So, how was your year?

Of course; if you follow the Chinese calendar or Muslim or Aztec or whatever else the question is moot. But I am disgressing.


You can blame it on the three glasses of St0ne 11th Anniversary Ale I had been drinking (in preparation of the arrival or 2009 in Tijuana; yes, I know already arrived in a lot of places already); my daughter Vicky got me a 2 liter growler full of 11th Anniversary Ale; and I got some more Russian Imperial Stout when picking it up; I think Bonita was not thrilled about it... In any case; the purpose of this post is to try to reflect on 2008 and to start getting ready for 2009.


So, how was 2008? It depends; overall it was good. And it is ending good; but in the middle (October) there was all the financial crisis, Vicky leaving the house, Bonita is about to lose her job (this might be a good thing...) and some other minor negative things. On the positive side; I got a promotion at work (February), Vicky graduated from college (Psychology), Mediana and Pinka did great at school (The Lion King and the basketball tournament) and the recovery after October had been great. Found old friends (it took one of them dying of cancer for this to happen, so... bittersweet) and we made GREAT new friends (even though there was an accident last time they were visiting).


So, it was business as usual. Hope 2009 will be kind of the same.

See you around.

P.S. And for those wondering; yes, the killings in TJ decreased because of all the guys taking time off because of Christmas, so, no explosion here...

Past news

OK, I forgot to mention that Pinka's team (as Pinka wisely said) won the second place on the basketball tournament.

It was a hard fought game with the other team taking a bigger lead than Pinka's team could recover from... 8-1; final score 8-5. Everybody was happy; except for one of the moms that cried; really emotional moment there.

(this was to make the score 8-5)

Anyway; I just wanted to share that with you.

See you around.

Wha....

I was about to keep ranting/writing on the theme-du-jour: "Tijuana is under water[, and then I got lazy. I drove last Monday under the rain from Tijuana to San Marcos, CA (close to 120 miles round trip) and I saw 6 accidents. Today it took me 45 minutes to get to work when usually is 20, I saw three convoys of ambulances, patrols and in one case a fire truck (which means more accidents). The Via Rapida was flooded, a big three-row parking lot full of water. I took some video, some pictures and then I was too tired to upload them. I will, just not today.

Tomorrow I am going to San Marcos again, it might keep raining. Hope not. In the other hand, I might stop by the St0ne brewery...

See you around.

And there were two!

So; we finally knew what the tournament organizers decided to do. Play the three teams involved in the semifinal problem (Pinka's, Tortoises, Red Stars) and have the best two teams play in the Final and for the Third place. Pinka's won last Saturday over Tortoises 6-0. Tortoises were playing Red Stars today's morning and a couple of hours later Pinka's and Red Stars would play to complete the three games required to determine who was playing who.

Tortoises won their game over Red Stars 12-4. That meant that for Pinka's to go to the Final they had to win their game and losing for less than 7 points would get them to the Third place game, but the plan was to win straight.

Game started, and before two minutes passed Red Stars scored 2 points; then I noticed some people cheering very fervently every good play from Red Stars. The coach and a couple of moms of the Tortoises were there.

That was when I started thinking about how some parents (and coaches) can push the children on the teams so they forget that at the end of the day this is just a game. With rules and regulations and results and consequences. I think the coach felt responsible for accepting last Saturday the game against Pinka's; but when they lost; there was nothing else to do but accept the final score. Trying to compensate by adding support to the other team when there is nothing else you can do, is kind of annoying for the other parents (like me!).

Anyhoo; after several lead changes (2-0, 4-0, 4-3, 5-4, 6-5, 7-6) the final score was 9-6; Pinka's won. So the Final game (originally scheduled for last Sunday, rescheduled for today's afternoon and finally rescheduled for next Saturday) will have Pinka's and another team from other school. Pinka's already played them three times and lost all of them; close scores, so I think it will be an interesting game; refereeing had been much better in the playoffs and with the same discipline they had been showing in the previous two game they have a shot at the Championship. Let's wait for it.

See you around.

It's the season to be jolly???

I've never really completely liked Christmas season. When I was a kid (yes, I know I will start talking about walking 10 miles in the snow without shoes... wait; it never snowed in my hometown!) most of the times I got small gifts from Santa (or my parents when I grew up) which meant that I was being naughty during the year, so I did not really enjoyed them (Note to Santa: I am exaggerating! I was extra good this year!!).

The part I really enjoyed was having my family there. When we stayed in Sinaloa, all my mother's brothers and sister would come back from wherever they were living and stayed for a couple of weeks; all my cousins would be there and even though I was the eldest grandchild of my maternal grandparents I had a great time with all of them around. There were times we went to Guadalajara, Mexico City or Orizaba (Veracruz) with my father's family and I had a great time too.

But nothing better than spending New Year's eve at my parents house, with all my brothers and sisters and eventually with all of our families (we are 4 brothers and 2 sisters; all brothers and one of the sisters are married already). I like the closeness we share at that time; I mean, extended family is great, but you can get a little tired. Specially when both my parent came from families with 6 brothers and 2 sisters; from my father's family we are 30 cousins and from my mother's we are 24 cousins; so imagine the family gatherings...

Anyway, this was not the purpose of today's post. I was about to rant more about how I dislike the "extreme" shopping that takes place in this season; how the first time that I tried to cross the border in Christmas season it took me 3 hours to get it done; after one of the homeless guys that hover around that area stood in front of a car to let me change lanes... or the people fighting for the most stupid thing at the stores; being rude, etc., etc.

But; in any case, if you like it, enjoy it; the cold invites to have a hot drink (chocolate comes to mind) and to share your time with family and friends; not going out for the sake of it.

My parents will be here tomorrow; let's see how it goes (I still feel like a child around them, sometimes).

See you around.

What is next?

The league has spoken; there will be a make-up game between Pinka's team and the "forgotten team". The winner will do... I do not know; if Pinka's team wins, they will go to the Final game (as originally resulted last Saturday); but if the other team wins, I have no idea what will happen.

Let's wait for the end result.

