Every day we get a little closer to being settled. I’m not feeling it right now. To me, everything feels in limbo.
- We have a house rented, but we are still living in our Airbnb
- We have jobs, but we don’t get paid for training and we don’t start “working” until after we return from Dallas
- We bought a car, but we can’t get it registered because we don’t have the right immigration status yet
Next on the agenda is getting the money transferred to pay for the car (a Honda Hit Fit). Using US dollars to pay Mexican Pesos is complicated. Doing wire transfers with two currencies is as well.
The reality of living on $20,000 MX ($1,000 US) a month is also settling in. The other night we went out for a drink and a dessert to share. Cost: $270 MX. Do that five times, and you’ve spent an entire person’s monthly wages. Fortunately, we paid our rent for a year, and while that will take some stress off, it also means that we don’t have as much of a savings cushion as we had, or thought we would have once the house was sold. Now we will have a car. We’ll have to get insurance and buy gas. It all just adds up.
The good news is that we are pretty much all set with what we need to really be able to live here. Taking Uber around town is fine, but cumbersome and ultimately costly. At least with one car, we can make trips to the supermarket without worrying about how much we can carry. Same will be true with moving into our new house. We can just put everything in the car and go.
April 2 we go to Dallas to get our permanent residency visas at the Mexican Consulate. Right now, we are waiting for our proof of marriage with Apostille to arrive. It was sent FedEx by my friend, Pam, in Virginia, but hasn’t arrived yet. Like our boxes, it is here, but not “here.” Hopefully in a day or two. We have to have it before we leave for Dallas, or we may as well not go. Getting that visa will change everything for us here. Fingers crossed.
My hope is that, once we return and get into our new house, everything will settle down. We will develop a routine, we will have a bigger outdoor place for the dogs to walk and run, and we will have work routines that will allow us to meet people and explore more of the city. Right now, I’m just tired of doing all the little things that constantly need to be done.
That said, I’m heading for a nap.
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