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.

The trip home

All winter we had been thinking of going to Tepic, the capital of Nayarit. Since we hadn’t found a pet sitter, we never took any overnight trips. We decided that we would go to Tepic, spend one night, then leave for Texas. Pretty much the most difficult part of the whole trip is the portion of road between Las Varas and Chapalilla, between Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. By going to Tepic first it would be smooth sailing from there.
We took the non-toll route to Tepic. We drove up the coast on roads that were mostly in good shape. We passed through several towns that had the usual speed bumps. The last section before Tepic is pretty mountainous but we were lucky and didn’t get stuck behind any slow moving trucks.
Some of our “internet friends” we have met live in Tepic. Cliff runs a bulletin board about life in Tepic. Alice, his wife, is a frequent visitor to Puerto Vallarta and contributor to the All Vallarta board. Earlier in the year we had met Alice in Puerto Vallarta. Cliff had made a reservation for us at the LaLoma Hotel. We easily found the hotel and got checked in. We called Cliff and Alice and they met us at the hotel.
One of the places Cliff writes about on his board is called Dutch’s. We went there for lunch. The menu mostly consists of sub sandwiches, salads and baked potatoes. It is a very nice, clean place with a small patio for outdoor dining. We all enjoyed our meals there and the service was good.
After lunch, Cliff gave us the nickel tour of Tepic. It looks interesting and we will surely return there in the future. One thing Tepic has that Puerto Vallarta is lacking is public parks. Our hotel was across the street from a park also called LaLoma. We walked the dogs all the way around that park. It takes probably 45 minutes to walk around the outside of it. In the park are tennis courts, a swimming pool, children’s playgrounds, a zoo and a small train. We didn’t get there early enough to use any of the facilities but the park itself was a great place to walk.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at the LaLoma coffee shop and hit the road for Matehuala. Other than a couple missed turns, one in Guadalajara and one near Lagos de Moreno, it was an uneventful trip. The dogs by this point are veteran car riders so they just sit and look out the window or sleep as we drive along.
In Matehuala we decided to check out a few other hotel options. We knew we could always stay at the Sol y Luna if there weren’t any other pet friendly places. We checked the Las Palmas hotel. It is very nicely landscaped, has a pool and a lot of open space. But they had a sign in the lobby saying no pets allowed. Also, at about 600 pesos, the price was a little higher than we were wanting to spend. Next we checked the Hotel Capri and ended up staying there. It sure looks like it is or was a “no-tell motel”. You enter the property through a gate by the office. There is a large center courtyard with plenty of room to walk the dogs. There were benches and hammocks, paths to walk on and plenty of trees. It looked like the place probably used to be pretty nice. In the courtyard there was a swimming pool that now looked more like a reflecting pool with a small fountain. The rooms all open onto the courtyard. There is parking in front of the rooms. The rooms had no window facing the parking lot, just a window in the back of the room. The bathroom was so small that when you sat on the toilet, your feet were in the shower. Even though the place was obviously past its prime, the room was clean, there was a TV with in the room, and it seemed very safe. We paid 275 pesos for the night. The Capri is located on the main highway through Matehuala, just north of the big arch. It as OK for one night, we give it a solid one star rating. They get the star because the dogs could stay there, too. Next time we will try another place.
We drove into Matehuala for dinner. There was activity at the square for Mothers Day. The last time we were in Matehuala there were very few people in the square. This time there were hundreds of people there. The usual balloon vendors, food stands and entertainment that go with a Mexican fiesta were all there. We decided to eat at a pizza place we had seen the other time. The pizza was very good and we even had a few extra pieces for the dogs.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at a hotel nearby called Motel El Pedregal. I took a look at their rooms. Similar set-up with the courtyard, but these rooms had windows and were a little nicer. Another notable point for a future trip is that some of the rooms are air conditioned. The desk clerk assured me that dogs were allowed. The rooms are in the 300 pesos per night range.
The trip from Matehuala to the border was also uneventful. On the trip down, we had never been stopped by any of the military checkpoints. This time we had to stop twice. Both times they wanted to know where we were coming from and where we were going. One time, they asked to look in the back of our car. One guard took a cursory look while the other guard played with Fox. Neither time were we asked for any documentation or identification.
We had a little difficulty deciding which bridge we should cross at Laredo. Bridge 2 was the correct choice. We waited about 20 minutes to cross the border. The border guard tapped on our car apparently looking for hidden compartments and we drove past a drug dog. Once in Laredo, we returned to the Family Garden Inn where we had stayed on the trip south. This hotel is a good value. For $50 we got a room with 2 queen size beds. The price includes an evening social hour. It is held in a large gazebo near the pool. For 2 hours, they have hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, lemonade and beer. You can also buy margaritas and steaks. This was a popular thing with the guests of the hotel. The clientele varied from traveling families to guys working for an oil company. We talked to a couple from Waxahachie, Texas who was traveling with 3 small dogs. A continental breakfast is also included so once we got settled in our room we didn’t even have to leave the hotel until it was time to hit the road.
We made a quick stop in San Antonio to drop our camera off at the repair center. 2 weeks later, we still don’t have it back or even have a verdict on what’s wrong with it. Last week, a person from the San Antonio repair center called us and said they were sending it to the main repair center in New Jersey as it was a new model camera and they hadn’t had training on it yet in San Antonio.
The smooth, wide highways in Texas made for a fast trip back to Waco. We got to our house and it almost seemed like we had hardly been gone at all.
The three months in Puerto Vallarta seemed to fly by. Since we have been home we have been making slow but steady progress in getting our house ready to sell. We have been continuing the almost endless task of going through all our stuff and deciding whether it is to be kept, put in the garage sale, given to charity or thrown away. Boy do we have a lot of stuff!
Today we are off for a vacation with my parents, brothers, sister and their families. Reports and pictures to follow (of course!)