In other order of things, my mother in law is now back in the saddle. She decided what happened could happen to anybody, then it was not personal. No need of victime-role playing or agonizing over "what if" scenarios. She is back to her previous self and that is good for all involved.

Bonita is a little worried about it anyway; she invited Vicky back home for the time being. But Vicky is at the moment being very practical about this. She really wants to try to be on her own; since eventually she will completely be. So, there you go.

At work we closed the month almost on target; everybody is happy (for the time being) and I expect they will start pushing for the grand finale of the fiscal year (coming soon! in February). Busy times ahead.

Bonita had an epiphany about her current job. She discovered money can not buy tranquility and quality time with the family; so she, who was worried about losing her job a couple of weeks ago, is now in the "let's take the money and run" mindset (Mexican labor law is particularly loaded to protect the employee in case a company fires you). So she is more relaxed on that sense. In overall, still stressed, but changed the point of focus to Vicky/family instead of work. I think this is an improvement.

My parent will be here on Saturday night (flying from Sinaloa); they have not been here since last year (I think?). It will be good to see them again (we met them at Guadalajara in the summer), and Mediana and Pinka will be temporarely more spoiled than usual, but that is the grandparents job, isn't it?

See you around.

What are people thinking?

During all this time, the past months in Tijuana; I have been reluctant to discuss the violence and all the bad things happening here. Not only because I believe that people tends to magnify the stories and they love to take a protagonic role in the story ("I saw with my own eyes!") creating in the process a "negative spiral" of panic and fear. I believe that if you try to see things in a better light they become better.

But then, last Friday night, we had our close encounter with the bad side of Tijuana. My mother in law was mugged when arriving to her apartment.

Whoever did this were small thieves; not really trying to be violent or to injure her. It was supposed to be a "clean" robbery; push her out of the way, grab her handbag and run. Then her arm got tangled with the handbag and they dragged her for a couple of meters on the ground; she ended with her knee and her mouth scrapped against the floor and a semi-deep cut in her hand. Lost the bag (with a small amount of money on it), her car keys (she was driving Bonita's car but they did not make a move for it), her apartment keys, driver license, voting card, eyeglasses; minor things. Everything could be replaced easily, we replaced the locks in her apartment and cancelled bank cards that same night and yesterday my brothers in law took care of the IDs, eyeglasses and car keys. But not the tranquility.

Anyway, life has to go on; she refuses to stay at our place (or any other place) and she really thinks she got scared, but that was it; just a scare. Of course Inge (the youngest son) was at the apartment with Mediana and panicked when her mom arrived at the apartment being carried by a couple of neighbors; Bonita had to talk to Mediana to give her instructions about how to calm down her grandma (and her uncle!). Five minutes later (we were at a new bookstore that just opened when they called us with the news) everybody was there; Polaco, Flor, Vicky and us were pouring over there and trying to keep things cool to avoid more people running around as headless chickens. Pinka said hello (she was with us) and went to watch TV; I just sat there and made some comic suggestions and serious proposals about the locks and who should sleep there and everything. It ended all OK; yesterday we got all together at my house and played cards and talked. Everybody is calmed and my mother in law is looking better.

By the way, Pinka's basketball team made the playoffs and won their semifinal game; so now they are in the finals; except... there was a development after the game. They were originally in 5th place; only 1st through 4th were supposed to be in the playoffs. The 1st place team noticed but accepted to play and they got their butts kicked by Pinka's team (parity, lovely thing; anybody can beat anybody!). The parents protested after that and call the other team to complain; so the final game that was supposed to be this morning got cancelled until further notice (I think they will try to clean up the mess they created). So I will keep you posted.

Finally, I am a little hangover this morning; I drank some beers when my in-laws were here yesterday, and after they left we had Maria and Will visiting; as usual with them, we had a great time, conversation, drinks and the only change was the order of us falling asleep (usually Bonita falls asleep, then me for 5 minutes, then Will, and Maria neves does). This time I could not keep up, so they left early (1:30 am instead of the standard of 2:00 am). Great time.

Today we will meet with the family again (Polaco's birthday is on Tuesday, but since Arqui is here today, is a good idea to celebrate now). Before that we want to go and tour the bookstore we could not on Friday; let's see how it goes.

See you around.

So, what's up doc?

Finally; holiday in US, means no phone calls, emails or contact from customer and/or corporate people. Just us working today in TJ (where today is "Turkey Day" and we are grateful for that!).


Do you care about today? Most of people I know (in California) do not care much for the meaning of Thanksgiving Day; just take advantage of the long weekend to take vacation or start Christmas shopping.

In Tijuana is kind of similar; "Dia del Pavo" (Turkey Day) is the beginning of the shopping season; many people will be crossing the border at midnight or Friday ealy morning (3:00 am?) to get in line in order to buy something they might not need but has a good price. Or maybe not, considering the stressful economy we are living. In my case I have never done any Black Friday shopping; it tires me just to be in line to pay something that costed 5 instead of 10. I believe my time is more valuable and shopping is not really my thing.

Anyhoo; getting back to the Thanks part of Thanksgiving; and taking a page of a tradition we do not really share I would like to thank life for so many good things that have happened to me; specially lately where I have rediscovered the love of my wife and family and the tranquility of living without hiding things from Bonita. I love her.

As a departing comment I would like to share the following text from Armando Fuentes Aguirre (in a free translation by me):

"I am preparing to sue "Fortune" magazine; because they made a mistake that makes no sense to me. It happened that they published the list of the richest people in the world and I am not listed. The Sultan of Brunei, Bill Gates, Sam Walton's family and Takichiro Mori's family are there. Queen Elizabeth of England, Stavros Niarkos and Mexicans Carlos Slim and Emilio Azcárraga. However, I am not listed.

And I am a rich man; extremely rich. If you think I am not, allow me to explain: I have life, which I receive I do not know why and health, which I keep I do not know how. I have a family: my adorable wife who gave me her life and that made my life the best; wonderful sons and daughters from whom I have received only the best; grandchildren on who I express my paternity again in a happily manner. I have brothers and sisters that are like friends and friends that are like brothers and sisters. I have people who love me sincerily in spite of my defects and whom I love sincerely even with my defects. I got four readers that I thank every day because they read well what I write badly. I have a home and inside many books (my wife would say I have many books and around them a home). I have a small piece of the world in the form of a small orchard that every year gives me apples that would had made shorter the stay of Adan and Eve in Paradise. I have a dog that waits for me to arrive before going to sleep and that greets me as I was the master of heaven and earth.

