A little side note; my pictures are scattered all over because I can't seem to figure out how it is supposed to be done, I had this problem last year as well and never did figure it out. I also can't figure out how to put captions under them.
Monday, November 30, 2009
A weird day
A little side note; my pictures are scattered all over because I can't seem to figure out how it is supposed to be done, I had this problem last year as well and never did figure it out. I also can't figure out how to put captions under them.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
First night in the little casita by the sea
November 29th (I think)
Turns out I live on pony lane, in front of my house is the ocean and behind my house runs a road alongside the coconut plantation. Somewhere down this road I believe live all the people that have horses. They are constanly galloping by my house and as my friend Kathy pointed out to me they leave a lot of fertilizer behind (horse poo), the composting guru that I am I plan on scooping up some to add to my plants that I plan on buying soon. I figure it's so hot here it will compost in days. I must have a garden, I just can't live somewhere and not grow stuff. I plan on doing the scooping after it's dark out because the locals will think I am completly loco if they catch me out on the road picking up horse manure. So tonight I went out there with my shovel in the dark and guess what...it's dark, I can't see a thing, need to buy a flashlight. I have a candle but the wind kept blowing it out. People often ask me "what do you do all day there" they have no idea how busy I am and I really can't explain it, don't really want either, they might think I'm loco too. Anyway.......I was going to tell a sad horse story.....There is a man who rents out his horses on the beach to tourists for trailriding and every morning he brings his horses in from somewhere up my road. He has them all tied up together and comes galloping up the beach really fast with them and one of the mares has a little foal (cutest little thing) the foal is not tied up, he just runs along side but he always stays behind and the dud does not slow down or look back to see if the little guy is still there, poor little guy just running and trying to keep up. Today at 3:30 (same time everyday) dud goes home with his horse, just at my house he makes a turn into the plantation but the little guy is so far behind he goes straight instead of turning. After awhile I can hear him crying (neighing) and he comes back, confused, he turns, going in the right direction now but soon comes back when he can't see them ahead, he's just crying in such a panicky tone, my heart was breaking for him. He went left and right but kept coming back and crying and crying. He raced back onto the beach and just turned in circles for awhile and then came back and just circled around the corner and crying. Dud must have been all the way home before he realized he was missing the foal, it was about 40 minutes when he came back on his horse with the mare in tow, poor little guy was so happy to see them and finally go home. I sure hope dud slows down from now on. These are the things that keep me occupied all day. Since hurrincan Rick came to visit everyone is rebuilding palapas and the palm branches are being hauled out of the plantations, all day long wagon pulled by horses drive by my house, piled so high with palm branches sometimes you can't even see the driver, pickup trucks full as well. These guys know how to load up a truck or wagon to the max.
I spend the first night in my house and aside from a midnight visit to the bathroom it was pretty uneventful. I had taken all percautions to make sure I didn't have any creepy crawlys in the house.Nina had sprayed some stuff to kill off any bugs they have and I had chalked out all the holes the house to keep out cockroaches. They have a chalk here that cockroaches don't like, if you draw a line with it they will not cross over the line (so I am told) Must work, I have not had a single roach in my house but I forgot all about my bathroom. At 1 am I had to go to the bathroom and so I wander on over there and open the door and the place was swarming with roaches.....all sizes, unbelievable. So back to the house for my spray and sprayed the bathroom and as soon as I could see they were getting drunkin-like I took a broom and swept them out. Today I chalked the door way and any little holes. Will be keeping on top of the chalking from now on. I have geckos and iguanas running around all over the place and I don't mind them because I know they are harmless but at night when it is dark I assume every little scurrying sound is a rat, keeps me on edge a bit. The last bit of my evening was spent just sitting and thinking of how thankful I am to God for everything, it is truely due to Him that I am here and I must never forget that the more I yield to Him the more amazing my life will be and in turn I will not be able to help it but praise and worship Him, and I pray that this will spill out to my nieghbours and everyone around me. Once again I got a lesson this morning in the Spanish service on praise and worship.
My little casita by the sea
November 26, 2009
2 years ago when I was here I found a beautiful little house on the beach, the house is nothing fancy and really not beautiful, it is the yard that is so beautiful and it’s location. The house is just a little square brick building, one room. The toilet and shower are in a separate little building just off to the side of the house and an outdoor laundry area as is common in the Mexican homes. In the past there has always been someone living in it but this year it was empty and I felt it should be mine. Unfortunately hurricane Rick gave it a little beating a few weeks ago and the yard is a mess. It had palapas that came halfway down the beach and beautiful vines, plants and trees and those have all been ripped out and all the debris is scattered all over. The lady that owns it, who happens to be a friend of mine (I rented a place from here last year as well) told me she would have it ready in a week but all week I did not see any work being done there. Meanwhile everyone on the Island has heard that I am back and has a place to rent or knows someone who has. I did go and look at a few house and found some very awesome little houses for rent, all within my budget, I didn’t even look at anything that was not within my budget. All the houses that I looked at were nicer then mine but the yards were not nearly as nice, some had no yard. When my North American friends see the nice little houses I turned down they will think I am crazy but to me the yard and the view is worth more to me. Yesterday when I went for my 4 pm walk on the beach and stopped at my house and finally saw some work being done there. I quickly picked up a rake and helped rake up all the garbage. When we had a few piles made we set them on fire (don’t need permits) She got the inside of the house cleaned and has promised to come back tomorrow to clean the bathroom, which I can clean myself if she doesn’t come back. The yard is a project that will take longer. I told her I can pick away at it while I life there as well. It is a bit yucky though because when you have piles of dried palm trees and old rotting wood laying around here you get rats and all kinds of creepy crawly things living in there. (BIG creepy crawly things) So, there may well be a bon fire every night at my house for the next week or so. I will be slowly moving in over the course of the next few days here. Tomorrow I will go get my things that I have in storage here and see what I have. It’s been 2 years since I put it in storage and I can’t remember what all I have, it will be like Christmas for me. Then I will make a list of things I need and head to the mainland and do some shopping (not my favourite thing to do) I do know I need to buy some lights, the little place is not lit up very well. I also want some plants, a Poinsettia or 2 is a must....there are so cheap here. A friend already lent me hammock which is the key piece of furniture. As we were working out there last night the sunset put on a very colourful show for us and I knew I had made the right choice.
