Destination Paradise

We are truly privileged to live in one of Mexico's most modern cities, only three hours from the US border. I just never fully understood how much until this past weekend. Carlos' mother and sister made their final departure from the US last week. They purchased a 98 Ford Explorer to bring down with them, and Carlos' cousin drove it straight from Chicago to our house. After staying with us for two nights, his cousin flew back to Chicago and Carlos graciously volunteered to drive his mom, sister, and visiting aunt all the way down to Guadalajara, where they were planning to settle. And so we set out at 5:30 am last Saturday morning. We swung around the mountains and were in the nearby city of Saltillo by sunrise. From there, it was an eye-opening journey (for me) into rural, desolate Mexico. For about 8 hours, Carlos drove down the two-lane highways through Zacatecas, a state seemingly populated mostly by cactus and dust. In the small villages we passed, shelter consis...

You know how sometimes life's little moments are so moving for no apparent reason? Tonight I was watching the Grammy awards, and when Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban performed their tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, I was reminded of one of those moments. It was last fall when we were in Milan. We were strolling around the city center that night, down one of the main passages, where the street vendors were winding down for the night. The artists were packing up their wares and the souvenir -sellers were closing up their stands. But in one corner, an elderly man was still camped out with his portable CD player. From the crackly speakers came the orchestral strains of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from the opera Turandot . The legendary Luciano Pavarotti is probably responsible for immortalizing this piece, and as the song began, I was reminded that Pavarotti had died just a few weeks earlier. This elderly man had so clearly been touched by Pavarotti, probably had followed ...

Our blog finally has a title! Took forever to find a meaningful one. Explanation: It all starts with Laura Pausini and her remake of a song of the same name. It's in Italian, and, like all her songs, is totally moving. Ultimately, the song is about a voyage without boundaries, destination Paradise. We're on a voyage right now. We travel through cities/countries searching for the place where we will finally belong and be happy, our own paradise. And if we never find it on Earth, we know our ultimate Paradise awaits in heaven. So that's our blog title. As far as our current status in our voyage, things have returned to their crazy pace full of lesson plans, 7 a.m. duty extracting arriving students from their cars, and the usual exhaustion. Carlos is currently working from about 10 am - 6 pm downtown (about 20-30 minute commute in the Cheyenne), teaching English. However, in late February he will transfer to the location a few minutes from our house, where he will pi...

Being apart for two weeks was more than enough. We've vowed never to let it happen again, to the best of our abilities. On the bright side, being in Chicago was absolutely a great time for Amy. Despite the fact that Chicago delivered its full arsenal of winter warfare, Amy survived just fine, had fun, saw so may beloved friends, and probably put a few hundred extra miles on the odometer of her parents' Saturn in the process. As Carlos frequently says, the people of Chicago would not be one among the world's greatest if it weren't for the brutal winter they endure every year. Now that we're back together again, we've decided life is pretty good. The weather here is like Spring/Summer every day. Carlos says this may or may not be normal; he can't remember, since the last time he lived here he was a kid. We go running on the track out on the boulevard at dusk, and entertain ourselves with culinary adventures. The other day, we spent 4 hours on a mission ...

I'm guessing it's not normal for a newly married couple to spend nearly 2 months of their first 7 in separate countries, but such is our reality. Anyway, it hasn't been terrible. I (Amy) have had the chance to see all the family and friends I've been missing over these past months. Carlos has been able to hang out with "just the guys" without anyone having to worry about leaving me out. Christmas was an incredible adventure filled with food, food, and more food, along with the joy of being with family. So far every time I drive, it's in typical Chicago winter weather involving high-velocity winds, freezing rain/ice/sleet/blowing snow, etc. For someone who hadn't driven in 4 months, that was initially a shock but after a few minutes you get back into Chicago Driving Mode. Carlos told me that driving here was going to seem like driving in a park after what happens on the roads in Monterrey. I thought he was exaggerating, but boy was he right. Even ...

So even after 2 months, there are things that still take getting used to... 1)Wearing short sleeves and sunglasses in December 2)Green GRASS in December! Pic taken during my leisurely walk home from work the other day... 3) Monterrey's fascination with soda (Exhibit A: best-selling cola, Big Cola, which tastes like Coke and sells for cheaper. And also comes in a 3.3 Liter bottle.) 4) The amount of meat and unhealthy agents they manage to pack into a single dish here. Take the innocent baked potato. Here we present a Monterrey variation that includes three cheeses, cream, steak, and I don't even remember what else. (Don't worry, this was the first and only time Carlos tried it) I'd say the tray weighs about 5 pounds. 5) The way that people from here are really FROM here. This city is a labrynth of unfamiliar streets, incomprehensible traffic, and hard-to-find services. Those from here find no trouble navigating all this. But even Carlos, born in this city, never e...

This post is just to celebrate that after a month of working in Mexico, our bank account is loaded with Mexican pesos. We are now buying groceries, paying bills, and living off money made right here in Mexico, so now our US savings can grow good interest and we don't have to keep paying international transaction fees to use it. We find that very exciting. We are finally settled. In other news, 19 days until Amy lands in Chicago for Christmas!!!!!