Club Mundet in Polanco

Mike's co-workers have told him about an amazing gym facility called Club Mundet. So, we walked there on Saturday morning, from our condo in Polanco. This place is more than a gym. It is a country club, without the golf course. It was AMAZING.

They had 8+ clay tennis courts, probably another 8 hard courts, several restaurants, the largest water slide ever seen outside of a water park, a kid pool, an olympic sized adult pool, a weight machine section, a kid village with indoor jungle gyms and a theater area, walking paths, green space for kids to run or people to practice their karate, a huge soccer field with stands, and a large fitness center, where you can run on the treadmill, take a spinning class, or do yoga/pilates/zumba, etc.

People spend their whole weekends at Club Mundet. It was fantastic.

As soon as we saw the kid's pool, Annie started chanting "swim, swim, swim Mommy swim"... I didn't even know she knew the word swim!

Her zest for the pool almost made Mike and I pull the trigger to join...which we would have, if it weren't the price!!! It was a $17,400 peso joining fee (approx $1,500 USD), plus $4,000 pesos a month (approx $330 USD), and another $50 USD per person to get your membership card.

I couldn't get past the joining fee. If we were going to be in Mexico City for three years...I might have considered it, but $1,500 USD for 9 months potentially is a lot, where we'd already be paying $330 monthly.

The $330 is a lot per month by itself! But, due to the pool and kid activities available, I may have stomached it!

The people that we saw there seemed to love Club Mundet! The teenagers were having a great time playing tennis and soccer, while the old men lunched at one of the many restaurants! There were kids in the pool, parents sunbathing. Valet parking. You felt like you were at a 5 star resort! And, it basically is, without the golf course and the hotel!

First Run in with the Mexican Police

On Saturday, Mike and I were trying to get from Polanco (where our condo is located) back to Santa Fe (where the hotel we are staying in is located). We took many wrong turns, got on the wrong ramp, going the wrong direction on the highway...and eventually ended up back on Reforma, one of the main drags in Mexico. However, we were going in the wrong direction...not surprising. After driving several miles down Reforma, we came to a stoplight and made a u-turn...where we promptly got pulled over by a cop, who was standing there with several other cops, waiting for more illegal u-turns!

The cop, who looked about 15 years old, but may have been 18, walked up, started speaking Spanish, to which we just stared at him blankly, until we had the opportunity to say "hablo muy pocito espanol". He then smiled and kept speaking in Spanish, using his hands to also tell us that our u-turn was illegal. He kept repeating the word "infraction" in Spanish. So, after a few minutes of us continuing to say, "no entiendo" and "no se", I said "tu necessito??" He said "tarjeta", so we got out Mike's US driver's license. He looked at it, asked Mike his name, gave the card back, and waved us on our way!

The next day, at the same intersection, we saw the same cop and his friends... Luckily we were headed in the right direction, so we avoided another conversation!

Sticker Shock in Mexico City

Our new condo in Mexico City is big and beautiful...and unfurnished.

So, Mike and I have begun visiting furniture stores and are in the midst of sticker shock. Everything is SUPER expensive.

In the U.S., the high chair that my parents have costs about $70 USD. In Mexico, that exact high chair costs $2,990 pesos - $249 USD. I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

We went to Liverpool, a department store, that we thought to be lower end. Ha! They had an incredible children's department with a carousel in it. There were dozens of kids and parents playing with all the toys and riding the carousel. Not one of the parents was holding a toy, waiting to buy it, nor was anyone at the cash register! Apparently you just go to Liverpool to window shop and play!

We determined that it will be MUCH cheaper to buy toys in the U.S. and pay an extra $25 for an extra checked back at the airport, than it would be to buy even a single toy at Liverpool or any of the other stores!

Clothes...same thing. We now know why it is common for Mexicans to take a weekend trip to Dallas to shop til they drop!

Unfortunately, we can't bring furniture (muebles) back from the U.S. The only decent couch we have seen has cost over $20,000 pesos (approx. $2,000, if you are dividing by 10 - although for the actual exchange rate, you would want to divide by 12). So, I keep mentioning to Mike, "how about we just sit on the floor, on one of our new $150 rugs from Sam's Club, for the duration of our time in Mexico?". So far...he's not on board with my plan. I may just need to get over my sticker shock...which is hard to do when I know that I won't be able to bring any of our purchases back to the U.S. with us when our time in Mexico is over.

Air Shipment

Last Thursday our air shipment was packed.

Typically, relocation includes an air shipment and a full truck load to get all of one's belongings to their new location.

Since we are doing a short term assignment that will last anywhere from 9 to 18 months, we were only given an air shipment.

The air shipment consists of a 3.5' x 3.5' x 3.5' box. Total it can weigh 440 pounds. So, I was given an allowance of 340 pounds to fit everything I thought I might want and need in Mexico.

Needless to say, that is not a lot and the weight goes quickly when you have a child, with a 100 pound crib and 100 toys!

After the moving disassembled the crib, boxed it, and put it the shipment, I quickly decided that Annie will have to make do in her travel crib or on her crib mattress, as the actual crib took too much of our weight.

The second box packed were our two flat screen tv's. I asked the packer to use as little paper as possible, instead using my blankets, pillows, clothes, etc. After the box was packed, he informed me that he has never packed a box like this before, not even when moving himself. Hopefully none of the pillows slip, allowing the tv's to touch...but if it happens, it's my fault!

Moving along to the kitchen...I brought 6 plates, 6 bowls, 8 glasses, silverware, a mixing bowl, a strainer, a blender, and a few spatulas. Somehow that box weighed 60 pounds...significantly more than expected. In hindsight, I should have left that all behind, purchased cheap $1.50 plates in Mexico...and brought a few photos and picture frames.

In the end, the rest of the shipment consists of baby toys, a toddler car seat, and bedding. Hopefully it is enough to get us through 9-18 months!