Robin worked until 7:30pm but is now officially unemployed and busy packing up her clothes. I had to make two trips down to the Kinko’s in Napa today to get my birth certificate scanned. They charged me $7 which I thought was ridiculously high. Then when I got home the file wasn’t on my USB drive where they said they’d put it. So I had to drive back down there this evening, and this time I took my iBook so I could check on the spot that the file was actually on the USB drive. Now I can email it to Diana R., the woman who has been doing all my official translations for me. Now that the INM is done torturing me I am dealing with the paperwork requirements of the university’s recruitment department. They want copies and official translations of my diploma and birth certificate. But I consider myself lucky because unlike the INM they don’t require notarized copies or apostilles. I’m should try to come up with a list of how much I’ve spent just on the paperwork for this adventure. If you count all the INM fees, translation fees, notary fees, apostille fees, FedEx and copying charges it is probably over $500 at this point, and still climbing.

I received an email reply from the hotel where I stayed in Monterrey in February telling me that they would allow us to stay there in August. Their website stated that they didn’t allow children, but since it’s Mexico I figured the rule might be flexible. After all the website also says they have a Jacuzzi available to guests, and when I was there it was dry as a bone and had obviously been dysfunctional for a long time. So sure enough it turns out they’ll make an exception for us on the “no children” policy. Their weekly and monthly rates are pretty reasonable and they are very close to the medical school, so it could be a good option for the first few weeks while we choose a neighborhood and find an apartment. The room where I stayed in February was not luxurious, but it was clean and spacious and had a functional kitchen.