I have eyes that see and ears that hear; legs that walk and hands that caress; a brain that thinks things that somebody else thought but that I never before did. I own the standard heritage of men: Happy moments to enjoy and sad moments to be a brother of the suffering people. And I have my faith in a good God that has infinite love for me. Could it be higher riches than mine?

Why then Forture magazine did not list me as one of the richest people in Earth?"

See you around.

And then...

... I realize that I still have many things to tell.

The story has not ended, we left when I had talked to some of my classmates (from the distant past when I was in college) and they told me the debt situation was a "normal" one (in the most ethimological sense); and that I have to find some other options to solve it and then live with it. Those other options have been reduced to one; stop paying the credit cards. The reason behind it is that in Mexico the law will protect the customer (not the bank); so the only consequence of doing that is that you will not be subject of credit for 5 to 10 years. Hopefully I will not need that.

Anyway; after I returned home (yes! I returned in October 23rd) Vicky moved out; or I should say, we threw her out? It was a combination of both; in any case things have calmed and everybody is doing better now; yes, we miss her a lot and she misses us a lot, but she is living 5 minutes walking from this house, so it is just OK.

Mediana still is in her ballet/jazz/flamenco dancing lessons and Pinka is in her basketball tournament (they are not doing so well, but they are improving each game) and Bonita is taking some lessons at a local college (like a certificate degree, I do not know how to call it).

I have been very busy (they are making me work!?!?!?) but it has been really satisfactory; I've never done it before! (you may think this is a joke... but maybe it isn't!). I have been staying at work for a couple of hours more than my usual time.

In other words, life is going on; the world has not stopped (as anybody can attest) and history is in the making (Obama is president of the USA!). Many things to talk about; but the one I want to share is the following:

I enjoy reading Gregg Easterbrook's column in ESPN every Tuesday; he writes about American football. But he also writes about common sense (in a very funny way). This week's column contains a couple of comments about two things: hidden calories restaurants give you without telling you; and how the financial bailout does not have any control over the companies about how they use the money American goverment is giving them. Both really amusing and with a lot of sense. By the way, do not get distracted by the picture that appears in the second link ;^).

It's getting late and I need my quality time with the family; see you around.

Hopefully is not a train...

... but a light at the end of the tunnel.

Last Wednesday I went to Mission Beach to meet a friend of mine from college; we hadn't met for almost 14 years, we had a great conversation and had a good time together. Kind of the things that you need when you are down.

In the conversation he suggested (without mentioning) that he was having financial problems. He moved from Guadalajara to Dallas,TX because of his job and during the movement he never considered the amount of taxes he was going to have to pay, living in the US. He is making ends meet, fortunately; but got me thinking about how many people and what kind of people is having financial trouble.

Today I had lunch with another of my class mates; this time I mentioned that I was in a financial bind and he recognized he and many others (he mentioned at least 5 more people I know from my time in Guadalajara) are in the same situation (for many different reasons). It is not a relief; except for the advice he gave regarding a negotiation I was about to make with one of the credit cards. He said you can negotiate with the bank a credit card debt in what is call a "personal payment plan"; but once you do that you can not make advance payments (unless you want to cancel whatever is remaining at that moment). So, his recommendation is to have at least two. That way if you can get enough money to cancel one part; all the interest on that part is gone. I think is a wonderful idea; I already started on that.

And that got me thinking about how, for whatever reason, if you do not say you are in trouble, nobody can help you. Just sharing that information can lead you to get a solution or a better deal in your situation.

That was great.

Another thing that was great is that I shared with both of them (because they are sales reps for different companies, non competing) some of the contacts I have made in my time in Tijuana, and now my company got access to some of their customers too; which means more business for the factory where I work and more growth or stability (no need to worry about my job anymore! ;^)). So, seems like this sharing/telling/mentioning things really works.

See you around.

I am running on fumes...

I am starting to get restless; I still do not know exactly how to fix/improve/make-more-bearable this situation we are living (Bonita and me) but I am getting tired of it.

I have been 10 days out of my house. I already moved most of my clothes and things I kept on my night table; some remain and I do not want to take them out. I am feeling like if I take out everything then it is going to be more difficult to move back in. Not only because of me, but because of the zone of comfort that will create. For the same reason I have not unpacked almost anything that I took. I am using the same cartons Lexie (the nanny) put my stuff in, instead of using the closet and drawers in Arqui's apartment.

Arqui mentioned that if I wanted I could get cable; as long as it get cancelled when I move out. Being as paranoid as I am, I think this is some kind of "unrelayed" message based on communication he gets from Bonita. I will ask her.

Same thing with the fact that my closet at home is now empty; what would Bonita do with that? Fill it up with her clothes? It does not make sense to me if the plan or the intention is that I will return there. Why would she go for the reorganizing of things twice (now to distribute her clothes, and then when I return and she would have to return to her original space)?

I do not know; I am feeling pretty paranoid lately.

Also, today Bonita called a priest that helped us 5 years ago (in a situation pretty similar to this, in some ways) to get over it and resume our life in a better (supposedly) way. We have an appointment with him next Wednesday at 8 pm. Let's see what happens.

See you around.

Where in the world is J.A.?

In case you were wondering (and I have to accept that maybe, just maybe, you weren’t) I had been here, with too many things inside of my head to be able to focus and write about one.

Among them:

1) Which direction I want the blog to take (of course, the least important first!). I have been carrying two blogs; the idea was to translate and share the same information between both blogs, but lately I have been partial to a different idea, which is to report my daily life in Spanish and then share more personal issues in English. The reason being that my family reads the blog in Spanish, but not the one in English; so I would be “safe” to rant and complain and say things that I may not want to share with them (I am talking about my parents and siblings, not my wife). This was the original reason to stop blogging.

