We were all out of bed early this morning so Robin and Enid could make their 7:30am flight to Los Angeles. They will be attending the wedding of Robin’s cousin Bill this weekend, and then going on a short cruise with Robin’s parents and brother. The cruise ship is traveling, ironically enough, to Mexico and back (to Ensenada, in Baja California). I’ll be flying out to meet them in northern California next Saturday and we’ll spend the holidays there, returning to Monterrey January 2nd. But for the next week I get to enjoy the carefree bachelor life.
Last night was the “posada” at Enid’s preschool. It wasn’t a real posada (which, I’m given to understand, are increasingly rare these days) but actually a little Christmas show performed by the kids, followed by a catered meal. Since we’re talking about a preschool, obviously the performances were not very elaborate. The four year olds (Enid’s class) were able to (kind of) sing a song and dance in unison. The two and three year olds mostly just stood there and looked cute in their costumes. But everyone received plenty of heartfelt applause anyway, and a good time was had by all.
We also went to another posada with my coworkers on Monday night. That one was also mostly just a holiday party, but we did at least light candles and sing a brief version of the traditional posada songs, plus we broke a piñata. The party was at a guy named Hector’s house way out of town, and we had to slog through rush hour traffic for about an hour to get there, and then keep Enid up way past her usual bedtime, but it turned out to be worth it since it was a really fun party.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
A Story From Toad
This is a story that begins with a story that I forgot to include in my list of things to blog about (see immediately previous post): "First Forum Outing". We have visited the World Forum Festival here in Monterrey several times. There are photos and descriptions of it in the last "kodakgallery.com" album that I sent out and Marc has discussed it in this blog. But our first real experience took place on October 5th.
It was the 2nd week of the 80-day festival and I really wanted to take advantage of the offerings. I really wanted Enid to, too. The thing is, the paper Programs, printed weekly and widely available in public locations, were not user friendly nor was the website. There was lots of information but no clear and easy way to get specific and non-equivocal dates, places and times for various performances. I literally spent hours online at the website trying to piece it all together and then another hour trying to use the very aggravating "superboletos" (supertickets) website to actually purchase my tickets. Superboletos gives you a time limit for getting your business done, but if you are a 1st time user they also require all kinds of 'registration' information. This takes way longer to complete than the time they give you. I chipped away at it getting a little closer each time before getting booted. Eventually I got my tickets. I picked two shows: one for Friday after school - El Mundo Al Reves (The World, Backward) and one for the weekend that all three of us could go to - a play at the Teatro de Los Ninos called "Ombligo de la Luna" (Bellybutton of the Moon).
But the tickets had to be picked up at a local outlet. So I had to figure out where these outlets were. And fast because it was the Thursday before the show. I went Friday morning to Saharis, a vendor of CDs, DVDs, and show tickets. I waited. I waited some more. There was only one man in front of me but the guy who distributes the tickets wasn't there. I give up and decide I'll go back in a couple of hours, maybe he'll decide to come to work by then. I return. They guy is there. I wait. I wait some more. There is only one pair of women in front of me. I am now late to pick up Enid from school and the play starts in 2 hours. I get pushy and say in my poor Spanish, I just need to pick up some tickets and I am late to get my daughter from school. They say in their good Spanish - the computer is down and we can't issue tickets until it is working. I try to confirm in my poor Spanish that I can pick up the tickets from the taquilla (ticket box) on site at the Forum. "Yes", they say, “but the line will be long and I should just go to the Saharis at the mall down the road.” Sounds like a benign suggestion but I have never driven to this mall and there is no place here that can be accessed the way that it looks like it can be accessed on the map. (Incidentally since this story took place I have gotten accustomed to the way streets work and have much less difficulty getting to where I have to go. However, I still follow my basic protocol for going anywhere new: first, two drive-bys for reconnaissance, then an initial attempt just to get a feel for it, dress rehearsal if you will, and then a final attempt to actually arrive.)
So I race to pick up Enid from school. I make my 3 attempts to get to the mall. We arrive on the 4th try. Then I run across the mall with Enid to pick up our tickets. Enid is superbly cooperative and amused by our state of haste. (A proud parenting moment when your attempts to make chaos into something fun, works!) It becomes a true adventure and now I am enjoying the challenge of whether or not I can pull this off. The thing is, I still have to drive us home and get us across town. By Bus. Without knowledge of which bus we need because there is no such thing as a bus schedule. The show starts in 1 hour.
I get us home, make and pack lunch because there’s no time to eat, get Enid to use the toilet, discuss the possibility of taking a cab instead of the bus and am convinced by Enid that we should give the bus a chance (she loves the bus). I run with Enid in the stroller 4 blocks to the bus stop. We take whichever comes first, the bus or the taxi. Bus 214 comes. I know it will get us to the MacroPlaza. I ask if he goes all the way to Parque Fundidora (location of the Forum). “No.” I ask where we can transfer to catch a bus that goes there. He tells me. I fumble for change. While we wait for our stop I try to memorize the numbers of the buses that we can take to our destination. We get off. We wait and wait. Lots of buses, all with the wrong numbers. The show starts in 10 minutes. I see a taxi. I run across the street with Enid and ask how much to Parque Fundidora (like it matters!). We get in. I convince (maybe?) Enid that it is OK in this instance to ride in a car without a car seat. Again the crazy streets foil me and I fail to notice the entrance closest to our destination because it is in the middle of the freeway off ramp. So I tell our taxi driver to let us off at the next entrance. It is the main entrance and about half a mile from where we need to be. Off and running again! We arrive and thankfully we are not late, there is still a line of people waiting outside. Sweet Success!!
