Shrimp... According To Bubba Gump

There is something so romantic about a shrimp boat. Maybe it's the Forest Gump movie, maybe it's because my idea of romance isn't very conventional, maybe it's the unknown that makes it romantic. Whatever it is, I have always wanted to get on board a shrimper. Shrimp season has just ended and there are about 100 shrimp boats docked/parked at the port. Since I have friends in high places I met up with them and we wandered around the port, and wandered, looking, looking, and peering into windows, wandered, pretending to be some kind of gringo boat inspectors, until we came across a gentleman that looked friendly (not that they didn't all look friendly) and we were invited on board. 
Although they all look like great big barrels of rust and are covered in pelican poop, the tour did not disappoint, they are beautiful mystic boats, and oh the stories they could tell I am sure could entertain us for a long time. Remember we are seeing these ships at their worst, they have just come in from being at sea for 6 months and from now until September they will get a servicing, a cleaning, and any repairs that are needed. There was plenty of action on the port, mechanics, welders, and other men that looked like they were doing important things. There is a whole world on this street, shops, stores, lame dogs, cats keeping the place rat free, kids running around, women carrying pots of food and wearing aprons, little restaurants, men laying in hammocks, men working, men sitting under a tree telling romantic shrimp stories I am sure. 
Shrimp boats are all parked in very snug, you can't tell where one ends and another begins, clearly the first one in is the last one out. As far as you can see....a mass of boats, each one with their own story. A story I would love to write, if I knew it. Which makes it so romantic to me. 

 Now I understand that they do not allow women on board, which is very evident, but I couldn't help but imagine how just a little help from a women with a sewing machine could spiff these rigs up a bit, imagine a few yards of red and white gingham fabric and some patterned wall paper, some red and  white stripped upholstery, not to mention a good scrubbing...which I am sure they will get now that they are parked. I didn't take a picture of the bathroom because I really didn't think you could all handle that, the bathroom was proof that there has never ever been a women on board. 

I love her.....I want one

This brings me to my favorite scene from forest gump

The "wind down"

My favorite time to be on the beach is sunrise, my second favorite time is Sunday just before sunset. Sunday is usually the busiest day on the beach, it is our restaurants busiest day. The taxi boats that bring most of the tourist to the beach for the day stop running at sundown, so the exodus starts shortly before sundown. The  "wind down" goes like this:
Mothers gather their kids and give them a cold garden hose bath, washing off the sea sand, and scrubbing their pop stained mouths,  some get clean dry clothes to go home in, some get pajamas, some go home snuggled in a wet towel and some in a cozy house coat.
 Coolers, plastic bags, umbrellas, soccer balls and shoes get packed up and they slowly walk up the beach towards the sun, families arm in arm, kids piggy backing, some lagging behind dragging their feet, some still bouncing full of sugar, some being carried sleeping on shoulders. Some piled onto the backs of pickup trucks and some piled into cars. 
We rush to finish clean up, we bring table cloths in, bring chairs and tables in, we don't want anything washed away at high tide. We put a last fish on the fire for us to eat, fry the last 6 shrimp, and wash the last dishes, the pail of fish guts gets buried and all the garbage gets brought to the bins. Cocoa debris gets racked up. We eat standing up leaning against the bar so we can see the sun set, it's beautiful again. 
The 7 year old gets dry clothes on and needs to go in to do her homework. I get into my hammock and the cleanup guys rakes the sand. I watch the last people slowly make their way up the beach, towards the sunset. A kid passes by kicking a soccer ball, the life guards pass by on a quad, I watch a dog tear apart a left behind bag of garbage, the life guard booth seems so tall now that the beach is empty. The waiter next door walks by bringing his empties back to the cantina, 2 dogs are following him (they always do), a young couple are standing under a palapa making out, soon they start dancing to the music from the cantina, I see my sister's daughter dancing with a friend under the boogie board palapa, the wind picks up and sends a boogie board flying down the beach, she stops dancing and chases it. I snuggle deeper into my hammock, garbage starts dancing on the beach as if it can hear the music too, it's art, a reminder of the fun that was had here today, it could make a beautiful painting,  all the Styrofoam cups of  coke that were enjoyed, the paper plates of civiche that was eaten and the straws and stray tin cans, all dancing, shining in the last of the sun.
 In the morning the wind will have left ripples in the sand, like the ribs on a chocolate soft ice cream cone. By now everything is in silhouettes, the tractor pulling the fishing boats in, the dogs looking for left over bones, the lovers sitting in the sand....the left over few, the locals, that are not in a hurry to catch a boat, the music from the cantina is lovely, a table cloth blows by, I squint to keep the sand out of my eyes, I lean out of my hammock to pet a dog, I see my neighbors going for their daily evening walk, I decide it's too windy to walk, plus I am mesmerized by the "wind down", it's beautiful.  Once it's dark and the silhouettes are gone I get out of my hammock, I gather a sack of empty tin cans (my neighbor collects them) and carry my flip flops and meander on home, as I exit the beach I hear the red caution flag crack in the wind, kind of like the flag on the 9th green outside my office does on a windy day .....I am jolted back to reality,  I'm living in daily sadness now, the countdown to go back to Canada is on, 2 more weeks. The sadness will be replaced by excitement.....once I am on the plane, until then everything I do now is "a last".
I stop at a neighbor's little store, I bought a carton of wine a few days ago and plan on having a glass tonight and in case it's not good wine I should have a 7 up on hand, and I wanted a package of Ritz crackers to go with my wine (I'm classy that way), 4 neighborhood kids are in there and they have purchased tomatoes and an onion that they were sent for and now have 7 pesos left and want to buy as much candy as they can....they are pricing out the whole store, this amuses me, I wait, they don't have Ritz crackers, I end up with a bag of cheetos to go with my wine. I wait, this is how it is here.....and I like it like that.

