tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-220661872012-02-16T21:02:26.300-05:00This is a blog about our trip to Mexico to live happily ever after. It may also show that there is indeed life after cultural resource management and elementary school teaching. No guarantees.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-89722609048385205342009-07-04T18:24:00.003-04:002009-07-04T19:04:32.930-04:00

The following is the introduction to the photos I have posted to Flickr on our trip to France in June. For the pictures and comments on our trip click here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomwheaton/sets/72157620734856737/We made the grand tour to France in June to visit the family starting in Chatou (Yves and Mado), next to Paris (Erwan), then to Nantes (Marie-Francoise and Jean-Charles, and Yves

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-62212946589657388722008-06-12T13:31:00.009-04:002008-06-13T12:01:03.732-04:00

Yesterday, they shot some scenes for a telenovela (soap opera) in Plaza de Armas. Click here for some shots and description. Later they moved to the andador (pedestrian street) on 16 de septiembre, our old street; and shot some more. They may be here still. Kind of weird having someone film places you walk to every day.We had been told there was a birthday party for Julien in our old

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-59631202993385697412008-06-04T13:25:00.004-04:002008-06-04T13:35:32.668-04:00

People seem to think that because we are in Mexico we do not know what is going on in the states. During the recent, prolonged primary season, people would say that it must be nice to be in Mexico and not have to deal with the idiocies of the campaign, or since we are in Mexico we did not really understand what was going on.Contrary to what you might have expected 20-30 years ago, I have never

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-14669068385441760622008-05-16T22:32:00.005-04:002008-05-16T22:43:27.424-04:00

My art teacher told me about a place for inexpensive, but not cheap, frames. The prices are as low as the place on Ezq. Montes I found a few weeks back, but the place is a real frame shop (they do all the work there and have all the equipment and materials). Most frame shops here are very expensive. They also have a collection of paintings including water colors, some of which are very nice.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-56799196566544733712008-05-10T21:09:00.004-04:002008-05-10T22:56:18.179-04:00

We (at least I) are enjoying the quiet in the house. No guests for two weeks!! The next round will start at the end of June when Bill and Mary from Atlanta will come for a couple of days. I am really looking forward to seeing them, and hope they don’t change their minds. They will drop by to see us before working at a community development volunteer project in Michoacan. Maybe they should

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-47995901917037094782008-04-18T19:44:00.001-04:002008-04-18T19:44:46.729-04:00

Wow! Tonight we went to the opening concert of the Querétaro International Guitar Festival. It is the third time I have attended the opening concert (Christiane missed it last year because she insists on teaching evening French classes), but at least Ramon was there. It must be his 15th. But Elvira wasn’t. Women just don’t like guitar music, I guess.The opening concert, as with the last two

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-11897269619877108582008-04-18T19:39:00.002-04:002008-04-18T19:46:02.999-04:00

La famille française, Michel, Ridette, Simone et Yves, took a rest day in Querétaro before we headed off to Mexico City (known in Mexico as the D.F. or Distrito Federal), by bus this time. It took us over an hour to get through the D.F. on our way back from Oaxaca, and I was not going to chance getting stopped by a D.F. policeman and having to pay an exorbitant mordida. I also admit that I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-7118590617857308692008-04-18T19:31:00.000-04:002008-04-18T19:32:04.945-04:00

We have had guests since before Christmas, with a week or two off. The day Delfina left for Peru, Jeanne Marie (originally from Atlanta) came from Houston for Easter week. Daniel is teaching there now. Luca is finally there too, and who knows, they may spend the rest of their lives in Houston. I guess it must kind of grow on you, but I find it hard to believe that well-traveled, intelligent,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-65306684794710182082008-02-18T17:03:00.004-05:002008-02-18T17:20:18.861-05:00

