17.9.12
























We spent the weekend celebrating Mexico.

We waved Mexican flags,
ate Mexican food,
listened to Mexican karaoke (maybe next year we'll sing?),
and felt thankful for this country that has generously welcomed our family into the rhythms and customs of every day life.

14.9.12

























We walked to the grocery store this evening to pick up some things for dinner.  On our way home we found a slimy green fountain (you know, the kind of fountain that's not fountaining any more . . . ) and Joshua and I counted for the kids as they took turns racing down the ledge;

and I am reminded tonight how much I really like not having a car.  There have been about, um, maybe 2.75 times that I have wished for one this past year, but all the other three billion times that I've thought about it, I have only been thankful to live without one;   My list of reasons is probably a mile-long, but tonight it's just because I love the way that it pushes us out into our community - - the way that it forces us to see and to be seen - to know and to be known.

This is our neighborhood.
we are claiming it - one walk at a time.


11.9.12


we planted a bean (two, actually - just in case)
we will water it
and hope it grows

10.9.12


























Last week we met Yujin.
she was sent our way by Ariel (who we met 2 weeks ago)

Yujin - we quickly found out - was from Korea and had been backpacking around the world for the past seven months; and she needed a place to stay while she spent her last night in Mexico City.

It actually ended up being four nights (oops, I guess we misread that email . . . ) but it worked out well because Yujin was the best sort of last minute guest:
she told us all about the places she had been, the food she had eaten, and the ways that her trip had changed her life.  We pulled out our globe and she traced out her journey from one country to another.  She went on walks with us, made us a Korean dinner, lent the kids her camera, and introduced Josu and Selma to Korea's favorite pop singers.

We said our goodbye's on Wednesday.
The kids sent Yujin off with their favorite book and about a billion hugs
and she took a little piece of our heart
back to Korea.


(above: Malachai got his hand on Yujin's camera and took this sweet picture of us.  He also took pictures of an ambulance . . .  ) 

6.9.12
























Dear Friend,
I hung my laundry up on the roof today;  I wish you had been there with me.

I might have complained to you - just a little - about how gas prices seem to be significantly higher on this side of town, or I may have whispered to you about how there is a rumor going around that one of the neighbors has been switching out their empty gas tanks for our full ones;

but

mostly, I would have shown you the marvelous sights from our rooftop;

I would have pointed you towards the city center, and then the opposite direction towards Mexico City's gigantic, well loved Chapultepec park (we're only two metro stops away!).

I would have shown you the rooftop across the way with a beautiful garden, and the windows that look like they are straight out of Paris.

We would have heard some of Mexico's favorite tunes being played by a nearby hidden trumpeter, and I would have wondered out loud to you if they were practicing for Mexico's independence day celebration.

I would have shown you the tomato plants growing in the laundry cage next to mine, and we would have dreamed together about planting something beautiful and another something edible for the kids to tend for a school project.

sigh.
I think you would have liked it!
I wish you had been there with me . . .



2.9.12

REMEMBERING . . .

On Saturday we took Mom and Papi to our flea market.
it's tiny
and generally overpriced.
but we love it.

I showed mom the old rings I've been eyeing for months,
and Selma showed mom the plastic trinkets that she's been eyeing for months

(showing is free)


1.9.12


REMEMBERING . . .

The night that Mom and Papi arrived in Mexico City we popped out for some street tacos (because, remember - our gas wasn't hooked up?) When we came back home, we tried opening our front door - with it's brand-spankin-new lock - and it wouldn't open.

So at 11pm and went out into our city again - looking for a hotel.
There we were - a party of seven, looking for a couple of rooms,
and
would you believe it?
We couldn't find a hotel with an open room.

An hour later we finally found a place - around the corner and down a busy street,

and we called it an adventure.