I have another story, about my road trip to Chihuahua, but not now......I've had 2 glasses of wine, but it involves.....a pair of fleece lines leggings, a bus, a train, a car, 2 dried up crooked trees, my great grandmothers house, snow (yes snow) waffles and pudding and beans...and more.

 By the way....I can't believe how many of you can't get over my pink dress lol. If I can figure out how to take a full length picture of myself I'll do it for you....anything to keep the ratings up...since I have been slacking off the ratings are a bit down. 

Something new, something wierd, something not blue and something yummy

So, I'm headed to the mainland, my mission today is to buy coffee (it's cheaper there) contact lens cleaner (don't have any on the Island) , get some cash (have no banks here) have lunch at the market (fish or shrimp dish for 50 pesos) , buy a red dress for a Valentine's day dance (I'm still in dance training) and make a physio therapy appointment (heard the guy was hot and single....he might go nicely with my red dress) and also wanted to stop at a friend's house (hadn't seen her yet this season)

The ferry boat was just leaving as I was approaching, the captain backed the boat up and waited for me, I thank him, I smile at everyone and greet them just in case I now made someone 3 minutes late for something. One guy has his life jacket on upside down, everyone laughs as his wife points it out to him, I don't. (I think I've done this)

AT the other end as I approach the street a taxi driver asks if I need a ride, I decline, like I always do, but then he asks "why not?" , I laugh and point at my legs, he whistles as I walk by, I wished my dancing skills were up to par....I would have done  the cha cha for him.

As I turn a corner to head towards my friends house a guy asks if I am lost, I say no but I am not sure if the street I am looking for is 2 more blocks or 3 (streets here have names not numbers) he says it's 2 blocks and walks with me, I didn't really like this but its daylight and there are many people walking and driving by so I relax. He asks where I live, I tell him the Island, he asks how long the ferry ride is (means he's never been there), after chatting briefly he takes out a little wee plastic bag with some white powder in it and asks if I want some. I put  my hand over my mouth to stifle my scream of  "ARE YOU CRAZY", I can't not scream. This has never happened to me before, I have never even seen shit like this here , never, not even marijuana. He puts it back in his pocket and continues walking beside me in silence, 1/2 a block later I realize I still have my hand over my mouth, and I haven't breathed yet. I'd make a great hostage, I'd suffocate myself. I finally take a breath and am ready to give him a piece of my mind and he turns a corner and walks away......and what do I say to him, get this, I say "thank you", And remember I do know how to tell someone off in Spanish now, and when I actually have the opportunity to do so I choke  and say "thank-you". Thank-you for what? For freaking me out? Who knows, I'm just polite that way I guess, and hilarious.