The final week in PV

We delayed our return to Texas by a week for a couple reasons. We went on the trip to Quimixto with the RISE kids on Saturday and didn’t want to then have to drive all day on Sunday. Also, the construction on the cistern and roof coating weren’t down and we wanted to stay until they were done, and the last reason was that Luis’s birthday is May 5th and he wanted us to stay for his party.
You would think that for our last week we would spend extra time at the beach and pool. It didn’t turn out that way. Each day we went to Bucerias at least one time to see how the job was going. And each time we were there we had to make a trip to the store(s) for some part or another. When we left, the cistern was in the ground, the backfilling was done, the concrete poured over the top. The pressure tank and pump were working fine. There were only a couple small things remaining to be done on that job.
The roof was done, except for the sloping part over the bedroom needed the tiles put back on. And, Rafa had agreed to seal some cracks and paint some places on the outside of the house.
Meanwhile, Rafa had obtained two more jobs in Bucerias. One was repairing an incorrectly installed cistern and the other was sealing a roof.
Another thing that happened in our neighborhood that last week was the church fiesta. We noticed kids carnival rides, food stands and a brincolin arriving one day. The next night the fiesta started. Our street was packed with people. We were wondering how we would sleep with all that noise. Rigo assured us the fiesta would be over at 11 p.m. We sort of laughed to ourselves and said we’ll see. He was correct, at 11 p.m. a guy with fireworks strapped to his back (yes, you read that right) ran up and down the street about 4 times with sparklers, fire crackers and bottle rockets shooting off from a framework on his back. The church, which is named for Senora Fatima, will have the fiesta for a whole week.
The last night we were in Puerto Vallarta was the night of Luis’s birthday party. It was at the bodega/fiesta grounds in Pitillal. He has a friend who is a Spanish chef. Luis had him come cook paella for the party. We had a great time visiting with Luis, Monika, Monika’s parents and many of their friends. Many of the guests were kind enough to speak English with us. It was a fun thing for our last night there.
Saturday morning we finished loading the car, stopped at Gigante for a few snacks, stopped in Bucerias to say goodbye to Patricia and Joann and hit the road. First we were off to Tepic, then on to Texas.

