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. 

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.

A day at the old bull

I arrive at the restaurant at 10 am, already sweating from the heat and I haven't even worked yet. The sun is high and hot, the ocean is sparkling and singing. Lots of action already the restaurant, a dude is stoking the fire continuously, pots on the stove are being stirring by my Tia, my Mexican sister is bustling around and tending to all the deliveries, the tails of 4 Dorados are sticking out of a big pail of ice water.

Dorado waiting to be prepared

I'm given my first job, shredding a big bowl of peeled carrots with a tiny plastic shredder (remind me to buy my sister a food processer for Christmas) my gosh this will take hours, they all laugh when I ask how many fingernails and how much knuckle skin is ok to have in the ceviche. My cousin arrives with his nephew with a truck load of coconuts, after unloading, a chopping block needs to be set up, a chain saw is started to cut a coconut tree to size, for a brief second I get a whiff of snowmobile fumes and I think of my family at home. A hole is dug with a spade and the block is set.

The chopping block is set

My second job is pulverizing bags and bags of crackers into powder with a wooden mallet, they will be used to bread some shrimp and fish.  My cousin comes back with a load of wood, a guy comes to deliver charcoal, a guy comes to deliver drinking water, a guys comes to deliver tortillas, he is told to come back at 1, our guest are arriving at 2, she wants the tortilla as fresh as possible,  I'm thinking the guy is just going to drive around with them on his quad for another 2 hours. What do I know? It's my first day here at the Old Bull.My next job is peeling cucumbers.
 I watch my sister stir, taste and add things to the pots on the stove all morning, one pot of beans, one of rice, one of escaviche. In my kitchen if I would have a pot of rice or  beans on the stove, even on low heat all day it would be burned to the bottom of the pot, not here. I washed  the pots, they were not burned and they certainly were not some fancy $100 pots, not even cast iron. The rice and beans were excellent
.My cousin and his nephew (my sister's son) are hungry, aside from harvesting cocos and chopping wood they've been laying bricks at some other project since 6am, plates of ceviche are prepared for them and cold cokes come from somewhere. After a bit one of them asks "Is this how all of it tastes?", we all laugh hilariously. "is it bad ?" she asks, "It doesn't taste done" is the response, she laughs some more, "that's because it isn't done yet, but you were hungry now". We can hardly stand up anymore from laughing so hard. They shake their heads at us and keep eating and mumble something about not tipping. We keep laughing and sister wrinkles her nose and keeps repeating "is this how all of it tastes"
.My next job is peeling shrimp, snapping off the heads, peeling the body but leaving the tails on. This is tricky, the tail keeps coming off. I understand the need for the tail, sucking the meat out of the tail is the best part. I finally get it but I am slow. I am also washing dishes at the same time, there is no space for a pileup of dirty dishes, they need to be washed as they come in.

My washing station

The floor may be sand but don't ever think this place is dirty, dude that stokes the fire is also in charge of a plastic fan rake and as soon as something gets dropped on the ground he is there with the rake, every once in awhile the ground is wetted down with water so it is not dusty, this place is clean.

The fire, waiting for fish

Freshly raked floor...

I peel shrimp, wash some dishes, peel some shrimp, move my feet for the rake, peel more shrimp, then my drain gets plugged, I didn't keep an eye on my filter on top of the drain....my filter is a scouring pad..opps, I poke the drain with the butt end of a fork...away it goes. I lift  my head and see the ocean still glistening in the sun, I see a few  surfers out, a boat pulling a banana boat of squealing tourists, a kid is showing off his prancing horse for tourists, (he was my neighbor last year) I can't believe I live here, I can't believe this is my Mexican family, I am so blessed. God is good.
My sister pulls a big dorado out of the pail and my washing station is now the fish preparing station, it was gutted this morning. My job is pouring water on her hands and the fish as she cuts it and cleans it. First she slice it down the back right beside the back bone, folds it open, and cuts along the inside edge of the back bone again and folds that open. She slices into the meat, she rubs a mixture of garlic and oil that was blended in the blender on it, she rubs in some salt and pepper and squeezes about 2 limes on it. We do 4 of them and they get put into a clean pail and get put into the fridge to "set".




