La Casa Verde

It's been a while since I've posted because we are still waiting for our Internet to get hooked up at our new place. Right now I am at Innotec. I have to pick Michael up from work since we still only have one car. I'm updating the blog and checking my email while Michael is working on a grill he is making out of scrap metal in true Mexican style. It actually looks pretty nice.

Sunday night we moved into our Casa Verde (green house). I spent Monday and Tuesday unpacking, rearranging, and cleaning our house. It feels so good to finally be in a place of our own. Last night we even got the television hooked up! Originally we were not going to have TV, but since there isn't always a lot to do at night, we thought it was worth the money. Plus, it sure makes it easier for me to be home alone during the day. I spent a good portion of today on my purple couch under my favorite blanket from home watching good ole American TV. It's amazing how exciting it was to hear English!

Our dogs are adjusting well. They are getting used to their boundaries at the new place. Sadie is still on a never-ending mission to find a leaf blowing across the ground. Poor thing. A part of me wants to smuggle some leaves in and scatter them around the house so she has something exciting to look forward to. Their dog cage is as Mexican as is gets. We cemented the posts in and wrapped an old green fence around it. Michael found scrap metal for a gate and we stuck cardboard on one side for shade. The door shuts by sliding bricks against the front, tying an old shoelace around the pole, and bungee-cording it for good measure.

Solovino (who I shortened to Vino, which also means wine), likes the house, too. He doesn't like the dogs sniffing around the front door and promptly scurries up on top of the fridge. There he patiently waits, high on his perch purring away, until the dogs are bungee-corded back in their coop. I do have to address his sharp front claws, however. He has used my arm as a scratching post more than once and last night one of his nails got stuck in my ear when he took a swing at a loose strand of hair! Yeah, we will be making a vet visit soon.

This weekend Michael and I are heading to San Antonio, Texas. We plan to leave tomorrow around noon. Michael's dad, Chuck, will be there for work - so the timing works out great. It will be nice to see him again and spend some time relaxing. We hear it's a beautiful city. Pray for safe travels and that the border crossing goes well - no bomb threats!

I'll post more when we get back. Hopefully we'll have Internet at our house by then.

On the border & In the house

Yesterday we headed for the border to get the rest of our things that were being stored in a warehouse in Texas. We left Arteaga at 6 am - thinking that would be plenty of time. Rafeal came with us. When we got there, we looked everywhere for a place to get a tourist visa. I will need one when I fly home in February, and we thought it would also make it easier to get back into Mexico with a truck full of items. We circled around town - looking for the place. Around and around we went. After over an hour, we finally found it. Much to our dismay, it is closed on Saturdays.

So, we headed to one of the bridges to cross into the US. We heard that you can also get visa there - but now it was getting late and we decided to cross over. The warehouse closed at noon or 2 pm - we weren't sure which time. Just as we were about to cross, the guards stopped the traffic. They told us there was a bomb threat and no one could go through. Of course!

There we sat. Time ticking away. 10:30 am, 11 am, 11:30 am.... We were literally 500 feet from the US but unable to get across. We were getting very frustrated. After driving for over three hours, plus the hour we spent driving around trying to get a visa, and it looked like we would not be getting our things.

Rafeal and I left the car and were able to get a visa for me. At least one thing was accomplished. After a nearly 4 hour stand-still, we heard a small explosion. The bomb squad. guards, and media crew ran to the place where the bomb went off. It seemed to be a very small bomb - or it was detonated - and after a few more minutes we allowed to move on.

Now it was 1:15 pm. We had to hurry, hoping and praying the warehouse closed at 2 pm. Chances of that were slim, but we decided to try anyway. Then we got lost. We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere - but fortunately we found a road that we recognized from the map and were able to find the building. We arrived as they were closing everything up; but they let us in and started looking for our things. What a relief!

We loaded up our washing machine, sofa, and 6 boxes. Rafeal had to stay behind in Mexico because his green card was expired. After we crossed the border we were able to find him and we headed back to Arteaga. I am so relieved everything went well. We even got a green light - which means we were not stopped at the border to be searched. That can be a fiasco because they tear open every box and leave you with a mess. The three cars ahead of us and at least one car behind us got the red light - but we passed by without being stopped.