Happy Birthday

Our friends Deb and Dave from Iowa have some friends who live near us in Puerto Vallarta. Deb told Harold that it was Maria’s birthday and she wanted to send Maria flowers. She was asking if there was an FTD type place so she could have them delivered. Instead, Harold offered that we could go buy them and take them over. We called Monika and asked where we should buy them. She suggested the Aramara market, so that’s where we went. We ordered a flower arrangement to be picked up the next day. We also bought a card for Maria and Rafael. We were pleasantly surprised when we went back for the flowers. An arrangement which cost 200 pesos would have easily cost twice that much in Texas. We delivered the flowers to a very surprised Maria. Both she and Rafael were shocked that Deb had arranged the personal delivery! We were glad to be able to be a part of this fun surprise.

Dia de los Ninos

Quimixto

April 30th is Dia de los Ninos, Day of the Children. For this holiday, a field trip had been arranged for the kids at RISE. Since she knows we have car –will drive, Chris Amo asked if we wanted to go to Quimixto with the kids.
We all met at the shelter at 8:30. Kids, madres and volunteers were piled into the cars for the drive to Boca de Tomatlan. There we loaded everyone plus all the supplies for lunch into 2 pangas. The water was fairly calm and the trip to Quimixto went quickly. Once in Quimixto, we carried all the lunch supplies to the house where the party was being held. One of the board members of the Children’s Shelter of Hope, Jim, has a small place there and was hosting the group.
After bathroom stops, a cold drink and a snack, the kids were ready to go. First Jim showed them the huge iguana that lives in his garden. Another, even larger iguana was also there for the kids to feed and touch.
There is a waterfall in Quimixto accessible by hiking or horse. Some of the group rode up on the horses and some hiked up. Once at the top, almost everyone went swimming in the pool below the waterfall. The water was really cold but felt great after the dusty walk up. Even though it is the dry season there was plenty of water in the waterfall. After swimming, everyone headed back down. Luckily, those of us who had walked up got to ride down!
Once all hikers and riders returned, lunch was served. Hotdogs, chips and fruit were popular with the kids. Poor Jim’s house looked like a tornado had gone through!
After lunch, we took the kids to the beach. It was almost like having a private beach. Two guys gave the kids kayak rides, the bigger kids swam in the ocean and the little ones played in the sand.
The kids all walked down the beach to get back to the boat while some of the adults went back to Jim’s house to get the things we were taking back. Amazingly, the house had been cleaned up and looked as good as new. There was a lot less stuff to go back! The boats were loaded and we returned to Boca. Once back in the cars, almost all the kids went to sleep on the trip back to the shelter.
It was a wonderful day in the little town of Quimixto. Quimixto is a step back in time, there are no cars and it is accessible only by boat. The kids all had a great Dia de los Ninos.

An evening in Bucerias

We went home after the Quimixto trip and took a siesta. After the short rest we headed out to check on our construction work in Bucerias. When we got there, the workers had already left for the day. We went to the main plaza to see what was happening. A show was being held for Dia de los Ninos. There were 3 or 4 clowns performing, handing out balloons and running contests for the kids. Apparently there had been a parade as we saw some floats parked on the street. After watching the clowns for a while, we decided to have dinner. El Lugar is located on the north side of the main plaza near the church. It is on the 2nd floor so we decided to eat there and watch the action in the plaza. We heard a band playing and there were many people in the plaza. Harold had a calzone and I had shrimp pasta. The food and service were both good.
After dinner we walked around the plaza. The band we had heard was now playing in another part of the plaza. It was a 16-piece band named Banda Perla Negra. It appeared they were playing at a family event. Some of the little girls who had been in the parade and show were there in their princess dresses. They had food, drinks and were dancing in the plaza. We sat and watched the dancing. We particularly enjoyed watching the kids dance. After about an hour, the band packed up and was headed to a nearby restaurant to play at a wedding reception.
We were worn out after the long day but we had a great time at the events.