Nathalie got married to Benn in September in Chicago at the Garfield Conservatory, very nice. Chicago is much nicer and cleaner than I remember from 40+ years ago. One down, two to go. Check here for some photos.Caroline got married to Danny in December. I finally got to walk a daughter down the aisle; we followed the Mariachis from the wedding hotel on Plaza de Armas to our house, New Orleans

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-39101904052144279492007-12-19T14:54:00.001-05:002008-01-02T12:57:13.061-05:00

We had a posada in our street last night. Normally, a posada is when a group of people, representing Mary and Joseph, go from house to house asking for lodging. This tradition started in Mexico in the 1500s as part of the church’s attempts to convert the local population and teach them about Christianity. The posada season runs for the 10 nights before Christmas.In preparation, people decorate

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-82641122371027242452007-08-03T22:18:00.000-04:002007-08-21T19:49:27.265-04:00

We moved into our new house at Damián Carmona Norte #11 on July 31, 2007, a date that will live in . . . , well for a long, long time in our memories at least.What a relief. If you have not looked at the Before and After shots recently, I added a few since I first put up the photos in Flickr. There are a few more flowers in these. The red of our bougainvilla and canas are really set off by

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-82947060503260788492007-07-22T14:36:00.000-04:002007-07-22T15:16:17.794-04:00

On July 30 or 31, we will move into our new house. It has been a long 7 months since we started the renovations and an even longer 9 and a half months since we bought it, and it has been over a year since we made our first offer on it. Whew! I am tired just thinking about it.Every thing is about finished so I went to the house today and took pictures based on what we saw before renovations

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1561153087934020282007-07-03T19:29:00.000-04:002007-07-04T19:00:45.644-04:00

Since the last update (#4), about a month and a half ago, things have picked up speed as we have consistently had 10 people working. Click here for some recent photos.All the tile in the baths and the kitchen; and the interior floors have been installed and grouted. They really look nice. The floors are of terra cotta tile and will need to be sealed, but that will wait until all the painting

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-83127745829225259072007-05-24T12:37:00.000-04:002007-05-24T13:21:41.225-04:00

The upstairs bedroom with a new little room for our tinacos (water tanks) on top. Note our neighbor's tinaco, not too pretty; and presumably against the law in new construction and renovations. But hey, rules are meant to be broken, right?After a month lost to INAH, we had a reduced crew of 2-4 for nearly a month, slowing down the process considerably. We are now 2-3 months behind the original

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-36058810428341168862007-05-05T21:12:00.000-04:002007-05-07T22:26:32.559-04:00

Not a happy camper, but at least a safe one.The last couple of weekends we have made two great trips, Real de Catorce, an overnight trip to a nearly abandoned mining town in San Luis Potosi, and a quick trip to Charco del Ingenio near San Miguel de Allende about 45 minutes from our house.The last weekend in April, we made the Real de Catorce trip with Pierre and Sophie and their son, Antoine,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-60690851416549898862007-04-13T17:41:00.001-04:002007-04-13T17:48:41.375-04:00

Monday, March 19-I am upset, to say the least. After nearly four months of trying to get the National Institute of Anthropology and History to address our application for our proposed changes to the house, we have had our project suspended.About three weeks ago, our architect told us that the institute had problems with the door between the front room and the next room. They claimed we wanted to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-88180064657165986862007-04-12T13:55:00.000-04:002007-04-12T15:59:36.038-04:00

We just got back from a three day, two night vacation with our friend Grace to the Sierra Gorda. We had been planning on visiting it with the girls for nearly a year, but when the girls got here, they were too busy doing other things, and we just could not work it in.The Sierra Gorda was better than I thought it would be. It is really a jewel and a place that all tourists to Mexico should visit

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-53962644725428209602007-04-07T16:20:00.000-04:002007-04-07T17:16:24.451-04:00

(You may have noticed that I have removed the more recent posts about the house. We are in the middle of negotiations about the changes to our house, and I don't want to mess things up with any off-the-cuff statements on the blog. I will have a complete recap when things are settled.)The week before last Christiane's sisters spent 10 days with us, two in Mexico City and the rest in Querétaro.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-76878306862520762872007-02-21T15:46:00.000-05:002007-04-12T16:02:16.058-04:00

