This is our last night in the US. We’re in Laredo,full of anticipation and trepidation. We’re finally here and it’s difficult to come to grips with. Tomorrow might we’ll be in Mexico, and Saturday night in our furnitureless new home!
Tonite is our last nite in Dallas. Tomorrow, it’s off to Laredo!
We had our last meal here at ’our restaurant’, S&D Oyster Company, where we went on our first date. We even sat at the same table we sat at on our first date. I love Les so much. She has added so much to my life.
The movers came and loaded the truck today. it took 5 lift vans, not the 4 we had been hoping for, but with luck, our furniture will be in Ajijic in only 10 days!!! Hurray!! we’re exhausted!
You know, I could swear that when i asked our movers in Ajijic how long it would take to get the furniture to Ajijic, she said that her boys could do it in 2-3 days. i guess i should have pushed a little further to find out exactly who she meant by ‘our boys’. Now i’m thinking that she meant 2-3 days from Laredo, not from Dallas. I asked yesterday when she thought the furniture would get there, and she said she usually told clients no more than 30 days, usually less. it all depended on the US shipper, and she’d have to get in touch with him to get a firmer number. 30DAYS??!!! that took les and i by a big surprise! we’re sure hoping it would be alot sooner than that. Like maybe 2-3 days! 30 days is too long to be paying for a room in a B&B, so we’ll probably just sleep on an inflatable bed until the real bed arrives.
The dallas movers did tell us it would ship pretty quickly since it was all in lift-vans. that it would take a lot longer if it was just indidual items and they had to find different trucks heading south. i’ll talk with him later today and see what he says.
Come on, i guess we should have realized how silly we were thinking our stuff would be in Ajijic in just a few days. we must have been thinking about what happens when you hire a moving company to move you across country in the US.
Les didnt want to post this – she thought maybe someone would get in trouble if someone in the Mexican governemnt read it. But it’s a story everyone should here.
For months and months now, from the time we conceived this wacky idea of moving to Mexico, we’d known we’d need FM-3 residence visas. But the rules seemed pretty strict. The biggest one was that we had to have bank statements showing we had 3, or maybe 6, months of regular deposits. Over and over, we read blogs and talked to people who said the place to get the FM-3 was in Mexico, and to use a Mexican lawyer because it was too difficult to handle ourselves. I priced a lawyer while i was in Ajijic in august, and it came to something like $350 and was going to take a few weeks to get done.
But MY story. I got my first social security deposit into my bank account last Thursday, October 22. That morning I went down to the bank, asked them to make a copy of the statement and notarize it, and to write a letter for me saying that i would get regular payments from social security. i already had the paper from the police saying i wasnt a felon, and a letter from my doctor saying i was healthy. so i left the bank, drove to the consulate. walked past 300 waiting mexican nationals into the room where the very nice young woman who handled these visas sat, had her help me fill out the application, paid $134, and came back the very next day to pick up my visa!!! I got it one day after i got my first social security payment!
The lesson: Who knows what the lesson is? But for us, getting the FM-3’s in Dallas was a breeze!
Les and I had read over and over that there were import duties on new electronics taken in to Mexico. But we’d never bothered to ask anyone how much.
A few months ago, we got rid of our 12-15 year old rear-projection tv. we just didnt think it would make the trip down there. Best Buy had a great offer on a new plasma set, so we bought it, and a speaker system, and a blue ray player. I’d seen prices for tv’s in mexico, and they were higher than those in the states. so i thought the import duty would be something like the difference or a little more.
NOW I’M TOLD IT’S NOT!! our broker told us to expect 50% duties bringing the tv system across the boarder! That’s a lot of tacos! If we’d made the decision to buy the tv just 3 or 4 months earlier – there wouldnt have been any import duties. And if we’d asked what the duties were just 2 weeks earlier, we would have been able to return it to the store!
So the sad story – if you are going to buy anything – buy it long in advance. if you think you might need to return it, do so before the store’s return limit runs out. We’d only had the tv for 36 days, but Best Buy’s return policy was 30 days from the date on the reciept. We’re just hoping that maybe, for some strange reason and act of God, the import duty won’t be so much.
Groucho Marx said “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
We’ve been giving mega amounts of “stuff” to the CDM (Central Dallas Ministries) thrift shop. There have been a few items that would be considered “iffy” donations. Amazingly, they’ve joyously received most of our donations. They’re a great organization and I’m glad we can be of a little help.
David began cleaning out his studio/office over the past few days. He sold his absolutely gorgeous and unbelievably expensive glass top desk for a mere $43.50 and I sincerely hope the person who is picking it up tomorrow appreciates the find!