November 29, 2009
This morning I went to get my things that I had stored and moved into my little casita on the beach. Shortly after getting there I discovered that I didn’t have water, what the heck? Had water yesterday. My water is pumped in from a well, I have a pump house and was shown how to turn the pump on and off, it was supposed to be as easy as flicking the switch on and off. The pump burrs and makes noise but no water. So I shut it off and plan on going to find Nina, but first I have unpacking to do and organizing...so exciting. I had gone shopping yesterday in Mazatlan for some supplies. I bought a twin sheet set for 210 pesos, a bath towel for 49 pesos, a twin sleeping bag for 87 pesos (yup that’s under $8)a thick blanket for 79 pesos, these were the big items. I also picked up some smaller stuff like candles and a BBQ lighter, bath mat and such. I organized my little place as best as I could without water, all my stuff that was in storage needs to be washed. Salvador (my fruit and vegetable guy) came by around 9 ish. I had run into him last night at one of the restaurants and had asked him what time he would be by. He drives the same route everyday and does pretty well at staying on schedule. I also caught the water guy this morning; I will be boiling my drinking water but...no water today, so I bought some even though I am against buying water. It hurts me to buy water, even though it only cost me 12 pesos. The water guy was so sweet and had fun with my Spanish; it took me a bit to understand that you can only buy as many jugs as you are returning. I did eventually get that and then remembered that I had gone through that whole ordeal last year only then I didn’t have a jug to return so I could not buy a jug. Luckily for me there was an empty jug in this house that I could return to him. How does one get started when you first move here if someone didn’t leave a jug behind for you, and people wonder why it pains me to buy water. Then I wandered over to get some lunch, a big tuna sandwich and then Kathy came to visit and drop of borrowed water dispenser and some duct tape to tape plastic around my mattress (just in case of creepy critters) then we chatted away the afternoon. I wandered over to the RV Park and met some wonderful fellow Canadian and a nice couple from Quebec and for a small fee got set up with internet. So for the next few hours I sat under my palapa and updated my blog site as I watched 2 guys do some kind of kite surfing in the ocean....life was great, then I lost the internet connection, just as my pictures were being uploaded....dirty dog! Just then my friend Lydia (missionary with the La Vina ) called and told me she was on the Island and could I met her to give her a book I had brought from Canada for her. The book is “The beautiful side of Evil” by Johanna Michaelsen, very good book on how the evil spirit can disguise himself. The author grew up in Mexico and writes of her experiences of being deceived by the evil one. The things she writes about remind me a lot of things that I see here in the Island. Despite all the darkness here there is hope, today a 12 year old kid came to Lydia and asked to be put into a drug rehab facility. Another kid (these 2 boys were friends) was put into this same facilities 2 weeks ago, he had been there in the past and had run away, had also run away from an orphanage that Lydia had put him in so we just have to pray that this time God will get a hold of these boys. So my day went on and I never did go talk to Nina about my water...oh well, manana. I just finished watching the sunset over the ocean and now have to go over to Miguel’s restaurant and get some supper. Since Miguel’s is just around the corner from my house I’m sure we will get to be good friends. Yesterday I had enchiladas that were awesome, not sure what I’ll try today..
November 29, 2009
This morning I went to get my things that I had stored and moved into my little casita on the beach. Shortly after getting there I discovered that I didn’t have water, what the heck? Had water yesterday. My water is pumped in from a well, I have a pump house and was shown how to turn the pump on and off, it was supposed to be as easy as flicking the switch on and off. The pump burrs and makes noise but no water. So I shut it off and plan on going to find Nina, but first I have unpacking to do and organizing...so exciting. I had gone shopping yesterday in Mazatlan for some supplies. I bought a twin sheet set for 210 pesos, a bath towel for 49 pesos, a twin sleeping bag for 87 pesos (yup that’s under $8)a thick blanket for 79 pesos, these were the big items. I also picked up some smaller stuff like candles and a BBQ lighter, bath mat and such. I organized my little place as best as I could without water, all my stuff that was in storage needs to be washed. Salvador (my fruit and vegetable guy) came by around 9 ish. I had run into him last night at one of the restaurants and had asked him what time he would be by. He drives the same route everyday and does pretty well at staying on schedule. I also caught the water guy this morning; I will be boiling my drinking water but...no water today, so I bought some even though I am against buying water. It hurts me to buy water, even though it only cost me 12 pesos. The water guy was so sweet and had fun with my Spanish; it took me a bit to understand that you can only buy as many jugs as you are returning. I did eventually get that and then remembered that I had gone through that whole ordeal last year only then I didn’t have a jug to return so I could not buy a jug. Luckily for me there was an empty jug in this house that I could return to him. How does one get started when you first move here if someone didn’t leave a jug behind for you, and people wonder why it pains me to buy water. Then I wandered over to get some lunch, a big tuna sandwich and then Kathy came to visit and drop of borrowed water dispenser and some duct tape to tape plastic around my mattress (just in case of creepy critters) then we chatted away the afternoon. I wandered over to the RV Park and met some wonderful fellow Canadian and a nice couple from Quebec and for a small fee got set up with internet. So for the next few hours I sat under my palapa and updated my blog site as I watched 2 guys do some kind of kite surfing in the ocean....life was great, then I lost the internet connection, just as my pictures were being uploaded....dirty dog! Just then my friend Lydia (missionary with the La Vina ) called and told me she was on the Island and could I met her to give her a book I had brought from Canada for her. The book is “The beautiful side of Evil” by Johanna Michaelsen, very good book on how the evil spirit can disguise himself. The author grew up in Mexico and writes of her experiences of being deceived by the evil one. The things she writes about remind me a lot of things that I see here in the Island. Despite all the darkness here there is hope, today a 12 year old kid came to Lydia and asked to be put into a drug rehab facility. Another kid (these 2 boys were friends) was put into this same facilities 2 weeks ago, he had been there in the past and had run away, had also run away from an orphanage that Lydia had put him in so we just have to pray that this time God will get a hold of these boys. So my day went on and I never did go talk to Nina about my water...oh well, manana. I just finished watching the sunset over the ocean and now have to go over to Miguel’s restaurant and get some supper. Since Miguel’s is just around the corner from my house I’m sure we will get to be good friends. Yesterday I had enchiladas that were awesome, not sure what I’ll try today..
