The Birthday Party

 We're in Mexico not 5 months and we get invited to a birthday party.  Our neighbor's daughter was turning 13.  So not a little kid, but not an adult.  We were surprised it was 13 because when I asked how old back when we first met she said 13.  But apparently you start saying your age when it's the year you'll be that age?  I don't know.  But it wasn't a Quincenera.  Just a nice birthday party.

We were invited THE NIGHT BEFORE THE PARTY.  Like...what?  That's not enough time to get a gift!  Our neighbor Elba said no gifts.  She'd held a party for her older daughter's quince and no one showed up.  She thought because they didn't want to bring gifts.  So she said this time, no gifts.  

But there were gifts, so I'm glad I whipped something together.

My neighbor rented a party venue that had a swimming pool.  It was nice.  Outdoors, but with big powerful fans, a fully covered seating area, and the pool had tarps to semi-block the sun.  It was less than a mile from our home.

I looked it up and the face book said you could rent a weekday party for only $120usd.  Wow.  

I didn't know what to do about a gift.  I figured I'd put a 500 peso bill ($25) in an envelope and call it a day.  BUT.  I had bought some young adult books in Spanish because I wanted to start reading in Spanish. One of them, The Princess and the Cheese Sandwich, was still shrinkwrapped.  BOOM!  An age appropriate brand new book.  We wrapped it in a wrestling poster.  Done and Done.

Except I'd also ordered two boxes of mini-skittles.  So I brought them too and she was able to use them as party favors.  :proud:

I was worried this daughter would suffer what her sister did, but there were 50 people.  The kids played in the pool.  They paired off for slow songs and danced together in the pool  They were so cute.

My mom and I sat at a table with the mother, our neighbor and her husband.  She served pizza and ceviche (we ate the pizza), Agua Fresca which is a drink made from Jamaica leaves that tastes like cranberry juice to me, Sangria the non-acoholic soda that's popular here, and Fresca soda which is shockingly not diet here.

I ate three cupcakes and a little cheesecake cup thing that was super creamy.  We stayed for hours talking and joking with the other adult guests.  I brought a bottle of wine and my neighbor and her husband drank it with me.  Then they took out another bottle of sparkling wine that looked familiar...because I had given it to them a while ago when I bought multiples of it and didn't like it.  Lol.

A very nice party.  I wish I'd had more notice so I could have gotten the girl one of those plushies everyone is crazy about.  Le Sigh.  

No pinata.  ;_;  She's too old.  Ah well.

  

Getting Groceries in Mexico

So...I could get by on $200 a month for groceries.  If I did like my Mexican neighbor and went to the pescaria (fish shop), fruiteria, and the discount Walmart called Aurrora Bodega.  If we made corn tortillas and other assorted corn things our main starch.  (Order Chinese food and get a pile of corn tortillas with it...the people here eat everything in a corn tortilla, and tortas, and tostadas, and the biggest cornception:  Elote Street Food:  A bag of corn chips, sliced open, with corn masa put on it, with grilled corn with onions on that, and hot sauce. CORNCEPTION.)

A man with a cart comes by selling this every evening. 

Like my neighbor I could Make eggs (they're cheap here and not refrigerated) and beans the chief proteins along with the weekly fish if there's a good catch and good deals (literally have the fishermen walk in with their dripping fish nets, lots of oyster beds here too).  And by the way, that's her budget for a family of four.  

There's bags of dried textured tofu here for $20.  That's $20 pesos.  So $1.  And you put it in spaghetti bolanase and you can't tell it's not beef.  These bags are not refrigerated.  And I bet I'd like it if I tried it instead of the 400 gram ground beef tubes I buy for $50 ($2.50).

And all the videos and guides here said the same thing, groceries are cheap--if you shop like a local.

But do we shop like locals?  No.  No we don't.  

We just went to fricking Sams Club and spent $4,400 on American groceries like the spoiled brats we are.  That's $220USD if anyone's counting, and already over budget for eating like a local.

We have to have our stupid diet sodas (which I have to order online because you can only find two liters of coca cola light or coke zero around here and we want convenient cans or small bottles).  We have to have meat centric meals of steak, chicken, or ribs.  And when we buy fish it's the fricken frozen tilapia we used to buy in the USA.  I still haven't been to a pescaria yet!  And there's about three on the way to the drive to the Chedraui!

(As an aside, we went out for lunch today at one of the many seafood restaurants.  This one was introduced to us by that same neighbor so we went back.  I ordered something...wasn't sure what...and I got a whole bass fried and open with rice, potato salad, and greens salad.  It was delicious.  I picked that fishbone clean.)

We also expect to have black cherries this time of year, which I gorge on because I love them so much, and crunchy grapes, prunes for my mother, piles of cat food pouches to feed the strays, Splenda for my coffee, lots of sugar free chewing gum, and meat, meat, meat.

On top of this, when we do shop at the Mexican grocery stores we don't go to Aurrora Bodega or Casa Ley like my neighbor.  No.  We go to Chedraui, the most high end Mexican grocery store in my 2 kilometer range.  

Chedraui is really nice to shop at.  Clean.  Wide open aisles without stuff piled all over.  Everything neat and organized.  But never come on the 1st or 15th because that's when everyone in Mexico gets paid and the lines are LITERALLY an hour long.

It's the nearest place with ATMs to get cash out for the month.  So we always end up just shopping there because we have to go there for cash anyway.  But we can't resist the monthly Sams Club haul, despite the traumatic memories of my mom falling there last month.  (I'll never park in that section again.)

Chedraui is a warehouse size store where we also bought some furniture and electronics.  It's owned by Walmart, because of course it is.  So is Aurrora Bodega.  But the prices are still cheaper than in the USA.  

I say this, but Mexican prices are becoming so ordinary for me I really think I'm blanking on if there's any discount.  Sam's Club does have lower prices in Mexico than in the USA, but not THAT much lower.  I mean two pints of cherries is still $7, a double package of pork ribs will still run $15.  

And I could just buy all my produce at Aurrora Bodega.  Yes, there's fruit flies, and some rotten produce, but you can still find the good stuff and manage.  Or better yet, I could go to a fruiteria right?  

Well, I went to one and got some nice mangos, but it was the end of the day and all the bins were empty.  Like you have to hit the little stores early it seems

I went to a carcineria (butcher) within walking distance to my house (there's SO MUCH in walking distance!) but what do I buy?  Prime rib.  And it was $36 and smelled a little off.  But...the meat in the grocery stores always smell a little off to me, too.  I'm realizing it's not that it's going bad, but that they don't douse it with chlorinated water like in the USA.  It's probably healthier for me too.  Fewer nitrates for coloring here too.