My Tia is deveining my shrimp, butterflies them and breads them. I am back on the dishes, they just keep coming. The blender is always going, between making the garlic mixture and the two different salsas....it keeps humming, until it stops. It died. The waiter runs home to get his, the humming starts again.Did I mention it's hot, dude is still messing with the fire, he needs just the right amount of charcoal and wood, he is dripping with sweat, doesn't slow him down with the raking either, he is also there when ever a heavy pot needs moving, when garbage needs taking out, when the water hose needs to be shut off, and when it needs to be turned on. He is fast..... plus he is renting out boggy boards on the beach and making sure the barrel beside the toilet in the bathroom is full, but not over flowing...for flushing. Yes we have running water as long as dude is running the water will be there.Tia has moved back to the stove and is grilling up a big pan of onions, tomatoes, and peppers, this is to go on top of the fish.

This goes on top of the fish once it's done

I assist in scouring the grills, like I said, this place is clean, she has 2 grills to clean. Then she pulls out a new one that she just bought, it needs to be seasoned, we wash it, rub it down with limes and oil it and put it on the fire...dude will tend to it.By now Tia is deep frying fish and shrimp, my job is to dab each piece with a napkin to soak up extra grease before they are put into a small lunch box cooler. She uses clean oil and a clean pan for every second batch, my job is also to wash the pans when she is done so we can keep rotating 2 pans.All the glass plates that I had washed and dried are now pulled out and polished with a clean towel, it is a beautiful sight, stakes of mismatched pretty glass plates. I am told to take the ones with the prettiest patterns and put them aside, they will be the serving platters. They are all covered with a clean table cloth. We polish the mismatched silverware too. I am amazed at the elegant simplicity of it all.The sand under all the tables gets watered down again and raked, clean tables cloths are put on the tables. All chairs and tables were scrubbed down last night, while a new bar was built. Hammocks are hung up and condiments are put on the tables.

 Then we get a phone call, they will be an hour late. Tia stopped deep frying. We all sit down and have cold cocos and a plate of food, it is all so good.  We all get sent home (except for dude) to change into  "nice" clothes, there  is a brief discussion as to what is "nice" and somehow we end up talking about underwear again. We all come back refreshed, we hoot at each other because we all look so good....except the waiter, he is not impressed at having to wear pants and shoes, he is the only one that will be up front with the guests so he has to wear real shoes, with laces. They look borrowed,  he looks awkward, we assure him he looks good.Tia started deep frying again and I help sister put tinfoil on each grill and then a fish is slapped on, it's spread out and rubbed with garlic/oil again and on the fire they go. Dude springs to action, poking and prodding the fire.Our guests arrive, 45 of them. Chips and salsas are brought out for all, cocos are opened, drinks are served. The fish get dressed with dabs of butter, dabs of mayonnaise, spritz of soya sauce, spritz of bravo sauce, grilled for a wee bit more and then topped with the onion/tomatoe/pepper mixture. Pescado Zarandeado...beautiful to look at and  just as beautiful to eat. Some places also put cheese on it, we don't, I think cheese would spoil this. They are placed on tinfoil covered pieces of plywood and on the tables they go with the rice beans, and escaveche, shrimp and breaded fillets. 

Ready to be put on it's platter fro the table....yummmyumm

Then out of the blue there is a brief discussion as to why dude didn't have to go home and change, it isn't really resolved, he is just special.The party is going full swing...literally, then there is a commotion up front, sister runs out to see what is going on, when she comes back I don't understand her blabbering so she acts out how a lady was swinging in the hammock and the rope broke. She laughs so hard, she has to excuse herself and hide behind the bathroom. Dude and I are laughing at her acting, it was hilarious, such drama. Of course this is after she had made sure the lady wasn't hurt and the proper apologizes were made and proper blame was given to the one that hung the hammock. About an hour later we have another laugh about it...and follow it up with a serious "so thankful she wasn't hurt".Then the dishes started coming and they didn't stop until just before sundown. I washed and washed and washed.....remember, we are using a hose not taps, very few restaurants here have taps. At one point I ask "45 people here, why are there 500 dirty plates?" No one knows.I help Tia carry a 5 gallon pail of scraps to grandma's chickens on our way home. Most of these scraps are our kitchen scraps and fish bones, our guests were all Mexican and they don't (usually) leave food on their plates like the North American tourists do. We talk about how our feet hurt as we are walking home, I was hurting pretty bad, it was a long day, and it's not over yet. I have a ticket to go see "Giselle" 

This may not be paradise but it is pretty dern close. Come on down, we promise not to laugh if you fall out of the hammock.....it's a short soft fall

The perfect water jug

For two years now I have been looking for a certain water jug, I know what it is supposed to look like but just haven`t seen one. Not that I have spent lots and lots of time looking, my attention span is fairly short when it comes to shopping but I`ve just kept my eye open for one. When I have a vision of something I just can't seem to let it go or compromise.....I'm such a geek that way.  