Thank you for the prayers.

We moved most of our things - including one frightened kitty - into our house this afternoon. We are planning to bring the dogs over tonight after our dinner at Steve and Rebecca's house. Tonight will be our first night in our Mexican house. I'm excited to finally start getting our boxes unpacked and make this house our home.

People planning to walk across the bridge wait beside our car

Soldiers stood guard everywhere

Chaos in the streets as thousands of people wait in line

We learned a new Spanish word: Bomberos

Finally we can cross!

Load up the truck

Beautiful drive home with all of our belongings

Girls night

Last night I had a much-needed girls night out. Kari and Rebecca invited me to a movie night with their pastor's wife. John (Juan) and Carla are originally from Michigan but have lived in Mexico for quite a while - I think about 20 years. Juan often travels to Cuba to do mission work there, as well. He was in Cuba for this past week, so Carla invited us over for a girls night - complete with a lot of good junk food. We had an Anne of Green Gables marathon. Didn't get through all of the episodes so I guess we'll have to do it again!

Tomorrow Michael and I plan to head back up to Laredo, Texas to pick up the rest of our things. We will leave early in the morning, hoping it won't be too crazy at the border. Please pray that all goes well, that we can get all our things across without too much hassle, and for safety as we travel.

Behind the wheel

I did it. My first outing by myself in the gigantic truck on the crazy streets of Mexico. I have been nervous about driving here since we visited in October. People are crazy! I don't quite understand.

The Mexican culture is very laid back - sometimes too laid back if you ask me. If someone says they'll be there at 6 pm - they'll saunter in around 7 pm and consider themselves early. No one seems to be in a hurry here - except for practically everyone behind the wheel of a car. They weave in and out of traffic, cut people off, honk, veer left, veer right, slam on the brakes...

Add on top of that, the strange streets I have never driven, traffic signs I don't understand, and a truck the size of a US Army tank - for me it was a recipe for disaster. But I know I have to get used to driving around here, so yesterday Michael left me with the truck after his lunch break. I squeezed through the tiny streets of Arteaga with the giant beast on wheels and made my way toward one of the main roads. I was the timid Dutch girl among a sea of Nascar Mexicans. I slowly gained confidence, though. It wasn't too bad. I headed toward our house to see if I could find it on my own - I somehow missed one turn but was able to maneuver into a U-turn without too much trouble - those are legal here, by the way. I went to our house, then explored another street, stopped to look at some plants, then headed back to Arteaga. I think I only received one honk.

On another note, I'm getting tired of waiting for the rest of our things to come. All the stuff we had shipped down here is still in Laredo, Texas. We were planning to go there today to pick it up, but Michael decided to wait. He wants to make sure everything is there and that we'll be able to get it across the border. It can be quite a fiasco to take a full trailer into the country. Rafeal, a guy who works with Michael, was going to come along. If you have a Mexican with you, less questions are asked. But Rafeal can't get across the border right now - something to do with his visa. We are hoping that Rafeal's brother, Oscar (who is also our landlord) will be able to pick it up for us. He has been in Texas for about a week and plans to return on Friday. It would be nice to save us a trip - although, I was kinda looking forward to something to do during the week. Please pray we can get our things soon.

It's all Chinese to me

Last night Michael and I went out for our first Chinese meal in Mexico. It was not the experience I had hoped for. The buffet had clearly not been filled with fresh servings in quite some time. The crusted food clung to the sides of the silver trays. At least people running the Chinese restaurants in Michigan attempt to make the food look more appealing by stirring it around on occasion. It tasted different, too. But my biggest issue was trying to figure out what everything was. This can be a daunting task when the Chinese food is described with broken English subtitles. But when it's in Spanish, forget about it. Plus, they didn't have crab rangoons. And that was the one thing we were both craving!

Below are a few pictures from Sunday afternoon. Michael and I drove into downtown Saltillo and walked around for a while. We went to a market and both got a cowboy hat. Michael also got cowboy boots. Oh boy, here we go! Life on the ranch has begun.

True Mexican market. Can you imagine? "Honey, can you run to the market and pick up another pig head? We have company coming over."