Anyway, if we weren't spoiled we would keep going to the gringo side of town for Sams Club and Dairy Queen.  We wouldn't be importing Science Diet cat food for Scrappy.  And we wouldn't be getting our Bimbos at the Chedraui instead of the Aurora Bodega (hey I think I finally spelled it right!).  Bimbos being loafs of bread of course.

But anyway, I blew $220 on Sams Club and that leaves $280 for the rest of the month because my mom and I get a $500 grocery budget.  More than twice as much as my neighbor, for half as many people.  SHAME ON US!

Anyway...I'm going to walk to the Oxxo now to get that fucking menthol candy I'm re-addicted to.  That's all for now! 

Seeing a Movie in Theaters in Mexico

Okay, so I heard the new Superman movie was liberal trash, so of course I needed to go see it.  I went today with my mom, and LOVED it.  The last Superman movie with the Henry Calvill was good (I like that he was arrested and imprisoned because I'm kinky like that) but this was was superb!  

James Gunn let us fill in the blanks instead of telling us the same story we already know, and Guy Garder of the Justice League was in it!!  I used to read Justice League West just for him because he was an incredible asshole, and I loved him.  It was so great to recognize him.  And I loved that there were other heroes and people were all like, yeah, we know.  Without the whole coming out to humanity as a superhero shit.

Anyway, there are several movie cinemas in my city.  My phone brought me to the wrong one first, and I just left.  It's in a crowded strip mall that's hard to park in and has nasty construction blocking one side of the four lane road.

I went to the gringo side of town instead, the mall with the Apple Store, Dairy Queen, Carls Junior, and KFC.  Still out doors, but with tarps blocking the sun.  Very clean and nice to walk around.

I got there at noon and realized I was too early.  They have two versions of the movie running:  English with Spanish subtitles, or a Dubbed version.  YAY!  So I can still see the movies I want in English.

We walked around and spent too much money on crap because everything in that mall is American prices.  And yet, we were the only gringos.  There's plenty of rich Mexicans with designer clothes and designer purses.  They're doing just fine, thank you.

Finally we went back to the theater, again too early.  In the USA if you're too early they don't let you in until the current showing is over.  Here they DGAF.  So we got to watch the dubbed ending of Superman before watching the subtitled version.

The theater was nice.  They have plastic trays that all theaters really should have for carrying popcorn and drinks.  The popcorn side is deep, so that if you spill it, it stays in the tray.  Very nice.  At the end of the movie I saw everyone obediently bringing their trays to the trashcan, dumping them, and piling them beside it.  

Also, the door to leave back into the lobby area was open...so I was able to get to the bathrooms fast before our showing started.  I brought my ticket just in case, but no one cared.

Now for the issues:  No handicapped seats.  There's an area directly in front of the screen, but you're craning your neck and the picture looks terrible.  And yet, that's where one woman in a wheelchair had to sit.  If you can't climb the stairs you have no choice.  

My mom commiserated with her in the bathroom.  She hated that she had to watch it there.  Said her neck hurt.  My walker-bound mom agreed.  They need handicapped seating that you can access that isn't just the first fucking row.  It's actually closer than the first row, because she couldn't sit in the seat, she had to park in front of a seat.

Next time I got to a movie here I'm going to see if there's any theaters that do have handicapped access.

But this time, I had to bring my stuff upstairs to our assigned seats (no way we were going to sit right in front).  Then I had to carry mom mom's shopping bag laden walker all the way up, and sit in a seat that had space beside it on the first landing so we could fold it up by her seat.  Then my mom, who was blind in the theater's darkness, had to slowly climb up the stairs and be guided to a proper seat.  Annoying, but worth it to get a good view of the movie.

Also annoying is there's no ticket stand.  We only saw computer screens that were a nightmare to use.  I swear a witch cursed me to not be able to use touch screens.  These touch screens were especially obnoxious because you had to guide a mouse cursor to where you wanted to click and the thing wouldn't fucking move.  I asked for help.  I think he said to go to the food stand to buy tickets with cash, but he ended up helping me finish on the terminal.

Now for the food stand.  There's only one size of soda, a normal tall cup.  Probably a medium in the USA.  And it's $60 which is $3.  I think that's cheap for movie soda.  They have Taki's covered hot dogs, candy of both Mexican and American origin (no Jr. Mints, but some Peanut M&Ms) and Palomitas which is popcorn.  

There were three different popcorn bins.  Red popcorn, which I assume is with Doritos dust or spicy Doritos dust or something.  Yellow popcorn called Mantequilla (butter in Spanish, but they didn't put extra butter on it).  And caramel corn.  Wow.  Also it didn't stink.  There was no scent of popcorn luring you in.

To the side there was also a Frappe stand (crushed ice caramel coffees, crushed ice fruit drinks and other flavors, including cajeta which means 'little box' so I have no idea what it was).  This stand also sold crepes with cream cheese/fruit, or nutella, or chocolate and more.  

Kitty corner to this stand, was a softserve ice cream stand with waffle cones.  And a few arcade games.

Okay so we're in the movie.  There were some movie previews, but also two 'talk show/advertisements' of a man and a woman talking about the movie and a few other movies, making jokes and bantering, then working in commercials for deoderant and the concessions.  They had two shows before the movie.

We saw a Smurfs movie preview, but they call them a completely different word, and then...something amazing.

It's a cartoon.  Disney quality, but very dark and serious.  It shows the Aztecs and the Conquistadors coming to brutalize them.  Cortez is a main character, but half his face is burned so he wears a covering over half of it (like...TWO FACE?) It was all in Spanish so I only got bits and pieces, but the Aztec warrior goes into one of their temples asking an Aztec bat god for help.  The tides start to turn, but then the conquistadors sends a crazy murderer with clown makeup after the Aztecs...kind of like the JOKER?  Then we get the title...and Batman music...BATMAN AZTECA.  OMG.  I FUCKING WANT TO SEE THIS SO BAD!  Is this in the USA too?  It seems like a Mexican only cartoon.  Oh!  I hope they have an English version.

And then the movie, which was loud but great.  I'll definitely see it on streaming a second time.  Afterwards, I struggled to haul my food tray and my mom's walker down the stairs, while she worked her way down slowly holding the handrail.

So...yeah.  Good and bad.  And the tickets for the matinee for me and mom mom were $10usd.  Can't beat that!

I Love Living in Mexico

 We've been here 5 months now and it's safe to say we love it.  It wasn't a mistake.  It was a great decision to come here, and the amount of stress I have seems like it's halved since I came.

Part of my stress was always financial, despite the fact that I make mid six figures on a bad year, I still stressed out all the time, because I have no children.  The only thing to take care of me in old age is my money, and I imagined I'd need at least $16,000 a month to pay for good care by the time I needed it.  So...I was working my ass off, scrimping and saving, to max my IRA and 401k as much as I could every year.