Sorry for no posts for so long.At the two-month point into the renovation, I think we have accomplished a lot. All the wall openings have been finished with the exception of the bathroom area between the master bedroom and the guest bedroom, but that should be finished in another few days. The puente (bridge) in the back bedroom that will provide access to the upstairs bedroom is now built, as

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-87393977254939637332007-01-17T16:03:00.000-05:002007-04-12T16:01:58.040-04:00

Things have been happening pretty quickly, and I have been too busy to want to take the time to write it down. Christmas came and went, and Mamita came from Christmas Eve to the 31th. Caroline showed up on Christmas day and left on the 4th. Danny came on the 30th and left with Caroline. They spent a day in the D.F. sightseeing before their flight. Finally, Jan. 6 (Three Kings Day, and the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-49208347157664991592006-12-27T09:43:00.001-05:002006-12-30T14:47:49.028-05:00

While waiting for things to get started on the house, I began doing a chain of title. The people at the records office looked at me like I was nuts when I kept going back and back for more records. One actually refused to get me more information, claiming it had been lost. She apparently did not think what I was doing was appropriate behavior. I finally got the document from another employee. The

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-54196683160644878922006-12-24T17:28:00.000-05:002006-12-27T10:01:51.718-05:00

Plaza de Armas at NightIt would be impossible to explain what happens in Querétaro at Christmas in anything less than a book. Every night since December 12, Virgin of Guadalupe Day, the city has organized an event at Zenea Garden. This can be a chamber music ensemble, a choir, a pastorela from a school or club, an estudiantina, or whatever. Zenea has been decorated with Christmas scenes,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-80489835997985883062006-12-24T17:22:00.000-05:002007-04-12T16:01:36.998-04:00

We started work on the house Wednesday before last. We still do not have permission from INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia) who has to approve any changes to houses in the historic district. There were numerous little hurdles to jump over, such as proof that our house’s address is really its address, which takes a few weeks to get; a building permit from the city approving our

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-45365551775021448812006-12-24T16:46:00.000-05:002006-12-24T17:10:27.452-05:00

After 3 or 4 months of dealing with a buyer who never fulfilled a promise until the last one, we finally sold our house in Atlanta. After our wasted visit to Atlanta in October to close on the house, when the buyer never showed and apparently had not even applied for a loan or do any of the other things a buyer is supposed to do, and after dealing with an agent who never learned the meaning of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-32707689478131135412006-12-24T16:42:00.000-05:002006-12-24T16:44:15.189-05:00

Wow! We have been too busy to take the time to write down what we have been doing. I often write a paragraph in my mind, but by the time I get back to the computer, I have forgotten it. The problem is that many of the little things I would like to report and remember are ephemeral and I only remember them later in relation to something else, so that I am building up a corpus of experiences

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-20622721345568252006-11-23T11:39:00.000-05:002006-11-23T12:57:41.338-05:00

Thanksgiving and no central heat. Didn't think we would need it. Didn't need it 30 years ago. Didn't need it last year, when there were only two cold weeks in January. But this year, the cold has started in November, and we don't have central heat. Brrr. But it is sunny, and it is a dry cold (the usual excuse).This is Mozart season. The other evening we went to what we thought was another

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-30267248981550859432006-11-16T23:23:00.000-05:002007-04-03T08:51:06.276-04:00

To follow up on my last post, Franklin Garrett was Mr. Atlanta History. He knew everything there was to know about Atlanta history and was the unofficial city historian at the Atlanta History Center for decades. He died a few years ago at the age of 80 something, and so far no one has come close to replacing him.Here are the final plans for the house. We met with Miguel today, and even though

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-27012409861183674392006-11-14T12:28:00.000-05:002006-11-14T12:50:27.172-05:00

