The FM3s!

When we went to apply for our FM3s, Francisco at the Consulate told us we could pick them up in Mexia, Texas. Mexia is a small town east of Waco with a population of about 6,500. The Consulate was having an outreach day at a church there.
We arrived Mexia around 11 a.m. Once we were on the correct street, it was very easy to find the church. Luckily, Francisco had told us we did not have to wait in line, because there were at least a hundred people outside of the church and in the fellowship hall.
Once inside we were waved right over to see Francisco. He was busy helping someone with their Mexican passport. He got our paperwork out, had us sign in the proper places and we were done! As a token of our appreciation, we had brought a box of candy – M&Ms, Starburst and Snickers. Since 8 people from the Consulate had made the trip I’m sure it was appreciated. Francisco told us he would be in Puerto Vallarta for Christmas and has already purchased his plane ticket. We agreed to keep in touch and get together in December. Pictures were taken to commemorate this big event.
As we were leaving I remembered that others mentioned having a fingerprint on their FM3. I went back into the church to ask. Francisco told me that usually the first time you cross the border the immigration official will do the fingerprint. But, he said, I could put it on now if I want. So I put the official right thumb print on the FM3, then Harold went in and did his.
The outreach was from 11 until 3. Numbers were handed out starting at 9, and as of when we were there, 350 numbers had been handed out. We were amazed that in a small town so many people needed the services of the consulate. Driving around Mexia we could tell there is a sizable Hispanic population.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called The Farmhouse. Expecting to have chicken fried steak or something similarly Southern, we were surprised to find coconut shrimp on the menu. Served with cole slaw, green beans, rice and some delicious hush puppies it was a good lunch.
Now we have the official documentation to begin the next phase of the Mexican adventure!
Next week, we are off to Myrtle Beach, SC for a vacation with Harold’s sister Debbie. After Myrtle Beach we will spend a few days in Philadelphia.

Matricula Consular

When we went to the Mexican Consulate in Austin, we couldn’t help but notice the large numbers of Mexicans there. They were all waiting in line, then they had their pictures taken. Later on, they were receiving documents. We asked Francisco Flores, the documentation official why there were so many people at the Consulate. He assured us that there were NOT a lot of people there that day. He said the big crowds come on rainy days when the construction workers, roofers and landscapers don’t work.
We found out that the people were lining up to receive a document called a matricula consular. It is, in effect, a Mexican national identification card. The cards are accepted as legal, official forms of identification in the US. That allows Mexicans to be able to get a lease and utilities in their names. Most importantly, it allows them to open a bank account. Previously someone wanting to open a bank account needed a drivers license or other form of official Texas ID.
Mr. Flores explained that the police department also accepted the cards as ID. He went on to say that the police are very happy with the system. Apparently in the past when Mexicans couldn’t open a bank account many of them carried all their money with them. Thieves knew this, of course, so they would target Mexicans around payday. The victims would be afraid to report the crimes as they were suspicious of police and other authorities, most likely fearing deportation. So what was happening is the same people were robbing the same victims week after week.
Since the ID cards have become accepted the crimes against Mexicans have been greatly reduced. Mr. Flores seemed quite pleased that his agency had been instrumental in making that happen.
As a side note, he also said he was very happy that the ID cards are now computer generated with digital pictures. What this meant for him was that he signed his signature one time and it was digitally reproduced on all the ID cards. Mr. Flores told us that when the cards were produced the old fashioned way he had to sign each card and that the final year of the old system he signed about 25,000 cards. Twenty five THOUSAND, that is about 100 a day, every day! Lots of signatures, and equally impressive, lots of Mexicans living in the Austin, Texas consulate area.
We were thinking as we left that someone needs to open a taco stand in the lobby of the building and maybe a juice stand as well.

Note - these cards are issued to Mexicans living in the US. Obviously, many of these people are illegally in the US, or they could get a drivers license, etc. This write-up is not meant to comment on the legal situation and should not be construed either way about my opinion or that of the Mexican Consulate as to the illegal immigrant issue.

