The Morning of the Monarca Mariposas; Getting Ready

After breakfast we waited for every one to get ready so we could head out to the place of the butterflys. I marveled as this grandson, Erwin, combed his grandmother's hair. I tell my daughters that they can find a nice young man by watching how a son treats his mother; in this case, his grandmother. Enock's three sons are very loving to both, their mother and grandmother. Eatabean, one of Erwin's brothers, had picked his grandmother up once to help her down one step, while wrapping his arms around her, also giving her a big hug and kiss. Again, we are all impressed by the strong family ties and good manners.
Our family was served breakfast first, then everyone else sat down and chowed down after us. Mike remained at the table.
On Saturday morning we shared breakfast with Esther's family. A common breakfast is the cow intestine soup. Since this food is so new to our family, we all feasted on the refried beans, tortillas and scrambled eggs. Our friends were understanding of our inability to partake, commenting that if they came to the US, they would unlikely be able to eat some of our foods. I appreciated their graciousness.

Monarcha Mariposas (Butterflys)

This is at the top of the trail right before we reached our destination. Isn't this beautiful. Jake snapped this picture. That is the beauty of having more than one camera. Each person takes their own kind of pictures and sees things from a different perspective. I am usually surprised at my kids' ability to foresee a good photo.
On the way up the trail. The teens seem to doing fine with the elevation issue....
These tree limbs are hanging because they are heavy laden with millions of butterflys. Since it is close to sunset, they have nestled in for the evening. Unfortunately, our group reached the top at too late of an hour to watch them fly around.

Mariposa Monarca ~ Monarch Butterfly

During our most recent trip Morelia our friends, Enoch and Raramure took us to the easternmost part of the state of Michoacan to the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. This is the home of millions of Monarch Butterflies who travel from as far North as Canada and all over the United States to hibernate for the winter here in the Mexican highlands. They travel an amazing 3,000 miles at a rate of 7 mph at an elevation of 500 feet above the ground. Most arrive in October or November. March begins their breeding season. Males die shortly after breeding and females are left to make the treck back to the U.S. Interesting enough, the females will fly north but not reach their orignal destination. Their offspring will continue the journey northward. It may take up to five generations to make the complete mirgration from Canada back to Mexico.

After riding in the car for over 5 hours (we had taken the scenic route) we were ready to ascend the mountain to see the butterflies. Within the first minute of hiking, Tammy and I felt like we were going to pass out. We had to stop several times and take a moment to do deep breathing exercises. We then learned that the elevation of this mountain was equivalent to Mount Hood (11,000 feet). After reaching the top and enjoying the mass quantity of butterflys, we thought it worth the climb.

Our family traveled to Morelia this weekend with our friends Raramiri, Enock, Esther and their sons. On the way, we stopped in this town to grab a bite to eat. Throughout Mexico, people set out tables and chairs outside the doors of their homes to serve up "cena" (dinner).

As we arrived, the lady set out the table onto the sidewalk. Behind the curtain is a bedroom. Our group is standing just off the sidewalk, in the street.

This is all the ingredients for tostados including shells, lettuce, cheese, chicken, beef, pork, and salsas. We stood on the road and watched the chef make our dinner and then ate them there. Our group of 13 people ate for $12, including sodas!

Refreshing Treats

In my freezer are the common fruit ice treats. Down the street a lady sells them from her home for one peso each. They come in numerous flavors and are delicious while the cool you off. I plan to make them myself once I return to the states but I doubt they will be as good as these.
All over towns and roadsides are these containers full of refreshing fruit drinks. Everything from orange, to watermelon, to coconut and pineapple, these unique flavors will quench your thirst.

This is our good friend Enock fetching some "aqua fruita" for Molly.

Mexico's Cheese; Queso

This is the authentic quesidalla, topped with queso.



It has been an adjustment for us Tillamook Cheese Factory fans to appreciate the cheese in Mexico. Hard and crumbly, it has a very strong flavor and smell and is not refrigerated. I finally figured out what the common smell is the penetrates every grocery store.


This store has the cheese enclosed; the first time I have seen that. Usually, it is sitting out on a counter on top of a cooler.

This is 3 views of a house down the street from ours. The kids pass it everyday walking to school. This is the home of one of the young men that visit us. There are many homes like this in Mexico, many of which do not have any brick used in their construction. (Notice the box spring mattress).
This is the front view of the house. Because of the gate and the sign, you can tell that the owners are also selling out of their home. This is how most people make their money.

Notice that this side of the house is also held together with a box spring mattress, along with other supplies.

"Mi Casa Es Su Casa", My House is Your House

Raramiri is a teacher at the secondary school that Mike and the kids are attending. He is Enock's nephew and one of the four that will be traveling to America for the new teacher exchange program. Our family has spent a lot of time with him. We look forward to showing the hospitality to him in Oregon that he has shown us in Mexico.

Raramiri and Maddy have been very good friends. Madeline helps him with his English. They have a special and unique friendship. Raramiri, a single, 31 yr old teacher, has told us that when he grows up, he'd like to have a daughter just like Maddy. He appreciates her energy and enthusiasm for life. One day, Maddy was having a tough day and was down cast. Raramiri went out of his way to cheer her up. He couldn't stand to have seen the positive energy gone even for one day.


Raramiri owns three houses, two in La Huacana and one in Morelia (the city I love!). We went with him to Morelia this last weekend and slept in his house for two nights. He has made it clear that "mi casa es su casa". Funny thing, he really means it! We can stay in Morelia at his house anytime now or in the future. I have begun to speak of the house in those terms. When I stepped off the porch to take these pictures, I announced that I wanted pictures of "mi casa" in Morelia. Raramiri in turn says, "let's return to Tammy's house".

In a year our family will be coming back to LaHuacana to stay for a month and we will be living in Raramiri's house in LaHuacana. Since Mike's sabbitical will have been used up, he will be using accrued vacation days. This allows us to go home and study Spanish diligently for the next year and then to come back to brush up on it with our new Mexican friends.