The Packers beat the Eagles

Ted is a Packers fan, but so far we don't have tv here. We have a nice flat screen set, but no satellite connection yet. I walked to the village this morning and found that "our" restaurant will play the game for us on their tv.
This is the footbridge we cross to get to the village. It is easy to cross if you are alone, but if anyone is behind you it sways and it's hard to resist holding the rail. Of course if kids are rushing across, there's no chance of looking poised.

This is the Mismaloya river we cross. It's quite pretty with all the boulders. During rainy season it looks much wilder.

Juan and Only (our favorite restaurant) is on the left, and this is where we saw the game.

Money in Mexico

There's quite a difference between how we handle money in the US and how it is done in Mexico. I'm a bookkeeper, so I am accustomed to putting everything on my Visa card and keeping careful track of the transactions on the computer. Here, cash is used much more often, and credit cards seem frowned upon. When you pay in cash, frequently you don't receive a receipt. It makes me wonder how businesses keep track of what they are doing. It is normal to use a debit card in grocery stores.

We opened an account in Bancomer Bank the last time we were in Mexico. They have a special unit just for foreigners. Paulina, on the left, is our representative. See how Ted is enjoying her company! Her English is perfect, and she has been walking us through all our transactions, including teaching me to use online banking (in Spanish!!) They have a special teller line for their "preferred customers" so usually there is no waiting. Until recently, no banks showed any interest in their non-Spanish speaking customers. I often wonder who woke up one morning with the brainstorm of making a specialty of working with foreigners. This is a city full of tourists. I'm sure it was a hugely profitable move.

So here I am now, retired with no income of my own, learning how to easily use a joint account, and on top of that, learning how to use mostly cash. How will I keep track of things? Maybe a notebook....or maybe just not keep track at all. This could be my biggest adjustment.

The first thing we wanted to see was the new floor. When we bought the house, the tile floor was sort of pink, and Ted really didn't like it. The new floor was done while we were in Virginia. It's redder than it looks in the picture, and we are really pleased with it.

The other change that was made while we were in Virginia is the rail by the pool. The sort of "split rail" fence that was there when we bought the house looked really dangerous, considering it's quite a steep drop from the terrace to the land below. We like the new iron railing, and I'm sure I won't lose a grandchild now.

New Years day started off with a bang.

There is a lovely spot for a fountain by the front door. It was never completed, and the previous owners kept lots of plants there. Ted just couldn't wait to get started making a fountain. He found a little pipe near the floor that looked like a good starting place so he managed to un-cap it. Man oh man, water was gushing everywhere! Luckily there is a drain in the bottom, and he was able to get the water to stop spraying all over by wrapping a towel around the pipe. But the water kept coming, and the pressure pump for the whole house system kept pumping. Soon water was flowing down the street. We were really lucky that he found a business card for 24 hour plumbing repair in a kitchen drawer.

Ted finally turned off the water to the house and the next morning we washed our faces with water from the pool. A few hours later Teresa and Emmanuel Aldeco came to our rescue. They moved here from Georgia five years ago, and as you can see, Teresa is an American. So no communication problem at all. Teresa is a bubbly, fun filled person who seems to know everyone in Puerto Vallarta. And Emmanuel solved our gusher problem, and a few more besides.

Now we are here.

We arrived in Mismaloya (our new home, about 6 miles south of Puerto Vallarta) four days ago. We were lucky that our plane wasn't late, and we didn't have a major delay with customs, so we were able to eat dinner at Juan and Only, a great little place, within walking distance of our house. A late dinner of tacos and margaritas really hit the spot. It's a good thing we brought flashlights though. Walking on cobblestone streets and crossing a small river on a foot bridge that sways when more than one person is on it can really be a challenge in the dark.

Making headway

We've made lots of progress now. This is our house in Arlington, which is on the market. It is nearly empty now. We've given away more than half of our possessions, and we are really ready to move
This is where we are headed. There are so many things involved in moving to another country. We were lucky to have an excellent real estate agent (Michael Green of Tropicasa) who has lived in Puerto Vallarta for about 12 years.

So now we own the house, and we have a property manager taking care of it until we move. We even have a maid and a pool guy (who also waters the plants.)
We were able to open a bank account in Puerto Vallarta, and I learned how to navigate the online banking even with the instructions in Spanish. Now I can pay bills in Mexico using my computer.

One important aspect to moving to Mexico is the FM3 visa, which allows you to move your possessions, duty free - but one time only. We got a "retirement" form of visa, which has no work permit. You need a letter from the bank establishing that you have an adequate fixed income to meet their standards. Generally social security is enough. And you need a letter from the police showing you have no police record. The letters must be notarized, and the notarization has to be "authenticated." In our case, we had to send them to Richmond. Then you take the documents, passports, passport pictures and cash to the Mexican Consulate. It went smoother than I imagined, and now we have it.

We also arranged for the mover. On the basis of blogs we've read, we chose the international arm of United Van Lines. They will come, pack everything, take it through customs, and unpack it for us in Puerto Vallarta. The estimate is between $7,000 and $8,000. Let's hope it turns out to be on the low side. It depends on the final weight.


We're really anxious to get there, and go to the beach. This picture is of the closest public beach for us. It is a 10 or 15 minute walk from our house.

Every step of the way has had its elements of anxiety, but now it is just waiting for a buyer. We don't have much of anything left to do, so I guess we'll watch lots of old movies.

Making a little headway

Now we have a contract on a house, so we are making progress. Houses in Puerto Vallarta are usually sold fully furnished. That's nice, but it means we have to get rid of almost everything we own.

Environment

This is the map: http://www.puertovallarta.net/map/index.php. I guess you have to copy and paste this...sorry. But it's an interactive map, and I like it.

I'm thinking about the footprint I leave on the environment. I don't feel too guilty about life in Arlington. Our house isn't especially big, and our utilities are pretty low. But I need a lot of heat in the winter to be comfortable, even when I wear lots of layers. And I drive my car almost every day. We have two cars, and they are both in daily use.

If (when) we live in P.V. there will be a lot of changes. The area we like, on the southern end of the city (called the Romantic Zone) :) Is between the beginning of the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is only about 8 blocks deep in that section. That means we will be able to walk for almost everything: shopping, yoga, beach, restaurants...is there anything else?

It is tropical. The temperature is mostly the same...60's at night, 80-90 in the day. I have read that electricity is very expensive, over a very modest limit. Seems like a good idea to keep the citizenry from wasting power on too much A/C.

The worst part is toilet paper. You don't flush it. Just put it in the wastebasket. This has always been the case when we visited in the Cancun area, but we were sure hoping it would be different in P.V. Finally, instead of just hoping, I checked it out. bummer. (Later note: our house has a septic tank, and we can flush toilet paper. Whew!)

Cooking should be a change. Imagine fresh fruit and vegetables all year long, They say you can get just-caught fish at the dock. I'll want to learn Mexican cooking. I like Mexican food, but I've never tried to cook anything more creative than tacos with an El Paso mix. I hope to keep my pre-packaged food use to an absolute minimum.

Environmentally, I think it's a good move.