Last week I was in the Golden Zone for a foreign immigration forum...just to make sure I wasn`t getting deported, just kidding. I stepped into a artsy little shop and there it was, my water jug. Exactly the right size, the right color, and the right price, and .... there was only one, just for me. I was so excited. Could hardly wait to get home but I had a few more stops here and there, back to central, visited some friends, walked to another friends, wandered around central and picked up a few things had lunch upstairs in the market and then walked back to the docks....all this, while cuddling my precious clay water jug. Got off the boat and walked home along the beach barefoot, which always feels so good after walking on concrete in the city in flipflops all day. Finally got home and went to put my precious package on the step so I could dig out my house keys and I stumbled....just a wee little stubble on the step, not even really a stumble but my package just tapped the concrete step, it was just a wee tap, but I knew something bad had happened. I wanted to kick my ass...hard. I even called myself stupid in Spanish.(I can do that now) It was with great dread that  I unwrapped my package, I don`t think I even breathed,  yup it was cracked all the way around, the cup that it came with was even cracked. I was so sad and so mad at myself. I schelped this thing all around all day and made it home and then broke it moments before getting it in the house. Stupid is the word. I put crazy glue in the cracks the next morning but it didn`t work. Remember, there was only one in the store. So the hunt begins again. It is still pretty, but it doesn`t hold water, I need it to hold water so that I can stop storing my water in empty plastic yogurt containers. If  any of my Mexican readers see one of these somewhere please let me know. I paid 85 pesos for it and was happy with the price. 

The perfect water jug is now a big paper weight  

The Old Bull

My Mexican sister (sister to my Mexican cousin, and daughter to my Mexican uncle) has a restaurant on the beach called the Viejo toro (the old bull) after my walk on the beach I stop in there for lunch, mostly I am there for the chatting which is good for my Spanish. I order Fish Zarandeado which is amazing. I watch her put a whole fish that looks like it is butter flied (cut in half) on a grill on an open fire, once it's almost done she puts some butter on it, a wee bit of mayonnaise, some bravo sauce, in a sauce pan on the stove she has fried up some onions, tomatoes, peppers with some salt and pepper, she puts that mixture on the fish as well and lets it all roast just a wee bit more...so good, served with rice, beans and tortillas....it was great and all for 80 pesos.

 They weren't very busy so I had a seat in the kitchen which allowed me to see the whole process. This is not a fancy place, not 2 plates are the same, the cutlery is mismatched, all tables and  chairs are mismatched, some tables are built with boards of different thickness so be careful that you don't spill your drink,  floor is sand, there is no hot water (as is standard in most restaurants here) and there is only fish and shrimp on the menu. After I am done eating her mother stops by (my aunt) and I help her wash some dishes, then we sit and chat about how the comasario (the band) is hunting down all the "stoners" on the Island this weekend, they laugh and compare it to the witch hunts from long ago, we discuss everything from recipes, to the price of fish, comfortable underwear (that was interesting) nail polish, all while we are watching her son clean fish, we critic and have a comment about every move he makes (more like heckling)....that is just how it is when you work in front of 3 women. We laugh at her daughter as she is trying to get a peek at the rat in some dudes backpack (don't ask) without letting it out. She squeals and runs away every time the pack moves but keeps coming back with a stick to poke it.

She tells me that she has a reservation on Friday for a huge group of people and a wedding on Sunday, she asks it I want to help...of course I do, I hope I can help her more than I am helping my brick layer, she assigns me to dish washing  I think I can handle that. Mi Tia assures me she has an apron for me. I am told for my pay I can eat as much as I want all day....she doesn't know me, I can pack it away, she might be better off paying me. She has no idea how excited I am. I ask her what words I should brush up on to make communicating little easier, her waiter has a great idea, he says he has something that will make me bilingual by then, and rushes off,  he comes back and proudly presents me with a Spanish/English dictionary....dude, I have 6 of those, one in every size, book size, pocket  size, purse size, big fat desk size that make me really look like a scholar, a kindle version as well. I have all the tools. He looks puzzled at why I am not bilingual by now....I'm puzzled too.