Here:  it's fine.  I could retire now and I'd be okay.  I no longer have the fear of being left in my filth at a bad nursing home.  

But there are of course, some issues.

After my surgery I got a bad infection.  Puss was leaking from my abdominal wound and internal wound.  I took a round of antibiotics and figured I was good.  But I wasn't.  Because I'm showering in contaminated water.  

Today is the first day I did the infection odor check and it was clear.  This is after many days on several antibiotics.  I think it finally cleared.

That doesn't mean I'm healed.  I popped a stitch because I needed to go shopping and take my 76yo mom to the hospital after a fall in the Sams Club parking lot.  She was okay.  She literally fell hard on the concrete, bounced on her hip, and was okay.  Thank God it was the metal replaced hip.  

We have to be more careful.  I was drenched with sweat and desperate to sit in the car that day.  I walked away from her while she tried to get the loaded grocery cart off the curb.  I fucked up, and it could have cost me everything.  Thank God she's okay.

What happens if you fall in a Mexican Sams Club parking lot?  A flood of workers come to you, clean up all the stuff that fell out of your cart.  Lift your mother to her feet, and help her to the car.  I love that about Mexico.  

Anyway, as I was saying, I popped a stitch and it's that spot that still hasn't healed.  Hopefully soon.  And hopefully before a new infection sets in.  I'm out of alcohol wipes and need to buy some more.

Anyway, someone I knew from the USA had the great idea of trying to send me something illegal in Mexico.  And for weeks I was terrified that we were going to get arrested and deported.  That didn't happen, but it showed me how much this life means to me.  This is my home, and I will not give it up without a fight.  

Mexico is a better, less stress filled life, and I love it here.  I will fight to stay with every ounce of my being.  This is my country now, and I love it.

Having Surgery in Mexico Part 2

I am 2 days post surgery.  I needed to have my uterus out due to cancer running in the family, gigantic fibroids, and ovarian cysts (took those out too).  I gave 'birth' cesarean style to a 2.5 kilo diseased uterus. 

I knew this surgery was in my future, but I didn't see it as urgent.  Just as long as I got it out before it became cancerous.  

The state of my uterus said different here.  The fibroids were so large that I couldn't have a typical hysterectomy that can be an out-of-office procedure.  I had to have my abdomen cut open to get it out.  And I had a very suspicious 4 inch long cervical polyp (a bane to my existence for ten years now).

This got me sent to an oncologist to proceed with the surgery.  Another complication was that I've had two surgeries previously on my abdomen to remove my large intestine (due to ulcerative colitis).  This meant I had 'adhesions' and needed a gastroenterologist present for the surgery.

I had a friend in the USA who's daughter was a doctor who made a much higher salary than the typical doctor.  This is because she'd become a 'doctor to the rich'.  A specialized doctor who gave VIP service outside of the regular medical system in the USA.

I bring this up because I feel like that's the service I just received in Mexico, but for a fraction of the cost.  In fact, the cost was less than what I would have paid in the USA WITH insurance.  I had Obamacare, a Silver Plan, and it had been so gutted my out of pocket max was $12,000, and this was despite paying $460/month insurance premiums.

I have no doubt this surgery would have reached my out of pocket max with the 30% I was liable for and other copayments.  In Mexico the surgery, hospital stay, anesthesiologist, and  gastroenterologist was just under $4,500.

EDIT:  It was another $500 to get my pathology results.  So make it around $5k overall 

But here's the kicker.  This was for the VIP private medical care they have in Mexico.  Many of the headaches I'd have to deal with in the USA, despite paying the exorbitant price, were not had here.  For instance:

1. I didn't have to wait to make my initial appointment with an 'in network' doctor.  I just went to the private hospital here and they made an appointment for me.  They also did the initial bloodwork and ultrasound that day.  No lines, no waiting.

2.  I didn't have to fight with insurance to get the surgery covered.  I didn't have to delay for weeks while dealing with that headache.

3.  I didn't have to fight with appointment bookers to get a date for my surgery.  I've had this be nightmarish before in the USA.  The red tape and hassle is enormous.

4.  I didn't have to worry about out-of-network bullshit costs being added to the bill when I'm half out of it on the operating table and don't know what I'm signing.

And I will say, without a doubt, a better experience is what I got.  Consider this:  in the USA there seems to always be staffing issues.  You have a nurse and nurse assistant assigned to your room, but they'll be the only two people for the entire floor. 

And often there are people in much worse shape than you.  You don't want to bother them, but when you have no choice, it's a long wait.  

I've even had situations where the harried nurse will just come and shut off the button without asking what you needed.  This happened to my mom after her hip replacement.  They left her in a urine soaked bed and I had to get her out of there.

In Mexico?  Staffing isn't a problem in the private medical system.  I was beset by what seemed like 10 workers all getting me ready for surgery.  Two people at my arm putting in the IV, two more at my legs wrapping them up so I don't get clots, several others explaining things to my mom (my translator) and setting up the room for me.

In Mexico, in the private system, you almost have TOO many workers.  They were always fast to come to the room when we needed something as if they wanted something to do.

Also, the doctor came twice a day.  In the morning and evening.  I feel like in the USA you're lucky to get to seem them once a day.  And forget it if it's a weekend.

Everything went so smoothly.  I've never had a discharge from a hospital this fast.  It's always a nightmare waiting for someone to get out the IV and for the doctor to do your paperwork.  

Not so this time.  When my mom showed up I was already in the wheelchair ready to go.  And there were plenty of staff available to take me down.  Like the woman almost argued with the guy to let her do it.  Very efficient.

There was no crowding.  Only one person to a room, which isn't uncommon in the USA, but there wasn't waiting for a room to open up, or being in a gurney in the hallway since there's just no place to put you (happened to me before).  The private medical system in Mexico is not a '12 hours in the ER waiting room' situation.  

That's not to say everything was perfect, but the pros outweigh the cons by a mile.  I was eager to have the surgery here rather than the USA.  I knew it would be a better experience.

Some of the cons:

After the initial appointments I discussed in my previous post, it was off to another private hospital to actually have the surgery.  This wasn't the Atlas Hospital I'd started the process with.  It was at the Maria Luisa de la Pena Sanatorio, a Catholic hospital.  

This hospital was great, and don't mistake my nitpicking as not being happy with the service I received there.

The first issue:  no elevator.  I had to go upstairs to my room.  My mother was with me and had to climb steep stairs.  I asked how I was going to get down from there after the surgery.  They said they'd take me on a wheelchair.  

At the time I thought the wheelchair would be carried down those stairs, but they actually had a ramp at the back parking lot, so all good.  But it was annoying for my handicapped mom to have to climb stairs.

