow bell. The next day Shawndra and I see a boy walking up my street ringing a cow bell around 8am or so......... Nothing else happens. Hummmm. Then randomly you start seeing my neighbors bringing there trash out to the corner. Ok so the trash dudes come and get it ,right..... Wrong. Soon the kid comes back around with the cow bell. (Soon being with in an hour, nothing is soon around here.) Then more people are bringing there trash out and standing by it in on the sidewalk. What the..... Ok so basically the trash truck comes then and everyone pics up there own bags, buckets, ect. and brings it to the truck. The guys help of course but you basically throw it in yourself. WEIRD. Couches. What could throw me off about couches. Well they are all small. Mind you the set Issac got for $200 is a little smaller than the others. But even the rest that I have seen in the stores are all tiny. Even the big ones. Whats up with that. And I know what your thinking but really they are not short people. :) Alto. This means stop. Apparently stop signs really mean, "slow down and see if anyone is coming, if not go, if there is see who waves to who first to go ahead." Also the signs are not always standing right on the corner like we are use to. They are posted to the closest electrical pole or wall to the intersection. Well I think that's enough for now. All in all I love this place and its oddities. I do believe I will fit in quite well in a few months.

The trip to get to Tepa, Jalisco July 1st

Because Im not sure where to start Ill begin with the trip to get here. It was pretty rough. Shawn and I packed up the car the night before. He literally stuffed all my bags into the trunk of my Altima. When he was done it looked like we had lowered the back end. Yikes. We all got up early the next morning and after waking up Kyle so he could ride with Shawn back home we said our last good byes to mom and the girls. Man that was hard but I was so excited to go it helped a little. The drive to St. Louis was no big deal and was kinda funny seeing Kyle and Shawn practically sitting in each others laps in the back seat. When we got to the air port aside from having to rearrange a few things in my luggage and paying for the extra load in a couple of them things went smooth. Paw Paw Jay met us there to say his last good byes. Wow we will miss him being around sooooo much. Alana just loves Paw Paw Jay. Anyway that was hard also but again excitement made it better. The fuss of getting through security was made 10 times easier by Shawndras assistance. Geess that sucked doing by myself all those times. We soon found our gate and checked to be sure we had appropriate seats together. The first flight was uneventful except for Alana screaming "Seat belt, be safe." until the friendly pregnant stewardess gave us an extra belt to put around her. Alana then went to sleep feeling safe. All we could see out the window was the plane engine and I was determined to get a good seat so Shawndra could see out on the next flight. Dalas airport is big but we didn't even have to get on the little tram to get to our flight. Im telling you this trip was soooooo smooth at first. Oh except there was no where for Shawndra to smoke. And I must say that she handled it all quite well. We napped on and off for the 3 hour flight and Alana did wonderful as usual. Ok so now we feel a little jet lagged and tired of travel right. We know that we have to get on a buss now and that the bus is to leave about 1 and 1/2 hours after we land in Mexico City. The only declaration papers they had were in Spanish. Here we are trying to fill our our forms before we get in line and thankfully some dude notices our troubles and comes to our assistance. When we get in line I say,"Ok this doesn't usually take long." Why did I say that. Instantly three of the five desks or emptied and there are only 2 officers helping an entire flight of Americans. "Dang it!" A lot of frustration and a poopy diaper later we are safely through immigration and customs with Alana in Issacs arms and me close beside. Twenty minuets to spare until we need to be at the bus station on the other side of Mexico City, which if you haven't heard is no small place. Thank God for Issacs uncle at this point. Shawndra, Alana, Issac and I all crawl into a cab after waiting in another line and speed through the bumpy rough roads of the city. At this point Im so sick I cant hardly see strait. People drive crazy there, and this is coming from someone who drives in St. Louis. We make it just in time to get on the bus before it leaves, counting our bags as they put them on so we dont miss any when we get off (nine all together). I should explain here that the reason we flew to Mexico city and not Guadalajara is because at the time we bought our tickets Issac thought he was going to have us live in Mexico city. Thank God he changed his mind. Ok this is where the trip got really bad. "How are you honey." Issac asked. I can only imagine how green my face was at this point. Thankfully I felt secure that between him and Shawndra Alana was taken care of. I get horrible motion sickness even without a crazy cab driver in a crazy city. The bus was actually quite comfy and after a sandwich, water and a long time of having my face smashed up against the window and a plastic bag in my lap, I started to feel better. The bus ride was 5 hours. Yes you read it right 5 freaking long and boring, restless, sleepless hours over night. Ohhh but Alana slept through the whole thing which was a major blessing for all on the bus. Finally there........ But Where........ What the heck we are standing on the side of the road, in a small town, in the rain, at 5am. Alana is still being such an angel laying back in her comfy stroller looking around like,"What the heck are we doing." Oh and its cold, Shawndra and I are in tank tops. Thankfully Issac expected this and brought enough sweaters for all. Soon his aunt and uncle show up in a bronco,all happy and giddy almost. Weird people can be that full of energy at that time of day. Now just 45 min to go. Yeahhaaaa!!!!!!! Where finally here. Really this time. We go in through the big black metal doors and up three flights of stairs into my new home. Its about 7am at this point and Alanas well rested and ready to play. HEE Heee. Kinda glad I don't have pictures of me and Shawndra at this point. Then get this, Issac goes to work. Poor Issac had to go put in a full 8 hour after that trip. Wow maybe I should save the stories of the first week for another blog. Sorry this was so long but I felt like sharing. Shawndra thank you soooooooooooooooo much. I love you.