We had a great time last night with Edgardo and his wife Alma. Edgardo is the author of the book on 500 years of history of the barrios of Querétaro. I was afraid that my Spanish would not hold out for an entire evening, but it did, with help from Christiane and some good wine. Having Edgardo in the house is like having Franklin Garrett over for dinner in Atlanta. He knows the history of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1163388800028226912006-11-12T20:49:00.000-05:002006-11-14T18:53:58.732-05:00

This is November and the rainy season should have been over in September or October. It only rained all day once this summer, but we were all tired of the "constant" rain. There is still a line of storms running from the Pacific right through the middle of Mexico. And we are in store for more this week.It started raining on Friday when we were at the Regional Museum (old San Franscisco

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1162517715475239892006-11-02T20:10:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:01:01.418-05:00

We visited Miguel, our architect, on Tuesday. He lives in El Pueblito in a house he designed and built 10 years ago, when he was just getting started. The walls are hay bails (covered with stucco, of course) like they have been working on the southwest for the past few decades, and it is a mix of rooms and patios and gardens. It is gorgeous.He had about 30 different plans printed out. We

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1162515890968410632006-11-02T20:03:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:01:01.333-05:00

This week has been dedicated to Dia de Muertos, from the 30th of Oct to the 2nd of November. I have uploaded some photos to our Flickr page. They are sort of divided up by the altar competition that the city put on for high schools at Jardin Guerrero; the stalls around the edges of Jardin Guerrero that sell candies made especially for this celebration, including candy and chocolate skulls,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1162242365276641362006-10-30T10:48:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:01:01.199-05:00

Here is the existing floor plan of the house we bought. It is not to scale but gives a fairly accurate idea of the layout. The service room is upstairs over the bathroom area. I have also added a few pictures taken from the roof to the ones I have on Flickr.The old owners are having trouble letting go. On Monday, I will have the door keys changed, but until then we are letting them come and go in

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1161990809606959752006-10-27T19:04:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:01:00.910-05:00

We finally closed on the house in Queretaro. The seller went with me this morning to get the cashier's checks for the closing, and wanted two checks, one for his sister and one for him. No problem. He also wanted a big bunch of cash. Don't know why and didn't ask. When I got three large packets of bills from the cashier the seller wanted to count it all (300+ bills) right in front of the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1161721917756858862006-10-24T16:27:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:01:00.812-05:00

We drove three days to Atlanta, packed up the last of our stuff from the apartment over the garage, and then got the news that the buyers had not provided the lender the proper information, and that closing was put off at least a week. Since we may close this week in Mexico on the house we want to buy here, we had to come back (three more days of driving), and left Mamita with a power of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1159915518802607282006-10-03T18:35:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:01:00.735-05:00

Finally, we have sold our house in Atlanta (closing on October 20), and have finally got the owners of the house we really wanted to actually sign a contract to sell us the house in Querétaro (closing around October 25). The Atlanta house has been on the market since May, and we have wanted to buy the one in Querétaro since late June. My patience was running thin. The stories are too long and

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1158438980127433832006-09-16T16:36:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:01:00.638-05:00

Night of September 12, Santa Cruz de los Milagros, Rooster heads up the serenade.This has been a very busy week. Starting last Saturday, Bob and Maria took us to Mineral de Pozos, a mostly abandoned gold and silver mining town. Around the turn of the century it was one of the richest cities in Mexico with somewhere around 1,500 mines operating. By the 1940s its population had shrunk from over

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1157899358817994062006-09-10T10:33:00.003-04:002006-11-14T11:01:00.521-05:00

The following is taken from a post to my brothers in response to a question about what is going on in Mexico and how the "shadow" government will work.No one seems to know what a shadow government would entail. No one is even asking how they would raise taxes, rent offices, much less make laws. Only one columnist has recently raised the question of whether this whole business of setting up

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1156876756190345092006-08-29T14:10:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:01:00.064-05:00

