On Being Sick

First, typhoid sucks - literally. You feel drained, no appetite, no energy, you just sit and wait for it to go away.

Second, if you develop vertigo at the same time, even sitting is a hassle.

Third, if you do get typhoid and vertigo - whatever you do - don't get a new dog. Bending over to pick up dog poop is not pleasant when you have vertigo.

But today was a new day. The vertigo has subsided, the typhoid symptoms are gone, I found the new dog a great new home, and I ate Chinese food for lunch. Life is good.

Dog Days

My little boston terrier (CK) has been acting very bored and lonely in the new house - the only other dog he has to play with is a great dane named Winston - not much of a playmate. Mexicans have a lot of dogs but rarely take care of them; not by US standards anyway. So many dogs wander the streets and die of starvation, poisoning, hit by cars, or just general neglect. They rarely neuter them so they just breed indiscriminately.

Sometimes people with dogs die or move back to the States and just abandon their pets. A friend rescued a dog from his neighbors back yard who had been tied to a tree for days without food or water and moved back to Canada. Who does that??

Lot's of Gringo's try to rescue these dogs but a lot of them have to be put down because they are too aggressive or too sick to save. There are several shelters that try to find them good homes and for a nominal fee you can adopt one.

Today I made the mistake of going into one of the shelters and found this sweet little 2 year old female - her kennel name was Buffy - I call her Chica. She was quite, housebroken, obviously someone's pet - she knows how to walk on a leash, sit on command and is sleeping beside by chair on the floor right now. I hope she works out - I have 2 weeks to return her if she doesn't

I know you can't save them all - but I hope this was Chica's lucky day.

The Good and the Awful

Got up early this morning (Sunday) and drove into Guadalajara to see the "Thieves Market", no idea why they call it that. It is a typical Mexican market except everything is a bit off.

First - it is located in a very bad part of Guad...dirt streets, run down houses, pathetic dogs roaming around, but the people were very nice and we never felt the least threatened. Here are some pictures https://picasaweb.google.com/113488190525490792576/Mexico.

We didn't buy much - but had a great time just wandering around through the crowds looking at all the crazy stuff there. On the drive back to the Lake (about 45 minutes), traffic came to a complete stop - we figured it was just another Federalie's roadblock.

Traffic crawled along until we passed a new pickup truck along side of the road - the drivers door had been completely torn off, but other than that - no damage at all. Then about 50 feet further down the road was a blue tarp with a body underneath. It was obviously a woman - she was lying on her back - her feet and hands were sticking out from under the tarp. She was wearing nice shoes, and you could see she had long, red polished nails.

All the rest of the way - we tried to figure out how in the world this accident could have happened. Did she pull off to the side of the highway and step out of the car and someone just slammed into her? Was she having car trouble? Did she run out of gas?

Life is so fragile. One minute you are driving down the road, going to church or going to meet a friend for lunch; the next you are lying spread eagle, under a blue tarp, dead...and you didn't even break a nail.

Melting Pot - Almost

I've met lots of Anglos down here - many from the Mid-West, Canada, Nova Scotia, even France. There are all kinds of Latinos - from Spain, South and Central America - native Indians, and lots of Asians and middle eastern looking people; but there is not one black person in this entire area. What's up with that? This is a skinhead's paradise (except for the Mexicans - that could be a problem.) I've never lived in an all white/beige/brown place before.

Typhoid - Running Amok

Who knew people still get typhoid - it is running rampant among the Gringo community down here. Probably due to all the heavy rain and contamination of the water supply. I switched to only drinking bottled water (even brushing my teeth with it) a few weeks ago but it didn't help - I have Typhoid.

I can see why it was such a feared disease in the past - you get very, very sick - you can't keep anything down, you run a fever and generally just feel awful.

I was suppose to house sit last night for a friend who went into the hospital...but the best I could manage was just checking in on her dogs and feeding them. Otherwise, I just came home and crawled into bed. What miserable night. Today, I'm feeling somewhat better, I stocked up on all the recommended medication - there is a one-dose pill you can take which I picked up too.

The only thing you need a prescription for down here are antibiotics and class 3 narcotics, so there is a lot of self-medicating. If the one-dose doesn't work, I'll have to go into the clinic for blood work. Whine................

Pros and Cons of Living in Mexico

Con - you cannot dial 911
Pro - you seldom need to dial 911 - even with all the noise about the Cartel - violent crime is very rare here. Unless you are involved with drug trafficking - hardly anyone owns a gun

Con - you can't drink water directly from the tap
Pro - most of us drink bottled water anyway because of all the pollution in US tap water

Con - you can't get direct US television
Pro - you can't get direct US television

Con - if you want to purchase a house you have to pay cash - there are not mortgage banks
Pro - most of us here are too old to qualify for a mortgage anyway

Con - the major highways are toll roads - the cost in tolls back to the states is about $120 USD
Pro - they are very well maintained and patrolled by the "Green Angels" who help stranded motorists - and it's free

Con - you can't shop for the lowest gas price - I have no idea how much a gallon of gas costs because it is not posted.
Pro - every gas station in the country charges the same - what ever the price is

Con - there are very few DIY home repair stores here
Pro - labor is so cheap - it is much easier to just hire someone to do home repairs for you

Con - it is impossible to find good Chinese food in Mexico...if you are Chinese and are reading this - please move here and open a cafe - you can live at my house.
Pro - there are none for this

Rain Rain Go Away

I know the states are baking in the heat and begging for rain - wish I could send some your way. This morning it started pouring - sheets and sheets of rain; I thought it was never going to stop. The roof started dripping, then leaking, then pouring water into the sunroom. I was scrambling to move the furniture into the living room, remove all my electronics, find trashcans and buckets to try and stem the tide - but it was all hopeless. Finally, I just found a dry spot, sat down and waited for it to stop.

I had about 2 inches of water in the sun room, the towels I threw down were floating. Then the sun came out, my housekeeper showed up to help get rid of all the water, my handyman is on his way to see if he can fix the leak....life is good.

Tonight's forecast....MORE RAIN.