Love, Your Daughter-in-Law

                 Rest in Peace Don Humberto, you will be greatly missed.

Love your daughter-in law,

Trinidad

A Family Reunion

I have not been well these past couple of days due to a nasty tooth ache.  I was in bed all weekend and didn't do so much as lift a finger. 

During my abscence of blogging, my father-in-law has fallen ill and is currently in the hospital.  As you can imagine the whole family is distrought but with hope that Don Humberto will make a recovery.  I have not known him for very long, about 2 years, but have come to love him very much.  He is a good father and I often wish that my own father had some of his qualities. 

In my husbands family there are 5 children.  Of these 5 children is a daughter who at 26 decided to venture North of the Border in search of something more.  She married, had two children, and has to this day not returned home to see her parents.  She loves them both very much, but circumstances have prevented her from making the journey. 

All of that has changed, because now, 10 years later, she is sitting at an airport in Tijuana making the venture with her two children back home to see her family.   I can only imagine what they all must be feeling.  Despite that fact that her father is not doing very well, I am glad she finally realized how important it is for her to see her parents. 

                       Don Humberto & Doña Toña (Sept. 2010)

Every day I am looking forward to my trip.  Now, the family is once again whole as the daughter in California was always missing at family functions.  I will have to see if we can manage to get everybody home for a family reunion, I would love to hear all of the reminiscent stories of the past.

I have a floor!

The highlight of my day is that my husband has confirmed that the floor of our newly constructed "casita" has been poured and looks great!  I wish I had pictures to share with you but I'm not there so that makes it difficult. 

The month of February will be very exciting because I get to see all of the construction.  I will still be missing a tile floor but cement is better than dirt, especially since we will already be staying in the house on my next visit.  Hopefully by the time I move down in mid June/July, we will have the time and money to lay down the tile below that we picked out on my last trip to Nayarit.

Finding this tile was so arduous.  We must have went to 10 tile stores (and I am not exaggerating) before we settled on this one.  I love the hacienda look and feel in a home, so I am trying to stay close to rustic furnishings.  Finding tile to my liking was difficult because a lot of the tile stores in Tepic only carried what everybody else had which was shiny tile.

Something good did come from visiting so many stores.  While we were shopping for the tile, we came across these beautiful tile tables which I would like to have someday in my yard.

I cannot recall excatly how much these cost, but I think it was close to $150 U.S dollars.  These are heavy duty tables and once you put them down they are not to be moved.  You could easily pull a muscle!

Well, there is my tid bit of excitement today.  Stay tuned for updates in February so that you can see how our little brick casita is coming along.

To wait or not to wait.....

Don't know what to do!!! Ok so I do but it feels better to write about it and get it off my chest...

I have this tooth/molar ache and I may know what it is because my last dentist visit was about a month or two ago.  I apparently need a filling in one of my bottom molars ($300) and I have a wisdom tooth that is creeping in putting pressure on the molar next to it ($300+ ??).  Only, I don't remember where the wisdom tooth is although it would make sense if it was on my right bottom side because that would explain all of the pain.

So you all know I am go down to Nayarit in exactly 11 days and my husband said that as soon as I arrive I can go see the dentista.  However, I don't know if I can wait that long due to the pain or if it's ok to be taking pain meds for that long until I leave.  So right now I am at work and I took some pain medication my dentist gave me on my last visit and it is actually working! The reason for the suprise is that I took some yesterday and it didn't do anything for me, I added another half dose today and that seemed to do the trick. 

My Dilemma: To wait and pay only $30+ or not to wait and pay $300+?  I guess it all boils down to how much pain I am in but I can't imagine paying so much when if I can wait just a little longer I can pay little.

Packing already?

My flight leaves Jan. 29th and my room has seen better days.  I've finally confined all of my stuff to one little corner.  I know I know you must be thinking packing already? Well, I tend to start packing 2 weeks before take off because it gives me peace of mind.  The last time I waited till the last minute and it spelled disaster. 

