Whew!

Okie dokie.....aren't we glad THATS over! So, where did I leave you...ah yes, Eduardo was just about to arrive......

So, he was a very nice man who did not clearly understand what we were looking for....when we explained the situation, he was as unclear as we were! Why was i not surprised...im telling you, this is a mystery indeed...An hour or so later, my friend called to see how it was going. after updating her she said 'oh thats it..we are calling my lawyer. All this running around will make you crazy." So, long story somewhat shortened, we called the lawyer and after talking with him realized everyone we had spoken with had a bit of truth to their story. If you bring your car in with a permit, you dont have to worry about it IF you have an FM 3 ( we have an FM 2). You DO need to legalize your car IF your are bringing or have brought it across the border while you are in possession of an FM2 and this costs a lot of money. In our case, because we brought it over when we were tourists and now we are full time residents, there is NO way to make the car legal........The lawyer informed us that there is a pretty good chance that as long as we only drive in the state of Yucatan ( which borders on a state of grace...) we should be OK because they arent that familiar with that particular law but if we go to another state and get stopped and they DO know, they will keep the truck and there be nothing we can do. Now that puts a spin on the insurance. there is enough of this situation going around that they ask you "is it legal?" when you ask about insuring your vehicle. So, yes, we have insurance now. Today is the second, when the old policy expires and as of yesterday, we have a new policy. It cost us around $900 for a year. End of the truck saga.......good, because it really was not very interesting.

Next topic..we had another visitor, our friend Aleka. Thats her in the picture. Lovely young woman who is 2 months shy of being a doctor. She was here for 5 days. took her to the airport this morning. Shes bound for Oaxaca where she will work in a clinic for the next month ( besides being really smart and pretty she is bi-lingual ). In 2 months she will begin working as a doc in San Francisco. One of the things i really miss about being here is that, while we've met some really nice folks here, none of them are under 50. At home I hung out with some young people ( wow, THAT makes me sound old...) including my kids and i really miss it. So it almost felt a little like hanging out with my daughter. In fact, most people thought I was her mother, which i took as quite a compliment. While she was here, we went to visit a friend. i drove there. I actually knew how to get there and felt very comfortable doing so. The traffic doesn't freak me out at all now and i can actually get my bearings ( within a certain area of town mind you). Its kind of like if i knew and stayed in down town but could find my way around inner southeast. baby steps......I drove through the heart of the market when we left her house, found a place to park, walked around the market ( it was 104 degrees) returned to the lot, got the car and returned to the hotel. You just don't KNOW what a big deal that is! I feel such a sense of accomplishment. What a big girl I am.....when we first got here, i went to the market with some ladies and was horrified by the traffic and the throngs of people. I told the woman driving how hard core I thought she was that she could navigate that madness un-ruffled. Today, I AM THAT WOMAN!Yes...AND I know how to get to the airport...wow...but hey, if you're coming, don't expect me to pick you up if its dark. Im not there yet.

My friend and I also drove to Uxmal which is a little over an hour away. it is a huge ruin-as big as Chichen itza but not as innundated with tourists. Amazing architecture and the air resembled the inside of...lets see...a smelter? a blast furnace? the 6th level of hell? We were there about 2 hours and by the time we got back to merida ( which, might I add we managed effortlessly....)we were worn out.

So there it is, another week in Mexico, a few more challenges met...still no regrets, still lovin' being here. Next challenge: helping my daughter arrange a wedding from thousands of miles away...but hey, if I can drive the market, I can do ANYTHING!!!