Xochitecatl archaeological site with Ixtacihuatl in the background as viewed from the Cacaxtla archaeological site. Mamita has been here for a little over a week. She arrived on the 19th and will leave on Saturday, September 2, just as the TRIFE announces its decision on who won the presidential election. I don’t think anyone seriously thinks the airport will be closed down, but there are

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1155483778201072122006-08-13T11:41:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.968-05:00

We did not feel, and Christiane did not know about, the earthquake until folks called from the US to see how we were doing. We felt nothing at all, and it was not even in the local papers. Mexico City felt it in part because it is sitting on a bowl of jello (the clay bottom of Lake Texcoco that they have been draining away for the past 500 years). But there was no damage or injuries, even

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1155088291189550912006-08-08T21:45:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.852-05:00

Let me preface this by saying that it was intended to be included in an online forum responding to an editorial in the San Francisco (California) Chronicle about the presidential vote recount in Mexico. It is a little too sarcastic and long for them to publish so I am putting it here. Most of the Americans I know here think there should be a recount of all the votes to "calm things down." I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1154629513335286172006-08-03T13:04:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.743-05:00

We have been busy, mostly reading editorials about what is happening with the elections. You would think that my Spanish vocabulary would be growing by leaps and bounds with all the newspapers we’ve been reading, but I don’t want to stop reading and check the dictionary, so I just keep going and am not learning as much vocabulary as I should be. But I am learning a lot about the Mexican

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1153361048273049752006-07-19T21:50:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.551-05:00

It appears clear that even though the election was close in México, the PAN candidiate, Felipe Calderon, won. The main opposition parties, with one exception, have accepted defeat and are looking for ways to have a say in the new government that will take over in December. The exception is the PRD, whose candidate López Obrador, has declared that a massive fraud has been committed. He has

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1152820185322873912006-07-13T15:38:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.234-05:00

We think we have bought the house we have been looking at. We won't believe it until the papers are signed, because it has been a frustrating time dealing with an owner who really does not want to sell. During our time negotiating (mostly just waiting him out), a phantom buyer has come and gone, and his price increased from $880,000 to $950,000, but we think we have him back down to $880,000 (

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1152320035776289392006-07-07T20:17:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.132-05:00

With this post, I am trying something a little different. I have uploaded a number of photographs illustrating the goings-on described here on the Flickr website, http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomwheaton/sets/72157594191228436/ Please visit the site to see the photos. It is easier and faster to upload them to Flickr than to spend the day or two to load them on the blog. Let me know if this is

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1152241511723763652006-07-06T22:04:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:59.026-05:00

This is, in part, from a message I sent the family on Monday, plus some subsequent comments.It was too close to call last night (Sunday night) and the election commission (IFE, Instituto Federal Electoral) asked everyone (i.e. candidates, parties and media) to refrain from speculating on the winner. The PAN and PRI went along, but the PRD (Obrador's party) paid lip service, and then said "

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1150566499907069912006-06-17T13:43:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:58.910-05:00

End of the School Year Party for AIS, Christiane and her BuddiesAfter a whirlwind tour of Mexico, looking for a town to live in, finding an apartment, making new friends, visiting old ones, making the obligatory tour of Yucatan, and having our first visitor for Holy Week, we headed back to Atlanta for the month of May. As we approached the city after a three-day car trip, Mexico receded back

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1150560291561792502006-06-17T11:55:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:58.816-05:00

Tom and Caroline in La CorregidoraWow. It has been nearly two months since Caroline came to visit for Holy Week.Since we had never taken the bus from the Mexico City airport to Querétaro, we decided to take the bus ourselves to pick her up, just to make sure it was as easy as everyone says. It was. After a three hour trip in a first class bus that has leg supports and seats that recline about

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1149646403905736102006-06-08T23:30:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:58.724-05:00