I remember in the past and not so distant past getting little welcome kits in the hospital.  A pitcher with ice and disposable individually wrapped cups, footies with elastic tread, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and sometimes it's all in a kidney shaped plastic bowl which is great for puking into if you need to.

In Mexico they gave me a roll of toilet paper, a bar of soap, and a large bottle of water.  Again, not a big deal.

Next, the call button was on the wall behind my bed.  There wasn't a wire going to the bed with a call button.  When I mentioned I wouldn't be able to press it, they moved the bed sideways and lifted it up so I could reach it.  All good.

The toilet was low and small, and the handicapped rail was also small.  There was no emergency call button in the bathroom.  Meh.  It's fine.

There was dried blood on the hard plastic guardrail of the bed.  I had wipes with me so my mom cleaned it.  Meh, that's life.

The IV hung on the actual bed on a hook that was attached.  This made going to the bathroom a little annoying since I had to carry everything in my arms when I had multiple IVs going.  But I liked that the price stickers were right on every IV they gave me.  Those prices matched the bill at the end.  Kind of cool.

Here's a big annoyance in Mexico:  Oxycontin, Codeine, and Fentanyl are all banned here.  I love my tramadol, but seriously?  I needed something strong after being cut open.  I can't have NSAIDS due to bleeding that happens in my false-bowel.  I was prescribed fricking tramadol and an NSAID despite telling the doctor I can't have them.  😑 I didn't realize what it was until I looked it up online.  Annoying, but I was able to stop before any harm was done.

I feel that getting cut open means getting a pile of good painkillers, y'know?  I earned those.  But whatever.

They do have sufficient IV painkillers like buprenorphine and I had an epidural in my back.  When it finally ran out I was in terrible pain, sweating like crazy.  But it's my own fault because I'd wanted to go home a day early and tried not to ask for anything for pain because I knew they'd keep me.  I ended up having to stay the prescribed two days.  Cest la vie.  

Digression:

To be honest, my pain was from weird cramping on my side rather than the incision.  I don't know why this surgery was so much easier to recover from than my two colectomy related surgeries.  I was able to get up and walk around the next day, and not with hisses of pain and wincing.  It hurt, but not terribly.  

When I had my colon out they stapled me shut (a horrible thing to do to someone, especially for the rectal wound) and forced me up the day after so I had staples flying out of me and opening up my wound.  The epidural fell out and I remember praying for death in the bed because I was in so much pain.  I was forced to walk and every step was like a stab to the gut.

My neighbor (bless her) came to drive me home and gasped when she saw me stand up and walk to my shoes like it was nothing.  She'd had two cesareans and expected me to be a mess.  I was mobile and didn't want to be in the wheelchair.  She kept telling my mom how astonished she was.

And I was too.  What was different?  Yes, they actually used stitches instead of staples, score one point for Mexico, and the cut was not going above the naval.  Still...I expected I should be in terrible pain.  

I was thinking it's because I'd lost weight since then, but my neighbor is skinny and still had horrendous pain from her cesareans.  

The only other thing I can think of is that I have a lot of abdominal muscles.  My stomach is hard with them.  This is due to 24 years of having to push really hard to go to the bathroom from the colectomy.  Removing my rectum meant sewing me up tight.  So an abdominal workout every time I go to the bathroom.  Which is frequent because I have no colon.  So ten minutes after every meal I'm going.  Maybe that's why this wasn't a nightmare of pain?

Anyway, this was the first time I was explained how to use the buttons to get the guardrails down on the bed, and to move the bed up and down.  Like not sitting up, but actually raising it.  I know in the USA they don't want you to know how to unlock the guardrails.  In Mexico, personal responsibility is huge and they gave me that option.  They treat people like adults here.

There was a couch/bed in the room for my mom (also something you get a lot in the USA) and she slept there with me the first night.  I didn't make her go through that the second night.  It's scary not to speak the language, but I managed to get by.  I'm able to speak a lot of Spanish now and there's always Google translate if I'm desperate.  All the workers were fast to take out their phones to translate for me too.

I think I covered everything.  I hope this is the last 'necessary' surgery I have in my life, but I'd go for a tummy tuck, lipo, or plastic surgery in the future here no problem.  (Of course I'd research the doctors first.)  

The private healthcare service in Mexico is worth the trip.  Worth the money.  And is a much better experience than what you get in the USA.

Having Surgery in Mexico

 My mom's shoulder has been a constant source of pain for her for many years.  Lately she said there's a hard lump near the shoulder which she thinks is bone cancer.  I had bone cancer ten years ago so we wanted to check it out.

In Mexico there's the public free healthcare and the private paid healthcare.  The public system is over-burdened and should be left for the Mexican people.  We didn't come here to add to their problems.  

So we opted for private care, which is great.  VIP service (compared to what we're used to in the USA) for prices that are LESS than the copays, insurance premiums, and deductibles I paid in the USA with a crappy Obamacare plan.

We have heard mixed things about getting insurance for said private care.  In the end we decided not to get any insurance because they won't cover my mom due to her age.  We'll just pay out of pocket. 

We found a private hospital and went there.  Atlas Hospital in La Paz.  We haven't tried any others, so can't compare, but the care we got at Atlas was great.

My mom got her shoulder looked at.  It's arthritis.  They gave her a lidocaine cream.  Not much can be done for it.

I asked if I could bring up my medical problem too.  Sure.  I said I need a hysterectomy.  My mom had aggressive uterine cancer last year and it runs in our family.  I have gigantic fibroid tumors (seriously, one as big as a tennis ball and you can see the shape of it on my abdomen since I don't have a colon) and also impressive ovarian cysts on one of my ovaries.  These are all the usual symptoms for eventual cancer in my family.  

We are suspected of having 'Lynch Syndrome' a hereditary syndrome that ups our risk for different cancers.  In my family line it's focused on reproductive areas.  Uterus - two great aunts dead from uterine cancer and my mom had the same.  Ovaries - ovarian disease in my aunt.

Anyway, my uterus and ovaries are diseased and with this family history it's a ticking timebomb of cancer waiting to happen.  

They said:  Sure.  Let's get your blood work and do an ultrasound and we'll send you to a gynecologist to get it scheduled next week.  Like.   Seriously.  My hysterectomy is on Sunday.

In 2010 or so I had an ultrasound that found I had a 'huge' 9cm fibroid tumor.  It has since grown to 11cm, and there's three more vying for the top size spot.  Also I have a 3cm ovarian cyst on the side of my body where I get the 'bad' periods with cramps.  The other ovary gives me pleasant periods of no note.  The bad size cramps me up every month.

Okay, so they called the gynecologist on my behalf and got me an appointment the next day.  This was extremely unpleasant.  My first ever pelvic exam in my life (I have trauma in my past and avoided them for psychological reasons).  It was extremely painful and he had to stop before fully examining me.

