Ok...

So here goes, since I know I owe a post of last weekend, last week and this weekend, I will try my best to get it all done before the kids wake up. Last weekend wasn't very eventful. We went to the City of Mexico on Saturday for a birthday party. It took 3 hours to get to the house because it took almost an hour or so to get to the city, an hour to get across the city and an hour to find the house. We got very lost, which was find with me cause I got to see all the pretty houses of the city. There are many houses there where rich people live that are very beautiful. Nadine got very worked up about being lost and wanted to get home. She gets very worked up about everything, I mean EVERYTHING. I think that's the one big problem I have, because she is always asking "I'm right, no?" and what am I supposed to say. She's also very critical. It makes me sad to know the kids will most likely grow up just as critical as her.
It's hard watching kids who are not yours for the majority of their time at home. These kids are the spoiled kids you see throwing a fit in the supermarket with no one trying to do anything about it except the nanny and the parents kind of just stand there waiting. And then they buy them chocolate cokies and the yogurt drink they want and the flan and a toy and wonder why their kids are always throwing fits and never eating. Maybe it's because the minute they cry you give them what they want, so they don't even bother asking, they go straight to whining, except with me cause I won't let them. And maybe they'd eat better if you weren't constantly giving them sweets and bottles of chocolate milk. But that's just an observation. Maybe it's not that at all.
Anyway, this past week was ok. The kids were home from Wednesday on and Nadine went on a trip to Costa Rica Thursday night to Saturday morning. We didn't do anything too special. Wednesday after school we met some of their classmates parents and classmates at a restaurant. It was a little boring because no one was really talking or anything, so I went and played with the kids. At least they were having fun on the playground that looked like it might fall and kill them, but hey, fun...right?
This Sunday I went out on my own for the first time. I got a new cell phone at the mall last weekend, so I had all the numbers I needed. I headed out of the plaza where we ate breakfast and went across the street to the Muros cultural center. They had all this really cool modern art. I really liked it, especially the art that was there from the Down Syndrome initiative. I can't remember the name of the society, but a man decided to teach Down Syndrome patients to use art to express themselves, and they are really good drawings. Especially the ones in linoleum.
I really liked looking at all the art, but I still don't really understand it. I mean I understand it expresses something. But I feel that a bit of that expression is taken away hanging it on a white wall devoid of creativity. In the room with the Down Syndrome paintings there was a large mural done by Diego Rivera. That was really cool. It covered the whole ceiling and halfway down the walls. I felt that that helped me appreciate the art more. there were also two really nice photographs in another room but I can't remember the artist's name. However, the museum was free so perhaps I will go back at some point.
After the art museum I went to the grocery store to get a few things and then headed off to walk to the center of town. I got really lost, and ended up walking into the big market that they have in Cuernavaca. I bought a pair of flip flops cause my others smelled really really bad and then I went to look at the other things. It reminded me a lot of the market in Thailand that we went to, although it was a bit smaller and more confusing. It took me an hour to find an exit, although I got to see a lot. The people there were not too pushy. They called to you to ask about prices, but if you ignored them or said no they left you alone.
Finally, I found my way out of the market and walked some more until I sort of came upon the center by accident. I got myself an ice cream because It was really hot and I was kind of tired. I went to the old palace which was filled with a museum. It was $3 so I went in and looked at the things. they had really cool stones carved by the different Indian groups from before the Spanish conquests. I had seen many pictures of stone like them, but never one in real life. I really wanted to touch them, but I think it's prohibited.
In the upper half of the museum they had colonial artifacts. I looked at them, but not well because it was like an oven upstairs in a brick building with wood floors and no air conditioning. So I breezed past most of the things, but I got the idea. I've seen colonial things anyway. But it was sort of interesting seeing Spanish vs. British colonial things. The Spanish things were, well, very Spanish. And I can say that cause I've been to Spain and seen their things.
I took a taxi home. You have to call for a taxi, which intimidated me for a minute, but it was ok. My cell phone is clear and I can hear what they are asking well. Sometimes when I talked on Nadine cell phone I couldn't hear anything anyone was saying. But on mine I can, so everything worked out ok.
I came home tired, but they hadn't even eaten yet. So I helped with the kids and the food and the kids bath after that and finally got to bed at 10 o'clock or so. Now I'm just waiting for the kids to get up to start my day.

Much love,
Jenn