(We are now back in Querétaro after returning from our trip to Yucatan in April and our trip back to Atlanta in May. I will try to quickly bring things up to date, just hitting some of the high points. We are presently looking for a house to buy so I may have less time for this than I did before, plus Blogger is very, very, very slow to upload photos. It has taken nearly two days to upload

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1147894660402791572006-05-17T15:36:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:55.423-05:00

Lety told us that la Señora quietly passed away yesterday morning May 16. Her son, Omar, will take her ashes back to Guadalajara tomorrow, but I am sure her soul will remain in her house in Manatiales watching the Capitan work in the garden. We really regret not making the time to visit with the kids over the years.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1147226545360015752006-05-09T21:50:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:55.214-05:00

Please excuse us for not keeping the blog up to date. Since we got back from Yucatan we have been busy, and I will not be able to relax and write for a while. But never fear, we will be back.Caroline visited the week following Yucatan, and a couple of weeks later we were on our way back to Atlanta to get some business wrapped up. We are currently in Atlanta, and expect to return to Mexico around

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1144944978558876512006-04-13T12:14:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:55.129-05:00

After leaving Puebla we spent the night on the Veracruz coast, hot and sticky (just like Atlanta). The next morning we stopped in La Venta, the earliest large "pyramid" in mesoamerica, actually an earthen mound like we have in the US, that dates to the preclassic (i.e. pre-Teotihuacan) period, around 1000 BC. Some see its builders, the Olmecs, as the mother of mesoamerican civilizations. The

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1144716443334582462006-04-10T20:46:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:55.037-05:00

La Señora is back at home! Christiane just talked to Lupe. We really thought she would not make it until Caroline comes this week, and she did not look at all like she would ever come home again. She is still in bad shape and will have in-home nursing care. We will take Caroline to visit her in the next few days. More lagrimas and abrazos. But hey, that's what I like about Mexico, especially the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1144716307674488692006-04-10T19:06:00.000-04:002006-11-14T11:00:54.879-05:00

Since my last blog entry, we have traveled to Yucatan and back, a ten day trip, much of it behind the wheel. I have not written anything yet since it was hard to get an internet connection and because the longer I waited the more overwhelming the task of writing about the trip became. I will try to summarize because so much happened it would take nearly 10 days to write it all down. I will not go

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1143847192607502372006-03-31T17:57:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.798-05:00

This past week has been pretty heavily cultural. We had the Querétaro National/International Guitar Festival at the Museo del Arte nearly every night and a string quartet at the Museo de la Zacatecana, the Leyendas de Querétaro tourism acting group. Not to mention playing dominoes with Bob and Maria, and chess with Maestro Javier. And of course, C’s culture classes three days a week. The Leyendas

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1143213995484040442006-03-24T09:34:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.719-05:00

Some folks have wondered if I will be riding my bikes down here. It sounds like the perfect solution to getting around a historic district that is relatively compact with little parking. That is, until you look at the streets. The other day, I took pictures of the route we take to C's "culture classes" three days a week. I will let her tell you about the classes, which are for women only!The

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142817425625529402006-03-19T20:14:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.600-05:00

After playing some chess with the Queretaro Sunday Morning Chess Club (sounds like the name of a mystery series, but it isn't) while C was at mass, we had some lunch and decided to try for Coroneo again. This time we were successful. After leaving the city, the countryside becomes rolling hills, with a good road and little traffic. It took about an hour to get there, and as we got over the last

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142815066532976932006-03-19T19:36:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.448-05:00

Our little trip to Coroneo turned out to be to San Luis de la Paz. I had seen signs to Coroneo in our recent travels but got confused and thought it was on the road to Bernal and the airport. We headed east and then northeast out of town. No one seemed to know where it was. Finally, as we entered the quota (toll road), I asked the toll guy, and he said he thought it was south of town. We

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142694649299600632006-03-18T10:05:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.229-05:00

