Things I Miss and Love

I've decided to make a list of things that I miss about the US.  Some of the things I was surprised about, other things were expected.  But here it goes!  :)

1.  Plastic bags from grocery stores.  I never thought anything about them, except that ever house has probably way too many stored somewhere.  There's plenty of plastic bags here, but they are so much weaker than those in the US!  They break so easily and I have to throw away instead of reuse them (for trash, etc.).  I suppose there's regulation for bags in the US, I just had never thought of it before.

2.  The 25 minute daily Mass.  It can be hard to go to daily Mass here.  Not because there's not enough churches around, but you don't really know how long Mass will be.  It's hard to make plans around it.  It might be 30 minutes, it might be 50.

3.  Chick-fil-a.  Not that the food is super great, although it is yummy and I like their waffle fries, but it's more of a nostalgic thing.  It's the only fast food place that I can go into knowing that it'll be clean and the person at the register almost always has a smile.

4.  Panera.  Again, it's nostalgic, not necessarily the food.  Although I do like their bagels a lot, I just spent a good amount of time there, either talking with others or studying or taking a break to get out of the house to read or after 5:30 Mass at St. Margaret Mary.

5.  Being able to make right turns at red lights.  Not allowed here.

6.  Girl Scout cookies.  And the Edy's icecream that uses girl scout cookies.

7.  US Postal service.  The Mexican postal service not quite as reliable.

And, to end on a high note, things that I love here!

1.  Lecheros.  They're delicious.  It's a Veracruzan style of coffee.

2.  The weather!  While I do miss the change of seasons, it's always really nice here.

3.  The food!  Mexican food is so delicious.

4.  Tacos arrabes.  While this falls under the category of food, it really deserves it's own recognition.  They're so delicious.  They might end up taking the place of comfort food for me. 

5.  The volcanoes.  Still loving the view here.

6.  Horseback riding!  I'm in love with it.

7.  Learning new traditions.  I'm enjoying learning some of the Mexican traditions, like the Posada at Christmas time.

That's it for now!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This has been my second Christmas in Mexico.  I was here two years ago.  Both times have been really nice.  This year, Pancho and did our own gifts at the apartment Christmas Eve, went to Mass with his family, did presents afterwards at his parents house, and then had dinner at his Grandma's house.  And on Christmas day we went to Acapulco!  We spent about 4 days at the beach.  We didn't do much else than spend time at the beach, but there weren't any complaints about that.  One highlight was that we got to see baby turtles being released into the ocean.  That was pretty neat.

New Years Eve Pancho and I went to Church with his parents and then went to his Grandma's afterwards.  We had dinner and after that we released mini hot air balloons into the night sky.  It was really pretty.  If you've seen Tangled, it's kind of like those balloons, just a bit bigger.  I wonder if they're legal in the States...  probably not, I would think they're too much a of a fire hazard.  Either way, it was really pretty and we lit some fireworks.

It was all really nice!  Pancho and I wish all of you a belated Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!