2) I have been under a lot of pressure at work, and sharing things about work is not something I want to do. Most of times reviewing a work day is the least enjoyable part of blogging. And I do not want to be obsessing about work. But, there are some things that I can tell you about it, and will write some sooner rather than later.

3) Pure laziness. I have no other explanation.

4) And finally (and the reason I am trying to avoid mentioning), last Monday my wife finally discovered that I had put us under a lot of debt, and we were living “day to day”. We have good salaries and that had allowed us to not only survive, but also to end up spending more than we should and finally to me borrowing a lot of money in credits. As a result of that I have move out, I am living in Arqui’s apartment (he is my brother in law), hopefully for a short time (I am not sure what I should consider short), until we solve the main issue in this problem, which is the way I avoid sharing bad news and bad situations with my wife and living our marriage as partners instead of single beings. I will tell you more about it, just not now.

Shocked? Surprised? We all are.

See you around.

Strange confessions...

I love "The Office". I love "History of the World, Part 1". I love Tin-Tan's movies (*). I love fish tacos. I love greasy food. I love beer. I love "stupid" movies (like Adam Sandler's "Anger Management"). I love Sinaloa's music (specially "Banda del Recodo", without vocals please!). I love the sense of "surprise" when you are travelling and things do not work out exactly as you planned. I love being silly. I love laughing until my ribcage hurts. I love that I sneeze really loudly. I love Mexican "ficheras" movies (**). I love songs sang by "Piporro"(***). I love Mexican music in general (but specially traditional, like huapango, tambora, norteño, etc.)

Not so strangely, I love my daughters, I love my wife.

See you around.

(*) Mexican comedian, that popularized the "Pachuco" style.
(**) In the 70's and 80's most of Mexican movies showed the Mexican Night clubs and brothels; the women that worked there dancing with the clientele got a token ("ficha" in Spanish) for each song danced or drink. "Fichera" was the name that designated those women.
(***) Eulalio Gonzalez "Piporro", sang norteño songs (he was from Monterrey or Chihuahua or somewhere around) with special commentary during the song. Like saying that Porfirio Cadena (a.k.a. "The glass-eyed") was a good shot because he had better vision with the glass eye ("he saw with zoom"). Really funny stuff.

Assume means…

… making an ass out of you and me.

How many times has this happened? I do something or she does something and then misunderstanding happens in all directions. I just get tired of the whole exercise.

However… what is the main reason of misunderstandings? Assuming something happened because of whatever. Never asking for confirmation. Sometimes there is no opportunity to ask and when finally is, communication is in “faulty” mode. Who is to blame? Anybody but the one looking for the answer.

I have been married almost 13 years. I have been with Bonita for a little more than 13 years (yes, I am married to her!). The one thing we have not been able to solve is the communication failure. Manipulation of “self-improvement” concepts, thinking that saying “I love you” will fix anything, avoiding “touchy” subjects; anything is allowed in order to escape blame and guilt. And is not that important, you know? Because we have been together for 13 years and it has worked, but at times is tiresome.

I remember when I got to Tijuana the dynamic at work was really bad. There were two teams of people that should be working together and blasting each other and sabotaging were the “standard” practices. I was really naïve (or maybe way to much Machiavellian, I am not sure!) and then suggested an open communication exercise. You could say whatever you wanted of other people in their faces and they should listen and wait for their turn. After everyone spoke then discussion could happen. There was only one guy missing. Guess what, everyone wanted to talk to that guy!! Isn’t it amazing, the self-preservation instinct? That guy avoided the whole thing and after that nobody had the guts or the opportunity to say nothing to him.

At times, I feel like that with Bonita. It is amusing (at times) how she complains that I have to be right about anything that we discuss (regardless of the importance), but she does not recognizes that she is never wrong about situations that happen between us. Of course this is a biased opinion (I assume…).

Anyway, I am ranting; and venting. I am tired. I am tired because of reasons nothing to do with Bonita; it’s mostly work. And I know that if I do not vent/rant/write I will feel really bad later (*).

See you around.

(*) Not later “tonight-later”, more like “tomorrow/weekend-later”. Tonight we will visit Will and Maria and that alone will be an excellent opportunity to relax and enjoy spending time with good friends (and we will be civil too!!)

Patriotism...

... is the value of the month in Mediana and Pinka's school.

So, during the conversation with Will (who according to his recollection was drunk but I did not notice) last Friday we talked about Mexico's history (The Heroic Cadets) and Mexican food (Chiles en Nogada).

So, I kept thinking about a comment he made about quotes and the one quote that is my favorite from the Mexican history. It has to do with the US invasion into Mexico in 1847 (almost 70 years later we retaliated with Pancho Villa! Mexico is the only country to ever invade US! and yes, I feel proud of that little known fact); after the US troops took over the Army Academy in the Castle of Chapultepec (and got the Heroic Cadets as a result of that) they battled the Mexican Army in Churubusco; beat General Pedro Maria Anaya who then was asked where was the ammunition; his answer was: "Si hubiera parque, no estaria usted aqui" ("If I had any ammunition, you would not be here"). Enough said.

See you around.

30 days has September...

… and none to waste.

As busy as it was last week, it ended in a very good note. The (becoming) traditional bi-weekly blogmeet took place in a fancy restaurant in TJ; as usual Maria, Will and us were there and we had a great time, with great food and drinks. All of us were tired, but enjoyed so much that we stayed until half past midnight. Great conversations and great times!

On Saturday, Bonita and I woke up early to attend a work related event in Real del Mar; I met a lot of people I had not seen for a while and had conversations with most of them work-related, nothing really important. Had breakfast and lunch in a couple of “healthy” places; it was OK.

On Sunday, we went across the border to do a number of pending issues, like returning the “infamous” luggage carrier that opened during the vacation and to buy the replacement bar stools for the remodeled kitchen; in any case, there were we, both of us having breakfast at Achiote (which is owned by the same people as La Espadaña) when things started to go awry.

It had happened last Wednesday that we attended our monthly couples counseling session. This time we were talking about parenting and the counselor gave us homework. Related to the values we lived our lives (as individuals) when we were in the 20~25 years old and the values we have now.

