Mexico

6 January 2008

Holiday activities (in pictures)

Sometimes I post things in our Photo Gallery and then don’t write anything about them here in our blog. There were a lot of activities over Christmas that I didn’t write about, or things I wrote about that I didn’t include pictures of.

Well, now you can check out some of those things in the gallery. For example:

Decorating our Christmas tree
Our church Christmas program. Hannah and Nathanael were Mary and Joseph, and Shari sang in the chorus. Jim helped control the kids!
Shari’s trip to Canada – including photos of the family and Amy’s boyfriend Nate, their family Christmas and a hockey game they went to (Â¡muy canadiense!)
Ximena’s birthday party that Hannah and I went to. Ximena is one of Hannah’s friends from school.
Hannah and Nathanael’s school Christmas program at Colegio del Bosque. There are a few pictures, and even a short video with clips of the program.
A posada we attended – a posada is a traditional Christmas party. We were asked to bring a piÃ±ata, so we had quite the adventures trying to figure out what was a proper piÃ±ata and what should be inside a proper piÃ±ata on such an occasion!
Building a gingerbread house – a family activity.
Christmas Day – family celebrations and guests. Actually, I didn’t take a lot of pictures later in the day when our guests were here, so I don’t even have pictures of all the O’Briens. Don’t worry, we love you all!

To see the photos, go to our Recent shots… album. (edit – these are old photos now, and are mostly in the Misc older photos album) The photos are shown newest first, and right now the photos from December take up about nine pages. Or, here’s the first photo from December. Then you can click previous to go to the next picture.

By the way, be sure to leave your comments! Just go the the picture you want, and click on Add Comment on the left side bar.

4 January 2008

Shari on Canada

Jim Just for fun, Mexico 2

A slice of Calgary from the air (December 16 2007)

Now that you have the basic story about Shari’s visit to Canada in December, I told you I’d share some of her impressions. Here are a few things that Shari particularly noticed during her visit:

There are a lot of open spaces in Calgary compared to the Cuernavaca/Mexico City area. The streets are wide, the parking spots are wide, the yards are big. Of course, she was visiting one of the largest (geographically) cities in North America, and it only has a million people – Calgary is unusually "spread out".
As compared to our house, the hot water lasts forever – no rushing to get your shower done! And you can even take baths (bath tubs are rare in Mexico).
Things were very organized at the Calgary airport. In Mexico City, you were supposed to "just know" that you had to fill out such-and-such a form. And her departure gate was changed three times! At the last change she had to cross the entire airport (a 20 minute walk/sprint) and got to the gate 15 minutes before departure – fortunately, the plane left late…
You can put TP in the toilet in Canada (in Mexico there are issues with personal and city sewage systems – hence the little garbage cans beside each toilet).
The feeling of cold weather was weird (it was around 0C/32F in Calgary), and so was the feeling of actually being able to warm up inside!
You can speak English in Canada, which is handy because we speak it pretty well. However, Shari noticed that Spanish kept coming out of her boca unintentionally – especially the "polite" words (Gracias, mande?, disculpe…).
There is so much selection – so many different brands in the stores! Of course, this needs to be qualified – we probably have a greater selection of many things in Cuernavaca (yogourt drinks, sweet breads, chili peppers), while they have a greater selection of certain things in Canada (maple syrup, mittens, Corner Gas DVDs). But still, walking into a grocery store was overwhelming. And going into Toys "R" Us — unbelievable. Why do kids need all this STUFF??
When you ask for water in Canada, sometimes people give you water right from the tap!

31 December 2007

Underwear in Walmart

Jim Mexico 3

I’m afraid there’s just no delicate way to write about this one. This is a post about underwear, and that’s just the way it is.

All over the world there are different New Year’s traditions. When bringing in the new year, there are often traditions related to the hope for prosperity in the days ahead. Or, you might say, superstitious ways to try to ensure prosperity or good luck for the coming year. Quite often these aren’t taken seriously, but are just fun traditions.

This time of year, if you go into Walmart in Mexico, or anywhere that sells general clothing items, you may notice that the colour selection of under garments is somewhat … limited. Suddenly, red and yellow seem to dominate. That’s because people are buying new underwear to bring in the new year.

Yes, you read right.

And be sure to buy something new. That’s why people are actually adding to collections of similarly coloured under clothes.

