invasion of the grasshoppers

Yesterday, we went for a drive to a little town that is about 15 minutes from us.  The place is called Teocaltitan De Guadalupe.  It is home to San Pedro Esqueda.  Here is a plaque showing some info about him. Sorry, of course, it is in Spanish.

I had taken my camera to get some pictures of the girls.  They really weren't into it, but I forced them to let me take a handful of pictures.  Mean mom!  I put all the pictures my Flickr account.  Check them out if you would like!

On the way there, there were giant grasshoppers EVERYWHERE!  While driving, we couldn't avoid running over them on the street.  It was pretty disgusting.  When we got to the church, they were all over the place.  I snapped a few pics of them.  I didn't really put anything next to them to show you scale.  But, these bad boys were probably a minimum of 3 or 4 inches long.  I was fine as long as none of them jumped on me. I hate their sticky little legs.

Afterwards, we stopped at a nearby restaurant.  The food was really good.  I splurged and had their chips and salsa!  Oh, I can't wait to go back!  And, the girls loved it, too!  Most restaurants like this one have play areas so the kids can go be crazy outside instead of being crazy in the restaurant.  Good idea on their part!

We had to fight our way past all the grasshoppers there, too!  I didn't get too close, but check out all of them on this wall.  And, it was like this along all the exterior walls.  And, we had to watch our step in the grass. 

Emily wanted to catch all of them.  No surprise there.  So, they didn't seem to bother her.  Bella was just ignoring them.  Way to excited about the jumpy house they were playing in.

me time!

I am a big fan of "me time".  I mean, who isn't?  And, thanks to an understanding husband and a mother in law that loves the girls and will take them in a minutes notice if my head is about to explode from children-overload, I have a good amount of "me time".  I really think me time is the only way to secure some sanity!  Seriously!

Today was no exception.  Jorge, the girls and I went out for breakfast and then made a trip to a nearby town, Tepa, to do a bit of shopping.  When we got back into town, he dropped me off and took the girls to a friend's house.  The friend has kids and was having some sort of cookout, involving cooking some fish that he just caught.  The girls have gone with Jorge a couple of times, and I think it is nice for Jorge to have some time minus me! The girls play with the kids, and Jorge gets to socialize without having to worry about me.

For the past week and a half, every other night, we have been walking at night.  The girls have been enjoying it.  We go for about an hour.  Just enough to wear them out.  Emily usually asks to sit down at some point during our walk. Remember, she is the lazy girl!

So, today, I thought I would take a walk solo.  It has been a long time since I went on a walk.  I used to as my exercise.  But, since getting the Wii, that is how I exercise now.  It was such a great, peaceful walk!  It was a little warm outside, but the clouds offered some relief every once in a while.  And, there was a nice breeze.

Today is the day that everyone goes downtown to the Plaza!  Sunday is the day you dress up and people watch.  And, while I walk in an area where there isn't much of anything, there was NOBODY around.  It was awesome!  I took some pictures to show you.  Once I walk away from town, there really isn't much of anything around.  I didn't see anyone walking and saw only a handful of cars.


Here is a view after I walked a dirt road away from town.  You can see a nice, little part of Jalos.  Exciting, huh?!?

Another angle of the town.  This is just a small part, though. 

And, I just keep on going.  This dirt road goes out to land that isn't being used, a few houses, and lots of more nothing.  Walking in this area reminds me of the movie The Never Ending Story.  You know, where the nothingness takes over.  Except, here, the nothingness is a more positive nothingness.  Just miles and miles of undeveloped land. 

This is our rainy season right now.  Love the rain!  It makes everything green!  So, this is the best this place is going to look.  The rest of the year all of the green that you see is brown, dead stuff.  It is amazing how nature bounces back with a bit of water.

And, I took a picture of myself!  I was tired by this point, so this is the best smile you are going to get!

I really could have just kept walking.  I was tired and sweaty, but it was just so relaxing out in the middle of nowhere by myself.  I highly recommend doing this!

And, you know how places advertise their chickens as "free range".  Well, we have free range cows!  They are just like those cows in California.  Happy cows!  This one didn't appreciate me taking his picture.

I think I will add a solo walk to my exercise routine a few times a week.  I feel ready to tackle another week!

relaxed

What "open container" law?

Cheers!

why I miss Kroger and a little recipe idea

I'm now used to how everything is here.  I admit that some things still frustrate me, but for the most part I have just gotten over the differences between here in my lovely grocery stores in the US.

There is one main grocery store that I go to here in Jalos.  And, for other things that I can't find there, we search elsewhere, like Costco, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.

The grocery store here in town, Super Jigo, is just crazy sometimes.  Last night we went there to get our groceries and I saw this in the produce section.

