Mexico, part 1

Well, we made it! And, we have an internet connection! The flights down here were remarkably easy - just two two and a half hour flights and we were in Guadalajara.

Then we took a taxi to where we're staying: the palatial home of some of Sacha's parents' friends. They are the parents of one of Sacha's best friends from high school and retired to live down here about a year ago.

Their house is huge, and it also has a little cottage on the grounds that we're staying in. There's a pool right in the middle of the courtyard and the house kind of spreads out around that. Long story short: it's gorgeous and welcoming and sunny. Yay! It's the rainy season here, but luckily it rains mostly at night. We've already done some exploring of the town, Ajijic, and that's been fun.

Everything is within walking distance, so we don't have to deal with public transit or a car or anything. And, our hosts have been more than happy to take us out in their car when needed. We all went to the public market in the next town over yesterday. The kids only lasted about five minutes, but we got to see all the people selling fruit and meat and all kinds of things.

Today, we decided to venture out by ourselves, so we walked about five blocks to a restaurant that our tour guide and our hosts recommended. There, I got what was quite possibly the largest Mexican hot chocolate ever made.

After that, we went to a kids' art hour at a local community center run by the huge ex-pat community that lives here. All the other kids were Mexican except for ours, and another little girl who was also visiting from the states.

I have to say, just to pat Sacha and myself on the back for a minute, that I'm proud that we've managed to get the kids down here so early in their lives. We really want them to know and be familiar with the Mexican side of their ancestry, and so far, we seem to be on the right path. Also, we'd like to live abroad for a year when the kids are older, so this is our first step toward that,

Mateo has been a bit shy, but happy to use his Spanish to talk to other kids and adults. The cutest example of this was when the four of us had been talking about our ages and then Mateo climbed up a huge slide at the local park and announced loudly that everyone should watch "the tres y medio (three and a half year old) go down the slide!"

Natalia has been very shy and has mostly wanted to be carried around in the Ergo, but she did some drawing at the art class today and has loved playing at the park. It's tough to have your routine shaken up at age two, so we think she's doing great.

Anyway, we're just taking things day by day, which is probably good, because we still have almost two weeks to hang out here. Still in the plans are horseback riding, lots of swimming, playing at the park, roaming the village, possibly visiting some nearby towns, and trying to relax as much as possible.

Finally, I thought I'd post a few photos of the amazing public art that is everywhere down here. Everything is brightly painted and everywhere you look, there are intricate little designs or paintings or murals.