LOTS of pinatas

Beautiful cathedral

A very common sight in Mexico. Hombres in sombreros watching the day drift by.

I just watched the 44th president of the United States get sworn into office. I was able to connect to CNN through my facebook page. It was interesting to watch the coverage of Barack Obama's inauguration on my laptop in a different county. Unlike a television or radio, the Internet gives access to live feeds where people can type in their thoughts and feelings as the event takes place. Every few seconds, you can see 6 or 7 different comments from people all over the nation - and even the world. Some were funny, some thought-provoking, and some were just plain mean. But it was all very interesting.

There were a lot of comments from people who were proud of this moment, proud to be an American, and excited to be witnessing history. Many said they were crying with joy, could not hold back the tears, speechless, excited, had goosebumps.... Some said they were worried about having a socialist in office. A lot of people made a big deal about having a black president. Some made comments about how God should be left out of this. Some were asking the nation to rise in prayer. A lot of people were happy to see Bush go - and a lot were thankful for his services.

No matter what your opinion is, no matter how you voted, my hope is that we can unite as a nation and support the president we now have in office. God's will was done. I pray that Obama will have wisdom to make the choices that will please our God and help our nation - especially in these tough economic times.

Here are some other comments I enjoyed as I watched "history unfold":

1. ...thinks Bill Clinton is standing too close to Michelle.
2. ...wonders how much money companies are losing on productivity right now.
3. ...did Slick Willie just put a "kick me" sign on GW's back?
4. ...is finally enjoying a speech from a president that doesn't say "uuuhhh..."
5. ...a president doesn't make a country great, its people do.
6. ...Aretha is amazing but her fashion designer should have a stern talking to.
7. ...did anyone see Bill Clinton checking out all those new interns?
8. ...this announcer is full of himself.
9. ...wonders where that Arab shoe guy is right now.
10 ...thinks Hillary's open mouth smile is terrifying. Vampires don't even make that face before they bite someone!

Dog-gone days of winter

What to do on a mid-January day? Well, today I grabbed a book, poured a glass of wine, and soaked in some Mexican rays. The dogs thought it was a great idea, too.

Sierra - taking a barking break

Rio

Belle

And then there's Sadie, our ADHD dog. Sadie has a leaf-chasing fetish. She can spend hours running after leaves that tumble across our yard at home. If the wind doesn't blow them around, she will gallop into a pile at full speed and slide until they are flying through the air. At which point, she will try to snatch as many as possible with her mouth before they float back to the ground. Here in Mexico however, there are not many leaves to go around. Still, she is determined to find one blow past. Every time the wind blows, she freezes, ears perked, frantically looking... hoping... waiting. She spent the whole day on a quest to find a leaf to no avail. Circling the yard, not sitting for a moment. Maybe tomorrow.

So, donned in my tank top and shorts, I relaxed with the four dogs. Three lazy like me. And one hyper-active dog that just won't quit. It was peaceful - aside from the startling and unpredictable barking - mostly from Sierra. She apparently has put it upon herself to bark at every living thing that moves or makes a sound. So I read, with Spanish music wafting through the air, the occasional cow mooing and donkey baying, and the distant echos of an ice cream truck playing the tune of "It's a Small World After All" over and over again. Just another day.

And after an exhausting day of laying in the sun, everyone was beat - even our ADHD pooch.

Right at Home...Depot

Saturday felt like a normal weekend in Michigan as I helplessly followed Michael around his favorite store, Home Depot. His eyes glimmer with little boy excitement the minute those big doors slide open to reveal an enchanted land of lumber, electrical wires, plumbing supplies and power toys that can stop a grown man in his tracks and hold him in a trance for hours. We paraded down aisle after aisle, Michael sticking his hand out to touch everything he saw and me just trying to keep up, weaving around men speaking words I did not understand in an excited male Home Depot language I knew all too well.

