Los Gringitos: April 2009

Our feet are back on American soil! We made it back in one piece, didn’t have our identities stolen, and were never even kidnapped! Not even once!

Our final week in Zirajuen mostly consisted of spring-time activities. Clearing flower beds, planting bulbs, and preparing Easter feasts. We even got a little Easter Surprise that delighted Julia immensely. After over a month of sitting, one of the ducks on the farm hatched 8 little ducklings! They were bright yellow, and fluffy as can be. We created a private little apartment for “Mommy” and provided her with all the necessities. Julia loved to just sit and fawn over them. And so did other barnyard friends! As we watched the yellow mound grow in size, a little barn mouse arrived to see what all the

commotion was. He sat and investigated for a while, and I agreed when Julia said it felt kinda like Charlotte’s Web.

Monday morning we departed, said our farewells, and took a bus out of Uruapan. It was only a 4 hour bus ride, but I will readily admit my joy at never being forced to watch a Spanish dubbed “Shrek 3” again. The movies they force you to listen to on the “first class” busses are not my cup of tea.

We spent two days in the costal town of Zihuatanejo. It was a clean, picturesque beach city with cantinas on every corner and tourists on every sidewalk. We like it much better than Puerto Vallarta. Our Hostel was the Rincon de Viajero, just five minutes from the bay. We enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach for our final day in Mexico. We snorkeled, drank pina coladas, and had dinner at a beautiful restaurant as the sun set. In the morning we packed our belongings, walked across the windy tarmac and completed our long, wonderful, exhausting journey.

Our Mexican travels are finally at a close. We were there for 82 days. We’ve spent time in 5 states, and 11 cities! It’s been an amazing journey, and it’s been great to have you along with us. Sharing our photos, our stories, and our experiences with you has been a vital part of this time. Until our next adventure, Vaya con Dios!

Mucho amor, felicidades, y salud,
Philip & Julia

We are now on the final leg of our journey. Only eight more days in Mexico! We’re getting a bit weary and homesick, but we haven’t slowed down in our adventures. The past week was one of water and molten metal – and where we learned that the old adage about “Death and Taxes” isn’t such a clean cut rule.

The main project Julia and I worked on was sowing 300 feet worth of bright-red fingerling potatoes into weedy grass-choked soil. After days of pick axing, shoveling, turning, measuring, aligning and planting, the result was a beautiful thing to behold. The whole thing got covered in a straw-mulch, fenced off, and the result is what you see before you. We also planted just as many feet of peas, though that was less labor intensive because of soft soil and a lack of rows. There were also the mandatory picking days, in which we picked mountains of lettuces, arugulas, root plants and herbs for a restaurant.

As you might imagine, life on a farm can get repetitive and predictable. We won’t bore you by going into the details of things already mentioned. Still, over time one notices new things in their familiar surroundings that they didn’t before. For example, Julia has fallen in (mutual) love with PorqueNo, the half-wolf pet of the Sheppards. Whenever we drive anywhere, she plays Wolf-Queen with a regal and peaceful wolf perched on her lap. She loves to have long discussions with PorqueNo, as well as with Peep-Peep, the adolescent gosling, Peepers, the baby gosling, and all the loving cats

that prowl the property; Tzin, Tzan, Tzun, and Sweetie Cat. I have probably become the most tan I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve acquired a taste for eggs in the morning, and (to Julia’s amazement) cookies in the evening! We also decided to take a count, and after Julia learned how to make granola from scratch on Sunday, we were amazed to find we’ve acquired recipes over 40 new dishes during our stay in Mexico! If that’s not something valuable to take home with you, I don’t know what is.

On our day off, we visited lovely Uruapan. We enjoyed a nice wi-fi spot, a delectable steak lunch (with chips and tortillas…!? Only in Mexico.) We then went to the Parque Nacional, a gorgeous shaded park with acres and acres of fountains, waterfalls, streams, and pools. It was a much-deserved relaxation after our hard work week. We spent our afternoon there until they kicked us out for closing.

We also got an extra evening off to travel to Santa Clara with a friend of the Sheppards. Juan (whom we met and served at the dinner party) invited us to tour his copper-works and shop in the nearby Santa Clara. He even took the 30 minute drive to come pick us up. We got the tour of the shop, a chance to hammer red-hot copper, and marveled at the incredible craftsmanship. We definitely ended up taking home more copper art than we intended to for friends and loved ones.

As I mentioned, we’re still chased by IRS even in Mexico. We attempted to file for an extension with the help of my family in Austin. Regrettably, we’re missing one W2 and that throws everything off-balance. It’s a tricky thing trying to get your life in order when your life is in a storage unit and you’re isolated on a farm in the middle of the forest. The internet here is quite slow, and often doesn’t work at all. Our phones are unable to get reception. Nevertheless, taxes are inevitable and we’ll need to find some way to appease Uncle Sam.

All this thinking about taxes eventually led me to think about the other inevitable thing. And, interestingly enough, death seems to be a little less inevitable here than we had thought! Upon our arrival here, I immediately began work on a smokehouse. The plan was that Bertie would be going to that green pasture in the sky two weeks later. Well, that date has come and gone, yet Bertie’s still here eating and eating! Remember that duck rodeo two weeks back? The day after the rodeo the ducks were scheduled to be shipped off to slaughter. But if I go check the stall, I’ll definitely see 12 bored, blank duck faces staring right back at me. It’s kind of funny, really. If I had to guess, I would’ve thought it would be harder to get a new lease on life than to get a tax extension. Shows what I know.