Surprise! We are still in Mexico! Things did not go as planned. We got to Guadalajara in good time and all checked in, cleared security and had coffee. Then, just as we were supposed to board at 10:30, they announced a 1.75 hour delay. Apparently, one runway in Mexico City is closed and that makes delays. Not all flights are delayed as an AeroMexico flight to Mexico left on time just a little while after ours. I don’t know if they draw lots to decide. As we had only 2 hours to change to our Toronto flight in Mexico City, I went to see what could be done. We asked about the AeroMexico flight, but the bright young woman said that we would then have to change terminals in Mexico and as that takes over an hour, we would still not make our Toronto flight. After working her terminal, she said that our only alternative to get to Toronto today would be to go to American Airlines to go from Guad to Dallas and on to Toronto. We went down and back to Go (of course we did not collect $200) at the Mexicana check-in counter. After a very long wait, we were finally told that the Guad to Dallas flight was fully booked, so that was out. We have to try it again tomorrow. This time we have to go on the 7:45 a.m. flight leaving the house at 6 a.m.; we do have our boarding passes so checkin should be quicker. Even if that flight is delayed, we have about 5 hours in Mexico City after scheduled arrival to get the flight to Toronto.
Our bags had been brought back and we finally picked them up. As it was after 12 and we were very tired, we went to the restaurant for something to eat. I had barely enough money to pay for lunch and pay for the taxi home. I had calculated how much we needed to go to the airport and then another taxi when we come back; I didn’t want to be carrying much Mexican money around during 3 weeks in Canada. However, I see that that was not such a good idea. One should always have a bit more for the unforeseen. Because we were going to bypass the US, I didn’t bring my American money so the Dallas-Toronto route would have required getting some US money in Dallas from a machine. One of the big reasons for going via Mexicana etc. was to avoid the US. I was beginning to think that God is American (as so many Americans think) and that (s)he was sending a message. Stay tuned for the next episode of Bluenosers in Mexico.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Going to Nova Scotia
This will probably be my last post for a while. On Wednesday, July 14th, we leave for 3 weeks in Nova Scotia. Actually, we will be 3 nights in Toronto. We are trying flights that break in Toronto. This way we can avoid going through the US and the over-the-top security there. We’ll see if it is worth the extra money and time. When we get to Halifax (Friday the 16th), Barb has to go immediately to get blood taken for her doctors. On Saturday, we go to begin our 2 weeks at White Point until the 31st. We leave Halifax on Aug. 4th, one night in Toronto with Faye and back to La Floresta on Aug. 5th. It will be nice to see family and friends in Nova Scotia, but I expect that it will be tiring.
About 2 weeks ago, the twins with their mother and younger brother left to visit Silvia’s family. That is 16 hours away by bus. The family lives quite far south, about 6 hours beyond Mexico City. Today we heard that Silvia called crying and wants to come back. We heard more about her history. Her father was very abusive and she ran away from home very young about 16 years ago. Anabel said she ‘lived very rough’. We have never heard anything about the father of the twins or Christofer so can only guess what Anabel was suggesting; the family connection was broken for so long and Silvia is very unhappy being back with them. Anyway, Anabel said that they had helped to pay for their passage home, but didn’t have the money to pay their way back. This afternoon, we told Anabel that if it is just a question of the money, we would pay for their return. We are worried about the twins. If Silvia is unhappy, her depression (or whatever her problem was) will almost certainly come back. Also, if she can’t reconnect with her family (we don’t know if the abusive father is still around), her family are not likely to be much support for the children. The kids are well looked after at LIA. It seems a shame because Silvia seemed to be doing well with her mental problems; she was more careful about her appearance and smiled more than she had earlier. She had resumed living and working as a housemother at LIA. We’ll see what happens.
