Fiesta!

Mexicans know how to party. When we were in Guayabitos last week hundreds of people were there vacationing for Mexican Revolution Day. The streets and beach were loud and covered with people. It was insane. As we were leaving town that night we saw groups of people hauling coolers, towels, floating tubes and other gear to the beach...it was already dark! When we arrived there at 7:00 the next morning to go fishing there were already, or still, a lot of people in the water.

In Mexico there are no public safety laws, or none that are obeyed as far as I can tell. There were a ton of boats floating in the water with the swimmers. They would weave around the heads bobbing up and down to get to the beach to dock. People were skiing and driving wave runners around the swimmers, too.

(A marlin brought in by one of the fishing boats.)

I thought this was funny - a boat for the sole purpose of having a party. I'm not exactly sure what you do on the Party Boat - maybe dance to the loud music that blares over the speakers (or just stand around listening to it - as shown in the picture), but it seemed like people were having a great time. Maybe there was one of these on board...

Ocean fishing

Last Monday Jed and I went fishing in the ocean. Given my fear of large bodies of water and sharks, I'm still shocked that I did it. I spent the entire night before debating whether or not I should go, but I'm so glad I went because I had a wonderful time.

While we were out we saw manta rays jumping, which they only do to get the needle fish off. It was amazing - I had no idea they jumped, and high too! When I was talking to a guy on the beach about it he said he and his fishing buddies were out a few days before and there were some manta rays swimming around them that were bigger than their boat. Incredible!

We also saw a pod of dolphins that swam so close to the boat I could almost touch them, and a bunch of sea turtles that were huge! There were a lot of dead blowfish flowing around all puffed up. The boat captain told us they get stuck in the shrimping nets and die, which is sad. Oddly, we saw several butterflies. I have no idea what they were doing flying above the ocean 30 miles away from land. I kept thinking that one would stop on our boat to rest, but it never happened. It baffled me. We also watched a lot of birds fish, and they were having a lot better luck than we were. The big fish would herd lots of small fish up to the surface of the water to feed and the birds would take advantage of having food practically handed to them.

Jed caught one small dorado (aka mahi-mahi) on our way back, about 5 miles from the shore, but it was a beautiful fish. I kept waiting until we caught a fish to take pictures, so sadly, these are the best I took. Next time I'm going to take some more and shoot some video footage. And next time I want to catch a marlin or sailfish!

Our captain, Enrique, filleted the durado on the spot.

Our friend DeDe who watched Zoe for the five hours we were gone fishing. Zoe loves DeDe!

Gratitude

Things I am grateful for today:

- My little family - my sweet, darling daughter with her little wet kisses and my incredible, adventurous husband with his endless love and patience.

- My other families - the one I was born in to and the one I married in to. I feel very lucky and blessed to be a part of both.

- My friends - for loving me even though I'm quirky and dramatic sometimes. And especially the ones who can appreciate my need for modern conveniences.

- Modern conveniences.

- The kindness and hospitality of the great people we've met here. We had Thanksgiving dinner with some friends we met a an RV park in Guayabitos.

- The beach!


(Lo de Marcos)

- The guy at the music store who gave us a discount for being American instead of charging us more.

- Being me and having my life.

- Being an American.

- Butt Paste and various other diaper creams.

- Disposable diapers.

- My good health and abilities, and the same of those I know and love.

- Computers and a little thing called the Internet.

- Good news - Jed just announced that Zoe may be (knock on wood) recovering from her intestinal dilemma.

- He also announced that an online Apple store just opened up in Mexico!

- Wet-wipes and sanitizing gel

- Target, I love you!

- My education and the opportunity to be educated. My love for learning and those who helped cultivate it.

- Music. Yesterday I was totally depressed, listened to some music and felt so much better!

- Clothes that fit perfectly and make you feel good even when you feel fat.

- My faith and church.

- How beautiful Mexico and the ocean is.

- Books

- Naps

- Clean water

- Toothbrushes and paste.

