It's Been A Busy Couple Of Weeks

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

I have a blog post in a draft that I haven't published. It's interesting and it's about the state of the American continents.   With all the things going on lately, mostly in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico it makes one wonder where we are headed and how the past has influenced it.  Most of the content is Mexico related but it gives a picture of how politicians leave the people out of the formula.  I'll publish it sometime soon.

Rooftop sunrise!

While we have been here in San Miguel de Allende, we've visited a couple of nearby cities, done a lot of remodeling and continue working with the house.  It's pretty much turnkey but we want to make it so that there is nothing left to do here but come and enjoy life.  

We've been to Mineral de Pozos.  I wasn't impressed with the town.  It has a long history of suffering and it has never ended.  Like other parts of Mexico, Mineral de Pozos didn't benefit from the Mexican Revolution but actually suffered severely over the last 100 years.  A trip to Queretaro to the Home Depot kept us busy.  There are just some things you can't buy in a smaller town.  The good thing is that going to Queretaro is a short one-hour drive and the highways are good.  Queretaro is easy to get around and with Google Maps it's hard to get lost. 

The heat here, like in most of Mexico has been pretty extreme.  Monterrey has spent three weeks in above 110F degree heat.  Add a lack of water to that equation and the answers aren't pretty.  Monterrey is reporting hundreds of deaths due to heat stroke as the power grid has failed in many parts of the city and state.  Here in SMA, the temperatures dropped quite a bit so that evenings hover around 50F degrees.  

The guy singing with the guitar is Xavier Gibler, a contestant on The Voice Mexico.

We were invited to a birthday party this week.  We don't know a lot of people here but it's always fun to meet new friends.  Our friend Stephanie whose house sat for a couple of months turned 70.  She invited about 12 people to Zumo Restaurant.  It was a lot of fun and we really talked it up with the guests, all gringos who live full-time in SMA.  It was interesting to see who really lives here and those that stay in a house here.  Even though, none of them speak the language.  That always is a conundrum for us.  It was pricey too so we played it healthy.  Juan and I shared a salad and an arrechera.  I actually drank a beer and a coffee so we got by pretty cheap.  

They did get the cabinets finished but we had to send the marble back until Monday. 

The kitchen cabinets were installed and we were excited to get the marble countertop.  You never know how the project might turn out.  They brought the countertop and lo and behold they said they couldn't install it.  Four small details needed to be fixed so we had to call the carpenter back the next day.  Without the countertop cooking is limited and we have to wash dishes out in the patio sink.  Not a big deal.  There is always a fix for everything and patience is one of the virtues a gringo must have in Mexico.  Get p---ed off and show it and the barrier will come up and you'll never get anything finished.  The plumber is here now swapping out the three bathroom sink faucets.  

We'll be heading home on the 4th for a banking appointment and a visit to the doctor for some follow-up blood tests.  Because I'm new to the system they want to poke and prod me.  No issues though at this time.  We'll have a month before our trip to Spain and we want to take the RV out for a week, probably a trip to the border but not quite sure yet.  

The trip to Spain is really coming together.  I've made the Airbnb reservations for Madrid and we are checking out towns along the way to the northern coast of Bilbao.  We may spend a week in the area on the coast.  There are lots of sights to see in the nearby small towns.  Kevin and Ruth have been helpful with some of the questions we have.  They spent quite a bit of time in the country.