On Monday, we are going to Guadalajara. Barbara has been losing keys. Her Mexican slacks have very shallow pockets and the keys seem to fall out when she sits down. She lost the electronic key for the car last fall. Then, more recently she lost the valet key as well. In May I had ordered a replacement for the electonic key from the Subaru dealer; they said that it would take 5 days from Monterey. However, we were soon leaving for Windsor so I told them it would be 3 weeks. When I got back, I called and no key. I have called at least 3 other times. This time I said to cancel as I would get a key in Canada. However, he asked for one more chance. On Friday, he called to say the key had arrived. Barbara is training herself to put the keys in her purse rather than her pockets. I would have preferred not to make the trip to Guad so close to leaving for Canada. C’est la vie! I’m not sure what the Spanish equivalent is-- perhaps ‘Esta la vida!’
We seem to be on the way to an above average year in rainfall. Normally, at this time, there would be about 12 inches of the annual average of 33.5 inches. As of today, we have had 20.5 inches. I has been raining almost every day, usually not really heavy. Thus, so far it has not caused severe problems of flooding as it did 2 years ago in our first year. (However, in Guadalajara, there has been flooding and a couple of deaths; some of the roads have underpasses and tunnels that flood. Motorists get caught and sometimes drown.) Today, starting just about midnight, there was light drizzle and then about 9 a.m. for the next 2 hours there was heavier rain. Altogether today, we got .75 inch. This afternoon it cleared up and there was sun and eventually blue sky. It was good because we had 3 girls from LIA--Fatima and 2 others with the twins being away. The good rain will be good for the lake level. Last year was less than average rain and the lake level did not get as high, almost a meter less than the previous year.
Anyway, hasta luego and hasta el agosto.
About 2 weeks ago, the twins with their mother and younger brother left to visit Silvia’s family. That is 16 hours away by bus. The family lives quite far south, about 6 hours beyond Mexico City. Today we heard that Silvia called crying and wants to come back. We heard more about her history. Her father was very abusive and she ran away from home very young about 16 years ago. Anabel said she ‘lived very rough’. We have never heard anything about the father of the twins or Christofer so can only guess what Anabel was suggesting; the family connection was broken for so long and Silvia is very unhappy being back with them. Anyway, Anabel said that they had helped to pay for their passage home, but didn’t have the money to pay their way back. This afternoon, we told Anabel that if it is just a question of the money, we would pay for their return. We are worried about the twins. If Silvia is unhappy, her depression (or whatever her problem was) will almost certainly come back. Also, if she can’t reconnect with her family (we don’t know if the abusive father is still around), her family are not likely to be much support for the children. The kids are well looked after at LIA. It seems a shame because Silvia seemed to be doing well with her mental problems; she was more careful about her appearance and smiled more than she had earlier. She had resumed living and working as a housemother at LIA. We’ll see what happens.
On Monday, we are going to Guadalajara. Barbara has been losing keys. Her Mexican slacks have very shallow pockets and the keys seem to fall out when she sits down. She lost the electronic key for the car last fall. Then, more recently she lost the valet key as well. In May I had ordered a replacement for the electonic key from the Subaru dealer; they said that it would take 5 days from Monterey. However, we were soon leaving for Windsor so I told them it would be 3 weeks. When I got back, I called and no key. I have called at least 3 other times. This time I said to cancel as I would get a key in Canada. However, he asked for one more chance. On Friday, he called to say the key had arrived. Barbara is training herself to put the keys in her purse rather than her pockets. I would have preferred not to make the trip to Guad so close to leaving for Canada. C’est la vie! I’m not sure what the Spanish equivalent is-- perhaps ‘Esta la vida!’
We seem to be on the way to an above average year in rainfall. Normally, at this time, there would be about 12 inches of the annual average of 33.5 inches. As of today, we have had 20.5 inches. I has been raining almost every day, usually not really heavy. Thus, so far it has not caused severe problems of flooding as it did 2 years ago in our first year. (However, in Guadalajara, there has been flooding and a couple of deaths; some of the roads have underpasses and tunnels that flood. Motorists get caught and sometimes drown.) Today, starting just about midnight, there was light drizzle and then about 9 a.m. for the next 2 hours there was heavier rain. Altogether today, we got .75 inch. This afternoon it cleared up and there was sun and eventually blue sky. It was good because we had 3 girls from LIA--Fatima and 2 others with the twins being away. The good rain will be good for the lake level. Last year was less than average rain and the lake level did not get as high, almost a meter less than the previous year.
Anyway, hasta luego and hasta el agosto.
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