- Sam's Club - Two days ago I went into PV with one of the owners of the place we are staying right now. When we walked into Sam's Club I almost started to cry. Everything was still in Spanish and there were huge whole octopus and uncooked crab for sale in the frozen food section, but it felt so good to be somewhere that resembled something I know.

- Contacts and glasses

I think I could go one forever. I feel very grateful right now, in spite of my stressful times in Mexico. I know being here has reminded to be conscious of and grateful for things that I, and most of the people I know in the states, take for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving! And Happy Birthday to Mom and Sarah! Love you both!

Loves to all!

Highlights from a visit to a Mexican doctor

It seems I spoke too soon in my last post. I feel like fate kicked me in the teeth (don't laugh, it's been a horrible week). Thankfully we are in Bucerias right now, which is a little more like normal civilization. The beach in Lo de Marcos is stunning , but in my opinion and from my experience, the town is lacking. And we had miserable luck there. It all started last Thursday afternoon, right after I posted my last post. Three things happened at once:


(This is the busiest we ever saw the beach.)

First, and by far the least of our problems, the headache that has been coming on since morning turned into a full blown migraine accompanied by some pretty bad nausea and a bit of trembling. Hours later I realized I had heat exhaustion (it's was as hot and humid as Hades). I couldn't eat and couldn't really move or do anything. I took a load of pain killer and sleeping meds and went to bed when Zoe did. I didn't sleep much that night, but when I woke up I was functioning, but stupid enough to eat breakfast, and eat it at a restaurant with windows but no AC (NOBODY has AC there), but it was the only restaurant open (Lo de Marcos is the smallest town I've ever stayed in). After breakfast I spent an embarrassingly long amount of time in their bathroom so sick I was sure fainting was inevitable, which horrified me because the bathroom was about 103 degrees, dimly lit, 3'x3', dingy and the toilet didn't have a seat (nobody has toilet seats here, which aggravates me to no end) and I had no idea where I'd land in that disgusting hole of a bathroom if I did. I lived, and didn't pass out. I went home and focused on coping with the two other problems that had taken the relief of getting out of Ajijic from me.

The second problem was that Jed's computer stopped working, which doesn't sound horrible, but it was. Jed's business and contract work doesn't get done without his computer. It stopped working right after we'd paid for wireless internet. It's existence in Lo de Marcos was pleasantly surprising, but turned out to be useless. I'm sure Jed will post about his plight on his blog, so I'll only say that it's been an expensive, extremely inconvenient mess trying to get his computer functioning. We were at a lose for information that was vital to us getting around and getting things done, ETC, too. Jed ended up buying another Mac in Puerto Vallarta yesterday, which is a blog worthy event by itself. With no computer Zoe hasn't been able to watch any shows when there is nothing else to do, and my contact with the outside world and blogging has obviously stopped. I'm happy to feel connected again! And Zoe is happily singing along with The Letter Factory as I type. (By the way, The Letter Factory played a big role in teaching Zoe the names of all the letters and their sounds. That and a lot of practise, which is a great way to distract her at restaurants, stores, church, etc. I highly recommend it.)


(Some kids surfing behind a boat just off of the beach.)

The third problem has caused me a lot more stress than the other two. Let me start by saying that a week and a half ago Zoe woke up in the middle of the night with a fever, which went away after a couple doses of children's Motrin. Her diarrhea that started right after the fever has been plaguing us all since then. On that Thursday afternoon Zoe came in from the beach (just after Jed told me his computer wasn't working) and I saw that she had by far the worst diaper rash I've ever seen. It showed up so fast! It was so painful to her that every diaper change had her thrashing around in tears and me close to bursting into tears myself. It was so sad to watch her hobble around trying to walk. She could hardly move. We did all of the normal rash remedies that we could think of (wash, air dry, ointment, no ointment, etc), but nothing worked.

