Dancing in the Park

On Saturday we were searching for a traditional Mexican arts and crafts market. The one we found wasn't exactly what we were looking for, but it was quite a happening place. There were dozens of areas in the park where there was music (some live) and dancing. All sorts of dancing from salsa to the waltz. I made a little video using my iphone, play below. It amazes us the amount of entertainment people find in large public gatherings and at no cost. On Sunday, they close a lot of the streets for people to ride their bikes. They even had a fitness instructor lead an exercise class for dozens of people on the street (actually one of the most important avenues in Mexico City). This part of the culture allows all people, regardless of class or income, to co-exist and share the day.

- Corey (1st cameo post)

Wow what a day so far. Just got back from a trip to drop off some papers so that we can get our shipment (speculation is that we get our things early next week!) and it was a ride of a life. See, the freeways here have exits that just veer off the freeway, and when they have a light, the cars get backed up on the freeway. So we were driving probably 50mph and trying to follow the GPS to see which exit we were supposed to take and all the sudden about 20 feet in front of us there is a STOPPED car. We missed hitting it, thankfully there was no car in the lane to the left of us and we were able to swerve over, but it left us both a bit shaken! Then, when we were in the neighborhood of our destination, trying to find the building, we were driving slowly up a street, and one of the city buses decides to pass by the cars in its lane and drive in OUR lane...TOWARDS us. The OPPOSITE way of traffic. "Oh, no, please, Mr. Bus...feel free to own the road. We were always watching to see what you would do and make sure we were not in your way." Geez. Stupid Mexico City driving. So glad I'm not driving here!

Quick tip:

We discovered this past Monday when we tried to go out for dinner that apparently Monday is NOT the night to eat out. We tried 3 restaurants before we found one that was open to the public and serving food and not just bar menu. We found it pretty comical.

One more thing...I'm pretty proud about this so I am going to brag for one sentence, but since we've been in I like to try to cook more intricate things than usual. Last night, I made a mean homemade lasagna with chorizo and goat cheese, among the other usual ingredients. Pretty yummy, if I do say so myself!

This is all!

Fruit/Vegetable Market

Buenos Noches-

Today we visited our first fruit and vegetable market here in Mexico City!

The market was really neat, lots of great fruits and spices and different kinds of food/merchandise and the fruit and veggies were all so CHEAP! We could really save some money by getting these things at the market rather than the grocery store! Corey and I both tried some new fruits, one called Tuna (at least that's the way it sounds like it's spelled!) and some others that I can't remember the names of, but they were delicious!

We also got up early and went for a nice long walk this morning with Avery, and I only had to hold her twice for a few minutes each! (Since she is still pretty small, her little legs can't make it more than 15 minutes at a time usually, but we're building her endurance!) After our walk, she got a bath, and went crazy again. As a side note, she's teething now, and not seeming interested in her dry food lately, so I've been giving her ice cubes to help with the tee

thing pain, and I swear she thinks it's a new toy each time. She holds it in her mouth as long as she can, then drops it on the floor, and tries to put her paw on it, and the ice goes flying. So I end up watching her chase an ice cube all around this floor of the apartment! She is very entertaining, we are extremely happy we have her with us!

Those of you that know us know that we have a slight "Office" addiction, as in the TV show. I don't think there is an episode that exists that Corey has seen fewer than 4 times, and could quote line by line. So we have decided to broaden our horizons, and found a new show. We are almost through Seasons 1 and 2 of Entourage, and will quickly probably get caught up on this show. If anyone has suggestions for new shows after Entourage, please let us know!!

We have two quick tips today, since I've been slacking on the last few posts.

1) DO NOT LOSE YOUR BOLETA (ticket). In most parking ramps or lots of major retail stores, you have to get a ticket when you enter, and most times can get it stamped inside so it's free. Sometimes they charge you 3 pesos (currently 13 pesos equals $1 dollar) or some other negligent amount. However, if you LOSE your ticket before you exit the ramp/lot, you have to pay a set fee (in our particular occurrence I believe it was 80 pesos) and they take down your license number and it is a big hassle. So when you come visit, don't lose your boleta!

2) I mentioned that we moved to Mexico City during the rainy season. Corey said this yesterday, and so far it seems to be true..."The nicer the day/morning starts out, the harder the rain in the afternoon)". If you come visit between June and August, bring your umbrellas! (Or you can always buy one from the street vendors, they are always more than willing to sell you something!)

Lastly, we have a few pictures from the market today.

Sweet dreams everyone!

Buenos Dias!

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated...call me lazy! We have been settling into life in Mexico more and more, and it's really starting to feel like home now, with a routine and everyt

hing! I've taken to late morning walks with Avery exploring the area and getting her out, she doesn't always make it the whole way but I just figure it gives me more exercise carrying her when she needs it :).

Corey has been venturing out more and more, making customer visits, and even a day trip to another city, so Avery and I have been managing more and more on our own. It's been pr

etty relaxing for me, I've been doing lots of reading (in a week and a half I went through 4 books) and some cleaning every day. It's funny, when I was working, I didn't look forward to housework...at all. I really disliked it. Now that it's my job, I find it kind of rewarding and therapeutic. I have a sort of routine with these chores as well. For the mean time, we have decided against hiring a maid to come in once a week, sinceI have plenty of time on my hands, and I find that I KIND of like to do most of it.