A notary is a notary right?

Ok so one of the last pieces of paper we need for the immigration office here in Mexico is called an Apostille. After all weve been through I had never heard this term until a few weeks ago. Apparently a few countries decided that this piece of paper would be used to confirm the signatures on birth cirts and marriage lic. Ok what eve we will get one. I go on the web site for MO Apostilles and it says all I need to do is mail in a request for them along with the original documents and a source of payment. The marriage lic had to be notarized it said. Also it says they only use regular mail unless you send a prepaid airmail envelope. So I find our lic and Yahooo it is already notarized. We put the packet together and are going to mail it from here in Mexico. Issac goes to three different places and everyone says they do prepaid for Mexico only and do not do prepaid for international. Well crap. So we call on Shawndra to do some more leg work for us. We send her the package and a self addressed large envelope for her to use to send everything back. Shawndra gets the package in three days (we used UPS) and puts it in the mail the next day. Yesterday was one week from that day. We are on the phone and she exclaims, "I got you letter, well wait let me make sure, yes its from the Secretary of State." We are both excited as she opens the letter and she says, "Is this all that's suppose to be here, Alanas birth cirt and your marriage lic." I say no there should be a separate letter attached to both. "Oh Amanda, hang on let me read this letter,"Shawndra says to me. Well SH##***, Im thinking what now. So apparently when the website said that the marriage lic had to be notarized it meant notarized by a MO notary or elected official and it was the Recorder of Deeds who notarized my lic. He is apparently appointed his seat and doesn't count. Sigh no double sigh. Why the heck did this dude even notarize it if his name doesn't count for crap. So I look up online how to get a different cirt copy and again Shawndra has to do the leg work. I sent her the form to fill out and mail. We are being extremely specific about the notary needed. Please pray that they get it right. Then once she gets that she has to resend the original packet back to the Secretary of State. So needless to say I freaked out a little yesterday. From what Issac and I understand we have no more than 4 weeks to get all this turned in or Alana and I will be making an unnecessary and expensive flight to the States in early Dec. My 180th day here is Christmas eve and I refuse to miss even part of that week being here with my family. We have missed 2 Christmases together thanks to the U.S. BS. Sorry didnt mean to be so harsh just still a little frustrated about the whole thing. So also please pray that the Recorder of Deeds gets this lic. back to Shawndra with in a week. Issac is going to call today to find out if after I have applied for my FM2 if I can stay until they make their decision regardless of my 180days. Ill keep you updated. Thanks for reading.