criplomats

Santa gig

Last week’s socializing concluded with a nice outdoor party at the Consul General’s residence last Sunday evening. It was a nice event and a good way to top off the week.

Monday through Wednesday of this week, I filled in for the non-immigrant visa chief. It was a lot of fun to get back to NIV work; it reminded me a lot of our work back in Juarez.

Friday night we went to Ana’s house for her annual posada – she is a local staff member in my section and she has done this annual party for at least the last 25 years. It was very quaint with traditional singing and tamales.

Yesterday morning we Skyped with a young lady who is interested in the Foreign Service, which was fun. Other than that, we had a “no progress” day, a term they use back at FSI. For us, it meant ignoring all the work still left to do from unpacking; instead we watched a lot of TV and ordered a pizza – a day of recharging our batteries. We were treated to a lovely sunset at day’s end.

Sunset

Wow, you go along with not a lot happening, then BOOM! Everything happens all at once!

Last Sunday afternoon, I flew to Mexico City to work for a few days. I stayed downtown on Reforma, very near the Embassy. I stayed until Wednesday around noon, then flew home. During the time I was there, I attended a conference about migrant children, met with my good friend and former boss Laura along with several other folks I work with via email, and did a lot of observation of their passport operations. My last night there, I ran into three other people from the Consulate in Guadalajara and enjoyed a nice dinner out with them at a lovely restaurant. I ordered beef tongue; I have to admit it wasn’t my favorite – it’s somewhat of a delicacy here but I just couldn’t get past the fact that it’s – well – tongue. Luckily it came with a tasty rib that I thoroughly enjoyed. I really enjoyed Mexico City – much more than I thought I would. The part of town where I stayed was very walkable with lots of nice restaurants and shops. I really enjoyed my trip.

Thursday, the movers came with our stuff! By the end of the day, I was absolutely pooped. Our housekeeper helped us start putting things away, but we still have a long way to go. I am going to try hard to get rid of some things, but it’s hard. John and I recently read a de-cluttering book that our cousin Jeanie recommended so I am hoping to put some of the author’s tips to good use as we unpack. But, it’s so nice to have our lovely rugs, artwork, linens – and more than four forks, knives, and plates!

Here’s the mover unpacking our John Bell cabinet, one of my favorite pieces:

John Bell cabinet

Friday night we had our Consulate Christmas party, where John got to be Santa for all the kids (you can imagine how much he loved that!). He did a great job – and we were tickled pink to see our friend Martha who is here on a TDY from the Consulate in Nogales; we worked together in Juarez. She came over for a glass of wine with Santa before the party:

Martha and Santa

Saturday morning we met an old Hendrix friend, Allyn, and his husband Scotty (and two adorable doggies) downtown by the Cathedral for breakfast – we had so much fun! I had not seen Allyn since college but it felt like yesterday. They are living in Puerto Vallarta, so hopefully we will see each other more frequently.

After a long day of unpacking, we cleaned up and went to a party given by the Canadian Consul General – it was lots of fun. He’s young and so personable.

This morning we went to breakfast with Martha and her husband Enrique at a popular Sunday morning spot. On the way home we stopped by a crafts fair, but they were still setting up so we didn’t get to see much.

So there – how’s that for keeping busy this week?!

I continued to fight a cold most of the week. Sofa-fest from last Saturday carried over to Sunday with lots of TV – multi episodes of “The Killing,” plus an old Harrison Ford movie, “Frantic” (also directed by Roman Polanski who did last week’s “Venus in Fur”).

I went back to work on Monday and just tried to take it easy. John had a super-busy week with the folks from the Office of Buildings Overseas in town. We did try a little steak place after work on Tuesday – it was very homey with pretty good steaks and service – nothing fancy, but enjoyable.

Saturday we stayed home all day and I finally got back to the gym. Late afternoon we got cleaned up and went to my boss’s house for a homemade Italian dinner with the other consular managers. It was lots of fun and the food was delicious!

Today we ventured out for lunch and ended up back at the GastroPatio since most restaurants don’t open til one or two in the afternoon on Sundays. We had a nice little lunch and enjoyed sitting outside to enjoy the beautiful sunny day!

John and I had a quiet Thanksgiving Day here in Guadalajara. I hit the gym, then walked down the street to get my nails done. Afterward, John met me at the GastroPatio for lunch – definitely not a traditional lunch! John had a burger and I had Phad Thai. The GastroPatio seems to be a trend in Mexico – I ate at one in Tijuana, too. It’s an outdoor eating space with half a dozen food trucks permanently installed. Quite cute.

Mom had lunch with David and Alison – we chatted for a few minutes on the phone. And we talked to Pete and Ginger who were en route to spend Thanksgiving with the Texas family.

The rest of the week has been quiet. Lots of folks were off work on Friday and we were closed to the public. John and I have watched a ton of episodes of “The Killing” (the American version) and are enjoying it. I’m not feeling great this weekend, so I’ve been wrapped up on the sofa (much to Flavia’s delight). We also watched a couple of movies: “The November Man” and “Venus in Fur.” Hope these sniffles go away soon!

This week took me to Tijuana for a conference with the American Citizens Services group from all over Mission Mexico. I traveled with my boss Pete and our senior local staff employee, Mari Esther. We traveled on Tuesday late morning and returned on Friday afternoon. The conference was fun and beneficial – always good to see how other missions within Mexico do things and to see how we can harmonize our procedures. We spent all day in session, but I managed to work in lunch with my old friend Sarah who works in the Tijuana Consulate (she TDY’d in Juarez many moons ago) and got a chance to say hi to Mike and Katie, with whom we worked in Tel Aviv. Tijuana impressed me as being pretty hip overall, much more so than what I expected. Tuesday night, Pete convinced Mari Esther and me to go to the old part of downtown where we had our photo made on a zonkey (a donkey painted to look like a zebra) and have a Cesar’s salad at the Hotel Cesar where the salad supposedly originated. Fun!

Last Sunday we went to Lake Chapala with Cindy and Raoul for an arts and crafts festival – it was a lot of fun and only an hour’s drive. Here’s a shot of John buying some tequila from a local brewer.

Buying tequila in Chapala.

Saturday back in Guadalajara, John and I went to an early matinee to see “Interstellar” which was lots of fun. We had the VIP theatre to ourselves, which was nice. Afterward we went to La Docena for a beer and sandwich (a delicious fish and oyster poorboy for me). On the way home, we stopped to enjoy a 12-man mariachi band – only to realize that we knew the Consulate family who had hired them. We gladly joined them for a few songs – it was really fun!

Mariachi!

Today we stayed in. John taught me to play Imperial Settlers, which was fun!