not so accuweather

Up here in the highlands the weather can be changeable, so we don't come here expecting tropical conditions. Last time we were here we were plagued by numerous frente frios (cold fronts) that meant we needed hot water bottles and blankets rather than sombreros.

That's why we are so keen on checking the weather forecast - it always pays to be prepared. However, the only online weather data comes from a company called Accuweather which appears to be being run by the world's biggest pessimist.

So far it has predicted three to four days of heavy rain every week, and we've had I think about three minutes of rain the entire time we've been here. There have been serious weather warnings as well, but the days remain sunny with occasional wind (must be the frijoles).

There is flooding elsewhere in Mexico and clearly Accuweather cannot cope with St Cristobal's microclimate. Neither can we, since every morning we get up prepared for the worst and are never ready for better weather.














Yesterday (Sunday) we went to church with the Hernandez Hernandez family (so good they named them twice) who are friends of ours originally from the indigenous community of La Era. We woke to clouds and dressed the girls accordingly. By the time church had finished and we decided to walk up the St Cristobal hill with the family it was boiling hot and I was trying to slather everyone with sun screen.

Daisy does not like wearing her hat, especially when no-one else does. However, as people point out in the street she is 'guerrita' (a little white girl) and so she does have to put it on. I still find it amazing that passersby do feel free to comment on our colour - you wouldn't find that in the UK. Daisy is routinely so grubby, however, that it is a miracle anyone notices what colour she is.













After church and the punishing hill climb, during which Daisy demanded to be carried approximately every five minutes, we went out for tacos with the family to our favourite and much missed taco place, Salsa Verde.


















Tacos Al Pastor (my favourite) are basically marinated pork and pineapple served on small tortillas with associated taco accompaniments such as tomato, coriander and salsa. Daisy ate tacos with bits of onion reasonably enthusiastically until she spotted the children's play area. She spent some time on see-saws with some of the kids who sell things in the market, who were being treated to tacos by some local gringos.

Then, once the kids were shepherded away she managed to entice the Hernandez Hernandez teenagers to come and join her instead.











This is a family which works hard. Manuel, the dad, sells hamburgers for a living and Augustina washes clothes. It was good to have some fun with them on their one day off and we enjoyed sitting in the sun eating icecreams and chasing Daisy around. Church was fairly epic however, even though we arrived late.




















Daisy and I went to Sunday School and learnt about Zaccheus (a small man - a bit like most of the congregation) and then watched an enthusiastic game of blind man's buff. Clover disappeared with the teenagers and we didn't see her for half an hour. The only time she cried was when someone had the temerity to wipe her nose.

Cecy and Lucia are going to babysit for Daisy later this week, and I'm confident that she now knows them well enough not to be afraid. And we get a night out. Hurray!

Playpark of fear

We had hoped to get out of the city this weekend, but were stopped by a party of striking teachers. Even the NUT would never have dreamed of blocking the main motorway into a city so that no-one could get in or out.

Anyway, as compensation and as a treat for Daisy we decide to go to the Parque Infantil on the edge of town. It sounds ideal, but we quickly realise that even the laxest of British parents would find the place a little hardcore.

For a start, instead of being built of childfriendly wood chippings and coloured plastic, the Parque Infantil is made of concrete and metal. The slides heat up as soon as the sun gets on them and Daisy quickly adopts the hard rollerskating park as a good running about place - she's lucky she has any skin left on her knees at all.

What is more, the Parque appears to be built for giant children. The slides are around twelve foot tall and Paul has to go up them with Daisy while I catch her at the bottom. Since she knows no fear she has a great time.















This being Mexico, everyone has their own little business even in the municipal playpark. There's a woman with a trampoline (no net, on the solid ground) which Daisy goes on with Pablo and Itamar. They are too scared to let go of our hands but Daisy likes to scare us.

Then there's the plastic cars with small motors in that can be driven around for ten pesos for ten minutes. Daisy and Itamar demonstrate no aptitude for driving, but Pablo is rather good at it. Daisy makes up for this on the bouncy castle despite the young boy who is determined to hug her to the ground every five minutes.














We return somewhat sunburnt after a few hours in the park of terror. Daisy is exhausted, and so am I.

maternal guilt

Clearly it wasn't just the 50 kilos of luggage that we brought with us to St Cristobal. My maternal guilt also travelled with us in the suitcase and it has been kicking in big time.