As we wait in line I piece together that the way this show works is that 12 people go into the theater at a time. It takes place in the dark at El Teatro de los Sentidos (the Theatre of the Senses). It is participatory and a real “experience”. This is why I wanted to go and to take Enid. I am excited that it will be an “intimate” thing because I was wondering how it would work with a room full of people. We inch closer. I start hearing about young kids not being allowed. We get to the front. The woman tells us Enid is too small. I tell her Enid is not afraid of the dark at all (very true). The woman hesitates. She says children under 8 are not allowed. I say Enid is a good kid and repeat that she is not afraid of the dark. I also point out that the program says nothing about age limits only that it is for adults and kids. She goes to talk to someone. “No.” I totally understand why they won’t do it but I am pissed about how super un-user friendly this whole experience has been and I tell her so - in ridiculously bad Spanish. She says they can reimburse the cost of the tickets. All I have to do is walk a mile across the park to the office with my uber-cooperative but disappointed and crying 3 year old!
I opt instead for the free Marionettas Aquaticas show, which was starting across the way in about 15 minutes. And this weekend, on December 1st, I finally made it to the office and got reimbursed! They were actually very efficient and friendly about it and we used the money to buy tickets to the circus that is there this week. It was a great circus and we all three had a really nice afternoon and evening.
The End.
It was the 2nd week of the 80-day festival and I really wanted to take advantage of the offerings. I really wanted Enid to, too. The thing is, the paper Programs, printed weekly and widely available in public locations, were not user friendly nor was the website. There was lots of information but no clear and easy way to get specific and non-equivocal dates, places and times for various performances. I literally spent hours online at the website trying to piece it all together and then another hour trying to use the very aggravating "superboletos" (supertickets) website to actually purchase my tickets. Superboletos gives you a time limit for getting your business done, but if you are a 1st time user they also require all kinds of 'registration' information. This takes way longer to complete than the time they give you. I chipped away at it getting a little closer each time before getting booted. Eventually I got my tickets. I picked two shows: one for Friday after school - El Mundo Al Reves (The World, Backward) and one for the weekend that all three of us could go to - a play at the Teatro de Los Ninos called "Ombligo de la Luna" (Bellybutton of the Moon).
But the tickets had to be picked up at a local outlet. So I had to figure out where these outlets were. And fast because it was the Thursday before the show. I went Friday morning to Saharis, a vendor of CDs, DVDs, and show tickets. I waited. I waited some more. There was only one man in front of me but the guy who distributes the tickets wasn't there. I give up and decide I'll go back in a couple of hours, maybe he'll decide to come to work by then. I return. They guy is there. I wait. I wait some more. There is only one pair of women in front of me. I am now late to pick up Enid from school and the play starts in 2 hours. I get pushy and say in my poor Spanish, I just need to pick up some tickets and I am late to get my daughter from school. They say in their good Spanish - the computer is down and we can't issue tickets until it is working. I try to confirm in my poor Spanish that I can pick up the tickets from the taquilla (ticket box) on site at the Forum. "Yes", they say, “but the line will be long and I should just go to the Saharis at the mall down the road.” Sounds like a benign suggestion but I have never driven to this mall and there is no place here that can be accessed the way that it looks like it can be accessed on the map. (Incidentally since this story took place I have gotten accustomed to the way streets work and have much less difficulty getting to where I have to go. However, I still follow my basic protocol for going anywhere new: first, two drive-bys for reconnaissance, then an initial attempt just to get a feel for it, dress rehearsal if you will, and then a final attempt to actually arrive.)
So I race to pick up Enid from school. I make my 3 attempts to get to the mall. We arrive on the 4th try. Then I run across the mall with Enid to pick up our tickets. Enid is superbly cooperative and amused by our state of haste. (A proud parenting moment when your attempts to make chaos into something fun, works!) It becomes a true adventure and now I am enjoying the challenge of whether or not I can pull this off. The thing is, I still have to drive us home and get us across town. By Bus. Without knowledge of which bus we need because there is no such thing as a bus schedule. The show starts in 1 hour.
I get us home, make and pack lunch because there’s no time to eat, get Enid to use the toilet, discuss the possibility of taking a cab instead of the bus and am convinced by Enid that we should give the bus a chance (she loves the bus). I run with Enid in the stroller 4 blocks to the bus stop. We take whichever comes first, the bus or the taxi. Bus 214 comes. I know it will get us to the MacroPlaza. I ask if he goes all the way to Parque Fundidora (location of the Forum). “No.” I ask where we can transfer to catch a bus that goes there. He tells me. I fumble for change. While we wait for our stop I try to memorize the numbers of the buses that we can take to our destination. We get off. We wait and wait. Lots of buses, all with the wrong numbers. The show starts in 10 minutes. I see a taxi. I run across the street with Enid and ask how much to Parque Fundidora (like it matters!). We get in. I convince (maybe?) Enid that it is OK in this instance to ride in a car without a car seat. Again the crazy streets foil me and I fail to notice the entrance closest to our destination because it is in the middle of the freeway off ramp. So I tell our taxi driver to let us off at the next entrance. It is the main entrance and about half a mile from where we need to be. Off and running again! We arrive and thankfully we are not late, there is still a line of people waiting outside. Sweet Success!!
