Happy almost New Year's Eve everyone!!! I can't believe that tomorrow night will officially mark the start of 2009! I keep remembering when everyone was so nervous about the whole Y2K thing...that seems like it was yesterday and here we are nearing a decade later!!
All is sunny and warm in Troncones (no surprises there) but for those of you who are feeling envious of me right now.....don't worry.....I'm in the throws of a brutal cold in sympathy of you all. You'd think that colds wouldn't find their way into the tropics but alas...they do....and the one that I seem to have contracted is a very common one and likely as a result of leaving the fan on in the room overnight. Sweating during the night combined with the fan blowing on you results in catching a chill that turns into a chesty cough, sore throat and stuffy head. Boo Hoo.....I'm feeling sorry for myself...... Mitch has been taking great care of me though so I'm full of bee propolis (in every form imaginable from tincture to capsules to syrup) and royal jelly (another form of propolis I think) and then there is the tincture of oregano oil....so as you can see....there is no shortage of attention for my cold. I was probably just looking for some attention as it's been a while since my scorpion experience.
I truly feel like a local here now. Lynda and I took the bus into Zihuatanejo again yesterday and to tell the truth, as much as Zihuat is a lovely town....it sure feels good to be back on the bus and heading home after a hot sweaty day in the city! You know you're 'local' when you meet up with vendors you know catching the bus to Troncones to come to work. All the vendors here know both Lynda and I so....just like I mentioned when we were in San Cristobal.....it is a different experience when they sit down to visit with you instead of trying to sell you any of their wares. I also know I'm a 'local' as yesterday, Roberto phoned to ask if I would come over to help him to work up another flyer for distribution about the New Year's Eve party among other upcoming events. I also had the task of coming up with an insert for the menu that outlines the feature for the evening meal (surf & turf). Roberto has lots of ideas and is open to any others (he needs help with wording signage and designing flyers in english though). It's been lots of fun coming up with ideas for/with Roberto to enhance the systems that are either currently in place or more often absent. It's a bit of a balancing act to ensure I don't come off as having a 'new broom' and Roberto is great....he usually sleeps on an idea and then the next day you'll know that he liked it (or didn't) as magically the change will occur (or not). Some of the staff have been a little resistant as they're not used to much change but all have risen to the occassion and adopted any of the new ideas that Roberto has instituted. Last Saturday, for the weekly Mexican Fiesta, there was a super full house so both Lynda and I spent most of the night helping out (mainly washing dishes behind the bar so nothing too glamorous people) and from the looks of things that will be how we spend tomorrow night (New Year's Eve) too. I'm enjoying being behind the bar (even if it is with my hands in the sink) but am reminded just how much hard work it is!! Viri is a great little bartender (self taught for the most part) and it has been fun giving her some new information.
Yesterday, Lynda was called on to come to the aid of a couple she met here last year. The husband (Jack) was stung by a ray while boogie boarding in the waves and that is a painful experience! There are plants that grow all along the beach and you boil up the leaves and then you immerse the sting into the water/leaf mixture while it is still as hot as you can stand it and voila....it takes some of the sting away and after a day of sleep - you're as good as new. It was lucky that Lynda was close by as she was able to reassure her friends that all would be well....I know from experience that getting stung by something you're not used to can be a scary one!
Mitch's place has been hopping busy for the past week. Both buildings have been full with new people coming in as quickly as the last ones leave. There have also been tents in the yard to accomodate the 'extras'. It sure keeps the washer and dryer busy as well as Viri! What a girl...she works by day doing the rooms and then each night at Roberto's behind the bar. She's working hard as she is saving all that she can for a trip to visit Canada in the spring (for Lynda's 60th in May). It is fun to watch her bring home her tips and her pay each night and add it to the ever growing pile. From the way she's going....I have no doubt she'll have the money for her ticket in plenty of time. It will be fun to be able to host her for part of her visit to Canada. She has never been outside Mexico and even here....she's only been to her home town area (Leon) and the Troncones area so there will be lots of new adventures in store for her.
For Christmas, Mitch and Viri cleaned and painted Lynda's room from last year so she and I have moved into the lower floor alongside the pool. We're both loving being on the ground floor and one of the coolest things for me is that she has a "couch" in her room. I had no idea how much you miss a place like that to sit when you're on the road in hotel rooms for a long time. Lynda's room in Mexico is so quaint and comfortable. Mitch painted it a nice shade of pink with terra cotta trim and installed a new rain shower head in the bathroom. It's such a treat to be able to run into your fridge without climbing the stairs that we're both appreciating that fact too.
Day before yesterday was a FULL day to say the least. Mitch is a wonderful man and he has an amazing ability to be able to exaggerate in whatever direction will make the story more palatable for the listener (reminds me of my dad!). Mitch invited Lynda and I along with two young people who are camping on the beach in front of Roberto's and who are from BC to accompany him on a visit to a small mountain village where there is a piece of property he is interested in. He 'sold' the idea with the promise of an amazing swimming hole (that part is totally true) that we could walk to from where the truck would have to stop as the road becomes impassable. The road is called a Camino Real and those roads are surveyed, at least in part, but impassable for anything other than man on foot or horse or mule. The mountains that the Camino Real cuts through are the true outposts of Mexico and many of the 'settlements' along the trail will never have seen anyone other than local Mexicans. Mitch is cautious about where he takes us and has spent some time making friends with the locals in the hill villages we'd be passing by so we felt confident that all would go well for our outing/adventure. Now for the slight exaggeration part.....Mitch told us that the walk would take about 1/2 hour and that we'd cross the river 3 times......well.....the walk there took about 1 1/2 hours and we crossed the river 7 times each way. Truth be told though...as much as it was a tough day .... it was all worth the effort. It felt amazing to be walking down a trail that goes all the way to Mexico City (if you're up for walking for a few weeks) and where only local farmers/tribesmen travel. The river we crossed (yes....7 times each way) was gorgeous and only knee deep so actually a pleasure to feel the fresh clean water on your feet after the dusty trail we'd been travelling over. At the end of our "walk" we did arrive at the swimming hole where there was a small waterfall and rock cliffs all around that Mitch and the other two just had to jump off of. Lynda and I decided to forgo that opportunity and in fact...she made sure she had the car keys in her possession prior to Mitch jumping. The swimming hole was plenty deep and cool clear water that was super refreshing so once we'd all had a chance to get our second wind we headed back onto the trail to retrace our steps. The trail is obviously well travelled and there was no concern about getting lost. It was interesting to hear all the little lizards and other foreign creatures (like armadillos) in the bushes and the fields along the trail as we were walking. We made it back to the truck before nightfall (nightfall comes very rapidly here once the sun goes down!!!) As we were walking the return trip, there were several young boys (maybe about 10 years old) who passed us on their mules heading back to the village. Who knows where they had come from??!! Once we were in the truck we also passed an old man who was walking in the middle of nowhere carrying a large stick and dragging an even larger one. Mitch stopped the truck so the old fellow could hop into the back and we were on our way again. The old guy just knocked on the roof of the truck when we reached his destination (at least a couple of kilometers down the road) People walk a lot here!! Vendors on the beach walk all day long for miles and miles and then sometimes they have to walk the 4 kms back up to the highway to catch the bus back to Zihuat if they're too late for the last combi bus or taxis. Yikes!!! I couldn't do it but none of them seem to mind a bit...it's just a part of their day and they do it all with a smile.
Before I leave you with this post....I want to share a new Mexican tradition we learned about today. At the stroke of midnight tomorrow night (New Year's Eve) we'll be eating 12 grapes (one for each month of the coming year) and making a wish with each of them. We'll also be putting our suitcases outside of our door and walking around the house or down the road with them to ensure a year of travel. In addition, we'll both be wearing 3 pair of underwear. One will be yellow (for wealth) another will be blue (for health) and the third will be red (for love). And....all of this has to be done in one minute flat!! Boy will that be a busy minute but we're game to give it a go!!
Hope you all have a happy new year's eve and I'll be in touch again next year.
Lorrie
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
December 25, 2008
Feliz Navidad a todos (Merry Christmas everyone)
Hope this finds you all well and happy and enjoying the holidays. The days here are just slipping by - I can't believe it's already the 25th and that I haven't put anything into this blog for six days!!! If you had asked me when I last wrote...I'd likely have said that it might have been 2 or 3 days ago. Time flies when you're hanging in a hammock and lying on the beach :) Life is good in Troncones at Christmas. Tonight when we got back to the house after another dinner of sopes at Dona Rufie's, I fell into one of the hammocks and all I could do was to exclaim that amazingly the hammock fit me perfectly! It was as though it had been made just for me....and here I still sit...typing this blog....from that same hammock that I may spend the rest of the night in.
