Festival de Guadalajara

I'm a lazy ass.

Last week, we experienced La Marcha Gay de Guadalajara at our doorstep. On Saturday, Avenida Hidalgo lit up (even in this unbearable heat) with the most intense parade I've ever seen. Hubby and I were expecting something kinda small, so I had about 500 condoms made with the Shop Name and bandera to give away. Holy Crap. they were all gone HOURS before the parade even began. Doh!

Not only did the gays emerge, but so did all the transvestites, cross gender, lesbians, and bicurious in guadalajara... all taking part in the festivities. We must have handed out all the condoms and easily about 2000 flyers. We got tired halfway through, and just sat back and enjoyed the show.

Anywhoo, I don't think any description I say will give it justice....

So disfrutanlos.

Buenos Dias.

Bienvenidos. Yo soy Melissa. El es Indio. El es mi sancho....

Today was the first day of Moosecake's spanish class. Dia de Saludos. Dos horas, dos veces cada semana para los siguientes meses....which Little One and I will be sitting in on, esp. when they get to the "pasado" part. As much as I hope this helps her out and catch up next year...sitting in the back of the room.... I suddenly felt 15 years old again. Back in the day, sitting in the back of spanish class...pinche oraciones...If only I would have paid more attention in class. No, there I was, hiding in the back, hanging with my friends, passing...err... notes, flirting with a cute lil homie, who spoke fluent spanish but still managed to fail the class. All that time in high school...wasted. No plans on leaving the country... so why bother.

Oh... but don't think I stopped there. I took spanish again in college. I had the accent down solid and the teachers passed me. Great,then... bummer now.

Daydreaming once again, (damn) a decade later, I'm sitting next to my 10 year old, in wretched spanish class...still fidgeting around, writing my damn blog, *I hope we get a break soon...
Maybe I should buckle down with my 'lil Moosecake and take this seriously. Something tells me that maybe this time, it might be necessary.

Don't fall in and die.

Oh yeah.... one more fantabulous, er...creepy thing....

Hubby and Suegro walked over together to pick up the kiddos from school. The gobierno is en proceso of tearing Avenida Vallarta to shreds, redoing the plumbing, electrical wires, everything in preparation for the some big soccer game next year. Ya heard of it? Anywhoo, the sidewalks were blocked off by some really 'intimidating' cones so that people wouldn't get close and ya know, fall in due to curiosity. There was a guy flagging people by the giant holes, and suegro started joking around. "Don't fall in and die or they'll need to pull YOU out." of course, in the eloquency of espanol, it sounded a lot nicer. The guy, in response, "oh no. They already pulled him outta there." WHAT? "Yeah, they found a body buried and forensics came and took photos and removed his corpse." Wow. Okay. There was a random dead guy buried under Avenida Vallarta in the Centro... for how long? Eww.

Then again, in the Centro, is there anything
normal?



I did get to do another tattoo today. I was a little freaked out because my client was a little jumpy and couldn't sit still... but I managed to clean up the lines and get it done in a timely fashion. What I am even more excited about was the two nipple piercings I had the opportunity to do. I've only done them once and that was about a year ago...on dear ole hubby. This lady requested that I do them. Doh?!? I took it like a pro.... and they came out absolutely perfect. She was thrilled...and so was I... and so was her now horny husband.

Despite my accomplishments, hubby again managed to steal the show. Nah, I'm kidding. He has been a part of a book about Chicano Artists, by Eddy Reyes. It's been going on for awhile, but the section about hubby was never completed after hubby was deported. Well, Eddy sent down a guy for a video interview supplement, photos of his work, and to well, check out the shop. The tattoo shop was full, and vibe was chill, accompanied by a familiar scene... Chicanos...homies...chisteando, pisteando ...some of the things we now really miss. Despite the pressure of watching eyes, hubby managed to pull off a bad ass black and gray piece, "gangsta style", that had everyone in awe. He's really come along way with his art... and I think that we both know that this deportation, as sucky as it's been, has probably helped us more than anything. It helped us recognize our strengths and opened our eyes to our faults. Here's to hoping that things can only get better! Salud!!!

Fantabulous.

Apparently, I am fascinated by windshield washers. And yes, I mean the ones on the street corners ready to jump on the hood of your car before the light turns red. On my way back from the gym this morning, before there is much traffic on the road, I saw a WW take off his bright red Ed Hardy Shirt, Hat, and Nikes, fold them, and place them neatly in a backpack. While he puts on a scrubbed out, filthy shirt and torn up shoes, he took the time cat call (whistle) at a young girl across the street. He rumpled up his hair, scanned the area, and then hid the backpack in some nearby bushes. He was ready for work....

Cabròn. I bet he lives in Bungambilias too.