What can you get for 100 pesos?

100 pesos
We have spent a lot of time in the area of town called El Pitillal. Monika and Luis live there and Luis’s bodega is on the other side of Pitillal. The central part of the town is just filled with shops of all kinds. Our dentist is also there about a block from the square.
You can find almost anything you need in Pitillal and the prices are usually good. Here are some of the things we have found there for 100 pesos (less than $10 US)
We had our teeth cleaned for 100 pesos each. Unlike the US, the dentist himself did the cleaning. Harold’s wedding ring had shrunk over the years and he couldn’t get it off his finger. So we went to a jewelry store to get it resized. They had to cut the ring off his finger, add material to it and resize it. This took about 45 minutes and cost 100 pesos.
Our camera stopped working while we were here. We took it to a shop that opened it up, examined it and determined we needed to take it to the Fuji repair center in the US. He didn’t have access to Fuji parts. The cost to check the camera – 100 pesos.
I had a pedicure at a shop recommended by several friends. It was a very good pedicure and the polish lasted for a long time. Cost – 100 pesos.
Harold got this hair cut at a shop near the dentist office. The cost – 35 pesos. He would have gone to the 30-peso shop, but they were too busy.

Cooking lesson
Until a couple months ago, neither Harold nor I had eaten ceviche. The thought of eating raw fish didn’t appeal to either one of us. But then we ate at Beto’s restaurant in Pitillal. They served a ceviche tostado with the meal. We didn’t realize what it was and ate it. Both of us liked it. We mentioned to Monika that we liked it. She said it was easy to make and she would show us how.
Sunday we picked up Monika to go buy fish. We went to the Aramara market. It is on the road that goes between Sam’s and Pitillal. We bought a type of fish called “bota”. They have a machine right there to grind the fish up for ceviche. We also bought some shrimp. They were headless large shrimp for 125 pesos/kg. That is about $5.50 US a pound.
Back at Monika’s house, we made the ceviche. We squeezed many limes on the fish, shredded carrots, chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber and cilantro. A dash of Worchester sauce and some kosher salt were also added. It was all stirred up and put in the refrigerator to “cook.” We all enjoyed plenty of ceviche with tostados and avocado slices. Everyone ate so much that only Luis and I had any room for the shrimp scampi he cooked.
After lunch, Monika and I took the kids to the Krystal to the pool. Harold and Luis went to pick up a large round wooden table top for the fiesta grounds. It had been discarded by Carlos Slim in a vacant lot near ourhouse in Bucerias. It will now be used for parties at the fiesta grounds.

Construction work, etc

Construction work
Bucerias has a problem with city water. At times, demand exceeds supply so there is little or no water to the customers. As a result, everyone has aljibes (cisterns) and/or tinacos (roof-top water tanks). Our house has both, but the cistern is small so occasionally there is a shortage of water.
We decided to have a larger cistern installed. We got a bid from a Bucerias contractor and also talked to Rafa, the man who has been doing work on Luis’s bodega project. Since Luis was at a good point for the workers to go elsewhere, we hired Rafa.
The first thing to be done was to shop for materials. This entailed visits to several plumbing stores. The cistern, pump and pressure tank were selected. Next on the agenda was to dig the huge hole for the cistern. The plans were to dig the hole by hand. But as they got to the site, Harold and Cesar (one of the workers) saw a backhoe for hire. They went to see about it and found that the hole could be dug in about 2 hours so the man and machine were hired. 2 hours later there was a very big hole in the yard at a cost of 700 pesos, or less than $70 US. In the process of digging the hole the main water line to the house got broken. Luckily, the city water was not running at the time so the repairs were done before the yard flooded.
We had to go back to the plumbing supply to pay for the parts. The supply house allowed us to pay by check, which was good. It only took 2 tries to fill the check out correctly. You must do everything absolutely correctly. Speaking of that, we needed cash for the project so we got our bank account number from Joann and Patricia and headed to the bank. Well, without our checkbook there was going to be a 115-peso charge to get cash out. On the next trip to Bucerias we got the checkbook and returned to the bank. To get cash out, you write a check to yourself. Mexican banks seem to have a way to charge you for everything!
In addition to the cistern, the workers are installing a new roof coating. The roof is concrete so has to be treated for waterproofing.
So far, the project has been going well. The cistern is in the ground and filled with water. They have started backfilling around the cistern. The hole needs to be filled up, the plumbing and pressure pump installed and the whole thing tested. The roof work is also well underway. We have been to the worksite every day to check on the progress and pay the bills. Many times it seems like there would be a more efficient way to do the job, but the work is moving along. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.

