Our 36 hour flight from South Africa to Mexico deserves some documenting of its own. By far, this was the longest flying stretch of our trip!
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| I was excited to fly through Dubai, although my only glimpse of it was the distant skyline from the airport (the well-known Burj Khalifa tower can barely be seen to the right of the plane's tail) |
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| It was a gift to have a very empty plane from Dubai to Chicago and spread across seats. Trina put her United Arab Emirates plane kit to good use, wearing the socks and the eye mask |
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| There was a lot of excitement as we got beautiful views of Norway and Greenland |
Fun to finally arrive at "our" town, Arteaga, Mexico.
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| Arteaga, Pueblo Magica (Magic City--a designation the government gives) |
Innotec has had a plant in Arteaga, Mexico (near Saltillo) for the last 10 years or so. Most often Mike goes on his own, numerous times he has taken a daughter or two along, and occasionally we've been there as a whole family. In town is a rented house that's used for all the Michigan people coming and going, which is where we stay when in town.
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| This is our cute little street with our entrance on the right. |
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| Impossible to show in pictures just how unique and cute this place is. This is a view from just inside the front door, with the courtyard in the middle and the rooms all around. Moving from room to room requires walking around the courtyard, so it's as if we're living indoors but also living outdoors (only a negative when we have 40 degree nights and no heat!) |
Because our flight arrived in Monterrey late Saturday night, we stayed in a hotel and then drove directly to the church we attend in Saltillo, Vida International, the next morning. Interesting factoid for you fellow GHSers--the pastor is married to Karla Voorhees from Grandville. Small world! He is also American, but they have spent their entire adult life pastoring in Mexico.
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| Trina went to the children's program and was rewarded with a big bag of Mexican junk food! |
Our first week was very quiet. The girls are way behind in school, so we spent each weekday at home trying to catch up a little. None of us minded; it felt very good to just sit for a few days!
We learned that November 20 is Mexican Revolution Day, but why celebrate one day when you can celebrate the whole week. So Monday was the official holiday, but Friday was the actual date. Because of the communication barrier, it sometimes takes a while to get what's really going on. I went to get groceries on Monday and someone warned me it was kind of like a Black Friday. Oh, how bad can it be? Well, this was my first driving experience since we arrived and practically my first driving experience in a year. Celia, Trina and I waited in line behind 6 full carts of groceries. It was dark when we emerged from the madness, we took a back way out because of traffic, got lost and eventually arrived home with one majorly stressed mom (who took the stress out on her kids. Sorry, Celia.)
Then we heard there was a parade on Friday. Perfect way to get a big dose of Mexican culture in a short amount of time.
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| The Mexican version of Tulip Time! All the schoolkids were dressed in traditional costumes. Many boys had on fake thick, black mustaches and were carrying shotguns (toy, I think, but who knows in Mexico...) |
This exciting end to our first week prepared us for the even greater excitement that was coming during our second week. FAMILY! The Deters (Mike's sister, Crystal, Steve, Brianna, Matea and Marcus) came to visit. Steve also works at Innotec, so he and Mike did their "work" thing while Crystal and I and the kids hung out and explored Mexico.
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| Hey, wait a minute! Aunt Laura sent along that big bag of chocolates for ME!! |
Arteaga has a Sunday market so we all visited together. Mike suggested Trina pick out a bunny to be her pet for the month that we're here. (And yes, it will also be his job to help her say goodbye!)
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| First, she and Matea made an inspection of all the bunnies. |
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| The sale is made. |
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| Introducing Luna |
So let me tell you just a little more about Luna. For such a low maintenance pet, she quickly became very high maintenance. On Monday morning, Trina decided to give her a bath. Only when she toppled over and became unresponsive did we google and find out you NEVER bathe a bunny. The prognosis was not good, but the girls wrapped her up and warmed her up and she miraculously bounced back. A couple of days later, they put her under a crate while we went grocery shopping, but the crate was in direct sun. We came back and this time she was in shock from heat exhaustion. After some fan blowing and cool water, she made another full recovery. Even this non bunny lover will tell you she's a very sweet little bunny who loves people, so we're all glad she pulled through.
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| We paid a visit to the concrete slides, which were a big hit with everyone. |
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| A couple were so fast that you would shoot right off the end |
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| A technique the locals use is to flatten a plastic bottle and ride down on that--definitely increases the speed! |
We also visited Recorcholi's, the Chuck E Cheese of Mexico--only better. Less than $10 each provided two hours of fun, some fabulous prizes, and even a bag of popcorn.
