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You have to go back a few posts to recall the first time I mentioned our D.C. bucket list. This is the list of things we want to do before we leave in July for Mexico.
Lately, we've been adding several check marks to that list. For example, while not a D.C. attraction, getting to go the Kentucky Derby was on my list of things to do before leaving because I imagine it will get a lot harder to attend after we begin moving around the world.
So while we refer to it as our D.C. bucket list, it is more of our United States bucket list. And it is worth adding that we realize it is not like we are going to leave this country for ever, but we are in a good position now to do some of our activities and see some of these attractions. After all, we are still young and childless (sorry, Tiffy, you don't count). If we put some of this stuff off now, who is to say we will ever get a second chance.
A couple of weeks ago, Natalie took something off her list by herself as well, though I was invited. I didn't go, for the obvious reason that I think my wife is crazy.
More recently, we added a new activity to our bucket list and marked it off at about the same time.
Being a history nut, I've been to Ford's Theatre before, and if you haven't been, you need to check out the museum in the basement. It has an incredible collection - one of the better kept secrets in D.C. as it is not really nearby many other attractions. I've also been to the Petersen House a couple of times, and while seeing the bed Lincoln died on is fascinating, and it is wonderful they managed to preserve the house, it is kind of a dud.
But something I've kind of wanted to do, but then forgot about it until I saw an ad on the Metro a month or so ago, was to see a performance inside the theater. So for Natalie's birthday, she got two tickets to see the musical, Little Shop of Horrors.
The performance itself was very entertaining, and I would love to spend 15 minutes talking to the guys who manipulated the Audrey II puppet, which ended up about the size of our car by show's end.
(While the play's message is that the desire to have fame, fortune and love can lead otherwise good people to do terrible things, the play was introduced by ABC's movie critic, Arch Campbell, who reminded us that this play also teaches us to be good to our plants. Strangely enough, the final song in the musical is "Don't Feed the Plants," but that is beside my point. I just found it kind of funny that I'm currently thinking about chopping my plant down to a smaller size so I can move out of here to some place else where it has a chance to survive.)
But seeing a performance in Ford's Theatre is just part of the experience. From our seat, we also had a great view of President Lincoln's box, which still is draped with Civil War era flags like it was during his final visit. During the intermission, I spent the whole time measuring the jump Booth took from the Presidential box to the stage, and it is no wonder he broke his leg. That was a rather reckless jump, easily 20 feet, though the story goes that his boot got caught in one of the flags causing him to fall awkwardly.
It is hard to imagine what that night must have been like in that theater. But seeing a live performance in "America's most famous theater" is definitely a worthwhile activity while in D.C., and I'm glad we managed to add and check this event on our ever-shortening D.C./U.S. bucket list.
In the spirit of hating government acronyms, and I promise not to dwell much longer on the topic, EFM also denotes the slightly begrudging manner in which we received our first post assignment.
This posting headline saps a little of the anticipation for you the reader, so I won’t delay in announcing we were assigned to Hermosillo, Mexico. I’ve quickly learned that unless you’re from Mexico, and maybe from the American Southwest, Hermosillo means nothing to you.
And on Flag Day, i.e. A-100 lottery drawing day, it meant nothing to me other than we were moving somewhere in Mexico.
Go ahead and do a Wikipedia search of Hermosillo; I’ll wait as it won’t take too terribly long to read up on the northwestern city.
Fine, I’ll give you the highlights, if you can call them that. First and foremost, the city is known for its hot temperatures making it one of the hottest cities in Mexico. For seven months out of the year, the average temperature is at least 90°F; three months average more than 100°F. We’re talking averages here. The records inch very close to 120°F. January is the only month the average low dips below 50°F.
When first describing Hermosillo to friends and family, after bemoaning the heat, I tell them this is essentially Mexico’s Detroit without the violence, racial tension and the Lions. In other words, they have a Ford plant, but this one actually makes cars. There also is a hint of Texas as Hermosillo is home of the carne asada and all things beef.
It also is a city that enjoys its baseball franchise, the Naranjeros (Orange Growers), which has won 14 Mexican Pacific League titles, or about as many titles as all of Detroit’s sports franchises combined (I could be way off as that was just a guess and one more cheap shot at Detroit).
To be fair, I’m hardly the first person to judge this city harshly. We bought the July 2007 edition of The Rough Guide to Mexico, and it summed up Hermosillo like this: “While it is an interesting enough to experience such a stereotypically Mexican town, there’s no reason to stay here long.” Long is a relative term, but I assume the authors would determine two years to be “long.”
But before I wear out my welcome before even arriving, I should add that Hermosillo was ranked somewhat highly on our bid list though for those going through the process, you quickly learn that not all “high bids” are created equal.
I also should say that I was intrigued by several of the other Mexican posts available because I do have an extraordinary fascination with the American-Mexican War of 1848. Bizarre, I know. So some of the other possibilities such as Matamoros or Monterrey were more appealing to me because they played prominent roles in the beginning of the war (the first major battle was the siege of Matamoros).
Learning Spanish also should prove to be quite a valuable skill as well. And there are some beaches along the Gulf of California (or Mar de Cortés to the locals) only about an hour’s drive away at Bahía de Kino. And I hope to learn to make a tasty mole sauce among other Mexican dishes.
So while I’m justifiably skeptical of what two years in Hermosillo will entail, I refuse to be entirely disappointed and plan on making the best of the experience.