Juanito’s
When Kathy was here last month she brought us a bunch of Lance Armstrong Foundation “Livestrong” bracelets. The ones sold here in PV are pirated copies and are also expensive. Brenda wanted some, so we dropped off a bag for her. Another All Vallarta board member, Renee, wanted some as well. We had a plan to get together one day, which had to be postponed by our construction project. We decided to meet for breakfast and go to Juanito’s in Ixtapa.
We picked Renee p at the Villa del Palmar complex and headed to Ixtapa. At first it seemed she didn’t know where the place was, but lo and behold we found it. Juanito, the owner of the restaurant, used to work at Memo’s Pancake House in PV. The menu at Juanito’s is similar. The restaurant itself looks small from the outside. It has a very pretty garden location. You can tell the family is fond of gardening by all the orchids, cactus and other plants in the yard. We enjoyed a nice relaxing breakfast on the cool patio. Thanks, Renee, for showing us this cool little place.

You look familiar
People often comment on how vendors, hotel clerks and waiters remember them from ear to year. It is amazing that they can remember you a year or more later. Harold was on the street in town one day when he heard someone calling “Senor, senor”. He didn’t recognize the voice so didn’t respond. Pretty soon he heard the guy say “Senor Harold”, so he stopped to talk. The guy calling him was the OPC (off-premise contact) timeshare guy who works at the Alamo counter. It has been at least 2 years since he sent us on a tour. Not only did he remember Harold’s name, he said, “your last name is Sokolove, right?” Harold was very amazed!

Mom and Dad's visit

Mom and Dad come to visit!
Mom and Dad booked a cruise on the Holland America ship the Oosterdam. They came to Puerto Vallarta on April 20. Ahead of time, we had scoped out where the tenders docked and where the passengers came out and picked a meeting spot. We arrived a little early for our 10 o’clock meeting time and there were Mom and Dad, also early. Since the dock here can only take one large cruise ship at a time, the Oosterdam had anchored in the bay and the passengers were shuttled to the dock on the tender boats. There had been no wait to board the tenders. Sometimes you wait and wait while the ship’s tours go first but not this time.
First we headed into town where Mom and I went to Curves. After I enrolled in the Baylor Curves study and really enjoyed going to Curves Mom decided to join as well. Part of the membership is that you can visit any other Curves location and exercise there. Harold and Dad walked down by the beach and went to check on the Malecon construction.
After that, we brought Mom and Dad to see our house where we have been staying this winter. We gave them the grand tour of the house and neighborhood. Next we went to visit Luis so Dad could drop off the welding mask and gloves he brought for Luis’s welder.
For lunch we decided to try a place in the Marina. We have heard many good things about a restaurant in Ixtapa called El Coleguita but had never been there. They now have a location in the Marina. Mom and Dad split a shrimp plate, and Harold and I split one. Each person received shrimp broth, tequila shots as desired, a fried banana dessert and Kahlua and cream with their meal. The cook had nicely divided the orders so that each of us got a plate with vegetables, rice and half the shrimp. It was a nice touch that they serve the meals that way. Altogether, El Coleguita was as good as we heard.
After lunch we went to the Krystal to swim, relax and use the hot tubs. Too soon it was time for us to return Mom and Dad to the Marina. We had a very nice, fun and relaxing day. But most importantly, it was nice to see Mom and Dad!