But he saw that I had a cervical polyp.  Something that I know has been growing inside me for over 10 years.  It's as impressively huge as the fibroids (but more annoying, since it's external).  He said I needed to go to an oncologist.

That of course scared the crap out of me, but he swears it's just to be safe.  It's probably not cancer.  Okay.  Fine.  Also I need to have two surgeries, because this thing has to be removed before they can do the hysterectomy.  Since it's so huge it has to be done under sedation.

The day after that tomorrow I was with the female gynecologist oncologist surgeon.  She didn't hurt me, because she was warned by my mom not to do the same thing the male gyno did.  

She says she can get it all done in one surgery, but I have to be cut open.  The fibroids are too big to do the normal laparoscopic type hysterectomy that can be done as an outpatient.  I'll be in the hospital 2 days.

Also, since I have adhesions from my prior two abdominal surgeries, I need a proctologist present for the surgery.  It's more complicated than it should be, but they're thinking of everything and being careful.  Extremely professional.  The surgeon has nothing but good reviews online too.

That's where I'm at as of now.  The surgery is day after tomorrow.  

I'm happy with the care I got.  There's no lines/no waiting.  They take care of you and go the extra mile.  However, this being Mexico, there are some other annoyances.

1.  This new oncologist was some random office on a busy street with NO PARKING.  And all the street parking was taken.  There was literally no where to park in a 5 block radius.  We ended up parking illegally close to a stop sign and paying a guy to watch our car.  (He was one of those roaming car-washers here).  If we have to go back there we'll take a taxi.

2.  The surgeon's cost is $70,000 pesos ($3,500usd) and she wants it in CASH.  😑  Like.  Seriously.  I had transferred $5000 to my international bank thinking I would pay her that way.  This is how I pay my rent and got us eyeglasses here.  No.  And no credit card either. Cash.  So I have to go to the ATM every day and take out the max amount.  Including the day of the surgery.  I'll just barely make it in time for the surgery.

There are other costs, such as the proctologist, hospital fee, anesthesialogist, but all those costs can be paid on a credit card.  The total cost for everything (excluding the two $1000 peso or $50usd doctor visit and $6000pesos $300usd for the ultrasound/bloodwork) is $90,000pesos or $4,500usd.

If I had this done in the USA it would have taken weeks if not months to sort it all out and get approval from insurance, and it STILL would have cost me $12,000 which is my out of pocket max.  

So yeah.  In Mexico, without insurance, you get VIP private medical care for less than what shitty medical care in the USA costs WITH INSURANCE.  

I'm glad I'm having this surgery here.  I know I'll be treated a lot better than in the USA.  But I'll post about everything afterwards.

Noticias La Paz

 The judicial elections are over in Mexico.  I think they were nationwide.  Only 13% of people showed up to vote.  It's not that they were lazy, the cartels were intimidating people.  Since they burned two buses in my city I'm trying to keep up with the local news.  

It's weird how in the beginning I was all about keeping up with USA news, and I still do, but living in Mexico with blinders on is foolish.  Things happen here and you need to be aware.  

I still love it here.  I love being able to walk to a pharmacy in 3 minutes and get the pills I once had to do humiliating urine screens for and pay out the ass for the privilege.  And I take less of them now.  They had an antidepressant effect that I took advantage of, and I just need less of that here.

I have less stress about my future.  I know I won't end up in a urine soaked bed at a horrible nursing home one day, and that when my mom needs elder care I'll be able to afford it for her.

I know that if I lost my game vendor I'd have more than enough money to live on in my savings until I turned 62 and could then live well off social security.

Everything has changed, and it's been for the better.  Even when there's headaches, like the furniture woes, Walmart theft, and not getting the medication I needed the first time I saw the doctor, they're few and far between compared to my problems in the USA.

In Mexico they would never let my mom wait a month before she received news of her cancer diagnosis.  In Mexico I wouldn't have to struggle to get a vet appointment to save my poor little cat's life when she had some lung issue and was near death.  In Mexico people are kind, eager to help, and it's not all about money.

But they do need jobs here, and I love this place so much I want to give back.  It has to wait until I get permanent residency however.  I can't legally work here right now.  Having a 'front man' to run the business through is just asking for problems.  

We don't know if we're buying a house here.  The reason to have a house paid for in the USA is so you don't have to deal with housing costs when you're trying to survive in retirement.  Here I could always afford rent, and when I get older I'd want to live in some gringo senior living situation anyway.  So...maybe we won't buy.

We like the little house we have.  Four bedrooms with a nice bonus room with a balcony upstairs.  $700 for rent each month, $160 for electric every two months, $20 for propane every three months, and $10 for water every other month or so.  And my landlord kept all the bills in her name to make our lives easier.  We just add our costs to the rent each month.  She tells me what we owe through WhatsApp.

WhatsApp Web is amazing because I can talk to so many people and businesses with the aid of my computer translator.  But I am learning Spanish, bit by bit, day by day.  I'm not running into trouble when I go to stores anymore.  I'm able to talk on the phone.  I still struggle, but I know I'll be fluent in a few years.  It takes studying diligently as well as immersion.  You can't learn through osmosis.

I was sick for most of last month.  What was I sick from?  I'm somewhat sure it was a bladder infection due to not bathing due to the faucet situation I spoke of previously.  The antibiotics did make me better, though I still struggle with fatigue.  I also think I had a Graves disease flare since my heart was racing.

We got blood tests at a nearby lab.  My Graves is high but in a reasonable range.  I think I was higher a few days ago but upped my pills enough to get it under control.  I'm not anemic either, which was a fear I had.  My mom is also not anemic.  My blood did have signs I'm fighting an infection, so that tracks.

During the illness I seemed to sweat out my medications and minerals.  And somehow I'm no longer addicted to nicotine gum.  This is the perfect chance to get a hysterectomy.  And this month I'll start looking into that.  I'd like to just pay for it at the private hospital and not sign up for insurance, because the private insurance down here is the same as USA prices.  And I didn't leave the USA to come to Mexico to pay $500/mo in health insurance.  

I also am too spoiled to use the public health system here.  That, and I don't think it's right that I should be adding to the overloaded system.  The Mexican people need care and shouldn't be delayed because some gringa showed up.  Private hospitals will keep me out of their way.

Cartel Troubles

About a month ago we were hearing a lot of police sirens.  It turns out a drug cartel burned two public buses (no one was inside).  There was trouble in Los Cabos (an hour from us) and Cabo San Lucas (two hours from us). 

This is a mural on the wall of one of our favorite restaurants here. It's of Frida Khalo, of course, the famous painter and a national treasure of Mexico.