So.....what have we been doing in the past 6 days??? Not much to tell the truth but the time really is flying by. Most days begin about 9:30 or 10:00 and consist of a walk along the beach to Roberto's where Lynda and I drop our bags (towels etc) on a beach chair. (I need to add here that the only reason we drop our bags on a chair is so we don't have to carry them....there is no need to save a chair as we're the only one's on the beach - wahoo!!) Once we've claimed a chair as our own....we walk along the beach for about a kilometre and then ..... we turn around and walk back along the beach again :) See.....I told you life in Troncones is good at Christmas time. Once we arrive back at Roberto's we might have a bite for breakfast or at the very least we have a drink (no.....not a margarita yet.....that comes later in the day!) Basically the rest of the day is spent in that beach chair or maybe talking to people that come by or who are working in the restaurant etc.....it's a pretty tough life :) Around 4 pm (or thereabouts but who really knows what time it is as no one has a watch including Lynda and I) we wander back to our place for a dip in the pool and likely a swing in the hammock till the sun is completely gone and it's time to have a shower....yep.....haven't even done that much work in the day.....gotta love it when all you have to do is walk to the beach in the a.m.! After laying around till dark, it's time for a bite to eat so the day's work really begins at that point....we have to decide where we want to go for dinner :) After dinner we usually go to Roberto's for a drink or three and once it's closed for the night we walk Viri home and then we swing in the hammock again and visit with whoever is staying here or has dropped by for a visit with Mitch and Viri. The living room is outdoors and that's where the hammocks hang so Lynda and I don't even have to move :) Life is good for the abuelas!!! :)
We did have a little change in our "schedule" a couple of days ago though....we decided to head into Zihuatanejo for the day so took one of the trucks to the highway where we caught the local bus for the 1/2 hour ride into town. We spent the day in the city where we did a little shopping and became tragically aware of how much we'd rather be in Troncones. We caught the 6 pm bus home along with about 1/2 of the residents of all of Mexico (or so it seemed). It was the end of the work day and the last bus out of the city so loads of commuters had to catch it (to the degree that they were packed into the bus with standing room only .... and I don't mean comfortable space for standing .... I mean packed!!) Fortunately, we had caught the bus at the main terminal before many others boarded for the trip home. The bus picks up people along the roadside for the first 1/4 of the trip home. When we boarded....it happened that we went in the back door of the bus and that the very back seat was vacant so Lynda....wise woman that she is....thought that spot would be perfect for us....lots of leg room and a view out the front window if you looked down the aisle. Within seconds we realized why the back seat was vacant...there were no shocks or suspension and possibly no air in the tires. The first bump we went over was a killer!! I may never need another chiropractic appointment again. Once we made it to the highway...we could no longer see down the aisle (too many people) nor did we have leg room for the same reason AND the back seat that is made for 5 people had six people sitting on it along with a couple of very large garbage bags of something or other. Lynda and I were thankful to be at one end of the seat as there was a window that opened and that wasn't painted black so we had a clear view of the edge of the road as it flew by which allowed us some sense of knowing approximately where we were in relation to Troncones and our bus stop. Every bump and pebble on the road sent us into gales of laughter as we weren't certain that we would live to see our bus stop. The back of the bus had rivets holding it on to the front section so we were sure that at one of those bumps it was likely that our section of the bus would be left on the highway as we watched the front go on without us. By the time we reached our stop night had fallen completely and there are definitely no street lights on the highway where we would have to leave the bus. Our hope was that we'd be able to see our truck but we were on the other side of the bus so....that was unlikely. Our second hope was that the boy who took our $1.20 for the 1/2 hour ride would remember that we were going to Troncones and that he would tell us when we arrived at our destination. Fortunately he did just that and we've learned that it's important to hear the same information from at least 2 other people so after confirming with at least 3 people on the bus that the stop he indicated was in fact ours, we climbed down the steps and heaved a sigh of relief when we located our truck parked in the dark on the other side of the highway. There was an army checkpoint right after our stop so we were able to make it across the highway in the dark with relative ease as they were stopping all the traffic coming from the north so we only had one direction to really worry about. We were so thankful that the truck was there as it was soooo dark and there isn't really a schedule for the combi bus that runs from the highway into Troncones so the plan to take one of Mitch's trucks to the highway was an excellent one!! We made our way back into Troncones and were relieved to arrive home safe and sound! I think it took us at least two days to recover from our day in the city!!! It's amazing how quickly you get spoiled by the tranquility of Troncones!
We've met some really nice people who are on vacation here and most of them have stayed in Ixtapa or Zihuat before and are super glad they're in Troncones this time....it's a totally different experience. Here, you feel like you're on a private beach (and that it's your private beach) and that time has virtually stopped as everything moves so slowly....it's perfect!!!
Anyway....I can't believe that it's already the end of December....it won't be long until I move into countdown :( I fly out on the 17th so have just over 3 weeks left. Everyone who is here on vacation doesn't feel sorry for me only having 3 weeks left as they're only here for 1 or 2 weeks at the most but knowing that I had 10 weeks at the start....3 weeks seems like such a short time! I'm not going to dwell on that though....I'm just going to continue to live one day at a time and enjoy each and every one of them.
We bought some strawberries from the fruit and vegetable vendor who came by in his truck yesterday so Lynda is melting some chocolate at the moment so we can have stawberries dipped in chocolate for a Christmas treat tonight. Today, Lynda and I made Xmas lunch for Mitch and Viri and it turned out perfectly! We made: garlic/curry jumbo shrimp, beet salad, potato salad, and a cold spaghetti salad that is popular here. We tried to make some rice krispie squares for dessert but they left something to be desired. The marshmallows here are different and don't really melt properly and we couldn't find any rice krispies so had substituted some chocolate crispies so .... right from the outset....I guess we were doomed for failure. Well, I guess it wasn't really failure as we did eat some of them...they just weren't quite the same and were kind of hard and very chewy and well....you could have broken a tooth on them so ..... well you get the picture.
Mitch has been working like crazy around here. He's painted much of the place inside and out already and hopes to get the rest of it done in the next day or two. One of the buildings will be full as of tomorrow and then the rooms that Lynda and I are currently in will be full of guests as of the 27th and that same day there will be a couple of tents that will also be coming in so things will be hopping around here for the next couple of weeks. Mitch is just finishing up repainting Lynda's room by the pool so she and I will share that room once the others are all full. Gotta take advantage of this short tourist season and get as many rooms and tents booked as possible!! Many of the tourists who come here are Mexican. They come from inland and for many of them...they may never have been to the ocean before so it is a real special treat.
What else have we been doing??? Hmmmm.... well, Lynda and I worked for a staff party at Roberto's the other night so we had a chance to 'wait on' some of the people who are always waiting on us. We cleared tables, did dishes, made some drinks and generally just did whatever needed to be done. It was a great success and everyone had a wonderful time - including us! Yesterday, I did up a flyer (in English) for Roberto so he could advertise upcoming events that are planned for the restaurant....everything from a fire show on the beach to the Mexican fiesta and folk dancers to the sending off of the baby turtles. There is beach volleyball and a pool table and well.....lots for guests to keep them busy during their time here. The fire show is Mitch's and it's been a treat to get to see one of his shows. He says it's nothing compared to the other big laser shows that he does for the big clubs in the big cities but I think it's pretty cool! He uses two kinds of sticks for the show and I especially like the big sticks that he spins around....it's very dramatic with nothing but a dark beach as the backdrop! For New Year's eve we're planning a big bonfire party on the beach and Mitch will do the show again there. That will be lots of fun I'm sure. Everything is just so easy here...no one ever really worries about what time it is.....and if it's a half hour or an hour behind schedule.....it's not really that big of a deal...you just have another drink and visit a little longer while you wait for whoever is coming over or for something to begin. From a productivity perspective, it's probably not the best plan but from a stress management perspective...it's great :)
I've read about 8 or 9 books already and am sure I'll get through at least a couple more before the middle of January so am getting my fill of reading on this vacation too. It's a great way to wrap up 2008 and kick off 2009! :)
Enjoy the rest of the holiday season and I wish you all the best for the new year! Oh yes...and sorry to hear about all the crazy snow you've been having!!! Lynda adds that "that's what you get for singing White Christmas". Hope you're all able to get wherever you want to go over the holidays and if you find that you're stuck somewhere.....it was probably meant to be so I hope you're able to enjoy it too.
Till next time....
Lorrie
Hope this finds you all well and happy and enjoying the holidays. The days here are just slipping by - I can't believe it's already the 25th and that I haven't put anything into this blog for six days!!! If you had asked me when I last wrote...I'd likely have said that it might have been 2 or 3 days ago. Time flies when you're hanging in a hammock and lying on the beach :) Life is good in Troncones at Christmas. Tonight when we got back to the house after another dinner of sopes at Dona Rufie's, I fell into one of the hammocks and all I could do was to exclaim that amazingly the hammock fit me perfectly! It was as though it had been made just for me....and here I still sit...typing this blog....from that same hammock that I may spend the rest of the night in.
So.....what have we been doing in the past 6 days??? Not much to tell the truth but the time really is flying by. Most days begin about 9:30 or 10:00 and consist of a walk along the beach to Roberto's where Lynda and I drop our bags (towels etc) on a beach chair. (I need to add here that the only reason we drop our bags on a chair is so we don't have to carry them....there is no need to save a chair as we're the only one's on the beach - wahoo!!) Once we've claimed a chair as our own....we walk along the beach for about a kilometre and then ..... we turn around and walk back along the beach again :) See.....I told you life in Troncones is good at Christmas time. Once we arrive back at Roberto's we might have a bite for breakfast or at the very least we have a drink (no.....not a margarita yet.....that comes later in the day!) Basically the rest of the day is spent in that beach chair or maybe talking to people that come by or who are working in the restaurant etc.....it's a pretty tough life :) Around 4 pm (or thereabouts but who really knows what time it is as no one has a watch including Lynda and I) we wander back to our place for a dip in the pool and likely a swing in the hammock till the sun is completely gone and it's time to have a shower....yep.....haven't even done that much work in the day.....gotta love it when all you have to do is walk to the beach in the a.m.! After laying around till dark, it's time for a bite to eat so the day's work really begins at that point....we have to decide where we want to go for dinner :) After dinner we usually go to Roberto's for a drink or three and once it's closed for the night we walk Viri home and then we swing in the hammock again and visit with whoever is staying here or has dropped by for a visit with Mitch and Viri. The living room is outdoors and that's where the hammocks hang so Lynda and I don't even have to move :) Life is good for the abuelas!!! :)
We did have a little change in our "schedule" a couple of days ago though....we decided to head into Zihuatanejo for the day so took one of the trucks to the highway where we caught the local bus for the 1/2 hour ride into town. We spent the day in the city where we did a little shopping and became tragically aware of how much we'd rather be in Troncones. We caught the 6 pm bus home along with about 1/2 of the residents of all of Mexico (or so it seemed). It was the end of the work day and the last bus out of the city so loads of commuters had to catch it (to the degree that they were packed into the bus with standing room only .... and I don't mean comfortable space for standing .... I mean packed!!) Fortunately, we had caught the bus at the main terminal before many others boarded for the trip home. The bus picks up people along the roadside for the first 1/4 of the trip home. When we boarded....it happened that we went in the back door of the bus and that the very back seat was vacant so Lynda....wise woman that she is....thought that spot would be perfect for us....lots of leg room and a view out the front window if you looked down the aisle. Within seconds we realized why the back seat was vacant...there were no shocks or suspension and possibly no air in the tires. The first bump we went over was a killer!! I may never need another chiropractic appointment again. Once we made it to the highway...we could no longer see down the aisle (too many people) nor did we have leg room for the same reason AND the back seat that is made for 5 people had six people sitting on it along with a couple of very large garbage bags of something or other. Lynda and I were thankful to be at one end of the seat as there was a window that opened and that wasn't painted black so we had a clear view of the edge of the road as it flew by which allowed us some sense of knowing approximately where we were in relation to Troncones and our bus stop. Every bump and pebble on the road sent us into gales of laughter as we weren't certain that we would live to see our bus stop. The back of the bus had rivets holding it on to the front section so we were sure that at one of those bumps it was likely that our section of the bus would be left on the highway as we watched the front go on without us. By the time we reached our stop night had fallen completely and there are definitely no street lights on the highway where we would have to leave the bus. Our hope was that we'd be able to see our truck but we were on the other side of the bus so....that was unlikely. Our second hope was that the boy who took our $1.20 for the 1/2 hour ride would remember that we were going to Troncones and that he would tell us when we arrived at our destination. Fortunately he did just that and we've learned that it's important to hear the same information from at least 2 other people so after confirming with at least 3 people on the bus that the stop he indicated was in fact ours, we climbed down the steps and heaved a sigh of relief when we located our truck parked in the dark on the other side of the highway. There was an army checkpoint right after our stop so we were able to make it across the highway in the dark with relative ease as they were stopping all the traffic coming from the north so we only had one direction to really worry about. We were so thankful that the truck was there as it was soooo dark and there isn't really a schedule for the combi bus that runs from the highway into Troncones so the plan to take one of Mitch's trucks to the highway was an excellent one!! We made our way back into Troncones and were relieved to arrive home safe and sound! I think it took us at least two days to recover from our day in the city!!! It's amazing how quickly you get spoiled by the tranquility of Troncones!