Saturday, November 28, 2009
From Redding CA to Stone Island MX
November09
As I am writing this I can hear the distant sound of a ship coming in, the sound is faint as it is almost drowned out by the sounds of the Island roosters. It’s 4:59 am and I am sipping coffee and waiting for the Island to wake up. It was a long journey.
We left Redding CA at 6 am on Tuesday, (It was time to leave I was starting to talk funny) the van was loaded as high as we could without losing visibility and staying within the manufacturers suggested weight limit, that also included 2 Yorkies and one recued Island beach dog. The drive through central valley California was incredible. It’s known as the “bread basket” of America and I can see why. Acres and acres of fruit orchards like orange, lemon and apple rolling along the highway. You see commercial crops like lettuce, beets, corn and rice. Rice surprised me; I had not expected to see rice. Working in these fields (from what I could see) were Mexicans, whether they were national Mexicans or immigrated I am not sure. The housing as also very interesting, not a lot of upscale housing, mostly old old homes and old run down mobile homes, homes that would have long ago been condemned where I am from. Sometimes in the middle of a tumble weed field you would see a little trailer that looked like it had just not been able to go any further and they had just set up camp and years later are still there. This of course is possible because of weather, no worries of freezing.
(*P3097)We spend the night in Palm Desert which is just outside of Palm Springs, as I got out of the van I could feel the air had gotten warm and the breeze felt soft and cool but not cold (hard to explain) Palm Desert, like it’s name is lined with Palm trees everywhere, had a very Mexican feel to it.
(*3106)We hit road the next day at about 6 am again. As we crossed the border into Arizona the terrain did gradually change a little, now not as lush and green in place. I was still surprised at how green in was, I had expected complete desolate desert. It seems if you add water almost anything grows. Still saw a lot of orchards, and commercial crops like lettuce, garlic, beans, and corn....no rice, and more and more cactus. Saw some cattle ranchers (not many) and some nopales fields. Occasionally on one side of the highway dry dry desert looking fields with dried up tumble weeds and sand dunes and on the other side of the road a green green crop of corn or an orange orchard (being irrigated of course) quite the contrast. Occasionally miles and mile of greenery and then s of dry tumble weeds and sand dunes. It switched back and forth like this until we hid the Mexican border. Another interesting thing was the (*3107) huge RV parks packed full of “snow birds” Canadians and Americans escaping the winters up north, never before have I seen such huge RV parks and trailer parks built just for winter homes. As we got closer to Yuma you would see some upscale neighbourhoods now, built for the “snow birds” and a lot of real estate signs as long the way. I picked up a free real estate booklet at a gas station just out of curiosity, a lot of homes are bank repos and comparing to the cost of housing at home were very cheap, looks like the banks are desperate to unload them. We had planned on stopping in Yuma for the night but we made such good time we carried on to Tucson.
We hit the road at 5 am so that we could be the first in line at the Mexican border at 6 am. I needed to get my tourist permit and there can at times be a 5 hour line up, we wanted to avoid that if at all possible. Although Kathy has crossed this border many times with her van loaded to the top and has never had any problems we weren’t sure what to expect this year. In July of this year the Mexican government replaced all their border security guards with newly trained people, some 700 people were let go and replaced. Turns out they were just as lazy as the last guys, we got a red light and had to pull over to what was supposed to be an inspection but as soon as the guy stuck his head in the window, Katie (big beach dog that had been abused by Mexicans and now doesn’t like Mexicans) popped up and started growling deep in her throat, the guard decided he didn’t want to open the door. He asked what we were carrying and Kathy replied (in Spanish) “women things”. She had purposely packed her under wear on top hoping that when the macho guards saw them they would not want to go through them. He looked at all the boxes and the dogs and just told us to go through knowing it would be a lot of work to search us. As we drove away laughing at the “women things” and promising to buy Katie a steak as soon as we got home I must say I was a little disappointed at how easy it still is to bring illegal things across the border, not that we had anything illegal but we sure could have had. I was asked for my passport when I bought my tourist visa but Kathy was never asked for hers or for her FM3 and we were not asked for our vehicle permit which had taken us 4 hours to obtain days ago in Sacramento and she was not asked for her health certificates for her dogs. Still a very sloppy border control if you ask me.
(*3160)As soon as we crossed the border I could tell we were in Mexico, there was no doubt. I felt at home right away. Even the smell in the air changes right away. They must have had late rains because things were very green and lush for as far as you could see. There seemed to be a lot more of commercial crops than I remembered from my drive through here a few years ago by bus. There were and miles of tomato and corn fields and a lot of crops that I couldn’t recognize from the road. The uncultivated areas were also full of green vegetation like papaya and mango trees, and Morning Glory vines covering everything in a tangles jungle like cover...high and low. Judging by the amount of crops and massive greenhouse all through the state of Sonora and Sinaloa (more so in Sinaloa) it looks like the agriculture sector is in good shape (but what do I know). We spent our last night in Navajo (5 hours (*3121) from Mazatlan) we did not want to be at the Stone Island docks in the dark, we had a whole van of stuff that needed to be loaded onto a boat to take us to the Island and Kathy knows from past experience that it can be a bit chaotic and we would need some Mexican muscle to unload and they don’t have as many guys at the docks at night than during the day. Plus we didn’t want to travel the road from Culiacan to Mazatlan in the dark either as this is drug cartel territory. We arrived in Navajo early at about 3 pm and stayed at the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was an old Mexican Hacienda type hotel. I felt like I was in a movie. The grounds were green and immaculately trimmed and groomed, (*3129) lined in hedges and Bugumbelia and ivies trailing and covering on walls and ledges. The room had a stone floor and a massive concrete fireplace, old heavy wooden doors, long wooden shutters, a high domed brick ceiling and hand made tiles in the bathroom, crisp white wind dried towels and I believe scented toilet paper, even the pretty soap was whiter than white ...I wanted to stay forever. As I was walking around the grounds taking pictures I apologised to Kathy for giggling like a 12 year old (*3126) school girl in my excitement. This place was stunning. I was glad we got in early as it gave me some time to enjoy this place; I sat in the court yard under a lantern light and read my book (I was reading Tolstoy but I felt like I should be reading Hemmingway) and enjoying the warm soft breeze before I went to bed. One could have enjoyed an evening swim in the outdoor pool but I was content to (*3122) just sit and read and breathe. As I slipped into bed I was in awe of the whiter than white sheets....I love white sheets, and these made me feel like some Spanish Queen (not that the Spanish ever had queens) as I drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the distant sound of roosters. It felt like a true (*3147)homecoming. In the morning I watched as some cows wandered onto the grounds, their visit was short as the grounds keeper who looked more like a cowboy that a gardener in his western shirt and cowboy hat noticed them at once and proceeded to shoo them off. You will not find this true old style Mexican luxury accommodation and hospitality in any tourist zone, certainly not with the cows and the cowboy.