As we wait in line I piece together that the way this show works is that 12 people go into the theater at a time. It takes place in the dark at El Teatro de los Sentidos (the Theatre of the Senses). It is participatory and a real “experience”. This is why I wanted to go and to take Enid. I am excited that it will be an “intimate” thing because I was wondering how it would work with a room full of people. We inch closer. I start hearing about young kids not being allowed. We get to the front. The woman tells us Enid is too small. I tell her Enid is not afraid of the dark at all (very true). The woman hesitates. She says children under 8 are not allowed. I say Enid is a good kid and repeat that she is not afraid of the dark. I also point out that the program says nothing about age limits only that it is for adults and kids. She goes to talk to someone. “No.” I totally understand why they won’t do it but I am pissed about how super un-user friendly this whole experience has been and I tell her so - in ridiculously bad Spanish. She says they can reimburse the cost of the tickets. All I have to do is walk a mile across the park to the office with my uber-cooperative but disappointed and crying 3 year old!
I opt instead for the free Marionettas Aquaticas show, which was starting across the way in about 15 minutes. And this weekend, on December 1st, I finally made it to the office and got reimbursed! They were actually very efficient and friendly about it and we used the money to buy tickets to the circus that is there this week. It was a great circus and we all three had a really nice afternoon and evening.
The End.
Monday, November 26, 2007
"Blah", said a voice from inside the house...
"Toad", said Frog, "it's your turn to post". "I am not here" said the voice from a corner of the room. "Don't be silly", said Frog, "The blogosphere is waiting"...
Toad blinked at the glowing screen. "I will make a list", she said. Toad typed on her computer screen: "A List of Topics To Blog About". Then she typed “I am a Toad who would rather think her thoughts than type them," I have done that post now, thought Toad, and crossed it out. Then, Toad typed:
Enid's class trip to the pet store
(Not) learning a foreign language
"You are a mom who realizes a lot of things"
Enid's Birthday: Part 1 - the no shows; Part 2 - Princesses & Barbie dolls
Embracing the mall
It's Freakin' Hot! (September) - inside house temp 90degrees
It's Freakin' Cold! (late November) - inside house temp 55 degrees
Things I am thankful for
Things Enid is thankful for
My life at the corner of Amazonas y Tamazunchale
Store receipts
Getting to know your husband through the blogoshpere
"There," said Toad, "concentrate hard and my stories will come to you..."
Toad blinked at the glowing screen. "I will make a list", she said. Toad typed on her computer screen: "A List of Topics To Blog About". Then she typed “I am a Toad who would rather think her thoughts than type them," I have done that post now, thought Toad, and crossed it out. Then, Toad typed:
Enid's class trip to the pet store
(Not) learning a foreign language
"You are a mom who realizes a lot of things"
Enid's Birthday: Part 1 - the no shows; Part 2 - Princesses & Barbie dolls
Embracing the mall
It's Freakin' Hot! (September) - inside house temp 90degrees
It's Freakin' Cold! (late November) - inside house temp 55 degrees
Things I am thankful for
Things Enid is thankful for
My life at the corner of Amazonas y Tamazunchale
Store receipts
Getting to know your husband through the blogoshpere
"There," said Toad, "concentrate hard and my stories will come to you..."
Monday, November 19, 2007
Today is a holiday in México (Día de la Revolución) so I got the day off from work and Enid got the day off from school. Robin and I thought about taking a family trip somewhere for the three-day weekend, but ultimately decided that we shouldn’t spend the money. So we’ve just been at home most of the weekend, except for some shopping errands. It’s nice to relax, but keeping Enid entertained all day for three days in a row is challenging. Robin has more stamina for playing with her than I do, probably in part because she gets plenty of practice during the week while I’m at work. I held up my end fairly well Saturday and Sunday, but unfortunately I woke up this morning feeling very run-down and tired, like perhaps I’m starting to get a cold or something. Mercifully, Robin has taken Enid up to Parque Chipinque this afternoon, so I’m getting a little break. I probably should be napping, but I don’t want to get too much sleep during the day and then not be able to sleep tonight. I recently started taking Xanax for insomnia and anxiety symptoms that were getting out of control, and I’m just starting to enjoy some solid, deep sleep again so I don’t want to mess that up.
The hot weather seems to be finished for the year. The climate is now quite comfortable most of the time, and we’ve even had one or two days that were downright chilly. It’s quite variable though, and a cool, cloudy day is often followed by a warm, sunny day. Maybe things will get colder in December or January, but if the recent weather is representative of the winter here then we certainly will have nothing to complain about. Well, nothing except the bad smell that often fills the air in our neighborhood on cool mornings. I’m not sure what it is, but it has the sulfurous smell of an oil refinery. There is a lot of industry in the parts of town west of us, so I suspect it’s blowing in from somewhere over there. Unfortunately poor air quality is one of the major sacrifices we had to come to terms with when we decided to move here. I can only hope that one year of it won’t do to much damage to Enid’s developing lungs. Hopefully all the time she spends breathing relatively clean air in Hawaii will help make up for it.
