Despues de un dia (after one day)

The first 40-some hours of our trip have been slightly magical, and completely awesome without a doubt. The flights went smoothly with no delays, hijackings, or vomitting episodes (though Korey did express a great deal of anxiety during take-offs and landings). Korey got to the airport in Detroita little while after Richard and I, so she wasn't assigned seats next to ours. During the first flight, a fella from Michigan state was nice enough to excange seats with her so she could sit next to us (I told him she was my sister and terrified of flying, half true.) That flight was only about two hours, but it seemed longer because all three of us were tired as hell because we all stayed up until two or three in the morning overwhelmed with excitement. The second flight seemed even longer because of rapidly rising levels of excitement, and moreso because of the great misfortune of Richard and I being seated next to an off-duty flight attendent (formerly called stewardesses) who will easily gain entry into the Hall of Most Ridiculous People In the World. It wasn't even worth asking her to switch seats because it was clear that she was too dedicated to her mission of seducing the off-duty pilot seated behind her. For the next two hours Richard and I were forced to listen to her various explanations of why pink is such a great color, why it's great to be off duty, why all her belongings were pink, and why pink is such a great color.

As we flew over Guadalajara to land, we scoped out the city excitedly, but none of us thought to take an arial picture. We got off the plane, immidiately sweating in our Michigan gringo clothes, rolled through customs in less than 30 seconds, and found our driver holding a sign that said "Stuart Chipman, Korey Force." Evidently, they didn't care much about Richard. Our driver, Beto, was padre (cool). We talked with him for the entire 30 minute ride to our houses as he told us about the city, the university, and his four year stay in Milwaukee laying carpets.

We got to Korey's house, which is in this little, walled subdivision in a very wealthy part of Zapopan, the municipality just north of Guadalajara in which we live. We dropped her off and headed for our house. The neighborhood where we live is a little less removed from the urban hustle and the highways, which are a desmadre (situation messed up beyond all belief, chaos). Our house, however, is padrisimo (super padre), as is our family. Our parents, Paco y Rosi, live with this grandkids, Prescott and Sandre. A picture tour of the house will come later. We were supposed to have another roommate, Pat Bedell, who decided to cancel out of fear of the swine flu. However, the largest cockroach any of us have ever seen flew in from el jardin (the garden), and camped out on the wall in the living room. He stayed there all day, and was still there when we got back from out ten-hour safari into el centro, downtown Guadalajara. Paco terminated him when he got back from work, and these are his remains. So, as fate would have it, neither Pat Bedell managed to enjoy a trip to Guadalajara.
There is much much more, but I am out of time, so the content of the safari will be posted later, along with that of today's voyage to the same place. Until then, Salud y Buenes Suerte from Mexico.