Hola, me llamo Citlali. Hello, my name is Citlali. Bonjour, je m'appelle Citlali

Me llamo Citlali Alejandra Robinson Diaz, Citlali significa Estrella en Nauhatl
My name is Citlali Alejandra Robinson Diaz, Citlali means Star in Aztec
Mon nom est Citlali Alejandra Robinson Diaz, Citlali signifie Etoile en langue Aztèque

Naci este miercoles a las 13.19 en el hospital Conquest de la ciudad de Hastings
I was born on Wednesday at 13.19 in the maternity of the Conquest hospital, Hastings
Je suis née mercredi à 13h19 à la maternité du Conquest hospital à Hastings

Pese 3,295kg y soy muy bonita y tranquila
I weighed in at 3,295kg and am said to be beautiful and calm
Je pèse 3,295kg je suis un beau bébé calme

Espero conocerlos pronto
I look forward to meeting you soon
J'espère vous rencontrer bientôt

Viry at 39 weeks

It’s unbelievable how fast the past 9 months have gone. It only feels like yesterday that we were just a couple of excited kids running around Vallarta with a perma-grin on our faces when we found out.

We’re now at 39 (and a half) weeks with an expected due date of this Friday – so it’s really any time now.

Viry’s doing great, she’s been great throughout the entire pregnancy to be honest, especially considering how busy we’ve been (we’ve only had a wedding and then a cross-Atlantic move).

We’ve really enjoyed the past 9 months, it’s a pretty amazing thing to live through and it’s only the beginning. Something I perhaps didn’t expect is the presence that “frijolita” has had in our lives before being born. What I mean is when she’s born she will technically be “0”, but for us she’s already 9 months old. She’s been there the whole time, and its something that you really feel – especially for the last 6 months. She’s really reactive to our voices, to what Viry eats and she’s very much part of our conversations.

Our birth plan is to keep things as natural as possible and hopefully to stay a far away as possible from hospitals. We’re going to a midwife birthing centre for a water birth.

I can’t wait.

Blue Skies

Yesterday we had some awesome light here, the kinda light you get almost every day in Vallarta...

If you're reading this from outside the UK you may not know that we're currently going through an exceptionally cold and snowy patch of weather over here. Almost the entire country is covered in thick snow and the temperatures are reaching close to record lows. This makes for travel chaos but when the sun comes out, like yesterday evening, it makes for stunning light.

I'm kinda obsessed with rich blue skies and I managed to capture these 2 images below, which really reminded me of an image I took in Mexico at about the same time last year at the beach in Boca de Tomates (third photo). Worlds apart but both beautiful.

Hola Mexico

Hola Mexico ! desde el sur-est de Inglaterra donde estamos viviendo uno de los inviernos mas frios de la historia.

frijolita at 28 weeks

Frijolita making her first appearance on the world wide web - seen here at 28 weeks (we're now at 33 weeks).

Change is hard, Change is good

The contrast could not be any greater. From tropical oceanside town to countryside foresty village. We are now in the south east of the UK, just over an hour outside of London, in a small village called Northiam. I've never lived here before so although it's VERY different for Viry, it's also new for me. We're at last starting to get used to the cold weather and the early sunsets.

We're surrounded by fields and forests, about 15 minutes from the sea, it's a truely beautiful area and for the next few months this will be a great "base" for us. Once a job has been found and a baby has been born we'll move into our own place - where? who knows !

Anyhow, I think that this photo sums up the change we've gone through - we're in true "welly boot" land here.

Bye bye Vallarta

It's already (only) been 2 weeks since we left our simple life in Vallarta and arrived to the UK. It's been an emotional move for both of us but we're happy and adapting to our new life in Europe.

I can't believe it's already been 2 years since I moved to Mexico. So much has happened over the last 2 years, kinda feels like I'm awakening from a dream... and we've still got so much more to look forward too. Viry and "frijolita" are doing great, the little one moves so much it's incredible. All Viry needs to do is smell a banana, or any fruit for that matter, and the baby starts kicking like crazy. Expected arrival date is around the 20th of February, so just around the corner now...eek.

Whilst it was sad to leave Vallarta I was sadder to leave my beloved Piticity, and Mexico in general. It's without a doubt become an adopted country for me. Mexico is a complex country and it's tough to describe to outsiders what it's like to live there. I think that many people judge Mexico with European or American morals and for that reason they fall into the stereotypes or the negatives. Amongst the hundreds of reasons why I love Mexico I think the one that stands out is the real sense of freedom. Back here in the UK everything seems regulated. Everything has instructions, rules, penalty fees, security cameras and you constantly feel that you're only a step away from some sort of fine. In Mexico, as long as you're sensible, you can pretty much do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want.

Although we're now living away from Mexico it will continue to play a central part of our lives. One of our travel bags was full of maseca, dried chilies and various other foods that you can't find here - fresh homemade tortillas are now common in the Robinson-Diaz household.

So, on that note it's a goodbye to a pivotal part of my life, an adios to Vallarta, a see you soon to Mexico but hello to many great things to come. Arriba Mexico Cabrones !

Highway

Just dug out this photo that I took in March - it's a long exposure shot of the highway entering Vallarta, taken from the Home Depot car park.

Puerto Vallarta from a different perspective 2

Nathan over at licensetostill.com gave me the tip on this location a few months ago and only now that I've finished work I've found the time to go up there and take some photos. It's up behind the 5 de diciembre colonia and gives some pretty spectacular views of Vallarta and the surrounding jungles.

Along the sames lines as one of my previous posts I'm always interested in showing the not so touristy side of Vallarta. Few pics below and more on my photo site.

Cessna 310

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to take a short trip from Talpa de Allende into Puerto Vallarta in a Cessna 310. Great experience and some stunning views of the jungles around Vallarta. Photos below (click on them to enter gallery).