My friend and I have a great laugh at this, as I look in the mirror in her bathroom I try to see what part of me looks like I like stuffing shit up my nose, I don't see it.

Next stop, red dress, I see a shop that might work (I'm a fast shopper) , I find two dresses, one is red and one is pink, they have no dressing rooms or mirrors, a cute little girl helps me pull the red dress over my head over my clothes, I ask her how it looks, it feels tight, she gives me a very enthusiastic thumbs up, yeah yeah you're just trying to sell me a dress I think. I say it feels tight (my clothes are underneath it) she says "it would be better if you were a bit thinner", ouch! such honesty isn't really necessary I think, but this is Mexico. I try the pink one on, it seems to fit better but it's pink, I wanted a red one, she thinks it's perfect, better than the red one. I don't like the color but she seems really excited about it, I get caught up in her excitement and buy the Pepto-Bismol pink dress for 99 pesos, a dress I haven't even seen myself in, just to get the shopping part over with. Now....would I get lucky to randomly just happen to see a pair of matching pink flip flops somewhere, because I am NOT going to shoe shopping. We'll see.

Lunch time, upstairs at the market, I have breaded shrimp, it comes with rice, beans, a small salad and French fries,  and tortillas for 50 pesos. You can't beat this, and as long as the fish and shrimp are fresh it's always good, you just can't really screw up fresh fish and shrimp. I am a fisher lover, I like all fish prepared in every which way, I have never had fish I didn't like. I don't even ask what kind of fish it is anymore because it just doesn't matter, It was awesome. I try to think of life without fish and shrimp, "stop it" I tell myself it's not time for that yet. The waiter is learning English and we work on the words  "breaded" and "napkins".

I accomplish everything on my list and head home, on the boat going home I am once again relieved that I live on the Island. It always feels a wee bit cooler on the Island (by the way it is still blazin hot here), maybe it's just because you get a quick cool down on the boat ride across.
 - I do actually have a stiff neck, I'm not that desperate that I would go see a cute therapist just because  he is cute.
- When I got home I realized I could have gotten the girl to take a picture of me wearing the dress with my Iphone and then I could have seen what it looked like, I wouldn't have bought it then. I will never wear this dress......I'm an idiot.- We do have drugs here on the Island, lots of it, but it is so small that everyone knows everyone and the druggies know who  does drugs and who doesn't so you are not going to get hit up to buy some unless you give the impression that you are open to that.

How to make gorditas

Today  a friend invited me over to show me how to make gorditas. Really very simple.2 ingredients, Masca and water. Once again genius.

Mix the Masca, which is corn flour with enough water to make a soft dough. Masca doesn't get sticky like flour. Knead it softly until it is nice and soft and stays in one piece. Roll a little bit into a ball and then flatten it, making a round disc. Shape the disc into a little sombrero, lifting the edges and pulling a point up in the middle. I have seen them made without the point, but that's not important, it's cute with the point. Get the point? Haahha. Don't make them too fat or they will take forever to fry, thus soaking up a lot of grease... not that I am worrying about grease, gorditas need to be eaten with reckless abandonment.

Heat oil up in a pan, in this case it was done over a fire, and fry your little sombrero, point side up first and then flipping it over, frying until it is golden brown.

What you load onto your gordita is up to you, there is no end to what you can put on it. Carne asada, chicken, beef, beans, pork...no end to the possibilities.
We had a stir fry of onions, garlic, squash and tomatoes, topped with cheese. We had fresh basil to put on it but forgot.....just dove in  to eat it as quick as we could. 

The veggies getting sauteed 

First gordita in the pan

Making little sombreros 

Lista! Bien Provecho .....yummmy

Happy New Years!

