Juuuust some thoughts

I met a lady yesterday, her name is Grisela.  I was very impressed by her industriousness (that’s right).  We were checking out/moving into the family’s other house in McAllen, TX and she was putting some finishing touches on it.  She owns the house and rents it out.  Anyway, she was there painting, putting some white junk in holes, scrubbing walls, and exterminating bees.   With heels on, no less!  Reminded me of my friend Amanda…minus the heels, haha.  She was very nice, and since I was so impressed with her abilities I wanted to tell her – and I wanted to use the word industrious.  Alas, I was thwarted again by the language barrier.  I ended up talking to her about the house and where I’m from.  But man did I ever want to help her paint!  I don’t get to do real hands-on things like that much and I would love the chance to try that for awhile – build, paint, put things together, fix, garden, etc.  I decided that with my first paycheck I am going to buy either seeds, little plantlings or both and start caring for them.  I am in the process of researching what likes to grow here and when it likes to grow but if anyone has any advice (Lizzie?) please, do tell.  Back in Houston, I ended up with a pretty fantastic batch of composted soil and had a lot of fun doing it – I would even dig my hand down in there, pick it up and smell it, knowing that there were bugs in there!  (And bugs freak me out.)

I would like to learn to cook some tradition Mexican cuisine.  I would like the Senoras that I have met (and will meet) to be the ones to teach me.

Any advice on ingestion of water in other countries?  How worried should I be about this?  How much is too much?  I don’t drink water from the faucet here but the doctors told me not even to brush my teeth with it or eat raw food (fruits and vegetables) washed with it.  But then I think to myself, it was the same deal in Houston and in most places in Chicago and yet, I brushed my teeth with that and ate raw food too.  My conclusion: keep eating what I like and brushing my teeth with “contaminated” faucet water but also, make more time to floss and gargle.  I still welcome advice on this or any other abroad living experience concerning food/beverages. 

Last, but not least, I have been thinking I should be more responsible with my Presidential vote next year (ironic considering I am in another country and it would be easy not to care) so I have been reading Time a bit more closely and doing a little research on the interwebs.  However, what I am finding turns me off more than anything.  It makes me think "Is it wrong that I am not feeling any of these people?"  It's like I have 5 sticks that represent my main interests as far as voting goes and I throw them out there among all the other issues in world/country the candidates are sincerely trying to answer.  Not one of them would pick those same 5, Obama included.  At the same time...it seems the higher up you go in politics, the harder it is to hold onto sincerity.  At least we've got another year, right?