Friday morning it had gotten worse and we all went into town looking for some oil so Jed could give her a blessing. (Jake and Sarah - can you believe we forgot it!?!) We didn't find any, but when we got back Jed gave her a blessing anyway. At this point the large sores in the rash started weeping. Poor thing! We decided that if the rash didn't get noticeably better by Saturday morning I'd either book a flight back to the states or take our chances with a doctor here. Meanwhile she still had diarrhea a few times a day, which hurt her even more. I was very stressed out and heading back to the states sounded better and better every minute.

Saturday the rash had gotten worse and I found an open internet cafe (a lot less common than a closed internet cafe here in Mexico) and did some research, which validated my concern. We'd planned on taking a day trip to San Poncho and decided we'd look for a doctor to take Zoe to there. It made no sense to me even at the time since San Poncho is about the size of Lo de Marcos, but it was supposed to be nicer and we could get there on a collectivo. (Collectivos are big vans that are like large cabs, but you have to stop to pick up and drop people off wherever the random place they are or want to go. Cabs are rare in the small towns. Big commuting buses and collectivos are how we got around most of the time.) The manager of the restaurant we ate brunch at told us the doctors in San Poncho were are a waste of time and recommended a couple doctors in a few different towns.


(Riding in the collectivo to the doctor's in La Peñita. It was hot and humid (surprise) and the breeze coming through the open windows was a heavenly. Zoe loved catching the wind in her mouth.:)

We went to the doctor in the closest town we could, La Peñita, and to my surprise, it was a good recommendation. It was a bit odd, but for the most part, a successful visit. When we walked into the doctor's office, it was air conditioned!!! It lifted our spirits quite a bit! We asked the receptionist (who didn't speak English) for the doctor who was recommended to us, but he wasn't their. She asked what the problem was, we told her our daughter has a rash, then she jumped up and went outside to talk to a man who was talking to someone inside of a big truck. At this point I went to bathroom where I was pleasantly surprised to find a seat on the toilet! When I got back everyone was gone. I found everyone in an office (computer, desk and books)/exam room. Zoe was naked, crying and sprawled out on a cover less, old exam table while a very well kept and very young man in jeans and a polo shirt, the same man by the truck, was talking with Jed and fishing a sucker of a jar. He gave the sucker to Zoe and she was perfect the rest of the visit.

The doctor (I assume that's what he was, although his diploma wasn't displayed on the wall like four other doctor's were) quickly examined Zoe and said that the humidity, the ocean and sand probably caused the rash and then got some cream from the on site pharmacy for her. He didn't seem to think the diarrhea was a problem and said to keep her out of water and sand, and to let her go diaper less as much as possible, especially when she goes to the bathroom. He gave us a prescription for some special soap that he didn't have and directions, then sent us on our way. The cost of the entire visit (including the cream) was $432.50 peso (approx. $43 US dollars). Jed said it worth the AC alone. :) From there we went to another pharmacy to get the soap, which cost about a dollar, then walked around Le Penita happy and hopeful. But no more beach, pool or ocean for Zoe. She was the happiest she's been on this trip when she was playing in the sand or the ocean. We felt so bad for her.



(Two of the few pictures I have of Zoe on the beach.)



By the next morning, the rash had improved significantly! We all felt so much better about the situation, except for the diarrhea, which only got uglier when Zoe wasn't wearing a diaper. Especially since we didn't have a washer or dryer. I got to hand wash everything in the kitchen sink and then hang things on a rusty old drying rack provided by the place we were staying. It usually took things two days to dry because of the humidity.

Right now, I am healthy, Jed's computer works, and all but the big sores on Zoe's bottom have healed. We are doing better, but the diarrhea has me very concerned and very close to insanity. It's been a week and half. I am so sick of it and I'm sure Zoe is too. I'm fairly certain she has some sort of intestinal bug, but I'm not sure that a doctor here would think it's a big deal since who knows what's normal for a Mexican child.


(A dead blowfish that washed up onto the beach.)