If you wear yellow, that’s for money. If you wear red, that’s for love. And you only have yourself to blame in 2008 if you’re wearing a different colour when the clock strikes 12 midnight.

Not only were we surprised to hear about this tradition (this one wasn’t in the tour books), we were further surprised to find that many people really believe in the superstition – and are actually buying new underwear out of fear of bad luck. No kidding.

I’m starting to think that superstition isn’t as dead as we think it is. In fact, many times we may find ourselves trying to do something to ensure good results – besides what might seem reasonable. You may not be afraid of 13 or broken mirrors, but I think everyone at times trusts in strange things. Do we trust in the saying the right kinds of prayers? The correct procedures? Good karma?

Let’s face it – no matter what precautions we take, even if they seem reasonable – we’ll never be totally safe from disaster. We need to trust something bigger than the banks – they fail. Bigger than shelter – it crumbles. Bigger than family and friends – they aren’t always there when we need them. Something bigger than this world – it can provide for us or destroy us. God is bigger – He’s the one we can trust in safely. Next to the All-Powerful, everything else seems pretty small and insignificant.

So what are you going to trust in 2008?

27 December 2007

Van break down in Mexico

Jim Mexico, Prayer and Praise 1

It happened a couple of times in the past year and a half. And not at the greatest times.

We were working ourselves to the bone trying to get out of our apartment in Calgary, and our van died – no power, battery dead. We blamed it on bad electrical work in a trailer, got a boost, and were fine.

Fast forward a year later or so. In one of Cuernavaca’s busiest intersections, the van died. No power, battery dead. This time, I wasn’t pulling anything. For a few minutes I blocked traffic (I imagine everyone I know must have driven or walked by) until a friend came and gave me a boost. The van was fine for a few more months. Afraid of complicated electrical work, we decided to wait and see what would happen.

Fast forward to December, several months later, in the midst of Christmas preparations. On my way home with the turkey, the battery started to die. Armed with experience, I wasted no time and made it home. Now what?

I decided to drive it (downhill) to a Christmas party, knowing that there were people there who could help if I needed help. I did.

This time, though, the boost did little good. I just barely drove it out of the gated community, and it died again. I had a couple of very generous friends to help, parents of Hannah’s classmates. One gave my family a ride home, while I talked to the other. He (Alberto) suggested I leave the van there for the night, near a 24 hour store and the securities guards at the community gate. We talked to the store owner and the security guard, and I do believe I saw some "thank you money" pass hands. Everyone helped me get the van to the side of the road.

The next morning, on advice, I pulled out the battery and took it by foot and bus to the store, and had it replaced. Via a lot more walking up and down hills and another bus, I got the new one back to the van. From the symptoms I figured that, even if there was a cable or alternator problem, the battery was likely part of the problem. It gave me enough juice to drive it a little, but it was clearly not the whole problem.

I called our landlord to see if he could recommend a nearby mechanic, but he didn’t call back, and it was now the weekend – Sunday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day…

I saw Lisandro (our landlord) on Boxing Day (26 December). He generously went with me to a little shop where electrical work was done – a typical, greasy place with pin-ups on the wall and a big wooden skeleton to hang things on. Oh, and some guys that seemed to know their stuff. They tested the obvious things, and this morning we went back (before Lisandro went to work).

After hanging around for an hour waiting for the owner, watching another guy get his car fixed and chatting with him and a mechanic, we found the owner and talked to him. Lisandro left, and after about 45 minutes the owner (maestro) took a look. Maybe the alternator – let’s take a look. We talked about new engines, Calgary, and the Winter Olympics that Calgary is still remembered for.

I hung around and watched the whole procedure – it was the regulator in the alternator. I helped him replace the belt (why not?), started up the van, and voila! I mean … Â¡que bueno! It worked.

After a bit of driving today, it looks like it still works. So far so good. It’s nice to have a van again.

Tonight I’ll probably swing by and thank the guy in the 24 hour convenience store and the security guards. Maybe I’ll give them some Coke and cookies as a thank you.