The Christmas season has already begun in Monterrey. Since they don’t have Thanksgiving, I guess they have no reason to wait. Twinkling lights are strung up all over town, and the stores are full of tacky seasonal brick-a-brack, fresh off the boat from China. It seems like the consumerism associated with Christmas is every bit as over-the-top here as it is in the USA. I am studiously ignoring it to the best of my abilities.
I did, however, feel obliged to take note of the current holiday and learn more about the Mexican Revolution this weekend (I got the day off work because of it, after all). So I took the path of least scholarly resistance and read the Wikipedia entry about it. I was quickly reminded why I abandoned my last attempt to gain some familiarity with Mexican political history: it is an endless, jumbled, convoluted mess of events and personalities that essentially defies any attempts to put it “in a nutshell”. Nonetheless, for the edification of my readers, here is my three-sentence encapsulation of what the Mexican Revolution was all about. There was a president named Porfirio Díaz who managed, through rigged elections and brutal suppression of opposition, to rule Mexico for thirty or forty years around the turn of the century. Finally, in 1910, a cabal of “revolutionaries” (including Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and future Mexican presidents Madero, Obregon, and Carranza among others) fought a bloody war to unseat him. But after doing so they began to fight amongst themselves over power for the next several years, giving rise to a long period of bloodshed and instability that ultimately resulted in the Mexican constitution of 1917 and (eventually) political stabilization under the domination of the PRI political party.
That is the short story. The long story is a lot more confusing, but of course more interesting too. Note that the Mexican Revolution was not a war for independence like the American Revolution. They had one of those too, but we already celebrated it back in September on Día de la Independencia.
Not much else new to report. We got Enid some new jigsaw puzzles, which she is enjoying. The 35-piece rain forest puzzle she has done twice now, more or less on her own. The 300-piece Noah’s Ark puzzle she is slowly assembling with help from Robin. She is also continuing to sound out written words, edging her way towards early literacy. Her Spanish skills also continue to flourish. We aren’t pushing that very hard at home, just letting it come naturally though her time at school.
At work things are starting to inch forward at last. We’ve put together a basic research plan, and the necessary reagents are beginning to trickle in. I was actually able to do some work at the bench last week. Even though it was just some small, simple tasks, I found it remarkably satisfying to get my hands into the work after three months of being stuck in an office. Now my priority for the next few weeks is to get as many of my supply orders as possible shepherded through the university’s (slow and often unreliable) purchasing system before the lengthy work stoppage that I’m told will occur next month (due to the winter holidays). If I can get the orders placed before then, hopefully the distributors will deliver our reagents and consumables quickly enough to allow for an immediate burst of productivity once the spring semester begins.
The hot weather seems to be finished for the year. The climate is now quite comfortable most of the time, and we’ve even had one or two days that were downright chilly. It’s quite variable though, and a cool, cloudy day is often followed by a warm, sunny day. Maybe things will get colder in December or January, but if the recent weather is representative of the winter here then we certainly will have nothing to complain about. Well, nothing except the bad smell that often fills the air in our neighborhood on cool mornings. I’m not sure what it is, but it has the sulfurous smell of an oil refinery. There is a lot of industry in the parts of town west of us, so I suspect it’s blowing in from somewhere over there. Unfortunately poor air quality is one of the major sacrifices we had to come to terms with when we decided to move here. I can only hope that one year of it won’t do to much damage to Enid’s developing lungs. Hopefully all the time she spends breathing relatively clean air in Hawaii will help make up for it.
The Christmas season has already begun in Monterrey. Since they don’t have Thanksgiving, I guess they have no reason to wait. Twinkling lights are strung up all over town, and the stores are full of tacky seasonal brick-a-brack, fresh off the boat from China. It seems like the consumerism associated with Christmas is every bit as over-the-top here as it is in the USA. I am studiously ignoring it to the best of my abilities.
I did, however, feel obliged to take note of the current holiday and learn more about the Mexican Revolution this weekend (I got the day off work because of it, after all). So I took the path of least scholarly resistance and read the Wikipedia entry about it. I was quickly reminded why I abandoned my last attempt to gain some familiarity with Mexican political history: it is an endless, jumbled, convoluted mess of events and personalities that essentially defies any attempts to put it “in a nutshell”. Nonetheless, for the edification of my readers, here is my three-sentence encapsulation of what the Mexican Revolution was all about. There was a president named Porfirio Díaz who managed, through rigged elections and brutal suppression of opposition, to rule Mexico for thirty or forty years around the turn of the century. Finally, in 1910, a cabal of “revolutionaries” (including Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, and future Mexican presidents Madero, Obregon, and Carranza among others) fought a bloody war to unseat him. But after doing so they began to fight amongst themselves over power for the next several years, giving rise to a long period of bloodshed and instability that ultimately resulted in the Mexican constitution of 1917 and (eventually) political stabilization under the domination of the PRI political party.
