Nico's Blog

I guess I'm going to try and post every week or so one of, what I think are, my best taken pictures.

So here is one I took 2 nights ago. It is a macro shot of water drops on a spiderweb. I've titled it "Welcome to the Fair" since it reminds me to the lights that are hanging from a small town's fair grounds.



Click here to see it on a black background.

Properties about this picture:
Camera: Canon EOS D60
Exposure: 2 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO Speed: 100

It has been a long time since my last post. So many things to catch up on.

We returned to Austin on November 4th, 2006. Just 10 days short of an entire year in Mexico; and now that we have been back I long being there again. I think we both do. As hard as it was for both of us to adjust, specially for Maegan, we both have so many good memories.

Hmm...where to begin? There has been a few changes here and there. My time at LiveOak ended some time in January. Just about a month and a half after "being" with them, at least at their office. It wasn't up to me, or up to them to end the relationship. I love them, and I think that love is reciprocated. Anyway, I was able to take a couple of weeks off work, and boy, was that nice! I hadn't had a break from work pretty much since I started working. It gave me some time to relax, stay at home with Cicerón, find myself again in the US.

Pretty much out of nowhere I got another job with a company called WTS. I started around March, 2007. So far it has been a good experience. Lots of challenges everywhere you look.

I guess the biggest event of the year is that I finally received my permanent residency. After years, and years, and years of dealing with visas, and work permits, finally some peace of mind there.

Nowadays, things are, you could say, "boring". No major events happening in our lives. I guess after such an "exciting" year 2006 was, that now 2007 seems so lame. But really I have no complaints. It is nice to have a "normal" life for a while.

Something we are looking forward to is a cruise vacation we have planned for September. It is going to be so nice to get away for a week. Although Cicerón is going to be missed so much!

After that, our plans are to go to Europe early next year. I don't know what we are going to have to come up with, but regardless of any impediment, we are going. That's the bottom line.

oh well...let's go back to the real world

Well, here we are. My last day in my hometown. I'll be flying to Juarez tomorrow and staying there until Friday when we will find out what will happen to our lives next.

Last few days have been hectic. Going through papers, pictures, cleaning, packing. It is sad to tell people good byes. People that have been so, so, so kind; not only to me, but to Maegan and me. Although I am very glad that I had the opportunity to establish relationships with my family in Mexico. I will so much miss everyone here.

I think deep down, there a big part of me that does not want to leave Mexico. With all of its problems, its need to evolve, to protect its people, and everything that can be bad/wrong about this country, it is such a beautiful place to live in. There aren't many races living here like in other countries, but then again, its people are so unique. So kind and real. So full of love.

Being away from Maegan for a whole month just reaffirms every single drop of love we feel for each other. I am so excited to see her again in just a couple of days. I really hope that our time apart was well worth the sacrifice.

I think there are still 3 or 4 more days ahead of us that promise to be very stressful. Nothing to do but wait, and wait some more until finally Friday comes. At least Maegan and I will be together Thursday. That will make things a LOT better.

~ nico

So here we are, it is not a year from now, neither 6 months from now, not even a month from now, but rather just a week from now. By this time next Friday we should know what our future will be. I certainly hope that everything will work out the way we have planned it.

My last couple of weeks in Mexico have been fun, but difficult at the same time. Too many things to think about. A bit of hardship here and there, but I think I have been able to manage everything.

Last week, Cejon and I returned to Zimapan for one last time before I leave. It was great. We had loads of fun. We got there Saturday morning after fixing a bent rim thanks to a hole in the road to the Lake. Luckily there was a tire fixing place in this little bitty town in the middle of nowhere that had all the top-notch technology tools many places in the city do not have. As soon as we got there, we saw Celerino, a boat driver Cejon had already been with. He was so funny and professional at the same time.

Later in the day it got really hot. We had a hard time cooling off and keeping hydrated. Fishing was also slow, at least for me, until almost a bit before dark. Sunday was a different story, cloudy and cold. Really nice. Fishing of course was a bit more active too. Anyways, we had a great time, and just before leaving I had to throw my good-bye shot and, oh surprise, I caught my biggest fish @ Zimapan. A hefty 3Lbs 6oz Florida Black Bass. It was amazing. Sadly we had to come back.

Pictures are available here

What remains of my time here is to get everything together for a safe return home.

~ nico

Well, the time is coming close. Almost time to go face my faith at the Juarez/El Paso border on November 3rd. I wanted to go on a photo shooting spree to try to take as many memories with me as possible. I wanted to go take pictures of people, the people that make Mexico what it is; people in their own surroundings, carrying out their festivities and culture.

Cejon, Pistachon (Hector), Bruno (cejon's little boy) took off on our photo-crusade; driving into the mountains near Leon. Not sure exactly were we were going to find our spot. We drove for around 2 hours until we finally decided to go to the Sierra de Santa Rosa just north of Guanajuato City. The day was cloudy and rainy. As we went up the mountains of the Sierra we literally were driving into and out of clouds. It was amazing scenery. As we got to the community of Santa Rosa, a small town located right in the heart of the Sierra, we were startled and shaken by explosive sounds, and finding hundreds of people walking up and down the main street of the "pueblo". As it turns out, the locals were celebrating one of the most famous battles in the Independence War with the Spanish back in the 1800's; the battle of the "Alhondiga de Granaditas". You can read more about this famous building's history at:

Alhondiga de Granaditas



The weather was humid and wet, the locals were all dressed up as Mexicans from the 1800's, soldiers; it was such a surreal experience. I don't think we could've found a better place to have this photo shoot crusade. We were all so happy of having had the luck to find this event going on in this beautiful place.

You can see all of the pictures at:

Photos

I really hope you all like them.

Cheers,

~ nico

Well, after giving it serious thought, I dediced to start my own blog. Here it goes just to get this started.

~ nico