Lucha Libre

There is a free biweekly magazine here called Bay Vallarta. It always has lots of information about new restaurants, events in town, music, etc. In the last edition, there was a contest. There was a Mexican wrestling match coming up. It is called Lucha Libre hear. The event was happening at the Demonio Blanco Arena in El Pitallal. The contest was to answer the question, “Who is Demonio Blanco and why is the Pitallal arena named after him?” I tried looking on Google but had no luck so I took a guess. My guess was that the Demonio Blanco was a Lucha Libre fighter and the Pitallal arena was named for him since he is from Pitallal. I was correct and won a free ticket to the match. Harold decided to enter, too, figuring they might not have given out all the prizes. He won, too.
On the day of the match, we picked up Luis, Melissa and Rudy. Monika decided to stay home and visit with her mom instead of going. In typical Mexican fashion the 6 o’clock start of the match was a little delayed. We waited outside with the other fans until ticket sales began, enjoying a beer from the local deposito while we hung around on the sidewalk. There was a vendor selling T-shirts, wrestling magazines and wrestling masks. Of course, the kids had to try them on and get one. We also bought one for our grandson Joshua. In Lucha Libre, all the fighters wear masks or paint their faces. Pretty soon the ticket window opened so we got the tickets and went inside to wait for the big event
The Demonio Blanco Arena is a fairly small place. We had our choice of downstairs ringside, or up in the balcony. The kids wanted to sit up in the balcony so we did. The even actually started around 7. First there was the introduction of the Demonio Blanco himself. He was there enjoying the festivities and had VIP seating.
This Lucha Libre even was sort of like farm league baseball. The first match was definitely beginners. The matches are pretty similar to WWF. The fighters knew all the moves, but they were still working on their timing. It was comical. The second match was tag team. Just like WWF, there was the good guys and the bad guys. Naturally the bad guys cheated while the refs were busy scolding the good guys for some minor infraction.
The third match was a woman’s tag team event. The crowd was getting more and more into the fights as the event went on. Could it be the guy coming around selling cold beer? The final event we watched was the more polished tag teams. The Chivas were the good guys and the crowd loved them. Their costumes were great, it must be really hot wrestling in a full faced goat mask. This match even featured bashing each other with folding chairs and fighting outside the ring. Too bad we couldn’t hang around lng enough for the final match which featured midgets.
We all had a really good time. The kids loved it even though it was less polished than the stuff on TV. If you ever have a chance to catch the Lucha Libre, go for it.
Be sure to look at our Webshots pictures of this cultural experience at http://community.webshots.com/album/328178253spLlEs

Tacos under the trees

One day we were in Bucerias at the beach with the dogs. We stopped by Casa Tranquila to say hi to Patricia and Joann. After visiting a little while we decided to go eat dinner. Harold asked them for a recommendation; Joann said we know a great place and we’ll show you where it is.
We went up one of the main dirt roads on the east side of the highway. Down one of the other dirt roads is a little place that is really more of a restaurant than a taco stand. Inside the gate of what looks like someone’s yard is a very nice little garden restaurant. We each ordered a large type of taco called a “gringa” and an agua fresca. I think for the 4 of us the bill was under 150 pesos. The waiter was so cute, too. He is learning English as he wants t go into the tourism industry. Joann has been helping him with his English. One day, he told her he wanted to learn how to take orders in English. First he asked, how do you say taco in English? Joann said taco. Then he asked, what about quesadilla? Joann said quesadilla. He managed to pick a few more words like that and they both got a big laugh out of it.
I don’t know the actual name of the place but Joann and Patricia call it Tacos Under the trees.