I walk home with mi Tia and we stop at her mother's (grandma) house to drop of a bag of scrap food that we scraped off the plates at the restaurant to give to her chickens. Grandma is 89 year old and still lives all by herself in a fair sized house, in the back yard she has a very interesting chicken farm. I'm intrigued. She has about 20 chickens and 3 big beautiful roosters, most beautiful roosters I have ever seen, and me without my camera. We sit on the front step and chat about, chickens, flowers and plants and about shoes, something about how all shoes these days make her look like a clown...I can see it, 89 year old lady wearing shoes with shiny bows and buckles, bright colors and whatnot, I see her point. Everything here is so blinged up, from underwear to shoes. 

Before we leave I ask her if I can come back with my camera someday, of course I am always welcome. As we walk home we see the people that sell peanuts coming in with a huge truck full of peanuts, we are excited, tomorrow there will be fresh roasted peanuts...the first batch of this season. Before we even get home 2 people stop and tell us that the first truck load of peanuts are in, this is exciting to all. 

I'll leave you with these unrelated photos

Got a pedicure here on the Island, decided to go a little Patriotic with my nails. 

She painted an Island scene on my big toe, she also did a great job of cleaning up my feet, glad I don't have to go to mainland for this anymore. I'll will use her again for sure.

An artsy BBQ

I decided to go with building a BBQ and a brick patio instead of tiling my living room, and instead of putting in some shelving in my kitchen, and instead of finishing the tiling my bathroom....there is so much work that I want to do yet. I feel the outside is more important as that is where I spend most of my time. Where the bricks were going to come from has changed a few times, when the brick were going to get here has changed a few times what the bricks were going to cost changed a few times.  It has been decided that my land lady's son is going to do the work, and my Mexican cousin will supervise. There is a pile of bricks in my yard that were left over from the my new fence that got built this summer and so I get the guy started on the BBQ first while we wait for "other" bricks to arrive.  I draw him a plan and he understands what I want ( I think).

 Then the whole project gets stopped before it has even began because the Island has no water, you need water to mix concrete. As soon as water was back (4 days) on he gets started, I mostly watched, I was going to help but as soon as he started I realize that it was not going to happen like I thought....thing are just done differently here and I have never worked with bricks and concrete or used a thin clear hose with water in it as a level, or used string to square things up, or mixed concrete with the exact amount of gravel, sand and water...it looked a little finicky ( like mixing bread dough) or tapped a brick exactly in the right spot to split it in half, when I was done tapping my brick it shattered into little pieces. I decided to help by sitting on the back steps and asking questions and looking up the Spanish answers that he gives me in my dictionary and run to the store every once in a while for cold drinks, very helpful I was.

 As I am sitting and watching my BBQ take shape I see this project getting bigger, maybe it would be nice to have a shelf above the work space, 2 shelves would look more balanced, and you need a place to hang your utensils, then I think a sink would be nice, one of those beautiful Talavera sinks, how about a built in cutting board, this could be a project that has no end....he thinks I am just being funny, he doesn't know me. Maybe I will build the sink when he is done, I've learned so much about brick laying, I could do it. When he is almost done he tells me that he has never laid a brick in his life until now, he's a fisherman, he says now that he has learned he might built himself a BBQ like this too, I ask if I should help again...he laughs.

Once his work is done mine begins, I need to go into Mazatlan to buy some tile to put on the top of the two ends to make a nice smooth and easy to clean work space. Then I want to put some decorative tile along the edges and I plan on adding some shelves above the work spaces and of course some arty touches like some wall pots with herbs. Still pondering the sink. the end of all this is a ways away yet.

His work is done, now mine begins. 

We start measuring and laying out the string to make where the boundaries of my patio is going to be, I want all the space laid with brick that is not garden space. He pull out his trusty clear hose that is filled with water to see how level the ground is....it's not level at all, of course. He asks if I want it level? Sure I say. Then we will have to haul in lots of sand he says. I try to explain I don't mind if it is not completely level. He asks if I want it wavy, he makes some very dramatic wavy motions with his hands, really steep up and down waves, the kind of waves that would sink a tuna boat. No, I don't want it to be that unlevel, even a drunken sailor would get dizzy walking on that patio. I say I don't mind if it is a little unlevel but not like that...making the waving motion. Then we will need lots and lots of sand he says again. I am thinking he is not understanding what level of unlevelness I am looking for.

