July 13th: Sickness Strikes Again!

This time mijo (my son in Spanish) is sick! Looks like he has the same thing I’m still getting over. But he also has conjuvitus, which I think is the same thing pink eye. Thanks to Nurse Cassie (who I must owe hundreds of thousands of dollars by now for her medical expertise), she said to get in ASAP because this can be serious for infants. By the way, my beautiful mother deserves honorable mention for her countless google searches for me! What did we do before google? Ok, my brother Matt also deserves mentioning for all his research on how to get rid of roaches too! Thanks you guys!

Our doctor in Mexico is Francisco’s entire family’s doctor. She is so personable and sweet and took good care of Andrew. Looks like we caught his virus much sooner than we did mine. He’s on a few medicines now and I hope and pray he feels better soon. Poor guy seems to have inherited 2 of my annoying health problems so far: excessive earwax and…cold sores. Cold sores are almost as bad as roaches. They are a real generational curse, I’d say. My dad, me, now Andrew! I wonder who kissed the wrong person way back when. Francisco is also starting to get a sore throat, so he’ll be starting antibiotics too. The doctor just said to use the script she wrote for me to fill a new prescription for him. Nice and easy down here! I guess contrary to popular believe, you DO need a doctor’s prescription for antibiotics.

July 12th: Visiting Paradise

Today was SUCH a WONDERFUL day! It was my first day where I’ve started to feel a bit better and carrying Andrew doesn’t seem like I’m carrying a 50 lb weight. We did 2 really fun things today. First, we went to a water park. It was both different, and similar to our waterparks. It was different in that there were 2 pools. One was chlorinated and the other was freshwater from volcanic water. It was FREEZING! I didn’t go into it, since I’m still under the weather. Francisco and Lupe both cringed the first few minutes in the water. Our 18 month old nephew even went in, but was so cold. There was a really sweet family next to us spending the day at the park. They brought food along and they even shared it with us. It was a cooked, room temperature fish on top of a crispy tortilla. The eyeball staring right at me. Luckily neither Francisco nor his sister Lupe wanted to eat it either. I felt bad when we threw it away. What a sweet and generous family. The stereotype about Mexicans is so true! They are so warm and generous! Our second stop of the day was to Francisco’s second mom (again, they refer to her as “Mama Teodulpha”). We took a taxi and they charged us double! Lupe complained about it to the driver and later told me it’s because he was driving a “gringa.”

Anyway, this edition today is called “Paradise” because that’s how I feel about his aunt’s house. It’s not luxurious in any sense, but I absolutely love it there! There are kids (they are considered her to by my nieces and nephews) running around, laughing, screaming and playing. I just love them. And it’s true what they say about people who are good to your kids. You just can’t help but love him. They are so sweet to Andrew. Especially little Marianna. She loves to tickle him and get him to smile. Andrew loves her most, I think. Mama Teodulfa spoils everyone! Her food is incredible and she has such a sweet and kind spirit! And I feel we are kindred spirits in that neither of us can hear very well. Unfortunately, her hearing loss is permanent. When her daughter was here she told me about how much everyone loves her and is dependent on her. She said that she makes EVERYONE’S lunch every day for them. She has such joy in doing this. I want to be a woman like this! She is so delightful! As is everyone in that home. Her kitchen and patio are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. They are covered, but open to the outside. She is so clean and it’s just so peaceful there. We are planning to stop in again this week and bring MY mama’s special cheesecake.

July 6-8: Francisco´s Second Trip to Juarez (Waiver Appointment) And me all by my lonesome....

Francisco flew to Juarez for the second time for his Waiver Appointment. This is the BIG DEAL appointment. Now we need to wait 2-3 weeks to find out when Francisco can return to the U.S. Your prayers are appreciated....

And...on my end....(I missed him soooooooooooooooo much while he was gone... sorry if I sound negative... I´m much more positive now...I was sick then)

Yeah, Francisco made it home and I am NOT a happy camper! Woke up to a cockroach in my cozy bed while snuggling with Andrew. He (I assume it’s a he! No female could ever be undignified enough to me a roach in my opinion!) was not welcome during our snuggle time!! Later, a cockroach was in my shorts. When I attempted to put them on a little (yet disgusting, disease-carrying, WORTHLESS) roach crawled up on my arm and jumped to Andrew’s pack’n’play. I was still feeling pretty sick and this was enough for me to say: We are staying at a hotel. Francisco sprayed the heck out of the room while I got much needed sleep at the hotel. On Friday we made it to the doctor and found out I had a throat and ear infection. Whoa – no wonder I was feeling so crappy! I found it strange that I’d have a throat infection when my throat didn’t hurt much at this point, and she also didn’t do a throat culture. Also, I’d never had strep. I later spoke with a travel nurse who said throat cultures are VERY expensive and not that affordable in developing countries. She also said her worst case of strep ever was pain free, but that she was incredibly exhausted. I guess I fit the bill. Later, on Sunday, my eardrum ruptured! Ouch! Looks like I’ll have a couple weeks where I won’t be able to hear well.

