Archive for March, 2017

It’s starting again…

Sunday, March 26th, 2017

Jacaranda petals on tree trunk

Jacaranda petals on tree trunk

…that time of year when people start leaving post. Our book club buddy Max left a few weeks ago, and this week our Canadian diplomat neighbors, Mike and Esther, left. We enjoyed a nice, lazy Sunday afternoon with Mike at a local seafood restaurant, where we ordered the fish zarandeoda (flipped fish), deliciously smoked on an outdoor grill.

Fish zarandeoda

Fish zarandeoda

Our friend from Pakistan, Marcus, was in town this week. He’s a big gamer like John, so he spent Monday afternoon with us (it was a Mexican holiday), playing games with John. It was fun to see a familiar face. We also had lunch with him one day at work.

Tuesday I gave a presentation at the Bi-National Center about women’s history month. It was so much fun (and in English, so I didn’t have to worry about my Spanish, thank goodness). The audience are English students, and they were very fun and engaged.

John and I did our Friday night dinner again, which was very good. We really like that little place.

Last night we went to our consular chief’s house for dinner along with the other consular managers and their families. I spent a lot of time talking to my boss’s three girls, who range from 7th to 10th grade. They are so cute and lively – and each with such distinct personalities. I really enjoyed it. It was a lovely evening with the table set up outside, and the weather here is pretty perfect right now!

Pillow talk

Sunday, March 19th, 2017
Pillow with scene

Pillow with scene

Yesterday I made a trip to Tlaquepaque to shop for pillows for a friend in Washington. She had bought a few when she was here last fall, and decided she wanted a few more. I relish any opportunity to go to Tlaquepaque, so off I went. I sent her photos of some options, she picked what she wanted, and I got them for her. It was a lot of fun! And, of course, I ended up with the black one on the right (below) for myself.

Huapil style

Huapil style

John took me back to Cortazar for Friday night dinner, which we enjoyed. Walking back to our car after dinner, I’m always amazed at how many people are out on the street…walking, talking, having a beer, what have you. It’s a fun atmosphere.

We had another very crazy busy week at work. It’s exhausting!

Puebla style

Puebla style

Light at the end of the tunnel

Sunday, March 12th, 2017
Mom with Leigh and Lacey, 1984

Mom with Leigh and Lacey, 1984

Spring is pretty much here in GDL, and our countdown to leave has begun. We’re already entering the period of time where we start scrambling to do all the things we’ve been putting off doing. It’s an abrupt shift from, “oh, we’ve got lots of time to do that” to “OMG, when are we going to fit THAT in???” Thoughts are less about daily work than planning for handover to our successor, getting Flavia her shots to return to the U.S., and just the logistics of the move – where will we live, do we sell a car, etc.

But even as all of those thoughts are creeping into our daily conversations, the work goes on. We are extremely busy in my office – we’re now 10 years down the road from the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, when everyone needed a U.S. passport to cross the land border from Mexico into the United States, so people are starting to renew those passports.

This was a pretty good week, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I had a nice phone chat with my good friend Ann last Sunday. John took me out to a new-to-us restaurant Friday after work and we really enjoyed it. It’s a funky little place, with excellent food – the chef is Argentinian and lived 10 years in the Yucatan, so the food is a bit of a fusion. We enjoyed walking back through the stalls of vendors who set up downtown on Friday evenings, as well.

I’ve been working on digitizing all of my old photographs in my spare time, but the question I have is, What do I do with the actual photos? I guess I’ll put them in boxes to keep, just in case. It feels good to at least downsize them from the albums into boxes. The picture above was taken in 1984.

Taking it easy

Sunday, March 5th, 2017
Beautiful spring!

Beautiful spring!

The weather here right now is really beautiful. The jacarandas are starting to bloom and our view off the balcony is gorgeous. I’m really going to miss this apartment!

This week was fairly slow. I’ve had a stomach bug off and on, so I’m taking it kind of easy.

We had book club at our house on Thursday, and it was one of our best meetings yet. We had a couple of new folks, and said goodbye to Max. The book was “Superpower.”

John took me out for a nice dinner Friday night at a new-to-us restaurant. We’ve been making an effort to try some new places before we go. There are so many good restaurants in the city!

John and I have been binge-watching “Madam Secretary” and really enjoying it!