The next step – getting the FM3s

We had gotten the list of the requirements for our FM3s from the Mexican Consulate. It was sort of like a treasure hunt. We had been to the police station for letters stating we weren’t criminals, gone to the doctor to get a letter of good health, obtained bank statements, statements regarding my retirement, and made copies of our passports and marriage license. Of course, everything was properly notarized. We also got our passport size photos. Actually, we took digital pictures and got the 19-cent prints from Wal-Mart instead of $8.99 each for the official passport photos.
We took all that plus a pocket full of cash to the Mexican Consulate in Austin. We found a parking place very close to the building. When we got in the building and to the correct suite, we found that the Consulate was no longer at that address. The letterhead they had used to send us the requirements still had the old address. Luckily there was a sign giving the new address. So we went to the new office, which was nearby.
As we entered the lobby of the building, we saw many people in line several places. Of course there didn’t appear to be any sign directing people to the correct office. I decided to wait in what appeared to be the shortest line. On the phone, the representative of the consulate’s office had told me to ask for Angelina, so I did. Luckily, Angelina happened to be the person at the desk. She asked us to wait 5 minutes, please. We knew 5 minutes would really be longer so we sat and waited. There were many Mexican citizens at the Consulate obtaining their national ID cards. I will write more about those ID cards and that process later.
After 5 Mexican minutes, we were called into the office. Francisco Flores is the official in charge of documentation. We gave him all our documents that we brought. We had everything he needed, and then some. Even though I had read several places that you need to bring a copy of your entire passport, including all blank pages and the covers, he only wanted the main page with the picture and personal information. In my mind, I kept expecting a situation out of Seinfeld. On that show, a character called the Soup Nazi goes into a rage if the customer pauses too long in ordering or doesn’t follow the rules, written or unwritten. He yells at them, “no soup for you today!” and throws them out of the store. Sometimes he tells them they can never come back.. We were hoping we wouldn’t end up with the documentation Nazi who would yell, “no visa for you today!”
One of the first questions we were asked was what city we would be living in. When we told him, Bucerias, a suburb of Puerto Vallarta, we found out that Francisco and his family own a house in Puerto Vallarta. In addition to doing all the paperwork we talked about houses and Puerto Vallarta. Their house is in El Centro and sounds really nice. Maybe when Francisco is there at Christmas we will visit him.
We filled out the visa applications, paid our $390 (cash) for the two FM3s and were told to come pick them up on Friday or later. Francisco offered that since he would be in Mexia, a small town closer to Waco, on consulate business next week, he would bring them along and we could come get them there. So that’s our plan.
After the consulate, we went to the Customs office next door. When we returned home to Texas after three months in Puerto Vallarta we didn’t cancel the car permit. We wanted to make sure that since we are obtaining our FM3s before the permit expires that we would not need to cancel one permit and get another. We found out that we do not have to get a new permit. Imagine that, customs officials missed a chance to get $35 more from us. FYI, we also found out that you can cancel a car permit at the local office, it doesn’t have to be done at the border.
Of course, just to ask that question required waiting in another line! Mexico ought to change its national slogan to “Mexico, land of lines”.
Altogether the experience went better than we expected. Sometimes it does pay to expect the worst, then you can be pleasantly surprised when things go more smoothly. After finishing up at the Consulate, we did a little shopping in Austin, ate dinner and headed back home.

Getting a visa

We are going to get our FM3 visas to allow us to live in Mexico. There are different types of FM3s, one which allows you to work, and one for retired people. If you are wanting to obtain your visa prior to moving to Mexico, you go to the Mexican consulate that serves the area where you live. In our case that is Austin, Texas.
The Austin consulate does not have a website detailing what the requirements are for the FM3. I did find out that they are open from 8 to 1, Monday through Friday. I tried calling numerous times only to get trapped in the voice mail web. And if I made no selection from the menu, the phone just rang and rang. Finally, I got through. I asked the woman who answered the phone if they could mail me the information. She took my number and said they would fax it. Well, several days passed and no fax. So I tried many times to get through again and finally did. Again I was told they would fax me the information that morning. That afternoon, I called again when no fax had arrived. I talked to a man who assured me it would be faxed that day. As of that evening - no fax. We decided that we would have to go to Austin to get the list of requirements, then get the things together and return to Austin. I tried calling the Consulate, but of course I wasn’t able to get in touch with anyone. Just as we were getting ready to leave for Austin, the fax arrived.
We need to have passports with at least 6 months before they expire, passport size photos, proof of financial backing ($1,000/month for 1 person, $500/month for each dependent), police clearance letters issued by the local police department, and certificates of good health issued by our doctor. Everything must be notarized and authenticated.
I had no idea what authenticated meant. So I got smart and faxed the Consulate a note asking some questions. Someone from the Consulate called me the next day. He said the police letter and the doctor’s letter need to be notarized, but the bank statements don’t. Authenticated, he said, means bring the originals. We now have the notarized police letters, have requested the letter from our doctor, and had our bank statements notarized (for good measure). We still need the photos. We are planning on going to Austin on Wednesday, July 13th. If things go like they often do when dealing with Mexican authorities, we will be missing something, or else one of the things we bring won’t quite be right. We are hoping for the best – I’ll let you know!

