Internet Coming on Wednesday

I just spoke with the family down in Puebla, and here's my update.

GENERAL INFO:
* They are in the equivalent of the US central time zone (so 2 hours ahead of CA)
* They have New Cell Phone Numbers:

* Dad said that Mom and Jenny's phones worked OK down there--but he wanted to ensure Mom and Jenny could call each other and him if they had any questions or problems--so they've got Mexican phones. Dad's cell phone will be turned off within a week or two.
* Calling cost - it's only about $1.50 per 15 minutes for them to call out on their cell phones, I believe. It could be very expensive for us to call them. I've read that calling to a cell phone in Mexico can be expensive (they should have a home phone number on Wednesday when they get their internet).
* Mom will update a blog with pictures for everyone.
* They'll experiment with using Skype for cheaper internet chat, once they get internet access.
* I tried figuring out how much it would cost to call down there. Let me know your experiences with this! I'll try calling today and update.
* They will be getting internet on Wednesday!
* Their new house is very echo-y! Still missing furniture, and with most rooms open without doors, I could hear echoing footsteps as Dad walked around the place. When I asked to talk to Mom, I could hear him calling for her as he walked down stairs when she was replying from upstairs! He didn't realize she was actually upstairs due to the echoing.
* The clouds and weather are very cool! Due to the location and 7,000+ ft elevation, the cloud formations are spectacular, according to Mom. It often rains just a little bit every afternoon/evening. As we spoke, Mom could hear thunder getting closer in the distance and said some rain was approaching. Mom also said the volcano you can see in the distance is quite awesome, too. (It erupted as recently as about 8 years ago, but is really far away.)
* The tap water is extremely hard, leaving hard water stains on everything. (any suggestions to clean?)
* Dad bought an electric piano with weighted keys and full size for Jenny to play, which sounds cool as it echoes throughout the house.
* They've got a cleaning lady coming Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
* They are still figuring out when they'll return for their Visas.
* They've got uncomfortable and poor looking family room furniture Mom said Dad and Jenny picked out--which they'll be replacing ;) They've got dining and living room furniture on its way. They still are sleeping on mattresses on the floor, but got furniture on its way.

DAD UPDATE:
* He says he will really love the work. He's still running plants, which he loves, but said the sales aspect will be a kick. He just found out that he's not just responsible for Mexico but all of central America, several South American countries, and the Caribbean, I believe. He's met everyone and thinks he's got a good team. He's eager to actually have time to get a full week at his local workplace this week. (Last week, he was in Mexico City for a couple of days).
* He's been extremely busy. He's trying to get everything set up and ready to ASAP. He says that nobody's feeling homesickness yet--everything is so new and exciting. So he's trying to get everything as comfortable as possible before it starts to get hard being far away.
* The town is very neat--some dilapidated buildings but many very nice areas as well. Several very nice malls. Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Blockbuster (which they've got a membership to), and many other stores.

MOM UPDATE:
* Mom said that "the place is just so different--it's like a totally different country!" (in typical Mom style)
* They've got the washer and dryer hooked up, a dishwasher, toaster, iron, microwave--all with buttons and words in Spanish--so that's taken some getting used to.
* A security guard at night rides around their gated community blowing a whistle every 30 minutes. Dad says that's so the robbers know he's coming so they can hide ;)
* Since the house hasn't any carpet, Mom bought one of those huge wide dust mops from Home Depot ;)

JENNY UPDATE:
* School - favorite class is English. She says the teacher is excellent and loves teaching. Weirdest class is Philosophy in Spanish (her friends help her by translating into English). Says the teacher isn't as good and the topics are just weird! Since she met all the youth at 3 wards by now, she recognizes people from Church at school.
* Spanish - She said she's learning lots. Meeting the missionaries at Church, seeing one Mexican and one American, she greeted the Mexican with "Hola, como estas?" and the American with "Hey, what's up?"--which cracked Dad up. She said her biggest phrase she's used yet is: "Como se dice _(glasses) en espanol?" (How do you say ___ in Spanish?)
* After telling her about foreign language missionaries learning another language, she said she was excited to label everything at home in sight with the Spanish word for everything.

WARD UPDATE:
* So the 8am ward wasn't right, but were in the 11am ward. The next week, at the 11am ward, they found out they are actually in the 8am ward. So the next week they went back to the 8am--and found out they were really in the 10:30am ward! Each ward gets better--with lots of youth, lots of people who speak English, etc. Church, though, will probably be the hardest thing for Mom and Jenny since it's all in Spanish.


Hope you enjoyed this!

-Mike

Which ward is which?

I spoke with Mom and Dad and Jenny tonight. They are all doing well. They moved into their new house today - and the refrigerator is now plugged in, but the washer and dryer is not hooked up yet. They don't have their box springs yet so they are on mattresses on the floor tonight. Jenny really likes her school and already has lots of friends. 3 or 4 of her classes are totally in Spanish and so her friends are helping her by translating and stuff. She said that church
was really weird because she couldn't understand anything. Also, they went to the wrong ward last week. Dad was a little late to the 8am ward and he was talking to people outside (because they had already closed the doors - for Sacrament I think?) and the told him he is supposed to be in the 10am ward, so they went to the 10am ward and at that ward they said, no that they are supposed to be at the 8am ward. So this Sunday they will go to the 8am ward which is their correct ward.
When I spoke to Mom she was Really Tired - she had a long day which ended with going to Super Walmart with their helper lady and buying groceries. It was raining and thundering and lightening-ing ;) when I spoke with her at 10pm her time (8pm here). They have access to
a guide-lady for a total of 8 days that the company is paying for which Mom loves because the lady knows where everything is - who to talk to, and everything.

