San Miguel

so it's been a while. and i know there probably isn't anyone out there reading this, but i figured i'd put something out there. all is (relatively) well in the land of bbq. mild depression is setting in due to the fact that it's the holiday season and we are far away from friends. good news is that we are separating ourselves more & more from dave's family (sorry, but the drama is getting fairly out of control). my mom visited a few weeks ago for a along weekend and we went to mexico to visit my dad. i've included a couple of pictures from mexico - we had a blast and i can definitely see why dad moved down there. it is unbelievable. it's a great town set in the mountains and very 'traditional'. it's an artist community and there are art galleries everywhere and a lot of expats living there. the locals are very nice and indulging of the gringos gross mutilation of their native language. all-in-all we can't wait to go back. my dad and his partner are building a new house and will be moving into it in January. the house is unbelievable - something you would see in the movies. prices are comparable to everything here, but the only expensive thing is to get to where they are living - the flights aren't cheap. they cost the same as to fly to London. but you have a free place to stay, a maid and a cook. i think i could live with that. the best thing is seeing the donkeys on the side of the road - it's called "hitch & ride". basically the people living outside of town ride their donkeys to the nearest bus stop, hitch them up and take the bus into town (for work) for the day. the funny thing, is that farmers know this and will walk to the nearest bus stop and use the waiting donkeys for field work. apparently it's a major problem/controversy. the donkeys are so tired at the end of the day, that when their owners take the bus home and pick up the donkeys at the bus stop, they are too tired to walk the guys home. i think that would make an awesome SNL skit.... we did have "Thanksgiving" dinner while we were there, at this fancy restaurant in the woods. it was absolutely beatiful but the turkey sure didn't taste like turkey....