Upon arriving in Mexico, it was chaotic. Two international flights arrived at the same time. There were four people serving the immigration lines: three for the Mexican nationals and one for the foreign nationals. There were about three times as many foreign nationals as there were Mexican nationals. After all the Mexcians were through the line, the other three attendants helped the foreigners. We then zipped through customs and were out to the greeting area. It took us over an hour to do all this. Jean and Liliana weren’t there when we left customs. I looked all around. They were no where to be found. I turned on my Mexican cell phone to call them. The phone decides it can’t read the network signal and won’t work. I’m pretty flustered at the time (not to mention super tired) and get my dad’s ATM card and withdraw money. I punch in all the numbers, take the money, and run back to my dad. That’s when I realized I only took the money, not the card. So we had to call my mom and tell her to cancel the card. Then I try to fix my cell phone and the lady tells me I can’t, so I buy a phone card to call Jean and Liliana. The first several times there’s no answer, but then he answers and tells me that he waited for 45 minutes and then when there were few people left he asked about our flight. The attendant said that everyone was off the plane and had cleared customs. He assumed we weren’t on the flight. At this point it is 2 p.m. (central time) and we are exhausted and it is over 100ºF.
We took a van to the central train station and then a bus to Sabinas. It was really exhausting and the day wasn’t even over.
Martín gave Dad an introduction into the Mexican culture (similar to the way he gave Mike one in 2007). He took my dad through the Servi-Car, bought beers, opened them in the car on the drive home, gave him a sombrero, and finished the beer.
We spent Thursday going around Sabinas, hitting up the tourist attractions.
Mariel, Me, and Elena standing on the bridge in El Ojo de Agua (Eye of the Water).
A lot of the parks have been renovated and are a lot nicer than when I was there three years ago.
While we were there the Rotary District 4130 Governor was there. In the afternoon the woman’s committee met with the Governor’s wife and the Governor met with the men’s Rotary members. Then at night there was a joint meeting. The women sat at one table and the men at another. I noticed several bottles of whisky/scotch going around the men’s table.
Dad reading something in Spanish
Friday morning little Martín took Dad, me, Linus (exchange student from Germany), Lisa (exchange student from Holland), and Melina to big Martín’s ranch. It still semells as awful as I remember and it was a lot hotter. It was about 110ºF that day.
Friday night was Catty’s party. We went to the mass and it was long. The party place was well decorated and looked incredible. A lot of planning, money, and love goes into these parties. From the decorations to the dancing to the cake to the food to the music to the attire, everything is planned out. I think it was the lasted my dad has stayed out in a long time. Here are several pictures.
La quinceñera made her grad entrance and walked around the middle of the room with her parents. Then, one by one, her attendants brought her a rose. Then they do a choreographed dance. There is also a father-daughter dance.
Third Host Family
Second Host Family
First Host Family
Elena took us to Monterrey on Saturday. We were greeted by Jean, Liliana, Ely (Liliana’s daughter), and Canela (their Boxer dog). It was very nice to see them again. In the afternoon Liliana took us two history museums (one of them in the government palace)
And La Huasteca
El Paseo de Santa Lucia
Dad preparing to cook with Jean
Canela, their boxer
By the Big Flag that overlooks the huge city. Unfortunately the flag wasn't up that day.
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