I've done a little research about the baggage rules for United Airlines and it looks like the first suitcase is free and the second will cost me $30.  As long as I do not pass their 50lb max then I will not have to shell out anymore money.  I figure on my last trip to Nayarit I will try to drive down so that I can take all of my stuff without the hassle of airplane restrictions. 

So if you notice in the picture above you'll see a net that goes over your bed, yeah I don't think that will be going with me this time, there is no way I can cram that into a suitcase.  Guess I didn't think about that when I bought it.  Oh and I just can't stand to be without my Jane Austen books because I know  for sure I will have more time to re-read them.  On my last trip I finished an old western novel that I began on the plane ride there and finished on the flight to California. 

Today is my mother-in-laws birthday (FELIZ CUMPLEANOS DONA TONA!) and she has a full house, birria is on the menu and I am sure it will come out yummy. Wish I could be there but maybe next time.

I am all set, all I need are the days to go by a little faster. ..

Nayarit's Unrelenting Beauty

I have been under the weather lately due to a nasty cold, but I'm back!

It got me thinking about my time in Nayarit and how I will fair over there.  The worst of it for me, aside from the humidity and the heat, would have to be the mosquitos.  Never have I experienced such extreme humidity, and such vicious mosquitos.  On one trip back to California I had two swollen feet from all of the mosquito bites. 

The area where I will be living is surrounded by trees, vegetation and mountains.  It's beautiful but sheesh whomever said beauty comes at a price was right.

The picture above was taken on my last trip to Nayarit in September of last year.  I was paying attention to everthing except the road. You might have heared that the bridge connecting Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and Bucerias, Nayarit collapsed last year.  I didn't get any pictures of that, but it was all over the news. 

On my way to the airport going back to California temporary bridges were installed and the old bridges lay in ruins off to the side, pretty scary sight when you think what might of happened had you been on it at the time it went down.  The photo below was taken in El Llano, Nayarit.

When I had first arrived in Mexico two weeks prior, we were not able to take this route because the bridge had been washed away literally that morning and so we had to take a detour which added about an hour and a half to our trip.  Not fun at all, especially when you're hot, tired and cranky.  Below is another bridge which was washed away however I can't recall where.

So you get the big picture, when it rains, it pours.  Everything is always green and then there are the mosquitos. The last picture I want to share with you is one of a mound off to the side of the road en route between San Blas and Puerto Vallarta, its exact location I will have to record on my next trip.  When I saw this I got excited because it made me think of the Indian burial mounds often found in the United States.

If it one thing I am looking forward to, it is learning about Nayarit's history.  I have found that it is one of the less studied areas in Mexico.  Alex Kerekes wrote a book about his own personal journey with his father into the state of Nayarit in search of archelogical finds.  You can read his story at http://storiesbyalex.com/. I found his stories to be quite interesting and hope to post more about it later. 

For now, I will continue to take in Nayarit's beautiful countryside and make sure I carry a hat and insect repellant at all times.

A Yearning

It has been 3 years since I've been to the land of my father.  I feel an unrest stirring in my heart that seems to be the cause of all of my meloncholy these past couple of days. 

Last night I could not sleep and thought that it was because I couldn't breathe through one nostril. It is cold here in the Bay Area and I have contracted a bit of cold you see.  However, tonight I think I smell the true meaning behind it all (pun intended). 

Have you ever felt a connection to a place that just draws you in once you are there?  Or had a yearning to be somewhere, go back to a place where you were happy?  Do you hold a Tara in your heart as Scarlett O'Hara does in Gone With The Wind? 

El Aguacate de Abajo, Municipio de Tabasco Zacatecas.  That is my Tara.  It can be found on the map (a very detailed one) but there aren't any signs to direct you to its location.  It's a ranchito out in the mountains on the eastern side of the Sierra Madre where you can see the sun rise with the mountains.  The stars shine bright at night and the moonlight is all you need to guide you home.  It is no San Miguel de Allende with beautiful homes and quaint streets, grand cathedral and spralling history to devour.  Yet it is a part of me that I hold fast to my heart.