We've met some really nice people who are on vacation here and most of them have stayed in Ixtapa or Zihuat before and are super glad they're in Troncones this time....it's a totally different experience. Here, you feel like you're on a private beach (and that it's your private beach) and that time has virtually stopped as everything moves so slowly....it's perfect!!!
Anyway....I can't believe that it's already the end of December....it won't be long until I move into countdown :( I fly out on the 17th so have just over 3 weeks left. Everyone who is here on vacation doesn't feel sorry for me only having 3 weeks left as they're only here for 1 or 2 weeks at the most but knowing that I had 10 weeks at the start....3 weeks seems like such a short time! I'm not going to dwell on that though....I'm just going to continue to live one day at a time and enjoy each and every one of them.
We bought some strawberries from the fruit and vegetable vendor who came by in his truck yesterday so Lynda is melting some chocolate at the moment so we can have stawberries dipped in chocolate for a Christmas treat tonight. Today, Lynda and I made Xmas lunch for Mitch and Viri and it turned out perfectly! We made: garlic/curry jumbo shrimp, beet salad, potato salad, and a cold spaghetti salad that is popular here. We tried to make some rice krispie squares for dessert but they left something to be desired. The marshmallows here are different and don't really melt properly and we couldn't find any rice krispies so had substituted some chocolate crispies so .... right from the outset....I guess we were doomed for failure. Well, I guess it wasn't really failure as we did eat some of them...they just weren't quite the same and were kind of hard and very chewy and well....you could have broken a tooth on them so ..... well you get the picture.
Mitch has been working like crazy around here. He's painted much of the place inside and out already and hopes to get the rest of it done in the next day or two. One of the buildings will be full as of tomorrow and then the rooms that Lynda and I are currently in will be full of guests as of the 27th and that same day there will be a couple of tents that will also be coming in so things will be hopping around here for the next couple of weeks. Mitch is just finishing up repainting Lynda's room by the pool so she and I will share that room once the others are all full. Gotta take advantage of this short tourist season and get as many rooms and tents booked as possible!! Many of the tourists who come here are Mexican. They come from inland and for many of them...they may never have been to the ocean before so it is a real special treat.
What else have we been doing??? Hmmmm.... well, Lynda and I worked for a staff party at Roberto's the other night so we had a chance to 'wait on' some of the people who are always waiting on us. We cleared tables, did dishes, made some drinks and generally just did whatever needed to be done. It was a great success and everyone had a wonderful time - including us! Yesterday, I did up a flyer (in English) for Roberto so he could advertise upcoming events that are planned for the restaurant....everything from a fire show on the beach to the Mexican fiesta and folk dancers to the sending off of the baby turtles. There is beach volleyball and a pool table and well.....lots for guests to keep them busy during their time here. The fire show is Mitch's and it's been a treat to get to see one of his shows. He says it's nothing compared to the other big laser shows that he does for the big clubs in the big cities but I think it's pretty cool! He uses two kinds of sticks for the show and I especially like the big sticks that he spins around....it's very dramatic with nothing but a dark beach as the backdrop! For New Year's eve we're planning a big bonfire party on the beach and Mitch will do the show again there. That will be lots of fun I'm sure. Everything is just so easy here...no one ever really worries about what time it is.....and if it's a half hour or an hour behind schedule.....it's not really that big of a deal...you just have another drink and visit a little longer while you wait for whoever is coming over or for something to begin. From a productivity perspective, it's probably not the best plan but from a stress management perspective...it's great :)
I've read about 8 or 9 books already and am sure I'll get through at least a couple more before the middle of January so am getting my fill of reading on this vacation too. It's a great way to wrap up 2008 and kick off 2009! :)
Enjoy the rest of the holiday season and I wish you all the best for the new year! Oh yes...and sorry to hear about all the crazy snow you've been having!!! Lynda adds that "that's what you get for singing White Christmas". Hope you're all able to get wherever you want to go over the holidays and if you find that you're stuck somewhere.....it was probably meant to be so I hope you're able to enjoy it too.
Till next time....
Lorrie
Friday, December 19, 2008
December 19, 2008
Hi all,
For those of you who are following this on a daily basis.....sorry!!! Where did the last 3 days go??? How is it possible that the time can speed by so quickly when all I've done is sleep and eat and lie in a hammock and snooze and read and drink a margarita or two and then have another snooze and then maybe another drink and then hit the hay for another day....it's such a tough life here in this tropical paradise :) Seriously though....I don't know where the last 3 days went!! They've flown by and as much as you think I'm joking about what I do in a day..... I'm really not embellishing life here by much at all. My eyes never seem to open before 9 or 9:30 in the a.m. and I always manage a snooze mid afternoon in a hammock or a lounge chair at the beach and I usually have at least 2 or 3 margaritas in a day (one does get thirsty in the heat you know and I always wait till after noon to have the first one) There is usually a walk in there somewhere and maybe another walk in the night after dinner at Dona Rufie's where the best sopes in the world are created for the bargain price of about $1.50 for a plate of 3 sopes. (It was Dona Rufie who chopped the garlic for my scorpion medicine for those of you who have been following along)
Last night (Thursday) was turtle night.....Lynda and I helped Carlos carry the buckets of babies down to the ocean's edge and then talked to tourists as the babies were released to the ocean at sunset....a very special opportunity to be able to participate! Later, we walked with Carlos (Roberto's son who is 15 and hopes to become a marine biologist some day) looking for signs of turtles having come up to lay their eggs that night....found one turtle track but couldn't locate her nest of eggs so either she did a super job of camoflage or someone or something had beat us to the nest. Carlos does this every night and it's all just for the conservation and his love of nature. He had to get a permit to do it and is doing a great job. He doesn't get paid anything for doing it and I think it so cool that someone his age takes the time to volunteer like this. In nature only about 2% of turtles survive but with the help he is providing it is estimated that as many as 50% may make it to adulthood. After they reach the age of 7 years they return to the place they were born to lay their own eggs and start the cycle over again. Lynda says that we'll all have to be here again 7 years from now so they know they've come home to the right place when they see us all looking at them from the beach :)
Tonight, we decided it was time to do a margarita tour/competition so began at a high end yoga retreat down the beach a ways called Present Moment. Luckily, we hit it at Happy Hour so drinks were 2 for 1 and very strong so we had a good start to our evaluative trail. Present Moment is a lovely spot and very high end but not the cultural experience that I prefer. However, it's garden entrance is really lovely and I'm glad we took the opportunity to check it out. From there, we staggered to the Tropic of Cancer (not the line of latitude....it's a restaurant here) where Celia (Dona Rufie's daughter) is the host. She took great care of us and gave us double when we really only wanted 1/2 a meal of fajitas...but boy were they good!! Of course....we also tried the margarita's there and Guadalupe (yes, that was our servers name) did a great job of taking care of us too. Interestingly, Guadalupe remembers me from a month ago when I went into another restaurant where she was working at the time (Mi Casa es Su Casa) so it was like old home week. I think Lynda hit it on the head tonight when she said....."You're a local now Lorrie". Not only am I being recognized by the servers but the vendors on the beach are giving me local prices and restaurant owners are greeting and treating me like family. I'm very lucky to be having this experience!
Tomorrow night is the Fiesta at Roberto's so hopefully there will be lots of customers again. On Thursday, when everyone was there to see the turtles released....it was so busy that Lynda even volunteered me to go behind the bar to help Viri with the backlog of dirty dishes. I was happy to do it and it felt good to be behind a bar again. Maybe tomorrow will be a repeat performance....it's the least I can do as Roberto and his staff are amazing and really do treat us as family.
On that family theme.....one of the servers from Roberto's is a man named Candy who had a new daughter a couple of weeks ago. She will be christened in early January and we've been invited to the Christening. Celia's daughter, Liz, will be turning 15 in January too and a 15th birthday for a girl here is a huge deal....we've been invited to that family event too. It's fun to be a part of the local community!