The food court
Yesterday we were hungry for a quick dinner. In the area on Francisco Villa Ave. where we buy chicken, there are several taco stands. We went to the Hamburguesas Gigantes stand. We each had a “chica” burger, she was out of “grande” size. The chica size, 20 pesos each, was pretty grande itself. It was actually a bacon burger with lettuce and tomato. While we waited for the burgers to be ready, we looked around the street. There were 2 or 3 taco stands, the hamburger place, the 2 chicken places across the street and another small restaurant all within a short block of each other. Around the corner there is a bakery. Bakeries are very common here, not like in Waco where almost all baked goods come from the grocery store. Harold bought some really good-looking chocolate croissants at the one on Fco. Villa. He ate one as soon as we got home and said it was more like chocolate bread, but said it was really good.
There were so many little eating places in that one area we were joking and calling it the food court. There are many taco stands, hamburger carts and small restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. You often don’t even notice them until you are walking right by.

Hot Springs revisited

After our first attempt at going to the hot springs, we really wanted to go try them out. We recruited our friends Paul and Maureen and Maureen’s mom, Hetty, to go with us. First we went to La Desembocada to eat lunch. We were all stuffed after that big, delicious meal. I wanted to show them where the river crossing was where you would begin the hike to the natural hot springs. I expected to show them a pretty and peaceful setting. Well, that didn’t happen! First we saw 20 ATVs (4-wheelers) cross the river, obviously a tour group from Dona Engracia. After the ATVs went by, a yellow Vallarta Adventures truck came across the river. Next was a group of about 20 horses, followed a few minutes later by a group of 20 – 30 hikers. When we thought we had seen every possible form of tour, a group of mountain bikers came up!
We all agreed that a hike up to the hot springs was in order for the next trip and headed out to Las Palmas. As I mentioned before, the road to the hot springs is about wide enough for one car in many spots, and is a bumpy dirt road. After riding a while on the dirt road, Paul commented that the only reason he believed there was anything down that road, much less a hot springs, was because Harold said it was there.
We paid our 30 pesos each for admission, set up “camp” and tried out the water. After sticking a toe in the hottest spring, we were sorry we didn’t bring some potatoes to boil! That spring is super hot! We did see 2 people immerse themselves in the water. They both looked like langostinos (lobsters) when they came out. Harold put his feet in the hottest water about 3 minutes and it looked like he had on red socks!
The other pools are progressively cooler. We enjoyed the next-hottest pool and a couple of the cooler ones. The water has a slight sulfur smell and seems to be very soft. It felt good to lounge in the pools.
After we spent the afternoon relaxing, we dropped our friends off in Nuevo Vallarta and headed home. You wouldn’t think all that relaxing could wear you out, but we both laid down and took a nap when we got home.

So typically Mexican!

I told Harold today that we need to take a series of pictures of things that are so typically Mexican that you just don’t see in Hewitt, Texas. Soon we will have pictures and descriptions of things that now seem normal but have caught our interest. Stay tuned!

El Asadero, and relaxing

The past week we have been taking it pretty easy. We went to Bucerias one afternoon. The plan was to stop by the house for a minute to see if Glenn and Liana were there. They were not at home, so we told their teenaged son Brandon we would come back later. Next we were going to Casa Tranquila to visit Patricia and Joann then go to the beach. We ended up sitting on the nice, shady, cool patio at Casa T and not ever getting to the beach. After leaving Casa T, we went by the house again but Glenn and Liana were not home then either.
On the way back home, we stopped at Gigante (a grocery store) to pick up a few things. Well, who did we run into at Gigante but Glenn and Liana! We are often amazed at what a small town PV can be.
We met a couple, Gil and Maria while volunteering at the RISE shelter. They are a retired couple from Calgary and have been spending the winter in PV. They began volunteering at RISE after some people were walking through their neighborhood on the way to visit the shelter but had gotten lost. Maria offered to help them find the place and they have been volunteering there almost daily since.
Since meeting Gil and Maria we have run into them twice while walking in town. Neither time was particularly close to either our house or theirs.