Firstly there is Clover, who spent the first few days here being thoroughly miserable and not sleeping. It's hard to say whether she was teething, jetlagged or just hating Mexico, but whatever it was it did not have a great effect on my psyche.

Thankfully she is back to being her usual happy shouty self, which makes me feel a whole lot better about things - the amount of sleep I'm getting helps too! She is still refusing to roll over, but likes the baby walker we've borrowed from Mariet (she can't actually walk anywhere because it has a wheel missing but at least she's upright) an is eating prodigiously and giggling like a loony at all and sundry.















Then there's the tricky business of leaving Daisy at nursery. That's hard enough when your highly articulate child is able to communicate with her teachers, but when they speak not a word of English it's far more difficult. Especially when she's screaming "I don't want to" at the top of her voice, which I think everyone understood despite the language barrier.

I spent most of this morning wracked with guilt while we left Daisy for her first morning at the nursery school. When we returned she was quite happily playing and had done painting, cutting out and eaten several tortillas. She's now so addicted to them that when I ask her what she wants for lunch she wants "tillas" above pasta, which is high praise indeed.

It helps that there's a half Canadian girl in the nursery who is bilingual. The class Daisy should be in consists of three boys, so Daisy is in the older class instead with the five year olds, who are looking after her wonderfully. We're so proud of her... and she's learning more Spanish all the time. She likes to shout "adios" at everyone in the street - luckily it is used as a greeting here so she isn't just shouting "goodbye" at everyone.

















She's also getting far too accustomed to getting taxis everywhere, and every time we step out onto the pavement she shouts "where's my taxi" and tries to flag down passing cars. Since cabs cost £1 a ride here it's a luxury we can afford when her feet get tired, but she'll have to get used to London buses again when we get back to the UK.

When I've not been feeling guilty about the kids we've been revisiting friends and old haunts. The chocolate seller is still here (thank goodness) and remembers us far too well. I think we were his best customers! We've also been catching up with the Hernandez Moshan family.

The girls, who used to babysit for Daisy, popped over while we were doing bedtime the other day. They seemed a little confused by "hairy maclary from Donaldson's Dairy" - they may have studied english for years at school but they can't speak a word. Daisy refers to them as "my ladies" in a most proprietorial way, so I think there is some recollection there.

We've also visited their dad, Manuel, who runs a hamburger stall by the bus station. We'll see the rest of the family on Sunday when we're going to take them out for lunch after church. Their church involves hours of dancing so it should be quite a workout for all concerned.

Having Daisy at nursery leaves us better equipped for shopping at the market. She might be the same height as most of the ladies there but it would still be easy to lose her so it's quite stressful to shop with her. Today, with just Clover, we spent around £7 on the most wonderful cornucopia of fruit and veg, along with some chicken for dinner.












Daisy and Itamar then spent most of the afternoon immersing themselves in water on the balcony. It's been extremely hot here and very bright and sunny, but at least the balcony has some shade. They've been using the plastic bath we bought for Clover as a paddling pool and that, along with some dishes, some plastic people and a tea set, kept them quiet for most of the afternoon without too many tears or too much translation. At least that isn't something Daisy could do at home at the moment, and she loves it so much it assuages my guilt a little.

Catching up

It's been a hefty few days for my Spanish. Sunday afternoon saw us at lunch with friends Mariet and Enrique and the rest of the family. Daisy used to play with Pablo and Itamar, their two children, when we were here before, and she didn't let the language barrier get in the way with making friends again.















While I struggled away with trying to referee the children in two languages, Itamar and Daisy compared dollies and wheeled them around in shopping trollies, and Pablo and Daisy shared some time on a tricycle. She clearly has some recollection of Mexican food since she asks for tortillas enthusiastically and has eaten more grilled chicken than I would have thought possible.













Clover was also keen on the tortillas and enjoyed a sleep in a shawl over Mariet's shoulder, Mexican-style.




















We've spent time with Eneas and Mari and family, and went for lunch with them today. Daisy enjoyed running around with their grandson, Jeremias (who she calls 'Mias) and wanted to sleep in his bed! They played ball and even played hats - it made me realise how much she needs to play with other kids now, so we need to make sure she has plenty of time with them.













Clover, meanwhile, has been wowing the market stall holders with her blue eyes, and wowing her parents with her ability to stay awake all night. While we are propping our eyes open with matchsticks, she is flirting with all and sundry.