Anyway, I digress, David graduated from Yale, spent a good portion of his younger days traveling throughout Europe photographing the most amazing “stuff”. Upon his return to Dallas, he and a friend produced a TV show, he met many interesting and well-known people, was quite the man-about-town, had articles written about him and his exploits, etc. And, even, now, spent time photographing Morgan Freeman just a few weeks ago. He will often say, I played pool with Tom Selleck or had a few drinks with Steven King (and the list goes on), in passing – never bragging for David is a very quiet and humble man. I mention this only because; it may give you a hint into his rather eclectic choices in reading material – heck in lifestyles!
From “Pinup Girls of the 1940’s” to the “Purpose Driven Church”, from various books on erotic art to devotional handbooks that deal with daily events and books on science that would “boggle the mind” to “A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” and on and on. Authors of such stature and interesting writing styles they are discussed to this day in early American and current day literature classes on colleges throughout the world.
When I pulled up to the thrift shop this morning and ran in, I commented to the young man who has been helping me divest ourselves of many of mine and David’s earthly possessions, I’m not sure if all of the books we are donating are appropriate for the shop. As I opened the trunk of the car and began unloading the books his eyes lit up – as did a friend who had come out to help us. As they began looking at the wide variety of “treasures” in reading I heard the following comments: “These are great!” “Oh my gosh, this is an author my girlfriend loves.” “These are some of the best books I’ve seen here in a long time.” And, on and on as we carried them into the shop.
I shared a little of David’s background with the young man and he looked at me “dead on” and said he leads the kind of life I have always dreamed of. I can’t wait to read these books…they give me hope.
If you are going to divest yourself of items that are difficult to let go of….what better way to do it then to give hope to another?
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
This is exactly what David did….when it comes to so many of the things that needed to get done prior to our leave taking. The numerous and lengthy phone calls to various people trying to find out what forms, certifications, notarizations, legal documents and the like need to be obtained to move to Mexico.
The endless hours trying to figure out some way to bring Gilbert (our cockatiel) with us and getting Mandy (our tabby) her health certifications and shots. Insurance for the car, moving inventories (in English and Spanish)….not to mention tracking each and every single item’s serial numbers and model numbers, that have a plug or batteries, on a sheet of paper.
Getting rid of so many “things” and going through so many “things” that were difficult to donate or toss. He kept his spirits up, his sense of humor in tact and his wonderful appreciation for the absurd in force as he tackled item after item on our list.
Today he obtained his fm3 card; much to the surprise of the both of us since we were told it wasn’t likely he’d be able to do so because his social security would not begin to appear on his banking records until after the first check was received. With his birthday in August it seemed highly unlikely that would happen.
Well, David, did not sit back and let things happen – he marched in with flags waving and definitely went out and happened to things…he has his fm3 card (actually picks it up tomorrow) and is ready to roll!!
If I may take a moment, kudos to David for accomplishing what seemed to be the impossible! I don’t think Mexico is quite ready for us however we are ready for Mexico!
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — Mark Twain
And so it begins, David and my great adventure….well, truth be told not the first for either of us but the first for “us”.
The unknown can be somewhat frightening (this whole prep time has been a salute to the unknown). Our list of “have to dos” has grown shorter and most items have entered the “have done” column.
The movers will be here Tuesday to pack (still trying to figure out what to take, what to donate and what to toss). On Wednesday they will pack up the truck and on Thursday we will begin our journey.
I think we are both filled with excitement, trepidation, a little angst for leaving some of our lives behind both here and in Wisconsin – not for good, certainly, but for “now”. Sleep does not come easily, with thoughts colliding and notes being made on a pad of paper set next to the bed.
What were tentative steps at first have become a march to the finish now. To the adventure ahead!!
Richard Bach wrote: “Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.”
I am looking forward to our new adventure in Mexico. However leaving is so difficult. Moving to Texas was extremely hard – leaving my precious children and grand children, friends and family – but I survived.
Now, as my wonderful husband David and I look toward another phase of our lives and the excitement that generates, I think back about the wonderful, life-changing experience I encountered while working at Central Dallas Community Development. To say these people are dedicated to their work is putting it much too lightly. It is a passion that grabs you by the heart and hangs on for dear life. These are people who are making a difference in the lives of the homeless and struggling in Dallas and for that they should receive medals of Honor or, dare I say it, a Nobel Peace Prize for compassion, diligence and fortitude against great odds!! John Greenan and Johnice Woods are CDCDC – the heart, the soul the energy that makes it work.
A goodbye from CDCDC…. http://citywalktalk.blogspot.com/