We were there to purchase supplies for the dog cage we are trying to build at our new house. We are hoping to get a fence up before we settle in. This proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. We spent the better part of the day drilling four large poles into a small cement area on the side of our house. The first pole went well. The second did not follow suit. Once the pole was in, Michael gave it a little shake and the whole pole was uprooted, concrete and all. We discovered that the cement was very unstable to say the least. Very thin and very brittle with a lot of cracks. So we began our brief stint as archaeologists, sweeping off the dirt, searching for the least amount of cracks, tapping here, tapping there.... until we found the most stable areas in the unstable ground. We set off to work, placing the remaining three poles in the ground. When we were finished we had a dog cage that would raise eyebrows due to it's very interesting shape. The Mexicans - who think we are crazy to cage our dogs in the first place - will now have something else to wonder about.

Once the poles were finally in place, we began to wrap the fencing around them. We were almost finished when Michael gave his end a strong "Michael tug" which promptly sent one of the poles flying - a small square piece of cement still clinging to the bottom.

We stood there in silence for quite a while just staring at the situation. This clearly was not working.

The man who takes care of the horses had been helping us earlier in the day. He returned to find our predicament. He offered to put forms around the poles and pour cement to secure it better. Yesterday, that is what we did.

Hopefully this works. Otherwise, it's on to Plan B. Not sure what that is yet, but I'm certain it will require another visit to the wonderful world of home improvements.

Broken cement where a pole once stood

Now what?

Hopefully this will work

Lesson learned

Yesterday our dog, Belle, learned that chewing on clothes pins is a bad idea.

She timidly approached me with a gnawed up piece of plastic dangling from the right side of her mouth. On closer inspection, I saw it was securely wedged somewhere in her jaw. I said, "What did you do!" And she looked up at me with embarrassment and shame as if to say, "I know I was a bad dog, but please help me!" She nestled up against my leg, then slid to the floor and rolled on her back in the most pathetic way. So I pried open her mouth and saw that there was a tangled mass of plastic, saliva, and wire but I couldn't tell where it was stuck. I tried pulling it out, but it would not budge. I was nervous the wire was piercing her gums so I didn't want to yank too hard. And since the plastic was pink, it was hard to tell where the clothes pin ended and where Belle's mouth began.

Belle began pawing at the clothes pin in desperation and the other dogs began to circle around the scene with excitement, thinking this was a new game. I moved Belle into the kitchen, away from the dogs, who were now trying to snatch the clothes pin from her mouth. After several more attempts, I called Michael. He left work to tend to his mischievous dog, who was probably mortified at the prospect of living with a clothes pin hanging out of her mouth. When he arrived, Belle once again fell into the "please forgive me" position on the floor. He dug around her mouth, got a good grip, and ripped the mangled mess from her mouth. The sound brought shivers down my spine, but apparently no harm was done. The wire had somehow got wrapped around her teeth, but Michael was able to pull it out. The crisis was averted.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the ordeal - although, it was a sight to behold. Here's the remains of the clothes pin. I'm certain the rest is currently on its way through Belle's system.

Weather tool

I added a weather gadget to my sidebar so you can see what the current weather conditions are. However, it keeps defaulting to New York. To see our current weather conditions, click on edit and type in Saltillo, Mexico.

Mi Gato

Well, I just dry-heaved my way through cleaning a litter box. Literally. I was choking on the toxic fumes while our adopted kitty happily paraded around the bathroom and weaved his way through and around my legs, purring. He knocked his head against my leg to get my attention and glanced up at me with a look that said, "Can you believe I made this wonderful odor all by myself?" He looked so proud.

Solovino - which apparently means "just showed up" in Spanish, just showed up at Paul and Tamara's house about a month ago. When we were here in October, I told Paul and Tamara's daughter, Alexia, that I would like a cat. She has been rescuing strays off the streets of Arteaga since they came down here. They rescue the animals, get them cleaned up, and find them a good home. So when this cat "just showed up" right before our move, it seemed natural to take him in.

For now, Solovino has been living in la casita (apartment right next door to Paul's house). So he's probably not gettting as much attention as he should - nor was the litter box. Hopefully he'll like his new place in "the country" when we move in a few days.

He seemed to enjoy the new litter. He took a dump the minute I was finished cleaning it.