How in the world can they put stuff on the shelves that look like that?  If you don't go there on the right days (which I still haven't figured out what days those are), you have the worst produce to pick from.  And, the way I cook here, most of my cart is fruits and veggies.  Pathetic!

This is one thing I will never get over and makes me appreciate how great the grocery stores are in the US.

On a side note, I made another item off of Pinterest the other night.  You know, I have made tons of stuff off that website!

I have never been a fan of Taco Bell, but the few times that I went with people, I would get the Mexican Pizza, MINUS the beans!  I hate beans!

And, Mexican pizzas are such a simple idea and I'm not sure why I never thought about making them at home.  So, while I just used the idea, the recipe is still a simple one you could follow.  And, of course, I left off the beans!

chinese goodness

A handful of months back there was a Chinese restaurant that opened up downtown.  And, true to Chinese restaurants, they deliver.  Love that!

We have ordered from there a few times and it has been pretty good.  Last night, however, was the first time I bothered glancing at the menu that Jorge picked up not too long ago. 

I spotted something on their menu and was so excited, hoping that they would be good.   Basically, it is non-crab rangoon. (wonton con queso crema on the menu)  Heck, I can do without the crab.  Let's try it! A while back I tried to make some from scratch, but they didn't turn out.  It will be nice not to have to wait until the States to have some.

It was really good!  I only wished I would've ordered more!  I did share with Jorge.  He should count himself lucky. :)

And, we ordered our regular Mongolian Beef!  It is really good!  Not as good as PF Chang's.  But, good enough for Jalos!

Their menu looks like it was copied straight from the US.

It's only 9:22 am.  I wonder if it is too early for them to deliver. HA!

night out on the town

I had mentioned that the Virgin was here for the first two weeks of August.  Well, that means more people than normal.  And, it gives everyone another reason to go downtown. 

Sunday night we joined some of those people.  We went to a bar that has just recently opened a new area of the building.  We sat on the rooftop so we could get a good view of the fireworks that were happening.

I stand out enough as is when I go anywhere here, so usually I avoid taking my camera to not draw anymore attention.  But, having an iPhone helps capture pics.  And, since I have the dinosaur iPhone, the original one, it doesn't take the best quality pics.  They are, however, good enough to share my evening with you.

Looking down on the crowd from the rooftop bar.

Another view looking down.

Jorge paid the band to play for us.

And, just so we are clear, I'm not a fan.

Jorge bought me flowers.  Sweet boy.

View of the church before the fireworks.

It looks like the church is on fire, but it isn't.  They put a strip of fireworks on the building.  Kind of crazy!

It is hard to get a shot of the fireworks with my phone camera.

Some of the fireworks.

This is so crazy that I felt it is worthy of being posted again. :)

playground

This past Saturday the girls were promised a trip to the playground.  We usually don't go that often because the few playgrounds that are here just aren't that nice.  The equipment is really old and fairly unsafe And since it is made of metal, it is usually hot to the touch since the sun is out most of the time.

Luckily it was getting ready to rain when we headed over so it wasn't too hot.  The girls were just happy because they like going there.  I just get frustrated that the State/Government won't spend money on new equipment.  Or, maybe they got the funds to but someone pocketed them. Who knows.

Here you see Emily, happy as ever, on the swings.  Notice the swing seat next to here.  It is missing the middle slats.

They just recently painted all the equipment.  I guess trying to disguise how old and crappy it is.  I didn't take a picture of it, but there are a total of 12 swings.  I think 5 of them are not in working order.  The metal has broken where the chain from the swing attaches to the top of the set.  Instead of fixing them they have tied the chain around the metal bar.  Not safe!

Here you can see how tall and unsafe the slides are.  And as I mentioned they are metal.  It is like having a frying pan to slide on.

Here is an older picture where you can get a better perspective of how tall the slides are.  Emily is attempting to climb up it.  They are just so steep and slippery that the girls will shoot right off the sides because there is no sides on the actual slide.

While I complain about how it isn't that great, I know the girls love going.  They are finally getting the hang of doing the teeter totter by themselves.

The equipment is long overdue to be replaced, but there is one nice thing about this particular playground.  They have grass!  Year round.   

There is an old man that comes and puts sprinklers out and keeps the grass nice and green.  He is really sweet and likes to talk.  This picture is from a while back.  Jorge was chatting it up with the guy.

That same old man is also responsible for feeding the ducks that live there year round. Each night he rounds them up and put them back in the cages where they sleep.

I should stop complaining and just appreciate that there is a nice green place to go here.  The girls really love it and if you go at the right time of day, the ducks will be your best friend if you bring bread.