We are pretty settled into our new house now. Only the first week or two were irritating. We felt then that “everything we touched was either broken or very dirty”. That was a huge exaggeration though, and it’s all forgotten now.

I fixed a number of things myself. Other problems were resolved one at a time with the landlord’s help. He’s keeping his word regarding some additional improvements, cleaning out the garage, etc. He’s having the outdoor furniture refinished, replacing seat-cushion material, etc. - things he didn’t even mention he’d do before renting it to us. So everything’s going pretty well. The terrace is an ongoing project but is more or less usable now.

We can see why people say April and May are the worst months. It gets up to the high 80’s in the shade during the day. The sun is direct and hot. The nights still get down to mid-60s or so. It hasn’t rained for almost three months, and won’t until the middle of June. We have this great view now but the air isn’t clear enough to enjoy it properly. There is a lot of open air burning. It seems to be the established way to clear brush and weeds, old cornstalks, etc. by the farmers. The weeds along the roads are frequently burning too - these may be by accident as no one seems to be watching to make sure it doesn’t get out of control. I think it must burn out on its own. I never see a fire truck. Anyway, back to the weather. As long as one does their errands in the morning and gets back inside by the afternoon the weather is still pleasant enough. We hear that the rains come between the 10th and 14th of June, and it cools down and clears up right away. The thunderstorms in the summer are said to be great fun to watch. We are really looking forward to it.

Our cats are both doing fine and seem to enjoy their new digs. They have learned the art of the siesta quite well.

We are planning a trip for late May or early June. It is complicated but I have to leave the country by June 5th because I’m on the FMT tourist visa. Leigh now has her FM3 (foreign resident visa) so she can stay and go (and leave her car here) as she pleases. I don’t want to apply for my FM3 until we figure out whether we are going to import our household goods. There are restrictions, time-frames, etc. with this such that this seems to be the best solution. We are thinking of going to Yellowstone National Park. Apparently May is a little early for the park but if we can beat the heat here, renew my FMT, and get a vacation out of it we will be doing well.

Email is still the best way to reach us. But our new phone number is (011 52) 376 763 5273. We can’t use the $0.02 / minute computer-to-phone system anymore, but we have a new call-back plan that is only $0.17 / minute. Rumor has it that this area may be getting high speed Internet soon - so we’d really be back in business if that were true.

We’ve driven into Guadalajara twice for shopping. Like any big city, it is pretty nerve-wracking until you learn your way around, to your few favorite places. We have a long way to go but we found (and shopped at) one of the Walmart’s (with an Applebee’s, of all things, next-door), and one of the big malls, and located one of the Home Depots. The mall prices are just as expensive if not more than in the US. Imported clothing has a huge tax on it. Since then, we have gotten directions to a more economical shopping district. We hope to try it out soon.