Building a New Home One Spanish Word at a Time

Sorry we haven't blogged the last couple days. We don't have phone and internet set up in the house yet. Hopefully that will be worked out soon. The previous tennents have a debt and we can't get a new account because the landlord won't pay the debt. Muy Interestante! (Very Interesting) Brian and I are at Starbucks trying to give you some little snippets of what has been happening our first three days. Hopefully these stories give you a picture of what we have experienced.

The first day we arrived the boiler didn't work. We had to light the pilot manually and needed a lighter. This was our first experience shopping on our own with no translators! We have a little tienda right next door which has come in handy! Brian was asking the ladys if they had a lighter, making hand gestures, but it is not working. So one of the things I learned is no fumar is "no smoking" it's all over the hotel and cab we drove. So I said, "para fumar" (For smoking). They understood, but they probably think we are smokers!

This is very much a service community and people are always looking for ways to make money. This morning we had someone come to our house to see if we needed someone to mow and sweep our yard, which is about 5ft by 5ft! Of course they spoke no English so the conversation was very tricky. We think they are going to come back and cut our grass on Sabado (Saturday), but it is quite possible that we sold our van for 40 pesos!

Joelle has a new best friend for life. It's my friend Elizabeth, but for some reason Joelle has decided to call her Krista. No one knows why and no one can tell her differently, her name is Krista. Since she spent three days with us in the car, we think she thought she was a permanent part of our new family in Mexico. It was quite the ordeal when she discovered "Krista" had to go to her house.

Frijoles, Frijoles, Frijoles! (Beans) Every where you go for every meal, even breakfast, they offer Frijoles. I (Brian) have now eaten frijoles for 5 straight meals. Personally, I love them but we have been looking for some good scented candles!

Today, the kids decided the liked living here because they enjoy the slugbug game. Guadalajara must be the capitol of VW because they are all over the place. I am glad they are finding joy in the little things.

The kids have really enjoyed their new home. The boys love that they have a door to the patio. I'm not so sure about the huge cockroach we found in the morning in the patio. It was the biggest I have ever seen in real life. We also saw one in the library of the school that was dying. The librarian joked that it was her pet. Joelle then cried when Brian stepped on the librarian's pet! Brian and I are constantly reminding each other why we are here. I just hope I never see one of those suckers in my bedroom at night!

This is the rainy season in Guadalajara so every night it storms while we are sleeping. The difference between here and the states is that they build holes in the roof for circulation. So not only do we hear the thunder and see the lightening, but the water falls into our two small patio areas and our shower floor. You feel like you are camping! Not only that, but the lightening has quite an effect on the electricity. It turns lights off and on! This was a little scary at first!

All in all, it has been a good transition. We have such a wonderful Christian family at Lincoln that is extremely helpful. Our friends Ernesto and Elizabeth are always available for every question and great friendship. The principals wife, Karen, took us to Walmart (It is not just the US that they control!) for necessities yesterday and they are taking us out for furniture tonight. Omar from the school came over and fixed our boiler while his wife Maria Luisa helped us answer many questions, like why we have to chase the garbage man down to give them our trash! They have been incredible and it has ensured us of the support that we have as we make this tough transition.

We would love to hear from anyone. Emails are like little notes from home! (When we have the chance to check email!)