Welcome to Mexico/Bienvenidos a Mexico

“Presta me tu bebé,” she said. That translates to, “lend me your baby.” I had only met her 5 minutes earlier, and I handed little Ros over with a smile. She held him for the next half an hour while we chatted in Spanish about our travels and her children. She told me about how her daughter is about to turn 15. She doesn’t want a big party or a fancy dress, which is traditional for a quinceañera. All she wants is a smart phone.

Almost everywhere we have gone in Mexico we have found the people to be remarkably warm like this. So far in Mexico we have visited several beaches and spent a couple of weeks in the area around Tepic, a city of around 500,000. For most of the time we have been traveling with my brother in law Gavin and his family.

In a small town south of Tepic, when we chatted with the locals they wanted to take pictures with our little boys. Generally our kids seem to stand out more because they have light hair and some of them have blue eyes. Once in a mall, someone asked me if my nephew Titus is albino.

One hotel that we stayed at had an English speaking waiter, and we came in for dinner at a slow time of day, so he would chat with us for most of the time we were eating. It was nice because my two year old Grant got comfortable enough with him to say hi and practice his few Spanish words. We talked with him about all the places he has lived in Mexico and which he has liked the best. He told us if we wanted to stay in Tepic he would help us find places with cheap rent.

We decided to come spend the winter in Mexico because we are seeing more and more corruption in the US. There is corruption all over the world, but the US is getting out of hand. The other problem is that most the people are turning a blind eye to it. We had tried stand up various times, but we were not making very much progress. In contrast, in Mexico there is a much better turn out for protests that actually mean something. For example, we have friends down here that frequently take over toll booths and allow people to go through for free. (The problem with the toll booths is first that they have a constitutional right to free travel, and secondly that the government promised the tolls would be over years ago.)

In the beach town of San Blas I went swim suit shopping. “Son gemelitos?” The sales lady asked, which translates to, “Are they twins?”

“No, son primos.” I answered, explaining that the babies with us are cousins. I was wearing 3 month old Ros in a carrier, and my sister in law was wearing 5 month old Swan. He is big and she is small for her age, so we get that question all the time.

One reason we stayed in the US for so long is because that is where our friends and family are. When Gavin started talking about the possibility of coming down here, that was a big game changer for us, and now more of our family is considering coming down as well. Moving to a new country is a remarkably hard task, and meeting up with Gavin and Sondra down here has made it much more bearable. For example, Grant is always excited to see Titus. Keeping Grant happy through this transition is great, and watching them play cars together brings me so much joy.

En Espanol:

“Presta me tu bebé,” me dijo. Nos conocimos cinco minutos antes, y le dio mi pequeño Ros con una sonrisa. Ella le mantuvo por media hora y platicamos sobre viajes y niños. Ella me dijo que su niña va a cumplir quince años. No quiere una fiesta grande ni un vestido carro, que son tradicionales para la quinceañera. Solo quiere un telefono inteligente.

Por todos partes de Mexico hemos encontrado personas tan amistosos. Ya hemos ido a algunos playas y pasado dos semanas en la area de Tepic, una ciudad de 500,000. Por la mayor parte del tiempo hemos viajado con my cuñado Gavin y su familia.

En un pueblo al Sur de Tepic, cuando hablamos con la gente local ellos quieren tomar fotos con nuestros hijos. En general nuestros niños destacan porque tienen pelo rubio y algunos de ellos tienen ojos azules. Una vez en un mall, alguien me preguntó si mi sobrino Titus es albino.

En un hotel en que quedamos, habia un mesero que hablaba ingles. Cuando comimos cena la restaurante era casi vacio, entonces él pasaba el tiempo platicando con nosotros. Era lindo porque mi niño Grant que tiene dos años se puso comodo a decir hola y practicar sus pocos palabras en español. Hablamos sobre los lugares en que vivía y cuales le gusta mejor. Nos dijo que si nosotros dicidimos quedarnos en Tepic, él puede ayudarnos encontrar lugares con renta bajo.

Hemos decididos quedarnos en mexico por en invierno porque vemos más y más corrupción en los estados unidos. Hay corrupción por todo el mundo, pero los estados unidos ya tiene demasiado. La otra problema es que la gente en general no se da cuenta de la corrupción. Hemos tratado hablar contra la corrupción, pero no hay mucho progreso. A lo contrario, en Mexico más gente van a los protestos que valen la pena. Por ejemplo, tenemos amigos aquí que toman cabinas de peaje y dejan que personas pasan gratis. (La problema con las cabinas de peaje es primero que la gente tienen el derecho de viajar libramente, y segundo que el gobierno les prometio que los peajes iban a terminar hace años.)

En el pueblo de San Blas, cerca a la playa, fui a comprar un traje de baño. “Son gemelitos?” Me pregunto la vendedora.

“No, son primos.” Yo estaba llevando Ros que tiene 3 meses, y mi cuñada estaba llevando Swan que tiene 5 meses. Él es grande y ella es pequeña para su edad, entonces recibimos esta pregunta todo el tiempo.

Una razon que quedamos en los estados unidos hasta ahora es que nuestras familia y amigos vivan alla. Cuando Gavin empezó a hablar sobre la posibilidad de ir a Mexico, eso nos impactó mucho. Ahora más personas en nuestra familia estan pensando en la posibilidad tambien. Mudando a Mexico has ido muy dificil, pero viajando con Gavin y Sondra le hace mucho mejor. Por ejemplo, Grant es siempre emocionado por jugar con Titus. Mantener Grant feliz por esta transicion es bueno, y mirarles jugar con coches me da alegría.

(Posted to a different blog site December 2017.)