Must run for now....hope this finds you all well and able to dig your way out from under the snow. I hear there has been a lot of it already this year along with some really cold temps. Not sorry to be missing any of that and I'll do my best to bring the nice weather back with me when I return in the new year! Hope the holiday season is going well for you and I'll try to write again in a couple of days.
Lorrie
For those of you who are following this on a daily basis.....sorry!!! Where did the last 3 days go??? How is it possible that the time can speed by so quickly when all I've done is sleep and eat and lie in a hammock and snooze and read and drink a margarita or two and then have another snooze and then maybe another drink and then hit the hay for another day....it's such a tough life here in this tropical paradise :) Seriously though....I don't know where the last 3 days went!! They've flown by and as much as you think I'm joking about what I do in a day..... I'm really not embellishing life here by much at all. My eyes never seem to open before 9 or 9:30 in the a.m. and I always manage a snooze mid afternoon in a hammock or a lounge chair at the beach and I usually have at least 2 or 3 margaritas in a day (one does get thirsty in the heat you know and I always wait till after noon to have the first one) There is usually a walk in there somewhere and maybe another walk in the night after dinner at Dona Rufie's where the best sopes in the world are created for the bargain price of about $1.50 for a plate of 3 sopes. (It was Dona Rufie who chopped the garlic for my scorpion medicine for those of you who have been following along)
Last night (Thursday) was turtle night.....Lynda and I helped Carlos carry the buckets of babies down to the ocean's edge and then talked to tourists as the babies were released to the ocean at sunset....a very special opportunity to be able to participate! Later, we walked with Carlos (Roberto's son who is 15 and hopes to become a marine biologist some day) looking for signs of turtles having come up to lay their eggs that night....found one turtle track but couldn't locate her nest of eggs so either she did a super job of camoflage or someone or something had beat us to the nest. Carlos does this every night and it's all just for the conservation and his love of nature. He had to get a permit to do it and is doing a great job. He doesn't get paid anything for doing it and I think it so cool that someone his age takes the time to volunteer like this. In nature only about 2% of turtles survive but with the help he is providing it is estimated that as many as 50% may make it to adulthood. After they reach the age of 7 years they return to the place they were born to lay their own eggs and start the cycle over again. Lynda says that we'll all have to be here again 7 years from now so they know they've come home to the right place when they see us all looking at them from the beach :)
Tonight, we decided it was time to do a margarita tour/competition so began at a high end yoga retreat down the beach a ways called Present Moment. Luckily, we hit it at Happy Hour so drinks were 2 for 1 and very strong so we had a good start to our evaluative trail. Present Moment is a lovely spot and very high end but not the cultural experience that I prefer. However, it's garden entrance is really lovely and I'm glad we took the opportunity to check it out. From there, we staggered to the Tropic of Cancer (not the line of latitude....it's a restaurant here) where Celia (Dona Rufie's daughter) is the host. She took great care of us and gave us double when we really only wanted 1/2 a meal of fajitas...but boy were they good!! Of course....we also tried the margarita's there and Guadalupe (yes, that was our servers name) did a great job of taking care of us too. Interestingly, Guadalupe remembers me from a month ago when I went into another restaurant where she was working at the time (Mi Casa es Su Casa) so it was like old home week. I think Lynda hit it on the head tonight when she said....."You're a local now Lorrie". Not only am I being recognized by the servers but the vendors on the beach are giving me local prices and restaurant owners are greeting and treating me like family. I'm very lucky to be having this experience!
Tomorrow night is the Fiesta at Roberto's so hopefully there will be lots of customers again. On Thursday, when everyone was there to see the turtles released....it was so busy that Lynda even volunteered me to go behind the bar to help Viri with the backlog of dirty dishes. I was happy to do it and it felt good to be behind a bar again. Maybe tomorrow will be a repeat performance....it's the least I can do as Roberto and his staff are amazing and really do treat us as family.
On that family theme.....one of the servers from Roberto's is a man named Candy who had a new daughter a couple of weeks ago. She will be christened in early January and we've been invited to the Christening. Celia's daughter, Liz, will be turning 15 in January too and a 15th birthday for a girl here is a huge deal....we've been invited to that family event too. It's fun to be a part of the local community!
Must run for now....hope this finds you all well and able to dig your way out from under the snow. I hear there has been a lot of it already this year along with some really cold temps. Not sorry to be missing any of that and I'll do my best to bring the nice weather back with me when I return in the new year! Hope the holiday season is going well for you and I'll try to write again in a couple of days.
Lorrie
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
December 16, 2008
Wow! Only 9 days till Christmas and until I put the date on this posting....I had no idea!! Hope you all have a good one in case I forget it’s just around the corner again.
Arrived in Troncones day before yesterday in the afternoon as planned and all is great here. It was fun to land at the airport, haul our bags out to the local bus stop past all the tourists who were hailing cabs at least 100 times the price to get into Zihuatanejo. Lynda had a little “argument” with the bus driver who thought we were tourists and wanted to charge us extra money for our bags....somehow her fluent Spanish (well that may be a slight exaggeration) came flying out of her mouth and we were in the bus for no fee for our bags. Later we learned that they really do charge a little extra as it takes up a seat but heh...the bus wasn’t totally full so we weren’t taking up any extra seats. Once we were in Zihuat we made a stop at the local market for a few groceries and then on to another local bus to head up the highway for ½ hour to the stop where we would catch the little combi bus (that has a door I just barely fit through) and that just runs from the highway into the village (about 5 kms away). Lynda managed to utilize her fluent Spanish skills again (but for some reason the poor driver didn’t understand her – maybe he only speaks English as he didn’t understand a word she said) and before he knew what was happening I had whipped some money out of my bra to give to Lynda...she jumped out of the combi beside the local store and the Mexican lady who was left on the combi with me and ALL of our bags had to translate for the driver that he was to proceed to her stop and then turn around to pick up Lynda as she’d be waiting on the side of the road with a bag of ice (a critical element in the Margaritas we planned to drink the minute we arrived home). Fortunately, the driver complied and sure enough...there was Lynda at the side of the road with the ice flagging us down in order that she could further explain to him that he was to drive us right to our doorstep before the ice melted. Don’t know if he understood any of it or not but we did arrive ice in tact sooooo....... Feels really good to be “home” again. Weather is perfect, temps are in the low 80’s and humidity is high but not so high that you’re really uncomfortable – especially when the toughest thing you do in a day is lift your drink.
Haven’t done much of anything since arriving.....needed a couple of days to recover from our travels so have been taking our time and just soaking up some sun. Other than laying on a beach chair or lounging in the pool there has been little excitement, although....the night we arrived....Lynda and I checked into our respective rooms (we’re taking advantage of having our own rooms till Mitch’s place gets too busy and we’re into sharing again).....I was just putting my bags into my room when I noticed something moving on the floor. Upon closer examination, I discovered a small scorpion! Mitch came to my rescue and in short order it was gone (forever) but it had been a bit of a thrill as it was the first time I had ever seen one in any of my travels. Later that same night, Lynda and I were putting some sheets into the washer (helping Viri out with some of the housekeeping at the hotel) in the outdoor laundry area. I was sorting out some sheets and when I leaned across the table to reach one from the back I felt a sudden stinging on my right thigh. Sure enough, I had just discovered my second scorpion.... this one wasn’t as small as the first and this one had given me something to remember him by! Once again, Mitch came to the rescue and that scorpion will never sting again but.....in the meantime.....I had a scorpion sting to deal with. I must add at this point that it took Mitch 11 years before he had a sting and he’s only had one the entire time he’s lived here. Two of the local servers at Roberto’s (who are both well over 20 and who grew up here) have never had one....and here I come along, and on my first night I not only see one but also get stung by another! To top it off the one that stung me was described as medium sized (ie: bigger than the first one I had seen in my room) and black in colour which means they’re mature and have a harsher sting. You may be wondering what it feels like....well......simply put.....IT HURTS! The good news is that I lived to tell the story so all is well that ends well and I don’t anticipate any lasting effects – although, I haven’t had nearly as many bites after dark since getting stung....perhaps the bugs don’t find me as sweet any longer, which would be a good thing! So.....the rest of the story is that the treatment for the scorpion sting is pretty much as bad as the sting itself. The first thing is not to panic....just stay calm (yah right....a stupid scorpion just bit me and last I heard....people can die from that!) But the truth is that I pretty much figure ‘what will be will be’ and so I really didn’t get too nervous about it. Second thing you have to do (unless you want to go to the hospital a half hour away or to the local nurse who will give you an injection of antidote) is go to the local back yard restaurant and get them to chop up a HUGE amount of fresh garlic and then try to swallow as much of it as you can (at least 2 or 3 large cloves) with the help of a glass of water. It is important that the garlic sit for about 15 minutes after being chopped so it’s medicinal properties kick in. Anyway....I did as I was instructed and received a lot of attention and here I am.....telling you all about it none the worse for wear. Supposedly only 10% of people who are stung have an allergic reaction (where their throat closes up) and only about 1% of them die....so my odds were not so bad. The really good news is that I now know that I don’t have an adverse reaction to scorpions so I can get stung again and be just fine (as long as I can find a back yard restaurant where they’ll chop up my garlic potion etc). To give you a little better picture about what it feels like.....I told you that it hurts but really, it doesn’t hurt all that much....it’s definitely a sting and then there is a burning sensation that emanates out from the centre of the sting. By the next morning there was no visible mark where I had been stung and there was no more burning. The burning (described by others here – and I would agree) feels a bit like fire flickering out from the centre of the sting. It’s kind of a strange feeling and a very interesting experience that lasts about 5 or 6 hours! Don’t worry mom.....I don’t plan to experience it again though!!! Everyone is surprised that I’ve been stung by a scorpion....it is not a common thing. They say it is lucky though so I’m in for some more great adventures in my life!
