we are at mexico

other than the kids being sick (again) and josh losing his voice, we are here and all well. it is BEYOND beautiful. the streets, the cobblestones, the house we're at, the hills in the distance, the doorways and wrought iron metal around the windows on the street... it's really really breathtaking. meredith and david and baby miriam are here with us also for this week and that is great. 

when we ask noah where we are, he says we are at mexico. on the flight here, on the airplane we were given chocolate chip cookies and that made noah very happy. he called the chips "seeds." i think that was a good introduction to mexico - it made him like mexico right away. we have a sitter for the kids named nery and she has been coming a few hours a day. the first day she was here, she tried to change noah's diaper but he kept saying "no." he went 5 hours or something in the same daiper and it got so wet that his pants were wet and even his socks were wet. we told nery later that even though noah says no, she should do it anyway. 

also, when i change aviva's diaper and noah's there, he often says "beeba no have penis yet. not yet. soon." also beeba not have teeth yet and he says that often. it's true - she's 11 months and no teeth. well eventually. he's 2 and a half. 

there's a playground we've heard about that is a taxi ride away. it's kind of surprising that there aren't more. no parks really either -- there are little plazas in front of the churches, with gazebo things, but no grass to run around in. and nothing like a playground that we've seen yet. maybe we'll check out the far away playground soon. we spend a lot of time in the backyard which is beautiful and there are a lot of plants that are similar to berkeley. we've been sitting otuside and doing yoga and reading... noah likes to do yoga. he does downward dog and calls it a tunnel. plants - bouganvillia, agapanthas,. jade, some plants i recognize but don't know the names of. 

the roads are sometimes hard with a stroller because they are cobblestone and bumpy. also they are very narrow and the sidewalks are also narrow when they exist and aren't flat. they have steps and ramps for the driveways and curbs. so that's hard and the cars are going slowly, but theyy are loud and since josh lost his voice, we can't talk unless he's whispering and there are no cars around and we're close to each other. hopefully he'll get his voice back soon. 

i might change or move some of this writing later to another place, but i want to write a little about our travels. doorways that we see when they are open - it's nice and surprising to see that there's a big entryway and a huge (often) plaza and house.... you have no idea what's behind the closed door and it looks like ajust a door. but there is a huge amount beyond the door. 

living somewhere is more interractive than visiting - we are learning about where to get kindling for the fire and where to put the trash for the two days a week for trash pick up...

i'll try and add pictures soon.