Summer Break

Summer is here and there is a lot of fun things happening here in the city. The picture of the guy cooking all the meat is a great place to hang out and order some "meat on a stick," that is what we call it (sorry Jusin and Sara I know you miss this). The summer time in the evenings are a lot of fun because people are out and the weather is nice. We do miss those New Mexico sunsets though! There's not many of those here.

John had to get his picture taken behind "Optimus Prime" and with the other transformers. We got to watch the new transformers movie here and it was in English!! We live right by the movie theater and we often check to see what the latest movies are and if they are showing any in English.

So you would be very suprised how cheap things cost here in our city. Can anyone guess how much these vegetables cost in this picture? See answer below!

It only costs about $1! There's a saying everythings bigger in Texas but we think some Texans should come visit our city. A good example is of this spinach leaf to the left in comparison to Dana's hand. We have also found some really good green chile here. A pound of green chile is only about 20 cents! There are definately pros and cons to living in this city and we've decided to do a top 5 list of both!

CONS

5. When there is a national holiday they shut the country down. Everything is closed. Even school, however, you have to make up the missed day on the weekend or evening.

4. Because were foreigners we get the "foreginer tax" and people up thier prices when we buy things.

3. The streets can be so congested at times that we have both have gotten in minor bike accidents (we're fine).

2. Bike theft and pocket picking happens VERY often so we have to always be on the lookout and watch our things extra carefully. (Even in restaurants Dana has to keep her purse on her lap.)

1. Everyone says Hello! and stares and says "wai-guo-ren" which means outsider. It stopped being cute a long time ago.

PROS

5. Local markets and storeoweners love and flock to us because were foreigners.

4. They have several import stores so we can buy things like crisco, corn flakes and sometimes cheese (the local cheese here is just not the same).

3. You can walk outside of your apartment, look to the left and see a bank, post office, 5 different resturaunts and a hardware store. Look to the right and see a fruit stand, supermarket, a park, and Mcdonalds all within 3 minutes of walking distance.

2. Everything is cheap and we mean everything and plus you can bargain for mostly anything too. (Bottled water - 15 cents, Bus ride to destination - 15 cents, average meal - $1-2)

1. We are homesick at this moment and had a hard time with culture shock this week, so we can't think of another pro! :)

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