Author: iagardener55

I wanted to tell you about the dogs here. There are three breeds that are most popular- the ever present purse puppy, the tiny Chihuahua, the beautifully ugly dog, the English bulldog, and the cutest little grey, and silver, Schnauzers.

There are other “lesser” breeds, of course, but, when watching the dog walkers, those three breeds are the dogs we see the most. There is an occasional Golden Retriever, or, a Poodle, and, some of those, well, I think they look like a walking mop, but I cannot remember what they are called. There are a fair few of them, as well.

It amazes me just how many dogs there are here, living with their domesticated families. Plus, there are very few, as I think I mentioned in another post, rogue tribes of dogs here. It is rare to see a wild pack anywhere that we have been, at least. Thank the good Lord.

The other, fairly common dog, is the beagle. It is so cute to watch several of them, all leashed, and walking together. They appear to be at attention all the while they are walking. I suppose that is because they are pseudo hunting. They have that expectant look about them, that, in any second they will find “game” that they will be told to chase, or fetch, or whatever it is they are bred to do. Their heads are usually held high, when not sniffing the ground, and, as I mentioned, they are ready for anything.

The other thing I have noticed, is the lack of dog poo. I know I mentioned it in a prior, but for as many parks, and sidewalks, and, open ground, in general, the lack of poo is remarkable.

Well, I think you get the idea by now. I just needed to remark on the cleanliness of this huge city. There are very few places that we have been to that are not clean. Lots of pride in this city, for sure.

Forgive me if this a repeat but, I just want you to know that the pizzas here have no sauce. How can this be, I ask you?

No matter which brand of pizza you buy, you add the sauce you want, either from a packet, or, from a small, round, plastic container that has a lid.

This is how I was first introduced to “take out” bolognese sauce. The folks, here, put just about anything on their pies, too. In fact, yesterday, we had two pepperoni pizzas, from Little Cesars, on which I put a few drops of Maggi, the seasoning sauce. It was fantastic!!! I would never have thought to try it. I saw Pepe put some on his, so I tried one drop on a bite. I was hooked.

Of course, there are the packets of dried chili flakes, catsup, and, hot sauce, as well as Parmesan cheese. However, most large, five item pizzas go for one hundred pesos, or about five dollars. Must be the lack of tomato sauce.

So far, we have had pizzas from Domino’s and now Little Cesars. I think the crust at LC was better than D’s. Oh, I think we had Pizza Hut in between those two, and that is where we got the bolognese sauce. Amazing.

I did see, the last time we went to Sam’s Club, their pizzas have tomato sauce. How odd! And, you know Sam’s Club pizzas are huge, but here, only one hundred thirty pesos, (about six fifty) for one with the works. Cannot beat that with a spoon.

We had our BMW parked just across the street, on the corner, from the house here, since the first of January. Yesterday, we were going to go to the store, when Paty noticed the passenger side mirror was gone. Then, we all noticed that the grills, on either side of the front of the vehicle, the signature grills that show the BMW to be just that, were both gone. The mirror had been broken off, but the grills had, somehow, been removed more gently- probably to preserve their resale value. Bastards!

I hate the feeling of being violated! Here, however, it is usually nothing personal, like someone having it in for you. Here, it is just resale value. Fortunately, the amazing mechanics that have been helping us with the Mercedes, getting it in tip-top shape, are going to help us order, and replace, all of the items that were stolen. Bastards! (Not the mechanics, silly).

One of many good things about these guys, (the mechanics), is that they will do superb work, and do not charge us like the dealership would. So, for now, we can afford the Mercedes. When I start receiving my SS benefits again, we are going to trade in the Mercedes for another BMW, but this time, it will be a four door sedan, and probably a couple of years newer. Not sure on the last bit.

In degrees Celsius, it was four degrees this morning- that is forty degrees Fahrenheit, to you folks. I am hereby declaring it officially cold.

In fact, it is cold enough that, day before yesterday, Ivan went out to the garage, found, and, brought in, one of our space heaters, and, put it in Juan’s room, (our cousin). He had had the forethought, the other day, to buy three more space heaters, (we have two more that we brought with us, out in a tote, somewhere in the garage), on Amazon.com.mx, that were, fortunately, delivered yesterday. We got to use them last night, in fact. I do believe that everyone got to sleep in the comfort of upwards of seventy four degrees Fahrenheit.

It has been getting increasingly colder over the past weeks. I was content at only being chilly, until yesterday. Now that it is reaching only into the forties, and, fifties during the day, the house, being all cement, stone, and tile, has absorbed all of the cold, and is not giving off any heat, anywhere.

