I woke up this morning and checked the weather via the internet, I am a weather geek, I love checking the weather. It was 6C with a 20 km/hr wind yikes....good thing I had filled all the hole is my house last night with newspaper, there was a 1 inch gap all around my door frame. Luckily for me my house is 14 x 14 and it does not take much to heat it up, we had had some heat yesterday and the brick seemed to have held it overnight. You could probable heat this place up with a few candles. I can’t imagine how hot it is for the locals living in these houses during the hot months, it must just be smouldering in there. As I walked over to my bathroom I was almost blown away by the wind and got 2 eyes full of sand. I had made plans to met a friend on the mainland in Centro, so I dressed warm, longjohns, pants, 3 long sleeve t-shirt and a coat and a scarf (what I wore when I arrived here) if I would have had a toque I would have worn it too. I choose to take the tourist boat out of here this morning because from the other side I can take a bus right to Central whereas if I had taken the village boat I would have had a bit of a walk. However, I had not factored in the wind, I walked along the beach (as this is the shortest way), I discovered that walking on a beach in a wind storm is not pleasant, you get your eyes blown full of sand and that stings, it was not a pleasant walk. I also almost got hit by a flying tent; one of the restaurants tents got lifted out of the ground and got tossed into the ocean...just missed me. It wasn’t until this happened that I realized that I was walking all alone on the beach in the middle of a very bad storm, good thing it was a low tide because the ocean was wild and loud, I had gone to far to turn back so I just kept going. I was the only one at the dock but he didn’t make me wait, he took me across right away. The poor captain of the boat was so bundled up and still looked so cold (I need to knit hats next year for these guys) Despite being cold he was still very friendly and we both laughed at this crazy weather. Once on the other side I had planned on taking a bus but it was too cold to stand there and wait so I just started walking and then realized it was only 5 blocks to the Plaza so I walked the whole way, by now I shielded by tall building so walking wasn’t so difficult anymore ....I sure was thankful I had put a scarf on, people I met walking were all bundled up as well. Once at the Plaza I treated myself to a 48 peso Vanilla Cappuccino (my first coffee here) it was so good but the wind was miserable making it not quit as much fun as I had hoped. My friend and I wandered through a few fabric stores and ohhed and awed and touched everything I think, oh the possibilities of new projects were just endless, but of course I have to keep thinking of the luggage restrictions. I actually stuck to my list that I had brought and only bought a few table cloths and 2 metres of yoga mat.....yup you can buy it by the metre here. It also makes a nice soft swishy floor mat, and warm on a cement floor on a day like this. I may just go back and buy some more and cover my whole floor....but surely it’s going to warm up. From there we went to the market and picked some things there, we parted way here and I went to the bank and then over to my favourite pedicure place on Serdan and she was closed, although the sign on the door said she was supposed to be open. This is typical here but yet annoys me, this happens to me so often at her shop. I decide to have lunch at a nearby place and tried again in a ½ hour later...still closed. I had no other business here so I head back to docks, the village dock this time; I am not walking on the beach again. As I walk back to my house I pass a new little manicure/pedicure place that has just opened, I hesitate, I think Rocio on Serdan does an amazing job on my feet, regardless of how bad they are she always takes her time and cleans them up perfectly. I have walked on the sand lots already and so a lot of the hard skin has already worn off so they aren’t too bad right now. I decide to give this new place a try and even managed to get an appointment for tomorrow. I feel bad, I have been loyal to Rocio for 5 years now, maybe I’ll get her to cut my hair in a few weeks.
I get to my house and am surprised to see what the wind has done, garbage everywhere, leaves everywhere and sand has blown in, there are sand dunes in my backyard, what a mess......and it’s still blowing. I see the trailer park people have lost some umbrellas and a tent has blown down. Nobody is outside.....everyone is holed up inside, which is my plan now that I am home. My house is surprisingly still warm. I hear the tortilla truck comes, and the dessert truck, but I don’t even want to venture out to get anything. Poor guys, sales will be down today. As I sit here typing I cringe at the sound of the wind and the ocean once in awhile, it sounds so terrible....I tell myself that it is well past hurricane season....right? Plus, this little house survived hurricane Rick last year, we will be ok.
Internet is down and I am expecting power to be down soon too, it already flickered when we were in the fabric store. My candles are ready.
PS: Here is a link to the local newspaper, the stormy weather has made the news, this is a serious storm blowing through. It may have already cases damage to the corn crop and has closed the ports to small boats and all beaches are closed, even here on the Island. Today is was 2C at 6 am with a feels like temperature of -2C. I will not be leaving my house today....I may not leave my bed.