Bonita hit the ground running and immediately started working on hers. I, as usual, dragged my feet, since this kind of activity has some ill effects on me. I do not like to do them. I try to delay this as much as I can. So, when on Sunday, Bonita started asking me questions about my values then and now, and started (what I felt like) pushing me to answer, I did not take that on stride. I resented the whole thing, and when we were having breakfast I snapped at her and made a comment about how she is the worst (insert adjective here) who does not do (insert activity here) for me. Out of the blue for her, I knew and later mentioned that the reason for me to do that was “revenge” because I felt pushed by her and did not want to complete the conversation.

She was hurt; I think she is still hurt. I apologized, several times already. But she is still behaving coldly with me.

Anyway, after feeling like sh1t yesterday after breakfast (I could not finish it, my mouth went sour after the discussion), I decided to try to tackle the “values” thing, at least the part when I was young(er).

So, with a small explanation for each one, here they are:

1) Independence: I lived with my parents until I was 17, after that I moved to Guadalajara, with my aunt and uncle until I was 22. The parenting style was so different that I felt trapped with them. They are really nice people, but when I was that age, I did not want my parents (least my relatives!) to be hovering over me and whatever I did! I could not “misbehave” at all: not drinking, smoking, spending the night away from home. So, basically it was no fun at all. So, I took advantage that my brother Tobal moved to Guadalajara to attend college and we moved out my relatives’ house.
2) Individuality: I loved and love my family (parents, siblings, etc.) But after a long time, I started taking vacation without them. I did a lot of things on my own those days. Like getting in a café to read the paper and not to worry about anything at all. I think I should call this differently, because what I lived then was the sensation that I had no responsibility over nobody but myself. And I enjoyed that a lot. In the same theme, I was trying to complete my identity, keeping away from the majority, whatever that meant.
3) Friends and family relationships: I like(d) to be around friends, and at the time, I developed a sense of comfort being around my family too.
4) Honesty: I disliked, and still do, people that lied. More so when they lie to take advantage of me. Only remember one case, but still stings.

There are some other values I lived at the time: Responsibility, Intellectual Status, Cooperation come to mind… in any case; the four I listed were the most important to me at the time.

I have to get to list the values I have now… tough task.

See you around.

Vacation is over (really?)

Was it not over like... two weeks ago?

Well, our vacation trip was over two weeks ago, but school vacation is finally over. Mediana and Pinka are back to school tomorrow. They are not so excited about it; in any case they are veterans of going back to school (Pinka goes to 3rd grade and Mediana to 6th grade), but in Mediana's case there are a couple of things that will happen this year to make it interesting.

1) This is her 10th and final year in this school; yes, she has attended since Nursery, until 6th grade all available grades there are in the school; so she is leaving. Going to Junior High, I think she is a little worried/excited over that. We are too. We already selected in which Jr. High we would like Mediana to be enrolled, so we have to be really careful not to miss the admission exam dates and all of the sort. In the other hand, we are sure it is going to be really emotional for her.

2) Will is going to be her teacher. Considering both my parents are teachers, and my mother taught me during 1st and 2nd grade I do not see anything strange about that. But in Mediana's case, is a little different. Because we are friends with him and Maria. I think she is getting more comfortable with the idea, but... at a times she looks unsure about it. I've told her there is nothing to worry about. We will behave and try not to be the overbearing parents with the addidional "complication" of being friends with the teacher. I know the feeling, but it was not a big problem for me. In any case I really believe it changes nothing. Work and life are two different things (what is what Will uses to say? "I work for a living, I do not live to work", this is it!).

So, not a big deal. The biggest deal of the vacation being over is that the practice books for both the kids did not arrive!! Bonita went to review the material on Thursday (for Mediana) and Friday and both days she ended up being the "bad" mother that did not take care of her children school requirements! On Thursday because she forgot ALL the books, the photographs and something else; and on Friday because the practice books were not here (they still are not here! I need to call the service department of the website where I bought them!) Big disappointment for all the other mothers! (Most of the mothers at the school are a little snob, and in some cases very! They look down on you when you are not "perfect"!).

In other vacation news, Pinka went to audition for a part in a Mexican movie. When Bonita asked her how it went, her answer was: "I will not repeat the audition, if you want to see what happened wait until I appear in the movie". Talk about self-confidence!!

Also, yesterday Mediana and Pinka restarted their art lessons (painting and drawing) on Saturday. Which means we will be stuck on that for the whole year; I do not really like the schedule, I rather take them on weekdays, but this is the schedule they like and in this particular case we prefer to go along with this. Maybe we will stop going to the US on weekends! (That could save some money, you know!).

And finally, I have been really busy at work. I was away two weeks; and even though I spend maybe 1 hour daily on the phone and another hour reading and answering some e-mails during the vacation, the amount of pending issues that were waiting for me was amazing. Not only that, but I had corporate visitors and a customer quarterly meeting to host. In a room with over 20 people and no air conditioning. Have I mentioned that I sweat? and not just sweat, but sweat a lot? My shirt ended stained and I had to change it. For some strange reason I had a spare at the office, so I did it; finally I got a pass, from both corporate and the customer. I have to go to Massachussetts on November, but it will be fine. So, I am back on track; this next week is end of the month, besides the shipping/production rush we have to reduce manpower. 5 people need to be let go (euphemism for firing them). Never a good thing. So, wish me luck.

See you around.

And to complete the full report...

Complaining was the last part of the vacation; actually I am wrong here, I am not taking into consideration some of the strange sights we were witness during the vacation; like the cross dressing guy we saw at the road between Santa Ana and Hermosillo; or when Pinka said that a kid was driving a motorcycle (with his mother on the back, or something like that); or the tropical storm in the middle of Baja that almost got us stuck in Ciudad Constitucion. So we had our share of adventures; actually I believe we should call all of the "annoying" things adventures (I know Bonita will disagree with that!).

1) The top carrier opened as soon as we came down "La Rumorosa" (very "curvy" road, the name refers to the noise the cars that falll downhill made): Bonita got three tequilas to overcome her desire to return to Tijuana immediately and I had to buy two straps to hold the thing together. We lost a child carrier, child shoes and the suit carrier that held my clothes got ripped apart (no damage to the clothes, fortunately).