So here we sit at Roberto’s (across the street from Mitch’s place) just having finished a massive plate of local lobster that has a story attached to it too. While walking back from watching the local boys fishing on the beach this afternoon we came across a couple of men in their truck selling lobster from the back of it that they had just caught off a beach just up the road in a place I mentioned in an earlier blog.....Saladita (the place where all the surfers go). Of course, Lynda and I just had to buy a couple sooo....before we knew what had happened.....Lynda and I were in the back of the truck (with the lobsters) on our way back to Mitch’s place where our money was.....and once we arrived......I had four of them in my hand and we were $25 poorer. Yes, not only can you buy fresh lobster from the local guys here but you can ride in the back of their truck too! We really didn’t know how to cook the lobster though so we just carried it back to Roberto’s Restaurant where the staff there cooked it up for us along with some rice and veggies all presented on a gorgeous platter and served up in style....we are soooo lucky!!! As we were finishing our meal, Roberto came over to sit with us and before we knew what was happening....we had volunteered to work in the restaurant and bar so he could host a party for all of his staff. There are no walls on the place though so once the party is underway it is entirely possible that the public may want to join in too so Lynda and I will be cooking, serving up drinks, waiting on tables and doing dishes for not only the staff but possibly a bunch of touristicas too. Roberto said that he’s hoping to do it sometime in the next few days so we’ll see if it actually comes about....sometimes things work out as planned and sometimes they don’t. If it does though, it will be fun to turn the tables on the staff and to serve them for a change so I’m hoping Roberto follows through with his plan.
Lynda and I spent much of this afternoon sitting by the pool drinking Tequila and Kahlua with milk (Dirty Mother’s) and once we arrived at Roberto’s we switched to Margarita’s (Viri is the bartender here and she makes a mean margarita!) so we’re feeling no pain at this point! Actually, I sat by the pool watching Lynda straddle a surf board trying to master the skills required to paddle out to the third wave where she’ll be able to “catch one” and experience that thrill with her kids.....however......she says “I don’t think so” but the rate she is going....I think she’ll give it a shot. She may only ride the wave on her belly but regardless.....she’ll be riding it and the practicing is fun for her.
Just back to the computer at the table and still at Roberto’s......Carlos (Roberto’s 15 yr old son) just called us over to see a nest of turtle eggs hatch. Carlos took on the job of finding turtle nests along the beach about a year ago and has been going strong with his environmental initiative ever since. It is a huge amount of work for him but such a valuable service and he has learned so much. He aspires to be a marine biologist so it is in his area of interest and it doesn’t hurt the business at Roberto’s either as tourists are invited to watch him release babies to the ocean every Thursday evening at 6 pm. Tonight, we watched over 100 babies come out of the nest they’ve been sitting in waiting to hatch for the past 45 days. They’ll sit in a safe place for a few days until they’re a little stronger enhancing their chance at survival in the ocean so they can come back to this same beach in 7 years to begin the cycle all over again by laying their own eggs. The work that Carlos has to do for the turtles is quite extensive and he cannot miss a day of caring for them. He has to change their water at least once a day and the babies move through a series of stages before they’re released....they go from sand only to sand and water to water only and then eventually the ocean. It’s a very special thing to watch. A month ago, before we left for our adventure.....we watched a nest hatch during the daytime and one of the eggs even began it’s hatching process in Lynda’s hand. How cool is that!!
That’s about all I have to say for this time – things are pretty quiet here. Hope this finds you all well and I’ll write again when I have some news to share.
Lorrie
Arrived in Troncones day before yesterday in the afternoon as planned and all is great here. It was fun to land at the airport, haul our bags out to the local bus stop past all the tourists who were hailing cabs at least 100 times the price to get into Zihuatanejo. Lynda had a little “argument” with the bus driver who thought we were tourists and wanted to charge us extra money for our bags....somehow her fluent Spanish (well that may be a slight exaggeration) came flying out of her mouth and we were in the bus for no fee for our bags. Later we learned that they really do charge a little extra as it takes up a seat but heh...the bus wasn’t totally full so we weren’t taking up any extra seats. Once we were in Zihuat we made a stop at the local market for a few groceries and then on to another local bus to head up the highway for ½ hour to the stop where we would catch the little combi bus (that has a door I just barely fit through) and that just runs from the highway into the village (about 5 kms away). Lynda managed to utilize her fluent Spanish skills again (but for some reason the poor driver didn’t understand her – maybe he only speaks English as he didn’t understand a word she said) and before he knew what was happening I had whipped some money out of my bra to give to Lynda...she jumped out of the combi beside the local store and the Mexican lady who was left on the combi with me and ALL of our bags had to translate for the driver that he was to proceed to her stop and then turn around to pick up Lynda as she’d be waiting on the side of the road with a bag of ice (a critical element in the Margaritas we planned to drink the minute we arrived home). Fortunately, the driver complied and sure enough...there was Lynda at the side of the road with the ice flagging us down in order that she could further explain to him that he was to drive us right to our doorstep before the ice melted. Don’t know if he understood any of it or not but we did arrive ice in tact sooooo....... Feels really good to be “home” again. Weather is perfect, temps are in the low 80’s and humidity is high but not so high that you’re really uncomfortable – especially when the toughest thing you do in a day is lift your drink.
Haven’t done much of anything since arriving.....needed a couple of days to recover from our travels so have been taking our time and just soaking up some sun. Other than laying on a beach chair or lounging in the pool there has been little excitement, although....the night we arrived....Lynda and I checked into our respective rooms (we’re taking advantage of having our own rooms till Mitch’s place gets too busy and we’re into sharing again).....I was just putting my bags into my room when I noticed something moving on the floor. Upon closer examination, I discovered a small scorpion! Mitch came to my rescue and in short order it was gone (forever) but it had been a bit of a thrill as it was the first time I had ever seen one in any of my travels. Later that same night, Lynda and I were putting some sheets into the washer (helping Viri out with some of the housekeeping at the hotel) in the outdoor laundry area. I was sorting out some sheets and when I leaned across the table to reach one from the back I felt a sudden stinging on my right thigh. Sure enough, I had just discovered my second scorpion.... this one wasn’t as small as the first and this one had given me something to remember him by! Once again, Mitch came to the rescue and that scorpion will never sting again but.....in the meantime.....I had a scorpion sting to deal with. I must add at this point that it took Mitch 11 years before he had a sting and he’s only had one the entire time he’s lived here. Two of the local servers at Roberto’s (who are both well over 20 and who grew up here) have never had one....and here I come along, and on my first night I not only see one but also get stung by another! To top it off the one that stung me was described as medium sized (ie: bigger than the first one I had seen in my room) and black in colour which means they’re mature and have a harsher sting. You may be wondering what it feels like....well......simply put.....IT HURTS! The good news is that I lived to tell the story so all is well that ends well and I don’t anticipate any lasting effects – although, I haven’t had nearly as many bites after dark since getting stung....perhaps the bugs don’t find me as sweet any longer, which would be a good thing! So.....the rest of the story is that the treatment for the scorpion sting is pretty much as bad as the sting itself. The first thing is not to panic....just stay calm (yah right....a stupid scorpion just bit me and last I heard....people can die from that!) But the truth is that I pretty much figure ‘what will be will be’ and so I really didn’t get too nervous about it. Second thing you have to do (unless you want to go to the hospital a half hour away or to the local nurse who will give you an injection of antidote) is go to the local back yard restaurant and get them to chop up a HUGE amount of fresh garlic and then try to swallow as much of it as you can (at least 2 or 3 large cloves) with the help of a glass of water. It is important that the garlic sit for about 15 minutes after being chopped so it’s medicinal properties kick in. Anyway....I did as I was instructed and received a lot of attention and here I am.....telling you all about it none the worse for wear. Supposedly only 10% of people who are stung have an allergic reaction (where their throat closes up) and only about 1% of them die....so my odds were not so bad. The really good news is that I now know that I don’t have an adverse reaction to scorpions so I can get stung again and be just fine (as long as I can find a back yard restaurant where they’ll chop up my garlic potion etc). To give you a little better picture about what it feels like.....I told you that it hurts but really, it doesn’t hurt all that much....it’s definitely a sting and then there is a burning sensation that emanates out from the centre of the sting. By the next morning there was no visible mark where I had been stung and there was no more burning. The burning (described by others here – and I would agree) feels a bit like fire flickering out from the centre of the sting. It’s kind of a strange feeling and a very interesting experience that lasts about 5 or 6 hours! Don’t worry mom.....I don’t plan to experience it again though!!! Everyone is surprised that I’ve been stung by a scorpion....it is not a common thing. They say it is lucky though so I’m in for some more great adventures in my life!
So here we sit at Roberto’s (across the street from Mitch’s place) just having finished a massive plate of local lobster that has a story attached to it too. While walking back from watching the local boys fishing on the beach this afternoon we came across a couple of men in their truck selling lobster from the back of it that they had just caught off a beach just up the road in a place I mentioned in an earlier blog.....Saladita (the place where all the surfers go). Of course, Lynda and I just had to buy a couple sooo....before we knew what had happened.....Lynda and I were in the back of the truck (with the lobsters) on our way back to Mitch’s place where our money was.....and once we arrived......I had four of them in my hand and we were $25 poorer. Yes, not only can you buy fresh lobster from the local guys here but you can ride in the back of their truck too! We really didn’t know how to cook the lobster though so we just carried it back to Roberto’s Restaurant where the staff there cooked it up for us along with some rice and veggies all presented on a gorgeous platter and served up in style....we are soooo lucky!!! As we were finishing our meal, Roberto came over to sit with us and before we knew what was happening....we had volunteered to work in the restaurant and bar so he could host a party for all of his staff. There are no walls on the place though so once the party is underway it is entirely possible that the public may want to join in too so Lynda and I will be cooking, serving up drinks, waiting on tables and doing dishes for not only the staff but possibly a bunch of touristicas too. Roberto said that he’s hoping to do it sometime in the next few days so we’ll see if it actually comes about....sometimes things work out as planned and sometimes they don’t. If it does though, it will be fun to turn the tables on the staff and to serve them for a change so I’m hoping Roberto follows through with his plan.
