Our first week in Mexico...

Well, we're finally in Mexico. The first few days were a little rough, but we're settling in and really liking living here. Here's a rundown of our first week in Mexico, day by day...

Saturday, January 30th

I'll actually start with the day before we left. Lydia was running a fever and we could tell she was not feeling well at all. We decided that we'd rather take her to the doctor to be sure than risk a doctor visit in our first couple of days in Mexico. Well, I'm glad we did. She ended up having a double ear infection. Immediately we thought of our 5 hour flight in the morning...

Sunday, January 31st

We got up bright and early to catch our 9:00 flight. We had eleven bags to get into the airport and checked, so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get through the airport. We got there 2 hours early and the lines were horrendous. Come to find out, Delta put a new computer system in and that morning was the first time they were using it (of course), so everything was a lot slower than normal. We ended up getting to the gate just in time...we even had to use the bathrooms on the plane before we took of.

Lydia cried almost 4 out of the 5 hours of the flight (in first class). She ended up falling asleep, finally, but got up after about 30 minutes. It was miserable!

We got to Mexico City and there was a long line at customs. Luckily, the kids were decent, but it was still a pain.

Our bags were waiting for us by the time we got through customs, but we realized that Delta had forgotten to give us our bag tags. They are pretty strict about having those tags to get your bags in Mexico. After lots of hand motions and miscommunication, they looked at our tickets and let us through. THEN, James pushed the button to get out of baggage claim and the light turned red (it's totally random, but (of course) we got red this time with eleven bags and food in a couple of them). The lady started searching through our bags. After going through four or five, she let us go (whew!).

We had a pretty peaceful drive from Mexico City to Queretaro (2 1/2 hours) although Lydia didn't sleep at all, both of the boys did. When we got to Queretaro, the city with perfect weather, it was raining!

We had to stop to get James' rental car when we got into Queretaro. While we were waiting in the car (for a very long time), I smelled something and realized that Lydia had pooped. I lifted up her shirt and realized that she had pooped way out of her diaper. It was all over her clothes! James and I decided that I would go back to the hotel with the kids (that's where the keys to the house were) and then he would go to the house with the driver and drop our bags off. Well, the driver didn't quite understand what we were telling him, and went straight to the house (with no keys). Luckily, the gate was open and the driver did have the keys to the rental car that was already at the house, so we put all of the bags in the car at the house, piled in James' rental car, and headed back to the hotel.

We thought we knew where we were going, but we were wrong. We got lost heading back to the hotel. drove back and forth on the highway a couple times, trying to figure out what we did wrong. We figured it out as it was getting dark, but missed the exit, so we had to circle around again. We realized that the roads in Queretaro are pretty much all one way and you have to circle around to go anywhere. We stopped and got McDonald's for the kids and finally got to the hotel for the night.

We had adjoining rooms, so we put Lydia in the crib in the 2nd room, hoping she would go to sleep. I put the lock over the door, so she couldn't get out. James and I ordered room service. When we opened the door for the food, the adjoining door in Lydia's room closed. We had a key to the room, but couldn't get in because the top lock was on the door. We had locked our almost 2 year old in a hotel room by herself! We called maintenance and they, apparently, had had that happen before because he had a tool to unlock the top lock. Thank God that day was over!!

Monday, February 1st

Still raining...

Today was a holiday in Mexico, so James had off work and the kids did not start school. It was nice to have a day to get some shopping done and try to get a little settled before we jumped right in.

We eased into the day with a visit to Costco. Everything was pretty familiar, but the food items were a little different. There is a Wal-Mart here too, but the grocery store around the corner from our house is called Superama. That was our next experience. I pretty much stood in every aisle staring at what they had and trying to figure out what to buy. Not a good sign.

We went back to the house and started unpacking and Julia (another ex-pat who's been here for a few years) took me to get school supplies for the boys' first day of school. We went to a papeleria where they take the school supplies list and get everything for you.

That night we went back to Tacos El Pata (where we had gone when we came to visit with the boys). Good food, cheap, and the kids love it because there's a huge play area. Lydia met her first Mexican "boyfriend" at El Pata that night. They were walking around the play area holding hands and when we had to leave, they gave each other a hug. So cute.

We didn't lock Lydia in the hotel room again that night, but she did get up around 4:30 that next morning...

Tuesday, February 2nd

Still raining...and lots of tears.