Whew. Things always seem to be so complicated and stressful here. I don't think we are doing this quite right, or maybe that's the point, either way we are certainly learning. Our goal was to avoid being tourists and try to "reside" in a variety of towns as much as we can for being nonresident gringos. Quite honestly, I would never moved to any place like any of the ones we've stayed. Although Ajijic had more conveniences than Lo de Marcos and here in Bucerias. I can wash my own dishes without a dishwasher, wash laundry without a washer and dryer, heat bottles in hot water instead of a microwave, get by without an oven or AC or decent water, but I don't like it. Call me an America snob or high maintenance, but I wouldn't move here without living a higher standard of living than we currently are. I need a washer and dryer!

Lo de Marcos is heaven!

Woohoo! We're in Lo de Marcos and I LOVE IT! Yesterday was insane - a four hour bus ride that Zoe slept 10 minutes of, which were the last ten minutes we were on the bus, of course. We got dumped off on the side of the main road in a some town. It was hilarious. We had a pack'n' play, a guitar, four pieces of luggage, a stroller, and a bunch of little bags with toys, food, Jed's computer, etc. in them. Zoe was asleep on Jed shoulder and we were all scampering around with dust flying everywhere as the bus guy helped us, and all of our stuff, off of the bus and into a cab (some of our luggage went on the roof)! People were looking at us wide eyed and puzzled. :) Probably wondering why on earth this gringo family got off there and where the heck are they going! heehee

The 15 minute cab ride to Lo de Marcos was so exciting! The landscape was breathtaking, and I was absolutely giddy! Right after we put our stuff in our bungalow, Jed went to get the keys, and Zoe and I walked straight to the beach (about a 45 second walk)! It was amazing! And almost completely deserted. It's like we have our own private beach! Zoe got right to playing in the sand - throwing it around, putting in down my back, burying herself...she was in heaven. And so was I! So am I!

It's hot and humid here. It's also very small. It makes Ajijic look like a thriving metropolis! I just realized that I left the pictures I took of the beach in my camera at home (I'm at an internet cafe), and I to get Zoe home for her nap, but I will post pictures as soon as I get a chance!

Yay...the beach!

Leaving Ajijic

Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Guadalajara, then from Guadalajara to Lo de Marcos. I'm very excited! Hopefully the ride will go smoothly. I'm a bit concerned because last night Zoe woke up with a fever (I knew I'd need the thermometer I brought!) and she hasn't been willing to eat or drink much in the last 24 hours. Thank heavens I brought a bottle of Motrin!!!

I've decided that in order for me live in Ajijic, or even visit, I need to live in a new construction, with a garage, a car, a yard (no garden...I'm sick of feeling like I'm walking through the jungle) and a pool...in a gated community (I've added because this afternoon we found out that one of our friend's house was broken into on Sunday by a drug addict and now there is this whole mess with the addict, the dealer and "dirty" police).

I've adjusted as best as I can to everything I listed on my Adjusting to Ajijic post. The only thing that I've changed my mind about is our maid - I really like her! And I'm not sick anymore! :)

I don't have time to post the last bunch of Ajijic pictures I want to post, but I will get them up as soon as we get to Lo de Marcos.

Goodbye, Ajijic!

Missionaries

Friday we had the missionaries over for lunch/dinner (they eat one meal in the afternoon instead lunch and dinner). Jed took them to a nice restaurant here and let them pick out anything they wanted, and then brought all the food back home. They both got steak and potatoes, and Jed got a couple dishes for the table. It was a ton of food, but the elders ate every bite. They only get $40.00 a month for food and other personal products, so the meat was a treat.

It was fun to have them over again (they came over Wednesday and Thursday, too). We figured out that Elder Thedell knows a few of my relatives - what a coincidence!





Elder Garcia was very happy about his fries.



Elder Thedell and Elder Garcia.

A beautiful day!

This morning my sweet husband volunteered to watched Zoe so I could go the the Art Expo in Chapala, which I'd really been looking forward to.