(*3170) The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, just sat back and enjoyed the scenery. The closer we got to Mazatlan the more excited I got, I read every km sign with excitement as if announcing to the world...
“Mazatlan 280 km!....Mazatlan 180 km!, Mazatlan 65 km!”...ect. Then at last the Welcome to Mazatlan sign, it seemed it was put there just for me. We took a wrong turn and ended up taking the “scenic route” to the docks which was fine by me, I had my head out the window taking in all the smells, mostly sniffing out taco stands (Kathy refused to stop at taco stands. ) Once we got to the docks we took the dogs over first and got them settled in Kathy’s house, then we headed back and supervised the unloading and loading of all the contents of the van. It really wasn’t as chaotic as I had anticipated. We did have a good laugh at watching one of the guys come up the hill (Kathy lives on top of a hill) with 2 boxes on his shoulders and a box in each hand, out of one box, dragging on the ground were Kathy’s bras....for everyone to see. Once everything had been accounted for we headed to the Super and bought fixings for ham and scrambled eggs for supper, the taco stands close by were not open because there was a big party taking place (yes...they threw a party for us) it was a Quinceanos, which is a young girl’s 15th birthday party, it is a grand party that is almost equivalent to a wedding. The key things at this party are the gown, the cake and the flowers, the family will spend as much as they have. We were eating our supper just as the grand march started with a live orchestra band (not talking just a few guitars here) the birthday girl and escort leading the parade down Main Street to the plaza; we had a great view from Kathy’s balcony and enjoyed the music until 1 am. This was the first time I had ever seen a party here on the Island last after 10 pm, and that includes New Years Eve parties for the last 2 years.
The First Day Back
I couldn’t wait to get out of bed and drink coffee and creama (picked some up last night). It was good to find out that the roosters are still healthy and well. I waited for my Antonio, my tamale guys, not too sure when he comes by Kathy’s house. Turned out I missed him somehow, so I went walking to see if I could find him. Not far up the street I met my meat guy, but he is no longer the meat guy, he’s now a mechanic. He told me to let him know if I ever needed a mechanic....for what? Resole my shoes I ask. I told him I was looking for a place to rent, he would get right on that, had a few ideas. I walk a bit further and meet his aunt, we chat, she asks where I am living, told her I am looking for a place, she says follow me, she shows me a cute little house, but there is no bathroom, that’s a problem for me (maybe) I’ll find out how much it costs to build a bathroom. On my way back I chat with my mechanic guy again, he figures a bathroom would cost $200.00 and take a week to build, I ponder about this, but he has found me another house on the beach that already has a bathroom, it might possibly be available, he’ll check and find out. I keep walking and run into another friend, she also has a house that might be available, and she’ll let me know. After breakfast I flag down my fruit and vegetable guys, he asks where I live, I tell him I now have 3 choices, he also knows of a house that might be available, he’ll let me know. I load up on fruit and went to buy some yogurt and hurried home to have a fruit shake. ....it was soooooo good! Then it’s lunch time, (I love how it is always time to eat here) I head over to my favourite taco stand and run into my fruit guy there again(his favourite taco stand too) he tells me the house is available but the rent is a little over my budget. On my way back I stop to see my mechanic, on mechanic business actually, Kathy’s quad has been parked for a few months and now won’t start, could he look at it? Of course, right away. He tells me the little house on the beach is empty but very dirty, hurricane Rick came through here a few weeks ago and beat the place up pretty good. The house it’s self is fine because it’s made of brick but the palapas had all been torn down and it’s a mess. He told me to go have a look to make sure I still wanted it. I meandered on over there and while business is going on as usual along the beach you could still see some of the hurricane damage. My little house was fine but quite a mess surrounding it, a lot of fallen trees, the palapa roofs had all collapsed and there were palm branches everywhere and garbage laying around that had been blown in from who knows where. I’m thinking a couple of big bon fires and it could all be cleaned up, plant a few new plants and good as new. Yes I do still want it. An hour later I am informed that the whole Cardenas family will chip in and help with the clean up, I’m thinking this will be fun, I hope it’s fun for them too. As I was taking my regular 4:00 walk on the beach I suddenly realized it was Saturday, which means tomorrow is Sunday, I get to go to church, I’m excited and remember that my clothes are still vacuum packed...yikes, I need to borrow and iron somewhere. I find out Kathy has one, although I’m sure if I go for one more walk I could find one.
Supper was supposed to be a papa loca but they were down to just 1 when we got there, I let Kathy have it because she had never had one (I know.....who’s never had a papa loca?!) I had 2 vampiros and a Toni-Col , both soooooo good. We were both stuffed ourselves for a total of $7.00....life is good.