The three kids in the back of my rented Malibu

We drove from the hotel to school for the boys' first day. When we got there we found out that the fees hadn't been paid until that morning (the HR person had over 6 weeks to make the payment), so they weren't sure if they could start. Lydia was horrible, screaming and crying in the office, so I started crying. It ended up that Nolan was able to start, but they didn't have everything set up for Ethan, so he wasn't able to start.

When we got home from school, JoEllen (another ex-pat) brought over our maid. We were supposed to get a maid that had worked in house before, but her mom was sick, so Adriana came instead. Adriana had no experience working in a house, but I was optimistic...it's still a maid, right? Wrong. Ironically, the maid was the biggest stress of the first week. I had to show her how to do everything and then spell EVERYTHING out for her. That was very difficult because we didn't understand each other! She would "clean the cabinets" and five minutes later come looking for something else to do. If I didn't know what to give her, she would follow me around.

I didn' t know what to do, so half the time I would start crying out of frustration. I will say that it was nice that she cleaned the floors and that I could run to the school to get Ethan while Lydia was sleeping, but it was very stressful overall.

Julia took me to get a cell phone and we spent our first night in the house...with NO HOT WATER! (ugh!)

Wednesday, February 3rd

still raining...and more tears.

Lydia was up at 4:30.

The flooded roads on the way to school. These pictures do not do it justice. It was like driving through a lake. This city is not prepared for this kind of rain. Good thing they don't get this much rain very often...

Julia and Kelly (another ex-pat) took me to the import store that had lots of US products. They're 3 times the price, but I know it'll be worth it in a couple of months when I'm missing US food!

I went to the grocery store and tried to order ham from the deli...I started crying in the middle of the grocery store because I didn't understand what they were asking me, but a nice lady helped me order my ham.

Ethan loved his first day of school. He came home with homework and said, "here's my homework, but I'm not going to do it today." (Obviously, he's not had homework before!).

The maid is still not working out. I cried almost all day.

Missing US tv!!! Cell phone still not working.

Thursday, February 4th
No more rain!!!

Lydia slept until 6:00.

Nolan was complaining and crying about going to school. They pulled him out of the car kicking and screaming.

Newcomer's meeting. Met a lot of new people.

Went to the grocery store without crying!

Got invited to a playdate with a boy from Ethan's class.

Figured out how we can watch US TV!!!

MUCH better day.

Friday, February 5th

Beautiful - sunny and in the 70s!

Nolan still complaining about going to school (started yesterday at 3:00...."I not got to school tomorrow")

The boys in their school uniforms (without the jacket).

Ethan has to wear it 3 times a week, Nolan 2 days a week.

I have a working cell phone!

Adriana had some "training" from Julia's maid. She did a lot better!

Playdate after school. Had pizza for "comida" (big meal around 3:00) and got to know each other. The kids had a great time!

Saturday, February 6th

Ran errands in the morning and then had an "ex-pat" party at the Held's house. Had beef and pastor gringas (yummy!) for "comida." They had rented a bouncy (which apparently is very cheap), so my kids were happy. All of the other ex-pat kids were very nice and included our kids eventhough Nolan and Lydia were the youngest ones there.

Nolan made a great impression...halfway through the night, Nolan got out of the bouncy with Lydia, pulled down his pants, and peed on the grass and ON Lydia. Everyone was laughing (thank God). One of the other boys came up to me and said, "um, I don't know if you know, but your son peed on your daughter." Yeah, we were trying to pretend we didn't notice.

Sunday, February 7th

We tried a Christian church in the area. We knew it would be nothing like what we're used to. We ended up having to leave after about 20 minutes because the kids had to be in the church with us for the begining. I was not prepared for that, so Lydia was spinning the pews around (yes, the long, wooden pews) and Nolan was walking out of the building and down the stairs. He was done. Apparently, the begining is usually not as long as it was that day, so we'll try it again, but I'll bring some things for the kids to do this time! The people were very nice and the service is all in English.

We had a nice afternoon of shopping, lunch, and then a walk to the playground in the Privada.

They all needed to be bathed that afternoon. We don't have a bath, so we've been trying to figure out what to do with the little ones. Nolan and Lydia HATE showers, so it's a dreaded time. These are the things we need to get used to....

Well, one week of living in Mexico and we're all still alive and enjoying the beautiful weather! There are definately things we'll need to get used to, but we'll figure it out. Everyday is an adventure in it's own way!