Lynda and I spent much of this afternoon sitting by the pool drinking Tequila and Kahlua with milk (Dirty Mother’s) and once we arrived at Roberto’s we switched to Margarita’s (Viri is the bartender here and she makes a mean margarita!) so we’re feeling no pain at this point! Actually, I sat by the pool watching Lynda straddle a surf board trying to master the skills required to paddle out to the third wave where she’ll be able to “catch one” and experience that thrill with her kids.....however......she says “I don’t think so” but the rate she is going....I think she’ll give it a shot. She may only ride the wave on her belly but regardless.....she’ll be riding it and the practicing is fun for her.
Just back to the computer at the table and still at Roberto’s......Carlos (Roberto’s 15 yr old son) just called us over to see a nest of turtle eggs hatch. Carlos took on the job of finding turtle nests along the beach about a year ago and has been going strong with his environmental initiative ever since. It is a huge amount of work for him but such a valuable service and he has learned so much. He aspires to be a marine biologist so it is in his area of interest and it doesn’t hurt the business at Roberto’s either as tourists are invited to watch him release babies to the ocean every Thursday evening at 6 pm. Tonight, we watched over 100 babies come out of the nest they’ve been sitting in waiting to hatch for the past 45 days. They’ll sit in a safe place for a few days until they’re a little stronger enhancing their chance at survival in the ocean so they can come back to this same beach in 7 years to begin the cycle all over again by laying their own eggs. The work that Carlos has to do for the turtles is quite extensive and he cannot miss a day of caring for them. He has to change their water at least once a day and the babies move through a series of stages before they’re released....they go from sand only to sand and water to water only and then eventually the ocean. It’s a very special thing to watch. A month ago, before we left for our adventure.....we watched a nest hatch during the daytime and one of the eggs even began it’s hatching process in Lynda’s hand. How cool is that!!
That’s about all I have to say for this time – things are pretty quiet here. Hope this finds you all well and I’ll write again when I have some news to share.
Lorrie
Saturday, December 13, 2008
December 13, 2008
Sitting here in the Oaxaca airport waiting for our flight to Mexico City, we’ve decided that today should be a day of reflection. We’ve been on the road for a month and have seen so much and done so much; we are both “full”. Full of stories, memories, feelings, and.....tequila.....yes....there have been a margarita or two along the way.
While sitting in the Oaxaca Zocalo this afternoon we decided that it was time for us to say “yes” to everyone who approached us with something to sell. Within minutes, the vendors were around us like bees to honey ( I prefer that simile to one less sweet that may come to mind too). By the end of the hour we were no longer able to talk as our mouths were full of chiclets, we couldn’t walk from the weight of the scarves, blankets, dresses, and jewellery we were now sporting. Our bellies were so full of candy apples, popcorn, cookies, and corn on the cob we had to undo our pants! At one point I had to grab Lynda by the leg to hold her down as she had purchased an entire bunch of balloons and was beginning to lift off the ground!! There were musicians of all types gathered round as we kept paying them money for each song they played or sang so they all just kept playing at the same time....it was super loud and didn’t sound all that good when they were all playing their own song at the same time. All in all, it was a fun hour and the vendors of Oaxaca will long remember the two crazy Canadians.
Now....did you really believe all of that? If so, we have this great piece of property we bought on top of a volcano (with a great view) that we may consider letting you have for a song......if you’re interested just let either of us know..... In truth though, we did have a great chuckle thinking about what it would look like if we really had done that (just say yes, I mean). There are so many vendors everywhere you go but they’re all quite pleasant and not too pushy so although you notice they’re there, it’s not all that uncomfortable once you get over the first few times of saying no thanks.
Some of the reflections we recalled this afternoon include:
· Travelling back in time by 2000 years (Palenque and Monte Alban pyramids)
· Enjoying some extreme diversity in that we’ve gone from hot to cold and back to hot again (I’m talking outdoor temperatures here)
· Learning to dodge potholes in the sidewalk that seem to appear from nowhere.
· Surviving the challenges of overnight bus travel.
· Enjoying new foods, a new language, and cultural norms.
· Managing better than just fine, in situations where we were the only gringas and no one but us spoke English.
· Starring in a movie.
· Flying and busing in a zigzag pattern around this wonderfully friendly and interesting country.
. Wearing the same clothes for days.
. Keeping on top of this blog (thank heavens or half of it would be lost in time)
. Riding atop a horse to visit the Mariposa Monarcha's on the top of a mountain.
. Hiking up more mountains, volcanoes, stairs, and pyramids than we thought we'd ever be able to.
. Making new friends at every stop along the way.
. Becoming a part of many new families.
. Dancing the night away under falling fire (castillo fireworks)
. Having the feature band dedicate their performance to us and then having every person in the entire town file by to have a dance with us or at the very least a look.
. Not getting lost.
. Celebrating new festivals we had never heard of before.
. Enjoying this new memory for our 30 year friendship (yep...Lynda and I figured it out and we've known each other for 30 years!!)
Anyway.....we're now sitting in Mexico City at a hotel and will fly the rest of the way to Zihuatanejo tomorrow for the next leg of our journey....or perhaps just to sit with our toes in the sand and a drink in our hands while we reflect on all that we've seen and done this past month.
Till I next get the urge to add to this blog......hasta luego.
Lorrie
While sitting in the Oaxaca Zocalo this afternoon we decided that it was time for us to say “yes” to everyone who approached us with something to sell. Within minutes, the vendors were around us like bees to honey ( I prefer that simile to one less sweet that may come to mind too). By the end of the hour we were no longer able to talk as our mouths were full of chiclets, we couldn’t walk from the weight of the scarves, blankets, dresses, and jewellery we were now sporting. Our bellies were so full of candy apples, popcorn, cookies, and corn on the cob we had to undo our pants! At one point I had to grab Lynda by the leg to hold her down as she had purchased an entire bunch of balloons and was beginning to lift off the ground!! There were musicians of all types gathered round as we kept paying them money for each song they played or sang so they all just kept playing at the same time....it was super loud and didn’t sound all that good when they were all playing their own song at the same time. All in all, it was a fun hour and the vendors of Oaxaca will long remember the two crazy Canadians.
Now....did you really believe all of that? If so, we have this great piece of property we bought on top of a volcano (with a great view) that we may consider letting you have for a song......if you’re interested just let either of us know..... In truth though, we did have a great chuckle thinking about what it would look like if we really had done that (just say yes, I mean). There are so many vendors everywhere you go but they’re all quite pleasant and not too pushy so although you notice they’re there, it’s not all that uncomfortable once you get over the first few times of saying no thanks.
Some of the reflections we recalled this afternoon include:
· Travelling back in time by 2000 years (Palenque and Monte Alban pyramids)
· Enjoying some extreme diversity in that we’ve gone from hot to cold and back to hot again (I’m talking outdoor temperatures here)
· Learning to dodge potholes in the sidewalk that seem to appear from nowhere.
· Surviving the challenges of overnight bus travel.
· Enjoying new foods, a new language, and cultural norms.
· Managing better than just fine, in situations where we were the only gringas and no one but us spoke English.
· Starring in a movie.
· Flying and busing in a zigzag pattern around this wonderfully friendly and interesting country.
. Wearing the same clothes for days.
. Keeping on top of this blog (thank heavens or half of it would be lost in time)
. Riding atop a horse to visit the Mariposa Monarcha's on the top of a mountain.
. Hiking up more mountains, volcanoes, stairs, and pyramids than we thought we'd ever be able to.
. Making new friends at every stop along the way.
. Becoming a part of many new families.
. Dancing the night away under falling fire (castillo fireworks)
. Having the feature band dedicate their performance to us and then having every person in the entire town file by to have a dance with us or at the very least a look.
. Not getting lost.
. Celebrating new festivals we had never heard of before.
. Enjoying this new memory for our 30 year friendship (yep...Lynda and I figured it out and we've known each other for 30 years!!)
Anyway.....we're now sitting in Mexico City at a hotel and will fly the rest of the way to Zihuatanejo tomorrow for the next leg of our journey....or perhaps just to sit with our toes in the sand and a drink in our hands while we reflect on all that we've seen and done this past month.
Till I next get the urge to add to this blog......hasta luego.
Lorrie
Friday, December 12, 2008
December 12th continued
Hi again,
Just got back into our room and thought we'd do one more quick update before falling into bed.
Walked back to the Zocalo and then on to the Santa Domingo Cathedral (I guess we hadn't walked enough yet today!). What luck we have!!! We arrived just in time to witness the sacrament of the Virgin Guadalupe service. A young woman (who has been selected to fill the role of the Virgin Guadalupe) stands at the front of the church in a wedding dress and there is lots of blessings from the cardinal (we think he was a cardinal) and then there is communion and then the virgin comes out of the church - much like a wedding actually, in fact we thought it was a wedding until we realized there was no groom. We didn't see the entire service but it was a real bonus to have seen any part of it. As well, the Santa Domingo Cathedral is very oppulent. The entire front of the church is totally gold and the ceilings are completely carved and painted and ornate....it is quite an attraction.
On the way to the cathedral we came across yet another Christmas tree. This one was made of metal and had round plant pot holders all the way up it. In each holder there was a potted pointsettia. It was so beautiful!! There are so many poinsettias here decorating the zocalo and the parks and all the public places in fact.....it's hard to describe.
On our way home....we stopped in the Zocalo again for a quick night cap. Lynda had hot milk and Kahlua (her new weakness) and I had a Cappucino con rom pope....which is my new weakness but I won't be able to get it once I leave here - whew!! Lynda on the other hand will be in trouble as she can get Kahlua anywhere :) Rom pope is Mexico's version of a thick egg nog with a tequila based liquor in it...added to a latte it is decadent and delicious. While walking through the zocalo en route to the place we were headed for our nightcaps....we bumped into yet another person we know....he works in our hotel. It is amazing how we can see so many familiar faces in such a big place after being here for such a short time!!
