MOVING

Moving is as Big a Change as a Divorce or Death in the Family

     The actual move to Mexico was involved. It required going through all of my mother’s “stuff” and sorting it into piles: take to Mex, throw away, put into storage, sell or give-away.

     I find myself this June facing the same thing. This time I’m in Arizona and in a 3 bedroom manufactured home with my stuff, Bob’s stuff, stuff we inherited from his mother and grandmother and of course my mother!

    The next four weeks I must downsize to fit into a smaller 2 bedroom manufactured home. Fortunately, I’ll have the same landlady, a lower rent than I’m paying now, AND it is just across the street. Whereas the move to Mexico was several thousand miles away across the border with lots of “stuff,” four people and a cat.

 Bob and I had flown down and found our taxi driver who was the key to a smooth move. Here we are eating at a wonderful restaurant, he'd recommended, out on a terrace overlooking the street.

 

     Our taxi drive, Jose’, used his resources and knowledge of Americans in Guadalajara, realtors, etc. and drove us around to find a home we could rent. Having chosen our favorite one, we flew back home to begin the processes of consolidating household goods stored in Tennessee, Oakland (from Kwaj) and my mother’s house, then actually making arrangements for the move to a foreign country. DEFINITELY NOT ACROSS THE STREET!

Video taken going out of my front porch, panning across the street you can briefly see the house I'll be moving to July 15th

SORRY THIS VIDEO DOES NOT PLAY...I HOPED IT WOULD. 

    Me, Mom and Bri, along with Harriet the cat (in a cat carrier), our personal luggage and carry on bags, caught a unique bus in Ontario, California. It’s service was designed for people going down and across the border into Mexico. Bags were loaded on the roof, and off we went. I don’t think it went through customs, but we ended up on a hill above a station accepting these buses, and everyone debarked with their stuff, tried to find their bags and haul them down the hill to find a taxi to take us to the airport. We had reservations to fly to Guadalajara from there. Quite an adventure. Amazing we arrived with everything we’d pack, and in pretty good shape. Jose’ had shown us a hotel, near a shopping center, and Sandborn’s, a favorite American Ex-patriot restaurant, bookstore, and shop, where we had made reservations. Knowing ahead of time that we’d be there a couple weeks until Bob arrived, and then our household goods in a moving van arrived, we settled in.

     Bob packed up our Nissan Sentra, finalized closing my mom’s house which we’d cleaned and rented out, supervised the packing of our moving van, then proceeded to drive down to the border in Tijuana, and crossed with no problems, then drove down to Guadalajara. He took many photos on his trip down. It took quite a few days. Yes, he’d began learning words in Spanish. His quest to learn a new language had begun.

Mom and I knew we needed beds, living and dining room furniture, so we went shopping. Jose’ was our guide and transportation for all of this. Fortunately, we had a really nice retirement settlement and had the money to pay for all of this! It was really quite fun. Who doesn’t love picking out furniture and watching the budget, but knowing you could pay for it all.

Bob and the Nissan arrived safely, here is our new house in Guadalajara.

     My situation monetarily with my current move isn’t quite the same. I am getting rid of furniture, eating dehydrated meals supplemented by a few fresh grocery items and no cushion of savings in the bank. On the positive side, I am meeting wonderful families who are physically helping me go through all the books and food storage area, office and family history “stuff” and lifting the trash out to my garbage container. Just this morning the truck came hauling away my second week’s worth of heavy stuff including paperback books, ring binders, and hundreds of old cassette tapes and their containers. 

     And that dehydrated beef stew I made yesterday was actually quite good. A dollop of sour cream and a dash of garlic powder, slice of garlic bread and a salad, made for a tasty lunch. Then for dinner I made burritos with left over stew stuffing, refried beans and Monterey Jack cheese. Mmmm. Creative cooking again, I am next facing going through all of my cookbooks, recipe cards, and making decision which ones to keep and which to throw away and which ones to give away.

     I have several cookbooks from Mexico, but that’s another story.