The Irish Pub was noisy, cigarette smoke poured out onto the sidewalk and the place was jammed with twenty-somethings. C and I hobbled off down the street into the obscurity of the night.We ended up finding Bob and Maria having dinner with a Mexican friend from the DF, Lula. Lula is a potter and knows some of the archaeologists I know, including Angel Garcia Cook, who was a young fellow back in

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142645953935744002006-03-17T20:03:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.146-05:00

One of the reasons I have not been showing many photos of Querétaro is that since we live here now, I am not looking at it from a tourist’s standpoint. I usually carry my camera, but don’t often take touristy type pictures. Now when I look at the church towers and facades all lit up at night, I just thank my lucky stars that we live in such a cool place, and since we do, we have no need to take

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142218691814310002006-03-12T21:55:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:54.025-05:00

After shopping in Dolores Hidalgo it was siesta time before we met Bob and Maria for drinks downtown that evening. We finished dinner at home and decided to go early and wander around before they arrived at the restaurant. We went to Plaza Guerrero, and nothing much was going on. Nothing was going on in the Plaza de Armas or the Zenea garden either, but some noise was coming from the Jardin de la

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142210791018977892006-03-12T19:36:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.921-05:00

The Church in Dolores Hidalgo where the Grito was made.(Christiane finally got over her cold, mostly, this weekend, after almost 3 weeks, and she promptly gave it to me. It will be nice to have us both in good shape again at the same time.) On Saturday (March 11) we headed to Dolores Hildago with Sylvia Perez and her daughter to buy some dishes. Not exactly with, but together. Sylvia wanted to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142206496616471482006-03-12T18:08:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.826-05:00

We now have water, most of the furniture we need (see pictures below), except some odds and ends like a computer table to free up the dining table and to keep from having wires all over the place, and a local cell phone for delivery people and to call our few acquaintances. We will probably not get a local phone line since we got cable for the internet and TV. With the internet we will eventually

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142204869973879212006-03-12T18:07:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.722-05:00

(Sorry about the server being down so much, but there is nothing I can do about it. Often, I cannot even open the blog editor to upload text, much less photos. Maybe if folks complained to Google and Blogger, they would finally take this seriously. If anyone knows of another blog site I could use, please drop me a line. Blogger s**ks.)For the first five days or so in our apartment we had very

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142005612569245682006-03-10T10:43:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.623-05:00

On Friday, March 3, we were finally able to take the trolley bus tour. When we first arrived, we tried to take the tour to help us get oriented, but they had trouble finding two other couples to make it worth their while. Today, all the buses were full. Don’t know why.We took two tours. The first on the east side of town included a trip to the end of the aqueduct, which we had not seen (the other

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142005352291388272006-03-10T10:40:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.525-05:00

Today, March 2, we went to San Miguel de Allende to locate the consulate and find out about getting a more permanent type visa, an FM-3. It is a small town compared to Querétaro, but because it is so cute (precious even) norteamericanos have flocked there over the last few decades to the point where they make up at least 10% of the population (some say 30%) and have a much larger economic and

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1142005063116931642006-03-10T09:56:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.424-05:00

This morning (Mar 1) I decided it was time to meet the folks at the Peace Corps office. It seemed like a good day because Christiane’s cough was driving me crazy and I needed to get out. She doesn’t have a fever, just a really nasty cough.I walked down to the Cruz market and then another block beyond to the Peace Corps office. Are we centrally located or what?Byron, the in-country director to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1141786854480503182006-03-07T21:49:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.310-05:00

La Cruz is the name for a church up the hill from us and for a market down the hill from us. In 1531, when Qto. was conquered by the Spanish, the Fransicans, who accompanied the army, put up a stone cross on the top of the hill, which later became the site of a church and monastery and the headquarters for the Franciscan attempts to evangelize Arizona and New Mexico for the next couple hundred

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1141751556490462552006-03-07T12:04:00.001-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.186-05:00