Then yesterday a man was outside of a bar at night and a car went speeding past him.  He yelled for them to slow down.  It was a cartel member.  He rolled down the window and shot the guy in the foot.

When I hear that I thought:  this guy lost his foot.  But I'm thinking of 'American Guns' not the tiny pistol this guy had.  The bullet hole looked slightly bigger than a bibi gun.  (Lucky for him).

Something else has happened today, but we don't know what.  We're hearing a lot of police sirens.  

This is the other mural on the restaurant wall of Rosalinda.  I don't know who this is, so apologies if she's another famous Mexican.  We believe she's the owner of the restaurant since it's called Rosalinda's.

This is very worrying, obviously.  According to the USA Travel Guidance two cartels are fighting to claim La Paz as their territory.  The long-term expats and locals are saying that's not what's going on and this is about the election for new judges after a crackdown on corrupt judges who worked with/for the cartels.  Some say the cartels are trying to intimidate people to vote in corrupt judges.  There is also intimidation at the polls and at political events.  

My neighbor said the cartel used to rule La Paz, but they were cleared out.  It's scary to think they're back.

But this is why we agreed not to buy a house right away in La Paz.  First, it's hard to buy property as a temporary resident anyway, so better to wait until we get permanent residency.  Second, we need to make sure we're staying where we buy long-term.  Obviously, if the cartel is taking over La Paz we will need to get out.

This is not easy.  We have our USA car here because you're allowed to drive with US plates in the Baja peninsula (and also the 'border zone' 20 miles from the US border).  We like having a car.  It makes life a lot easier.  We are also able to lock it inside our gate every night so we don't have the stress of leaving it parked on the street.

Chevy Exquinoxes are very reliable cars, and this could very well be the last car I buy.  It only has 70k miles and they give you 200k miles at a minimum, usually up to 250k and more.  Considering we've had the car since 2017 (bought it used) that means many more years of enjoying this car.  

Nationalizing it so it's legal in all of Mexico is a cumbersome and difficult process, that requires driving all the way back to the border and importing it.  Then registering it.  But we don't have Mexican tax IDs and that's needed to do this.  If you get a Mexican tax ID, you end up in the system and other expats warned this can cause problems.  (I don't remember exactly what.)

So staying in La Paz means I don't have to blow upwards of $36k on a new car (because we'd want a nice one) with all the headache of registering it, getting the tax ID, etc.  Also we're in month 2 of a one year lease of our very nice rental.  We like it here.  We like the area.  I don't want to leave.

But safety is paramount, so yeah, if we have to leave we'll get a reliable moving company to move us to the mainland in one of the expat strongholds.  We'll fly there, and probably give our car to our neighbor since she drives without a plate anyway.  (A lot of cars don't have plates here.  She says she knows someone on the police force).  I don't know if I'd actually do that.  I have to consider it carefully first, but that's an option.  An expensive, difficult, and heartbreaking option.

What isn't an option is going back to the USA.  The truth is, if everywhere in Mexico became too dangerous we'd go to Belize or Costa Rica or some other safe Central American country.  I don't want to endure all the BS and disadvantages we faced in the USA again.  Mexico has spoiled us.  

What do I mean?  Here's the list:

• Cheaper housing, food, utilities, and goods in general, so you can retire on just social security here.
  
  
• No prescriptions needed for most drugs, and when needed there's a doctor right in the pharmacy ready to see you for $3-$4.
• This is especially important to me because I need Tramadol to be able to walk due to nerve damage from a bone cancer surgery.  In the USA I had to go through 'Pain Management' which was horribly expensive, humiliating (urine tests/pill counts), and inconvenient.  I had to drive 3 hours to Phoenix to get to my appointments, and then every pharmacy except two very obscure/inconvenient ones stopped offering it.  It seemed every month there was one less place I could get this medication.  Here?  No prescription needed.
  
  
• Get lab tests for a few bucks whenever you need.  Walk right in.  No lines/waiting.  Today we got anemia tests and I got my thyroid numbers to manage my Graves disease.
  
  
• Friendly people.  You know your neighbors.  You make new friends everywhere you go.  People are genuinely kind here.
  
  
• Great workers.  Recently I ordered something from Temu, but still had the Air Bnb address.  I figures that package was lost.  No.  The delivery man called me, got my new address, and brought it to me.  And that's typical of the service you get in Mexico.  Everyone goes the extra mile.  And they do it with a smile on their face.  On the world 'Happiness Index' Mexico is the 10th most happiest country in the world.  You know it.  You feel it.  You see it here.  The vibe is joyful.  The USA is in 24th place.
  
  
• Healthier food.  They have to put warnings on all the junk food, and have greater restrictions on ingredients here.  I recently bought a variety pack of little cereal boxes because I had a craving for Corn Pops.  One of the other flavors was Fruit Loops.  I avoid Fruit Loops in the USA because something about it is off.  I can tell when I eat it that it's not right. It makes me a little sick. It colors my poop green.  In Mexico I ate the Fruit Loops and I couldn't believe how delicious it was.  It didn't make me sick.  It was sugary junk food, yes, but it had fewer chemicals than the USA version.  
  
  
• Things are easier.  I don't really know how to describe this, but getting an apartment was simple.  You need new eye glasses?  No appointment needed.  Get your exam then and there.  Need car insurance?  Not only is it only $300/year but it's a simple process.  Getting our residency cards did have a hiccup, but it wasn't as stressful and difficult as I'd worried it would be.  Every time I need something there's someone who has it or knows someone who does.  Yes, money is usually needed, but in Mexico I have all the money I need.

Obviously I can't speak for all of Mexico or on behalf of all Mexicans, but I like it here much better than the USA, and I don't plan on ever going back.  If the cartels make it unsafe I'll have to go to another country and hope for the best--but right now I feel like we have the best.  Mexico is a large country with lots of resources, infrastructure, and organization.  I don't think we'd have as good a quality of life in a different Central or South American country.

Hopefully we'll never have to leave.

Got Sick

Stop the tape, this kid needs to be locked away!
 

Dr. Dre, don't just stand there, operate!

I'm not ready to leave, it's too scary to die.

I'll have to be carried inside the cemetery and buried alive.

As you can tell from my quote of Eminem's 'My Name is' lyrics...I've been sick.

If you can get through my personal life blather I explain how I dealt with this while in Mexico.

I had fevers, chills, night sweats, racing heartbeat, and several other symptoms I can't describe here because my brother reads this blog.

I thought it was my Graves Disease because I'm a dumb slut when it comes to taking my medication.  It's like this, okay?  When I hit the proper baseline I'm supposed to take half a pill every other day to stay there.  I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to the pills so I have to go easy on them, because being sent from hyperthyroidism (metabolism too fast) to hypothyroidism (metabolism too slow) is a hellish nightmare of fatigue, brain fog, and gaining literal pounds every day when you barely eat anything. 

