Acapulco

It's nice to be able to say you're going to an exotic Mexican beach for a weekend getaway. Acapulco is more or less a five-hour drive from Puebla filled with beautiful mountain scenery. José Luis' parents share an apartment there with their best friends. Last week was José Luis' dad's birthday, so every year around this time they take a week's vacation to the beach. We only got to go for the weekend because José Luis had to work, but it was still nice and relaxing. We spent lots of time in the sand and sun and eating seafood. They have a maid that comes to cook for them when they stay in the apartment. There were so many American attractions there that I thought I was in the States for a while. The first beach we went to even had an American flag. Needless to say, this beach is one big, never-ending party, so we had lots of fun to go along with our relaxing. I hope I get to go back sometime for a longer stay and to see more attractions.

La Casa del Alfarero

After three months, I finally got the chance to go to church this Sunday. Since the whole country is pretty much devout Catholics, I wasn't sure where to look for a "Christian" church (here they separate Catholicism and Christianity, although in reality Catholicism is just a denomination of the Christian religion). I knew José Luis had a good Christian friend named Arturo, so I asked if he would ask him if he could help us out in that area. On Friday, we had coffee and dessert with Arturo and the pastors of a church called "La Casa del Alfarero," which means "The House of the Potter" in English. At first, I was a little nervous about meeting them, because many "Christians" here have a bad image of being extremely radical "holy rollers." I figured they would want to talk about the Holy Spirit the whole time or something like that, which bothered me because I know that puts a lot of pressure on José Luis, who has been a Catholic his whole life. However, we just talked about normal stuff like work, school, etc. for the majority of the time. I got along really well with the pastor's wife, Rocío (which happens to be the name of my Mexican mother that I lived with last year), and she asked me what kind of church I went to while I was growing up and in college. I told her I was looking for a place here not just to go to every Sunday but a place where I can feel like I belong and have a family. Since they moved to Puebla about 16 years ago, she told me she knows what it feels like to feel alone and be far away from the known. She said she hoped their congregation would feel like a family to me so I wouldn't feel so alone in a strange place.

Their service on Sundays start at 11 (more like 11:15, since Mexicans hardly do anything on time) in a little building about 10-15 minutes from our house. It was sort of weird and different for Candi and José Luis because they are both used to Catholic services, but I really enjoyed it. There were only between 10 and 20 people there, but it seemed like everyone was close-nit and welcomed us immediately. It's so easy to walk into a church and feel as if God is mad at you and you better repent quick before He strikes you down. There, however, I felt as if He was right there in the midst of us, reminding us how much He loves us and wants us to enjoy the life He gave us.

The pastor was easy to understand and talked about not letting your dreams die or letting others get in the way of accomplishing what God put in your heart. I thought the sermon was good, but more than that, I was just enjoying being in the company of other believers that are serious about seeking the will of God. I plan on continuing to go there, but I may try other churches as well. They have a Bible study/coffee session on Thursdays, too, that I may try out soon. I'm really thankful for that service, that breath of fresh air that is going to help me continue forward in my search for the purpose that God has for me here in Mexico.

See how they run

I have lived in a small town pretty much all my life and have never had a mouse problem in my house. So when I saw a mouse run across the counter in our kitchen yesterday, let's just say I was a bit concerned. I definitely steered clear of the kitchen until José Luis picked me up to go to the movies.

After I told Candi about our little issue, she, too, started hearing dirty dishes moving around in the kitchen and asked me to buy a trap on the way home from going to the movies. So, instead of buying the kinds that slam shut, we bought a kind with sticky, gummy stuff (meaning we have to kill it afterward). Although we put down two traps with two different kinds of cheese, we still came home to nothing.

Tonight as I was sitting on the couch waiting for José Luis to arrive again (story of my life), I saw it run across the living room then back into the kitchen. After that incident, I thought it might be a good time to take Miel for a walk.

Later tonight, José Luis and I were playing around on my computer when Candi told us to come quick because she saw not only one, but two mice run under the couch. José Luis was trying to explain to us that it was going to take all three of us to kill them, to which we responded with a very weak, "Ok." So we trapped them in between the couches, armed with only a broom and dustpan. When the first one made a run for it, José Luis smashed it up against the window with the broom, killing it effortlessly. The second one, however, figured out how to get out of our trap and headed for the kitchen. José Luis happened to be quicker and hit it with the broom as well. This one didn't give up the fight as easily, though. It got up and tried to start running again, but José Luis responded by stomping on it.

Although our floor was left smeared with bloody mouse guts, at least we are rid of them. José Luis told us that those were only babies and that there has to be a mother somewhere. He also mentioned the tiny detail that bigger ones will hiss and jump at you, making them much harder to kill. And the whole time we're thinking, "Great." He told us the biggest problem is Miel's food being on the floor all the time and that we need to start putting it in something that the mice can't get into and only feeding her certain times of the day to solve the problem.

I certainly hope that works, because I am still scared to even put my feet on the floor...

Sequin jackets and pink feathers

Sorry I haven't given any updates on what's been going on here lately. I guess I only want to recount the most interesting of stories. Or maybe I just forgot about my blog...

Either way, I've been getting the royal treatment while I've been here and I thought you might like to hear some details. For two weekends in a row, José Luis and I have attended two dinners where we had to dress up all fancy. The first dinner was the installation of the new president of the Rotary Club here in Puebla. All the women had to wear either black or white long dresses, and of course I don't own one because I've never been to anything in my life fancier than prom. So for that one, I had to borrow a dress from Gaby, José Luis' sister. However, I was quickly informed of another party the coming weekend.

