This last weekend, Joe and I visited the "art center of Guadalajara." It is in a little area on the outskirts of the city called Tonala (Tone-a-la). I hope you like my pronunciation guide on how I say it!  It was so much fun! It was a city were there are little shops set up with people that basket weave, weld sculptures, put together leather crafts, handmade dress shops, handmade pottery, paint, etc. You get the idea. It was all pretty inexpensive. Joe and I got a floor vase that hits my waist for $12. Most of them cost $50 or more in the States. Joe and I also got 3 plants (2 floor and 1 table plant) with pots for $50. A floor plant at Home Depot costs $30. I will definitely have to take my mom. She will think she is handicraft heaven! I was. Joe was a good sport for shopping with me most of the day. We got pretty tired and he never complained! I don't have any pictures of the city. Next time we go, I'll bring the camera.

I think the funniest thing that happened this week was a server at Chili's on Saturday asked us where we were from. Joe told him that we were American, living in Guadalajara. The server said he could tell Joe was foreign because of his accent. Joe then asked what his accent sounded like. The server then told Joe that his accent sounded like a Russian accent! I have yet to meet a Russian foreigner in Guadalajara! Or even HEAR of one visiting. It just made me laugh because Joe had such a stumped look on his face. RUSSIAN?! That's a first. The server said his accent sounded foreign because his pronunciation was very harsh. Joe said it is because he focuses on his pronunciation when he speaks. And so Joe said he can see why it sounds harsh.

Here is one of my favorite videos of Tali this week!



Here are some pics of Tali and Joe.



Look at Tali's face in this picture. I love it.


Joe's a good dad. He loves his little girl. Tali is starting to show a little bit of attitude. She has so much personality. I love it! She likes to talk to Oma (Grandma Jana) on the computer. She is starting to eat EVERYTHING she can get her hands to grab. She hasn't rolled over again this week, but she is getter stronger and stronger. She's starting to grab and pinch cheeks and lips! I have to trim her nails

Joe and I decided to be a little adventurous this weekend. Joe and I tend to like familiarity...so I am not quite sure what got into us. But we found a Guadalajara tourist book while we were still in America, so we decided to go see a "Must See" based on this book. The "Must See" was a rock formation in a pueblo called Tapalpa about 2 hours south-west of us. I think the most memorable part of the weekend was getting lost in a foreign country in the middle of who-knows-where! Tapalpa is a pueblo on top of a mountain. The mountain road was paved but less than ideal. The drive was gorgeous! This country is greener than green! The mountains look more like glorified hills. I am used to mountains that are brown and dry.

A little stress and a few deep breathing exercises later, we finally get to Tapalpa. It is a clean, pretty town. But you are not going to find any Wi-Fi spots or cell phone coverage. To the right is a picture of the town. You can see the Catholic church. Every town/city center or downtown in Mexico is based around a Catholic church. Tapalpa is actually a vacation town. Many wealthy families buy a vacation spot in this city. They go up to Tapalpa to four-wheel. Even though it is a vacation spot, there were some very humble folk that live in town. The meat market was about the size of my closet with the meat hanging up behind the owner of the shop, unrefrigerated. The hardware store was the same way. The streets were cobble stone. There were roosters and hens running around on the streets. People own donkeys. We were far away from any grocery store. It was a place where meat, bread, produce, etc were all sold in separate stores. There was no one-stop shop. The shoe store consisted of one small shelf with a selection of ten pairs of shoes!

First thing we do when we get into town is go see this rock formation. I would have to admit. I was a little disappointed. It wasn't anything like this book described. But the scenery was breathtaking and it felt good to get out of Guadalajara. After walking around the rocks for a short bit, we decide to head back into Tapalpa. I had to use a bathroom. Well, it was quite difficult to find a place with a public bathroom. There definitely wasn't a McDonald's. And the nearest gas station was about 10 miles out of town. But after about 15 minutes of driving around and on the verge of using a bush, we found a park with public bathrooms. What an adventure! Next time we go to a remote town, I'll have to remember to bring toilet paper.This is what Tali thought of all the fun we were having! After using the restroom and driving around a little more. We decided to head home.