Coming down, every morning, to the dining room area, I sit at the dining room table, to type my posts. I must tell you that today, quite honestly, I am having a bit of difficulty typing, my hands are so cold. (I have no idea where my fingerless mittens are at the moment, but have every intention of looking for them later in the day).

There is no central heating, or cooling, in México, so one has to have a space heater in order to have any heat at all. Do I even need to discuss showering in this cold? No? Good. I did not think so. Thank you.

Unfortunately, for the three of us, we only have our summer wardrobe available to us, as we had no idea we would not, already, be in the condo. The rest of our clothes are in the totes, in the freezing garage! Ivan and I did just go to Costco, yesterday, and bought some warmer clothes for Juan, Ivan’s dad. Nothing like the long underwear, sweaters, etc., that he had in Bettendorf, for sure. We will have to make do until we get to the condo.

I think I will try to convince Pepe to start another fire in the fireplace, like the one we had on New Years Eve. It was gorgeous, not to mention warm.

And, here I thought I was never going to get cold. Hah!

We are here, in her office, La Dentista Solis, two days before Christmas. Not very many people we know, anymore, work this close to the holidays. She, however, is one.

Ivan is getting his bottom teeth finished in anticipation of the top implant. Should be ready by the end of the year, or shortly after the beginning of the new year. And, that will be that. He will be able to chew real food again. I cannot wait.

Post script: we are going to the dentist this morning, and, hopefully, all will be a “go” for the implants on the top. I will let you know when we return.

Second post script: all is a “go”, but Ivan needs to wait three more months, to make sure the posts, that will hold the implant, are securely imbedded in his bone. So, it looks like April will be the month.

Down here, no matter where you are, or, where you go, if you look closely enough, you will see someone cleaning something.

I was in the car, a few weeks ago, waiting for Ivan to fill a prescription, and, when I glanced to the left, (I was in the drivers seat), I saw a young man, up on a short, ladder, like one used in the kitchen. And, in his hand, he had, what appeared to be, a cleaning cloth.

I could just see him as he was wiping a portion of wall that was stainless steel. There was no one else around- the small, garage size “restaurant” had no customers at that moment. Instead of sitting in a chair, on his phone, he was doing what needed to be done- work! Earning a day’s pay for a day worked. It probably will not be much, but it will be something. Not everyone down here has a job. Not everyone down here wants a job.

When I happened to look at the next restaurant, just to the left of the one above, low, and behold, two women were doing a similar thing- one was sweeping the floor, and the other, wiping down the stainless steel countertops. Amazing.

I did not work very many places in my life, not once I became a nurse, and started working as a nurse, that is. But the places I have worked, well, it took a lot to get people to clean anything, myself included.

We always had an excuse- “so and so was supposed to clean that, it was her turn, not mine”. Or, “I just cleaned that the other day”. Better than that was the excuse “it looks clean enough to me”.

Now, my sisters will both tell you that, after dinner, when it was time for dishes, I frequently developed a bladder the size of an acorn! Dishes were never my forte. Now, I rather enjoy that immediate satisfaction of seeing a sink full of dirty dishes, after only a few, short minutes, become a drainer full of sparkling clean dishes.

Here, if you want to keep whatever job you have, busboy, cook, cleaning lady, you do the work that needs doing- you certainly do not complain about having to do it. There are plenty of people trying to eek out a living here, so, if you are not interested in doing your job, someone is waiting to do it instead of you.

When you are at the bar, and all else fails, dancing, drinking water, going to the bathroom, drink coffee.

I cannot tell you how many times this has, in a small way, helped me out of a cantina.

Ok, so, it does not work every time. Actually, it rarely works. Water is your best bet, really. But, who wants to drink water at a bar? Especially down here. Coffee, at least, has been heated sufficiently to kill whatever germs there may have been, if they did not filter the water.

Okay, if I must say it, for those of you that do not drink, (really, what is your problem?), not drinking is the best option. You will have no trouble leaving the bar, or driving home. But, also, you probably will not have as much fun as I do. 😂

If all else fails, make sure your “support” is sober enough to walk behind you, and carry your sorry self out of the bar. 🙂

We left the house at 11:35am, recently, a week, or so ago, on our way to our attorney’s home, to pick up the paperwork proving, finally, that we own our condo.

As the crow flies, the trip is about six kilometers- for the rest of us driving-on-mostly-one-way-streets-in-Mexico-City mortals, however, it is closer to ten.

