Back to the Future

Well that's kind of how it felt coming back home from El Salvador, as if we just returned from the past, back to the future. Except there was no mad scientist named Doc (except maybe one named Tigo) and no Michael J. Fox in Calvin Klein underwear.  We were returning from the past of this land trapped back in time. Two days before we left El Salvador to return home again the kids were talking about the things that they were looking forward to coming back to. Running water, air conditioning (though we came back to temps in the 40s, so maybe they meant climate controlled housing...) the dogs, regular beds, refrigerators with food they liked to eat, people who spoke English, television, gymnastics... Lots of things -but mostly a regular bathroom in lieu of an extremely old outhouse with cockroaches. Those are the things of the future, aren't they?

But in all honestly the kids did really great through out the trip. And really any complaints and struggles that we had there, were often no different than the ones that we have in our own home. For example, usually no one cooperates at bedtime, so this was no different. The kids rarely like my cooking anyhow, so eating a few new dishes was not so bad. And everyone's Spanish improved, each to their own varying degree, but all improvements none the less.

While the kids missed a week of school and then had the second week off, I'm fairly certain their education, and lives, were enriched to enormous degrees beyond anything that they might have experienced in school during those two weeks had they been there. Missing school isn't always bad.

Once the kids and I arrived in San Salvador, one step into the airport, the differences began immediately with no noticeable A/C in the airport. But Elmer met us there with his cousin waiting outside to sweep us off to the little town of Dolores. The ride there took a big longer than the normal 2 hours, as the remnants from Hurricane Ida were still all around. Half the major highway was covered in mud from the slides the week before. And bridges were knocked out. We arrived at his childhood home just after midnight. But I turned off my phone (which serves as my watch), so my sense of time for the next two weeks was considerably off.  We climbed into bed and closed our eyes, trying to block out the sounds of the animals who must never sleep, then woke in the morning, to what felt like minutes later, to another world.

Elmer's mom is a little old lady, probably just under 5 feet tall. Once she gets up in the morning at 5am, she doesn't stop moving until the afternoon siesta. Abuela greeted us and instantly tried to feed us and then feed us some more and then feed us some more.  Unfortunately in all respects, except for my waistline, we don't have the dietary appreciations. But fried plantains in the morning are delicious and we certainly agree on that. I wanted to do my best to help out as much as I could while we were there, but she rarely allowed me to do anything. The kitchen was her thing, we were her guests and she was in control. She has a sweet smile and permanent sad eyes and would shake her finger at me in loving ways and say "no, no, no".

The pic here, she is in the outdoor "kitchen" where the fire stove sits next to the house.

Azalea, at 4, is a pretty tough little girl. Now while she likes dresses and wants to look pretty, she has no problem getting down in the dirt and is a pretty go with the flow kind of kid. So when ever we did something new, with out skipping a beat she would say "So that's how they do things in this World." And that's what it was to her, another World. And quite honestly that is what it is, another World.  And they joined right in readily to the changes. For example, the kids had no problem at all following country rule by unbuckling that safety seat belt and packing it in to the back of a pick-up truck with 10 or so random people. The same way the rest of the country sat 20 people to pick-up bed.

Elmer's dad was eager to take us all over to the farm. We spent quite a few days there and had some extremely long lasting life lessons there (that will be another post). The farm is basically land for cattle, and they have a corral at the entrance for containing the animals when needed for things like milking every morning. But the cattle pretty much roam free about the land. It's about  3 "blocks" from the house and absolutely gorgeous. There is a stream that runs through the land that enormous Mango trees grow along and from one of the upper fields you amazing views of the San Miguel Volcano.

Please keep in mind that I know essentially nothing about cattle and cows. So Abuelo has the cows trained to come to him. He does this by bringing them salt licks. Not to bore you, but the funny thing is watching a man in his late 60s do cat calls into what appears to be empty fields. All of a sudden there are cows coming up over the ridge to lick and lick and lick.

Here you can see the volcano in the distance from the property, but the photo does no justice. But notice the 2 people in the picture. One a man, the other a adolescent boy, both carrying large tree trunks they cut down from somewhere on the mountain that they are carrying, likely to build on their own home somewhere in town. Really? a tree trunk, one person carrying for over a mile, at least. Crazy.

But people carry everything everywhere. Walking down dirt roads in the middle of what appears to me as no where, women with baskets on their heads carrying tortillas or corn or who knows what. Men carrying large heavy sacks of beans or sugar cane or again corn, the staple of the country. Or little boys walking with their machetes or little girls giggling with their sisters. While driving it's customary to stop if you have a less than full pick up bed and help who ever along to wherever you or they are going. Kind of like your car warranty, which ever comes first -miles or time whichever comes first. Once while driving we slowed to ask a couple women if they needed a lift, apparently nothing around for kilometers. "Oh, no, we've just arrived" Arrived? There was nothing around to my knowledge. Elmer later said that of course there was the gate in the fence that they would slip through. Where they are going or coming from is often a mystery.

