"Umm . . . what's your name?"

I'm changing my name.

Jill is nearly impossible to pronounce/understand in Spanish (unless the person I'm talking to has an excellent command of English). First of all, the letter J in Spanish is pronounced like an English H. The sound for the English short "i" doesn't exist at all, and the double l is pronounced like a y.

"Como se llama?"

"Jill."

"Como?"

"Jill."

"Uhh . . . [very long pause] . . . Jeee?"

"That's it!" I reward ANY attempt at pronouncing my name with a huge smile and a confidence-boosting, "Yes! Exactly! That's me!"

I even fear that the non-pronounceability of my name has costed me a friend. Way back in March, I met a woman at the park who had just moved to Saltillo that week, didn't know anyone apart from her husband and daughter (who is just 4 months older than mine), and seemed to be just as excited to meet me as I was to meet her. We exchanged phone numbers with promises to call each other the following week.

I tried to call her. But her number was a cell phone. All my past experiences with cell phones in Mexico has taught me that 044 or 045 needs to be dialed before the number. But I wasn't having any luck getting through to Marisela. Finally, after a month of trying her without any success, I just dialed her number like it was a regular long-distance number. Bingo. I left a message. But was she still using that cell phone with her number from Tampico?

She may have tried to call me. But if she was unsure about how to pronounce my name, would she have called? I can only imagine having a piece of paper with a super-short unpronouncable name on it. "Yeah, hi. I'm calling for . . . uhh . . . are you that woman I met in the park the other day?"

Had it been me, I would have waited to receive the call.

Which never happened. Boo.

During my first days at NPH, I hung out with the chicas quite a bit and remember their initial confusion about how to say my name. One day, we were watching young Jim Hawkins' adventures on Treasure Planet. Lupita Munoz turned to me with a light in her eyes, indicative that something just "clicked" for her. "Jim!" she exclaimed, connecting my name to that of Mr. Hawkins'. Oh, so close. But I'll take what I can get.

After way too long, I wised up. When leaving my name at stores to place an order, I am now Michelle. The cashiers at least understand it, despite the fact that my name is stored in the Farmacia Guadalajara's computer as MICHEL DUULAS. When introducing myself at my Bible study, I offered the name Michelle first, but siting that it was my middle name.

"What's your first name?"

They decided they could handle Jill. But now, three months after meeting these women, Jill has somehow morphed into Gina.

I'll take it.

Happy Thanksgiving and New Year!

I love the fact that Thanksgiving often falls on the weekend of the first Sunday in Advent, making the holiday a very appropriate way to end the year. Coincidence? I don't think so. However, because Mario had to work on Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday with friends of ours in Saltillo. In a nutshell, here are some of the things I find myself grateful for over the course of this past year:

• My wonderful husband who, on a daily basis, reminds me of how blessed I am to be with him (not verbally--he's rather humble). But, in particular, how he went above and beyond the call of duty in the month of February when Clara was teeny-tiny and I was still a bit under the weather. One of my favorite moments of having a baby was watching him be an excellent father.
  

• My daughter, for just being absolutely delightful and changing my life in a number of positive ways.

• My parents who, like Mario, been fascinating to watch as they assumed the role of grandparents. They're very good at it!
  

• My brother, sister-in-law, and niece--it was wonderful to be around when they officially formed themselves as a family, and am in awe of their strength as they front various challenges.
  

• Mario's family and all our other friends who are scattered hither and yon . . . knowing that y'all were out there helped so much in getting through this lonely year of being new in town!

• Facebook, Blogspot, and our internet connection that normally works well, for which I am better able to keep in touch with everyone mentioned above (and I met my new friend in Saltillo through Blogspot, with whom we shared Thanksgiving)!
  

• The opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom--I know so many of my friends (including my husband) who would love to have this opportunity but can't for one reason or another, so I don't take a minute of it for granted.
  

• The inside of our house--while all of you were enjoying turkey on Thursday, Clara and I were locked outside on our patio for 3 hours. In the end, I had to climb onto the roof, haul the ladder up with me, and let it down onto our driveway in order to walk in through my front door and open up the back door. Clearly, this was a terrifying experience for me, as I'm afraid of heights, but it was nice to know that, when called upon, I can rise to the challenge and be a Super Mom.

• New friends: Sheila, Herme and Katya; my Bible study ladies, especially Panchita, Rosario, and Dona Antonia; plus Gloria and Rosario. God does provide!

It's been a wonderful year, which provided so many more reasons to be thankful. May you all have a blessed 2010!

Can She Crawl Yet?

