Hola México!

We made it!

We did some grocery shopping and got the car washed near our hotel in Phoenix, then we drove for a couple hours past Tucson and shopped for perishables (fruits, veggies, and meats) at Fry's. We packed the groceries in around the luggage. Thank goodness for air conditioning. Then we met my new boss, John Dinkleman, at the Safeway in Nogales, Arizona. We then caravanned over the border. I was expecting a huge line with many lanes and customs agents. But we went through another, smaller crossing. When we stopped to talk to the US border patrol, we just had a brief conversation about who I was and where I was going. When we next stopped to talk to the Mexican customs official, Mr. Dinkleman did the talking. The nice young man got the picture of my official status and then said that was fine and sent us on our way.

As we entered the Mexico side, some of it seemed similar to Honduras, some of it didn't. Different: lanes clearly marked on the street and cars stuck to their lanes. They also waited at the traffic signals, including turn lanes! When we turned onto the street to go to our neighborhood, we turned at the Dairy Queen and Papa John's. The neighborhood is fairly nice, without being super rich, per se. And hey! They have street signs. When we got to the house, we sort of recognized it from our Google Street View tour online. But we didn't think this was the house because, although it has razor wire along the top of the fence, it doesn't have a 12 foot high wall -- just a high wrought iron fence.

The consulate staff and "Dink" did a very good job having the house ready for us. We have a welcome kit with mostly brand new items (bedding, kitchenware, TV, etc.), and our UAB (what we shipped from DC) was also waiting for us. They had also set up the cable TV and Internet service for us. Most TV stations are in Spanish, but some are in English. In addition to all that preparation, Liz Dinkleman had given us a welcome fruit and chocolate basket. What a treat! The staff unloaded our car for us, then gave us a tour of the house and security features. Then Dink and Mary and I sat and talked for a while. He offered to take us out for dinner, but we said we were just going to have a light dinner and work on putting away groceries and some unpacking. So we'll probably go out tomorrow. He has been very supportive and encouraging. His family has a house in Green Valley, where his wife and children are living for the summer, and will move back here in time for school. And it's nice to have an LDS boss. We may end up going to stake conference in the U.S. this weekend. He offered to let us spend the night Saturday night, since conference is in south Tucson. We may well take him up on his offer.

Our house here is rather big for just the two of us. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and an office. Downstairs is a living room, family/TV room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, and half bath. There's also a patio that includes a small storage room, and another bathroom (?). Downstairs from that is the carport and a room just off of it that was used as an exercise room.

Overall, the house is quite nice, fairly modern, roomy, and with tile floor throughout. The kitchen is even better than we expected. It's fairly big, with an island/bar in the middle. The refrigerator is fairly big, with water and ice (although we don't know that we will consume the tap water and ice, but will use the bottled water), a new gas stove, and a dishwasher! There are also ceiling fans and air conditioners in nearly every room. And Mary likes the colors of many of the rooms; they're not all off-white. So, although it's a shame we don't have more family here to enjoy these rooms, I think we'll be very comfortable here. The one thing that detracts from the home is the bars on the windows. Not a surprise to have them, but this time they're all on the inside. So it's hard to see the nice windows and blinds. Well, we need something to remind us we're at a foreign post, I guess.

So, all that said, our almost 6 week, 7500 mile journey from Washington, DC, across the country visiting church history sites, visiting each of the children, then south across the Arizona desert to Mexico, has come to an end. Tomorrow we have an appointment at the US Customs and Border Protection office to get frequent traveler passes. Then it's off to the consulate for my first meetings. So it's "buenas noches" to all.