El Cerro de San Miguel Arcángel - Sunday – Saturday

Cerro de San Miguel

Capilla de San Miguel Arcángel (and me)

Sunday - Saturday, 10/12/23-16/12/23

I was hoping that this would be the week when my life would be settling into a routine, but it is still a bit hectic. Little by little, I am handling the problems and adjusting to life in Atlixco.

Problem #1: Customs

I received the papers for the sale of my house last Thursday along with a check for the downpayment. I signed the papers  and put them in one envelope and then put the check in another envelope to send to my grandson, Jesse, and headed to the local FedEx office on the bus. The clerk was helpful and it appeared we had gotten through the language barrier pretty well despite my low level of Spanish. When I got home, I realized that he had misspelled the street name on the envelope with the check, so I went back and had him change it. Problem solved?

On Tuesday, I checked the routing numbers and found that the papers had been delivered to the agent, but the check was held up at Toluca MX. By Thursday, the check still hadn’t moved so I contacted FedEx in the US and they told me it was held up in customs and that I would have to contact FedEx in México. I got my guide, Martha,  to help me with this and I found out that I should have “declared” the check when I sent it, and now I would need to fill out 2 forms of exporter paperwork in English and another form for the SAT (Méxican IRS) in Spanish. I am contacting my agent to see if we can stop payment on that check and get another one cut and NOT send it to México. If they can’t do it, it will probably be months before I get the customs issue straightened out.

Problem #2: Telcel

I brought an iPhone in the USA which I brought with me and got a Méxican number for it from TelCel, the big phone company here. I immediately started getting calls for Fidel Cruz Santiago, who apparently had the number before I got it. Even with the language issue, I could tell that most of the calls were from bill collectors. I was also receiving a lot of texts telling me I owed money for this and that. After putting up with this for a month, I went to the TelCel store and got a new number. So far, no problems.

Up the hill

On Wednesday, I decided to try to walk to the top of El Cerro de San Miguel Arcángel, the Hill of St. Michael the Arcangel. It is an imposing hill that a lot of the locals believe is covering a pyramid like the one in Cholula, and I would tend to believe it myself. I had tried a week and a half before and quit about halfway up because I was a bit scared of the stairs, but this time, I had been practicing walking up some stairs with my Nordic sticks and believed that I could do it. According to Google, it could be done in 27 minutes, starting at my house and finishing at the Capilla (chapel) at the top. I made it to the top, but it took me 75 minutes because I needed to rest occasionally and sometimes I had to gather my courage to climb the stairs, most of which are irregular and have no handrails. The descent was easier physically, but the stairs seemed scarier when going down. Still, by taking my time I was able to accomplish my goal. An American couple that lives a block away from me makes the round trip from their house to the top and back in a little more than an hour, and they walk down the stairs backwards on the return trip! I’m hoping that by the end of 2024, I will be able to walk to the top of the hill non-stop.

Stair rails are done

While I was writing this, the blacksmiths were here and finished installing the stair guards, so I don’t have to worry (as much) about falling down the stairs anymore. I am quite happy with my house and my landladies; I hope they are as well.

And that’s what happened this week in Atlixco.

Hasta luego.