Hello to our family and friends. I know...I know! We've been out of pocket for a good while now. We've heard several voicemails from you and hear you loud and clear.
Bob & I are doing fabulous and staying pretty busy. The condo construction is coming along nicely. They say it will be completed by the end of October if not sooner. Humm! Since we live in the same complex that the condo is being built we're able to keep very close tabs and fortunately have had lots of input.
We are officially Residents of Mexico. ( Do not confuse with Citizenship.) Totally different meaning. The process for obtaining our residents was a breeze and just took a few hours out of our day to complete. We headed to the immigration office early one morning gathered the paperwork needed for us to fill out, went next door to a gentlemen who fills out all the paperwork in Spanish and takes our photos which is required; all for $100 pesos. The funny thing through this whole process was taking the photo. Apparently the Mexican Government uses photos of ears as we in the States use fingerprints for identification. We had a difficult time with this because the straight head shot needed our ears to be apparent in the photo. Well, neither Bob nor I have an issue with our ears sticking out and away from our head so, we had to improvise. The guy taking our photo put white folded paper behind our ears to make them stick out. Bob & I were cracking up at each other as we watched the photo session take place. I can tell you these were the ugliest photos we have ever taken. Not only did our ears had to stick out but we couldn't have hair on our foreheads so we both had to slick back our hair with water. Isn't that hilarious? We just went along with it and move on the next step. After the photo session we left our paperwork with the gentlemen for him to finish and we made our way to the bank to pay our Residential fee which was only a couple of hundred USD. Once we paid all we had to do was pick up our completed documents and photos and take them back to the immigration office. We handed them the packet and they told us to come back within 5-7 working days and our card would be ready. Really? That's it? Unbelievable! So, why is it important for residency for us? Well, with this card we are able to ship down our household items from the States duty free, we no longer have to pay the "tourist tax" that is applied to all airline tickets when purchased, we're able to apply for the Mexican medical insurance, we can stay in this country without having to leave every 6 months and we can have a car with US tags on them. There are lots of reason to have a residence card if you plan to live here year around.
Let's see what else is going on...I've been helping a friend out in her Spa in return I get free treatments such as nails, hair, massages and facials. Not too shabby! All I have to do is fill in when she needs to be away from the spa for any given reason. I work with the manicurist and masseuses by letting them know of their appointments, help translate for the Gringo community. The workers at the spa speak very little English so when a English speaking client comes in and wants something specific; hopefully I can relay that correctly. So far I'm doing well with that. We have a lot of men that come in for waxing. I just hope that I don't screw up and tell the girl working he's there for a bikini wax when he's really there for his back waxed. That could pose for a serious problem. hehehe! I've only had to work 2 days so far but Debbie has asked if I would have interest in working more. She's the owner of Tippy Toes ( www.tippytoes.com ) and would like to have some time off. I absolutely told her that I would be interested. I've never worked in a spa before but it's fun.
Here's some really big news. We've been fostering a little dog for a week. He was lost and we've been trying to track down his family. We know he was well cared for and we're sure he is missed. The vet says his about 2 years old and is a mix of a White Scottish Terrier and possible a Bishon or Poodle. He is adorable. He's very well behaved, potty trained and hasn't chewed up a thing. We do know he belonged to a Mexican family because he knows all his commands in Spanish and he still has his balls. Now we all know an American would have already neutered this little guy. We'll give a couple more weeks of trying to find his family. If his old family isn't found that we plan to keep him and get him neutered. I wanted to keep him after day 1, Bob took a little longer to get on board with the idea just because of the commitment and that having a dog in a high rise building is quite different from having one in a home with a yard. You want to see a picture of him?
This is Reese.
He is so stinkin cute! Those ears just kill me. He only weighs about 20 lbs and has been a wonderful "condo" dog. We love having him around.
Well, its time for my yoga class. We just wanted to touch base with you and let you know we are doing great. We've been promising to stay in better communication with everyone so, I'll start blogging more often. I just need to work it in; in between naps.
Love to all,
Bonnie & Bob
