Update and my second Friday the 13th here

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Again, not to worry with the date. All good here in the Yucatan.

Updates in General: And I'm going to put in some translations that are really more for me than y'all.

DHL in the states has now called me and maybe will have some sort of resolution by Monday, July 16th.

Eating out: Cheddars has some great french fries (papases fritas) with salt (sal) and everything!

Sweet tea (dulce te) in Texas has NOTHING on the Yucatan. I have to special order unsweetened (sin azucarar)
or go into sugar shock! Then it's all instant tea unless you make it yourself at your house (casa).

I saw my first iguana here! Crossing the street (calle) about a block and a half over from the apartment (departamentos). Not common for me to see here. Many in Cozumel and Cancun, but I hadn't seen any here before now. May be because I stay in such populated areas, but then I was in resorts in the other places....

My Mexican cell phone (teléfono celular) (I bought a Nokia with Telcel as the service provider) now allows me to text to the Beaumont and Houston areas! Soooo excited. Can't get to Grant in Dallas, but think I need to add it to his plan as international texting. Then I'm set and maybe can cut some Verizon bills. Don't know if it costs y'all or not so beware. We'll all see when the next bills come in. If you want me to text you so you can just reply, let me know. Other than that, only really special friends that may not care about charges (I hope) are being texted. If I find out that you in the states don't have over a normal text charge, I tell y'all.

I'm down to my last pack of Marlboro Light 100s. Alas, I'll have to go back to the short cigs. Although friends here say I don't really smoke the 100s all the way to the filter anyway (never smoke to the filter - bad for you, like smoking isn't?).

I finally got an appointment with the Immigration office on Wednesday morning and got fingerprinted, signed the last (hopefully) forms, put the ugly photos on the appropriate pages and should receive my FM3 passport soon! Sported nonwashable green (really more aqua) inked thumbs all day. Scrubbed my hands all day and with alcohol (no, not my Jack) that night and got it all off.

On the way to the Immigration office, my personal 'legal assistant', a real cutie Grant's age that is in college for his law degree and spent time in school in Mississippi so speaks English well, told me that a Cuban had been shot and killed the day before just steps from the Immigration office. Said that police believe it was other Cubans that knew where he would be and killed him. Said that gun crimes here are not normal except by foreigners (there's a rule that no one can own a gun over a 32 caliber - damn - and you still have to have a permit to own one). He showed me the spot of the crime but we found no blood.... Paper next day said he was part of a Cuban mafia, that he lived in Cancun but had a brother here and that other mafia members had executed him.

Work still good and intense. But it's not at all stressful like I've had for all these years. Okay, it is a little stessful because they are taking the procedures I've been building to an audit in Tokyo on August 1st and I still haven't gotten all the info I need. Mexico is famous for manana.... Haven't been sent off to Valladolid like expected. That's okay. Just keep me working in Paradise please!

Car rental agreement has been changed now to work more in my favor and I'm added to the company's car insurance. That's all a good thing.

Grant is well, misses his mommy, but happy that she's happy. (He'd better be!)

Nancy has ANOTHER trip planned for the end of August. To Hawaii. I swear you'd think she's a travel agent (but she's just enjoying Gabriel's paycheck!). And LOVES her hubby! Still haven't gotten the two of them here for a visit.

I have a wish list of places I want to visit outside of the Yucatan and states, but traveling from Merida involves much time and money. Looks like it's faster and cheaper to fly to Houston and then to where I want to go. Crazy!

Merida is the capital of the Yucatan and so all the stores, car dealers, big places are here (not counting the Mom and Pop stores in the other towns). So this place can get really cramped with people! Just when you think all are at the beach or back to work from the extended lunch (2:30 ish to 4:30 ish in the afternoon and mainly because the restaurants are so laid back and take their time) you still can't find a parking spot at the mall (closest to me is the Gran Plaza) or grocery store (closest to me is at the Gran Plaza and called Comercial Mexicana). I went to the mall grocery store at 6 this evening and there wasn't a parking place within blocks. Went back about 8:30, found a space and bought Jack Daniels (Whiskey Jack Daniels - no surprise there) (700 ml for $23.15 USD - it's a different price everytime I buy it but I am not complaining when I can find it ) ! In the meanwhile I had gone to the local 7-11 and bought a loaf of whole wheat bread (pan integral) for $1.86 USD, regular pork skins (chicharron de cerdo) $0.76, bacon (tocino ahumado reban) $2.72 and a 6 pack of 16 oz Sol beer (Cerveza Sol Lata) $6.42. Talk about convenience! And if my CPA is really good, maybe this a work related deduction, less the beer and Jack, of course, or if he's really good...

Soccer (futbol) is really big here. And I'm really getting into it for some reason. Thursday's game was Mexico vs. the Congo (as in Africa). In the first half, a Congo guy got hit in his privates pretty hard. When he was finally able to sit up, the people helping him bounced him up and down on the ground (sitting up). So, I just have to ask: Guys, would this be a relief ???? Then, periodically, they would show him with the medics or whatever trying to attend to him and touching him.... ugh. He was finally able to walk (sorta) off to wherever they took him. Poor baby.

Okay, enough with the Spanish words in the blog....

Another hopeful tax deduction: I hired a friend of MariaJose's (Jo at the office) to try to teach me some conversational Spanish. He's going to have to force me though because no one else does. Says he will speak to me only in Spanish (after a brief English - Spanish course) unless I just won't take it all. See, it's not that I can't. I just don't think I really want to speak the language (til I get in a bind probably). So, I suggested our first lesson should be at the beach ! Yeah, he was surprised too, but pleasantly I think. I want to know what I'm ordering on a menu before I get it, I want to point and say 'teach me to say what that is', help me buy good crap from a vendor in their language (even though they all speak enough English to tell you how many USD instead of pesos! Then I pay them in pesos as if they said it instead of USD and ask for change.) Progreso is a big little town. They have the beach of course with all the vendors, but the other part of Progreso has the markets, the real stores, the government buildings, and all the bars for the locals.

Yes I have an agenda to learn the language (if I pursue it) and it doesn't involve just sitting in a classroom or my living room and repeating what someone said.

Next, I want to go with him downtown Merida for the weekend party so he can teach me about some city life things. Then, drive around town with me to get me comfortable in looking for parking lots and not driving the wrong way on the streets ! Don't ask. And I want to know how to read the bus destinations (and not get whiplash) and how to ride them and get off of them. My kind of classroom. See why Mr. Brock didn't want me to quit substitute teaching? I'm different and the kids loved it even if the other teachers didn't!

I think I'll have to lose some of my Texas drawl with this process. That's another reason I don't speak in Spanish. I say the right words and know I am, but have to repeat myself several times until they understand. Manuel smiles at me when I repeat something to him and says I said it correctly but too much accent (meaning Texan because I asked).

Well this has been a work in progress for a couple of evenings now so I'll close. Will update with the Spanish lesson progress later and maybe non beach related pictures.

Adiós y buonas noches!

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