Who the fuck can remember to take a pill EVERY OTHER DAY.  I don't have a brain that powerful.  Just ask my staff.  They have to remind me of who I hate all the time so I don't accidentally work with them again.

Anyway, racing heart is a major symptom so I started treating with my medication and thought I was getting better.  Thought I could do a workout today.  Thought wrong.

I could barely drag my ass out of bed, and the chills were gone but the fever was drowning me in sweat.  I figured I'd at least take a shower.

Note:  Hot water in Mexico is a privilege, not a right.  And I demanded it because I can't take cold showers.  I can't even deal with tepid showers.  I just won't stay under the water.

We made sure this place had hot water on demand after staying at many hotels and an Air BnB that did not provide it.  The Air BnB said they had hot water when we asked.  Then when I complained he said to shower in the afternoon and it should be warm enough.  Huh?  "The tank is on the roof and it's black.  That's how you get hot water."

😑

Anyway, this place legit had hot water so long as we keep the propane tank full.  And it's $400 pesos every few months to fill it.  ($20).  So yeah.

I found that one handle of the tap didn't turn at all and the other could be turned.  This had a big C on it.  So I knew it would be caliente.  First few showers, fine.  

Then the mineral build up hid the letters and I turned the other handle with ease.  So I thought that was caliente.  But it never got hot.  I thought our propane was out, so I tested on the stove and we still had some.  My mom said she had used up all the hot water to do laundry.

Oh.  Okay.  I barely cleaned myself in icicle water and moved on with my life.

Next shower:  Ice fucking cold.  'Oh, I took a shower this morning.'  😐

Okay, I could not deal with another cold shower so I tested the water every day.  It never warmed up.  There was always a reason.  But now I'm sick, I smell because my Graves Disease is acting up and massive amounts of sweat will eventually become unpleasant.  I told my mom the day before:  I NEED TO SHOWER IN HOT WATER.  I'M SICK.  DO NOT USE ANY HOT WATER!

"Oh, you can just come down and use my shower.  I always have hot water."  Yeah, like I want to haul my sick slippery naked ass up and down 26 stairs when I'm just trying to recover.

Well she didn't use any hot water.  I HAVE to have hot water, right?  Wrong.  I let it run for ten minutes.  So I figured I needed to tell the landlord something got disconnected or some shit.  I took my brutal icicle shower then when I shut it off it finally occurred to me to try the other tap.  

Yeah.  I'm really that stupid.  Don't laugh at me.  I'm sick.

I finally got clean enough to leave the house and I told my mom to come to the pharmacy with me so I can get UTI test strips, because this is more than Graves Disease at this point.  The pharmacy is around the corner from us.

They didn't have the strips I wanted.  They wouldn't prescribe Cipro without a prescription.  I thought antibiotics were given freely here, but either that's just for the gringos doing border crossings, or they changed the rule to prevent the antibiotic resistance crisis that was on the horizon.  

I pleaded, I don't have a doctor.  I don't know how I can get a prescription.  They said to go next door.  ?

Yeah, so there's a doctor's office attached to the pharmacy and she took down my symptoms as translated by my mom and gave me a more appropriate script than my shot in the dark after some Web MD search.

The consultation was $70 pesos.  $3.50  😵

I started my prescription and I'm pretty sure the lack of proper showers for so long really did give me a UTI because my symptoms matched.  

I'm dead on my feet, but I need to try to do my work.  I'll take all the pills and hopefully get better.  If not...then it might be that the aggressive uterine cancer that runs in the family has decided to get me out of the way early (my mom is literally the only woman in the family to ever survive it).  I'm confident enough that it's not that not to worry.

Sams Club in Mexico

 Sometimes you want a really good beef roast or an American-style sheet cake for your eminent 50th birthday (mine is coming next month).  And...the best place to get stuff like this is a gringo store, populated by other gringos and wealthy Mexicans (mostly the latter, Mexico is doing just fine, thank you).  

Sams Club in Mexico very much has 'not quite but close enough' American prices.  And I balk at how few products I got for $2400 ($120usd) pesos.  

• $172 ($9usd) for crunchy perfect 'just like you remember them back home' green grapes.  
• $40 ($2usd) for 7 organic platanos (aka bananas) 
• $180 ($9usd) for 12 botellas (remember to pronounce the ll as a y sound) of sparkling water
• $155 ($8usd) for 32 botellas of agua
• $40 ($2usd) for 6 grande botellas of agua (Easier for me to fill my kettle upstairs with than the liter bottles)
• $214 ($11usd) for .646 kilos (1.4 pounds) of Strip Steak
• $275 ($14usd) for 24 packages of toallitas aka butt wipes for my mom
• $142 ($7.30usd) for boxes of Kleenex...which aren't made by Kleenex, but all blow your nose tissues are just called Kleenex here.
• $281 ($14.50) for a big thing of toilet paper...Cottonelle.  It's slightly worse than USA Cottonelle, and has a bigger tube making the rolls go a lot faster.
• $408 ($21usd) for 2 boxes filled with catfood sachets.  Cat food in cans are rare.  You get little pouches here.  
• $604 ($30usd) for 8 boxes of trident gum.  They each have little packets with four pieces each, matching the chicklet style of gum that's so popular here.

All together $2,406 or $123.  Which is exorbitant for Mexico.  But we knew that walking in.  

We also bought a bag of oranges and a box of dates from a woman who set up shop in the parking lot.  I also gave someone $20 pesos who tried to sell me cold drinks of red or brown.  But I know the brown is sweet tamarind juice and the red is koolaid of some variety, both loaded with sugar, so I said no, but gave him a gringo tax.

Before we shopped we went to a seafood restaurant under a hut made of palm fronds.  Open to the outdoors.  They had posted such glorious seafood pictures and had enormous oysters...I mean, two bites to get them down.  The oysters were literally brought in while we were waiting to order from a vendor with a dripping net bag of them.  They were amazing.

The lunch was $900 pesos $46usd with our $100 peso tip.  I told the waitress no necesita cambio (keep the change) and she presented it to her boss at the counter who was talking to a local.  He said in Spanish:  'Why can't you be like the gringos and leave a tip?'  The man said: 'Tipping is gringo culture! We don't tip here!  They just never learn!'

Excuse me?  There was a big cocktail goblet by the register that had 'propios' (tips) written on it.  They definitely take tips there.  

We came home and my neighbor grabbed my mom to take her to the dentist with her.  She's there now and just sent me a WhatsApp (official communication means of Mexico) so see you later!

 

USA House SOLD!!!

