Stuff

It has been a while since I have written a post, though many things go through my head that I want to write about. And then I get really hot and all I want to do is lie around and try not to exert any energy so I think that I will write another day. So I finally sat down last night and wrote. So here goes Ashley's most recent thoughts of living in Mexico

THE HEAT! It is flippin hot and flippin humid. Ozzy doesn't think so. I think that he is still thawing out from growing up in Vermont and up state New York. I grew up in the south, and this is flippin hot. I love it when I go to Atlanta and the people are complaining that it is hot. I have not been uncomfortably hot in Atlanta all summer. I am miserably hot here. Did you know that sweat will pour out of every orifice of your body? I smelled myself today and it was not good. One thing I don't understand is that no matter how hot and humid it is the Mexican locals always smell good. Honestly, it can be the middle of the day and a local Mexican can walk by you with long pants and a long sleeve shirt on, and you know he has been busting his ass all day in the heat but he still smells like he just jumped out of a washing machine.
I have also learned to make sure your soaking wet clothes (from sweating) are dry before you put them in the laundry basket or they will develop a funk that you cannot ever get rid of.

DOCTOR VISITS. I love them! If you have a problem, you walk or drive to the doctor. No appointment needed. If he is not there you come back when he is available. If he is not in his office, you knock on his front door (to his home). Maybe he is having lunch with his family, taking a siesta or who knows what.
He will then come out to talk to you, usually on the curb, yes, side of the street, aka, the waiting room, look at the problem, usually on the street, depending on the problem, diagnose it and give you medicine, which he has right there. If he is with another patient he will stop that visit if he thinks it will take a while and come to talk to you. There is no recepionist, first nurse to take weight and blood pressure, etc, second to ask what the problem is so she can tell the doctor, who is actually the forth person you interact with, give a quick diagnosis, a prescription and maybe some $600 blood tests, just to make sure. Wham Bam, thank you maam, in, out, $45.00 US includes Dr. visit and prescription, usually less than that. And he cares. He will use oral antiboitics as a last resort. He always wants you to come back if the problem is not cleared up in four days, and he always mentions that while healing, no gluten, sweets or dairy. These feed health problems.
There is also the Salud Clinic, which I have visited and was very happy with. $20 US for stiches in the face, no scar, no appointment needed, just walk in, and the hospitals in Puerto Vallarta are great as well.

FOOD PREPARATION: I feel like when I am home, all I do is prepare food. I thought we ate well in the States but I was so very wrong. It is time consuming but doesn't bother me, because, it is not cooking frozen chicken, or boiling water for Mac N Cheese, which I used to do here but the more the kids eat raw whole foods the less they want processed food. Actually, they will not even eat processed food anymore. So this brings me back to the kitchen. I FEEL like I make everything except our corn tortillas and water. Actually I don't make everything but I do make the granola we eat in the morning, I make Dillon's dog food, of fresh veggies, rice, eggs, yellowfin tuna or sometimes chicken. The kids only want smoothies at night for dinner so I am always preparing banannas to freeze, fresh kiwi, pineapple, Mila, yogurt. If we only had a goat we could add raw goats milk. There is always rice and black beans for Ozzy's tacos. Freeze the grape and pineapple juice the kids and Ozzy love to eat in the afternoon. It can literally be a full time job but we all feel so much better eating this way, we are healthier and leaner, have much more energy and endurance, except when it is flippin hot. It is fun for me to feed my family this way and see the benefits of natural foods all the way down to my pet. And the great thing about Mexico is that you can compost EVERYTHING! All you have to do is throw it somewhere, anywhere and that is okay. We have a very large compost container that we keep in our kitchen and about every other day it is full because of all of the healthy raw food we prepare and we take it about 10 yards away from the house throw it into the vacant lot and we are good! And the kids love helping with the composting and recycling process.

ESCUELA DEL MUNDO. The kids new school. I love it. Escuela Del Mundo is about 10 minutes away in the neighboring town of San Pancho and is a Montessori school which is very new for our kids. So far Trace loves it, Alex likes it but seems like she needs a connection to something there. Actually, she told me today she doesn't like school when she has to do school work. (I guess we all have a very long road ahead of us.) Trace has a great group in his kindergarten class. He always comes out of school smiling and wanting to give hugs a kisses. He gets to plant trees, play with bugs, do yoga, he really likes the streching, and he is learning cursive, as is Alex. Today he introduced me to his gardening teacher. And the teachers and students are barefoot in the classroom and sometimes out of the classroom. This is a non issue. Trace had a playdate with his friend from school, Bo, yesterday and another boy, Maximo. His first playdate without Alex. He really needed this and he loved it. Escuela Del Mundo is a Spanish speaking school so Alex and Trace are continuing their Spanish language education and doing quite well.

We had parent teacher conferences last week. Veronica, the school director sat in and translated for us, much different than last year when I would run out of school scanning the streets for a friend, I knew who was bilingual to help us. Alex's teachers let us know how well she was doing and how much she could read and write Spanish and even gave a presentation, in Spanish, to her class along with Oscar(long O, scar) about the importance of healthy food as opposed to non healthy food. Ozzy and I both looked at the teacher like she was crazy, asking if we were talking about the same child. The teachers said that Alex was doing great. (Even though she doesn't like school when she has to do school work. Though she loves to get up in front of people, she is bummed that she has only been on stage once, and loves to do ANYTHING that involves art.)
Another aspect I love about Escuela Del Mundo is the lunch program. Each day a parent prepares lunch for their child's class. We sign up for days and the school tells the parent what to prepare, sends them home the with the containers for the food. So each day the children get a different, healthy menu, we do not have to make lunch each day. This month I have made a Cauliflower Cerviche, with tostadas and banannas on the side and Chamomile Tea for Trace's Class. And for Alex I made Fusilli Pasta salad with vegetables and pineapple slices. Later this month we make Cauliflouer Cervice for Alex's class and Salad with chicken and oranges for Trace's class. No FDA here. The children get more healthy food and vegetables that are not processed but homemade. There is no one saying you cannot bring this or that because it does not come from a "box" that is FDA approved. And when they come home they want a light snack and smoothies for dinner because they had a substancial and healthy lunch.

Off to find a reprieve from the heat and humidity. Oh, actually I will get that when I land in Atlanta on Saturday. WHEW!!