The kids also got to ride Tequila, the horse, on a regular basis. Elmer had fun teaching Azalea the saying "Me gusta Tequila." (I like Tequila) or "Te quiero, Tequila" (I love you, Tequila). And she meant it whole heartily when she spoke those words. While Tequila is an old kind horse, he certainly gave Elmer, his dad, and all the ranch folks a fun run for their money one morning as they tried to round him up from the fields. All the lassos in El Salvador couldn't bring him in. And I had a good time watching them try to catch him. They didn't have as much fun, and Tequila was left alone to graze in the fields.

More El Salvador posts to come.

Waiting for us

Elmer left on Tuesday for El Salvador. We sent him a head so that he could go do the things that he can do better when we are not with him.  Go catch Iguana, visit obscure relatives that we don't need to meet, trade cattle, make sure that "everything" is there. Quite honestly it is very nice to have him go ahead, so that I know that all is ok before we get there. Of course I'm always a little nervous when we head to El Salvador.

 (this pic is from our last trip).

When I finally talked to him after he got there he told me a little bit about the happenings in the country. Last weekend some of the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the country. The "remnants" turned out to be much worse than the Hurricane itself. Massive flooding and mudslides swept through parts of the small country and wiped out a town an many roads and bridges. Luckily Villa Dolores, his home town where the in-laws are and where we are staying, was not directly hit. But the bridge that leads to the town across Rio Titiquapa was completely wiped out. (Pictures to come upon my return.) And many other rock slides occurred making roads impassible.

One thing, Elmer told me, that I find interesting is the town that got wiped out and 130 people where killed and buried had an American Peace Corp worker. This wasn't on the news, but there is another Peace Corp worker in Dolores who told Elmer of this. Apparently the town received a warning from the weather advisory center that they should evacuate. But the only person that left was the Peace Corp worker. He walked for hours in the pouring rain to leave the area. Where he ended up, I have no idea. But all the people of the town remained and many people were buried under a mudslide and rubble so deep they likely won't be evacuated. I find it interesting that no one else left. Was it because the Americans are more used to warning advisories sent out from public officials? Or did the people feel like they had too much invested in their homes and didn't want to leave them?

I am so grateful that we were not in the country during the storm. For certain this will alter our travel plans, but who knows in what respect. Crops were wiped out an major destruction coupled with hunger is going on. No doubt the increase in major Hurricane storms is caused by global warming. Extreme weather systems on the rise.

Well, I'm still waiting for my passport. Did I mention that? Yes it hasn't arrived yet. Yes, the kids and I are supposed to be leaving tomorrow. Oh, only slightly concerned....

Oh yes, and did I mention that El Salvador is now a "safe" country in Central America. What exactly does safe mean anymore? Oh boy the world is a crazy place.

Happy Birthday Mom

Lynne B would have been 60 today. Miss you mama.

So easy...

"You know what's easy for me, Mom?"
"What's that, Azalea?"
"It's really easy for me to love dogs."

 

What's not to love?

Halloween in Review

Our new neighborhood is pretty fun when it comes to Halloween. Of course Halloween if pretty fun almost anywhere when you are 4, 7 & 9. But there are some extra efforts around our part of town...

The week before Halloween, Lola and Tigo's elementary school have a a Fall Fiesta. I ended up working most of it, and the kids ran wild with there friends and Elmer trying to keep track of them.


The next day we went to a pumpkin patch in Corrales, a little town on just North on the other side of the river. There was a Corn Maze, and a little petting area, where a minature horse chomped on Azalea's finger (she was NOT happy about it) and a horse drawn carriage around the fields with all the glory around of the mountains and the corn fields and yet another beautiful sunny day in New Mexico.

Did I mention it was another gorgeous day in New Mexico?
It was, as just about everyday here is.

Then after that, we walked to our neighbors house for a neighborhood pumpkin carving party.

Once Halloween arrived Azalea woke up in the morning and said
"Mom today can't be Halloween, it's not dark outside." (it was 7am).

The kids have told me that when you decorate your house for Halloween, you aren't supposed to let anyone see you... another mystery...

We also had a plethora of home-made decorations from some of the left over packing boxes. Only problem was the breif snow storm we had earlier in the week got the cardboard a little soggy... but still pretty fun to create. And the trick or treaters seemed to really like them. This one is a tombstone with a ghost peeking out that Tigo made all himself.

Having Halloween on a Saturday is a hard day's wait. When it's on a school day, they are kept pretty busy. But being around all day, WAITING and WAITING. I did my best to keep them busy, but their thoughts always turned to the party we were going to at 4pm and the trick or treating to follow.

Can you say "sassy"?

We'll they weren't so happy about me making them sit in the sun, for their picture when there was a Halloween party happening just one block away!! What kind of mother am I anyhow?

Boba Fett (Star Wars), Vampire and Scary Vampire.