 First off...I committed murder.  Imagine my shock and heartache when I opened my window and saw a poor little creature stuck to it.  😭 I had no idea he had crawled in.  I would have loved to see the little guy alive.  I love lizards!  

May God have mercy on my soul.  😣

In other news, I may have mentioned before:  WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!  I'm clearing close to six figures so I'm happy.  That's enough to buy the place we're living in or several other houses available.

We've decided we want to rent for a while.  Maybe for the next 4 years until we get permanent residency, when it will be easier to buy.

Renting is cheap.  The house is nice.  Moving is exhausting.  So...?  Also I'm not going to spend $250k for a fancy American house when I can get a liveable house in the local area for $100k or less.  Y'know?

My therapist said, "I remember last month (I usually only see him once a month) you were worried you made the wrong decision to move to Mexico.  I bet you know you did right now."

I never had a moment where I thought, 'Yep!  I did the right thing!'  I know this is a good life for us, and I don't regret moving here.  I just haven't paid as much attention to the catastrophe going on in the USA.  But for him, living there, having it in his face, he must see that I had the right idea.

All along I was stressed over still having a house to sell in the USA.  Our realtor contract was up in June and I didn't know what we would have to do once that was up.  I worried it could be years until we could sell it.  I worried I'd have to arrange to have it rented out and live through that nightmare a few years.

The amount of stress that lifted off me when we finally sold this place.  It's like a miracle.  I feel that yeah, NOW I know I made the right decision.  Now that I no longer have property in the USA and now have money.  NOW I can relax.  Now I know everything is going to be okay and there's nothing to stop me and my mom from living our best lives here.

And the money will grow.  At least for a year, but probably 4 years until we're permanent residents.  Maybe longer.  Rent is cheap and I can see myself renting until I have to move into assisted living in 25 years.  Who knows.

I do know that it's hard to sell a house in Mexico.  These are not the good investments you find in the USA.  The houses here don't appreciate at the rate of the USA.  It takes a long time to sell.  So...if I bought a house and had to sell it, it would again be a big pain.  And we like our rental.

I told my therapist that we like it here because we're friends with the neighbors and there's so many little shops, restaurants, beauty salons, pharmacies, convenience stores, butcher shops, grocery stores, etc. that are just a short walk away.  We only have to take the car out of the locked gate once or twice a month.  I'm spending a lot less on gas.  

Delivery is dirt cheap here too, just not from Walmart anymore.  It's fine to just order a few things from Didi food.  Yesterday we got bananas, mangos, oranges, potatoes, and soda.  400 pesos or $20 including everything, and the drivers are super fast.  Gotta hustle out here.  

I noticed this sign outside the Oxxo by my house.  Here's what I found out:

Punto de Reunion is a pre-designated, easily accessible location where people should go in the event of an emergency, such as a fire, earthquake, or any situation requiring evacuation. Its main purpose is to facilitate coordination, counting, and ensuring the safety of people during an emergency, avoiding chaos and confusion.

Good to know!

Couple of Things

 Okay, first of all, my neighbors daughter is a budding artist and she's doing the kind of art I'm hiring for.  She's 16, so too young to work for me, but I bought her a manga anatomy book to get her started on more complicated images so she can be ready to go for me once she turns 18.

She was thrilled and was engrossed in the book at once, marking pages of poses she wanted to try.  Literally the book was dog-eared before she left our house.  But the best thing?  It was her birthday!  I had no idea.  Just lucky.

We went out grocery shopping and the bananas at Aurera Bodega looked sad, so I went the the other nearby grocery store, Casa Ley.  While there I realized I was in our old colony (the neighborhoods have 'colony' names that are parts of the addresses here).  So I picked up candy for the little girls who lived next door to our Air BnB to drop them off while I was there.

Okay, we go to our old Air BnB, and the girl comes out of the house in full make-up and a crown (a 10yo).  IT WAS HER BIRTHDAY.  Are you kidding me?  She took the candy and hugged me.

So weird.  Or maybe a lot of kids are born at this time in Mexico?  

At the end of our street is a busy shopping area with lots of stores and restaurants.  There was a beauty parlor there too, but it's always closed.  I went walking around and found another place that was open.  And it did manicures and pedicures!  My mom hadn't had her toenails cut since we left the USA.  I'm forbidden from doing it because I feel a little skin in the clipper is okay.

So, right then and there, my mom got a pedicure.  In the USA there are nail salons with lots of comfy chairs above tubs with faucets and drains.  In Mexico, my mom was put in a chair on a platform.  A large square tub was filled with water.  Then she boiled some water and added it to make it warm.  And when she was done, she dumped the water out.  My mom got a great pedicure with a foot massage and felt great.  It wasn't as fancy as in the USA, but the price is 50% of what we'd pay there, and the service was great!

That's the thing about Mexico.  The prices are circa USA 2005-2015.  Sometimes my mind got stuck in that era in the USA and I was shocked at how expensive things became.  Here, everything seems to be the correct cheap price.  So reasonable, and you're not really giving up anything.  Who cares if she has to fill and dump the water manually?

Anyway, we sold our house in the USA and should be closing in 4 days.  ;0; Hallelujah!!  My realtor said homes are still selling just fine.  That's a bit surprising, but good.  Great.  Whatever.  

Fitting In

Now that we're in Mexico there are a lot of people coming by the house, such as neighbors, vendors, landlords, repair people, delivery people.  Normally I just had delivery people who were gone before the end of the doorbell ring.  So I slummed it most days, confident that no one would ever see my patchy gray hair and dirty shorts.

In Mexico, yeah.  Lots of people get a chance to see and judge me, and I really don't like putting on a wig unless I'm going out.  So, for the first time in a year, I dyed my hair and tried to make a no-wig effort.

I bought dark brown hair dye and let it sit for a long time because I had A LOT of white and gray to cover.  It came out black.

Oh well.  No big deal right?  WRONG.

Now people are talking to me expecting me to speak Spanish.  In the past, they just talked to my mom.  They looked at me and thought, "I bet that gringa doesn't speak a word of Spanish."

With black hair I am now a Mexi-American.  "When did your daughter live in the USA?  She speaks English."

My mom told me that the guys who cleaned our car assumed I'm just a Mexican who lived in the states for a while.  And that's only because they listened to my pathetic attempt at Spanish.  

Today we have repairmen in the house fixing a drippy AC unit.  Again.  He talked to me.  @_@  I said okay.  Something about going to and small.  That's all I got.  Voy a blah blah pequena blah blah.  

This didn't happen to me in my light brown wigs or undyed hair.  So...I guess I fit in more?

And I'm desperate to get my Spanish up to par.  Yes, I'm able to say most of the things I want, though many STILL don't understand me, but also I'm having a hard time understanding when people speak.  :sigh:  I'll get there.