Humanities Information Information Research

Tell a Friend about this Site

Mexican Living: Issues of Life


This morning when I got out of bed, I had some severe issues that have been worrying me.

Friends and family wonder just what I do all day as an American Expatriate. I worry and I am good at it. So I thought I would share with you the life-shattering issues that worry me as an American Expatriate and that have been worrying me to no end.

Worry One: The Rainy Season. The rainy season is almost on us. We have about 6 weeks before all raining hell cuts loose on Guanajuato. So I have to plan just what am I going to do for fun and diversion while it's raining outside and I cannot get out.

I will have to lay in a supply of extra hand towels to pack into the windows. You may not know this but all houses in Guanajuato leak like sieves and you have to stand vigil-day and night-over them when it rains. There is also the waterproofing plastic tape I will need to buy that I use to tape the small pinholes that spring up when I least expect it around the windows frames.

Guanajuato house builders do not build windows well.

My wife and I will also go about, in the next few weeks, checking out about 4,000 new books from the English lending library here so we have something to do between running from window to window checking for leaks.

We plan to do much more writing because that's what we do and because our eyes will be swollen and ready to pop out of our heads from reading all of those books.

Worry Two: My infertile male parakeet. Don't laugh at this. He isn't. We raise Australian parakeets. It is a hobby we had when we lived in the States and have engaged in it afresh here in Guanajuato. We have a male parakeet that is having some difficulty getting his point across to the female-if you know what I mean and I think you do.

Poor Chucho.

We put him with an experienced female who has had two clutches with another male so we know it isn't her. We've tried Chucho with two hens and alas, he isn't getting the hang of things. He tries with all his little parakeet heart but the eggs, which the hen lays, turns out to be no good.

What are we to do?

I wonder if there is parakeet Viagra that we can sprinkle on his food. I've tried talking with him but that doesn't do any good. We coach him and though things look like he's dead-on center during "the process," it's a no-go with infertile eggs.

Are there sex therapists for parakeets? Is he frustrated? Is the hen frustrated? Am I frustrated? Yes, I am!

Worry Three: My two Mexican parakeets. We also have a pair of what we were told are "Mexican parakeets." However, no one, and I mean no one, in Mexico knows what species these birds are.

We hit the Internet and corresponded with a parrot biologist who specializes in the parrots of Mexico. I sent him some pictures and according to this expert, these are NOT Mexican parakeets at all but illegally smuggled Brown-Throated Conures from St. Thomas Island.

Oh that's just great.

We have these two birds, Rickie and Lucy, who are HOT and probably would get me at least 10 years in a Mexican prison bunking with someone named, Bubbito (that's Spanish for Bubba).

We can't unload them because they are our sweet babies and it would traumatize them (and me) to dump them. I won't do it.

I wonder if Bubbito likes chocolate?

So there you have it. I do not lead a life of uncomplicated leisure here in Mexico. I have grave worries and concerns that fill my life with worrisome vexations.

Maybe Chucho needs sex-ed classes?

Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico.

His new book, Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country, can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241


MORE RESOURCES:

Thinking big, indeed, at this year's Humanities Festival
Chicago Tribune, United States - Oct 11, 2008
Get your liberal arts groove on, people: It's time to belly up to the Chicago Humanities Festival bar, open through Nov. 16. ...


'Expelled' from UCT, Bart looks to the surf
Independent Online, South Africa - 5 hours ago
"He then had a snooze on the Humanities building before coming down to rummage in more bins en route to the pines behind campus (near the tennis courts) ...


Wisconsin Book Festival starts Wednesday
Chicago Tribune, United States - 23 hours ago
This year's festival -- called "Changing Places" -- starts Wednesday and ends Sunday. It's a program of the Wisconsin Humanities Council and was first held ...


Exhibitions mark art, humanities, UN programs
Evansville Courier & Press, IN - Oct 11, 2008
By Roger McBain (Contact) A score of Tri-State Art Guild members will help celebrate National Art & Humanities Month with an exhibition running through ...


Hebrew U. makes Times' Top 100 list
Ha'aretz, Israel - 16 hours ago
In the humanities, the university's ranking was even higher, at 41, while Tel Aviv's humanities department was ranked 80. ...
Weather: Israelis Hoping for the 'Curse of Rain on Sukkot Arutz Sheva
all 2 news articles


Humanities enrich our lives
NewsOK.com, OK - Oct 10, 2008
BY ANN THOMPSON October is National Arts and Humanities Month, a reminder that we all benefit from a lifelong participation in cultural events. ...


Prime Time reading program returns to Grand Island
Grand Island Independent, NE - 12 hours ago
The Nebraska Humanities Council family literacy program is designed to help strengthen participants' interest and skills in reading. ...


Q&A: 'Ensure that existing laws are implemented properly'
Times of India, India - 21 hours ago
... funded by the UGC and available at the website of the Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies (Humanities & Social Science), Pune University. ...


Celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month with the Delaware ...
The News Journal, DE - Oct 9, 2008
The humanities and the arts often travel parallel paths, meeting only occasionally at the crossroads of art history or architectural history. ...


LSUA Cavanaugh Lecture features award-winning writer Diane Glancy ...
Alexandria Town Talk, LA - 8 hours ago
She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. The Cavanaugh Lecture series is presented ...

Humanities - Google News



MaineBannerExchange

home | site map
© 2006