Did you really think the kids would let the puppies get away with out a costume....?
Coyo was a cow. Complete with udders. He just wouldn't let us take his pic so much.

Zepp was fire dog. He was pretty cute marching around the neighborhood.

Elmer dressed up as a golfer. He's been working on the outfit all year, trying to get it just right...

So I don't have any pictures of the actually Halloween trick or treating. But "my Land!" Kids practically get bussed in from all over the city to come to our neighborhood. Serious trick or treating going on -all ages. It is like Georgetown for kids and parents. Only drunk college students are missing. But just as much craziness. There was a non-stop flow of traffic to our house when we were there. Other wise we waded through the crowds, desperately trying to keep a fine line of balance between not losing any of the kids when there were potty breaks, keeping up with friends, costume adjustments, different rates of running from house to house.

I actually think (know) the kids got a lot less candy this year than in our old neighborhood. Combination of the houses being further apart and all the craziness. I also think going to the party ahead of time wore them out a little and they didn't "work" so hard. :) Just fine with me...

Balloon Fiesta

The International Balloon Fiesta was a couple weeks ago. It is a pretty amazing event. The largest hot air balloon event in the world, and it goes on for a week. Though really you can see at least a few hot air balloons above Albuquerque almost any early morning. The kids have not tired of it yet.

A few days before the fiesta, there was a balloon launch at Lola and Tigo's school. We went down to watch at the break of day. It was soooooo cold. But sooooo cool. We saw the whole thing up close. From rolling out the basket to spreading the balloon, filling it up with air and take off. It is no easy procedure to get everything going.

On the second day of the fiesta we went down to the Balloon Park to watch the mass lift off. How crazy. You can walk around up close to all the balloons. It all seemed to happen pretty fast too. Due to the weather, the day we went, the balloons didn't stay up long, but we did get to see at least a hundred in the sky at once. CRAZY!

Check below for pics.

I flew out of town a few days later for a wedding early one morning. I was lucky enough to be able to see a bunch of the balloons from my airplane window. What a site.

You know, it seems like it has got to use a ton of natural gas to power these things. I really don't know. I'm not sure I want to find out either, it might ruin it for me. So in the mean time. I will still be in awe.

... and kitty makes three.

No wait, that's not how the story is supposed to end. Or begin, or the middle for that matter.

So there must be a memo circulating in the neighborhood to the animals that we are the suckers. Either that or we are the crazy people that can't say no. First we go adopting 2 puppies. One puppy was planned. Have Elmer and I ever done very well with our planning?? Well maybe not, but ultimately we've been able to work through the unplanned fairly well. So we got 2 dogs. Who I will say just had their first vet visit yesterday and it went very well. (Other than the vet tech noting that I was crazy to have 3 small kids, 2 puppies and one... we'll get to that). The vet did seem to think that the pups were younger than what the shelter told us and that they are probably only about 12 weeks old right now. Either the shelter didn't accurately know, or they were trying to adopt out pups that are going to be possibly rather large. Zepp (at possibly 12 weeks) is weighing in at 22lbs. YIKES! Pancho was adopted at 12 weeks and weighed 12lbs, and went on to be about 75lbs.... And Coyo is a little runt, relatively speaking, at almost 9lbs.

Anyhow, my dad and Valeri were visiting last week. It was Tigo's birthday on the 27th and well... how could they stay away. So on the night of his birthday while we wer all sitting outside having our good times a little Ginger cat appears in our nice big Cottonwood tree. And to make a long story short, he hasn't left yet.

He slept on our back porch by the door and cried all night... for 3 days. Eventually I broke down and bought it some food because it seems like a young cat and I didn't want it to start killing the birds. (Although we have a nice falcon in our backyard who might be more likely to eat the cat instead.) I know, I know the biggest mistake you can make. But it is so sweet with the kids. Not scared of the puppies, who chase, play and wrestle with it. And it just purrs and purrs. This cat, who I though was a girl, had to belong to someone. It was too friendly to be a stray. But we've sent out neighborhood emails and knocked on doors and no one will claim him.

Then last night, Elmer had a "closer look" at the cat. And it seems that "He" is still "in tact". Not fixed. Which is pretty much a sure fire sign that he's a stray and doesn't belong to anyone. So while we planned on adopting the dog(s), that was for love and companion and to make our family grow. We also did it at a shelter to save a puppy life, and well all those other moral reasons. New Mexico also apparently has the highest animal euthanasia rate in the country. So how can I go sending a little kitty to the shelter when the kids love it and the puppies love it. But I'm a dog person. Not a cat person. And no matter what any child of mine says, ultimately I do all the care-taking. So for now, it has no name. As I don't want anyone getting anymore attached than it is. And I don't want more vet bills... and we already know he needs to get fixed before the lady cats find out how smooth he is.

But unfortunately it seems we have the 2 sweet puppies and kitty makes three.