Innotec de Mexico

The girls all bought these bags at the market for 40 pesos (about $4)

Today we stopped by Innotec for lunch. Just as in Michigan, they have a couple of "lunch ladies" who make the lunch for the employees each day. But first, we said hi to Luis...

This is the Innotec lunchroom. Lucia and her mom, Laura (sister and mom of Carlos, one of the team members) make the lunches each day. It was incredible--as good as any restaurant food I've had. Tamales, really flavored refried beans, and a corn and nopale (cactus) soup. Add a little Mexican Coke to that and we were in heaven! Everyone was very nice to us and Celia was like a movie star. After having been there with Mike a few weeks ago, everyone was excited to see her again!

This is the view of Arteaga from the highway. Last time we were here, the streets were all torn up and they were in the middle of a big city overhaul. It was dusty and confusing because of closed roads. I was amazed at the transformation when we came back this time. Many of the homes have been painted these bright colors (the picture doesn't capture it, but it's beautiful to see alongside the road) and the roads and sidewalks have all been completed. The town is so cute now.

Our time in Mexico is coming to a close. The pattern is always the same. It takes a few days to settle in and I always wonder what we'll do with all our time. But then we get used to things and get busy and the time seems too short! Our plan is to stay here through the weekend and then head up to South Padre Island on Monday.

The Market

Today was an adventure! Rebecca and I decided to brave downtown Saltillo and take all eight kids to the market. She drove the Sprinter and did an amazing job maneuvering through lots of busy, narrow, one way streets. We walked a few blocks before finding the market.

I didn't take a single picture inside the market! It's a two story building with lots of food products and restaurants on the top floor and other goods on the bottom floor. It was certainly an advantage to have almost all girls. They were very excited to be shopping so it all went really smoothly. We certainly drew a fair bit of attention with our "siete ninas"--and one little boy!

Will wasn't quite as enthused about the whole shopping experience!

Tonight we're having a sleepover extravaganza! The three Grant girls came along home with us. We're down to our final days together, but we're excited that they'll be headed back to Michigan next month.

Museo del Desierto

Yesterday we took all the kids to the Desert Museum.





The museum covers all things desert: The history of this area of Mexico, desert animals, cacti, prairie dogs. And then, after thinking about the hot, dry desert, we pay a visit to the ice cream man! Mexico has the best ice cream! Caiti and Trina are giving thumbs up to the mango and the limon!

I think the Desert Museum is my favorite spot in all of Saltillo. It's a beautiful museum with beautiful grounds and overlooks the whole city.

These cement slides transport us from the museum down to a picnic/playground area. Rebecca took one step too many and had no choice but to join the kids on their way down!

A Day in the LIfe...

last  night  my mom  killed  a cockroach.  Now ants are crawling around it.  It was freaky!  

This is one of our favorite things to do, going round and round the courtyard.


We thought we'd give you a little tour of our house (apologies to VD Kuyls--it will always be YOUR house!).      The house has an open courtyard in the middle with the hallway around.  Each room is off the hallway.  I love that we can be outside even when we're inside!

                                          This is one of Celia's favorite things to do WITHOUT TRINA!!!!!
She copied my idea when Trina got a pic. too! And she was just faking it so she could be in the blog!
             -- Celia!

Celia and Trina's bedroom.  My bed is the bunk bed.  We have an extra bed too. (by Trina)

This is our living room. We like to watch movies on the T.V.  But it's way smaller then our theatre size T.V. at home! We're still adjusting! (by Celia)

This is Ella and Faith's room. But... they don't have a dead cockroach sitting on their floor! (by Celia)

This is where we dry our clothes. In this weather it only takes at the least about a half and hour.

This is the kitchen where mom makes all our DELICIOUS food! (by Celia)

This is the table where all four of us do all our homework.

This is the courtyard A.K.A Chucha's bedroom!  Chucha likes being here with her "peeps"!  The only thing she doesn't like is the bells.  Each morning the cathedral bells chime and she howls along with them!

Night before last, we went to watch the Innotec softball team play.  We thought they did amazing, but apparently that's because we arrived in time for their slight rally and missed the painful first innings :-).

But why watch a boring softball game when instead we can play with beer caps we found in the dirt!

 

Chicken Fights!

It's too late to download pictures right now, but hopefully we'll get some more on tomorrow.  We spent another fun afternoon with Rebecca and her kids.  It's amazing how well everyone gets along.  We swam for a long time in the pool.  We've introduced the gentle Grant girls to chicken fights and I don't think they'll ever be the same!  (And neither will my neck!)  The highlight of my day was taking the Sprinter to a car place that cleaned the outside and THE INSIDE for $12!!!!  Any of you who have seen the inside of the Sprinter will understand when I say it's almost worth the drive down here just for that!  The plan for tomorrow is the Desert Museum so hopefully we'll have some fun photos to post of that.

Leaving Aguascalientes...

Sunday morning we all had breakfast together at a beautiful restaurant right in the middle of the city.

Outside the restaurant was a beautiful city park and the vendors were setting up shop. All the kids really got into painting these pictures!