Laureano Martinez Guzman and Marina Castro Lopez create these beautiful Catrinas. Here I am with Laureano. I fell in love with these Catrinas and I wanted to get a few of them, but they are expensive and very fragile, so I only got one. It is a woman in a fitted red and black dress with a big hat and flowers. They wrapped it up and put it in a box so I can get it back to the states in one piece (hopefully), so I will post a picture of it when I finally get it home and unwrap it. She will definitely be on display next Halloween.



The pictures don't show how amazing the Catrinas are, but below are a couple other Catrinas that I loved. I love the full skirts on their dresses. I didn't get the one with the cream skirt because the animals on her have a lot of tiny parts that I'm sure would be in tiny pieces if I tried to take her home. I loved the one in the black dress, but I couldn't do the gun thing. I hope to add some Catrinas like these to my collection eventually.





Our next door neighbors, Barbara and Brian, have been so good do us during our stay. Barbara collects beautiful ceramic balls that are made by an artist from Jalisco (the state we are in). When I first saw them at her house (she has baskets full of them), I decided I would get some for my parents, who I think would appreciate the artistry. Barbara knows the artist well, and had him reserve some for me. Unfortunately, I was only able to get one due to limited suitcase space and the fragility of the ball, but the artist gave me a great deal and autographed it for me. Thanks Barbara! I will post a picture of it after I've given it to my parents (it too is packed up for travel). Here I am with Barbara.



This is Martin Ibarra, the ceramic maestro.



I had a chance to walk up and down the pier on Lake Chapala while I was at the expo. The sun felt so good!

What to do?

Zoe has been such a joy and such a challenge for me here in Mexico. She has done great with all of the changes and new boundaries, but every day brings the same question, "what are we going to do all day?" Jed works most of the day and there is not much for me and Zoe to do here in Ajijic by ourselves, which has been really hard for us - especially me. I'm so used to being busy and keeping Zoe busy all day, and having to do the same few things over and over is hard!



Today the missionaries stopped by and Zoe got so excited that she ran laps around the room while they were here. We miss our friends, we miss our stuff, and we miss the city.

Most of the people we told about this trip assumed we are taking an extended vacation. I can promise that this not a vacation. It's actually been very hard for me. I have decent and bad days. Mostly I feel pretty helpless here. Overall it's been an enlightening experience, but right now I'd like to vacation in Chicago. :) Althought I've had a handful of great experiences, I'm pretty sure I won't ever move to Ajijic. Maybe I will live somewhere else in Mexico, but I will a) never do it with a toddler, and b) take Spanish lessons and stay long enough to become fluent. Living somewhere when you can't speak the language is just stupid. I'm starting to mess up when I speak English, and my head is swimming with Spanish words that I've heard so many times, but I can't remember what they mean!

Another thing that is hard for me is feeling safe. I'm a bit confused about the what the situation is here in Ajijic, which doesn't help my insecurity. Most people that I've talked to say it's safe, but every time I read the newspaper or the monthly lakeside review for the English speakers, I find articles like, "Travel Safety Tips for Women" and "The Fear of Rape Must be Primal". Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy now?

One of the article talks about Mexico having a "macho culture" and understanding the general roles and behavioral codes for women. Fine, I understand I am not in America, but I get whistled at and called to when I go out by myself and I don't like it. And that creepy look, yep, I get that too. I think it's because I'm probably 1 of 2 American women under the age of 55 in the city, and the other one (I met her at brunch the other day) is already dating a native.

I don't consider myself completely gutless or naive - I've lived in Chicago and have had experiences and could tell stories that would make my mother cry, but this is different. I don't know, I just don't like it. And I don't feel safe here.

On a more brighter note, the weather could not be any more perfect!

. . .

Some of my upcoming posts will include:

- pictures of the house we are staying in (as requested)
- pictures of me (as requested)
- pictures of the market
- some great video footage of Zoe doing aerobics with me

Hugs and kisses to all of you...I miss you!

