Mexico - Day 4

New Year`s Eve!!
Our trip the day before was so long that Jared and I actually slept in until about 9:00. It felt really good. We got up, got ready and then Abue took us out for breakfast at Vips. It kind of had the look of a Denny`s or Dee`s. I decided to go with an American type meal. I am enjoying all the different types of food, but I just felt like I needed a little bit of home that morning. Jared is loving being able to have some of his favorite meals again.....and done the right way :) After breakfast we visited with Pedro at his office for a minute, took a brief tour of Abue`s rehabilitation clinic, and headed back to Abue`s to grab a few things before heading to San Mateo Atenco to look for shoes. I have really small feet and it is hard to find adult shoes. I thought I would have a better chance down here. San Mateo Atenco is well known for their shoes, but you have to be careful. Sometimes they sell shoes that are made in China and other places that are not so good. The drive was only about 30 minutes. This place is like one giant flee market and in the middle of it all is a ton of shoe shops all right next to each other. There is row after row of shoes. I have never seen so many shoes at one time in my life! At first I was not sure how successful the trip would be since I was not really seeing anything I liked and then we hit one row that had quite a few that I liked. I was able to get 7 pairs of shoes for the price of 1 1/2 in the US. And they don`t have glitter or light up heels! I am set on shoes for the next few years at least.
We spent about 2 hours looking at shoes. Jared was also able to find a pair he liked and also a couple very nice leather belts. When we finished we headed back to Toluca and grabed some dinner. Here is a picture of what we ate. It was basically meat, veggies, and cheese mixed together that you put on a tortilla and added salsa and lime. Very good, but very filling.

After dinner we went back to Abue`s to catch nap before the long night ahead of us. At about 9:30 we headed to Soni`s (just up the street) for the New Years Eve party! When we first got there we visited with family members (some of which spoke English, so that was nice). At about 10:30 we sat around the table to eat another large meal. It included sopa (noodles with a cheese and peppers sauce), salad, turkey, potatoes, pork ribs, bread, and a traditional Christmas dish called Bacalao (it is very fishy tasting and I did not care for it). It was fun participating in some of the traditions they have in Mexico for New Year`s Eve. For example, you have a cup of 12 grapes in front of you and when the clock strikes 1200 you eat them one at a time. Each grape represents a month in the year and when you eat it you make a wish for that month. It was fun!

Soni, Jared, Kat

Cheetos (pronouced Chetos)

Titi and Midi

One side of the table

The other side of the table

Jared heading out to run around the block so he may be able to travel this coming year.

Still going around the block

After running around the block the fireworks began. We had some calmer ones for the younger kids and some not so legal in the united states ones :) They had quite a few bottle rockets, some flowers, some that just went boom!, some that blinded you, and then my favorite ones: once they were lit there was no predicting where they were going to go. It usually split into two and the would go up in the sky, down the street, against the wall, against the wall and then up in the air. They were crazy and so much fun! One of the bottle rockets went up in the air, hit the electric poll, came back down and exploded 12 feet above the street next to the guys who were lighting them. No one was hurt so it was quite entertaining. A random drunk guy on a bike came down the street while we were lighting fireworks and he fell over and just sat there. They helped him up and pushed him on his way and he almost hit every car that was parked on the side of the road. Welcome to new years in Mexico :) It was a long night, but so much fun! When we got back to Abue`s I tried to finish up my entries, but I was super tired. I was able to sleep fairly well, but the fireworks and ka-booms were going off until about 500 and then the dogs started up about 600 or 700. I am thinking I am going to sleep very well tonight. There have been some firework noises today, but nothing compared to last night.

I am not sure what we are doing today. Mexico pretty much shuts down on New Years Day, so today is going to be pretty chill.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!