Here is a fairly typical day, the Saturday after we moved in, February 25, 2006. We also did a lot of waiting for things to be delivered and set up. Without a phone for delivery men to call, we just had to sit and wait.On February 25, we got up normal time, and it isn’t 6:30 anymore. Our main task, to get rustico (local hand-made Mexican colonial) furniture for the living area, dining area and

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1141750081277199232006-03-07T11:15:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:53.000-05:00

Since we moved out of the hotel last Friday, Feb. 24, we have not been able to update the blog since we did not get our broadband connection at the apartment until March 4. A lot has happened since our last blog entry, and I will try to briefly recap it.After visiting a dozen or so houses and apartments the last week of February, mostly in the historic district, we settled on one that was redone

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1140560486026278842006-02-21T17:20:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.785-05:00

The main square in Tequisquiapan So this time we figured we would miss all the traffic in the DF by going through on a Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we somehow ended up on the wrong side of the perimeter highway and were forced to go through the middle of the city, past the cathedral, past the Zocalo, past the Presidential office and past what we thought were the beginnings of a big political or

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1140470998856767142006-02-20T16:24:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.683-05:00

We’re baack (in Querétaro).I am writing this next to the pool of our hotel, which is in a garden. The hotel is inexpensive, has a single bare bulb on the wall, and no internet or telephones; but it does have TV, and it is in a garden! There is a religious festival at a nearby church and occasionally a cannon, or a super big cherry bomb-plus, goes off which can affect my typing. Happily, the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1140104749885411652006-02-16T10:41:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.577-05:00

We are heading for Cuernavaca until Monday and may be out of touch until then. We always talked about retiring there when we lived here before, and figure we need to give it a shot before we settle down in Queretaro. It was a retreat for Moctezuma and Cortes and Maximillian, but we understand it is becoming more like Mexico City with the crowds and crime. Too bad.Caroline, e-mail your mother.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1139967664641204442006-02-14T20:40:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.456-05:00

Young photographers at Plaza Guerrero, QuerétaroWe got up, packed, had breakfast in the hotel and left SLP with few regrets. It has a large historic district, but was, on the whole, depressing. Maybe it was because it was Sunday evening, but I really did not take to it.A couple of hours down the road we arrived at Querétaro. The intersections with the limited-access highway were confusing, and I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1139877784573553292006-02-13T19:42:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.360-05:00

Spent yesterday morning (Feb 11) trying to get the blog to publish photos where I wanted them, and messing with other internet stuff. Since it had been a week since we had done a laundry, Christiane took the opportunity to take our laundry to a lavanderia. It cost $14 (pesos use the same symbol we use for dollars) per kilo. Today in San Luis, the hotel charges $15 for a shirt. She also got her

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1139679082246451012006-02-11T11:37:00.001-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.262-05:00

This should have been posted on Feb 10, but the Blogger servers have been acting up again. And the wysiwyg editor isn't exactly wysiwyg, and it is a little cumbersome to place photos correctly. Please excuse.I looked over what I have written so far and realized that my posts are pretty long. I try to keep them short and to the point, but in the process I have to leave out so many things. I will

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1139522773674203092006-02-09T17:05:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:52.019-05:00

We arrived in Zacatecas on Feb 8 (Wed.). On our way out of Laredo that morning I asked around for the Paisano stickers and found that they have tightened up on that program, and you have to pick them up from Mexican immigration rather than 7-11s and such on the American side of the border. So we skipped that.Cathedral in ZacatecasThe guide books had said that getting car papers would take 2 hours

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22066187.post-1139279190426362672006-02-06T21:10:00.000-05:002006-11-14T11:00:51.915-05:00

We had hoped to leave Atlanta on Jan 21, just after Christiane got back from visiting her family in France. We were not ready to close on the sale of my share of New South Associates (which took place on Jan 30), so we decided to use the time to find a real estate management company to help up us rent out our apartments.On Monday Jan 23, we hired one and decided at the same time to move out of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12121580948599588937noreply@blogger.com0