José Luis' parents are members of a danzón club in Puebla. Danzón is a dance from Cuba, usually danced by old people (not a whole lot of movement). His parents helped organize the event, which included various danzón groups performing in front of around 2000 guests. I figured if I am going to events like this so often, I better go ahead and buy a simple black dress. I spent a lot of time and energy planning the whole outfit: jewelry, shoes, makeup, hair, etc, expecting this evening to be similar to the week before. José Luis and I looked pretty snazzy that night (as you can see from the picture), but when we got in the car, he let me in on a little secret about danzón parties. Apparently, I was going to see some very strange things that night. He told me his mother, who comes from one of the wealthiest families in Puebla, is mortified to participate in the whole danzón thing because it's for nacos (Mexican version of redneck). She only goes because his dad enjoys it. This would not be Rotary Club night.

When we entered the dance hall, I knew we had to be some of the only people there that had any fashion sense at all. We saw sequin jackets, chains hanging from pockets, and even a suit equipped with pink shoes and a pink feather for the hat (if you want to see pictures, click on the link to the left for my Facebook albums). We hardly danced at all because the music was all danzón/boring stuff. I think we had more fun making fun of the way people were dressed and how they danced. Although not the most memorable night of my life, it still deserves to be put on my list of amusing things that can only happen in Mexico.

Not sure if that was really worth it

Although I lived out of a suitcase for a month, I must announce that I finally have an armoire in my room. How it got there, however, is a long story. So make yourself comfortable.

We have one (count them, one) closet in this house, and it's in Candi's bedroom. I use it for a couple big items, but I wanted my clothes in my own room. So we went looking for some type of armoire thing. We went all around the centro looking for something like that, but most places either didn't have what I wanted or were too expensive. We did, finally, find a guy that said he would make me exactly what I wanted for a good price. Since we bought all our other furniture in another store, the color of the wood in his store was completely different. So we left him with a drawer of a bookcase we bought so he could paint the armoire the same color. However, I had to wait another week for him to build it.

When he finally finished it and José Luis got off work early enough one day to go pick it up, we headed to the shop. First, however, we had to stop by the other shop (the one where we bought all of our other furniture) to pick up a vanity I bought there. We put it in the back and realized that someone needed to ride back there with it because one large bump in the road and goodbye big, beautiful mirror (and we have more than our share of bumps in this country). So I sat on the vanity, holding the mirror in place and keeping the base steady. Needless to say, I looked ridiculous and everyone was staring at me. One girl (my age) even waved at me like I was in some kind of parade.

We arrived at the store of the man that made my armoire and entered to see that the color of the armoire was nothing like the color of the drawer. As José Luis was talking to him, it started to rain, which ended that conversation pretty quickly. He found a tarp in his truck (the same one he used when we moved here) to cover the vanity. It didn't cover it completely, but it was better than nothing. Then, José Luis turns to me and hands me the keys and tells me to drive to my house because we didn't have time to secure the vanity with ropes and someone had to ride in the back with it again to make sure the mirror didn't bust. Just to let you know, this is the fourth largest city in Mexico and Mexicans only have one driving rule: don't crash. I'm a very careful driver used to the strict driving laws of the States, not to mention I'm from a town of 1,800 people. On top of that, there is a lot of construction going on in the city and there would be no way for me to find my house by myself. With it pouring down rain with my boyfriend and brand new furniture in the back, handing me the keys was a sure sign of death, needless to say.

I protested his suggestion of me driving so he gave me an ultimatum: drive or get soaking wet in the back with the vanity. Since I'd rather be wet than dead, I hopped in the back. By this time, the rain was getting heavier and heavier. I was already soaking from being outside anyway, but I figured I better get under the tarp with the vanity to keep somewhat dry. As I looked at myself in the mirror of my vanity, I thought to myself, do these things only happen in Mexico? I laughed to keep from crying as the rain fell harder and harder with lots more wind and lightning. Good thing tornadoes don't happen here. I kept peeking out every once in a while to see where we were, but it didn't seem like we were getting any closer to my house. Soon I heard a garage door open and realized we were at José Luis' house because he didn't think we could make it to mine. After almost hitting the top of the mirror on the garage door, we finally entered the dry space to wipe off the vanity. Since I had some winter clothes still in José Luis' house that I had brought there to store before the move, I changed into some sweatpants and a sweatshirt and warmed up a bit.

Well, still no armoire. José Luis and I had to go back to the centro to talk to the guy about the armoire paint again. He told us if we went to the store where we bought our other furniture and brought him some paint from it, he could paint it and could be finished by the next day. We found out, however, that the store was temporarily out of their paint but would have some the next day. So...I had to go BACK to the centro the next day to buy the paint, give it to the armoire man and have José Luis come back that night to pick it up.

I did just that, and we finally got the armoire and the vanity in the house. The problem then was getting them up the stairs. Since we have a spiral-type staircase with a low ceiling, we weren't sure exactly how to do that. We got it to a certain point and realized that if we didn't remove the railing from the staircase or do something to make the armoire a little shorter, I was going to have to move all my things downstairs and switch bedrooms.

A few days later, when José Luis finally got off work again early enough to come help us, Candi had a good idea. It seemed that all we needed was a couple inches more with which to work. If we just sawed off the feet of the armoire, we might be able to do it. José Luis and I went to his house to get his tools and came back to finish the job. After almost breaking the wall and ceiling of our house apart, we got the armoire up the stairs. We also got the vanity up without breaking the mirror (miraculously).

I actually had to wait one more day to actually get all my clothes in there, as well, because I didn't have enough hangers. However, now all my clothes are out of suitcases and into my beautiful (although a little wobbly) armoire. I'm happy with my new room with all my things in their place. It's a little crowded, but still cute. Now to buy some paintings and a rug for the finishing touches!