Sunday, November 22
Got up bright and early and headed to the mainland for church, I take a boat across and then walk down town (15 min brisk walk) then I catch a bus that takes me to the Golden Zone (the tourist end of town). I get there in time to stop at Panamas and pick up a pastry for breakfast, lots of North Americans are disappointed by the pastries here because they look so good and have such a huge variety but they are just not as sweet as they look and so I, not having a sweet tooth, can eat pastries here too. I don’t like sticky gooey sugary cinnamon buns, but I like buns and I like cinnamon and that is how they make them here....no goo. It was great to finally get to church and see all my snowbird and local friends, always good to find out how everyone spent the winter. I have some amazing and interesting friends here. As I listened to Pastor Dave (a fellow Canadian) give his thanksgiving message I did just become overpowered by thankfulness for having this amazing opportunity to be here and for the amazing people that surrounded me at that moment. I vowed to remember to thank God more often (how often have I vowed this?) for everything and everybody. The first song that the worship team led us in was “God is good” very fitting for me at that moment. After the English service was over I stayed and did the greeting thing all over again with my Spanish local friends, it is so much fun to surprise people. Only people knew approximately when I would be arriving so everyone was so surprised to see me. It is so much fun to tap someone on the shoulder that hasn’t seen you in 10 months and didn’t know you were coming and see their reaction. I think when I come home I’m not going to tell anyone when I’m coming.....I’ll just show up. While the English service put me in a thankful spirit the Spanish service put me in a worship spirit, which it usually does. The Spanish have a way of worshipping so freely and sincerely, just incredibly joyful that you just can’t help but get caught up in it. I have never yet looked at the clock during Spanish worship and wondered “are we done soon?”...never, and yes, I have done that during English worship, at home and here.....haven’t you? Am I the only one? It’s an area that I have to work on, I am aware of that (I have a few of these areas....could use a whole separate blog space for that). After the Spanish church I was so busy talking to everyone and catching up on everything that I missed my ride into Villa Union where I usually attend a late afternoon Spanish service. I was pretty sure that I had exceeded my socializing quota and decided not to take a bus out there and just go for lunch with a dear dear friend. I introduced her to one of my favourite restaurants from my days of staying at the Hotel Lerma, downtown. It’s a little place called “El Mamuca” they have the best empanadas there. I had the marlin and my friend had the shrimp, both were great, as usual. She filled me in on what’s been happening on Stone Island, it always amazes me at how dark this place is but yet I feel so at home here, makes me wonder sometimes if there is something wrong with me. It worries me, why do I fit in so nicely in a place where there is so much darkness? When I speak of darkness I am talking about, witchcraft, demons, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest, disease, the occult is very alive here, pornographic exploitations, mental diseases and mental abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse , theft, kidnappings, people disappearing and of course corruption. This is my beloved Island. All hope is not lost though, because God is also alive here and he is at work and He has changed some people’s lives here and He is not done yet. I believe He has given me a certain peace that lives through this ciaos and everyone on this Island needs to know that they can have that peace as well. I feel that this is the message for these people and me. I need to learn that I can take this peace home with me (another one of my areas that need work). It was 4:15 pm when I got back to the Island and so I rushed off for my daily sunset walk and to go look at my little house again. I have a few reasons why I walk the beach at 4 pm, the sunsets at 4:30 ish now and when it sets over the ocean it can be so beautiful, if it’s a colourful sunset it was just light up the ocean with the reflections in the water. Today wasn’t overly colourful, just a normal sunset. Also at 4 pm all the tourists that came over by guided tours from the Golden Zone get hauled out, literally hauled out, they are loaded up in a trailer that is pulled by a tractor and taken to the docks. There is a separate dock for the tourists that closes at 5 (I think) most tourists don’t know that there is another docks that is open all night on the other side (I just let that secret out..Didn’t I?) And so the tourists are usually out of here by 4 and all the restaurants along the beach close right after they leave.....leaving the beach all for me and a few locals. By 5:30 ish when I am walking home everyone is just home from work and hanging out it their front yards unwinding before they have supper...it’s a lazy time of day, people sit on rocking chairs on their porches or laying in hammocks. There is something so real and honest about seeing a hardworking fisherman stretched out in his hammock at the end of the day; you just know he deserves to be there. It’s peaceful. It’s my favourite time of day here....or was my favourite time here first thing in morning....hummmm. I have to study this more, I can’t decide. I have a few months to conduct this study.
I have also stumbled across a need that I believe I can fill. I have a friend here on the Island that has a severe case of MS (a long story with an amazing testimony) right after she was diagnosed her body became crippled very fast, she now cannot walk, her hands are crippled, her arms don’t move at all, she cannot comb her hair, wipe her nose or turn the pages of her Bible. She loves to read the Bible and has a friend that comes over a few times a week and just sits there and holds her Bible and turns the pages for her. Her friend is going away in December for 2 months. Isn’t the timing perfect? Here am I...nothing to do. I will be happy to that for her, and anything else that she may need. I am also hoping to borrow a cat from her son, he likes cats and always has nice clean cats (most cats here are stinky, dirty and full of worms) but he takes care of his cats. I want a cat for my new house in case of rats...yes there are rats here. Friends of mine who live in the Golden Zone (fancy smancy livin there) were telling me just today how they had a rat in their house last night. (it was quite a funny story though) Me needs a cat.
As I am writing this I can hear the distant sound of a ship coming in, the sound is faint as it is almost drowned out by the sounds of the Island roosters. It’s 4:59 am and I am sipping coffee and waiting for the Island to wake up. It was a long journey.
We left Redding CA at 6 am on Tuesday, (It was time to leave I was starting to talk funny) the van was loaded as high as we could without losing visibility and staying within the manufacturers suggested weight limit, that also included 2 Yorkies and one recued Island beach dog. The drive through central valley California was incredible. It’s known as the “bread basket” of America and I can see why. Acres and acres of fruit orchards like orange, lemon and apple rolling along the highway. You see commercial crops like lettuce, beets, corn and rice. Rice surprised me; I had not expected to see rice. Working in these fields (from what I could see) were Mexicans, whether they were national Mexicans or immigrated I am not sure. The housing as also very interesting, not a lot of upscale housing, mostly old old homes and old run down mobile homes, homes that would have long ago been condemned where I am from. Sometimes in the middle of a tumble weed field you would see a little trailer that looked like it had just not been able to go any further and they had just set up camp and years later are still there. This of course is possible because of weather, no worries of freezing.
(*P3097)We spend the night in Palm Desert which is just outside of Palm Springs, as I got out of the van I could feel the air had gotten warm and the breeze felt soft and cool but not cold (hard to explain) Palm Desert, like it’s name is lined with Palm trees everywhere, had a very Mexican feel to it.
