Happy News Years to me

Today is the beginning of a new year..2008. The church was having a New Year’s party last night but I choose to bring the New Year in on my Island. The neighbours next door had a party, with lots of cowboys, beer and music (yes, I was watching out the window) it was rather noisy until about 10 and then all was quite. In the morning after a good breakfast of eggs and potatoes and my fruit shake I settled on my roof top with my instant coffee and creama and just had some quiet time with God (and the birds in the mango tree) I’m praying I can be more focussed on him instead of me throughout this new year. After that I pulled out my Spanish books and did some studying.....I think this will be my morning ritual while I am here. I had lunch and grabbed a book and headed to the beach where I sat on a lounger from 1 – 4, it was a lot warmer today than yesterday. I’m reading “The List” by Robert Whitlow, which I think is a perfect beach read, so far I am really enjoying it. While everything here seems so slow, I am finding that time does pass by quickly and I seem to always be busy, but then everything you do here always takes longer than at home. I have no kitchen or bathroom sink, so to wash dishes I have to carry water up from my laundry room downstairs and heat it up on my hot plate. I have to wash my laundry by hand so I don’t want that to get out of hand so I do some laundry every other day, because of the dust and sand I sweep the floor about 3 times a day and wash it 2 times a day....each time carrying water up......I have to keep up to the lady next door, she sweeps all morning and afternoon, she sweeps her whole dirt yard, so I sweep m y roof. Shopping takes a lot of time as well, for my dry goods I go to the general store, they have produce but it is not very nice, then I have to go for a walk and find the produce truck, if I just hang out at home eventually he does come by, but sometimes I get impatient and go looking for him. There is a meat market if I should need meat, I haven’t ventured there yet, it’s on my list for tomorrow. Every other house has either a store or a restaurant in it and it is hard to tell when they are open for business and when they have decided to take a day off. I like this about Mexico, if you have 1 or more sets of plastic tables and chairs you can set up a restaurant in your living room or on the street in from of your house and open and close as you wish, no permit or license is required and no health inspector will visit you and you can serve whatever you want to cook that day. Should you get tired of it you just put away your plastic tables and you’re done, 2 weeks later you’re a little short on cash and out comes the tables again and you’re back in business. I love this; it makes so much sense to me. I’ve also noticed that dogs and cats are allowed everywhere; a stray dog was wandering around inside the general store today. Today when I was at the beach I went to use the bathroom at one of the palapa restaurants I saw a cat licking off the cutting board in the kitchen....when everything is in the open you can’t keep the outside things out, there’re bound to come in. When I came here with Barbara & Al a few weeks ago they brought their dog with them (Canela) and as soon as we sat down she disappeared, I wondered where she went and Al said “oh, she always checks out the kitchen first to see if she can find any food left out” I expected and angry cook to chase her out of the kitchen but nobody said a word. We get way too excited about stuff like this at home, relax, relax and put a lime on it. I’m being told that a lime works as a disinfectant and that’s why Mexicans squeeze lime on almost everything they eat. Speaking of relax, lime and disinfectant, I have to visit the meat market tomorrow (I said that already).....I promise you a picture of this place hopefully after I have built a good relationship with the meat guys, I must say I am a little intimidated of these guys with the machetes. Usually in front of the market there are about 6 guys just hanging around, I’m not sure if they all work there or if that is just “the” place to hang out. Normally in Mexico if there are 6 guys in a group just hanging out and a women walks by there will be some cat calling and hootchy hootchy kissy kissy sounds being made, (it’s a cultural thing) so that is why I have avoided the meat market......but tomorrow’s the day! I bought a crock pot and it came with a little Spanish recipe book and I plan on making something called “frijoles preparados estilo new England” and I need to get 225 gramos hueso de pierna con carne, according to my translations I need a 225 grams of bone of leg of meat.