Sunday afternoon Harold and I were looking for a place to eat lunch. We had several places in mind wanting to go to more to an out-of-the-way place than somewhere downtown. We’ve seen some places in El Pitallal that looked interesting.
The one we picked, El Asadero, is in a large brick pavilion. It is on what has been referred to as the back road to Pitallal. It is surrounded by farm fields and is on a dusty road. (Well, they are all dusty right now!) There is the main pavilion, another area towards the back, and a playground area with more tables for families wanting to eat while the kids play.
We got there around noon and it wasn’t very busy yet. There was a menu board by the door, but we didn’t get a menu at our table. The waiter asked if we wanted the mixed plate. (70 pesos each ) We decided that sounded good so we each ordered a limonada and the mixed plate. First we got beef tacos, followed by chips and salsa. Next we got a bowl of beans and a plate with radishes, onions and a little guacamole. The main plate featured carne asada, grilled chicken, chorizo, pork and lamb. Of course there were plenty of hot, fresh corn tortillas. We could barely finish the plate of food we got but it appeared to be all-you-can-eat.
El Asadero doesn’t have a lot of ambience. It seems to be a place for local working folks to bring their families for a nice Sunday lunch. It is very clean and the service was good. At least one of the waiters speaks English.
Altogether we had a great meal for a total of about $15 US!

The fire department

Harold has been working with the PV fire department arranging a safety inspection for the kids shelter. After the kids field trip to the fire station, one of the fire fighters was asked to go to the shelter to make an inspection. His report didn’t seem to make a lot of sense as to what was needed. Harold made several visits to the station to talk to Braulio, the chief, to talk about fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, etc. Harold and Chris thought the inspection needed more detail. Harold asked Braulio to make an inspection himself. So at 7 o’clock on a Friday evening, he went over to look at the shelter. The next morning, we had a comprehensive list of requirements.
The fire department is very different than one in the US or Canada. The chief is almost always at the station and goes on most of the fire and rescue calls. He’s a very hands-on guy. The department covers a huge area from the very far south near Boca de Tomlatan all the way to Las Palmas. It is lucky most houses here are built of concrete which keeps fire damage to a minimum.
Next week a volunteer is bringing smoke detectors from the US were they are easier to find and much less expensive. Harold, Chris and Braulio are going to go buy fire extinguishers, too.

board members and shopping

Meeting board members
Saturday evening there was a benefit concert at Cuates y Cuetes for a local musician who needs back surgery. We stopped by there for a few minutes before meeting up with Dave. The three of us went next door to Langostino’s to meet Marsha (MysteryMs), Bill (Wills) and Bill’s wife Pat . We just stayed for a drink as we had planned to go to a photo exhibition by another board member, Astrid (todopoderosa). Her show was at Vacas Grill, which is one of our favorite places for a burger. We ate dinner then looked at the photos. Astrid is a whale-watching guide and has taken some fabulous pictures. We met her and her boyfriend Azael (nickname Acey). He is also a tour guide but he does canopy tours.

Lamp shopping
Our friend Deb (pvdeb) lives in Dallas. She has always wanted a pair of Talavera lamps for her living room. She had priced them, but never bought them because she had no way to carry them home. Shipping would cost almost as much as the lamps. She asked us to shop for lamps and bring them back to Texas with us. We had been to the World of Tiles store looking at lamps last month. A very nice sales clerk told us that we could order the lamps with the color scheme we wanted and they would be ready in 3 days. I emailed Deb photos and we discussed colors, designs, etc. Since Marsha had the money for the lamps, we went this week to order them. Well, lo and behold, you can get lamps made to order, but it takes over a month to get them. And, they can’t do dark red, which is a color Deb wanted. So we were back to square one. We found a pair of matching lamps as close to what Deb wanted as possible. They are now purchased, wrapped and ready to go to Texas.