We wanted to wait until we were out of Ciudad Juarez to talk about this.
Our second day in Ciudad Juarez, two cartel men were murdered across the street from the house we stayed in. It was during the afternoon, and a man in a car drove by and fired about 6 shots at a car parked on the street. Two men were in the car, and one was killed instantly. The other man started to get out of the car, but the shooter returned and fired another 6 shots at him. The woman we were staying with, Olivia, went outside after the first shots, and saw the second man killed. The shooter just walked back to his car and drove away normally. He was never in any hurry, because he knew that he would not be caught. Olivia called the police, and 15 minutes later armed police officers flooded the street and closed off the block.
Jose was at the consulate picking up his medical exam results. I was upstairs on the computer when the shots were fired. I was not sure if they were gunshots, but they sounded how I imagined a gunshot would sound. I sat for a few minutes, scared to go downstairs. When I did go downstairs, Olivia and Eva were sitting on the couches with their babies. We sat and waited, scared, for about an hour, before Jose, Ruben, Osiel, and his daughter Maria Fernanda returned. I was so shocked, and worried about Jose being out. I wanted him to get home, but I also did not want him being outside, not knowing what usually happens after a murder.
Jose saw the bodies on the street when they came back. Blood was covering the street, but the rest of the time we were there, it was never cleaned up. That night, the murders were on the news. They showed both the bodies, in the car and on the street. It had been easier for me to deal with, because I did not have any image to put with what I had heard. Once I saw the scene on the TV, it was much harder because I knew what happened while I heard the shots. I could not believe that I had been so close to something so awful.
In the middle of that night, more gun shots were fired. No one was hurt, and we were told it was the cartel men warning the neighborhood not to talk to the police. No one did.
We did not hear any more gunshots or violence the rest of the time we were in Ciudad Juarez. Olivia and Ruben were constantly worried about us. There had never been any violence in their neighborhood, and they felt bad that it happened when we were visiting. They offered to take us to a hotel, but we decided that we would rather be with a family in a good neighborhood, according to Juarez standards, that knows the city. Everything was fine after that, and we are still so glad that we were able to stay with them. We do feel like we experienced the "real Ciudad Juarez."
-Emma
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tecoman
We departed from La Manzanilla at 10:30 am on Tuesday, September 8th for Tecoman, which is in the small state of Colima. We took a bus from La Manzanilla to Barra de Navidad, where we caught another bus to Manzanillo. From Manzanillo it took us about an hour on another bus to Tecoman. My mothers uncle, Lucio, met us at the bus terminal in Tecoman. He took us to a little area where people serve hot food-- it was nice to have more than two options of places to eat. We both had a plate of rice and beans with two quesadillas and they were amazing! The cheese in La Manzanilla was disgusting, so we had not eaten any cheese since we came to Mexico. That was very hard on Emma, who loves all cheese, and me, who loves quesadillas. After lunch we caught a taxi to the little colony where his house is located in the outskirts of the city.
My great uncle, Lucio, is very well educated and knows so much more than I expected for a man who only finished the fourth grade. We have spent hours and hours talking about politics, economics, and even a little socialism. Turns out he was part of a socialist group about 18 years ago. He quit after he realized it was too risky, dangerous, and difficult to make a difference. He also said they were liars. He has traveled to Switzerland, Purtugal, Spain, and many states in Mexico.
He lives by himself in a three bedroom house. We are staying in one of the rooms. He has two daughters that live in Switzerland. One of the daughters is married to a Swiss man who speaks German. She is the eldest and can speak Spanish, English, and German. Her husband speaks really good Spanish. My great uncles younger daughter is currently married to Swiss man who also speaks German. She was married to a Portugese man for a few years before her current husband. The younger daughter is visiting with her husband and daughter, and will be arriving Saturday or Sunday this week.
In Tecoman, including my great uncle Lucio, I have four great uncles and aunts from my mothers side. I also have a great uncle from my fathers side who lives just outside of the city. We are going to visit all of them. It will be really nice meeting family that I have never met before. It will also be nice because I will be able to get a sence of what type of man my grandfather was.
-Jose
My great uncle, Lucio, is very well educated and knows so much more than I expected for a man who only finished the fourth grade. We have spent hours and hours talking about politics, economics, and even a little socialism. Turns out he was part of a socialist group about 18 years ago. He quit after he realized it was too risky, dangerous, and difficult to make a difference. He also said they were liars. He has traveled to Switzerland, Purtugal, Spain, and many states in Mexico.
He lives by himself in a three bedroom house. We are staying in one of the rooms. He has two daughters that live in Switzerland. One of the daughters is married to a Swiss man who speaks German. She is the eldest and can speak Spanish, English, and German. Her husband speaks really good Spanish. My great uncles younger daughter is currently married to Swiss man who also speaks German. She was married to a Portugese man for a few years before her current husband. The younger daughter is visiting with her husband and daughter, and will be arriving Saturday or Sunday this week.
In Tecoman, including my great uncle Lucio, I have four great uncles and aunts from my mothers side. I also have a great uncle from my fathers side who lives just outside of the city. We are going to visit all of them. It will be really nice meeting family that I have never met before. It will also be nice because I will be able to get a sence of what type of man my grandfather was.
-Jose
Monday, September 7, 2009
La Manzanilla
We have almost been in La Manzanilla, Jalisco for a week now. It is hot and humid, as we were expecting. The ocean is beautiful and warm. The town is quiet and peaceful, but with little to do.
The tourists and part-time residents do not arrive until mid-October, so the town has not started up for them yet. Many of the stores and restauants have reduced hours if they are not completely closed. We have not found very much to do, and the ladies at the beauty salon who Jose befriended (I´m still not exactly sure what happened there) say that there is not much to do in this town. We do not go out much during the day because of the weather. When we do, we walk into town and do a few errands, and then go home a recuperate for the rest of the day.
Dave Hope´s house is very nice. It is out of town a little bit, so it is quiet, but it is not fun walking to in the dark. It is up a steep dirt road surrounded by plants. There is thick grass growing in the middle of the road, which hides many of the bugs, snakes, and other scary creatures that scare me while I walk past. I must admit, it is a tough and often annoying walk when I am tired at night and sticky from the humidity. The house is four stories, three are separate units, and the fourth is a palapa. I do not go up there, because the stairs are steep and curvy without railing. Jose has, though, and said it was nice. We are staying in the second story, which has a beautiful view of the town and green hills. Two of the walls are open without windows to keep the house cooler. It does help, but the bugs are pretty bad. We have seen many new kinds of life: tarantulas, gecos, flat spiders, huge colorful beetles, bright butterflys, green iguanas, and red wasps that swell your throat when they bite you. The gecos are my favorite, and we have a tiny one that has been in our room everynight. The neighbors have two goats that visit us. They charge up the steep rock wall in front of the house and stumble around 15 feet off the ground. The first time they did it I couldn´t help but freak out a little bit, thinking I was about the witness goat suicide.
The ocean is amazing, but only at night. We went swimming during the day yesterday, for the first time, and it will be the last during this weather. It was great while we were in the water, but when we got out we felt sick from being so hot and sticky. That was one of the times I was annoyed with the road up to the house. Cold showers and cold drinking water fixed us. We are just sticking to night swims. I really can´t complain, because watching sunsets while in warm ocean water is pretty great. It is nice to be able to just walk right into the water and feel comfortable, and stay that way for a few hours without getting cold.
We are looking into visiting some of Jose´s family in Tecoman, Colima. It is about 2 hours from here. There is not as humid, and has 160,000 inhabitants, so we think we may be able to do a little more. Having nothing to do is letting our minds think too much, which we can´t let happen right now. Two months in Mexico is daunting. We are going to do some traveling to keep our minds off all our current uncertainties.
-Emma
The tourists and part-time residents do not arrive until mid-October, so the town has not started up for them yet. Many of the stores and restauants have reduced hours if they are not completely closed. We have not found very much to do, and the ladies at the beauty salon who Jose befriended (I´m still not exactly sure what happened there) say that there is not much to do in this town. We do not go out much during the day because of the weather. When we do, we walk into town and do a few errands, and then go home a recuperate for the rest of the day.
Dave Hope´s house is very nice. It is out of town a little bit, so it is quiet, but it is not fun walking to in the dark. It is up a steep dirt road surrounded by plants. There is thick grass growing in the middle of the road, which hides many of the bugs, snakes, and other scary creatures that scare me while I walk past. I must admit, it is a tough and often annoying walk when I am tired at night and sticky from the humidity. The house is four stories, three are separate units, and the fourth is a palapa. I do not go up there, because the stairs are steep and curvy without railing. Jose has, though, and said it was nice. We are staying in the second story, which has a beautiful view of the town and green hills. Two of the walls are open without windows to keep the house cooler. It does help, but the bugs are pretty bad. We have seen many new kinds of life: tarantulas, gecos, flat spiders, huge colorful beetles, bright butterflys, green iguanas, and red wasps that swell your throat when they bite you. The gecos are my favorite, and we have a tiny one that has been in our room everynight. The neighbors have two goats that visit us. They charge up the steep rock wall in front of the house and stumble around 15 feet off the ground. The first time they did it I couldn´t help but freak out a little bit, thinking I was about the witness goat suicide.
The ocean is amazing, but only at night. We went swimming during the day yesterday, for the first time, and it will be the last during this weather. It was great while we were in the water, but when we got out we felt sick from being so hot and sticky. That was one of the times I was annoyed with the road up to the house. Cold showers and cold drinking water fixed us. We are just sticking to night swims. I really can´t complain, because watching sunsets while in warm ocean water is pretty great. It is nice to be able to just walk right into the water and feel comfortable, and stay that way for a few hours without getting cold.
We are looking into visiting some of Jose´s family in Tecoman, Colima. It is about 2 hours from here. There is not as humid, and has 160,000 inhabitants, so we think we may be able to do a little more. Having nothing to do is letting our minds think too much, which we can´t let happen right now. Two months in Mexico is daunting. We are going to do some traveling to keep our minds off all our current uncertainties.
-Emma
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Second Appointment
Today we found out that my second appointment will be on Wedensday October 28 at 9 am in Ciudad Juarez. At this appointment, I will turn in my waiver along with my forgiveness and hardship packet. I have to pay 545 US dollars in order to have the packet processed. Once the officials make a decision, I will go to a local DHL office and pick up a packet that will either have a Visa or not. The packet will be ready about a week after my appointment, so it looks like, if I am given a visa, we will be able to go home in the first week of November. Let´s hope!
Since our appoitment is a lot later than we expected, we will be doing a lot of traveling. We are excited to get to see some real Mexican parts of Mexico. We have plans to visit Mexico City, Guadalajara, Colima, Tecoman, Oaxaca, and maybe the Yucatan Peninsula. We have to do some more research, but we now have 8 weeks to fill. If anyone has suggestions about other places to see, we´d love to hear them!
-Jose
Since our appoitment is a lot later than we expected, we will be doing a lot of traveling. We are excited to get to see some real Mexican parts of Mexico. We have plans to visit Mexico City, Guadalajara, Colima, Tecoman, Oaxaca, and maybe the Yucatan Peninsula. We have to do some more research, but we now have 8 weeks to fill. If anyone has suggestions about other places to see, we´d love to hear them!
-Jose
Monday, August 31, 2009
Out of Juarez!
Yes, we have left!
Today, after our appointment, we were running around helping Osiel’s family, getting our tickets out of Ciudad Juarez, and saying goodbye to the families. On the way from the consulate, where we were picking up some forms for Osiel, Ruben‘s van broke down. We were at a stop light, and when Ruben tried to accelerate, the van started shaking wildly and did not go anywhere. Everyone was honking and driving around us. Then a man behind us used his truck to push the van. After pushing the van in neutral a short distance, he hooked the van up to his truck with a rusty chain. He then pulled the van through the city for about 15 minutes while Ruben, Osiel, Emma, and I were all riding in the van. Every so often, the van would start to shake again. We went through intersections, sharp curves, and even up some pretty steep hills. We were only going about 10 miles an hour, but the passing traffic was going much faster, as it was one of the main avenues of Ciudad Juarez. It was a pretty nerve-racking experience, and we were tense the whole time, sure that it was one of the most dangerous things we could be doing. The man pulled us all the way to Ruben’s house, and his daughter then drove us to the airport.
Of course, by that time we were already 15 minutes late to check-in. The man who checked us in told us to go as fast as we could through the airport. Luckily we both had running shoes, because she sprinted up escalators and through our belongings into the boxes at security. We checked in at the gate 20 minutes before the flight left, but we did make it.
