Saturday, December 15, 2012

Giselle


My body was not really in the mood to go to the mainland after working at the Old Bull all day, especially this late, but the ballet Giselle is on at the Angela Peralta Theatre at 8 pm and I have a ticket and made a commitment to meet some friends there. Will I even be able to stay up that late? Then I remember my favorite little coffee place right in front of the theater and I think a vanilla cappuccino will be a must.

I shower and change my clothes real quick, my shower has been cold for a few days now but since it is so blazin hot that is almost welcome most days...almost, I should find an electrician before it gets cold. I am sure my Tio across from me could fix it but  I have seen how his house is wired and I am not sure I| want him touching my electrical stuff.

I walk to the dock in the dark, I love the Island in the dark, all the lights seem to sparkle and dance, everything looks shiny and it's so quiet and peaceful. The boat ride across is like a dream, the lights of the big city getting closer and closer, lights from the Island getting smaller and smaller.

I take a pulmonia to central and for once I don't get ripped off, I've come a long way, negotiating a taxi fare was always such a nightmare for me.

I got this photo off the internet, now sure who to give credit. It is the Mazatlan pulmonia 


The plaza machado is stunning at night and is hoppin tonight, the place is full of people, I see a police truck and a fire truck parked to the side....getting coffee or buying ballet tickets I am guessing. I made my way to the coffee place and buy a vanilla cappuccino, a city luxury for me. I come out of the shop with my coffee and almost trip on a big hose, I notice there is water everywhere, then I see firemen coming out of a restaurant...of course, there is a fire...hence the fire truck. The plaza is packed and they just string their hoses out and work around the people, never a dull moment. I find a bench and watch the firemen gather up their hoses and take off, every one else carries on with normal Saturday night business, I am guessing the restaurant will spray febreeze tonight and reopen tomorrow night with new decor.

I sip my coffee and eat a whole brick of coconut while I watch an impromptu fireworks show, I brought a shawl in case it got cold...it does not, I carry my shawl, might need it for the  boat ride home.




photo scooped off the net

photo scooped off the net


The ballet is awesome, once again I feel like I am in a movie and I should be wearing a long red dress and my nails should be painted red to match, I was going to paint my nails (not red) but just didn't have time.  Being that I live waaaay up north I don't get the opportunity for this kind of entertainment, another luxury for me. I am a bit of an introvert and don't like events where there are a lot of people and you are expected to mingle, which is why even though this is a big theatre and there are lots of people, I am ok, because no one talks to you, except for applauding the place is silent....my kind of entertainment. Of course the minute the show is over before the exodus begins, I am outa there....first one out the door, I have a boat to catch and it is way past my bedtime, you'd think I was wearing glass slippers and in a hurry to catch my pumpkin carriage.

I walk 3 blocks to catch a taxi, the taxis outside the theater are always too pricey for me. In the past years I have walked at this time of night (it's 10:30 pm ) but  the times have changed a  little, even my Island friends confirmed with me before I left that I was going to take a taxi, I still feel I would be fine but I know I sure would feel stupid if something did happen, after being told not to walk. I think buses to the docks stop running at 9 pm, but even if they were still out,  if walking is dangerous standing on a street corner alone waiting for a bus is just as dangerous. There are not many places left in the world where a women can walk alone at night anymore. I get a taxi for 40 pesos, not bad at all.

There is a young couple making out at the docks, waiting for a boat, she is still in her school uniform, they don't notice me. I find a nail file in my purse and file my nails. Soon a big cowboy joins us, wonder where he has been all dressed up, shiny boots, white hat and freshly pressed shirt (must have a wife). A pretty young lady in a Panama uniform joins us, she is very busy texting on her iphone.

Then the entertainment arrives, he steps over the railroad track as if it is a foot high, his depth perception is gone....he is loaded drunk, at the ticket booth he can't get his money out of his pocket, his pocket is deep, his hands can't focus, the ground he is standing on is moving, he sways...but stays on his feet, now his hand is stuck in his pocket, there is a struggle..man against body, he gets his hand out....man, his money didn't come with it, he dives in again fishing deep this time, Lord don't let this man's pants fall down. Amazingly through all this he does not make a sound, not a foul word...nothing, as if he knows he is not capable of making sense anyway. He rocks back and forth with his hand in his pocket, like you rock your truck when you are a bit stuck, and then he gets it...yeah, I want to cheer for him, but  I don't. He pays and stands off to the side, doesn't join the rest of us. By now a man in a business suit arrives, he is chatting on his cell phone continuously, I try to eavesdrop but I am still terrible at that, who does business at 11 pm, he's probably cooing to his secretary, aside from him there is complete silence, a fish jumps in the water beside me, it startles Panama girl and I.

Then our boat arrives, but the captain wants to wait for more people, he has his wife with him, they stay on the boat and chat, we wait for about 10 minutes and no one else comes, we board, except young girl's boyfriend he stays behind, their good bye kiss was almost like a scene from the Titanic, no one notices or reacts. Drunk guy boards last, I worry for him and wonder if a drunk guy has ever fallen overboard or (eww) gotten sea sick, he makes it and sits at the bow all alone, still hasn't made a sound. If all drunks were quiet like this we would all like them a little bit better, great entertainment. Panama girls is still texting, I get a wiff of cowboy's cologne in the breeze, that dude smells good, business man is still whispering in his phone, I keep my eye out for plankton*, nothing tonight, I watch the Island lights get closer. I am still holding my shawl, unreal, last year at this time we would have all been shivering with our teeth chattering....it's beautiful, like being in a dream. Surreal.