Selling the house

The three-month trip to Puerto Vallarta was designed to be a “test drive” for living in Mexico. We weren’t in our own house so we didn’t have some of the issues that home ownership entails. We didn’t have repairs to worry about (except the cistern and painting work) and we didn’t have to pay utility bills, among other things. But we still feel like we got a good idea of what it will be like living in PV.
After returning from the Baja trip, we got busy getting our house ready for sale. We hired a guy to come trim the landscaping in our yard. Juan, originally from San Luis Potosi State in Mexico, made us feel like we were right back south of the border. He gave us an excellent price on the work, did a great job and worked very hard. We told him we wouldn’t be home when he finished so we could pay him ahead of time. He told us not to worry, he would come by some day and get the money.
After Juan trimmed all the hedges, shrubs, groundcover and trees the outside of the house looked great. We debated about painting the interior, but decided to check with some realtors first. We thought they could give us some idea of what we should do to improve saleability, and which things wouldn’t really help. We talked to four different agents about listing the house. It was a difficult decision but we ended up with James and Annette Burns who are with ReMax here in Waco. Besides being longtime friends of my parents, they came highly recommended by a woman who had both bought and sold homes through them.
They recommended continuing to declutter the house. We rented a storage space so as we packed boxes of things we want to move, we took them to the storage. We made plans for another garage sale, too. Annette recommended holding off on replacing the carpet, just getting it cleaned, so we did that. Harold wanted to wait until we had several rooms ready to paint so we hadn’t started painting yet. We listed the house on a Wednesday evening. We had agents bring people to see the house on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each time, we had to take the dogs and go over to Mom and Dad’s to be out of the way.
Sunday afternoon, Annette brought a couple to see the house and they made an offer. Best of all, they weren’t asking for new carpet or interior painting. After a couple times back and forth we agreed on a sale price. I was nervous all during this process as it’s been 22 years since we bought that house so we were pretty unfamiliar with the process. After the price was negotiated, it was time for the inspection. In Texas, a buyer has the right to a period of time where they can back out of a purchase with no penalty. We finally agreed on who was paying for what and the contract was finalized. Altogether we ware happy with the negotiated price and especially that we don’t have to do any work to the house. Closing is set for August 26th.
Our garage sale went well. While I don’t think I like having one any better than before, we are definitely getting better at pricing and selling. We asked a friend of ours if she wanted to put anything in the sale. She brought some things and also hung around to help us. Having Peg and her son Jonathan there was nice. We could each take turns going inside to cool off and relax. After the garage slae, we loaded a bunch of things in the truck and took them to the Barkin’ Basement, a local thrift shop. We will have to have one more sale to get rid of the furniture we aren’t taking, right before we move out of the house.
We have continued sorting through and packing things. We pack a bunch of boxes, then take them over to the storage place. It seems like the more we pack, the more stuff there is left! Eventually we will get it whittled down. We have found it easy to part with some things and difficult to discard others. I think we are going to end up in Bucerias with a bunch of stuff we don’t need and nowhere toput it. Oh well, some group or another may need it for a bazaar.

The Sea of Cortez

The reason for our trip to the Baja was a tour with Lindblad Expeditions http://www.expeditions.com/. The tour was called Where the Desert Meets the Sea.
We met the tour group at the Los Cabos airport at 2 p.m. Rick and Reed, the missing ones from our family, still were missing. But the tour group was large enough that 2 buses were needed and Rick and Reed would be there in time for the second one.
The tour bus was really nice. Not quite as roomy as an inter-city first class bus, but nice. We were given a snack and cold drink as we boarded. We rode past San Jose del Cabo, past Cabo San Lucas and stopped for a drink and snack in Todos Santos. The place, the name escapes me right now, was very pretty with a cactus garden. After that stop we continued to La Paz. Our ship, the Sea Voyager, was docked at a pier right in town. The bus drove out the pier to the ship. The Sea Voyager holds approximately 60 passengers so check in was nothing like a regular cruise. We settled into our cabin and looked around the ship. After dinner, we had time to go out and walk on La Paz’s Malecon. We walked a long ways one direction and didn’t get to the end of the Malecon. We wondered how long it was, since we only walked one direction. It is not a developed with clubs, restaurants and shops as the Puerto Vallarta Malecon but it was really nice for strolling. We would like to visit La Paz again some day.
The second bus arrived shortly before dinner time and the missing Rick and Reed were on board. That was good, because this wasn’t like a regular cruise. We didn’t stop at another commercial port until the end of the trip!
Lindblad trips are filled with activity. We began each day with breakfast at 7. Each day we visited one or two of the small islands in the Sea of Cortez, which is also called the Gulf of California. On the islands, there was the option to take a nature walk of varying lengths. Some of the islands had swimmable beaches, so that was a choice too. Snorkeling was offered many days. We got to the shore from the Sea Voyager by Zodiac boats, those motor powered rubber boats.
Zodiac cruises were given to better view the islands.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was snorkeling with the sea lions at Espiritu Santo Island. Another chance to snorkel with the sea lions had to be cancelled due to high winds. We saw pilot, fin and sperm whales. We saw so many sea lions that it was almost routine. We were joined by bottlenose dolphins several times. They liked to ride the waves at the bow of the ship. The dolphins seemed to take turns in the wake. We experienced two of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. One night the sky was completely pink, which made the mirror smooth water look equally pink. Another night the sunset was very dramatic and looked like a photo studio background. We visited an island called Isla Rasa which is a seabird preserve. Actually, all the islands in the Sea of Cortez are protected by the government. We only saw other people a few times all week.