Every year in December since I was 6 I have gone to El Aguacate.  As soon as the fog and cold set in I knew it was time to go and I looked forward to it.  I looked forward to spending Christmas where there weren't any presents, Christmas trees or Santa Clauses.  Sounds dreary I know, but running around like I owned every inch of that place meant so much more to me.  It is a freedom that I have not felt anywhere else.

The reality of it all is that in my vain attempts to go I have been disuaded by family advising me not to go because the roads are dangerous, the area is dangerous.  I know what you must be thinking....articles have surfaced saying how the narcos are taking over.  No.  The stories told are from word of mouth by those families who have been directly affected.  And so I resolve that at present it would be foolish to go and place my family and I in harm's way.  How much longer shall I wait? Just 'till I can get settled in my new home in Nayarit, too bad there wasn't a road that cut right through those mountains.  To think how much quicker I could get there but then nothing is ever that easy.  Instead I have to make the trip down to Guadalajara and then head North to Zacatecas.

Oh well, for now I only dream about standing on the mesita that overlooks El Aguacate and hope that it hasn't changed too much.  

Mi Little Brick House

I contemplated on naming this post "My Obsession" and opted instead for the above.  Today I have a brand new front door and wanted to share my excitement and frustration.

Before our building project, my living situation in Nayarit consisted of two rooms. One fairly large room of 15'x16' and an adjoining room of 13'x16'.  You see, in Mexico many times the father of a family will divide his land equally between his sons/daughters.  My husband had already built two rooms years ago on property given to him by his father (which happens to be right next to our in-laws house) but then left Mexico for the U.S. and never finished building.  Needless to say, I was looking to expand our home so that we could at least have a living room, a kitchen and a bedroom.

When we started planning our project we initially thought of building up so as to minimize using up the space around us which was being shared by ourselves an my in-laws.  However, an opportunity surfaced for us to buy the adjoining property to Don Humberto's and our plans changed to move sideways and out onto the property we purchased.  We were both ecstatic because this meant more privacy and more space, so even though we had to shell out the money, we figured it was well worth it.

For the past couple of months construction has been ongoing and I try my best to relay to B how I want the layout of the house, the windows, the doors, the bathroom etc. etc.  Ocassionaly I get frustrated because I am unable to communicate with pictures (no internet or capable cell phone media).  We 'wing it' and try to do the best we can and compromise wherever possible.  Case in point my new front door is one that I have not seen but have been told by B that it is beautiful and was a lil' 'spensive but worth it considering it is the front of the house.  That's all of the detail I could get out of him because he said I would see it when I go in February (he doesn't have much patience for explaining things).

Nonetheless, I am confident that everything will come together.  For now, I imagine my little brick house and look forward to seeing it.

In Limbo

According to Dictionary.com, limbo can be defined as "an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place." I cannot think of a better way to describe my current situation.

It has been one year since my husband (B) moved back to his "ranchito" in the state of Nayarit, while I, have continued to live in the states.  I do not recommend this arrangement to anybody and would advise to avoid the situation all together. However, unfortanate circumstances have brought us to this time in life and we have simply tried to plow throught it.  Since B moved south, I have been down twice to see him and will be going once again for a month in February. This will be my last "visit" and the real move will take place in June/July of this year.

In anticipation of this move so many questions, reflections, answers and thoughts have been racing through my mind and I can truly say these are the reasons for starting this blog. In hope of receiving, and perhaps giving advice, I would like to sort through it all.  Aside from all of that, I feel as if I have one foot here and one foot over there, it is part of what defines me now and what has always defined me since I can remember.

A Mexican American living in Mexico. Unhyphenated please. That's me, it's like La India Maria says "no soy de aqui ni de alla tampoco"...translation "I am not from here nor from over there." The other example that comes to mind is a scene from the infamous Selena movie when she says "It's hard being Mexican American, you have to know about Pedro Infante and Frank Sinatra!" It makes me chuckle and yet deep down I know at times it is a struggle to deal with these issues without feeling like your betraying one half of yourself.


So here begins a journey of a new way of life that so many others would disregard at the drop of a hat....in search of something more.