Since my Spanish has come a long way this year I accepted an invitation to a New Years Eve party at my "sisters" house, just a small  family party she says.

I arrive at 7 with my Tio and Tia and a big bowl of hot tamales. Chairs are set up outside and food is brought out, ceviche, weiners,  a streaming bowl of peel and eat shrimp, tamales, there is a bottle of wine, beer and calmato juice. Stereo is set up outside and a laptop is hooked up to the stereo, music will be played via Utube through the stereo.
As we are setting up I see the neighbours setting up a big stereo as well, how will this work I wonder, they are hanging a white sheet to project music videos....this is something new here.

The kids and my Tio start the dancing again. As the kids dance the adults stand along the sideline and clap and encourage and critique, this is how they all grow up knowing how to dance and how they all grow up knowing the words to the old traditional Mexican songs, all music played is old Mexican music, no new modern crap, they are old songs being sung by the younger generation of musicians. (there is a story here for a different post)

The men like outdoing each other on the dance floor, at times there were only men dancing, this is different from in Canada, where women have to beg their men to dance with them. I get dance lessons from everyone.

Slowly one by one the kids fall asleep, one in the house on the couch, one on two chairs on the patio and another on a lap, the rest of us eat and dance. I am amazed at how the younger generation adores and shows affection towards the older generation, I saw 24 - 28 year old grandsons hug and kiss their grandma over and over throughout the evening, nephews showing affection towards their aunts all evening long, young grandchildren dancing with grandpa. A 22 year old granddaughter danced with her grandpa for about an hour without stopping once, she was dressed like a beauty queen and he wooed her like a proud peacock. I almost teared up thinking of how many moments like this I have missed in my daughter's life, our society separates the ages, resulting in the young people going their own way and us wondering what has happened  to our kids and our traditions. ..... and wondering why they don't know the words to "Summer of 69".
In Canada babysitters would have been hired to keep the children away, or there would have been separate activities planned for the kids.....in someone's basement perhaps.

At one point "brother" and I drive over to my neighbours and delivered a plate of food, he is sick with a stomach flu and can't come out.

Since our music comes from Utube there is always a pause between songs as the DJ (who is the person that just happens to walk by the laptop when a song ends) has to click on the next song, during this pause we dance to the neighbours music, this worked out very well. My Tio never stopped dancing once.

At around 11 pm the party got bigger, friends and neighbours stopped by, the party spilled onto the street. At midnight there is the usual hugging and wishing everyone a happy news years. We pack up the food on the patio and bring it into the house, I get a ride home on the back of my Tio's truck, I was in bed  by 12:20pm. The young people partied until 4 am I heard. This is the first new years that I have been awake past 9 pm in 15 years.....maybe even longer. 

I don"t like posting pictures of other people on here and certainly not other people's kids so I can't put any picture on so I will leave you with a few random shots.

Since you can't see his face........he has a piece of wood between his legs and is sawing with a skil saw towards himself, I shudder. 

Fishermen at sunset bringing in nets,, always excites the pelicans 

Sun set

One of those one armed pictures....of which I have many, it was windy, my hair was blowing straight up 

Hallelujah

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

They are exactly what I wanted. 