We all enjoyed a trip to the market this morning where we bought a fruit we've never heard of before called Piñuela. I don't recognise quite a lot of stuff in the market, so it's nice to try something new. A lot of it is very specialist - I've just googled this particular fruit and it turns out to grow here and on the Yucatan peninsular. It is related to the pineapple and tastes a bit like rhubarb. That's a lot of new information for 50p for a large tub.

First days

I can't quite believe that this time last week we were at church in Forest Hill, and now we're sitting eating mangos at the rickety old kitchen table in our apartment.

So far some things have been going very well. Daisy has recovered well from the triple whammy of a twelve hour flight, jetlag, and a recent MMR jab. She's sleeping through, enjoying "children's beebies" which is what she is calling the Discovery Kids cable channel. She doesn't seem to care that some of her old favourites like Lazytown are now in Spanish instead of English. In fact, the Spanish does not phase her too much - she always answers in English but I realise how much she goes by inflections and body language rather than actual words since she has a good grasp of what is going on.




















We've enjoyed trips to the zocalo (like a town square) where we bought Daisy a balloon turtle for a pound (not as good as the baby Jesus, obviously, but she seems to like it). She is thoroughly grimy most of the time (as is Clover), and I am slightly ashamed to see that she is dirtier than the kids who beg and sell things around the craft market, who are all beautifully dressed. It can only be a matter of time before someone gives her money. I am trying to stop her eating snacks off the floor, but it feels like a losing battle.
















People even remembered us in the market, although some clearly have very little sense of time passing because they thought Clover was Daisy. We bought beautiful fruit and veg and mostly managed to stop Daisy tumbling the fruit on the floor. Daisy is enjoying being able to have strawberries, mango, melon etc every day, and Clover is chomping through avocado and banana. Daisy also likes tortillas, which is a relief!















Daisy is not scared of the skeletons, which are everywhere, and is currently obsessed with a large papier mache La Catrina skeleton which stands outside one of the shops. We have to cuddle and kiss her every time we go past.




















What Clover has not been doing, however, is sleeping. We've had several rotten nights with her. Unfortunately she clearly finds jetlag harder than her sister, and is not happy going down in her cot. Last night was much better so we are hoping for improvements now. Daisy sleeps through it, in the same room, which is amazing. She copes well with the myriad night noises (dogs, loud Spanish, and the ubiquitous fireworks). Clover turns six months today, but is still disinterested in rolling over. She sits up well, eats prodigiously and giggles and shouts so I'm not too worried.




















Last night our friends Enrique and Mariet came round with their kids... It was lovely to see them, although our girls were in bed so they haven't met Clover yet. We're trying our best to get the girls settled so not too many exciting trips and late nights yet! I mostly coped with the Spanish, although trying to explain homebirths and maternity leave proved too much, especially since Enrique used the word Incapacidad about my leave. I may be tired, but I'm not incapacitated!

What has been really interesting is that Daisy seems to remember that she has been here before. Yesterday she asked where her chair with the straps was, that she had on the chair here before (like a booster seat) and she has also asked for Grandmere, who stayed here with us last time we were here. Obviously it is just familiar images rather than total recall, but I am sure it has helped her to settle quickly. She's supposed to start nursery tomorrow so I hope the settling goes well there too.

Mexican toddler tantrums

Believe me, travelling with toddlers is a whole new kettle of fish. Daisy expresses much of her frustration with life on the road in a series of fantastic tantrums about... well.. not very much really.

So far we've had:



1. I want to go to Mexico.

Ten minutes of screaming in the middle of the girl guide gardens in Our Cabana, because she refused to believe that we were already in Mexico. Her screams of "But I don't want to be here, I want to go to Mexico" aroused a mixture of pity and amusement from the lovely guide volunteers, and exasperation from me.

2. Daddy's not working, he's just talking

Daisy did not enjoy Paul's fundraising workshop, in fact, she just couldn't see the point. Despite being provided with a lot of craft stuff and paint during paul's talk, she really wanted to join in, and couldn't see why Daddy wasn't paying her any attention. Given that she has, when asked, revealed that she thinks that when Daddy goes to work he does digging, and when Mummy goes to work she does sleeping, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.

