criplomats

Last Sunday evening, John and I went to see the ballet folklorico performed by the University of Guadalajara. Once we finally found seats where we could actually see the stage, we really enjoyed it! (No wonder the tickets were so cheap!) The University is supposed to have the best performance, and it was gorgeous – beautiful costumes and lots of foot stomping! Fun!

Thursday night, John and I went downstairs to visit with some of our Mexican neighbors – they were lovely hosts and fun to talk to. Friday after work, we headed to a co-worker’s house for a get-together – a nice way to end the week.

We both have a pretty good idea of what our jobs will be next year, but the official offers don’t come out until tomorrow – so we’ll keep you in suspense! Wish us luck!

Wow!

Tlaquepaque

Indigenous woman with flowers

Puppets

Altar to Diego Rivera

Lovely

Altar to Freida

Skulls

A co-worker’s child

The photo is from John’s speech at the binational center. He gave a great presentation on the election process. I was happy to be able to see it this time. He made a complex process understandable (if you’ve ever tried to explain primaries, caucuses, and the electoral college to anyone, you know how crazy it gets!). Good job, John!

I was particularly busy this week since my boss was visiting the agency in Vallarta. We had a number of special citizen services cases that required a lot of hand-holding (all with good outcomes!), plus our normal heavy workload for passports and citizenship cases. I’m also training a new officer, which is rewarding but time-consuming.

The highlight of the week was finally selling Mom’s house in Hot Springs. It’s been on the market for a while – unfortunately, when we listed it, there were five other houses for sale at the same time (very rare in that lovely neighborhood). But it’s done! I have to admit that while I was glad to not have to worry about it any more, it was very sad to think of how much happiness that house brought her, and that it was one of the last links I have to her.

Mom 2012

Our morning flight took about an hour to get to the island, and the landing strip placed us alongside the ocean. We visited our six prisoners, then the prison director loaded us in a van and spent a couple of hours driving us all over to island to visit the camps and see their work. The prisoners can actually have their families come visit them and spend a week on the island – while they are there, the prisoners stay with the family in provided housing. And get this – some families actually live on the island. When the prisoner is getting close to release, the family may be eligible to come live there. There is even a school for the children to attend and there are several churches, too. It’s really an incredible set-up.

We visited one of our prisoners as he worked with the pigs – he takes care of them, helps with birthing, does castration, etc. – he really loves what he’s doing. He had 200 piglets when we visited, and of course I had to hold one. It was so cute! And amazingly clean. The pigs seem fond of him, too (they’re very intelligent) – he went over to one huge (and I mean huge) male who was all sacked out and started scratching him under his chin, and the pig started making these wonderful noises of pleasure – so funny!

During the week, I had three interviews for potential DC jobs. It’s pretty nerve-wracking because you just can’t tell if they like you or not, and since it’s by phone you can’t see facial expressions. I just have to wait and see.

Friday night I went to a fun party downstairs at our Canadian neighbors’ apartment – good food and good company.

Yesterday I went to the office to try to get caught up on work, so it will be much nicer to walk into a clean desk on Monday!