We and the other Consulate couples in our small cul-de-sac hosted a posada last night – a traditional Mexican celebration. Our friend Lara was the mastermind behind it all, and best of all, got our Mexican neighbors involved. It gave all of us a chance to meet and visit over tamales, beer, banuelos and other goodies. We set up in our street – complete with fire pit – and everyone had a great time. The neighbors brought three beautiful piñatas – two for the kids and one for the adults. We invited some other Consulate families to join us – what a great party!
We had a good week, starting with a restful Sunday. We watched a couple of episodes of “The Wire” (love it), then watched “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.” I also started reading “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” at my friend Kristin’s recommendation.
We went out to dinner Monday night at Corralito’s around the corner from our house, then Friday night to Los Bichis for seafood. I have to admit that I’m getting a little nervous going out here these days (I go through phases with this) because of the security situation – there have been a lot of robberies of patrons in businesses and restaurants lately.
Speaking of security, the schools here closed early for the holidays because of the threats of violence at the schools if teachers didn’t cooperate in giving up their cash year-end bonuses. Thanks to that, our wonderful housekeeper told us this week that she and her family are leaving Juarez to return to Mexico City. So, the violence isn’t just running out the upper class (like the two families on our block who have moved to El Paso), it’s also affecting the lower and middle classes as well. Newsweek and National Public Radio have had recent reports on Juarez – click to read those articles.
Anyway, back to more fun things. Work was busy this week, but we celebrated my manager’s birthday on Friday during a quick break from the line. I’m working on two extra projects for work. John is migrating back to the immigrant visa line, after spending several months working half-time for the management section during the move to the new Consulate building. He’s gotten rave reviews on his work from management.
I’ll leave you with another photo from last night’s posada of a couple of the kids inspecting the piñatas before they were hung.