(*3106)We hit road the next day at about 6 am again. As we crossed the border into Arizona the terrain did gradually change a little, now not as lush and green in place. I was still surprised at how green in was, I had expected complete desolate desert. It seems if you add water almost anything grows. Still saw a lot of orchards, and commercial crops like lettuce, garlic, beans, and corn....no rice, and more and more cactus. Saw some cattle ranchers (not many) and some nopales fields. Occasionally on one side of the highway dry dry desert looking fields with dried up tumble weeds and sand dunes and on the other side of the road a green green crop of corn or an orange orchard (being irrigated of course) quite the contrast. Occasionally miles and mile of greenery and then s of dry tumble weeds and sand dunes. It switched back and forth like this until we hid the Mexican border. Another interesting thing was the (*3107) huge RV parks packed full of “snow birds” Canadians and Americans escaping the winters up north, never before have I seen such huge RV parks and trailer parks built just for winter homes. As we got closer to Yuma you would see some upscale neighbourhoods now, built for the “snow birds” and a lot of real estate signs as long the way. I picked up a free real estate booklet at a gas station just out of curiosity, a lot of homes are bank repos and comparing to the cost of housing at home were very cheap, looks like the banks are desperate to unload them. We had planned on stopping in Yuma for the night but we made such good time we carried on to Tucson.
We hit the road at 5 am so that we could be the first in line at the Mexican border at 6 am. I needed to get my tourist permit and there can at times be a 5 hour line up, we wanted to avoid that if at all possible. Although Kathy has crossed this border many times with her van loaded to the top and has never had any problems we weren’t sure what to expect this year. In July of this year the Mexican government replaced all their border security guards with newly trained people, some 700 people were let go and replaced. Turns out they were just as lazy as the last guys, we got a red light and had to pull over to what was supposed to be an inspection but as soon as the guy stuck his head in the window, Katie (big beach dog that had been abused by Mexicans and now doesn’t like Mexicans) popped up and started growling deep in her throat, the guard decided he didn’t want to open the door. He asked what we were carrying and Kathy replied (in Spanish) “women things”. She had purposely packed her under wear on top hoping that when the macho guards saw them they would not want to go through them. He looked at all the boxes and the dogs and just told us to go through knowing it would be a lot of work to search us. As we drove away laughing at the “women things” and promising to buy Katie a steak as soon as we got home I must say I was a little disappointed at how easy it still is to bring illegal things across the border, not that we had anything illegal but we sure could have had. I was asked for my passport when I bought my tourist visa but Kathy was never asked for hers or for her FM3 and we were not asked for our vehicle permit which had taken us 4 hours to obtain days ago in Sacramento and she was not asked for her health certificates for her dogs. Still a very sloppy border control if you ask me.
(*3160)As soon as we crossed the border I could tell we were in Mexico, there was no doubt. I felt at home right away. Even the smell in the air changes right away. They must have had late rains because things were very green and lush for as far as you could see. There seemed to be a lot more of commercial crops than I remembered from my drive through here a few years ago by bus. There were and miles of tomato and corn fields and a lot of crops that I couldn’t recognize from the road. The uncultivated areas were also full of green vegetation like papaya and mango trees, and Morning Glory vines covering everything in a tangles jungle like cover...high and low. Judging by the amount of crops and massive greenhouse all through the state of Sonora and Sinaloa (more so in Sinaloa) it looks like the agriculture sector is in good shape (but what do I know). We spent our last night in Navajo (5 hours (*3121) from Mazatlan) we did not want to be at the Stone Island docks in the dark, we had a whole van of stuff that needed to be loaded onto a boat to take us to the Island and Kathy knows from past experience that it can be a bit chaotic and we would need some Mexican muscle to unload and they don’t have as many guys at the docks at night than during the day. Plus we didn’t want to travel the road from Culiacan to Mazatlan in the dark either as this is drug cartel territory. We arrived in Navajo early at about 3 pm and stayed at the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was an old Mexican Hacienda type hotel. I felt like I was in a movie. The grounds were green and immaculately trimmed and groomed, (*3129) lined in hedges and Bugumbelia and ivies trailing and covering on walls and ledges. The room had a stone floor and a massive concrete fireplace, old heavy wooden doors, long wooden shutters, a high domed brick ceiling and hand made tiles in the bathroom, crisp white wind dried towels and I believe scented toilet paper, even the pretty soap was whiter than white ...I wanted to stay forever. As I was walking around the grounds taking pictures I apologised to Kathy for giggling like a 12 year old (*3126) school girl in my excitement. This place was stunning. I was glad we got in early as it gave me some time to enjoy this place; I sat in the court yard under a lantern light and read my book (I was reading Tolstoy but I felt like I should be reading Hemmingway) and enjoying the warm soft breeze before I went to bed. One could have enjoyed an evening swim in the outdoor pool but I was content to (*3122) just sit and read and breathe. As I slipped into bed I was in awe of the whiter than white sheets....I love white sheets, and these made me feel like some Spanish Queen (not that the Spanish ever had queens) as I drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the distant sound of roosters. It felt like a true (*3147)homecoming. In the morning I watched as some cows wandered onto the grounds, their visit was short as the grounds keeper who looked more like a cowboy that a gardener in his western shirt and cowboy hat noticed them at once and proceeded to shoo them off. You will not find this true old style Mexican luxury accommodation and hospitality in any tourist zone, certainly not with the cows and the cowboy.
(*3170) The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, just sat back and enjoyed the scenery. The closer we got to Mazatlan the more excited I got, I read every km sign with excitement as if announcing to the world...
“Mazatlan 280 km!....Mazatlan 180 km!, Mazatlan 65 km!”...ect. Then at last the Welcome to Mazatlan sign, it seemed it was put there just for me. We took a wrong turn and ended up taking the “scenic route” to the docks which was fine by me, I had my head out the window taking in all the smells, mostly sniffing out taco stands (Kathy refused to stop at taco stands. ) Once we got to the docks we took the dogs over first and got them settled in Kathy’s house, then we headed back and supervised the unloading and loading of all the contents of the van. It really wasn’t as chaotic as I had anticipated. We did have a good laugh at watching one of the guys come up the hill (Kathy lives on top of a hill) with 2 boxes on his shoulders and a box in each hand, out of one box, dragging on the ground were Kathy’s bras....for everyone to see. Once everything had been accounted for we headed to the Super and bought fixings for ham and scrambled eggs for supper, the taco stands close by were not open because there was a big party taking place (yes...they threw a party for us) it was a Quinceanos, which is a young girl’s 15th birthday party, it is a grand party that is almost equivalent to a wedding. The key things at this party are the gown, the cake and the flowers, the family will spend as much as they have. We were eating our supper just as the grand march started with a live orchestra band (not talking just a few guitars here) the birthday girl and escort leading the parade down Main Street to the plaza; we had a great view from Kathy’s balcony and enjoyed the music until 1 am. This was the first time I had ever seen a party here on the Island last after 10 pm, and that includes New Years Eve parties for the last 2 years.