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| Photo Booth |
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| This ride simulator was so much fun. There were 6 different rides to choose from and Trina and Tea used up a bunch of tickets on this one. |
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| Don't believe Crystal at all when she tells you that MARCUS played Deal or No Deal! |
The next day's agenda was to visit downtown Saltillo and all it has to offer.
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| Walking with a purpose to the market |
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| This is a fun market for its traditional Mexican souvenirs and for the pig heads in the upstairs food area |
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| I'd call it a success! |
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| The Christmas tree was just being put up in the square. And the other trees' limbs were covered with a silvery white tinsel. A little tacky up close but looks surprisingly realistic from a distance. |
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| You ain't had ice cream till you've had Mexican ice cream! A little ice cream break in the park (and Marcus makes me laugh every time I look at this picture!) |
Then it was Thursday--Thanksgiving and Ella's birthday. Ella's story is too long to put on this little blog, but after a lot of "why, God"s in both of our lives, God sent her to Mike and I as a special blessing on Thanksgiving morning 17 years ago. So whenever her birthday falls on Thanksgiving, as it did this year, it's a pretty special day.
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| Our first stop was Innotec |
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| Noe and Tonatzy, on the right, work at Innotec and invited us for lunch in a little town about a half hour away. |
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| The owner was such a sweet woman and I asked her if she could help celebrate Ella's birthday. She apologetically showed me the only candle she had--a #4. Ella thought that was pretty funny :) |
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This restaurant deservedly won awards for its gorditas and vegetable soup
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We celebrated again with a dinner at El Pastor, one of our favorite restaurants, and a slice of tres leches cake.
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| And of course, a Mexican birthday would not be complete without the pinata. |
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| Mayhem when the pinata finally burst open! |
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| Claudia comes to clean the house each morning. Our communication is pretty limited, but she has an obvious sweet spot for Trina and brought her this gift. It was all tiny little detailed animals that she had made out of clay and the biggest was a bunny that looks like Luna. |
On Friday night, we hosted a carne asada (Mexican for a BBQ) for the Americans--sort of our substitution for a Thanksgiving dinner.
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| Steve and Crystal managing the grill duties |
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| A rousing game of blow ball |
A number of years ago, our kids were introduced to Kidzania (thank you, Ms. Brenda!) and couldn't wait to go back. It was a bonus that the cousins came and they could all go together. Kidzania is basically a town for kids and is set up very realistically with ways to earn money and ways to spend money.
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| Admission happens at the airline check in counter, where we all receive our boarding passes. |
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| Ella and Faith said they would take Marcus around--mainly because they wanted the fun of participating themselves. Here, Los Bomberos are off to put out the fire! |
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| Funniest moment of the day is when we spotted Faith co-piloting the firetruck. |
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| Kidzania's version of InnoBlocks |
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| Payment for a job well done! |
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| Crystal's feeling right at home on the soccer field sidelines |
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| The job I would have been doing all day. The kids got to be DHL delivery people and either pick up or drop off packages to various places. |
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| A quick stop at Walmart to buy a few groceries. The kids could be buyers, stockers, or cashiers |
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| "Un, dos, tres...Policia Federal!" On their way to put the barricades up. |
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| Holding back the masses while Los Bomberos put out the fire. |
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| Ella and Faith should have earned some real money for being extra hands. On a Saturday afternoon, this place was overrun with small children. They even prevented one little boy from jumping into a manhole (safety standards are just a little looser here!) |
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| Celia and Bri in the Coke bottling plant |
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| Matea had to pass her vision test...so she could get a drivers license issued...so she could drive the go-kart. |
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| Trina and Tea were most excited to attend culinary school. They expected, as in Master Chef Jr., to face some challenges. |
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| Imagine their disappointment when they were informed that they would be making an appetizer--sliced hotdogs and cheese on a skewer. If only I had recorded their comments as they walked out with the paper plate holding that sad little skewer. |
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| Ella and Faith were such good sports and hugely helpful with their decent command of Spanish. I got the giggles when I saw Ella in this popsicle factory, nearly scraping the ceiling. Marcus had a lot of fun racing around with the two of them. |
Our day at Kidzania started out very stressfully and chaotically because of the language barrier and the crowds. But eventually the kids got the hang of it, we stayed from noon to 7 pm, and they still weren't ready to leave. From here, it was time to drop the Deters off at their hotel in Monterrey for their early morning flight home. We had such a fun week and were sad to see them leave, but the good news is it's now only a matter of days until we see them again.