Fiestas de la Virgen del Rosario (with video)

All of the fireworks and cannons discussed in one of my previous posts, and shown on Jed's video, were in celebration of the Virgin del Rosario. Along with all the cannons, fireworks, and Mexican marching bands playing all day, there was a parade, a lighting ceremony, carnival like festivities and a concert.

Here are some pictures from the parade.













Virgin del Rosario...





After the parade past by, the street was flooded with people who followed it around the town.



After all of the people came the fireworks guys - very noisy!



We walked over to the plaza where the festivities would take place when the parade ended, also where we found these guys chillin'.



After the plaza we went to dinner. Zoe is just like me, all she needs is a pina colada (virgin) to be happy!



From dinner we headed back to the plaza where we ate fresh sugar cane, flan, and boiled peanuts (in the shell). Zoe made a little friend named Alexandra who is so adorable. Alexandra's mom and I chased them around the plaza for almost two hours. The girls were so cute! But they wouldn't hold still long enough for us to get a good picture. These pictures make it look like it was Friday night smack down, but they were really just playing.





Here's Alexandra. We couldn't get her to smile, but she has the most beautiful smile with huge dimples!



Here's some video footage of the night...

Imminent victory!

I am humming a happy tune. Today the pest control people came and sprayed the place! Hallelujah! I can't help but smile each time I pass by a spider with it's legs curled in, motionless and dead. Especially since right after the pest people walked out of the door I found another black widow. Oh, don't worry, Jed tracked them down and had them come back to spray it. I shouldn't gloat too much since there are still plenty of live spiders around and other than the ant I just found in the toilet that I can only guess walked itself into and couldn't get out, I have yet to see any other dead insects. I just flicked a big ant off of the arm of my chair. I wonder how far a bug has to go flying through the air and fall to die?

Too bad it's taken this long get the place sprayed. I've gotten so accustomed to them that I don't usually kill them unless they are poisonous or directly in my path, and then sometimes I just kill them with my hands. Which is caused by being numb and lazy, or by instinct - either way it's not pretty.

You know, I haven't seen as many cockroaches in the house as I have outside, but they seem to be dying everywhere. I always see them on the sidewalks, lying on their backs, kicking like crazy until they just stop - dead. Maybe it's the season (bless mother nature) or maybe they get flipped onto their backs and after enough kicking decide to just kick the bucket. Who knows? But they are dead!

But I will continue to pray that we will not get get harmed by insects, or anything else, on this trip!!!

I promise that my next post will not be about bugs, and will have lots of pictures!

Crazy!

Last night I took two Excedrin PM to help me sleep through the night. I woke up once to some horrible moaning (I thought someone dropped a couple of bodies in the garden), which turned out to be some stupid cats. Then at around 5:00am I woke up to this: noise pollution. Watch the whole video that Jed took from our roof and you'll get a little taste of what we are experiencing today.

It would have been fun if it weren't so dang early in the morning. It was almost just as annoying to me an hour ago when I was trying to enjoy a massage. Poor me, I know. :) But, seriously, I see no good reason to shoot off cannons and fireworks, ring a bazillion bells and send a band tromping around the city before the break of dawn.

On our way to to breakfast we ran into to the Mexican marching band, and one of the completely drunk bums that was following them around dancing gave me a hug.

It's been a bizarre morning.

No Halloween

I love Halloween - it's one of my favorite holidays (rivals with Christmas), but I don't like it because I like to get scared. What I love about Halloween are the colors, the costumes, the family and friends, the food, the trick or treaters and the parties. I consider it a fun holiday and celebrate it for tradition, not for the particulars surrounding it's birth.

Well, when I got here last week I found out that Mexicans do not celebrate Halloween, at least not like we do. Which I don't think is common knowledge in the US since everyone I talked to about it before I came assured me that we'd definitely be able to celebrate Halloween while we're here. What Mexico does celebrate is Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on Nov. 1-2. Nov. 1 is All Saints Day and Nov. 2 is All Souls Day. From what I've gathered, the Day of the Dead is a joyous holiday to the Mexican people. It's a time to remember and celebrate the dead. I think it's interesting that the Mexicans celebrate death, whereas we tend to celebrate our fear of death or fear itself.