That is the short story. The long story is a lot more confusing, but of course more interesting too. Note that the Mexican Revolution was not a war for independence like the American Revolution. They had one of those too, but we already celebrated it back in September on Día de la Independencia.
Not much else new to report. We got Enid some new jigsaw puzzles, which she is enjoying. The 35-piece rain forest puzzle she has done twice now, more or less on her own. The 300-piece Noah’s Ark puzzle she is slowly assembling with help from Robin. She is also continuing to sound out written words, edging her way towards early literacy. Her Spanish skills also continue to flourish. We aren’t pushing that very hard at home, just letting it come naturally though her time at school.
At work things are starting to inch forward at last. We’ve put together a basic research plan, and the necessary reagents are beginning to trickle in. I was actually able to do some work at the bench last week. Even though it was just some small, simple tasks, I found it remarkably satisfying to get my hands into the work after three months of being stuck in an office. Now my priority for the next few weeks is to get as many of my supply orders as possible shepherded through the university’s (slow and often unreliable) purchasing system before the lengthy work stoppage that I’m told will occur next month (due to the winter holidays). If I can get the orders placed before then, hopefully the distributors will deliver our reagents and consumables quickly enough to allow for an immediate burst of productivity once the spring semester begins.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007 9:26pm
Finally got the Hanahou’oli application inked and ready to send this week, so that’s a load off of our minds. We are all reasonably healthy this week. Robin and Enid had some low grade cold symptoms, but nothing too bad. It’s been just an ordinary week of work, school, and domestic chores. Enid’s class took a brief field trip to the local post office on Friday, and Robin went along. This weekend I got in a lot of quality time with Enid, just playing around the house on Saturday and then hiking up at Parque Chipinque today (Robin stayed home because she wanted to do some house cleaning). Next weekend is a three-day weekend (Día de la Revolución). We’re thinking about maybe taking advantage of the long weekend to go somewhere, but we haven’t decided yet.
There have been collections going on all over town for the last several days for the victims of the flooding in Tabasco. We don’t keep up with the local news here very well, but the Tabasco thing is everywhere and impossible to miss.
Speaking of news, we did read about two major crimes right here in our neighborhood recently. They occurred on consecutive Fridays and were on the front pages of the newspapers when we went for coffee the following Saturdays, otherwise we never would have heard about them. The first one was an attempted kidnapping of a 43-year old Mexican businessman outside a restaurant. He was with some friends who tried to stop him from being abducted. Shooting broke out and the guy was shot repeatedly in the legs. The assailants eventually got him into their vehicle and sped off, but ended up dumping him, wounded but alive, several blocks away.
The second crime was an apparent assassination attempt against a local casino impresario (although it could also likely have been just a warning, since he wasn’t killed). He was sitting at a traffic light in his car with his chauffeur when a van pulled up alongside and someone got out and started blasting away at them with an AK-47. The chauffeur was killed, but the casino baron only received some cuts from broken glass. The article said he has a reputation for operating his casinos illegally under the protection of corrupt government officials, and that he uses his connections to get other casinos shut down. Sounds like the assassination attempt couldn’t have targeted a nicer guy!
Both of these events happened within a mile or our apartment. It’s strange reading about something like that happening so close to home, at a place you drive by all the time and can picture in your head. Also, interestingly, both victims were taken to the hospital where I work. Not very surprising I guess, since it’s nearby and is a private hospital that caters largely to the wealthy. Kind of creeps me out though. It’s just one more reminder that the institution I work for is the local educational and medical care provider for the privileged elite, a group I generally feel little affection for even in the U.S. Here in Mexico, my distaste for wealth and privilege is amplified even more by the corruption and violence that seems to be inextricably bound to it. That special smugness that wealthy people everywhere have is just rendered so absurd by the circumstances. A six year old girl dressed in $500 worth of designer clothes is bad enough in the U.S, but in Mexico? Please! What is the point when there’s trash in the streets and daddy might get kidnapped or shot on his way home from work tomorrow?
Just my humble opinion. But then again, maybe it’s no better in the U.S. Our rich sit atop just as big of a shit-heap of violence and corruption, but they cleverly make sure it all happens far away, in other countries.
By the way, don’t let the aforementioned crimes get you worried about our personal safety here. Except for the unlikely possibility of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and taking a stray bullet I’d say none of this stuff is any threat to us. The people targeted by these kinds of crimes are running in very different circles than us. There doubtless are drug kingpins living in Del Valle too, but we don’t expect to become involved in their turf wars either. Still, it makes for an interesting place to live.
Finally got the Hanahou’oli application inked and ready to send this week, so that’s a load off of our minds. We are all reasonably healthy this week. Robin and Enid had some low grade cold symptoms, but nothing too bad. It’s been just an ordinary week of work, school, and domestic chores. Enid’s class took a brief field trip to the local post office on Friday, and Robin went along. This weekend I got in a lot of quality time with Enid, just playing around the house on Saturday and then hiking up at Parque Chipinque today (Robin stayed home because she wanted to do some house cleaning). Next weekend is a three-day weekend (Día de la Revolución). We’re thinking about maybe taking advantage of the long weekend to go somewhere, but we haven’t decided yet.