The First Day Back
I couldn’t wait to get out of bed and drink coffee and creama (picked some up last night). It was good to find out that the roosters are still healthy and well. I waited for my Antonio, my tamale guys, not too sure when he comes by Kathy’s house. Turned out I missed him somehow, so I went walking to see if I could find him. Not far up the street I met my meat guy, but he is no longer the meat guy, he’s now a mechanic. He told me to let him know if I ever needed a mechanic....for what? Resole my shoes I ask. I told him I was looking for a place to rent, he would get right on that, had a few ideas. I walk a bit further and meet his aunt, we chat, she asks where I am living, told her I am looking for a place, she says follow me, she shows me a cute little house, but there is no bathroom, that’s a problem for me (maybe) I’ll find out how much it costs to build a bathroom. On my way back I chat with my mechanic guy again, he figures a bathroom would cost $200.00 and take a week to build, I ponder about this, but he has found me another house on the beach that already has a bathroom, it might possibly be available, he’ll check and find out. I keep walking and run into another friend, she also has a house that might be available, and she’ll let me know. After breakfast I flag down my fruit and vegetable guys, he asks where I live, I tell him I now have 3 choices, he also knows of a house that might be available, he’ll let me know. I load up on fruit and went to buy some yogurt and hurried home to have a fruit shake. ....it was soooooo good! Then it’s lunch time, (I love how it is always time to eat here) I head over to my favourite taco stand and run into my fruit guy there again(his favourite taco stand too) he tells me the house is available but the rent is a little over my budget. On my way back I stop to see my mechanic, on mechanic business actually, Kathy’s quad has been parked for a few months and now won’t start, could he look at it? Of course, right away. He tells me the little house on the beach is empty but very dirty, hurricane Rick came through here a few weeks ago and beat the place up pretty good. The house it’s self is fine because it’s made of brick but the palapas had all been torn down and it’s a mess. He told me to go have a look to make sure I still wanted it. I meandered on over there and while business is going on as usual along the beach you could still see some of the hurricane damage. My little house was fine but quite a mess surrounding it, a lot of fallen trees, the palapa roofs had all collapsed and there were palm branches everywhere and garbage laying around that had been blown in from who knows where. I’m thinking a couple of big bon fires and it could all be cleaned up, plant a few new plants and good as new. Yes I do still want it. An hour later I am informed that the whole Cardenas family will chip in and help with the clean up, I’m thinking this will be fun, I hope it’s fun for them too. As I was taking my regular 4:00 walk on the beach I suddenly realized it was Saturday, which means tomorrow is Sunday, I get to go to church, I’m excited and remember that my clothes are still vacuum packed...yikes, I need to borrow and iron somewhere. I find out Kathy has one, although I’m sure if I go for one more walk I could find one.
Supper was supposed to be a papa loca but they were down to just 1 when we got there, I let Kathy have it because she had never had one (I know.....who’s never had a papa loca?!) I had 2 vampiros and a Toni-Col , both soooooo good. We were both stuffed ourselves for a total of $7.00....life is good.
Sunday, November 22
Got up bright and early and headed to the mainland for church, I take a boat across and then walk down town (15 min brisk walk) then I catch a bus that takes me to the Golden Zone (the tourist end of town). I get there in time to stop at Panamas and pick up a pastry for breakfast, lots of North Americans are disappointed by the pastries here because they look so good and have such a huge variety but they are just not as sweet as they look and so I, not having a sweet tooth, can eat pastries here too. I don’t like sticky gooey sugary cinnamon buns, but I like buns and I like cinnamon and that is how they make them here....no goo. It was great to finally get to church and see all my snowbird and local friends, always good to find out how everyone spent the winter. I have some amazing and interesting friends here. As I listened to Pastor Dave (a fellow Canadian) give his thanksgiving message I did just become overpowered by thankfulness for having this amazing opportunity to be here and for the amazing people that surrounded me at that moment. I vowed to remember to thank God more often (how often have I vowed this?) for everything and everybody. The first song that the worship team led us in was “God is good” very fitting for me at that moment. After the English service was over I stayed and did the greeting thing all over again with my Spanish local friends, it is so much fun to surprise people. Only people knew approximately when I would be arriving so everyone was so surprised to see me. It is so much fun to tap someone on the shoulder that hasn’t seen you in 10 months and didn’t know you were coming and see their reaction. I think when I come home I’m not going to tell anyone when I’m coming.....I’ll just show up. While the English service put me in a thankful spirit the Spanish service put me in a worship spirit, which it usually does. The Spanish have a way of worshipping so freely and sincerely, just incredibly joyful that you just can’t help but get caught up in it. I have never yet looked at the clock during Spanish worship and wondered “are we done soon?”...never, and yes, I have done that during English worship, at home and here.....haven’t you? Am I the only one? It’s an area that I have to work on, I am aware of that (I have a few of these areas....could use a whole separate blog space for that). After the Spanish church I was so busy talking to everyone and catching up on everything that I missed my ride into Villa Union where I usually attend a late afternoon Spanish service. I was pretty sure that I had exceeded my socializing quota and decided not to take a bus out there and just go for lunch with a dear dear friend. I introduced her to one of my favourite restaurants from my days of staying at the Hotel Lerma, downtown. It’s a little place called “El Mamuca” they have the best empanadas there. I had the marlin and my friend had the shrimp, both were great, as usual. She filled me in on what’s been happening on Stone Island, it always amazes me at how dark this place is but yet I feel so at home here, makes me wonder sometimes if there is something wrong with me. It worries me, why do I fit in so nicely in a place where there is so much darkness? When I speak of darkness I am talking about, witchcraft, demons, physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest, disease, the occult is very alive here, pornographic exploitations, mental diseases and mental abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse , theft, kidnappings, people disappearing and of course corruption. This is my beloved Island. All hope is not lost though, because God is also alive here and he is at work and He has changed some people’s lives here and He is not done yet. I believe He has given me a certain peace that lives through this ciaos and everyone on this Island needs to know that they can have that peace as well. I feel that this is the message for these people and me. I need to learn that I can take this peace home with me (another one of my areas that need work). It was 4:15 pm when I got back to the Island and so I rushed off for my daily sunset walk and to go look at my little house again. I have a few reasons why I walk the beach at 4 pm, the sunsets at 4:30 ish now and when it sets over the ocean it can be so beautiful, if it’s a colourful sunset it was just light up the ocean with the reflections in the water. Today wasn’t overly colourful, just a normal sunset. Also at 4 pm all the tourists that came over by guided tours from the Golden Zone get hauled out, literally hauled out, they are loaded up in a trailer that is pulled by a tractor and taken to the docks. There is a separate dock for the tourists that closes at 5 (I think) most tourists don’t know that there is another docks that is open all night on the other side (I just let that secret out..Didn’t I?) And so the tourists are usually out of here by 4 and all the restaurants along the beach close right after they leave.....leaving the beach all for me and a few locals. By 5:30 ish when I am walking home everyone is just home from work and hanging out it their front yards unwinding before they have supper...it’s a lazy time of day, people sit on rocking chairs on their porches or laying in hammocks. There is something so real and honest about seeing a hardworking fisherman stretched out in his hammock at the end of the day; you just know he deserves to be there. It’s peaceful. It’s my favourite time of day here....or was my favourite time here first thing in morning....hummmm. I have to study this more, I can’t decide. I have a few months to conduct this study.
