New Photos Posted...

For those of you following our adventure to Guadalajara and/or the progress of the Buffalo Grass, here are some new photos (please follow the links to Picasa Web Albums).

Buffalo Grass - August 08
This is how the grass looked before we left for Mexico. A few days before we left there was a big rain that flooded the park behind our house.

Guadalajara
There are more pictures that I haven't taken off of Erik's iPhone yet, but here is a good representation of our adventure. I tried to caption some of the photos so that you know what you are looking at.

Buffalo Grass - September 08
How the grass looked when we got home yesterday. A very kind neighbor pulled all of our weeds while we are gone, and the grass filled in quite a bit as well.

The FULL Palin SNL Skit

I had a hard time finding this, so I thought I'd repost it (in case anyone else was out of the country last week and missed it!).

Adventures in Mexico

Yesterday, our host family offered to drop us off at a nearby "hot springs" for a relaxing afternoon. As hot springs are one of our favorite destinations, we said OK.

On the way to the springs, we stopped at a roadside stand for some fresh and yummy Tamales. We arrived at the pool to find a scene that looked a lot like Boulder Creek on a Sunday afternoon...tons of Mexican families with BBQ's and music, just hanging out and enjoying their day off.

We ate our tamales and changed into our swimsuits. The water was more warm than hot, but enjoyable none the less. After a couple hours of playing in the water we packed up our bags, changed into dry clothes, and headed out.

The bus was not there, so we thought we'd walk around. And that was when our real adventure started. There in the park, we found a rodeo! No admission charge made it even better. There were cross dresser rodeo clowns, caballero's, dancing horses, a full band, and bull rides. I will make sure to supplement this post later with a photo of Erik getting some attention from the clowns.

At the end of the show, the guys sitting next to us struck up a conversation. One of them was very drunk--so drunk he said I look like Brittany Spears! We ended up getting a ride partway home from them (in a car with one working door and no seatbelts). They dropped us off on the side of the highway and hailed us a cab for the rest of the trip home.

All together, we spent about $25 for the day (which included a raffle ticket for a chance to win a bottle of tequilla, and a tip for the entertainment). We were the only gringos anywhere, and I think we were the only tourists of any sort. This is what we came to Mexico for...to be with the people! It was a great time.

Something Exciting Happened on The Bus Today

After almost a month of suffering on the bus for 90 minutes per day, something interesting finally happened on the bus today.

On Friday's long ride home, I happened to look into the window of the next bus over and noticed a guitar player "entertaining" the passengers. I was jealous. And impressed--it requires serious balance to stand on these buses even when holding on to the bar. To ride with no hands, standing, and playing a guitar must take a lot of practice.




For once, I was thankful for Erik's iPhone and all of it's stupid applications. Above is the (choppy) video Erik took. The other passengers don't seem to have enjoyed the entertainment as much as I did.

I was heartbroken when I realized the only money I had on me was $200 pesos (way too much to tip a random guitaristo)...and even more sad to see that nobody else tipped him either. It made my day!

10 Things...

10 Things I Miss About Home:

1. My bed
2. Frankie, Mrs. Beasley, & Dempsey (the cats)
3. Bagels, Sourdough Bread, smoothies, the fresh tomatoes in my yard, a fridge full of cokes, and all of my other favorite foods
4. My car and mobility
5. The Dishwasher
6. Having a job and something important to do every day
7. Washcloths
8. My yard, the buffalo grass, and my flowers
9. TIVO & Cable On Demand
10. Speaking without worrying about whether or not what I say is being understood
    

10 Things I Will Miss About Mexico:

1. Tiendas & Mini-Supers
2. Salsa with every meal
3. Colorful buildings & houses
4. Pinkie the Ferret & Chido the Kitten
5. Learning something new every day
6. The bus...NOT!
7. Inexpensive beers & food
8. The best chocolate crossaints EVER
9. Our great family here
10. The lack of rules
    

20 Sights You See In Guadalajara

1. Shoe Stores. Lots of them. Today I counted 10 on one block.
   
2. Buses (Camiones). But don't expect to find a route map or a schedule anywhere. The locals seem to have the routes memorized.
3. Fruit Stands. These come in two forms -- larger tiendas (corner stores) that prop open their garage like doors every day and sell all the fruits and veggies you'd buy in the grocery store and then some, or small corner stands that slice up melons and sell them in a plastic cup.
4. Litter. Seems there has never been a "Keep Mexico Beautiful" campaign. And good luck finding a trash can.
5. Concrete. Houses, buildings, streets, sidewalks...everything is made of concrete. And along with this, you will find in the window of every hardware store wheel-barrow's and bags of concrete mix.
6. Churches. One cab driver told me there are 450 churches in Guadalajara...Catholic of course. Most of them have bells that they ring on the hour, half hour, sometimes on the quarter hour, and occasionally at other times that don't seem to have much logic (maybe it is a call to mass?). Most churches have either a fountain or a "kioska" (a gazebo) in their courtyard.
7. Kids in Uniform. Seems most of the kids go to private school, especially the younger ones. The little kids wear green pants with green sweaters, the teenage girls wear the good old schoolgirl plaid skirts with white polo shirts. To dress it up, they wear funky socks.
8. People in Pickups. I'm pretty sure it is illegal in most places in the states to ride in the back of a pickup truck (no seat belts), but here it is common place. I've seen cops riding in the back of trucks, little kids standing in traffic, and tired workers taking naps in the back of trucks without back ends to keep them in.
   
9. Homeless People with Deformed Feet & Legs. Seems the Rotary Club might have missed Guadalajara. To their credit though, the homeless people are pretty few and far between (considering the population is 4 million)
   
10. Opticos. Almost every block in the city has an optical store. They've also all got a "mini-super" (a tiny convenience store), a shoe store, a paper store (because gift wrap gets its own store here) and a costume shop.
    
11. Dulces (sweets). Three forms: candy, ice cream, and "pan de dulces" (bakeries). As a result, you will also notice that most women over 30 pack on a few extra pounds.
12. Homes. Tons and tons of them. The city seems to have a never ending sprawl of residential areas. The houses are all skinny and built adjacent to each other, like row homes. Interestingly, this seems to be true of all income classes--we went on a drive around what I would call a "richie neighborhood" and those houses were adjoined as well--just bigger.
    
13. Old Colonial Buildings. The heart of the city is 450 years old and the architecture reflects it. My favorite part are the pigeons that congregate in the plazas.
14. People Selling Random Stuff. Toys, keychains, fresh potato chips (which of course you douse in hot sauce and lime), fruit, bubble wands, sticks of gum, magazines, newspapers, popsicles, window washings, you name it...
15. Tile. Many of the sidewalks are paved in tile. On top of concrete, of course.
16. Roundabouts. An attempt to manage the insane traffic. Most of them have very lovely fountains in the middle.
17. Tacos & Abogados. There are taco stands everywhere. Some are permanent restaurants, others are mobile street stands. Most of the restaurants also sell abogados (I'm probably spelling that wrong), which are something like a philly cheese steak--shredded meat, beens, and hot sauce on a hoagie bun. I'm not a big fan of the abogados but Erik likes them.
    
18. Jesus. Of course this is pronounced "Hey-soos". He's everywhere. Every bus has at least one, and there are numerous billboards around town.
19. Farmacias. My favorite is the one with the "Doctor Similar" mascot. No difficulty finding a place to fill your Rx here.
    
20. Delivery Drivers on Mopeds. No matter what the weather, if you order your food to go, it comes via moped. And you should see the "all weather" getup that the driver wears. With the almost daily rain shower, this is much needed.