Still early, I felt like today was the day for awesomeness. My suegro, a campesino at heart, took the bus from León out to Guadalajara to pay us a visit, have some lunch, and then head two and a half hours back home. We picked him up from the bus station around 12. I've noticed here in Mexico, as many of you will agree, the people with money, hate the poor, everyone hates the policia, and well, the less-fortunate, stick together. Now, I wouldn't exactly call the bus station a place where you find alot of money, but I guess there's a first for everything. There is a whole line for cabs in front of the bus station... then a complete second line for pickup. Apparently that was not good enough for one traveler. He pulled up in the cab lane. All the cab drivers told him to move and he wouldn't budge. Security came up and told the guy something about calling the grua if he didn't.... The traveler didn't even give the guy a chance to finish his speech. He rolled up his window mid-speech. Screw that. The security guard called the grua. Grua comes out... then the traveler decides to move, after telling everyone to "ching*...." ALL the cab drivers start whistlin', yellin, making a fuss... and move their cabs to block HIS from leaving. You can only imagine all the hoopla. (did I just say 'hoopla'?)The grua pulls out, up in front, backs in and tows the guys ass outta there. The guy is screamin out his window. It was FAN-TABULOUS!

Only in Mexico.

This was just as entertaining as watching Slumdog MIllionaire for the first time last night with Spanish subtitles.

What an awesome flick.

Besides, fallin on my ass AGAIN today in the shop, I hope you all have an awesome and entertaining day.

Baller on a budget.

After my trip abroad, I was really glad to come home and see the kiddos. HOWEVER, I did realize that there are some ammenities that would make my life in Mexico a whole lot easier. If I am gonna wait 6 months for a haircut in the States, you're damn well sure that I'm trading that for something good. Today I did just that.

After I scrubbed the house down, I "found" 500 pesos in hubby's pants today while washing the clothes with that very popular crappy powder soap. Sneaky me, I jetted off to hubby's work and told him that we needed a few things at the house. He gave me 400 pesos and told me that was it. Fine. Screw this saving money crap... there are somethings that drive me nuts in Mexico. The generic dish soap that turns your hands into sandpaper, the crappy laundry powder that I swear doesn't lift a thing, paper towels that fall apart as soon as you rip them off the roll. I'm over it. If I'm gonna make this work, I'm using what makes me happy...ier.

I headed straight for Costco. I picked up Kirkland Brand Paper Towels, which I guarantee you that will stand up to any kind of work, just like the Viva Towels back home. $235 for an 12 pk. Next,liquid laundry soap from a bottle!!!! That smells yummy! This is a splurge! Dawn dish soap with Vit.E. Trash bags the dog or the roaches can't rip through...and finally me.... a huge bag of frozen mixed berries to make my shakes in the morning and some fruit popsicles for the kiddos, since they were being great. I came real close, but kept it under 900. Phew. Now I can go home and clean the house in comfort.

I guess there really are a few things that I won't, err... can't... live without.

yeah, i did it again.

Sometimes these things seem way more fun than they really are. While searching random MOMMA blogs, I came across this little gem. Enjoy.

1. Age on your next birthday


2. Your favorite color


3. Your middle name


4. Last meal you ate


5. A bad habit


6. Favorite fruit/veggie


That counts, right?
7. Your favorite animal



8. The town you live in



9. The most useful thing in your house


10. Most recent purchase



11. Something that makes you happy


12. Your first name

13. Your last name

Fly away, Fly away.....

Tomorrow I will come back to Mexico.... and I am ready to leave behind my dear friends, good wine, and Trader Joe's. While I am both sad to depart and excited to bring back all my recent finds, I must share with you the last days of my adventure. Hmmm... Trader Joe's was a must on this trip. For about 6 bucks, you can get whole wheat pizza dough, mozzerella cheese bathed in spices and evoo, and a huge basil "tree" for some fresh, homemade pizza... something I have yet not been able to accomplish in Mexico. I cut up some garlic chunks, threw on some roasted garlic tomato sauce, mozzerella cheese and huge basil leaves for about 10 minutes in the oven and had a nice dinner just me and my momma. Throw in some "San Greal" wine and it couldn't get any better. My DM and I shared some laughs, apparently all my faults as well, and had a great time.

I did get to visit my BFF and her gorgeous daughter, who, reminds me of a little Tinkerbell.
After some sushi and an early bedtime for the rugrat... three bottles of wine later, it was as if we had never been apart. Laughing, bullshitting, and well, forgetting all the problems that I will come back to, was.... nice. We did miss our dear hubbies, and kinda got carried away with the camera trying to be super sexy. .Note: Wine apparently tampers with your sexiness.

The next day was wretched. I "watered" quite a few plants, and when my lunch dates, Will and Amber, decide to email those wonderful photos to my hubby...I will gladly explain my post party trauma. Cheese. Take a photo.... fuckers. My inebriated daze carried on through out the day. I picked up a few micheladas from a local guy who remembers dear hubby and used to make them "to-go" just for us and headed to meet my other BFF at the salon we worked at together. Ahhhhh.... to have your hair done. I forgot how good it felt. When we were done and my obnoxious blonde chunk was back in place, I felt pretty again.... not all scrubbish like in Mexico. I put on some red lipstick and we headed out for dinner, a few drinks, and to visit Will's new bar.
Ooohhh... how good it felt to be back home.... able to chat away without confusion, to walk into any store and find exactly what you are looking for in every freakin color of the rainbow, quality items, chill music, and THAAAAAIIIII. I'm a little bummed to be leaving...