So that’s a van break down in Mexico – generous friends, a few interesting experiences, and even a few more Spanish words. Not a bad holiday season so far…

17 December 2007

Hannah’s class (video)

Jim Family, Mexico, Video Blogs 0

Here’s your chance to see some of Hannah’s class (at Colegio del Bosque) in action. Today they were starring in the weekly flag ceremony, and Hannah even had some lines. 🙂

This is actually after the "flag" part of the ceremony. Every week the students explain the upcoming "special days". Today, the students did that, and sang a special song (which was an unusual addition). Hannah is the fourth one to speak here. The lady with the mic is her teacher, Miss July (pronounced, in English, Julie). During the song, Hannah is on your far left.

15 December 2007

Canadians, Mexicans, and cold weather

Jim Mexico 8

Ok, it’s taken me a while to really figure out what’s going on, but I finally have a working theory. Brrrrrr… excuse me while I flip the space heater back on … there, that’s better.

There’s a typical conversation that happens over and over here in Mexico. It happens like this. We’re with some Mexicans talking about the weather. It’s a cool day, and I’m wearing a long sleeved shirt, a sweater and a warm jacket. And I’m sipping a hot chocolate. Then a Mexican friend says, "But, you can’t be cold – you’re from Canada!"

Yes, I’m cold and Canadian, at the same time.

I’m dressed just as warm as my Mexican friends (or warmer). Why is that?

Now, tourists from Canada are a different story. They’ll wear shorts all day (something Mexicans will rarely do, except at the beach). And I understand – they come here to get some sun. When it’s your only chance, you soak it up. We sometimes joke in Canada that in winter people will wear shorts if it’s above 0Â°C (32Â°F). A bit of an exaggeration, but true – it’s because people take the opportunity any time they can to throw off the heavy jackets in winter.

But I’m not a tourist – I live here. And so I have a whole different way of thinking. And I have a theory.

Why are Canadians living in Mexico cold? Here’s what I think.

In Canada, cold is serious business. You don’t mess with it. It’s the enemy.

This goes back to the days of the fur traders. In summer they were tormented by mosquitoes and black flies. Winter was a relief, but also a struggle for survival against the bitter cold. Little shelter, poor heating – cold air was an enemy to conquer.

Canadians have and do conquer the enemy. But it gives them a different attitude about cold than a Mexican might have.

In Canada, people fight the cold, in Mexico they put up with it (or even enjoy it if they live in an area that’s usually very hot).

Here in Cuernavaca, the houses have no central heating. They’re not airtight. This time of year I wake up to a house that’s 14Â°C (57Â°F). No one in Canada would put up with that. They’d call the furnace repair-person. They’d complain to the landlords.

If I’m cold in Canada, I go inside a house that’s 22Â°C (72Â°F) or more, and wear a sweater. I get warm. It may be -40Â° outside, but most people dress in several layers and then go inside to thoroughly warm up.

Here, if I’m cold, there’s no where to go. It’s probably colder in my house than outside. If I go out and about, it’s usually no problem because it gets hot in the sun. But if I’m in the house all day, it’s not unusual for me to wear a sweatshirt or sweater or jacket the majority of the day.

(Note: In case you’ve sweltered some December on the beaches of Acapulco, I should note that we live at a high altitude here near a forest with pine trees – all of Mexico is not like the beach resorts when it comes to temperature. In fact, it’s a lot hotter in downtown Cuernavaca than it is here at home. Some places in Mexico are incredibly hot – others get snow flakes at times.)

For this reason, yes, I have honestly spent more time being cold here in Mexico than I ever did in Canada.

But, with my Canadian mentality, I’m fighting back. We put on the space heater in our bedroom, and move it around the house with us if need be. I dress in layers, and make use of the hot chocolate machine at school. And I finally bought myself a warm jacket, which I frequently wear inside. It’s not a wind breaker – it’s what Canadians would call a warm fall jacket.

So that’s my theory – it’s the lack of central heating, and the Canadian mentality, that’s making me cold.

Don’t get me wrong – I love Mexico, and I love the weather. I love not having to put on 7 layers before going outside in January, and I love not having to take them off when I go inside. I love the flowers that bloom year-round. I love dry season and I love rainy season.

And I’m thankful that we live in a city that never gets unbearably hot or cold – the city of eternal spring. Emperors and presidents have built their vacation palaces here. If you live in a hot part of Mexico, you come here to cool off. If you live in a cool part of Mexico, you come here to warm up. Cuernavaca is a great place to live.

And the cold? Well, I’m starting to find ways to conquer it. But we’re not friends yet.

«‹ 63 64 65 66 ›»