There have been collections going on all over town for the last several days for the victims of the flooding in Tabasco. We don’t keep up with the local news here very well, but the Tabasco thing is everywhere and impossible to miss.
Speaking of news, we did read about two major crimes right here in our neighborhood recently. They occurred on consecutive Fridays and were on the front pages of the newspapers when we went for coffee the following Saturdays, otherwise we never would have heard about them. The first one was an attempted kidnapping of a 43-year old Mexican businessman outside a restaurant. He was with some friends who tried to stop him from being abducted. Shooting broke out and the guy was shot repeatedly in the legs. The assailants eventually got him into their vehicle and sped off, but ended up dumping him, wounded but alive, several blocks away.
The second crime was an apparent assassination attempt against a local casino impresario (although it could also likely have been just a warning, since he wasn’t killed). He was sitting at a traffic light in his car with his chauffeur when a van pulled up alongside and someone got out and started blasting away at them with an AK-47. The chauffeur was killed, but the casino baron only received some cuts from broken glass. The article said he has a reputation for operating his casinos illegally under the protection of corrupt government officials, and that he uses his connections to get other casinos shut down. Sounds like the assassination attempt couldn’t have targeted a nicer guy!
Both of these events happened within a mile or our apartment. It’s strange reading about something like that happening so close to home, at a place you drive by all the time and can picture in your head. Also, interestingly, both victims were taken to the hospital where I work. Not very surprising I guess, since it’s nearby and is a private hospital that caters largely to the wealthy. Kind of creeps me out though. It’s just one more reminder that the institution I work for is the local educational and medical care provider for the privileged elite, a group I generally feel little affection for even in the U.S. Here in Mexico, my distaste for wealth and privilege is amplified even more by the corruption and violence that seems to be inextricably bound to it. That special smugness that wealthy people everywhere have is just rendered so absurd by the circumstances. A six year old girl dressed in $500 worth of designer clothes is bad enough in the U.S, but in Mexico? Please! What is the point when there’s trash in the streets and daddy might get kidnapped or shot on his way home from work tomorrow?
Just my humble opinion. But then again, maybe it’s no better in the U.S. Our rich sit atop just as big of a shit-heap of violence and corruption, but they cleverly make sure it all happens far away, in other countries.
By the way, don’t let the aforementioned crimes get you worried about our personal safety here. Except for the unlikely possibility of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and taking a stray bullet I’d say none of this stuff is any threat to us. The people targeted by these kinds of crimes are running in very different circles than us. There doubtless are drug kingpins living in Del Valle too, but we don’t expect to become involved in their turf wars either. Still, it makes for an interesting place to live.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Enid’s birthday party is behind us, thank goodness! It was a lot of work at the end (especially for Robin) to get all of the food prepared. We didn’t know exactly how many people were going to attend, but of course we had to bring enough food for the high-end estimate. Then there were the last-minute errands before the party to pick up the cake, ice, and helium balloons. I had to make a hurried second trip back to town to get the balloons. But then it turned out I didn’t actually have to hurry at all because nobody showed up for the party on time. In fact, nobody showed up until after 5pm, although the invitation was for 4pm. Enid didn’t notice that the party started late (children her age are notoriously un-attentive to schedules). But it was extremely stressful for Robin and me. As the minutes crept by and 5pm approached we began to get a sinking feeling in our stomachs, contemplating the possibility that nobody was going to show up. It wouldn’t have mattered that much to us, but it would have been a hard blow for Enid, who was very excited about the party.
It got to the point where I began to prepare Enid for the bad news (“You know Enid, sometimes we make plans in life that don’t work out exactly the way we want…). But how do you tell your little girl that nobody is going to come to her birthday party? At 5:05pm, in total desperation, Robin and I began trying to round up strangers so that at least there would be someone to break the piñata and sing “Las Mañanitas” (the traditional Mexican birthday song) with us. There weren’t any children in sight, but we did invite over three young adults who were sitting nearby (and who, it turns out, live on right across the street from us in Del Valle). Fortunately, at 5:10pm, one of the invited families finally showed up, and by 5:30 two others had arrived. Ultimately nobody else came, but the five or six other kids that were there seemed to satisfy Enid’s expectations. I think she had a fine time. She was a little disappointed that she wasn’t strong enough to break the piñata (“Why do the big kids always get to break it?”), even though I had considerably weakened it with strategically placed knife cuts to. But other than that there were no complaints.
One other problematic element adding to the party fiasco was that on October 28th, after we had already sent out the invitations and completely to our surprise, Mexico went off daylight savings time. With the clocks set back one hour, suddenly the sun was setting an hour earlier than we had anticipated. So, combined with the fact that everyone showed up an hour late, the party turned out to be rather brief. But as I said, Enid didn’t seem to notice and had a good time. She was also delighted by the gifts she received. In an ironic twist, one of the unforeseen consequences of our trip to Mexico is that Enid is getting her first exposure to two venerable American merchandising icons: princesses and Barbie dolls. Among her birthday gifts were one princess doll, two princess costumes, a Barbie doll, and a (child-size) Barbie blouse. She also got a toy makeup kit. While we’ve never actively shielded Enid from beauty and glamour-oriented toys, in the past they somehow never found their way to her. I suppose that among a lot of our friends and family there is some philosophical discomfort with the conventional female gender roles that such toys promote. But the families of Enid’s classmates are entirely free of such concerns. So now, for better or for worse, Enid has a brand new set of toys and a brand new set of interests.