Time to hit the hay....hasta luego.
Lorrie
Just got back into our room and thought we'd do one more quick update before falling into bed.
Walked back to the Zocalo and then on to the Santa Domingo Cathedral (I guess we hadn't walked enough yet today!). What luck we have!!! We arrived just in time to witness the sacrament of the Virgin Guadalupe service. A young woman (who has been selected to fill the role of the Virgin Guadalupe) stands at the front of the church in a wedding dress and there is lots of blessings from the cardinal (we think he was a cardinal) and then there is communion and then the virgin comes out of the church - much like a wedding actually, in fact we thought it was a wedding until we realized there was no groom. We didn't see the entire service but it was a real bonus to have seen any part of it. As well, the Santa Domingo Cathedral is very oppulent. The entire front of the church is totally gold and the ceilings are completely carved and painted and ornate....it is quite an attraction.
On the way to the cathedral we came across yet another Christmas tree. This one was made of metal and had round plant pot holders all the way up it. In each holder there was a potted pointsettia. It was so beautiful!! There are so many poinsettias here decorating the zocalo and the parks and all the public places in fact.....it's hard to describe.
On our way home....we stopped in the Zocalo again for a quick night cap. Lynda had hot milk and Kahlua (her new weakness) and I had a Cappucino con rom pope....which is my new weakness but I won't be able to get it once I leave here - whew!! Lynda on the other hand will be in trouble as she can get Kahlua anywhere :) Rom pope is Mexico's version of a thick egg nog with a tequila based liquor in it...added to a latte it is decadent and delicious. While walking through the zocalo en route to the place we were headed for our nightcaps....we bumped into yet another person we know....he works in our hotel. It is amazing how we can see so many familiar faces in such a big place after being here for such a short time!!
Time to hit the hay....hasta luego.
Lorrie
December 12, 2008
Happy Virgin of Guadalupe Day and Congratulations to Mike and Lana for winning the prize for being the first to comment (as requested) on my last post. Don't know what the prize is.....maybe it's just the honourable mention you get in this post :)
We've had another full day and honestly ..... without any exaggeration.....I don't know how far we walked today but we've been walking for the past nine hours without stopping at all! And....in the midst of all that walking, part of our day was spent at another ancient site just a half hour from our hotel. There, we managed to climb soooo many stairs once again. This site is called Monte Alban and in addition to the site...there is a great view of the city. It was a great place to wander away much of the afternoon. Very different from Palenque though. Monte Alban is much smaller and had a very different feel to the place. One thing that was in really good repair and different from anything we saw at Palenque, was the ball court. They played a sort of squash game (where they hit the ball with any part of their body they could) and used the game for everything from entertainment to a means of settling disputes of all kinds.
As well, since today is the day that all of the Guadalupe fesitivities conclude...it is the biggest of them all. We participated in the fiesta that the locals all attend tonight...it is much like a giant fair with more food booths than you can imagine and we visited our share of them. We discovered a couple of new things to try too. One was a corn tortilla that had some flowers (squash flowers I think) and some other leaves of some sort along with a very stringy cheese (kind of like mozerella) and some salsa on it folded in half like a sandwich. Very different, not bad, but maybe not my favourite thing I've had so far....but....much better than the tongue tortilla's I had in San Miguel de Allende....they still hold the prize for my least favourite new thing. The other new treat we had tonight was something called a Burrenos (at least I think that was the name of it). It was a paper thin piece of dough that was deep fried and then served atop a clay bowl (because if you tried to pick it up it would just break into a million pieces), then there was some kind of syrup drizzled over it that tasted a bit like molasses, and then there was some pink sugar sprinkled over all of that.....it was delicious and so delicious that we had two of them :)
It's only 10:30 here and we're debating going back out but are still undecided on whether we're up for another mile or two. Seriously, we've put on more than 10 miles today already!
If you can believe this.....in a city of this size (a couple of hundred thousand people I'm guessing) we bumped into one of the young men we met when we were in San Cristobal tonight. We had just purchased a cob of corn from a street vendor (everyone here eats corn on the cob on the streets) and there he was....we had a nice visit.....it was funny to see a familiar face though! And then....later in the night....we bumped into the girl we had bought the bus tickets to Monte Alben from. Small world!!
Must run for now.....the next two days will be travel days so may not have internet....if not....will write from Troncones.
Till then,
Lorrie
We've had another full day and honestly ..... without any exaggeration.....I don't know how far we walked today but we've been walking for the past nine hours without stopping at all! And....in the midst of all that walking, part of our day was spent at another ancient site just a half hour from our hotel. There, we managed to climb soooo many stairs once again. This site is called Monte Alban and in addition to the site...there is a great view of the city. It was a great place to wander away much of the afternoon. Very different from Palenque though. Monte Alban is much smaller and had a very different feel to the place. One thing that was in really good repair and different from anything we saw at Palenque, was the ball court. They played a sort of squash game (where they hit the ball with any part of their body they could) and used the game for everything from entertainment to a means of settling disputes of all kinds.
As well, since today is the day that all of the Guadalupe fesitivities conclude...it is the biggest of them all. We participated in the fiesta that the locals all attend tonight...it is much like a giant fair with more food booths than you can imagine and we visited our share of them. We discovered a couple of new things to try too. One was a corn tortilla that had some flowers (squash flowers I think) and some other leaves of some sort along with a very stringy cheese (kind of like mozerella) and some salsa on it folded in half like a sandwich. Very different, not bad, but maybe not my favourite thing I've had so far....but....much better than the tongue tortilla's I had in San Miguel de Allende....they still hold the prize for my least favourite new thing. The other new treat we had tonight was something called a Burrenos (at least I think that was the name of it). It was a paper thin piece of dough that was deep fried and then served atop a clay bowl (because if you tried to pick it up it would just break into a million pieces), then there was some kind of syrup drizzled over it that tasted a bit like molasses, and then there was some pink sugar sprinkled over all of that.....it was delicious and so delicious that we had two of them :)
It's only 10:30 here and we're debating going back out but are still undecided on whether we're up for another mile or two. Seriously, we've put on more than 10 miles today already!
If you can believe this.....in a city of this size (a couple of hundred thousand people I'm guessing) we bumped into one of the young men we met when we were in San Cristobal tonight. We had just purchased a cob of corn from a street vendor (everyone here eats corn on the cob on the streets) and there he was....we had a nice visit.....it was funny to see a familiar face though! And then....later in the night....we bumped into the girl we had bought the bus tickets to Monte Alben from. Small world!!
Must run for now.....the next two days will be travel days so may not have internet....if not....will write from Troncones.
Till then,
Lorrie
Thursday, December 11, 2008
December 11th continued
Hi again,
I have a request for all of you.....it would be great to know who's online and reading so if you could please click on the word "comment" at the end of this post and just put your name (and a couple of words if you'd like) we'll have fun reading who's been travelling with us. This doesn't require siging up as a follower....just someone who is reading and wants to comment :)
thanks,
L & L
I have a request for all of you.....it would be great to know who's online and reading so if you could please click on the word "comment" at the end of this post and just put your name (and a couple of words if you'd like) we'll have fun reading who's been travelling with us. This doesn't require siging up as a follower....just someone who is reading and wants to comment :)
thanks,
L & L
December 11, 2008
Well.....the adventures just keep on a coming :) The adventure of last night was not so great for me though....we already told you that we were catching a night bus in Tuxtepec to arrive in Oaxaca at 5:30 this morning. We did catch that bus, it was a little late leaving (10:30 pm) but basically it wasn't that far behind schedule and so all was good until I got into my seat and discovered that I couldn't even fit my legs into the space I was allocated! Lynda's seat was a little better but still very crowded. People were already on the bus and sound asleep in their seats snoring away. Before long.....my worst nightmare came true and my legs started going buggy (mom will know exactly what I mean). It was 7 hours of torture for me and 7 hours of virtual torture for Lynda as she could see how uncomfortable I was. I spent most of the trip (winding through the mountains) standing beside my seat holding on for dear life. Somehow, I even managed to drift off for a minute or two while standing (must have been a horse in a past life). I had taken a dramamine to stave off motion sickness as we had been warned that the trip was not going to be good and that only complicated my discomfort. I didn't get motion sickness but my eyelids were made of sandpaper and I was so groggy that I could barely focus when they were open. All in all.....I have vowed to forget that one night of this trip.
Now for the good parts....we arrived in Oaxaca at about 6 a.m. and thanks to the fact that Lynda was able to converse and function (not like the zombie I had become!) a taxi was secured to find us a restaurant that was open for breakfast so we regroup and plan what to do or where to go from there. Interestingly, I don't remember much after that but I have a vague recollection of climbing some stairs and then falling onto a bed (could have been anyone's for all I cared at that point!). This afternoon, I awoke to find myself in a gorgeous hacienda just 2 blocks from the zocalo and right across the street from the main market in a queen size bed that was the perfect firmness with a gentle breeze blowing the curtain in the window to the sound of a shower (that turned out to be massive in size)....it was hard to know if I was dreaming as when I went to sleep I'm sure I was having a nightmare!
Lynda had located (with the help of the taxi driver) this perfect spot named Posada del Rosario on calle 20 de noviembre (that's 20 of november street - they often name the streets days of the year here) for $47 per night (and they let us come in at 6:00 a.m. without charging us for an extra day.) We've both agreed that we could stay here for a while - it's a great little place and so if any of you are planning to visit Oaxaca - be sure to check out this accomodation.
Once again, luck is on our side and by simply trusting that it will all work out has resulted in another great experience.
Our day started pretty late (about 3:30 pm) so has been short but full and very good. There is shopping shopping shopping here and the zocalo is absolutely breathtaking. Everything is decorated for Xmas (navidad) so there are poinsettias everywhere. In the zocalo (which is HUGE) there must be at least 10,000 potted poinsettias lining every inch of the walkways and seating areas. All of the trees are lit with fairy lights and there must be 100,000 lights or probably even more than that. Every tree trunk and lamppost and the gazebo and the area they've got for Santa and the giant Xmas tree they've made by putting lights under a massive piece of sheer white fabric that is in the shape of a tree. It has a star atop it and more strings of lights cascading from top to bottom to finish the effect. It is so impressive and so simple.
