Crossing Borders The Guatemalan border is just a short drive from San Ignacio, but getting across the border involved paying an exit tax for all of us and the car, getting the car sprayed with insecticide, paying for the spray, paying to get into Guatemala (both us and the car) and lastly paying to go across the bridge into Guatemala. It was about a 30 minute process with no signs anywhere. Some enterprising people were earning their money by leading us by the hand through the process (it was worth it to us because we didn’t have to stand in line [View Full Entry]

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Back to the Mainland A great idea John and Joan had was to take a trip inland and visit Tikal, in Guatemala. Along the way we could make a stop-over in the city of San Ignacio, located just a few miles from the border with Guatemala. There are lots of eco tourism options in San Ignacio and it’s at the halfway point to Tikal (one of the largest Mayan ruins discovered). Sounded great to us and since there were 4 of us, it made more sense to rent a car; making our lives a lot easier. Our road trip began by [View Full Entry]

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A Vacation from a Vacation Yes, it does seem strange to take a vacation while being on vacation but after 8 months of living in Mexico we were ready for a change. So we decided we’d head to Belize for a few weeks, to join my sister, Joan, and her husband John on the island of Caye Caulker. They had been visiting the island for the past 5 years and this gave us an opportunity to take a vacation while also getting in some quality time with family. Flying there was funny, in the sense that we had to fly back [View Full Entry]

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Closing in on One Year Hi everybody. It’s been awhile since we checked in. What can I say? Life is so relaxing and beautiful down here we couldn’t drag ourselves to the computer to give you an update. We have been here for 8 months now and it’s been absolutely great. San Miguel has carved itself into our list of favorites. Now it reads, favorite city: Paris, favorite country: Thailand, favorite place to live: San Miguel de Allende. Between the culture, the weather and the friends we have made, this place is very hard to leave and some of our friends [View Full Entry]

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Relaxing days in San Miguel So, here we are, 3 months into our Mexico adventure and life is getting better each day. The weather in San Miguel remains perfect day after day. We still get light rain showers most afternoons, but it doesn’t last long, and keeps the place from drying out. We love the loud, earth shaking thunderstorms that keep us glued to the window in amazement, bringing that fresh, rain scented breeze into the house. Since the last journal blog, we’ve finished Spanish school, had a visit from Craig (fellow Oregonian / world traveler) and have had a [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in San Miguel de Allende on Sunday, 1 July 2007, and heaved a great sigh of relief. Before I get into anything let me tell you about the busses. The bus stations in San Luis de Potosi, Queretoro and San Miguel are very organized and clean. There are first class (these are the express which don't stop, get there faster and cost a bit more, they have TV showing, a/c and a toilet in the back), very comfortable and clean; and second class busses (which stop everywhere), have no a/c but are still okay. Both Upon entering you [View Full Entry]

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San Luis Potosi, Mexico Well, here we are in San Luis Potosi and Iraq seems a long time ago. We know everyone thought we were a bit loco moving down here and in the last couple of days we were quick to agree with them. The first week in a new place is always stressful and when you add the fact of an unfamiliar language and customs it makes it worse, but we are pulling through. By day three we have found and moved into more permanent accomodation and are slowing picking up the language. Our Spanish class starts in [View Full Entry]

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In our previous journal (blog), we mentioned that our NYC mini-vacation was part of a long overdue visit with family in Oregon. It sure was nice being home, surround by the familiar and comforting things we enjoy; not to mention that it is such a beautiful state. We divided up our time in Oregon between visiting Kathy’s family in the north and Mike’s family in the south. We picked up our rental car at the Portland airport ($15/day through Priceline) and headed up the beautiful Columbia River Gorge towards The Dalles. Not much had changed in The Dalles (the place [View Full Entry]

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It’s been over 2 years since we made our first transfer through Baghdad International airport. It reminded us of an old movie set that had been filmed many years ago and now was rarely used. After many trips that have filled our passports with Entry & Exit stamps, very little has changed. Small things such as the tiny Duty Free shop opening, electricity being restored and a few more Iraqi civilians spotted here and there. Still, very little when you consider it’s been over 4 years since the airport, and most of the country, came to a crashing stop. So [View Full Entry]

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With the approach of April, it was time again for another vacation. We had more then our share of foreign destinations since coming to Iraq over 2 years ago, so we decided to head back to the U.S. and visit with family for a change. We both agreed it would be a nice to be able to read the signs in the airport and streets, so it was back to the west coast, plus a 4 day stop-over in New York City. After all, no reason we couldn’t squeeze in a mini-vacation during the visit. Since this was our 2 year [View Full Entry]

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