The short answer to that question: no. Not by a long shot. Of course, she is my daughter (I never really crawled and didn't walk until I was 21 months old) and Mario's daughter (also never crawled and didn't walk until he was 18 months old), so this is the one area of her development where we hold no great expectations for her. In fact, we hold no expectations at all. And, having taken all the pressure off, we're able to notice that she is making some initial attempts to move herself around on her own, among other interesting developments.

• She doesn't cry anymore when she realizes that she's fallen over onto her belly, as long as her leg isn't trapped uncomfortably underneath her. She's also getting better at freeing that leg, too (although I often have to help her).
  

• Her arms get into the right crawling position, but her legs do not. Therefore, she tends to push herself backwards. And if the whole reason she laid on her belly was in to go for a toy in front of her, it frustrates her to no end that she scoots herself farther away from it.
  

• She's back to having a monster appetite! Favorite foods: oatmeal, any kind of fruit, crackers, ham, olives. Despises: pureed chicken, avocados, black beans (although she's learning how to tolerate this one).

• Her "vocabulary" has expanded dramatically. At three months, she was quite an expressive chatterbox and used nearly every vowel sound. At four months, she decided that she was just really good at "ah", and that was all she said for the following four months. Now she's combining most vowel sounds with some consonants. My favorite, of course, is "mamamamamama". She hasn't figured out "papa" yet, but "babababa" comes close enough. Except when you consider that "baba" in Spanish means "drool". Hmm . . .
  

• Her new favorite games are 1) putting anything in a box and taking it out again. And putting it in again, and taking it out again. And maybe putting the lid on. 2) Giving me a toy (or piece of cracker), then asking for it back. And then giving it to me again. And waiting until I give it back to her. And maybe she'll give it back to me.
  

• My parents were determined to teach her how to crawl in the two weeks they were here. It wasn't long before they realized they were fighting a losing battle, so my dad settled for teaching Clara how to roll over. [Note: she did this once before, at 7 months, just to prove she could. She had no interest in repeating the feat.] He'd roll on the bed with her and then flip her over once more on her own. Then she rolled from her belly to her back towards him. Now, whenever she's tired of being on her belly, at least she's able to get herself onto her back.
  

• She waves "bye-bye". Granted, she doesn't usually get the wave out until we're two rooms away from the intended recipient, but she'll wave nonetheless.
  

• Far and away the most important accomplishment to date (although I hesitate to publish it here for fear of jinxing her) SHE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! At the age of nine months, Clara is finally sleeping through the night. She has done this before, as early as two weeks old. However, it was just for a night or two, and then she'd be up at all hours again. But for nearly the last two weeks, she's slept solidly in an 11-hour stretch, from 7pm to 6am. And the best part is that after I feed her at 6am, she'll go back to sleep for another two hours. But that's just bragging. So I'll stop now.
  

Visitors!

My parents were here visiting these last two weeks, hence the lack of posts. Due to balancing Clara's nap and meal schedules, visiting our house can be a bit tedious (some may say boring). However, my parents were on cloud nine for most of the two weeks they were here. That's the beauty of being grandparents.

I'll do my best to get captions with the photos, but Blogger is often not very helpful, caption-wise.

As I already alluded, we spent most of the two weeks in the house, playing with Clara on the floor or the bed. My parents were bound and determined to teach Clara how to crawl while they were here. They failed miserably. However, my dad did play a game with her that got her to voluntarily roll over from her belly to her back, something she hadn't yet done. (Note: prior to this, she has only rolled over once in her life, from her back to her belly at the age of 7 months, just to prove she could. Until now, she's had no interest in repeating that feat.)

One Saturday Mario had to work, so Mom, Dad, Clara and I took a trolley tour around Saltillo. We learned a few new facts about the town (like who Francisco Coss was), found out where the spring of water that Saltillo is named for still bubbles out of the ground, and spied on the town from an impressive overlook that I didn't know existed.

We toured the downtown area again, including the Alameda, Serape Museum, and a cultural center focusing on the Day of the Dead. This past weekend, we spent a day in Parras, on a quest for the best beef in town. I couldn't go home without a trip to Casa Madero.

It's been a wonderful two weeks, and although we just put my parents on the airplane today, I can tell Clara already misses her grandparents. I do, too!

End of the Drought

I had been told that, when normal adults move to new places (ie, places where they're not living with at least 3 other fairly transient young adults (otherwise known as "instant friends")) it takes at least a year to make friends. I have been living in Saltillo for about a year now, and yes, I am seeing an end to the "friend drought".

Thanks to Blogger, I made the acquaintance of another woman whose life story (as of the last 2-3 years) is astonishingly similar to mine. We'll be sharing some lasagna with this woman and her family on Saturday. Oh, I hope they like us!