I have to say again, that I really think we're missing out on something very special by not having these zocalos in our communities. Everyone comes there to spend time and visit and just walk around or sit and relax all times of the day and night. Everything is spotlessly clean and kids of all ages run about freely as their mom and dad visit with one and other or friends. It is a very family oriented place....actually, everywhere we've seen in our travels seems to be very family oriented. Kids don't go to bed early....everyone enjoys the evenings together. We've also noticed that there are very few kids crying here. They seem to be content just being where they are. Tonight as we sat in a little cafe at the edge of the zocalo (finding our next flights online) we couldn't help but notice the young families spending time with their kids, holding hands, and just enjoying their time together. People here are generally very happy from what I've been able to see. The pace of life seems to move a little more slowly and there doesn't seem to be a lot of stress. I'm sure there is stress though....I just haven't seen much of it. Certainly there is poverty but there is also a lot of generosity. I see locals helping out people with disabilities and I also see a place where anyone with an entreprenerial spirit can make a good living doing pretty much anything they want to. If I wanted to open a shop selling muffins and coffee from my kitchen, I could and no one would mind at all. As far as I can figure...they do have laws similar to ours but not a lot of attention is paid to the ones that don't make much sense. It's really quite nice.
Lynda just brought out a chocolate bar (I'm sitting on the veranda that surrounds the courtyard of our hacienda) that reminded me of something we learned/saw this afternoon. They grow cocoa in Mexico and there are chocolate shops all over the place here. We watched as people came into the shop we were visiting, and order their "blend" the way they prefer it. Some add almonds or cinnamon sticks to the chocolate. They can choose how much sugar they like to have added to the blend and then the mixture goes to a guy who runs a grinder where all the ingredients are pushed through the grinder resulting in a near liquid state. The chocolate mix is then pushed through another grinder and scooped into a bag for the buyer to take home where they will add hot water or hot milk to make hot chocolate for their family to enjoy - yummy!!!
Tomorrow is the day to celebrate the virgin Guadalupe in Mexico and that is a really big deal. We've been giving you tidbits about the fireworks etc well....tonight at midnight....it really begins big time and I think we're in the perfect town to enjoy it. We're planning to go to the Church of Guadalupe (about 10 blocks from our hotel) for midnight tonight which is when the mariachis will begin their performances for all the locals (and the two of us) to enjoy. We found out about the celebration from our waiter tonight - it's not a touristy thing at all but he invited us to join in the festivities so we're gonna check it out :) The celebrations will continue for 24 hours and tomorrow night after 6 pm there will be dancing and fireworks and food food food so we'll be there again. Actually, the festivities tomorrow night after 6 will be in the zocalo so that will be a huge party!! Maybe we'll get to see another castillion (that crazy fireworks thing that shoots everywhere and then the top lifts off like a space ship that drips fire on everyone below....it's super exciting and I hope I get to experience another one!)
I told you we were shopping online for our next ticket and guess what??!! We're heading back to Zihuatanejo (home to Troncones). We fly out of Oaxaca on Saturday night (the 13th), spend the night in Mexico City and then catch another plane from Mexico City the afternoon of the 14th arriving in Zihuat around 2:30. Once we touch down there, we'll catch the local bus (costs about $1.00) unlike all the tourists who are arriving for their vacation and hailing cabs to get to their all inclusive experience. We'll hit the market to get some stuff to take home with us (food such as massive shrimps for the BBQ and tequila for the margaritas). Then we'll catch another local bus for about $1.20 that will take us the 30 miles up the highway where we'll catch yet another little "bus" or jump in the back of someone's pick up that will take us right to our door. Oh yea....did I mention that I found the plane tickets online tonight for $18. plus taxes....yep....you heard right.....a total of $75 each for a plane from Oaxaca to Zihuat with time to sleep in Mexico city in between. Life is good!!! As you can see...we've done really well sticking to our budget! We've been on the road for almost exactly a month and haven't spent beyond our budget at all so we're feeling pretty proud of ourselves. At this rate, we'll have money to spend when another adventure presents itself to us :)
Better go for now....gotta check out those mariachis tonight :)
Till next time,
Lorrie
Now for the good parts....we arrived in Oaxaca at about 6 a.m. and thanks to the fact that Lynda was able to converse and function (not like the zombie I had become!) a taxi was secured to find us a restaurant that was open for breakfast so we regroup and plan what to do or where to go from there. Interestingly, I don't remember much after that but I have a vague recollection of climbing some stairs and then falling onto a bed (could have been anyone's for all I cared at that point!). This afternoon, I awoke to find myself in a gorgeous hacienda just 2 blocks from the zocalo and right across the street from the main market in a queen size bed that was the perfect firmness with a gentle breeze blowing the curtain in the window to the sound of a shower (that turned out to be massive in size)....it was hard to know if I was dreaming as when I went to sleep I'm sure I was having a nightmare!
Lynda had located (with the help of the taxi driver) this perfect spot named Posada del Rosario on calle 20 de noviembre (that's 20 of november street - they often name the streets days of the year here) for $47 per night (and they let us come in at 6:00 a.m. without charging us for an extra day.) We've both agreed that we could stay here for a while - it's a great little place and so if any of you are planning to visit Oaxaca - be sure to check out this accomodation.
Once again, luck is on our side and by simply trusting that it will all work out has resulted in another great experience.
Our day started pretty late (about 3:30 pm) so has been short but full and very good. There is shopping shopping shopping here and the zocalo is absolutely breathtaking. Everything is decorated for Xmas (navidad) so there are poinsettias everywhere. In the zocalo (which is HUGE) there must be at least 10,000 potted poinsettias lining every inch of the walkways and seating areas. All of the trees are lit with fairy lights and there must be 100,000 lights or probably even more than that. Every tree trunk and lamppost and the gazebo and the area they've got for Santa and the giant Xmas tree they've made by putting lights under a massive piece of sheer white fabric that is in the shape of a tree. It has a star atop it and more strings of lights cascading from top to bottom to finish the effect. It is so impressive and so simple.
I have to say again, that I really think we're missing out on something very special by not having these zocalos in our communities. Everyone comes there to spend time and visit and just walk around or sit and relax all times of the day and night. Everything is spotlessly clean and kids of all ages run about freely as their mom and dad visit with one and other or friends. It is a very family oriented place....actually, everywhere we've seen in our travels seems to be very family oriented. Kids don't go to bed early....everyone enjoys the evenings together. We've also noticed that there are very few kids crying here. They seem to be content just being where they are. Tonight as we sat in a little cafe at the edge of the zocalo (finding our next flights online) we couldn't help but notice the young families spending time with their kids, holding hands, and just enjoying their time together. People here are generally very happy from what I've been able to see. The pace of life seems to move a little more slowly and there doesn't seem to be a lot of stress. I'm sure there is stress though....I just haven't seen much of it. Certainly there is poverty but there is also a lot of generosity. I see locals helping out people with disabilities and I also see a place where anyone with an entreprenerial spirit can make a good living doing pretty much anything they want to. If I wanted to open a shop selling muffins and coffee from my kitchen, I could and no one would mind at all. As far as I can figure...they do have laws similar to ours but not a lot of attention is paid to the ones that don't make much sense. It's really quite nice.
Lynda just brought out a chocolate bar (I'm sitting on the veranda that surrounds the courtyard of our hacienda) that reminded me of something we learned/saw this afternoon. They grow cocoa in Mexico and there are chocolate shops all over the place here. We watched as people came into the shop we were visiting, and order their "blend" the way they prefer it. Some add almonds or cinnamon sticks to the chocolate. They can choose how much sugar they like to have added to the blend and then the mixture goes to a guy who runs a grinder where all the ingredients are pushed through the grinder resulting in a near liquid state. The chocolate mix is then pushed through another grinder and scooped into a bag for the buyer to take home where they will add hot water or hot milk to make hot chocolate for their family to enjoy - yummy!!!
Tomorrow is the day to celebrate the virgin Guadalupe in Mexico and that is a really big deal. We've been giving you tidbits about the fireworks etc well....tonight at midnight....it really begins big time and I think we're in the perfect town to enjoy it. We're planning to go to the Church of Guadalupe (about 10 blocks from our hotel) for midnight tonight which is when the mariachis will begin their performances for all the locals (and the two of us) to enjoy. We found out about the celebration from our waiter tonight - it's not a touristy thing at all but he invited us to join in the festivities so we're gonna check it out :) The celebrations will continue for 24 hours and tomorrow night after 6 pm there will be dancing and fireworks and food food food so we'll be there again. Actually, the festivities tomorrow night after 6 will be in the zocalo so that will be a huge party!! Maybe we'll get to see another castillion (that crazy fireworks thing that shoots everywhere and then the top lifts off like a space ship that drips fire on everyone below....it's super exciting and I hope I get to experience another one!)
I told you we were shopping online for our next ticket and guess what??!! We're heading back to Zihuatanejo (home to Troncones). We fly out of Oaxaca on Saturday night (the 13th), spend the night in Mexico City and then catch another plane from Mexico City the afternoon of the 14th arriving in Zihuat around 2:30. Once we touch down there, we'll catch the local bus (costs about $1.00) unlike all the tourists who are arriving for their vacation and hailing cabs to get to their all inclusive experience. We'll hit the market to get some stuff to take home with us (food such as massive shrimps for the BBQ and tequila for the margaritas). Then we'll catch another local bus for about $1.20 that will take us the 30 miles up the highway where we'll catch yet another little "bus" or jump in the back of someone's pick up that will take us right to our door. Oh yea....did I mention that I found the plane tickets online tonight for $18. plus taxes....yep....you heard right.....a total of $75 each for a plane from Oaxaca to Zihuat with time to sleep in Mexico city in between. