One year ago...

It's been a year since my initial Visa appointment in Juarez. I can't believe how fast time has gone by yet felt so slow living it. After I got home it took me a while to realize that I was really back. I think the moment it hit me was when I went to the yearly festival that they hold each year here in town. The familiarity of it all brought back a sense of being home.

Since I got back from Mexico I have gotten most of my paperwork done. Got my SS# and I will be doing my driving test soon. I even got a job! I have only worked there a week but it has been such a great experience. It's like my little secret. No one knows why I am so happy all the time at work. I wish I could tell everyone how grateful I am just to be back, let alone working.

I am working on getting a loan so I can start a nursing program. I want to become a nurse and then one day go back to mexico and help out over there. For now though... I am taking things slow. This past year has been like a woken dream and nightmare. I never realized how much I could go through. I am glad for the experience though. I wish you all luck if you are just starting out. There is an end to this....

-Roby

What I've learned:
There is no greater feeling than earning your own money.

Home...

So much stuff has happened that I will be making this into a diary type of entry... lol

seeing my sister again after 9 months!

8/21/12:

Only after a day of me being back from juarez my little sister came over to visit! I showed her around Rosarito and she had a blast. She thought she was in paradise (she LOVES the beach). We also stopped to get some groceries and look around the little stores that they have there. I ended up buying her a really pretty summer dress and a big poster of Marilyn Monroe because she loves her. We had a nice day and night talking about our shared memories about our childhood. She is going to be eighteen now and I shared with her a lot of my memories of our father and why I wasn't his biggest fan. It was really nice spending time with her.

Now that is a burrito!

My sister Mariel enjoying the view of my apartment.

8/22/12:

I woke up to the news that my Visa was in transit! it was on it's way to Tepic, Nayarit! I started freaking out and tried to get a hold of DHL for them to re-direct it again but no luck... It's "sensitive information" and they can't re-direct it without the consulate giving the "Go". I called Juarez and they told me to call the DHL, I called DHL and they told me to call Juarez... In the end after talking to my husband we just said fuck it and bought two plane tickets for me and Mariel (sister). The next morning we where on our way to Guadalajara.

8/23/12"

Mariel and I woke up early and got ready to take the plane to Guadalajara. The "fun" started as soon as we walked into the airport. I had forgotten that Mariel needed a tourist visa and the line was HUGE. So we where going to check in our luggage then wait in line when the lady told me that my bank did not authorized the purchase and my flight had been canceled. I ended up using two ATM's in order to get enough money to buy two more tickets for the next flight. We got mariel her tourist visa and we where on our way. Now we didn't have tickets to come back so we would have to buy tickets when we got to Guadalajara. Then we had the bus tickets to worry about from Guadalajara to Tepic and from Tepic to Santiago.

on our way to Guadalajara

She has no idea what's coming to her.

Damn ATMs!

When we finally arrived in Guadalajara we asked how much a taxi would cost to take us to the bus station (270 pesos!) ugh.. well I had to pull out more money but I was already maxed out for the day! I ended up exchanging $100 USD to Pesos then using all the ATMS that I could in order to pull more money out. We got the tickets then we where on our way to Tepic. It was raining like crazy! I have been on a lot of buses in mexico but I had never been on a bus during a thunderstorm. Once we got to Tepic we called my mom to tell her that we where fine. Turns out my husband noticed me taking money from different ATMs and told my mom and she started freaking out because she thought we had been kidnapped and the kidnappers made us pull out a lot of money. After calming her down and telling her that we where fine we took the bus to Santiago. Once we go there my aunt and uncle where there to meet us!

As soon as we got off the bus I had horrible flashbacks of the weather in nayarit. It was raining warm water and it was humid and hot. I looked at Mariel and laughed because she was in for a hell of a surprise.

8/24/12

After a horrible night of thunder storms and bug bites, -oh and mariel waking up screaming in the middle of the night because she had a bug on her face- we waited around for my uncle to get home so he could take me to Tepic, it was still raining and I did not want to take the bus again! Finally he got home and we went to Tepic to pick up my visa!

Visa in hand!

it would not stop raining!

After we got back to my aunts I showed Mariel around town and a guy selling Churros. Mariel by the way was already ready to go due to the crazy amount of mosquito bites we both had (and still have scars). I told her that it would be fine, My aunt had told us that the next day they where taking us to a river!

8/25/12:

There is a river by San Blas that is really nice to go swimming in. There is a hot spring and the water is so warm you feel like you are in a Jacuzzi. I thought I was going to get a chance to Tan but... Once we got there it started pouring rain! I love the rain and was more happy in the rain than in the river. My aunt told us that the next day we would go visit my moms oldest sister so Mariel could meet her.

I love the rain...

8/26/12:

After we woke up Mariel counted the bites on my back (32)... it hurt.. a lot. Later in the day we went to visit my moms oldest sister and she was really happy to see us and meet my sister for the first time. Her daughters (my cousins) made us food and we had a nice time talking to them. -I did not have any internet this whole time by the way.

8/27/12

Our last day in Nayarit was nice, I took Mariel to Santiago so she could look around where I was born because the next day we where going to have to travel back to TJ. She loved meeting the family but the weather and humidity where horrible. Not to mention we where covered in bites.

8/28/12:

We said our goodbye's to the family and promised to return soon. I think Mariel had her fingers crossed when she said that though. We once again traveled all the way to Guadalajara taking two buses in the process. Then finally home! we got there at maybe 2:30am and the next day I was going to wake up early to get my Visa stamped because Chris was on his way to bring me back home!

8/29/12

I got woken up early by my awesome neighbor Lara, she works in san diego and i asked her if she could take me to the border to get my stamp. Once we got there I was maybe 15 minutes in there.. at first they told me that it would take 3 hours because there was a lot of people there, minutes later my named was called and the guard just handed me my passport and had me put my fingerprints on a piece of paper and said that I was done! I was like "really? that's it?" He handed me my welcome letter and send me off!

 

8/30/12

Chris, Mariel and I went out to Puerto Nuevo to celebrate we went to a nice restaurant and then went home and started packing!

8/31/12

Time to go home! A lot of people have asked me what it felt like crossing... My answer is this: I was in too much of a shock to react. It took me a while and it's still taking me a while to adjust to being back in the U.S. I am so happy to be back home with my family that I have no words to describe this feeling. The last 10 months have been a very humbling experience. I don't look at things the same way anymore. I appreciate everything around me. My journey is far from over, I still need to get my SS# and my Green Card. I am about to start a new chapter in my life and I couldn't be more grateful. Stick around!

Adios Mexico!

Hello Home...

-Roby

Things I've learned
....with hard work, you can make miracles happen.

Juarez, Atom & Home

A lot has happened in the last couple days so... I'll start with last Wednesday.

Wednesday: I woke up early to go pick up my Instruction Letter at the DHL in Tijuana. Afterwards I went to the Airport and waited for my flight to Juarez. While waiting at the airport I had a couple of hours to kill so I went to the starbucks to use their internet. Turns out that they where having a seminar! on "Kenya" coffee.

After a while I got really bored and started wondering around the airport looking at the little stores that they have. Eventually it was time to take off!

As soon as I landed and got out of the plane I felt like I was bring punched in the face by sunshine. It was really hot and the sun burned! I have never experienced that type of heat before. I went straight to the hotel (LaQuinta) turned on the AC and did not leave until the next day.

Thursday: I got up early to go do my medical exam. I got one shot, an X-ray to check for TB, got my blood taken out, stood naked in front of the doctor again... After paying I went to the mall and had lunch with a really nice lady and her two kids. I had to wait until 2pm to go pick up my medical exam then go to the DHL and send it in. I got to know this lady (bertha) and her daughter (gaby), very nice people. Gaby is into gymnastics and I thought that was cool, she even showed me how to do a cart wheel! We all looked around the mall for a while before heading back to the clinic.

....this process is so expensive!

Doctor gave me a lollipop after my shot! yay!

looking around the mall i found these dolls

....not sure why but this does not seem right...

This guy was making bracelets, pretty neat!

Got one for my mom, sisters and me ^_^

I turned in my stuff at the DHL and headed back to the hotel. The next morning I woke up nice and early to catch a plane back to Tijuana.

Friday: So finally I get home and my neighbor informs me that my puppy had been throwing up and moping around. I noticed him upset before I left but I thought it was because he knew I was leaving. When I got back he didn't go back to his old happy self. Later that night he had diarrhea and I noticed blood on it. The next morning (saturday) we took him to a vet where they admitted him and kept him over night. The next morning (sunday) I called the vet to see how Atom was doing and he informed me that Atom didn't make it... I wasn't expecting that. Then the vet told me that it was "parvo" I looked at his vaccines and told the doctor that he had his shot. That's when I found out that here in mexico sometimes they waterdown medicine to sell more of it and that Atom probably didn't get good quality vaccinations. We think that he probably contracted it about 2-3 weeks ago when he got neutered, they don't really sterilize equipment here and animals aren't treated really well... I loved my little buddy and it really hurts me. I will miss him a lot. I am glad I met him and kept him happy... He kept me company here in mexico and I hope he was happy.

....Goodbye little buddy. I wish I could have taken you home with me. I should be getting my Visa in about a week or two. Then I get to go home.. it's really bittersweet now.


-Roby

What I have learned:
... Never take your pets for granted.