2) We saw a "police scene" when driving out of Mexicali; two federal agents were shot by the "bad guys" (whoever those are).

3) We saw a guy walking on the road wearing a red dress and high heels while we were driving from Caborca to Hermosillo (I think that was the weirdest sight!)

4) We almost got stuck in Hermosillo while Bonita was talking with her cousins, the husband of the eldest cousin got drunk and I had to cook the "carne asada"; Bonita kept getting updated news (and a ton of memorabilia, pictures and the sort!) from the family before finally deciding to move to Ciudad Obregon.

5) The windshield got broken by a pebble very close to Los Mochis; this reduce our excitement of getting to Sinaloa.

6) We saw another "crime scene" after we passed Guasave; this time we did not investigate what happened!

7) We got to Mazatlan in the middle of "high season for Mexican tourists" and the hotel we wanted was full, so we decided to "see first" if the Aquamarina was OK and Bonita registered before I could tell her it was a bad idea. Of course everything was my fault, since it was the hotel my father use to take us when we were on vacation (25~30 years ago!).

8) In Guadalajara, we were hit with hail while returning to my aunt's home. My daughters had never seen hail. There is a video somewhere.


9) In San Juan de Los Lagos we saw this:


10) In Guanajuato we were approached by a kid that was a tourist guide; he took us to the Inquisicion Museum where we saw mummies, torture instruments and a chastity belt. Then the guide disappeared and we never saw him again (he migh be one mummy now!!)


11) In Dolores Hidalgo we mistaken the church where "El Cura Hidalgo" did not yell "Viva Mexico!!"


12) This was a common sight on the roads.



13) Everything was quiet until we got to the ferry. The ferry had a problem on one of the electricity generators and the trip was delayed 13 hours, we spend 24 hours on the ferry and we were really tired and hungry by the time we left. That's where I noticed my kids and my wife are a little spoiled, they could not eat the food that was given to us on the ferry! They wanted gourmet food! (I've learned to eat whatever is available, you never know when you will eat again!).


14) We could not find the hotel in Cabo San Lucas, when we finally did it was great; but for a while Bonita was getting mad at me.


15) While driving through the central part of Baja, we ran into a tropical storm at Ciudad Constitucion; I could not take pictures but Bonita was scared. Of course Pinka decided she needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the storm; we got drenched in rain while looking for a toilette!!



16) We got to Santa Rosalia to find a creepy hotel; Bonita still thinks it was the original of "Psycho". It looked OK at daylight! And of course it was also my fault because I did not know there were only 4 (or maybe 3) hotels in Santa Rosalia!

17) We went through 7 army "retenes" during the last two days of travel; I asked for a certificate of being verified because I was getting tired of opening the top carrier every freaking time!! Could they not see we were in family travel!

Anyway; we made it back safe and sound. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously (even if the pictures show different evidence!) Thank you for your patience and your attention.

See you around

Visiting family

Well, family is a huge deal in Mexico.

In the year I have been married, one of the differences I had had with my wife is how to manage the relationship with family. The best example is the following: in Bonita's family, when you go to a place where you have family, you go visit and that's it; in my family, when you go to a place where you have family you are EXPECTED to stay with them (provided there is enough space for all of you), and they will get offended if you don't.

So, imagine we were going on a vacation and were planning to visit 10 cities and in 8 of them you have family (one side or the other); what was going to be? Fortunately, Bonita's family wanted us to stay with them, so we crash with relatives at every opportunity.

That made the trip really interesting; because in Bonita's case, she had not been close to her family for more than 20 years. Imagine the conversations when you try to cramp all the important things you want to share with your cousins in one night!

In the other hand, my family is not so close to us (they are, but by phone, because of the distance, I am not sure I would not be overwhelmed with them if they were close in distance) but they like us to visit them. When in Guadalajara, we stayed at my aunt and uncle's house and they were delighted to have us there (I lived with them for 5 years, while in college and a little later), I believe my aunt really appreciates that I still visit them (instead of hating to be there because they mistreat me or something like that).

In any case, Mediana and Pinka had the opportunity to meet Bonita's side of the family (they did not meet them before) and also to meet some of my family for the nth time.

Everybody appreciated that; I am only waiting for Bonita to write about it.

See you around.

Intermission II (Back at school)

What was I doing yesterday at 11:00 am at Cal State San Marcos?


Attending the XII Anniversary party of the St0ne Brewery, of course!


And with the opportunity to try 10 different beers from the world with the souvenir glass you get with your ticket and the party after that at KC's house, it was a good place to be.

KC got me tickets to the party, but everyone of the people that was supposed to go, either cancelled or could not go (I still feel it for will, but we had a taste of the XI anniversary beer on Friday night).

It was a little difficult to get up on Saturday morning; the party session started at 11:15 am, in San Marcos and I had to get to KC house in Escondido at 10:00 am. After several false wake up calls I finally got up at 8, woke up Vicky, who accepted to join me (since she likes speciality beer too, unusual for a girl) and we left home around 9:00. Bonita, Mediana and Pinka were to go buy the school uniforms; the school decided to change the uniforms completely (a bummer because is Mediana's last year at this school) and we waited until the end of vacations to avoid buying the wrong sizes (they had grown so much since the end of the school year); anyhoo, they were going shopping, Vicky and me were going beer sampling (to avoid saying drinking!).