In Minnesota, 3 hours of driving will get you from the Twin Cities to Duluth. The other night, we spent 3 hours on an errand run to Best Buy. Of those three hours, we were in the store for a total of 15-20 minutes. Gotta love rush hour traffic in Mexico City!

Finally, I've got some pictures to post and a video for you all to enjoy of Avery right after a bath. She got *little* excited! We thought it was pretty cute.

Above are pictures of Corey and myself with our 9 checked bags and 4 carry-on bags, including one dog.

On a clearer day, you can see the mountains from our apartment. The pictures above caught a glimpse of the mountains I thought was pretty nice.

Finally, this is the video of Avery. She is definitely an energetic ball of fluff sometimes!

This is it for today; perhaps I'll have morestories after our venture to Costco and the fruit/vegetable market tomorrow!

Until then,

Buenos Noches-

Well after a week of arriving in Mexico City, we are starting to adjust to the different time schedule. Namely the different times meals are had. We tend to wake up around 8:30am, breakfast at 9:30 or 10am, lunch around 3, dinner around 9. It's kind of nice, because it seems to be more natural.

We have discovered that we moved to Mexico during the start of the rainy season here. During our daily outings (to restaurants, grocery stores, walks, etc) I have noticed that a good majority of dogs around here have rain jackets on. Similar to sweaters you see on dogs back in Minnesota, but it's a rain jacket. It's so cute! I have tried to convince Corey that we are depriving Avery and hindering her ability to fit in around here among the other dogs, but I think I have some more convincing to do :)

In the last few days, we have accomplished more outings into the areas of Mexico City to visit Office Depot, Home Depot and Wal-Mart, among other things. Corey has figured out a range of time to figure out how long it will take to get places. If there is no traffic, you can assume around 5 minutes per mile. With daily traffic, roughly 10 minutes per mile, and during rush hour traffic, 15-20 minutes per mile. Now, everything is usually within 3 miles of our apartment, however during rush hour traffic we are talking about a 3 hour long excursion to run a simple errand.

I thought of one more thing that I miss while being down here, and not in Minnesota. I am so used to being self-sufficient, able to run my own errands and do things in my own time, and I miss that. BUT, it's nice that most errands I will need to do can be accomplished by walking just a few blocks, once we get more acclimated to the area.

Well this has been long enough, plus we can't think of any quick tips for this post, so we'll end it here. Hope everyone has sweet dreams!

Big Accomplishment!

Buenos Tardes!

That is "Good Afternoon" in Spanish, FYI. Just showing off my stellar Spanish skills ;)

So this afternoon Corey and I accomplished a major feat! We picked up a rental car this afternoon, and got ourselves to Best Buy and home to our apartment all by ourselves! You'd have to see examples of the driving in Mexico City and how the roads all do NOT make sense to say the least! Needless to say, we are pretty pleased with ourselves!

As for the short tip about life in Mexico, today we have two!

1. Everything moves at it's own, SLOW pace! You can try to email and ask for things to get done, but it won't get done until you call and call and borderline harass people to accomplish things. (This tip comes from Corey :) )

2. Almost all surfaces meant for comfort (beds, couches, chairs, etc) are NOT. We encountered this first on our look-see trip, when we got to our hotel room and laid down on the bed for the first time. Honestly...like a brick. Couches, other mattresses we've found, etc are all like a ton of bricks. Disappointing. We get our furniture sometime in the next month hopefully, but in the meantime there was a mattress left here at the apartment by the previous owner, and as we were moving it up to our room it seemed soft and comfortable! We were excited, as we were exhausted and had been up since 3am that morning. We both plop down, ready to be enveloped in softness, and are met with a stiff unforgiving wall that again feels like...a bunch of bricks. We can't WAIT until our things arrive! I haven't yet figured out what this trend in having uncomfortable sleeping arrangements is all about, but I keep wondering if the locals have better posture than us Americans...I usually forget to notice, my theory is because I am so tired :)

All right, sorry this was such a LONG short tip, but I felt it necessary to share. For those of you who are thinking about visiting us, you will rest comfortably on one of the two mattresses that we are shipping down, so rest easy!

Sleep well and Sweet Dreams!

We Have Arrived!

Hello Hello!

Well the three of us made it safe and sound to our new home yesterday afternoon. I'm amazed at how smoothly everything went...considering we were moving to a new country with a dog in tow and 9 checked bags. We DID have to be at the airport at a ridiculous time (4:30am anyone??) but we made it and everything (so far!) has gone off without a hitch!

Our apartment is amazing, even better than we remember it! Plus we found out that the owner left some great pieces of furniture that we thought he was taking, so that has definitely worked out in our favor! I will get some more updated pictures posted soon so you can all see our place!

Avery is adjusting amazingly well. We are both so in love with her! The only thing...we are litter-training her (yes, like a cat) and we had her going so well back home but we couldn't find a box or the litter we were using before so we have downgraded her to a kitty litter box and cat litter...she is NOT taking to is as well, but it HAS only been a day so I guess I'll have to be patient!

Someone back home was asking me what I was going to miss the most once we left Minnesota, and I've come across two things that I for sure miss...Target (obvious) and the convenience of Petsmart and Petco. I didn't realize how nice it was to have a pet superstore so close, so far I haven't found anything here like it!

And finally, quickly, I will share one random thing about life in Mexico at the end of each post.

Today's random fact:

-Speed limits and driving laws are treated as mere suggestions, and are rarely adhered to.

Much love to everyone back home! Now that we are getting settled, I will try to be posting more often!

Amy, Corey and Avery