3. Why won't you buy me the baby Jesus?















This morning's fantastic effort on our first day in St Cristobal, over breakfast in a nice restaurant. Daisy spotted a sort of altar which contained a baby doll Jesus in a variety of fantastic clothes, surrounded by an array of small clay animals. Despite my promises that we could buy her some clay animals she was still very annoyed that she can't have a Baby Jesus of her very own. The staunch catholics here would be horrified.

I realise this is not putting a good spin on our time here so far. Mostly the girls have been amazingly good, but travelling is hard on them. The two days in Cuernavaca were lovely but a bit unsettled, and yesterday was a whole day of travelling (taxi, bus, plane, pick up from Enrique at Tuxtla airport). Then there is the fact that Mummy and Daddy keep speaking a funny language. Daisy is getting good at this already. She can say Gracias, Hola, Adios, and managed to complete a number sequence with cinco (five) when I was counting steps up to the coach with her yesterday.















We are now in the flat where we will stay for a while. It is the same place as we were in last time and Daisy seemed to recognise it and did really well last night. She didn't cope well with our evening trip to our friend's opposite for basic provisions. They own a shop, but obviously this wasn't just a quick trip for bread and milk, it involved a whole saga of tacos, sweet bread, coffee, tea and lots of cuddles for the very tired girls. Daisy just kept looking at me and saying " but I want to go to bed". She is much better now.

Clover, however, was not so keen on bed last night. Paul had an early (very early) morning trip around the streets of St Cristobal with her. I can't believe we're really back, but the bright sunshine and colours in the streets are invigorating. Today we must get to grips with the market and buy all we need to live here.

Cuernavaca

I'm writing this at 7am, Mexican time, while Clover sits on the sofa trying to ingest a large plastic crocodile. Daisy and Pabs are still asleep.

We're in Cuernavaca, just outside Mexico City, at the Girl Guide World Centre Our Cabana. Paul's got some work to do here, including a fundraising workshop to run tomorrow (he's the Fundraising Manager of the Girl Guides World Bureau). I shouldn't imagine that it's a usual tourist stop, but it's rather wonderful. They've given us a fantastic apartment, which has a bath and a packet of Tetley Tea, which are two things we aren't going to see for a while, and Daisy is enjoying running around the site, which is safe apart from an unfenced swimming pool (very cold) and has lemon and orange trees which she is very excited about.















The flight here (just mistyped fight, which is rather appropriate) actually went ok considering. We nearly missed it, typically, while faffing around in Giraffe having a meal and buying slightly naff UK themed gifts (London eggcups anyone) in the Glorious Britain shop. Daisy decided she wanted a beer because she was a big girl, but couldn't be persuaded to ask the air hostesses for her 'big girl beer' once on the flight, because she was a little shy.













Twelve hours on a plane with two children is a long, long time. We're grateful to Auntie Bel for her presents for Daisy. The modelling clay passed a good half an hour (and thankfully was not confiscated at security), as did the mini painting set.By the time we left there were stickers all over the seatbelt, and plasticine all over the tv set. Sorry BA.














The hostesses were kind, and Daisy ate more snacks than you can possibly imagine, and some of her children's meal. Clover discovered her inner flirt and eschewed sleeping in favour of shouting loudly (she's also just discovered how to shout BAH BAH BAH) and then smiling and cooing at complete strangers. She slept for a total of two hours and Daisy for a total of four. Not enough, really.

Tiger Trunki came into his own at the airport, as we wheeled Daisy around to the amusement of other passengers. Daisy staged a good strategic tantrum at immigration when she wanted to enter the country by running past all the security without Mummy and Daddy - that got us rushed through, but it was still an hour before we got out and through to Hotel Aeropuerto, the local untrendy hotel.















Here we discovered the delights of four in a bed (that sounds a lot more exciting than it actually was). Clover, it emerges likes to sleep, in a starfish shape, and jetlag meant a 3am unscheduled story and playtime while we tried in vain to explain why it was still dark outside.

But actually, both girls did very well, and also survived the bus trip to Cuernavaca. Daisy still insists we are not in Mexico, however. Every time we try to convince her she flatly denies it. We are worried that she sees Mexico as some wondrous mythical land and this will not end up matching her expectations. More prosaically we have some toys with us 'for Mexico' and have not undone them yet. Maybe that is all it will take.

So here we are for two nights (last night went ok) with our Tetley tea, our flirting children, and enough luggage for a small army. It won't be this warm (around 28C) in San Cristobal, but we are enjoying it while we can. I've attached some pictures so you can see what we did...