I believe I have mentioned, in a prior post, that going from A to B takes a bit of time, but, more so, distance. Nothing is a straight shot here.

This city is huge, and takes at least an hour to get to any of its borders from where we live, currently, or, where we will be living in the future. So much to explore, for sure.

The traffic that morning was a miracle in itself, so we made the trip in record time. What is normally a fifty to sixty minute trip only took twenty five minutes. Yay.

Then we had to find a parking spot. Sheesh.

Here, there is every type of bus you can imagine. Some are very old buses, that stay within a their “colonies”, (probably subdivisions), but, from all appearances, look to be life threatening. Then, there are the large city buses, most of which are newer, and much more energy efficient.

The right, outer lane, on all of the major thoroughfares, is reserved for the buses, and, there are hundreds of them. Cars and motorcycles can use those lanes, occasionally, but risk being bullied by the bus drivers.

Driving down any street that has buses on it, one always risks having one pull out in front of you. And, when they pull out, look out, because they rarely stop. We have figured out that they must have an odd notion that, since they are bigger than anything else around them, they can do as they like.

Most of the main roads, here, are at least four lanes in each direction, and each lane is usually filled with one and a half cars. So, when a bus pulls out, and you are a hares breath from all of the cars around you, there is no place to go.

Because of this horrid bit of driving experience, I find it very difficult to ride in the front, passenger seat. Actually, it sends my nerves into overload. We pass cars, within an inch, not inches, on my side, which, of course, makes me inhale quickly, and loudly. I told Ivan the other day, that is what keeps us from hitting them- the quick inhalation. It somehow, metaphysically, keeps the two vehicles from touching. He just gives me “the look”.

Some of you must know what I mean by “the look”, right? That look that says “I used to know you when you had brains. Right now, I am, truly, not so sure who you are”. But, then, he chuckles, and says that I might be right, who knows? We procede to our destination, my guts in my chest. Enough said.

I try to equate driving here to, similarly, driving in Chicago, or, say, Houston, perhaps. But, no! There is no equaling this driving experience with any of those cities. This is every person for themselves, yet, they all seem to understand their, and your, boundaries. It is organized chaos, and, completely beyond me.

PLUS, Ivan pointed out to me, just this evening, that I am driving without a license issued here in México!!! What is up with that? I never gave it a thought! In fact, tonight, I said “you don’t think my Iowa license will cut it”? Again, I got “the look”.

He loves me. He tells me so, all of the time. Poor guy. Having to put up with the likes of me, for all of eternity. Ha! (If his mother had her way, it could just as easily have been Ana!!!)

Yolanda, (M-I-L) I was, by far, his best choice. Trust me on this.

Happy New Year everyone. And what a new year this will be! I trust you have come back here for more of the same, because, you know you are safe here! On that you have my assurance.

Beginnings. Everyone starts with a clean slate. Everyone is fresh, clean, new. Forget those things that have stopped your progress to self-fulfillment in the past. Get beyond your, well, you can decide for yourselves what you need to do this year. You do not need me to tell you. (Besides, you probably cannot afford me).

With a new year, as you know, comes new expectations, new disappointments, new challenges, new, well, everything. Do you think so, too?

You can do new things, too, whatever you want. You can start a blog post of your own. Or, you can learn to knit, or, perhaps, make a delicious Beef Wellington for your special someone this Valentines Day. Perhaps you want to perfect an amazing bolognese sauce, because, really, who can honestly say they do not enjoy an amazing bolognese? (If you have never had a bolognese sauce, you are missing out on one of life’s many culinary delights, and marvels.)

Now, if you were smart enough to tell Santa, the hubs, the kids, your grandkids, heck, anyone that would listen, that you wanted an Instant Pot, pretty please, for Christmas, and, they actually listened to you, and, you actually received it, you can make the best bolognese sauce, in it, in a heartbeat.

Will I give you the recipe? Of course not! Now that you have it, you need to be a responsible Instant Pot owner- responsible enough to search the web, (or, for those of you with teens around, they can help with the search), for different meals, or, just individual things to make in said pot. You have only to type in what you want to make, add “instant pot” before, or after your search item, and you will have millions of recipes from which to choose.

I hope you all enjoy the newness of what comes next, every day, during this year, because, it is just for you, and no one can take that from you. It is yours, and, will be whatever you make of it. Make it your best year yet!

Feliz Navidad, y Próspero Año y Felicidad.

(Are you singing along with José Feliciano right about now? Gotcha). Happy New Year, everyone.