Despite the delays, we arrived on-time into Guadalarjara at 6:10 on Saturday a.m. It was nice to get the bump up to business class, particularly for the red-eye flight - at least it allowed us the opportunity to get a little shut eye on the flight. We arrived, went through customs with no issues other than the hoards of people arriving all at the same time and only five federal agents to clear everyone. We looked hard but could only see about 5 couples of the 100's of locals that were in the customs lineup that truly looked (the cowboy hats were a plenty) like Gringo's.
Once we cleared, got our bags we went out into the throng of waiting Mexicans. Our driver was supposed to have a BIG sign saying FORSTER, but nada. No smiling Faustino could be found. You could see the fear set in on Deb. After my calming influence, I told Deb that I'd call Faustino on the cell number that was provided to by Arlene, our landlord in New Jersey.

Just as I was climbing over a railing to get to the exchange bureau I was approached by a smiling Mexican who asked "are you Bob" - how could he pick me out in an airport of thousands?

Anyway we got to the house fine and just returned from our trip to the Wal-Mart so that we could get some groceries until we find the right place(s) to shop. Just as I was picking up our cart, I guess I got a little to close to a moped that was parked just by the carts, and sure as ****, burnt the hell out of the back of my legs as I backed up to the tail-pipe on the moped.. Deb's cleaned me up with Polysporin and band-aids, so I guess I'll heal.

The shopping experience was fun while exasperating. You can pay the big pesos for the imported, US, Canadian and European brands or go with the Mexican version at 1/3 of the price - but you have to be able to read Mexican. I wonder, did I really get 2% milk (leche) or did I pick up skim milk, I'll only be able to tell once I twist open the top.

The other key issue is that our house is in an area called El Dorado, which is UP THE HILL from the Wal-Mart - I'd liken myself to a pack horse, with my packsack, bags in each hand and the same for Deb. No car yet, and we don't know if you can trust all the cabs yet, so we hiked our way UP THE HILL with our load of groceries, stopping every 200 yards or so to catch our breath. See Deb, I told you that this would be healthy for us!! We'll need a new plan going forward.

We also went for lunch to Tony's - a local restaurant just down the road from Wal-Mart. Lunch was actually pretty good - Tortillia Soup (Great and loaded with Avacado for $3.00) and Chicken Fajitias that Deb and I shared. While we were there, we met three ladies from NOB (North of the Border) with one of the ladies who is just going back to Vancouver at the end of the week. She currently lives in a condominium at Lost Lagoon, who would have thought.

The one older lady 74 has lived here for the past 18 years and loves it, even though her husband died five years ago. So far, everything is progressing as per plan and we do have food in the fridge, not that we know what we bought - but we'll be able to keep fed for a bid until we get our sleep patterns back into shape.

Tomorrow will be picture day of the area and local homes which I'll share on tomorrow's posting.

Adios Amigos !