Power outage

Yesterday was our first experience with lack of electricity. It went out while I was making coffee - which made me crabby. I was able to get a half cup that didn't taste so great, but such is life in Mexico. I walked over to Rebecca's house around 11 am. Steve's mom is in town and we spent some time playing with the children. I also went with them to their gymnastics class - which was fun to watch. Steve and Rebecca had us over again for dinner. And tonight we are invited to Joel and Kerri's house for dinner. It's nice to have other Innotec families here.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do today. Unfortunately, its foggy and chilly outside. Maybe I'll take a walk around Arteaga and take some pictures to post so you can get an idea of what the town is like.

Torn socks and crunchy underwear

Okay, that sounds gross. But I'm getting used to drying our clothing on a clothes line. And after a long day on the line, clothes aren't as soft as when you take them out of a dryer. Especially when you take them off the line at night when it's cold. The wrinkled/crunchy clothing I can deal with; however, one of Paul and Tamara's dogs has taken a liking to pulling our socks off the line and nawing at them until they they are mangled shreds of nothing. Hopefully the dogs that live near our house don't have the same little hobby. Our neighbors have six dogs, plus our two. Hay muchos perros. I'm imagining eight dogs flocking to my back door everytime I do laundry. It could be a smorgasbor of mass proportions at the VDK clothing line.

Rebecca got her wisdom teeth out and everything seems to have gone well. Thanks for praying.

Paul and Tamara's housekeeper just made me breakfast, which was nice. It's fun to talk with someone who is patient enough to help me understand Spanish. Sometimes we don't completely understand what the other person is saying, but for the most part we both get the general idea.

No hablo espanol

That's a phrase I utter frequently. I really wish I knew the language better. The language barrier makes everything so much more difficult. Yesterday, the maid who works for Paul and Tamara told me that they were out of gas and asked me if she should order more. So I said, Si (which means yes, for those of you who have no Spanish history!) The gas guys showed up in a truck a few minutes ago. The first obstacle was herding four barking, jumping dogs into the house so they wouldn't knock over the gas guys or escape into the streets of Arteaga. What a fiasco! Then the guys kept asking me a bunch of questions in Spanish that I didn't understand. Finally, they filled all the tanks I thought may be empty. Then he wrote a note with the price - which I thought was like a bill we could pay later. No. Apparently they need the money right away. I guess I should've known that. I don't have very many pesos right now. So I was able to explain that I will have the money tomorrow. Well, at least the dogs will have something to look forward to tomorrow. They bark everytime they hear someone walk past the house - and when someone actually knocks on the gate... Oh boy!

On Sunday Michael and I went back to our house and met some of our neighbors (two families). They don't live very close to us - but its just a little walk away. Oscar is our only neighbor who speaks English and he speaks it very well. We have decided to stay at Paul and Tamara's house for a while longer. They have two dogs and two cats and its good for them to have people here. Paul will be returning to Mexico soon. Tamara will stay in Michigan with their four children for a while. Tamara's father passed away a few days ago. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Sunday night Michael and I took a walk to the market here in Arteaga. The market is here every Sunday. We sampled some of the food and enjoyed looking at all the booths. It can be very busy and I get a little clostriphobic at times when people bump into me. If you know me, you probably know how well I handle large crowds of people encircling around me! But going to the market is a lot of fun. If you're planning to visit us, this will most likely be on our agenda.

I'm going to walk over to Steve and Rebbeca Grant's house in a few minutes. Rebecca has to get her wisdom teeth out today. She has been struggling with a lot of pain for the past few days because there is an infection in one tooth. So I'll be playing with her four children for a while. Pray that the surgery goes well.

Mountain ranch adventure

On the saddle

I should be wearing a cowboy hat!

Michael in his element

I tried this one before hopping on the big guy

Beautiful clear night on a mountain ranch

That's gotta hurt!

Rene explains to Michael how to brand a horse

Michael trying his hand at being a cowboy

My turn!

Lots of good Mexican food

Our Mexican casa

It's a little green

Neon green! Pictures really don't do justice.

It's not too hard to explain which house is ours. Maybe not a color I'd pick in the States,
but I'd say its a perfect color for our Mexican casa.

Road trip con perros

Belle enjoying the ride

Inching their way up to the front

Ready for the trip!

Our rental van