To celebrate the Day of the Dead, the families here make alters at the graves of their deceased loved ones which they adorn with flowers, candles and crosses. They put the favorite foods, drinks, and a picture of the deceased on their alters. They let the kids run around, play music, drink, eat food and pretty much have a party in the cemetery. I imagine it wouldn't take long for the police to show up if such festivities took place in the US. :) But I think it sounds like a good way to celebrate the dead.

Above is a picture of the Catrina, a traditional figure of the Day of the Dead. I first saw a beautiful version of it at our neighbor's house, and thought it would be kind of fun to add to my collection of Halloween decorations. While I was waiting to pick up dinner from a Mexican restaurant the other night, I asked the owner about it. Somehow between the owners broken English and the 20 Spanish words that I understand, I found out that the Catrina is someone who will help you get to hell. The owner's wife said she doesn't like the Catrina and it creeps her out. Interesting. I wonder what she would think of some of the crazy things people to do to celebrate Halloween in the US.

So this year we'll be celebrating Dia de los Muertos instead of Halloween. Well, as much as we can for not actually knowing anyone buried in any of the cemeteries here. :)

Insomnia and spiders

You're probably wondering how I've managed to publish more posts in one week here than a month or two on my normal blog. It's because I can't sleep here. I hate nights. I have such a hard time falling and staying asleep in places I don't feel 100% safe. Sometimes I have this problem back at home, but I'm not staying up worrying about one of us being kidnapped, the noises in the house, what in the world I'm going to do everyday for the next three weeks, what could be on the floor when I get up to go to the bathroom, keeping the bugs away from Zoe...

Speaking of bugs, they are everywhere! Ugh! At first I was just a bit freaked out. Now I'm a nice mix of paranoid, mad and annoyed. The ants have joined the fun too. Not that spiders, cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes all over the place aren't enough. Especially at night when it's like feeding time. Thank goodness I haven't encountered any scorpions, but I did see a black widow on our walk to Chapala.

Anyhow, I will spare you from the growing collection of pictures I've taken of these pests, but they are everywhere! Especially this one kind of teeny, hairy spider - they're jumpers. I feel like I'm playing a game with them when I try to kill them. They hop around like little frogs. And they are always crawling in Zoe's diaper stack - it's so annoying. I'm OCD about shaking things out. And I always look where I'm about to sit. I'm pretty much on constant patrol. Poor Zoe is probably already traumatized from me shrieking and leaping at her from across the room whenever she sticks her hands under the couch or behind a piece of furniture. I know I need to relax a bit, but I promise you, if you were here, you'd be a on your guard too.

While I was standing in the shower this morning I counted seven spiders, and I was only facing one direction.

Somehow Jed seems to go throughout each day completely unaware of the bugs.

. . .

So now Jed and Zoe are asleep and I'm awake waiting for the Nytol I took to kick in. Nytol is the strongest thing they'd give me at the Farmacia (I guess other sleeping aids can be considered recreational drugs) and I'm really wishing I would have brought somethings with me that is worth taking. Bummer. I thought you could get anything in Mexico.

Our walk to Chapala

Today we took a walk to Chapala to get a guitar for Jed. It was quite a walk - we both have blisters. We don't know how far it was, but we were walking, and pushing Z in her stroller, for close to two hours at a pretty good pace. We took a bus back, which was like riding a roller coaster!

I took a few pictures on our way:

A little house on the hill.



You can't really tell from this picture, but there are these really cool, tall cactuses growing on the side of this cliff.



If you order pizza for delivery from Domino's in Mexico...



This picture doesn't do this guy justice, but he was two inches long. We found him waiting for us when we got home. Jed wouldn't let me kill it because it wasn't in the house. Can somebody tell me one good thing a cockroach does?



The fruits of our labor...