Half of this quick trip down to Mexico was to link up with the parents and teachers at the School of the Americas in Puebla. The rich snooty parents were excited about buying American clothes and specifically requested the expensive brands like American Eagle and Gap. Of course, I aim to please so I went shopping and brought a huge variety of clothes for them to select from. I got an email from my friend that the mother organizing the event wanted to reschedule for Monday because Friday was their payday and the teachers didn't get paid until Monday either. What person organizes a shopping event and doesn't know when their payday is going to fall? I asked her to tell the mother that it was this weekend or never. After much back and forth, it ... read more

The alarm went off at 3:15am and I woke right up. Actually, I don't feel like I actually fell asleep but somehow four hours was up and it was time to get moving. I jumped in the shower while José and Mia slept. I don't know how often I'll be bathing while we're in Mexico but it won't be like the comforts of home! I didn't bother to dress Mia and just put her in her pajamas into her carseat and covered her with a blanket. Once again we're going from freezing temperatures to the balmy 60's or 70's I'd imagine. We were able to leave town by 4am so right on schedule. The drive to Portland went quickly but I was very tired and had to really focus on the roads. We made the airport ... read more

Of course, you should know how the story goes by now. We slept in as late as possible which in this case was only about 10am (my body is still ticking to the 8am internal clock though). First mission of the day was to get dressed and walk down to the panaderia to buy breakfast, freshly baked pan dulce. Upon return to the house, I enjoyed my pan dulce with te de canela (cinnamon tea). They had sopa de conejo (rabbit stew) with tortillas, arroz, and frijoles. I don't think that I will ever become accustomed to eating such hearty meals for breakfast. My idea of breakfast is waffles, cereal, pancakes, eggs, or yogurt. Oh well, while in Mexico, try to adapt as best you can. Although to be honest, I don't eat rabbit any time ... read more

Any day when you have to wake up at 5am is already starting off on the wrong foot but it has progressively gotten worse since then. We managed to make it to the airport on time with everyone dressed and so far I haven't forgotten anything, or rather I don't know about anything yet. We arrived at the airport by 6:15am for a 7:15am flight to Los Angeles where we were supposed to arrive at 9:45am and connect to an Alaska Airlines flight to Mexico City departing at 10:30am for a 4pm arrival. Trouble started when we boarded the plane. The plane seats four across with the aisle down the middle so two and two. The tears began when Erika realized that she would be seated next to a large man. I looked at her while ... read more

Another lazy morning where Mia and I slept in until 10am. For this reason, I have changed the medicine dosage times for Mia because 2:30 am/pm was not working. My mother has obviously forgotten the in-the-middle-of-the-night feedings and the necessity of waiting a few hours to give her that first dosage in order to get all the other times on a reasonable schedule. The first time that I tried to wake Mia up from a dead sleep and give her the medicine, I woke the next day to see that most of it had dribbled down her chin and dried in her nose. Mia enjoyed a bowl of cocoa cereal, scrambled egg, and frijoles for breakfast while I sipped on a cup of cinnamon tea and one of the pan dulces that we had purchased last ... read more