monterrey with mom.

mexicans are some of the most laid-back people on the planet. however, when you put them behind the wheel of a car, some type of magical transportation takes place, and all of a sudden your amigos will be cutting you off left, right and center.

so, it was with this sense of trepidation that i arrived to pick my mom up at the monterrey airport last weekend.

i don't actually mind driving in mexico at all. but my mom, on the other hand, gets white knuckles even when my father drives back home (if that has even happened in my lifetime). i was so excited to show my mom the city, but i was unsure how she would react to me driving in a country where the only rule of the road is that there are no rules at all.

mom's flight was on-time to the minute and the rain came pouring down to welcome her to the city.

with an open-mind and fear in her eyes she smiled at the pedestrians on the side of four-lane highways, slightly cringed at the disappearing lanes, gasped at each honking horn, and had a mild panic attack at the sight of stray cattle...

just kidding.

i've only seen stray cattle in monterrey once. i've got to give her credit: mom was great! she actually ONLY visibly gripped the door handle a few times. the major car obstacle of the weekend was getting her up to chipinque park for the spectacular view without motion sickness or thinking that i was going to drive right off the side of the mountain.

mom and i didn't exactly ride in the face of danger, but i did get the chance to show her this place which i have learned to call home. cars were only the beginning of what she got to experience!

mom thought my apartment was HUGE. i kind of forget that it is so big. we get used to what we have, i guess.

she brought me some of my favourite magazines, rosemary triscuits and my mail. yaH for visitors!

mom came to school for the day on friday and got to meet my adorable kidlets. they asked her funny questions like, "did miss sarah get in trouble when she was a kid?" and "what was it like to be alive in the 60s? were you a hippie?" she brought them maple sugar candies and played dominoes with them. they behaved. most of the day.

i took her for the ultimate tomato soup experience at genoma. then we joined the ladies for wendy's wedding shower. she happily sat through a quiz of "how well does she know him" and survived chats about sex in vegas and girls being girls.

i wanted her to get a taste of the movies... san pedro style. with lazy boy chairs and waiters, we went to see the new narnia movie. i thought prince caspian was really h.o.t. too bad the row behind me was 8 kids that i knew from school! and we were at the late movie. i wanted to tell the mom to take them home to b.e.d.

saturday we explored downtown and walked the newly constructed riverwalk. sometimes i think that downtown monterrey is kind of ugly and uninteresting, but mom didn't seem to notice! we even had guacamole and margaritas at the river's edge and it felt reminiscent of venice two summer's ago. in the evening we ate at THE restaurant to eat at in san pedro. dropped some big bucks, but it was worth it!

sunday we hiked up in the mountains of chipinque. explored the always amusing huesteca canyon (think donkeys, people making out in cars, and picnics on the side of the highway). got lost in in a random area of monterrey. ate ice cream in the center of santa catarina. drank a beer on the patio. and then finished off the night with a wonderful dinner with one of the best views of the mountains that i've ever seen.

mom had to leave on monday morning, and i had to go to work. it was the perfect weekend! just enough time to catch up, and give her a taste of my little mexican life.

thanks for coming mom!