Anyway, I just wanted to update all of you!
~Corinne

So much to do, So much to buy

I have news from Mom and Dad:

Dad got his 2008 MDX yesterday - the same color and practically the same in every way except there is no nav system, but he is probably going to purchase one separately, but get mom one first, he says. Also, they are in the process of buying Mom a car - a 2006 Honda CRV, they are purchasing it from a person at dad's work - it needs some work done on the front before dad will buy it, so we'll see.

Jenny said, "Corinne - you should see our house!"
Apparently it's pretty great. It's about the size of the Napa house, with 4 bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms, one attached to each room. The house does not have quite such an open floor plan as the Napa house but it has many big rooms, and a servants quarters! I guess most of the houses they looked at had them. They are moving in on Wednesday night. The location is about 10-15mins away from Jenny's school (which she starts Monday) and there are other employees from dad's work that live around there that he can carpool with.

Yesterday they went shopping for bed linens and things for the house. They also went to a big mall that my dad said is nothing less that any of the malls here - he was impressed.

They went to Sears last week and got all of their big appliances which will be delivered to the house on Wed - such as: washer/dryer, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, etc. the house is coming with a stove and that's about it.

Most of the furniture they are getting down there too, but they are for sure bringing the 2 plasma TV's, the computer, the armoire in their room, and I think that's all from the Napa house, but we'll see.

Jenny never had to take a math test - the test they had her take was an English test which she said was REALLY EASY - and then they had the option of placing her in intermediate or advanced math and they chose intermediate which she is happy with. I told her it was a good thing that she didn't study the math that much then! ;-)

She just finished reading the last book by Stephenie Meyer - Breaking Dawn, and she said it was ok, not as good as the others in the Twilight series.

She says that she is picking out and understanding more and more words, and that she never feels left out of conversations or anything, which is great! She also says that changing from dollars to pesos is not that big of a deal either.

Anyway, it sounds like everything is going great with them!

Love,
Corinne

Getting settled

Hi Everybody,

The flight down was fine. It took forever to get through Immigration, just a long line. Then when at the car rental place, for some reason, our reservation had been canceled. Fortunately they had plenty of cars, just not a mini-van like we had reserved. We crammed our 7 suitcases, backpack and briefcase into a Chevy Malibu. We barely fit. I'm glad I didn't bring my bike.

The drive from Mexico City to Puebla was fine. It a bit scary to drive through Mexico City at night, in the dark. But we found the right roads without any mistakes. We got to the hotel and they did have our reservation. In fact, it was for a two bedroom suite at a cost of $380/night (that's dollars not pesos!) Very nice room. In the morning out Jenny's window we could see the Popo volcano with snow on the upper levels and smoke coming out the top. Really cool!!

We stayed two nights in that room and then changed it for a regular double room. Not nearly as nice but only $114/night.

We've been super busy trying to get things set up for a normal life. We have a relocation specialist, a Puebla local, working with us to set things up. We first went to Jenny's school. She was supposed totake a math test, but because it was in Spanish the didn't give it to
her. Instead she took an English test which, of course, was a piece of cake for her. We fill out loads of paperwork and have her ready to start classes. In the meantime, there is still some documents that we need to get, including specials seals on her transcript from the California Sec of State. Definitely a hassle.

We've also been looking for a house. The company want us to rent a furnished house but there aren't many of those. After looking at several we decided on a house. We are working out the furnishings with a separate company and meet with them tomorrow morning.

The house is in a very safe part of town, a very nice neighborhood with 24 hour security at the entrance. In addition there is a security wall around the property with intercom so we can see who is there and buzz them in if we want. It has four bedrooms so Julie gets an art room and we still have a dedicated guest room. All bedrooms have their own full bathrooms. In addition is has a nice sized kitchen, living room, family room, an alcove that will work fine for a piano and computer as well as a small area I can use to ride my bike on the trainer. All the homes we saw, including this one, has a small servants room with it's own bathroom. I'm not sure when we move in.Certainly not before the weekend, more likely early next week.

We also found a car for Julie. The company is selling a 2006 Honda CRV that is in fine shape and at a decent price. So we are planning to buy it. We'll get Julie a GPS as well (It's tough to learn a new area, especially when street signs are rare). I think she'll get her car Thursday.

The company has ordered me a new MDX. It was tough to sell my old MDX, knowing I'll get a new one definitely helps. I think I'll get it Friday.

We got new phones for Jenny and Julie that will be working tomorrow afternoon. We found a plan that lets them call the US for about a dollar each 15 munites. We'll let you know the numbers as soon as we figure out how to use them!

I still haven't figured out how to get my workouts in. Biking here early in the morning in the dark is going to be tough! There are pools around but the two I've checked out are very expensive. I'll keep looking.

Tomorrow is all about the furniture, Thursday I'll go into the plant for the first time. We're thinking about picking up a computer so Julie and Jenny can get started with Rosetta Stone while I'm at work.

Anyway, lots going on! It's been intense but it's all working out. I continue to be super impressed by Julie and Jenny's great attitude. I'm very lucky!

- Tom

They've arrived

Dad said that their journey down there went pretty swell with no hangups.
Jenny said that it was exciting, but she doesn't understand anything anyone says.
Mom said that dad was wearing her out.
Dad said that there is a lot to do.

Saying Goodbye