Our Trip To Talquepaque & other things

Well I just don't know where the time goes, it seems like a just do a blog and it is time for another one, and I didn't even do the last post.

Home Sick: Finally, I am not home sick any more, I reached the 7 month mark and it seemed to go away, which I am so glad of, I was getting worried, but now I wake up every morning ready to greet my new life head on. I know some people don't have a problem adjusting, but I gave up so much to make our new lives here, plus I went from being busy all the time, to what do I want to do with myself today. Recently we have met some more people, so interesting to meet new people, everyone has a story.

Weather: I know I have said it before and you will hear me say it many more times, I love!!! the weather here, beautiful days, lot's of sunshine. I am a sunshine girl.
Our bedroom is my favorite room because it gets so much morning sun. The patio is my second favorite place, around 2:00 the sun is on it, I love to sit and read my books there.

Things I want to Do: I made a list before I left the states, one of the things on it was to read, and I have been doing lot's of that. Riding was on there, of course! and I get to do that. Playing tennis is on my list, I haven't done that yet, but I just met some one who plays so I may hook up with them, it has been years since I last played, but I used to really like it so I think it will come back to me. Playing cards, well I have done that with Billy and I even managed to win at Knock Gin, no easy task, as he is a really good card player. Swimming, I love to swim and as soon as the pool warms up I will be in it! Sex, well that is always on the list, at least for Billy TMI and LOL!!!!
Diet: What diet, unless you call still eating my bread, and having my donuts a diet, so no weight has been lost yet!!! There is way to much good food around here.

The following pictures are of our second trip to Talaquepaque, we went with our upstairs neighbors and had a great time. Talaquepaque is a town 45 minutes north of Ajijic. It is a town full of beautiful old!! buildings, filled with beautiful things to spend your money on. More than the the things they sell I love the buildings. They don't make them like that any more.

The first picture was taken at the Patio restaurant, they have a female Marichi band there, they were very good, and loved to pose for your pictures.


Thought this guy was interesting



I loved this stained glass window, you are not suppose to take pictures in the stores but I couldn't resist. It was so much prettier in person.



I can't remember how old this building is, I should take notes next time.


Loved this purse.


Billy and our neighbor Brian

Big man about town.
Metal Mariachi band
Fighting for freedom


Well that does it for this week, I already know what I will be posting about next, tune in to find out. Hope all my readers are fine, and thanks for reading my blog. Don't forget you can leave me a comment, it is always nice to hear from you all, and Dale are you happy now, I did a new post!

Billy's Turn at This

Greetings to all Cheryl's blog followers. We all have heard the saying that "Anything good is worth waiting for" right? Well, this post isn't it. When I told Cheryl that maybe I could do a "guest" blog, she jumped at the chance. OK, so maybe it took a few weeks or a little more, but here goes.

To start with, I am not a writer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once. What I wanted to write about are some things that I have seen and/or observed in the past 6 months.

• The People-Every single instance of my interaction with any local Mexican person has been, to say the least, a very good experience. We made friends with a couple of waiters and were taught how to ask for certain things relative to the restaurant experience. Simple stuff like a glass of water with ice, or maybe a beer. No wait, I already knew the beer one. Or, "where are the bathrooms"? Sorry that goes hand in hand with asking for a beer. But, you get the idea. People here are very helpful.
• The Money-Two years ago, when we were here, I used to go to the local store and just hold my hand out with money in it and the cashier would take the amount needed. It's a trust thing. That has changed as I have learned the money and it wasn't really all that hard. Remember, anything to the right of the decimal point is pretty much a waste of time. (unless you have a huge amount of it) The hardest part of the money was to STOP equating with the dollar. It IS NOT a dollar, but a peso. For instance, if we went to the grocery store and spent $700.00 pesos, we used to think "Well ok, just spent $70 dollars. This thinking, while quite normal for new ex-pats, will drive you crazy. A short drive for me, so they tell me.
• Driving-Not for the faint of heart. On and earlier trip here, we had the pleasure? of driving with a local. OMG!! (means Oh My God for anyone without teenagers) Some of the moves he pulled were quite extraordinary. "Hey, isn't this a one-way street"?I asked, "Well, I am only going one way". he replied That sort of stuff. Mostly, I drive around town and to the other towns nearby. No, not mostly, but all the time!! No worries, though, I feel safer with me driving. Oops, maybe I shouldn't let that one go. Yeah, what the heck. I am off track, a bit here. The thing about driving here is to, as they say, put the pedal to the metal and go, baby, go. When pulling out on the careterra, or main street, if you normally would wait, don't. Just do it. It is really what is expected, and that's no lie. The people on the street expect it, the guy behind you expects it. One word of advice here though, don't get into an accident. More so if you have to go to the bathroom as you will be at the scene for quite, and I mean quite, some time. I'm talking hours, maybe 4-5 hours or more. And, whatever you do, no matter what the other person in the other car tells you, NEVER, EVER move you car after an accident. Bad things will happen to you. To make this point more clearer, if that is possible, even if you have a crash on a Sun. outside a church as church is getting out, do not move your car. Really. For sure.

The Language-My favorite topic. The language learning experience can be fun if you want it to be. Or, it can be a drag. For me, its a blast. The locals are very helpful to us, much the same we would be to someone trying to learn English. I am only skimming the surface of the language so far and just beginning the tough stuff like verb conjugation. The thing I tell people, and you are people, is to keep you eyes AND ears open wherever you go, whatever you do. And please, don't try to literally translate from Spanish to English. It too, will make you crazy. There are just too many phrases that if you translate them to English will sometimes make you nuts. Ok, now for some examples. We were walking one day and some school girls passed us and were approaching other schoolgirls. As they passed one another they said "Adios" What? All the books say that adios means good-bye. True, it does. It also can be used as a greeting. Well, I'll be. Who knew? One thing that really struck me was whenever we were leaving a store or restaurant, the cashier would say "Que le vaya bien" HUH? That's not in any book I have been reading. After asking numerous people, Mexican and English speaking, here's what I found out. It sort of means "go and be well" or something like that. I asked how do I respond and was told just say "Gracias" One gardener told me its just like when we say "Have a good one" A good what?he says. That Americanism confuses the heck out of the local folks here. A blogger friend of ours once said she was sitting in her car at a red light and started to read some signs. And, she says all of sudden she started to wonder when she learned those words. It just happens. We were at a red light in front of Wal Mart and I was reading the bill board in Spanish and realized that "Wal Mart has all your Christmas needs" WOW!! One of the little things I have learned is that "v" actually is pronounced "b" . Cervezca, beer, is pronounce "Cerbeza" Same with "vaso" glass, becomes, "baso" ok,ok, I am not a Spanish teacher, however, did i tell you about my Holiday Inn stay.
I will write more later, but now it's time for a cerveza frio.