Furthermore, after mass one Sunday, a neighbor stopped by our house as we were walking home. She invited us to attend a class down the street on Wednesday evening. Now, when people talk of church-related classes, it can sometimes turn into an all night, mind-numbing event. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, for as soon as she invited us, I jumped all over her invitation, thrilled at the idea of hanging out with other people who were neither Mario nor Clara. And in someone else's house, too!

It turns out that this is an ongoing Bible study, an "evangelization" class (even though all of us that attended are Catholic) and an introduction to the Bible. I have now attended two classes, and can tell that this will be a most insightful experience for me. Not necessarily for delving deeper into the Bible, but as a cultural experience. I'm finally invited in to witness the mind of the traditional Mexican woman. It's going to be a trip.

For example, after reading Genesis and taking note that all of creation was proclaimed to be good, our little study booklets went on to explain that people sometimes misuse God's creation, messing up all that was proclaimed to be good. True enough. The Bible study leader, a fussy little old lady, further illustrated the point, "like when men grow their hair long and pierce their ears."

Umm . . . what?

First, I'm sure that as soon as God created man, he also created the scissors and told Adam, "hey--make sure to cut your hair when it starts to get long."

Second, men with long hair and piercings are right up there with war and slavery and pollution in the grand scheme of things that destroy the goodness of creation. Right.

I will be taking a lot of notes during these classes. And trying to keep a straight face.

Something to Bite Into

Clara has started eating crackers.

They're an (almost) endless source of entertainment.

This picture was taken on one of her first days with the cracker. I can tell, as I must have gotten a little overzealous, gave her multiple cracker options, with the end result of the child "two-fisting" the crackers.

However, she still doesn't have the pincer grasp completely down yet (putting the thumb and forefinger together rather daintily), so once she's nibbled off the cracker that isn't covered by her palm or fingers, she's out of luck.

Even though she knows there's still plenty of cracker there.

It's tough to be a baby.

What's Going On?

I feel like I've just re-adjusted to being back home after the vacation known as Endless Summer in Indiana. Seriously, when in life does anyone get to enjoy SEVEN weeks of vacation? I'm glad I had my chance. Thanks, Dan and Jo!

In the midst of getting adjusted, Mario's mom and sister came to visit us last week. Lili (Mario's sister) went home on Sunday, as she finally has the possibility of a job. Mago (Mario's mom) will stay with us through the weekend, when we head south. Yes--we're off on yet another vacation! But this time Mario gets to join us for more than 48 hours.

So on Saturday we'll head down the Emerald Coast, otherwise known as the Gulf Coast to Coatzacoalcos, on the southern "tip" of the Gulf of Mexico. Mario's uncle is having a birthday party, which Mario would like to crash. Furthermore, this gives Clara the chance to meet her only living great-grandparent, the 102-year-old legend that is Don Octaviano (Mago's father).

Sometime after Independence Day (next Tuesday and Wednesday), we'll head to Puebla, where Mario has some business to do, and I have some candy to buy and chiles en nogadas to eat. Mario and I met in Puebla 10 years ago, and I haven't been back in 4 years--it's time!

We'll stop to visit Mario's compadre, Rodrigo. Yep, they're more than friends--they're compadres. This means that Mario is the godfather to Rodrigo's son. [Do you have the theme song in your head, too?] Then we'll finally spend some time in Mexico City with Mario's immediate family.

However, if you've been counting days, it is clear that we will wind up in Mexico City around Friday. Considering that it takes an entire day to drive between Mexico City and Saltillo, it's clear that we'll spend maybe a grand total of 48 hours in Mexico City. No, scratch that, as Mario has also decided to visit Metepec, because he thinks we need to buy another rocking chair. Where he thinks it's going to fit in this house, I don't know. The man is a freakshow when it comes to buying furniture. We'll have a grand total of 24 hours in Mexico City. Boo.

This got me to thinking . . . we haven't seen Mario's siblings in about a year, and I'd also like Clara to spend some quality time with Mario's dad. Therefore, I tossed around the idea that Clara and I stay another week. Mario loved this idea, because he now has space to fit that rocking chair in the jeep for the ride home. So the girlie and I will spend an additional week in central Mexico, dividing my time between Mexico City and Morelos, as I'd really like to see my kids, too. I promised them that I'd visit with "my baby", and I don' t know that we'll be back before she starts walking. At which time, she'd no longer be a baby (technically). So off to Morelos, we go!

What a crazy, crazy month! We'll return late on the 28th of September, and don't plan on leaving northeast Mexico again until Christmas. As much as I like to travel, I think this month will push me to my limit!