watching paint dry/Venados

Operation refurbish broken table  and chairs is ongoing, it was to be "brother's" job but he suddenly had to have his appendix removed. I am given a list and I head to the mainland. I love Mexico. When I ask the dude at the paint store for paint thinner he asks "how much you want?".  Oh....1/2 a litre I say, he pours 1/2 a litre into an empty coke bottle. I love that you can go to a store and buy 1 pamper, 1 garbage bag, 4 tablets of Imodium, 2 paper clips, 1 needle, 1 egg, 1 cigarette (not that I smoke), as much garden hose as you want (or as little as you want) 1 piece of cake, any length of string/rope that you want, as many or as little staples as you want, 1 envelope.....you get the idea. I think of all the times at home I've bought a box of 100 of something and when time comes to use them (whatever it may be) and it's either expired, gone bad, I can't find it in my shed because I have so much "extra" stuff in there, or now it's one size too small or the wrong color and  I end up going to the store again to buy another box of 100 only to use 2 and store it in my shed again because I will need the other 98 someday. 
This is how we end up owning gi-normous houses with huge garages, huge sheds, and basements and attics full of stuff.....stuff that we have been trained to think we will need some day and we have been lead to believe that ..... get this "it's cheaper". I laugh at myself now, I bought into that too. "It's cheaper"....I laugh. When I get back to Canada I will open up a new store, the opposite of a bulk store....I will call it "Unbulk". I will sell you 4 Imodium tablets (because if you need more than that you have a different problem), I will sell you 2 tooth picks, a cup of paint thinner, 1 sheet of paper, 1 shoelace, 6 red beads, 2 pampers, 1 light bulb,  and 1 white sock...single socks will be a good seller I think. Look out Costco you have been brainwashing people for too long."Unbulk" is where it's at now.

Anyway....that was my little rant there. Back to my table and chairs, turns out watching paint dry is not nearly as fun as watching laundry dry .... I was surprised too. It takes a long time for paint to dry here (the humidity), making this project sloooooow. Then I find out I missed a step, I was supposed to mix the paint thinner with the paint which makes it dry faster. Ops.

Kitchen cupboards have also been painted, ,slooooooowly, and dude was going to come to hang them a week of mananas ago....he'll come, yet. I still owe him some money. ..... I thought that was smart of me to hold back money to insure fast and speedy work, turns out money is not the motivation to work here, yeah....that is a different story, but i have to go and watch the sunrise now. 

watching paint dry, I did not go with doors because I would have wanted glass ones and the running back and forth into the mainland and having the glass guy there work with the carpenter guy here on the Island would have slowed this whole  thing down even more. I can always make cute little curtains if I want too......and who doesn't need another reason to visit the fabric store. Love love love Mexican fabric stores. 

Venados baseball game

The Mazatlan Venados didn't make the playoffs (again) so for the last game of the season they were giving away free bleacher and lateral tickets. The stadium was almost full, they surprised us by winning. It was a fun night. 

Christmas/Birthday party

One of my sisters sons  has a birthday on the 24th, Christmas dinner and birthday dinner is combined, and I am invited to the party on the beach. I ask what time and am told to come whenever I want. I show up at 6, nothing happening, food is still being prepared, hair is being braided, 3 little girls need matching hair bows, big brother is sent to the store to get some, but one is the wrong color, a phone call is made and an auntie shows up with a bow. Tables are swept off and chairs are washed, a stereo arrives on a quad. My Tio is sent to get firewood, Tia arrives with a bag of beef, sister changes her dress twice.....there will be carne asada. Shrimp are being peeled by a pretty girl with the longest prettiest fingernail I ever did saw, how does she do that. I`m sent to the store to get a birthday gift wrapped, you don`t buy wrapping paper, tape and bows here, you go to a papeleria and spend 8-17 pesos to have it wrapped for you. I like this.

Sand is watered down to make a nice dance pad, and to keep the dust down. At 8pm the party officially begins, at 9 the birthday boy shows up. He says he's turning 22, sister says he is 24, grandma says he's 25, a phone calculator says he's 25.  Someone had videotaped Tio`s birthday party (remember the day I arrived) so we gather around a laptop and watch the video, everyone loves seeing themselves on the screen (me not so much). This is technology that has just arrived to the Island and is still very thrilling.

Then Tio and 3 little girls with bows in their hair start the dancing. We all clap and sing along encouraging whoever is on the dance pad as we eat ceviche, shrimp salad, carne asada, rice, beans and snack on pecans, cranberries and dates, I find out that I have never had fresh cranberries, I eat them like a kid that has just discovered candy. One of the little girls sits down to catch her breath and there is an uproar at the tables, she FARTED! ewww! Get away from the table she is told, she protests, but sits in a corner for a bit. (giggling) She returns,  but she still stinks, someone notices her boots, she has stepped in dog poop. All the kids shoes are inspected, her boots are washed and the party goes on again. No Christmas presents were exchanged and I like that.