The Sprinter behaved on the drive back to Saltillo. Unfortunately, traffic did not. We got stuck in a few jams, preventing us from getting to Sunday evening church as we had hoped. Instead we walked to the Arteaga market, grabbed some churros and yogurt, and called it a night.

To Aguascalientes!

We've had a busy couple of days.  We ended up heading out of town for the Easter weekend.  Neighbors of Steve & Rebecca invited them (and us!) to stay with them in Aguascalientes, a town about 5 hours from Saltillo.  Of course, nothing is without drama in the Lanser world.  We first got pulled over by the Saltillo police for talking on a cellphone.  As Mike played dumb and understood NO Spanish, the police officer managed to say in English:  "Go with me to Marshall."  Pay ten hundred pesos ($100!!)".  Mike agreed to follow, but at the corner, the policeman said "Let's go!" and waved us on our way.  Mike is the only person I know who gets away with paying nothing!



But the drama was not over.  Shortly out of town our battery light came on.  Turns out Mexican highways are staffed by Angeles Verdes (Green Angels) who provide roadside assistance for free.  This man was able to diagnose that we had an alternator issue.  We pulled over a few times on the way to charge the battery, but made it!  And, amazingly, these friends were able to find a repair shop that fixed it up for us!

Along the drive, we saw a number of these dust devils.  We first thought they were fires, but as we got closer could see the dust twirling higher and higher.

Playing Pig Pile on the yard swing.

Today is opening day of La Feria de Mexico--Aguascalientes hosts the largest fair in Mexico.  We walked around some of the vendors for just a little bit.

This is where bull fights are held.

And you can't have a Mexican fair without the silver guys!  We finally realized a tip is what would make him release Jessica and Mariana!

We went to a Mexican rodeo.  A group of teenage girls performed, riding sidesaddle in beautiful dresses.

And we ended our day with ice cream.  Mmmm!

Tomorrow we'll head back to Arteaga and the girls will start posting again.  They're much more entertaining than I am!  Pray with us that the Sprinter can make this trip drama-free!!

A Tour of Arteaga

Faith and I went on a little photo tour to show you the town we're "living" in.  It's called Arteaga and it's just outside of Saltillo.  This is a picture of the house.  Inside is a courtyard surrounded by all the rooms.  We'll take some pictures of the inside soon.

Our house is right on a corner.  When we turn the corner, this is the view we see.  I never get tired of seeing this--the cathedral, the mountains in the distance, and the blue sky.

At the end of the street and across from the cathedral is the town park.

And this is the local store.  We visit it almost every day to pick up groceries or an ice cream!

Making Strides...

Today was a good day of getting over some (small) hurdles. We weren't quite sure what we were going to do about the Sprinter tire since nothing is quite standard on Sprinters! Mike brought it to a repair shop, hoping to get something good enough to last us till the border. Instead the shop found two matching tires that will fit and take us all the way home! Yay!

We stayed home while it all got worked out and did LOTS OF HOMEWORK!

But, now that the van was fixed and the cupboards were nearly bare, I had no more excuses not to go grocery shopping. This has been the most stressful part of each trip for me. Getting used to the traffic and unfamiliar signs, hoping I don't get pulled over or get in an accident, and then trying to buy a cartful of groceries in an unfamiliar store with Spanish labels (and 4 girls all asking, asking, asking). This Soriana grocery store is located in a mall that is a "4 daughter" heaven. There must be 4 or 5 Claire's-type stores with very cheap makeup and accessories. We had to stop in each one and I guess cheap eyeshadow and headbands will be their Mexican souvenirs!

All went safely and smoothly, we had a quiet dinner at home, and now the girls are all nestled in their beds.

It's a very quiet week in Mexico. Little did we know that schools have off the week before and after Easter and many families travel. Tomorrow and Friday are days off for many people.

Thanks for all your comments. Not sure who the little sneak was who begged for them, but I know they love hearing from home!

Jane

Finally Mom Gets a Turn!

The girls have given you all the important details of our trip so far! Today was our first day settled in Arteaga. Since we still don't have cell phones or van tires completely figured out, we were a little homebound. We spent the morning doing homework(!) and setting up the slip and slide. Have I mentioned to you Michiganders that it topped 105 degrees yesterday? We were so sad to hear of your snow :-).


At lunchtime we took a little walk through Arteaga to the little gordita shop. After rattling off the menu in Spanish, the owner decided it was easier to just show us the stuff. We got a nice little peek at how the gorditas are made. Gorditas are little filled tortillas. Piccadillo (meat & potatoes) was the favorite.




In the afternoon, Rebecca and her 4 kids stopped over. Steve & Rebecca are good friends and Steve has been working at Innotec in Mexico for the past few years. The kids spent the afternoon on the slip and slide and with the water guns. Have I told you it's very warm here? :-)

We ended our time with a visit to Francisco, the chip man. He makes these bags of Doritos topped with sour cream, cheese, and corn. Mmmm--worth another trip to Arteaga just for this!