One of the meals Maricela is fond of making is chicken soup. She’s very informal about it, throwing in whatever we have on hand. The basic recipe here is:
Even better: serve with tortillas, hand made from dough that was ground this morning.
September 8, 2017 –
Some of our friends and family heard about last night’s big earthquake. Fortunately, it was not near us and did not impact us. The earthquake hit in southern Mexico and was felt as far away as Mexico City (650 miles north of the quake’s epicenter). We are another 250 or so miles north of Mexico City, and did not feel anything.
Pray for those who were impacted by the earthquake.
When we decided to move to Mexico, we had to figure out what to do with our dog, Sasha. Our son was willing to take her, but that would be difficult since he’s in an apartment and still has a couple more years of university. We decided taking her with us to Mexico was the best option, feeling that once we were here, she would enjoy the freedom afforded by our new living arrangements – lots of space to run around in and having us around more often. We had never driven with her farther than to the vet or to the nearby hills for a walk, but hey, we said we’re looking for adventure, right?
First, I have to say a big thank you to my brother. Our first stop on the US portion of our trip was at my brother’s house in Southern California, where we visited for a few days. During a conversation about Sasha, he agreed to let her stay with him for the duration of our US travels, about five weeks. We are so grateful for this; it would have been a very different trip if we’d had to bring her with us across the country and back!
Once we returned to Southern California and picked up Sasha for the trip to Mexico, she actually traveled very well in the van. Her crate was on top of other stuff in the van so that she could watch out the window as we drove along. She seemed to really enjoy it. We stopped often to let her out for a break.
It almost seemed like she knew how to behave, too. Several times, people approached the van to wash our windows or sell us some snacks, and Sasha would bark at them. Then one time a police officer motioned us aside to check our papers, and she sat silently. I don’t think the officer even knew she was with us!
Since arriving at our destination, Sasha has adapted quickly. She loves the big yard. She gets more walks than in the past, since we walk most places rather than driving everywhere. She even has a new friend that she doesn’t fight with much – Maricela’s aunt has a dog, and the two of them get along very well.
So we’re happy we made the right decision. Sasha is happy to be here with us, we’re happy to have her here, and the process of getting her here was not too difficult!
American credit cards are accepted here in Mexico, but people don’t use credit cards as widely here as in the US. In the US, we used to buy nearly everything with a credit card – groceries, coffee, fast food… Here, cash is the preferred medium of exchange, unless you’re purchasing a large item such as an appliance. Even the gas stations remain cash only, and it can easily be 800 pesos ($50) to fill the van. That being the case, we go through a lot of cash fast, as we’re getting settled in.
Everything I read in advance suggested that the best way to obtain pesos in Mexico is via your regular debit card at an ATM, and that seems to be holding true for us. Some ATMs will dispense up to 7,000 pesos at a time, about $440, and the exchange rate is pretty favorable. Some of the difficulties we’ve run into:
– many of the ATMs will dispense a maximum of 4,000 pesos ($250);
– one that we used had a surcharge of $6; usually it’s less than $2;
– there’s only one ATM in the town, and they don’t stock it with much cash so what happens is: you put your card in, enter your PIN, select the amount you want, listen to the machine count through the bills, and then it tells you it “cannot complete your request”. It doesn’t tell you why it cannot complete it nor how much money is available, so you have to repeat this process, asking for smaller and smaller amounts, until you hit the right number. The next closest ATM is about 7 miles away, and we’ve only gone to it once, but it was not in service at that time. The next one is 15 miles away from us, in the nearest city (population of 100,000), where there are multiple ATMs available from multiple bank brands, so you can be confident about being able to get cash there. The banks are Mexican brands, not names you would know from the US, although Banamex is affiliated with Citibank. Like with many things here, it takes planning ahead and patience.
While there are plenty of unhealthy food options to be sure, one of the things I remember from previous visits to Mexico (and which is still common) is that you can also find healthy and quick options. On many street corners you will find vendors selling cups of freshly cut fruit, served in a to-go cup. Choose from the various combinations of pineapple, mango, watermelon, coconut, cucumbers, and papaya, or specify which fruits you want and they’ll put it together for you. Typically, locals add chili powder and lime to the fruit, but I prefer just the plain fruit.
You can easily find healthy meal options, too. Lots of fresh vegetables are used, either as a part of the dish or as a topping, as many items are topped with salsas, onions, cilantro, and/or peppers. Boiled beans, plain corn tortillas, and yogurt are also common. The best part is, many of the foods are grown nearby and sold soon after being harvested.
We crossed the border into Mexico on August 17 and took four days to drive to our final destination. The weather in the northern parts of Mexico was hot. During our first three days of driving the temperatures averaged around 96-97 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. However, the clear skies did make for nice landscapes.
We got on Interstate 15 after crossing the border from Arizona, a couple hundred miles inland. The interstate heads southwest, toward the Gulf of California coast, continues near the coast for about 700 miles, then turns inland again. Both the inland areas and the coastal areas were very green, due to the summer rains. On our last day of driving, as we began to head more inland, we climbed in altitude for most of the day. We even drove through pine-forested mountains. As we got to the central part of the country, the temperatures moderated. This region is part of the “altiplano”, or high plains. The high altitude prevents it from being constantly hot throughout the summer.
During our first week here in our town, Zinaparo, the high temperatures were between 78-86 degrees Fahrenheit. We had a thunderstorm one day, threats of rain a couple other days, and some rain one night. The next couple of days there was more frequent rain and temperatures around 70 degrees. So there’s definitely more humidity than what we were used to in the Bay Area of California, but due to the moderate temperatures, it’s barely noticeable. Plus it cools off at night, which provides relief.
Our home in Mexico is an old adobe, roughly 150 years old. The rooms are spread across multiple separate buildings due to additions and modifications over the years.
The blue and white building has the main bedroom in the rear portion, and a living room area in front. Attached on the left (not visible in the photos because it sits further behind) is another bedroom and living area.
The building with the blue-green stripe and the reddish-brown door is the kitchen, equipped with a stove, refrigerator, seating area and storage space. To the left of the kitchen is an unpainted wooden door that leads to the backyard, which contains a large avocado tree along with lime trees, guava trees, papaya trees, an orange tree, and a storage area / workshop.
Following to the left, the building with the lime green stripe is another bedroom. In the midst of these buildings is a well, covered with a blue-green lid.
The blue-green door on the salmon-colored wall is the main entry door out to the street. When you first walk in through this door, you see a large and inviting patio area with the buildings arranged around it.
Finally, there is a bathroom, just to the right of the main house.
There are no interior passageways. In order to go from one room to another, say from one of the bedrooms to the kitchen, you have to go outside across the patio area. I don’t know if this sounds inconvenient at all, but really it works fine. Everything is close together.
There are other more modern houses in town, but when people come to visit us here they feel that it is a peaceful, welcoming and comfortable place, and I would agree with that. We are very comfortable here.