July 1st: Second week in Cuautla, Mexico... Working Working Working!

pictures of waiver!!!

Down to business: working on the waiver with all my spare time. Put many hours in and finished at the 11^th hour, which happened to be at 3 am the day that Francisco was leaving. He left at 3:30 am, so it was really down to the wire. He flew to Juarez and was there for 3 days. Meanwhile, I got sick with some sort of bad headache/cold sickness.

July 23rd-25th: First Few Days in Mexico

(picture of Andrew in car sleeping)… cousins, Mole….

What a blur the last few days have been! People who’ve traveled to Latin America to visit family told me what it’d be like, but it’s nothing like experiencing it firsthand. People stop by many times a day to visit unannounced. So there’s no “settling in” and unpacking period. People stop to talk and visit and say hi. The second day we went to Francisco’s Tia (aunt) Teodulfa, who was like a mom to Francisco and his siblings. They even call her “Mama Teodulfa.” He lived with his Tia and Tio for 12 years growing up while his mom found work in a nearby town. His mom had to make such sacrifices by going to work each day to provide for her family. It meant sometimes not seeing her children for a month at a time. Anyway, it was so fun at Mama Teodulfa’s. There were several tables put together for dinner, because they have such a big family. Tons of kids and aunts and uncles who all poured the love on Andrew. His family is so warm and sweet! It was especially fun, because Francisco’s cousin Delia, was visiting for 3 weeks from Las Vegas. I really enjoyed her and her family. We ate the traditional meal of Mole (pronounced “Molā”) and it was homemade and delicious! His brother and sister are great! His brother Chano, is an assistant manager at Dominos Pizza and he stops by the house 2-3 times a day just to say hi. He’s very sweet and funny. Lupe is Francisco’s sister and she has a 18 month son, named Juan Pablo. They call him Juanpa or Juan-P. Lupe is so funny and Juanpa is so adorable – he loves playing with Andrew (and in the toilet!). The fun things we have to look forward to in the toddler years! I met Francisco’s dad, Modesto, and he’s very friendly and chatty. His whole family has been very nice so far and so welcoming!

June 22nd-23rd: Sarah gets ready to go to Mexico!

(any pictures of Andrew?) Me at airport?

Wow, what a wild ride the past week ½ has been since Francisco’s been gone. I’ve been scrambling, trying to get the material for the waiver and put together as much of the evidence as I can before heading to Mexico. Did you know that if needed you can renew your passport a day before you travel?? Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way. We got Francisco’s passport renewed, got a passport for Andrew, but I failed to notice that my passport expires July 11^th. Thankfully I got that fixed. The day before I flew, I was up till 3:30am packing and getting stuff ready and woke up at 5:30 to leave for the airport. I said a very teary goodbye to my faithful dog Libby. Libby’s been such a good dog to me, but I just don’t feel I can trust her with Andrew. The love of a dog…

Cassie took me to the airport and they even gave her a guest pass to enter to my gate with me! Also, there was an empty seat next to me, so I was able to keep Andrew in his car seat. And guess what? He slept the ENTIRE way! He only woke up after we landed.

June 17th: What a great day! Quick waiver appointment and Francisco sees family!!!

(picture of him and his siblings) Francisco flew home. That morning I called to make the waiver appointment and heard the most UNBELIEVABLE and shocking news. The representative on the phone said “We have an appointment available July 5^th at 9:15 am!” This was only 3 weeks away! Most waiver appointments are scheduled 6-8 weeks out, but the woman on the line said there was a cancellation and therefore an open appointment. Man, that was the best news ever! That also meant I needed to get to work QUICK!

Seeing his brother and sister at the airport and going home!!! Francisco arrived in Mexico City and his brother, Chano (or Carlos) and sister, Lupe, were there to pick him up. He said it was a very emotional welcoming. I spoke with Francisco after he’d been home a few hours and his first impressions were: there are people everywhere and it’s very loud. The second night he was home, there was a mariachi band playing next door – outside – at 4am! He was so happy to see his family, but he was also missing his mom so much. She passed away January 4, 2011. He said it’s just not the same.