Tali's highlight of the week is that she has rolled over from her stomach to her back! She has only done it a few times. She has such a surprised look on her face afterwards. She doesn't intentionally roll over yet. It is mostly because she pushes up her big head of the ground and gravity does the rest.

Well, that's about it for this blog. I'll try to post more pictures of Tali own our next post. Hope all is well with everyone! We miss you all.

Not much exciting happened this week. We took some fun pictures of Tali. Here are some of them:

One of Tali's many bad hair days. I love her expression in this picture. It's a classic Tali face!
This is my favorite picture of the week. Dad was messing with Tali's hair and she kept making funny faces, so we snapped some pictures. This was the best one. It makes me laugh every time I catch a glimpse of it!

Then Dad offered to wash Tali's hair while I held her in the bath. So we all know what Dad's do....he instantly decided to mold her hair into a mo-hawk, took a picture and then let mom finish washing her hair. Dad's are always come up with the fun goofy stuff!
Dad messing around some more.I took this picture to show how big she is getting. She is getting too long for her car seat! I can't believe how tall she is. She is able to see bright colors now. Whenever I wear a bright colored T-shirt, her eyes are drawn to it. She also loves her bright red elephant. You can just see her discovering new things. It is exciting as a mom to see your kid developing. So here's a little bit about our week:

Joe and I decided to go out Friday night. We had heard that traffic gets bad on Friday and Saturday nights, but we decided to test it out. We were waiting at an intersection to turn left. It was a single right turn lane. Typically, you would see a single car line, right? And you always pull behind the car that was there before you. So Joe and I pull into the right hand lane and see two cars side-by-side with their blinker on to turn right. We both were a little confused and just laughed a bit.

Joe was just talking out loud and said he wanted to see someone else try to fit into this turn lane. Right after he said that, we saw this suburban pull up beside the red car with his blinker on. We couldn't believe it.

So, of course, we think what if a fourth car tried to pull up in front of everyone to turn left. And naturally, right after Joe said it, another sedan pulled up in front of us with his blinker on.No one would ever get away with this in the States. Even if you tried to do this and didn't get pulled over, you would have lot's of angry drivers honking at you. No one got angry and their was no honking. It just seemed normal. This is just how you drive in Mexico! I don't know if I will ever learn to drive like this because it goes against everything I was taught in driving school.

Saturday night, Joe and I went just down the street to Blockbuster video. We went in our sweats. I think most of us have been guilty of going to the video store very casually dressed, right? Joe and I felt stared at! In Mexico, people tend to overdress for everything. Women tend to wear high heals everywhere! It is an economic status for them. Even though our sweats were nice, newer and clean, it is still considered lower class to wear your sweats out in public. It is an interesting mentality to have. It is hard to explain. In any society, you have people that want to appear richer than they are. But in Mexico, it seems more dramatic because you have a big gap between the rich and the poor. There is a lot less middle class than in the States.

Joe was also informing me that in Mexico, it is hard to fire employees. By Mexican law, an employer is required to pay an employee's salary for a full year if that employee is fired. The only exception to that law is if the employer brings the case to court to explain that there was a reason for the termination of employment. Joe says, because of this law, it is really hard to find employment here. Employers get scared to hire just anyone because if they can't just fire anyone. I thought this little fact was fascinating. Joe also says, he can ask anything in his interviews. In America, an employer can't ask questions such as; what is your religion, are you married, what's your sexual orientation, etc. But in Mexico, anything is fair game!

That's about it for this week. Joe goes out of town Monday through Wednesday. It will just be me and Tali for 3 days. I sure hope she has three good days! I guess you'll have to check out the blog next week to see how it goes! Love you all!