 The part of my brain that houses my golf course irrigation stuff gets triggered (thought I had that shut off) and I am trying to eye up the land looking to see where the water will all drain during the rainy season, not that I am here then but I still don't want all my bricks to sink in a sink hole created by a big puddle. I try to explain that I want it all sloped to the back of my property so that the water can run into the jungle in the back, he still keeps making the drunken sailor wavy motions in the air while I am making more of a slow slope motion. Just then his phone rings and it seems his ship has come in, or is ready to leave, either way he is outa here, might be back tonight, if not tonight, possible in 2 months when his voyage his over. He take off, leaves me with string and hose and 1000 bricks piled up in my back alley. I suddenly feel so lonely, he's been my companion for 6 days.

If this project was in my front yard I am sure all my neighbours would be offering to help me. My neighbours across the street got tiles put in their home last week, and it all went down like an Amish barn raising. There was so much excitement and fun, food, music, and laughter, women sitting in plastic chairs in a circle, laughing and chatting (probably heckling the men) and the men working away. Pots, bowls and dishes with food got carried out and in all day. But no one can see into my back yard, I could work away there all day no one would know. I need some Amish friends.

I spend the afternoon moving my string around and daydreaming about what plants I will plant and where. I notice that it would probably be a good idea to paint the house (that was on the to do list too) before I plant plants up against the house....painting is yucky work, I hate painting. Once again, some Amish friends would be nice.

As you can see a coat of paint would really spiff this place up, I plan on planting big plants up against the house of  the right side, would make sense to paint first. 

See my boundary string, lot of room for plants

When I go to bible study that evening I get handed a 400 page book (in Spanish) that apparently I agreed to read last week. I just got through reading "Curious George" in Spanish, it had 12 pages with about 12 words on each page, there is no way I can read this book. Sometimes when I don't know what is being asked I just say yes, I should stop doing that, but saying no sounds so harsh. I think I need to go back to saying "possibly" when in doubt.

The germinated seeds from my papaya today. 

totally off topic, it is so hot here that the seeds in the papaya that I cut open this morning had already germinated in the papaya....seriously. I carefully took them out and put them in a pot of dirt. We'll see what happens.  

Banana harvesting

Today my land lady came over to check how I was doing for water, still no running water on the Island, I have almost 1/2 a barrel left by my pila so I can still carry some into my house with a pail to wash, have a sponge bath and drink. Supposedly a pipe is broken and they are working on  it. She notices that a bunch  of bananas on one of my trees are ready, I'm excited, have been waiting to harvest bananas since last year. She goes to get her machete...because all good women here have machetes, I have one too but I let her use hers because I think hers is sharper than mine....I think it's better that mine is not so sharp, at least I won't completely cut my hand off and it might be easier to patch up should I have a accident or is it easier to patch a clean cut?..not sure. While I am still giggling with excitement I must of had my head turned for a second, thump! she falls the whole tree with the bananas still on it. I'm stunned, I realize that the tree has to come down but I would have carefully picked the bananas off first, only one banana got schoomoshed that rest all fared well. Not her first day harvesting bananas. There were about 30 all together, she takes 1/2 and leaves me the rest, I am thrilled, (still giggling) about 3 of them are ready to eat and I eat one right away, oh my gosh...I can't believe I ate a banana right from the tree, where I come from this only happens in movies, but then at least once a day I feel like I am living in the movies here. I take the rest and wash them and put them in a sad looking bowl...certainly not worthy of beautiful handpicked bananas, (it was actually my colander) I put "nice baskets" on my shopping list for when I head in to the mainland next time. This would be a beautiful centerpiece on my kitchen table, if I had one. My landlady lent me one last year but apparently it is not available for lending this year. My table that I made last year houses my office, my laptop, printer and magic jack phone, camera and kindle....no wonder my extension cord blew up the other day when I was blow drying my hair. Electricity here is just not made to power everything at once. So I am on the lookout for a new to me kitchen table, I could get a plastic coco cola table that are abundant everywhere, which I will get for outside but for inside I want something with more character...I am living in the movies after all. But now I have to go and stare at my bananas. Here is a picture so you can stare at them too.

These are the banana that will be ready in about 2 weeks

The banana bowl

Bananas, the green ones ripened very quickly

yummmmyummm

Did you know that a banana tree only produces bananas once, which is why you cut the tree down when you harvest the bananas and then it sends a new shoot out of the ground. Apparently once you have banana trees you cannot get rid of them, and why would you want to? I have another bunch of bananas that will be ready in about 2 months I'm told....I hope I'll have a pretty basket and table by then.