It got to the point where I began to prepare Enid for the bad news (“You know Enid, sometimes we make plans in life that don’t work out exactly the way we want…). But how do you tell your little girl that nobody is going to come to her birthday party? At 5:05pm, in total desperation, Robin and I began trying to round up strangers so that at least there would be someone to break the piñata and sing “Las Mañanitas” (the traditional Mexican birthday song) with us. There weren’t any children in sight, but we did invite over three young adults who were sitting nearby (and who, it turns out, live on right across the street from us in Del Valle). Fortunately, at 5:10pm, one of the invited families finally showed up, and by 5:30 two others had arrived. Ultimately nobody else came, but the five or six other kids that were there seemed to satisfy Enid’s expectations. I think she had a fine time. She was a little disappointed that she wasn’t strong enough to break the piñata (“Why do the big kids always get to break it?”), even though I had considerably weakened it with strategically placed knife cuts to. But other than that there were no complaints.
One other problematic element adding to the party fiasco was that on October 28th, after we had already sent out the invitations and completely to our surprise, Mexico went off daylight savings time. With the clocks set back one hour, suddenly the sun was setting an hour earlier than we had anticipated. So, combined with the fact that everyone showed up an hour late, the party turned out to be rather brief. But as I said, Enid didn’t seem to notice and had a good time. She was also delighted by the gifts she received. In an ironic twist, one of the unforeseen consequences of our trip to Mexico is that Enid is getting her first exposure to two venerable American merchandising icons: princesses and Barbie dolls. Among her birthday gifts were one princess doll, two princess costumes, a Barbie doll, and a (child-size) Barbie blouse. She also got a toy makeup kit. While we’ve never actively shielded Enid from beauty and glamour-oriented toys, in the past they somehow never found their way to her. I suppose that among a lot of our friends and family there is some philosophical discomfort with the conventional female gender roles that such toys promote. But the families of Enid’s classmates are entirely free of such concerns. So now, for better or for worse, Enid has a brand new set of toys and a brand new set of interests.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
We’ve been rather overloaded with events and activities lately. It seems as if one of Enid’s classmates has a birthday party at least once a week. Strange, since there are only about 10 kids in her class! The parties are generally in the afternoon while I’m at work, so I’m excused from them. But they keep Robin and Enid pretty busy. And this week we got a triple-whammy: Enid’s birthday on Monday, Halloween yesterday, and Day of the Dead tomorrow. For Enid’s birthday we got off fairly light so far. The tradition at her school is that the birthday child’s parents come to the class for about half an hour as “guest teachers”. So we went over there Monday morning and I read some stories and sang some songs with the kids, and Robin brought them some cupcakes she baked. It made for a short day at work for me, but it was kind of fun.
The real birthday event is still ahead of us though, when we have her party at Parque Chipinque on Saturday. The preparations for that have been occupying a lot of time lately (mostly Robin’s, admittedly). Plus we’ve been working on an application for Hanahou’oli, a private school that we’d like to get Enid into next year. That’s important enough to us that we’ve been spending quite a bit of time on it. So much time in fact that we pretty much blew of Halloween entirely. I was really hoping to at least carve a Jackolantern with Enid, but it never came to pass. Enid and Robin did go to a Halloween party (again it started too early for me to attend) the night before Halloween, but I guess they never had time to put a costume together for Enid. Which also meant that she didn’t have one the next day when – surprise! – all of the teachers and students at her school showed up in costume. I think Enid was the only kid that came to school in her uniform on Halloween. I don’t think she minded, but I was a bit embarrassed. I mean it’s an American holiday after all.
But you’d be surprised how big of a deal Halloween is here. I’m told that up until several years ago it was unheard of to celebrate Halloween in Mexico, but now it’s really catching on, at least in Monterrey. I think it’s probably especially popular in Del Valle where the people have plenty of money to blow and seem driven to emulate the American lifestyle wherever possible. There were tons of kids and teenagers out trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, or just roaming the streets in costume chanting “Halloween! Halloween!” Nobody actually came to our door, but our apartment is sort-of in back and upstairs, so it’s a bit out of sight. I didn’t mind. I was tired by the time we got Enid to bed, and I have mixed feelings about Mexicans celebrating Halloween anyway. It seems kind of like cultural pollution to me. Besides I hate all the landfill fodder (plastic pumpkins, cheap costumes, etc.) that fills the stores around Halloween, no matter whether it’s here or in the US. I’ll be glad to see all of that gone, even if it’s just to make room for all the Christmas crap (which has already begun to fill the store shelves here).