I have also stumbled across a need that I believe I can fill. I have a friend here on the Island that has a severe case of MS (a long story with an amazing testimony) right after she was diagnosed her body became crippled very fast, she now cannot walk, her hands are crippled, her arms don’t move at all, she cannot comb her hair, wipe her nose or turn the pages of her Bible. She loves to read the Bible and has a friend that comes over a few times a week and just sits there and holds her Bible and turns the pages for her. Her friend is going away in December for 2 months. Isn’t the timing perfect? Here am I...nothing to do. I will be happy to that for her, and anything else that she may need. I am also hoping to borrow a cat from her son, he likes cats and always has nice clean cats (most cats here are stinky, dirty and full of worms) but he takes care of his cats. I want a cat for my new house in case of rats...yes there are rats here. Friends of mine who live in the Golden Zone (fancy smancy livin there) were telling me just today how they had a rat in their house last night. (it was quite a funny story though) Me needs a cat.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Nothing to do with traveling
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Packing up the hillbilly wagon
Another observation is that a lot of people are living in old old homes, homes that would be condemed at home. The wiring in this house would not be allowed, the plug ins are not grounded. People are living in the old old little holiday trailers, you know the kind with the rounded hard shell, but they still have nice yards and gardens....rather quite cute, I can totally see me living like that. There doesn't seem to be a lot of lavish luxury displayed here. We are in a mid working class neighbourhood here and it seems like the people here don't spend their money on things, they spend it on living. Take my friend for example, she is retired and rather well off finacially, made her money in medical field and made some money playing the stocks but there is nothing new and modern in her house. From the old coffee maker (one that I know how to work) to her old little TV (older than mine at home) and like me she does not have a DVD player. She buys used books and used clothes.....nothing fancy here. At just from a quick glances at other people's homes in the nighbourhood it seems the people here have learned to life below their means here where as at home we live above our means. ( So it seems that I can't figure out how to add pictures in an orderly fashion, they just seem to scatter all over)
I've been in the grocery store a few times now and the food is cheaper.....a lot cheaper, even after I do the exchange from CA to US dollars. I went to the bulk food section yesterday to buy some goodies for out migration south and I bought mixed salted nuts for $1.08 lb, the flax corn chips that I love were 0.78 lb, small carton of half & half cream is 0.99. I haven't checked out meat and produce yet, I do plan on doing that....just because. We are doing some last minute shopping today so I will report back with any worth while information.
Here's my tip of the day for you, when packing up to go away for 5 months (regardless of where you are going ) you should at least pack 1 pair of shoes....one pair. I have no shoes, I came in flipflops. You cannot wear socks in flipflops, the toe thong doesn't fit. So I bought some leg warmers and wear them as socks, it's rather quite trendy looking....vogue magazine will be knocking on my door any day now. If you click on the picture it gets big.....really big, you will be way closer to my toes than you ever should be but you will see the amazing wooden floor. My friend just sanded and stained wooden siding and used as flooring, looks amazing.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Where to begin?
What will I be doing in Mexico this year? Well, once again I have no plans, I had some plans but the Mexican goverment changed those for me when they changed their FM3 regulations this summer. In the past you could come to Mexico on a 6 month tourist permit, no charge and no questions asked, you automatically got a 180 day pass and as long as you did not work you could do whatever you wanted including volunteer work (as long as you didn't get paid) That has now changed. If you want to do more than 5 weeks of volunteering you need a FM3 card which I do not qualify for because I do not have a permanent residence there. (yet) So I will do my 5 weeks of volunteer work at Casa Damasco and the rest of my time there I am simply just going to live there and pray that God will direct me to people that I can help in some unofficial way. I pray he will help me to bless the people of Stone Island in whatever way I can. I really want to give back to the people of the Island for all they have done for me. I plan on spending more time relaxing, I want to try to be on the beach for the sunrises and sunsets, I want to work on my relationship with God, be more intuned to Him, take the time to listen to Him and get closer. I want to do some painting some knitting and just spend time with the people....as many people as I can. I know what you all are thinking....anti-social Mary ...spending time with many people ha. I am going to work on that, going to try to find a balance. Anyway, there it is in a nut shell. But now.....I am in California and I am liking it....yup, it's nice. It's old, it's a little mexican and a little old English, it's green, it's hilly and quiet, and surprisingly slow and relaxed. (Remember I'm in Redding, not LA) Life is good, I am blessed.
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