Our Last Week in Queretaro

---

Leaving Mexico

Our last week in Mexico was bitter sweet. The kids are ready to return. They miss there friends and want to be back in our home. I am sad, but also excited about our drive home. On Monday we agree on the departure date and set the weeks plans. We spend a lot of time talking about our time in Mexico and how we have all enjoyed the experience.

Out last 3 days proved to be a bit rough. First, we planned to leave on Saturday morning. Wednesday morning I was working on the blog when suddenly, I started feeling pretty bad. My stomach was doing flips and in between flips it sounded like there were 6 foot swells. Within 30 minutes I was in bed feeling much like a person that has drank way to much feels. 2 hours later Teresa joined me. 6 months in Mexico and neither one of got sick until our final week in the country!! That is just not right. By Thursday afternoon I was moving but feeling quite yucky! We had planned to celebrate our last week in Queretaro by going to one of the best restaurants in town. No way that was going to happening now. Neither Teresa nor I felt like a big Mexican meal. But even worse, 2 days in bed really put us way behind in packing. We decided to drive into Santa Rosa (a very small village about 5 minutes drive from our house) and have a light dinner at our favorite restaurant. As I am parking the car, Teresa and the kids spot a very small poodle puppy in a cage at a veterinarian’s office. I need to give you the right picture. Think small rural farm veterinarian in the middle of the village. Wood floor, bales of straw, chickens, horse food and a cage of 3 poodle puppies. Teresa and girls go crazy; they have to have one. I am trying to explain that we CAN’T buy a puppy one or 2 days before we leave. I stand on the sidewalk refusing to get close to the dog while the 3 of them pet and hug this Mexican mutt. We finally go to eat. Any wild guess what was discussed at dinner? We go back to the store after dinner and I fold under the pressure. I say, if I can get all of the paperwork done, we can get the dog. I go the US Immigration website and read about bringing back dogs from Mexico. I print the forms, fill them out. Two of our Mexican friends come over to say good-bye. They are excited for us about the dog. We return to the store and they help me explain to the veterinarian what I need on the forms to get the dog across the border. We get all of the paper work done and get the dog. The girls are thrilled! Her name is Bella (in Spanish this means “Beauty.”) So, we will now travel for 36 hours with a Mexican Poodle (note, I am no longer allowed to call her a mutt, she is a pure breed Mexican Poodle!

All week we were putting all the stuff we bought and did not want to take back to the USA together to sell. I had decided that I would drive into Santa Rosa and sell everything. So, by 11:00 a.m. on Friday I have it all loaded into the car (toaster, coffee maker, all kinds of kitchen stuff, sheets, blankets, toys.) To my amazement it was a lot of stuff. The car was crammed full. My plan was to just drive to the village center and put a sigh on the hood announcing “semi-new stuff for sale.” I decided that I would price everything really cheap. I drove into town and parked in the center and started to unload. Oh my gosh…..when the people realized that I was selling, they came from everywhere. 20 minutes later, everything was sold. I have 5 and 6 people trying to talk to me all at once. I sold our kitchen wastebasket twice. Everyone is asking when I will return to sell. When I returned to the house, Teresa and the kids were shocked how fast I sold everything.

By 12:30 p.m. we thought we could still pull off a Saturday morning departure. But suddenly our electricity was no longer functioning. At first I thought it would be back on very soon. Then I walked the neighborhood and realized immediately that we were the only house without electricity - not good. I called CFE (the electric company) and I learned that our bill was due on the 20th and we had not paid it. It was a whopping $220 pesos (about $20 US) and for this serious offense they had disconnected our electricity. The nice person on the phone assured me that the electricity could be reconnected by Monday if we paid today - Monday! Wait, but we will be in the USA on Monday. Ok, so no electricity. Hum……..that means everything has to be done before nightfall. Ok, but what about the vacuum packed bags? Well, I will just have to drive somewhere with electricity and a vacuum sweeper. Ok, half my day is spent shuttling back and forth to the car wash place. But by 7:30 all of our cloths are vacuum sealed and the whole lot is squeezed into the carrier on top of the car. The house is a wreck and we are still working on the kids stuff - by 8:30 p.m. darkness starts to fall over the house and all hope is lost for an early morning departure. At 9:00 p.m. we decide to bag the packing and spend the evening together talking about our six months in Mexico. We go to bed around 10:00 p.m. and get up early. A hard morning of packing and cleaning and we are ready to pull out of the house by 12:00 p.m. Out destination for today is Real de Catorce.

---