So, no Halloween this year, but I did manage to put together a little Day of the Dead altar for my mom here in the apartment. I enlisted Enid’s help, since she’s always up for an arts and crafts project. They have an altar set up at her school and they’ve explained Day of the Dead in class, so I figured “when in Rome…” Plus she’s getting to the age where she seems ready to benefit from discussion of lost loved ones, and ways that people deal with that. It’s also nice for me to have an excuse to talk to Enid about my mother, share a few stories about her, etc. She’s never going to know my mother or have any real understanding of who she was, but I want her to at least know something about her. Actually I felt rather guilty when I had to ask my father to send me photos of my mom for the altar. Not so much because I didn’t have any here- one could be excused for not bringing family photos on a trip like this- but because I realized I didn’t have even a single picture of her at home in Hawaii. I guess I’m not setting a very good example for Enid about how to esteem and honor one’s parents. Better change that before it catches up with me!
So, Day of the Dead is tomorrow, and we’ll finishing decorating the altar. Then Saturday is the big party. Did I mention that in addition to being a lot of work the party is costing us a small fortune? Trying to fit in with the Mexican upper class is expensive. It should be a fun party though, and Enid’s excited about it. But I think Robin and I will both feel a lot more relaxed when it’s over with, and when we’ve gotten the Hanahou’oli application mailed off.
Other than all the busyness, things have been good. On Sunday I took Enid over to the coffee shop for a bagel with cream cheese and then we rode the bus over to Cerro del Obispado and walked up to the top of the hill where the giant flag is. The weather has cooled down enough that it wasn’t too bad up there, even at mid-day. It was fun to spend some quality time alone with Enid, just her and me. I used to take her out every Saturday back in Hawaii to give Robin a break, but we fell out of the habit when we were living in Yountville. So I’m hoping to get back into that.
The real birthday event is still ahead of us though, when we have her party at Parque Chipinque on Saturday. The preparations for that have been occupying a lot of time lately (mostly Robin’s, admittedly). Plus we’ve been working on an application for Hanahou’oli, a private school that we’d like to get Enid into next year. That’s important enough to us that we’ve been spending quite a bit of time on it. So much time in fact that we pretty much blew of Halloween entirely. I was really hoping to at least carve a Jackolantern with Enid, but it never came to pass. Enid and Robin did go to a Halloween party (again it started too early for me to attend) the night before Halloween, but I guess they never had time to put a costume together for Enid. Which also meant that she didn’t have one the next day when – surprise! – all of the teachers and students at her school showed up in costume. I think Enid was the only kid that came to school in her uniform on Halloween. I don’t think she minded, but I was a bit embarrassed. I mean it’s an American holiday after all.
But you’d be surprised how big of a deal Halloween is here. I’m told that up until several years ago it was unheard of to celebrate Halloween in Mexico, but now it’s really catching on, at least in Monterrey. I think it’s probably especially popular in Del Valle where the people have plenty of money to blow and seem driven to emulate the American lifestyle wherever possible. There were tons of kids and teenagers out trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, or just roaming the streets in costume chanting “Halloween! Halloween!” Nobody actually came to our door, but our apartment is sort-of in back and upstairs, so it’s a bit out of sight. I didn’t mind. I was tired by the time we got Enid to bed, and I have mixed feelings about Mexicans celebrating Halloween anyway. It seems kind of like cultural pollution to me. Besides I hate all the landfill fodder (plastic pumpkins, cheap costumes, etc.) that fills the stores around Halloween, no matter whether it’s here or in the US. I’ll be glad to see all of that gone, even if it’s just to make room for all the Christmas crap (which has already begun to fill the store shelves here).
So, no Halloween this year, but I did manage to put together a little Day of the Dead altar for my mom here in the apartment. I enlisted Enid’s help, since she’s always up for an arts and crafts project. They have an altar set up at her school and they’ve explained Day of the Dead in class, so I figured “when in Rome…” Plus she’s getting to the age where she seems ready to benefit from discussion of lost loved ones, and ways that people deal with that. It’s also nice for me to have an excuse to talk to Enid about my mother, share a few stories about her, etc. She’s never going to know my mother or have any real understanding of who she was, but I want her to at least know something about her. Actually I felt rather guilty when I had to ask my father to send me photos of my mom for the altar. Not so much because I didn’t have any here- one could be excused for not bringing family photos on a trip like this- but because I realized I didn’t have even a single picture of her at home in Hawaii. I guess I’m not setting a very good example for Enid about how to esteem and honor one’s parents. Better change that before it catches up with me!
So, Day of the Dead is tomorrow, and we’ll finishing decorating the altar. Then Saturday is the big party. Did I mention that in addition to being a lot of work the party is costing us a small fortune? Trying to fit in with the Mexican upper class is expensive. It should be a fun party though, and Enid’s excited about it. But I think Robin and I will both feel a lot more relaxed when it’s over with, and when we’ve gotten the Hanahou’oli application mailed off.
Other than all the busyness, things have been good. On Sunday I took Enid over to the coffee shop for a bagel with cream cheese and then we rode the bus over to Cerro del Obispado and walked up to the top of the hill where the giant flag is. The weather has cooled down enough that it wasn’t too bad up there, even at mid-day. It was fun to spend some quality time alone with Enid, just her and me. I used to take her out every Saturday back in Hawaii to give Robin a break, but we fell out of the habit when we were living in Yountville. So I’m hoping to get back into that.
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