Abril and Roberto's visit

Abril & Robe visited Juarez for about a week. We had a great time, went out, met with friends, had a few beers... you know... the usual.
Unfortunately, time flies, and a week went by soo fast. They left and ... well ... were still here . more to come.

Rain + Rio Grande=floods

Grande means “big”. Rio Grande means “big river”. Well, this river that divides the US and Mexico hasn’t been really that big in the last few years, but in the last few days, it has grown tremendously due to constant rains (it has rained every day since we got here, go figure!). On Tuesday aug. 1, there was flooding all over the Juarez and El Paso, and the river even overflowed in some areas. Both the Molina and Gamez households are both extremely close to the river (you can see El Paso highways from my house), so we were definitely on the “path of destruction” (a little drama never hurts anyone) in case the river was to overflow. The streets were flooded and cars could barely drive, so my mom had to walk home from work (the water almost to her knees in some areas). My brother and I were home, watching the news and getting ready for disaster (a bit more drama). We got bottled water, candles, blankets, snacks. We gathered up the 2 little Chihuahua dogs in a box and got everything to the second floor. We were ready to jump to the roof if needed (I even wondered: “how am I going to get Huevo up there?”) Thankfully the rains stopped for the night and all the following day, so there was no need to get Huevo on the roof (but there was severe devastation in some areas). Gera thought we made a big fuss out of nothing, but better safe than sorry, right. It rained all night last night, and I am really looking forward to dry, dessert-climate Juarez, not this humid, wet, rainy and hot weather we’ve been getting (hey, I thought we left Indiana more than a week ago!).

OK, so this blog is finally up-to-date (almost)

i've been posting stories from previous days, but today i am finally done posting old files (that I type up on my mac, save, burn, and then copy/paste), but I am done with those, and since I now have internet access, new posts will be more current. Later today or tomorrow, i will post about the floodings we had yesterday (tuesday aug 1), and maybe soon i will figure out how download pictures to this computer (a PC, argh! haha) and post them here. So please, keep reading, and don't forget to email me, or reply to the posts!

NOW WHAT?

After getting our stuff across the border that same afternoon (we loaded 1 van, 1 car and 1 pick-up truck), we’ve settled and rested a bit. We’ve been to the theater (pirate movie), and yesterday we went bowling (first time ever for me! and I even got 2 strikes… is that what its called?). We look forward to Abril and Roberto’s visit this coming Friday, we’re already planning a big bash. That is all for now, but I’ll keep you updated.

AN UNEXPECTED VACATION

Everything started to go as planned: we woke up bright and early and headed out at 5:15 (only 15 minutes later than planned), not bad, eh?. It took us about 1 hr to get out of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex area and we were finally on our way to Juarez (or so we thought). 3 hours into our trip, we heard a loud “pop” sound coming from the car… did Huevo fart?, Did we blow a tire?. No, we blew the transmission. It was about 8 a.m in the middle of Texas, and it was already hot (and it would get hotter pretty soon.) Luckily we were very close to a rest area (about 100 m), and Gera had no problems getting there to call AAA. 2 hours and 3 “good Samaritans” later, we were on our way to the mechanic in Abilene. They wouldn’t be able to check the car until later that afternoon, so we went to a hotel to “regroup” and weigh our options (can you imagine getting Huevo in a taxi?). Go back to Dallas? Rent a truck to tow the car and put all our stuff in? (don’t forget we were hauling a 5x8 uhaul trailer); rent a suburban with a hitch? Finally, many phone calls and 3 different uHaul reservations later, we had a plan: Rent a 14’ truck with a dolly to tow the car. The next morning, we had to do some driving back and forth in Abilene before being on our way (again). The acrobatics went something like this starting at 6:45am: Gera got a cab and went to get the truck; he came back to the hotel and picked up the rest of the crew (Huevo and me); we went to the mechanic, unloaded the trailer and loaded the truck (it was pretty big for the few boxes we had left); Gera removed the trailer from the car and attached it to the truck; we drove the truck to the uHaul center to return it and get the dolly to tow the car; we drove back to the mechanic to attach the car to the truck (with the help of the mechanics). It all took about 2 hours and we were finally on our way (this time for good). After an unexpected vacation in the town of Abilene, TX, and 8 more hours of driving, we arrived in El Paso on Thursday july 27.

BRIGHT AND EALRY!

The next day, we left Bloomington bright and early (of course, one never leaves as bright and early as one plans, at least not in my family; we said 7am, it turned out to be actually 9am). Huevo (our dog), Gera’s brother Gustavo, Gera and I spent nearly 17 hours on the road. It was exhausting! (not to mention hot, cramped, and very boring). We’ll spend a couple of days here in Dallas (where we’ve unpacked part of the uhaul) and on Wednesday, we’ll leave to go to Juarez. We plan to head out around 5am, BRIGHT AND EARLY!. (I’ll keep you posted)

TAPE, BOXES, AND A U-HAUL

First of all, the packing. OMG! Here’s a riddle: how much stuff can you accumulate after 6 year of living in the same town, in the same apartment? The answer: a lot. I started packing around june, being all smart and organized thinking “Martha’s got nothing on me!” Well, that did not help much, and at the last minute, stuff was thrown on boxes that were barely labeled, and I am pretty sure that sometime in two years, when I am unpacking all the boxes, I will say to myself “WHAT WAS I THINKING, keeping all this stuff!?”.
But the packing got done (even as the uhaul truck was being loaded, boxes were still being sealed and stuff was still coming out of the closets). The uhaul truck was loaded as “words of wisdom” from our friends and family (that helped us greatly during this move, to literally move stuff, among other things) were shared. Phrases like “what do you need to keep this for?”, and “what the hell is on this box that its so heavy!” were heard several times, but after many hours of running, cursing, packing, taping, sorting, and crying, the deed was done and the uhaul was locked. We had some beers to celebrate our victory in a nearly empty and half lit living room (there was still stuff to be packed, but surprisingly, the lamps where the first things to go earlier that day).

THE BACKGROUND INFO.

Ok, so I’m starting this blog to keep friends updated about our move, the transition time between Bloomintgon and Zurich, and the adventures that we’ll surely encounter once we get there. I guess it all starts now. Just so everybody is on the same page, I’ll recap on the events that have led to this change, in a solid, concrete and to-the-point list:
-we moved to Bloomington in Aug of 2000, where Gera started his PhD.
-Jazibe began her Masters in 2001, and finished in 2004 (Gera was still on the PhD)
-Gera graduated in May 2006, but did not complete the requirements (finish completely) until last week (july 14, 2006).
-We are now on our way to Zurich, Switzerland via Juarez, Mexico (we’ll wait in Juarez for the Swiss visa) and plan to be there end of august, beginning of september.
So now you know what the deal is, and this story begins with the trip Bloomington-Dallas-El Paso-Juarez.