Got to KC's house on time, went to pick up Dave (a Londoner who lives closeby and works at the same place than KC) and went to take the train to the place (police were patrolling the university and after drinking, driving would have been dangerous!). We did not count it was a 15 minutes walk from the train station to the party site, but we got there at 11:00, waited 15 minutes in a really LONG line (I believe close to 1000 people got there before us) and 10 more minutes to get in and then we started the sampling; we had three hours to try 10 different (or same) beers, so we pace ourselves. Here is a list of what I had:

1) Green Flash West Coast IPA -> Good, hoppy beer.
2) Alesmith Brewery IPA -> Even better than Green Flash one.
3) Lost Abby Witch's Wit -> Terrible, terrible beer. Tasted like a Michelada gone really wrong. It's not even listed on their website.
4) Tijuana Morena -> Just to take out the taste of the previous one.
5) Duvel -> This was really good.
6) La Trappen Bockbier -> I have a fixation with Bock beers; from the Mexican Nochebuena (seasonal Christmas beer), I always try to taste them.
7) Stone Arrogant Bastard -> Needed to get back to something I knew.
8) Russian River Pliny the Elder -> Last year I had a Pliny the Younger, I remember it was better.
9) Stone XII Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout -> Bitter, chocolate-y, good enough.
10) Brouwerij Verhaeghe Vichte Pils -> First sample of the day, with the sun and the heat it was really good.
11) Pizza Port Carlsbad Chronic -> Amber Ale, from San Diego. It was OK.
12) Ommegang Three Philosophers -> The best of what I had today.

Ate half a hot-dog, half a tri-tip sandwich, Arrogant Bastard onion rings and tried the Napalm Beer Cheese Spread (from Mike, the St0ne "Cheesemaster") for second consecutive year, it is really good, I hope they decide to sell it.

So, a little bit tipsy we started our travel back to KC's home. 20 minutes walking this time (to the train station) and 15 minutes on the train made the trick. By the time we got to the Escondido Station everyone was feeling better (besides the sampling glass is a 4 ounces! not enough to get you really drunk).

At KC's home, the beer was waiting for us. Oaked Arrogant Bastard (bitter than the original one), a Stone Cal-Beli (never heard of it, but it was OK, like a Heifenweizen) and I also tried a little of Wells Bombardier (Premium Ale).

Food was there too; pulled pork sandwiches in Cuban style (with ham, cheese, mustard and a pickle) and sweet potato fries. Really good time. I hope next year there will not be something that prevents more people to attend.

See you around.

Intermission I (When time flies!)

Last Friday night we had visitors at home. They brought some snacks and we provided the drinks: beer, tequila, vodka, scotch and Coc@ Cola Light (Diet Coke).


Last time we met with them we stayed in a restaurant for almost 5 hours, way past the closing time of the place. This time, however we were meeting at our home, then there was no time limit. We ended up talking and laughing our way until 2 am, 7 hours this time.

Nobody noticed the time, it was until will started getting asleep (I had already went through that phase around 11:30 pm but recover) that he and maria decided to call it a night (they had to drive).

We talked about the holidays, our vacation, their adventure, families, youthful risk-taking, the jobs and rewards you get with them (sometimes) and every other theme available for conversation. We keep had a great time, similar to the previous time we met, and (hopefully) a preview of the next time we meet. I do not know how to end this post, in a similar fashion that we did not want the night to end last Friday.

See you around.

Eating...

After seeing this picture I was surprised at myself. What was I hiding below my shirt? Would that be the 15 pounds I gain during the vacation? But, but I was taking care of myself!!

In any case it was too late then. We ate as if there was no tomorrow. From the very beginning, here is a list of restaurants or interesting meals we had:

Mexicali: We went to the Cucap@ brewery and also to a 24 hours taco restaurant with A/C (required when you are at 100 degrees at 1 am)! Good beer, great tacos. Caborca: Roasted chicken Sinaloa style (even if we were in Sonora!)

Hermosillo: "Carne asada" with the family (and more beer!)

Cd. Obregon: Outside dinner in a food court style restaurant.

Los Mochis: Tortas "Don Lupito". Yummiest tortas ever!

Mazatlan: El Shrimp Bucket (enough said!) for dinner and Pura Vida for breakfast. Great places, both of them.

Tepic: Lunch of lamb in three different styles, Pinka complained but eventually hunger is worst.

Guadalajara: Dinner at "La mesa de los sabores" with my friends (with a chance to try the "Minerva" beer; some good, some so-so) and a GREAT lunch with my parents in "La Tequila" together with the fried worms.

Leon: Brazilian restaurant; similar to the one in Tijuana.

Guanajuato: Breakfast in the economic kitchen pictured here.

San Miguel de Allende: Small restaurant with great taste.

Queretaro: Room service (provided by Pinka's ordering skills!) and breakfast with Cori (Bonita's cousin)

Irapuato: Strawberries with cream (local produced) and a pork sandwich. We were pacing ourselves because of dinner with Bonita's cousin. The strawberries were GREAT.

Zamora: Pork fillet with vegetables and a creamy sauce, Caramelized pumpkin, uchepos (sweet corn tamales) and a shrimp soup to kill for! (I think I gain most of my weight here!)

Los Mochis: Breakfast at "La Fuente", best breakfast buffet if you ask Bonita; lunch to go by my sister (Bonita ate it all, and she did not want it at the beginning!!)

Ferry: cafeteria food is SO bad, so Bonita stole my lunch my sister packed for me!!

Cabo San Lucas: seafood at my brother's house, seafood as lunch in the hotel and seafood for dinner.

After that, nothing special to report; except for the liver and onions I had in San Quintin; really good.

So, in all, we kept eating at the same pace we do in Tijuana, but the variety and taste was in many cases much better. We enjoyed most of all.

See you around

Empty!!!

Guess what I'm doing now?

Driving...

Well, after a couple of days of my life I want back (I had some people visiting me at work and I really did not like spending that much time with them!), I finally have some time to write.

First of all: I like driving. Forecasting where I am going and seeing the scenary change slowly at first or surprisingly sometimes is something I really enjoy. I do not get bored, as I used to do when I was a child and my father did the driving on our vacations, now I enjoy most of it. But I have to recognize that people drive differently depending where in Mexico you are.

I've lived in Sinaloa, Guadalajara and Tijuana. I've drove in a lot of cities in Mexico; and basically there are four different styles of city driving:

1) Mexico City style: People sense and jump in front of you with just enough space to do it, but they're not hesitant and drive off like nothing happened. And usually, nothing happens. I am OK with it.

2) Small city/town style: People is very well educated, respect stop signs and walking people; if you are in a hurry, they would let you drive by, but you feel like you were rude and aggressive. Tijuana used to be like that. I really like this.

