The New Old Bull

 My Mexican sisters restaurant "El Torro Viejo" (the old bull) got torn apart from the hurricanes that came through before I got here and she was a little slower in rebuilding that the rest. The biggest setback was the stove that got destroyed and of course the palapa and bathrooms.....all destroyed.

poor Old Bull

The Fridge

Where the kitchen used to be

What a mess

All has been rebuilt, bigger and better. Bathrooms have tiled floor and walls, (I know....how fancy) but no roof so you can still see the sunset from the toilet, the stove is new and beautiful, new fire pit has been built, we have lots of shelves and a much bigger work space. We have a fridge, a stereo, we have a concrete floor (not sure I like this yet)  and the dishwashing station has been built to fit me, everyone else has to stand on a pop crate to use it, looks like I am expected to work here awhile yet.

What didn't change....the knife with the broken tip is still there, our plates still don't match, the forks are still bent, extension cords are still stung out everywhere, the view is still breath taking, the food still amazing, water still over flows in the pila once in a while, the people.....all the same, albeit a year older which is only noticeable on the 8 year old who just turned 9, and the cat looks a bit more mature. The dog had puppies again and is pregnant again, and the hammocks are still there. 

Lovely stove and shelving. Stove has a deep fryer which is where sister stores her shoes and purse and anything else of value. A real Mexican restaurant does not submerge when deep frying. My sister uses new oil for every order, so a deep fryer is not practical. This is why her fish and shrimp are better than anywhere else....my opinion

New shower

The old sink survived the storm

Love  the big long prep table

Triple BBQ and a double pila, sister is standing on a crate

the new double pila, one side is for cleaning fish, how awesome is that. However, I do see a problem, the drain holes are very small, and there isn't mush slope.....oh well. 

And of course I am still the beach inspector......my hammock. 

Spanish Immersion

My day starts with a cup of coffee on my front step waiting for the sun to rise. My garden is missing flowers, I think more gardenias would be nice, and what are those red, white and pink flowers we have at home called...I can't remember their name, need some of those. I'll think of it yet. My walk on the beach at sunrise was outstanding, it always is. I catch some fishermen just bringing in their catch, I am reminded of Peter, James and John, I think they would have looked like these guys, burned dark from the sun, feet showing years of wear from the salt water, lean,  strong, with ripped abs from pulling heavy nets, they would have smiled just like these guys did, such a noble way of making your living....I feel like I am witnessing something sacred when I see the net hauled in.

I spend the rest of the day at my "sister's" restaurant, she is closed during the week these days, not enough traffic on the beach. We hang out all day, friends and family come and go. While we are talking we clean the kitchen and she gets her laundry done. We tell stories and laugh, we get pedicures, do laundry, eat  beans and machaca tortillas.

 There are two washing machines going, (because one washes but doesn't spin and one spins but doesn't wash) a foot bath tub is plugged in, dogs running around our feet, a Christmas tree is decorated, lights and tinsel hanging everywhere, enough extension cords running under our feet to tangle up a village, drinks are spilled, there is a dirty mop hanging from every tree, a naked Barbie laying in the sand, wet underpants fall on the ground off the wash line, someone banged his head on a hanging pot, the dish washing pila over flows....extension cords are now laying in water, no one notices, we talk about turning the restaurant into a grand elegant hotel, we draw some serious plans in the sand, we are going to hire a decorator and only rent to fancy people, we talked about how old we all were when we got pubic hair, we talk about fighting with kids and their homework, we talk about underpants, (under pants is always a hot topic) new shoes, short hair vs long hair and whether men like women with fake eye lashes or not, and who is fatter, Americans, Canadians or Mexicans, and whether Mexicans are fat because of the Coke or the tortillas? We decide Canadians are fat because of bread and Americans because of french fries.

 We discuss why the fridge stinks, whose horses on the beach are cleaner and how often we think they should be bathed, and where are the lifeguards going with that kayak. I get invited to a wedding in Durango, (road trip)  I want to see the new Durango bridge so I say yes. I'm told to buy a long black dress....I prefer red, it's decided I will need to learn to dance, lessons will commence pronto, maybe I'll get fake eye lashes (not). I'm given a Spanish lesson, there is a long discussion first about the alphabet whether the I comes before J or after.....my Spanish teachers aren't sure about the order of the alphabet....hilarious. I love these people. 

Beach dogs had a lazy day too

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.