Less Than Satisfactory Goodness

Querétaro is a pretty modern city.  Transportation is similar to a large city in the US, except that the taxis are WAY cheaper, and more commonly used, most people lower-middle-class and higher have a car. 

But, there are a few things that take A LOT more time to do than in the States!  Like paying bills, for example.  Every month, we have to pay: water, gas, electricity, cell phone, home phone, and internet.  We also have to deposit JP's monthly school payment.  So, you'd think I'd be either sitting down writing out several checks, and/or transferring money from a bank account to pay bills online.  But that's not the case.  Each bill may or may not show up on our front door a week or two before it's due.  Supposedly all bills should come to the door, but sometimes the wind blows it away, a neighbor kid tries to be funny by taking it, or the delivery guy simply doesn't put the bill on our door.  If the bill comes, I take: the water and gas bills to the mini market on the corner to pay; the phone bill to the phone company ATM (which is the only place in this city of 2million people to pay this bill without an added comission) to pay - this is across the street from the bank where I wait in line to pay JP's school; the electric bill get paid downtown at another ATM (one of 3 in the whole city!); the cell phone bill gets paid at one of two service centers; and the internet gets charged to a credit card... which we have to physically enter the bank to pay off.  If a bill doesn't come to the door, I have to take a previous bill to the company of the utility needed and pay it there.  This frecuently happens with the water and gas bills which I can pay in a store if the bill comes to my house.  At least the land-lady actually comes to our house to collect the rent! 

I could complain about this whole long bill-paying process that I do every month, but it's not fair to complain considering that our water bill is about $8 per month, gas $6, water $7... etc.  Pretty cool, huh!  AND, sitting in these banks and utility service centers gives me nice rest time to read a book and drink a coke while I wait.  So, while this process seems "less than satisfactory," I've learned to enjoy it, and actually kind of look forward to walking around downtown going to different bill-paying places and reading.  Even with my trips to immigration, where the wait is measured in HOURS, I've found that I can go in, take a number, and go run errands for about an hour and a half, then come back and read until the call my number!