3) Tijuana style: People jump in front of you disregarding if there is enough space for you to brake or do whatever is necessary to avoid an accident; most of people just sees towards the front of the car, forgetting about whoever is approaching from the rear of the car, etc. It kind of works because most of people drive that way and they will be careful about what is going on in front of them. I do no like this kind of driving, but I am used to it.

4) Guadalajara style: People feel like they have to avoid driving like in Mexico City; then take great care not to cut in front of you or to do a sudden maneuver that will make you honk at them; however... they are extra hesitant and will stop in the middle of two lanes or at the entrance of the high speed part of the road to "let" you pass, but of course you cannot because they are blocking your path!!! Freaking people!! I hate this style of driving!!!

And of course I spent most of my time driving in Guadalajara...

Regarding driving on the road, I can tell you this. American people do not know how to drive in four lane roads. They do better in two lane roads, but that is because they do not have an option. Maybe I am generalizing, but every time I've been in California driving in four lane roads, all the people is trying to hog the left lane and they do not move! Even if you are right behind them at a higher speed; you would have to pass them through the right lane!! (Yes, I know that is OK in England, but California is NOT in England!).

So, in Mexico, whenever I encounter somebody with US plates (and most of the time somebody with California plates) they would be doing the same thing. Hogging the left lane and having me to pass them using the right lane.

Mexican drivers (in Central Mexico) are very sensitive to this kind of thing; they will be monitoring the rear view mirror when in the left lane, and would move right the moment they see you approaching them. I thank them!

Somebody told me yesterday about the difference between being a traveler and a tourist. I am a traveler, I like the change of scenary; the terrain and sky and road changes. The speed you have to have to let you take the whole experience. And I want to share a little of it in these pictures.

I loved it, with one exception; for some parts of the trip my kids were more interested in watching movies on the car DVD than in experimenting the whole traveling thing. I did not take that into account. In any case I am grateful for whatever they could see and appreciate, and hope we have the opportunity to repeat the experience.

See you around.

Driving, eating, visiting family and complaining...

... those were our vacations.

I am still trying to find a way to tell you all about them; the best way seems to be to post about each one of those activities and then allow the blog to take us wherever is necessary (to make it interesting).

In any case, I am doing a blow-by-blow account of the vacation on the Spanish version, I think I will do the same here. It will take a couple of days.

See you around.

When I was a child...

... by the way, I still am childish about some things; but I am straying. I liked photography a lot.

I got my first camera when I was 7 years old; one of those ugly K0dak cameras that used a 126 cartridge (not longer in existence, I believe). I also got a book on photography and I used to read and re-read it; until I learned most of what was there to learn. I never really got the hang of it; until my last year in Guadalajara, when I had the opportunity to use one very old Nik0n camera which had the same capabilities of a SLR camera, without being exactly an SLR (I do not know to this date how to call that camera, but you could change most of the settings; the only drawback was that you had to use the view finder, not the mirror). Until I bought an SLR camera (a Min0lta) for Vicky's photography lessons in high school I had not used a GOOD camera before. And of course with the digital cameras now available for "peanuts" I had to learn how to use one of those.

Anyway, we took more than 750 pictures during the last two weeks, and I had spend the "free" time I had today organizing them in some albums. Here is a sampler.

Sightseeing

Eating

I will also post the family pictures, but I will keep them private; if you want to see them, send me an email and I will answer back with the password.

See you around

The Eagle has landed!!

86+ hours driving and that many kilometers!!

Home sweet home!

So close now

Ensenada

Just because I said I missed them

1000+ miles of two way road...

Rise and shine!

Leaving Santa Rosalia on the last day of vacation

Right side of the road

Loreto again

Left side of the road

Getting to Loreto

Waiting for the rain to stop

In Cd. Constitucion (BCS)

Stopping for coffee on the road to Cd. Constitucion

Nice little shop, with wi-fi and great service!

Over there is the gulf of Cortez (La Paz)

Pacific Ocean

On the way back

After all...

This is worth it

Finally made it to Los Cabos

And my brother was waiting for us (we were starving, almost deciding who to eat first!) with shrimps, scallops and fish "chicharrones"

Finally!!!

We are getting into La Paz

I jinxed it...

10 minutes after my previous post we are stuck in the ferry; one of the generators failed and we are now looking to wait 12 hours for departure...

People are not happy!!

All aboard!!

Here we are in the ferry from Topolobampo to La Paz. We have waited for almost two hours and the thing does not move.

After 4300 Km on the road; and driving daily for at least 300 Km, I am ready for some rest. The travel time is 6 hours; so we will be getting into port at Pichilingue (which is where the docks for the ferry is located) around midnight. We already reserve a hotel there (nothing I know, but I heard several recommendations from some friends) and we have two nights at a promotional rate in Cabo San Lucas (50% discount a night in a “deluxe suite” whatever that is).

So the plan now is to get to La Paz, stay there for the night and leave “early” (our early on vacation have been around noon). Get to Cabo San Lucas with my brother and get something to eat (he’s a great cook!) before getting into the hotel. At night we want to go have dinner with my cousin Ingenua (who moved to San Jose del Cabo a year ago; and work as a buyer at one of the prettiest hotels there). Thursday will be to relax and then have dinner with my brother; finally on Friday we are to start to travel back.

I have tons of pictures and stories to share; I will be writing and preparing whatever I can during this next 6 hours and then I will post them during the night.

In the meantime; this is Topolobampo; and we are leaving port right now!

See you around.

Getting into the ferry...

And Pinka is wondering if the boat is like the "Titanic" or the "Poseidon"... I hope neither!!!

And is only 8:00 am!

In Los Mochis... Answering to (s)wine comment; 28 degreed was the lowest high we had had so far, the first four days (Baja California, Sonora and Sinaloa) temperature was not lower than 35!!! And no rain!!!

Back in Sinaloa

Going back

From Guadalajara to Sinaloa. A little more than 2000 miles!!

Return to Guadalajara

Under the rain (yes, I am obsessed with the rain!)

But now it's raining!!!

Not like in TJ!!!

San Miguel de Allende

This is beautiful!