Besides the outdoor activities, Lindblad took very good care of us on the ship. Meals were all delicious and dinner always had a meat, fish and vegetarian choice. There was a lounge where presentations were made about Mexican history, videos of underwater activity, and recaps of each day’s events.
Seating in the dining room was always open so you had the chance to meet many of the other passengers. The expedition staff also ate with the passengers so we got to know them better as well.
The cruise ended in Guaymas, on the mainland part of Mexico. We visited a pearl farming operation, ate lunch at a local restaurant and then headed to the airport. The Guaymas airport is very small. I think they only have one scheduled flight a day. We flew to Phoenix where we spent the nigh5 at the Best Western near the airport. All the flights into and out of Dallas were delayed that day due to bad weather, so we arrived late in Dallas. Mom and Dad were able to get the last 2 seats on the flight to Waco. Harold and I ended up having to wait about 4 hours to catch the next available flight to Waco. We did get back just fine, but a little late. At least American Airlines did give us a dinner voucher and a $100 travel voucher each for the trouble.

back in Texas, off to Los Cabos

I realize that I have been way behind on my blog. Once we returned to Texas, I figured no one cared what happened.
We arrived back to our house and found everything pretty well in order. Peg, Koby and Jonathan who watched the pool and yard had done a good job. Mom had come over and cleaned out the fridge and dusted the furniture. The dogs knew right away that they were home. I think they missed their big back yard. It didn't take them long to settle back into the old routine.
I got the pool cleaned up pretty quickly which was good since it was hot here. We did a little sorting and preparing to pack but mostly catching up with our friends and family. We didn’t contact any realtors as we were going to be gone for a couple weeks.
Two weeks after we got back from Puerto Vallarta, it was off to Mexico again. This time we went to the Baja. Mom and Dad had arranged for them, us and my two brothers, my sister and their families to go on a cruise with Lindblad Expeditions. It was called “Where the Desert Meets the Sea.” We were to meet the group at the Los Cabos airport on Saturday afternoon. Mom, Dad, Harold and I flew to Los Cabos on Wednesday and stayed 3 nights at the Park Royal Los Cabos condos. We rented a car, which I would highly recommend for anyone visiting Los Cabos.
We spent one morning looking around San Jose del Cabo which is where the condo is located. We did a little shopping, lounged by the pool and then headed to Cabo San Lucas. We walked around the harbor area looking at the fancy boats, stopped in a few shops and wandered around the upscale mall. The weather was beautiful so we enjoyed the walk. We saw a sign for a restaurant called Señor Sweets. I thought it was just an ice cream shop, but a sign offering 50% off all menu items drew us in. This is definitely not just an ice cream shop! They offered about 20 different flavors of gelato, probably about 10 varieites of sorbet and some incredible cakes and pies. Mom, Dad and Harold all had chocolate mousse cake and I had a scoop of lemon and a scoop of strawberry sorbet. It was all fabulous. One of the owners, David Wexler, came to our table to chat. The place had only been open 4 days. He told us the shop was his post-midlife crisis project, after retiring as a Beverly Hills attorney.
The next day, I wanted to take a boat ride to see the famous Los Cabos arches. There are a number of boat companies and we just picked one at random. We had a boat to ourselves. The driver was great. He took us to see the usual things – the Pacific window, the sea lion rocks, and of course the arch. Even though I don’t think he was supposed to, he took our boat right though the arch. You know, that arch isn’t nearly as wide as you might think! We did have a couple feet clearance on each side. We chose not to stop at the beach near the arch since the beach was crowded, and the water was cold. On the way back to the dock, we were admiring a huge yacht called the Tatoosh in the harbor. Our boat driver took us over for a close look at it and the cruise ship (Carnival Pride).

After the boat ride, we drove to the town of Todos Santos. There is a Hotel California there, which may or may not be the inspiration for the Eagles song. The souvenir shop across the street sure wants you to think it is!
Todos Santos was an interesting little town. We went into some shops and galleries. Later, as we were leaving, we realized there were more galleries in another area that we didn’t see.
We returned to San Jose del Cabo to go meet my brothers, sister and their families at the airport. My younger brother Tom, his wife Val and their two daughters arrived, as did my sister Mary and her two kids. My niece Erin arrived, but my brother Rick (Erin’s dad) and nephew Reed had missed the plane. We got all the newcomers loaded in a taxi van and headed to their hotel. We all met at their hotel, the Best Western, for dinner.
The next installment – the cruise.