Happy New Year!

Barring any incidents with a overzealous, armed Mexican, I'll be back tomorrow!

Hairspray Ninja

I just had to share that I chased a two-inch long cockroach out the front door last night. I was in bed watching a movie, got up to go to the bathroom, and when I turned on the light TWO cockroaches ran across the floor.

One normal sized, which I hairsprayed to death in the sink.

The second was GINORMOUS. And apparently afraid of hairspray. I chased him to the front door but he was so big he wouldn't fit underneath. I cracked it open and "encouraged" him in that direction, and he scurried his ugly butt towards the stairs.

I am a hairspray-weilding ninja. Don't mess with me.

And yes, there were some girly screams involved.

A Hiccup

I've had a few hiccups in my life, many of them revolving around moving without much prior notice. In college I'd planned to live in DC after graduation, but with three weeks left in school, I decided to move back to Michigan. A year later I moved to Chicago with a little more planning but even fewer people to watch my back. Then there was the move to Mexico. That took two full months of planning but was by far the largest undertaking I'd ever handled.

Then there was my parents wedding... I had just turned seven and my parents had the brilliant idea of having their children stand alongside them for the duration of the service. (My brother and sister were twelve and eleven, respectively.) The ceremony started nicely: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here –"

"Hic!"

Everyone looked at me, startled at the noise that burst from my throat.

"Hic!"

Yes, I had the hiccups, and no amount of kicking from my brother would make them stop. For years I was teased for hiccuping through the entire service. I was seven, what could I do? My mom was supposed to help me with those types of things, but she was busy gazing into my new dad's eyes. I was on my own, with my hiccups.

Recently I've hit another hiccup. This one didn't involve moving or spasms of air in my throat, but the results have disrupted my life. I finished the first draft of my book in November, just before my trip back to the States. My mom read it while I was home and made some comments, and I started my own edits shortly after.

"Look at me, I'm editing my book!" I thought to myself, excited that I was really doing it.

Midway through December I finished the hard copy edits and began entering them into the Word document. I tweaked things as I went, feeling confident that it was slowly coming together.

Except for those sections I had to rewrite. Or write in the first place. Remember when I said I forgot to write about the actual immigration process? Way back in October? Well, that's been hanging over my head for months. I've also been unhappy with the first three pages - the very beginning of my story.

I also don't have an ending, but since I haven't decided at what point to cut this thing off, I'm not to concerned about that, yet.

These little rewrites have stalled me, a hiccup in the process. I got myself so worked up that I was unable to write anything. Granted, there have been a few things in my personal life that may have played a part as well, but I've been hung up on the equivalent of five typed pages.

Then, during an inspirational scene in Flashdance, I remembered the rule to give yourself permission to write crap. When had I decided I was above this? When I finished my first draft? Bollocks. I can't edit something that doesn't exist, so how did I think I was ever going to continue moving forward?

Today I forced myself to sit down and write the missing pieces. The words were already in my head, I just had to clear away the doubts and get my thoughts on paper. I wrote in longhand, instead of on the computer - something about my handwriting makes it feel a little more real - and finished the intro and the immigration bit in about an hour.

I still need to work on the conclusion, but now that the hiccups have passed I'm feeling a little more confident.

Smuggled Goodies

Something horrible has happened.

For the past two weeks, I have been forced to cook my own meals.

Ibis and I have a nice trade-off: I do all the cleaning and he does all the cooking. It may sound lopsided but he's a really good cook and I don't mind most of the cleaning. (He does still have to mop.) We don't always eat every meal together: I often make my own eggs for breakfast and I can handle snacks and sandwiches, but the big meals... that's all him.

If you've been following along you know he's been working as a waiters' captain at a hotel. He gets home early enough that we could eat together, but the one perk (since he's yet to see a paycheck) is they feed him. And I'm not talking tacos and beans; the employees get real meals, with fish or other meats, plus dessert.

I've been dining on sandwiches and Cup O'Noodle.

He feels bad that my diet has tanked since he's been there, and he's even said he wants to put some food in his pocket to bring home to me. Like Napolean Dynamite and his tots. I've even debated hanging out at the beach near his hotel so he can sneak me a nice meal. It's sounds pathetic, I know, but I've been spoiled since we've been together. And yes, this is why I cooked our Christmas dinner.

Well, last night Ibis came home and pulled a napkin-wrapped lump out of his pocket. "Look what I have for you!"

I opened it, eager to see what was inside.

Spongecake!

Sure, it's not filet mignon or a day's catch, but since I'd already eaten my sandwich, dessert was just what I wanted.

I wonder what he'll bring home today...

Soy Mexicana?

In the past 24-hours, two things occurred that make me think I might be a little closer to fitting in here. Yesterday I made rajas en crema, and typical Mexican dish with poblano peppers and cream, and today the lady we buy a lot of our produce from gave me a special bag that says I'm an Esteemed Client.

Well slap me silly and call me a biscuit.

The meal we've eaten a number of times, but Ibis is always in charge. My duties are to run and get the tortillas when the dinner is almost ready. Since he worked yesterday I said I'd attempt it on my own, and while we didn't have tortillas, it was delicious! Between the green peppers and red tomatoes, it was very Christmasey.

You grill the peppers, then peel off the skin once they're blackened and cut into rajas (strips). Meanwhile you sautee tomatoes, onion & garlic in oil, then add the peppers. Next is the most important step: add crema (sour cream) and queso cotijo (a crumbly cheese). Cook a few more minutes & you're done.

It sounds easy but I have a habit of destroying what should be a simple meal. Since this went so well I plan to make this at least once a week, as long as I can find low-fat sour cream.

The bag really isn't that exciting, but it was very sweet the woman, Doña as we call her, gave it to me. Ibis and I get most of our produce from her & she sometimes throws in a head of garlic or a couple limes for free. She's always very patient with me - helping me pick produce that's good for today, or good for tomorrow, depending on which day we plan to eat it. Now that's customer service.

Now I have a neon green shopping bag to tote through town, just like one of the locals.

Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas everyone. I'm off to spend the day at the beach - I'm told that's what you do here on Christmas - so I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Here are a couple photos from last night in the plaza.







Have a wonderful day!

Happy Christmas Eve

It's that magical time of year when the locals trade in their pistols for bazookas to ring in the holidays. Good lord. I know Mexicans like to shoot guns to celebrate whatever blessed event it happens to be, whether it's Friday night or the birth of Christ, but I've nearly jumped out of my skin three times today and the sun hasn't even set.

I just sent out the obligatory Happy Holidays email and while I was sorting all my friends & family into easy-to-manage groups, I deleted all my friends who happen to come after the letter K. Fortunately hotmail has prepared for people who do these sorts of things and I was able to track down most everyone from past emails, but I think I'm still missing ten or fifteen people. If you are one of those people, please accept my apologies.

Ibis doesn't have a day off in sight, but at least he works days so we'll be able to celebrate both evenings. We're not exchanging gifts but I do have presents from my gramma we can open. I've been told Nochebuena is a bigger deal than Navidad, so we're planning to walk downtown and see what's happening in the plaza. The city shot of fireworks last night (which we watched from our condo) so I'm not sure what else they have in store.

I keep meaning to take a picture of the Christmas tree set up Rockafeller-Center style, but so far I've forgotten the camera every time we've been down there. Cross my fingers I remember tonight. I'm putting the camera on the table as we speak.

I hope this post finds you safe & warm. If not, let me know and I'll send some heat your way.