On the other side someone on a motorbike picks Panama girl up, business man has a motorbike parked there as well. Young school girl walks onto the colonia on the other side of the Island, drunk guy fades into the darkness and is just gone. Cowboy has his tractor parked in the parking lot and fires it up, seriously, this guy got all washed up, dressed up and drove to the docks with his tractor, he roars past me, unreal. He pulls into his driveway as I am walking past, he's the watermelon guy!....wow, he cleans up good.

I love this place, I love that I  can walk alone in the dark at night and not be afraid, I love it. The best part of going into the mainland is coming home, I thank God for this place and pray that it stays like this, I've seen Mazatlan change so much in 13 years. Will this place be so different in 13 years from now, I hope not. I hope I didn't get here at the tail end of its best years.

*Bioluminescence Plankton is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in the form of light emission. Fireflies, anglerfish, and other creatures produce the chemicals luciferin (a pigment) and luciferase (an enzyme).[1] The luciferin reacts with oxygen to create light. The luciferase acts as a catalyst to speed up the reaction, which is sometimes mediated by cofactors such ascalcium ions or ATP. The chemical reaction can occur either inside or outside the cell. In bacteria, the expression of genes related to bioluminescence is controlled by an operon called the Lux operon.[2]
Bioluminescence occurs in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as fungi, microorganisms and terrestrial animals. Symbiotic organisms carried within larger organisms are also known to bioluminesce.

Plankton

Plankton on the side of the boat

Like I say....like living in a dream

I got these pictures off the internet, whenever I see Plankton of course I don'tr have my camera with me. 

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Deviled Shrimp


I went to the mainland for church today, I hadn't been there yet and was really needing some spiritual worship. I feel the church here on the Island that I am attending is lacking that so every few weeks I head into town for a service. The Spanish service really delivered that. It was awesome.
I got home tired (Mazatlan is always tiring) and hot, oh so hot, It feels that  the heat is so much more intense on the mainland, must be all the concrete and tall buildings, plus our Island is so small you are never too far from the ocean breeze....it was hot. Soon as I got home I shed my church clothes and jumping into a pair of shorts and a tank top and headed to the beach in search for food, I had a Danish at breakfast and no lunch, it is now 3:30 pm...I am starved.

I pass the chicken place, come times on Sunday she has carne asada, but she had only chicken left and I don't feel like having chicken. I go to the Toro Viajo(Old bull). Sister pulls up a chair for me, I order Camaron diablo. I chat with the waiter. The breeze is so welcome, I love this place....it's hot, but it's not like in the city.

A few days ago Nina's son got a water craft...not sure how and where, but it wasn't running, it was someone's junk. Since then it has been a project for a few guys to get it running, all of a sudden it fired up...briefly. We all cheer, there is hope, sister laughs, she says they  have been tinkering on it all day. It fired up a few more times each  time we cheer and follow with a loud "awwwwwww" as the engine dies.

I get my shrimp.....oh my gosh, it is the best shrimp I have ever had (I've eaten a lot of shrimp), the diablo sauce is the best. I ask her what's in the sauce, she winks and says it's  a secret, I wink back and say "it's a good one". Just spicy enough for me, I like a little kick in my food but I don't like my guts to burn, just enough spice to wake up all my taste buds in my mouth, but not to burn when it goes down the hatch....she had hit it perfectly.

The water craft fires up and stays running...victory. A quad  pulls it into the water and some more guys show up to watch, you know how it is when men tinker, 2 men do the work and 4 stand around giving advice...that was the scene, even the kid on the prancing horse stopped and stood and watched, horse and quad are parked side by side....I didn't have my camera. Test run was perfect...looks like the Old bull now has a water craft for rent as well as a kayak and boogie boards. Of course all 6 bystanders have to test it out because you know, just because it works for one guys doesn't mean it will work for everyone.....and then you have to see if it will work if there are 2 people on it...like one guy and a pretty girl in a bikini...yup, that worked too.

I am done my shrimp, sucked the meat out of every single tail I did and supped up all the excess sauce with tortillas...and licked my fingers. I ask again "ok, what's the secret sauce". She tells me again it's a secret...she is serious, she is not going to share this....how can this be, we are sisters after all. I have to have this recipe. I ask the dude if he knows it, nope he does not. Do I push this or not, I ponder this a bit. I want this bad, I put my arm around her and whisper "if you please tell me, I won't tell anyone in the whole world". The Spanish way of saying "everyone" is "todos el mundo" which translates into "the whole world", which does make more sense. When we say "everyone" we usually don't really mean that, but when they say "everyone" they mean everyone in the whole world. She laughs, I beg and promise again. Then she shows me....it's magic, and as much as I want, I cannot share that with you or with anyone else in the whole world. ( the internet is the whole world) So sorry.

The good news she is now open all week except for Thursdays....so go check it out, if you do not like spicy food you cannot have camaron diablo...sorry, she does garlic shrimp too, and coconut and breaded deep fried, I've had it all, it's all good. If you are familiar with the Island, the old bull is located next to "victors" east side of him. She is between "Victors" and the cantina.

The sun is setting and we pack up all the chairs and tables and close up. She sends me off with a pot of soup and some rice to drop off at her mother's (my tia) ...she lives across the street from me.


You could eat  and lay in this hammock all day and never be bored....I promise, there is never a dull moment here, worst case scenario you have a great nap
 An update on my back yard. Turns out my bricklayer guy that isn't a bricklayer at all but a fisherman forgot to renew his passport so, when his ship was ready to go to Panama he was not. If your job depends on you having a passport how do you forget to tend to that? He has no wife...that's how. So now he is stuck working for me until the next voyage. Check it out. This is before....


before


after



Not bad. The next project is painting the house from the outside...I hate that kind of painting. I wonder how bricklayer/fisherman feels about painting, he is never ever going to forget to renew his passport again.