We are now in Guadalajara, at the bus station’s waiting room. We have three and a half hours until our bus leaves at 2:45 am, 12:45 am in California. There is free internet and purified water, uncomfortable chairs, and disgusting food. But we are safe. We took a taxi from the airport, which would have been a decent price had we paid in pesos, but we only had American money left, and the taxi office used a horrible exchange rate, so it ended up being expensive. The driver was very friendly, a wild driver, and also a complete rip off. He dropped us off at the arrival side of the station, so we had to high-tail it across a rather large parking lot to get to the departure side. We arrived safe and sound, yet vowing to never take a taxi again unless absolutely necessary.
We will be arriving in Barra de Navidad around 9 am, or 7 am in California. We will then take a ten minute bus ride to Melaque, where Betine, the man who cares for Joelle’s house, will pick us up. He will drive us to La Manzanilla, about ten minutes away. Finally, we will have arrived at Joelle’s house in La Manzanilla, where is looks like we will be until mid-October.
Beach, here we come!
-Jose
Today, after our appointment, we were running around helping Osiel’s family, getting our tickets out of Ciudad Juarez, and saying goodbye to the families. On the way from the consulate, where we were picking up some forms for Osiel, Ruben‘s van broke down. We were at a stop light, and when Ruben tried to accelerate, the van started shaking wildly and did not go anywhere. Everyone was honking and driving around us. Then a man behind us used his truck to push the van. After pushing the van in neutral a short distance, he hooked the van up to his truck with a rusty chain. He then pulled the van through the city for about 15 minutes while Ruben, Osiel, Emma, and I were all riding in the van. Every so often, the van would start to shake again. We went through intersections, sharp curves, and even up some pretty steep hills. We were only going about 10 miles an hour, but the passing traffic was going much faster, as it was one of the main avenues of Ciudad Juarez. It was a pretty nerve-racking experience, and we were tense the whole time, sure that it was one of the most dangerous things we could be doing. The man pulled us all the way to Ruben’s house, and his daughter then drove us to the airport.
Of course, by that time we were already 15 minutes late to check-in. The man who checked us in told us to go as fast as we could through the airport. Luckily we both had running shoes, because she sprinted up escalators and through our belongings into the boxes at security. We checked in at the gate 20 minutes before the flight left, but we did make it.
We are now in Guadalajara, at the bus station’s waiting room. We have three and a half hours until our bus leaves at 2:45 am, 12:45 am in California. There is free internet and purified water, uncomfortable chairs, and disgusting food. But we are safe. We took a taxi from the airport, which would have been a decent price had we paid in pesos, but we only had American money left, and the taxi office used a horrible exchange rate, so it ended up being expensive. The driver was very friendly, a wild driver, and also a complete rip off. He dropped us off at the arrival side of the station, so we had to high-tail it across a rather large parking lot to get to the departure side. We arrived safe and sound, yet vowing to never take a taxi again unless absolutely necessary.
We will be arriving in Barra de Navidad around 9 am, or 7 am in California. We will then take a ten minute bus ride to Melaque, where Betine, the man who cares for Joelle’s house, will pick us up. He will drive us to La Manzanilla, about ten minutes away. Finally, we will have arrived at Joelle’s house in La Manzanilla, where is looks like we will be until mid-October.
Beach, here we come!
-Jose
Off to La Manzanilla
At 5:00 pm today, or 4:00 pm California time, Jose and I are taking a plane from Ciudad Juarez to Guadalajara, Jalisco. We will wait for a few hours in a fancy, ticket-holders-only waiting room in Guadalajara before taking a bus from Guadalajara to Barra de Navidad, which is very close to La Manzanilla. We will arrive in Barra de Navidad at 8:00 am, which I think will be 6:00 am in California. We will then go over to La Manzanilla and start our "vacation."
-Emma
-Emma
First Appointment...Good News!
Everything went well, and I am eligible for the waiver! The case number has already been faxed to the attorney, and she will be able to make my second appointment tomorrow! Last time I spoke with her, she notified me that the second appointments are being scheduled for mid October. My attorney will be calling us tomorrow once the second appointment is scheduled. Thank you very much for all the support. Everything is rolling along just like planned!
-Jose
-Jose
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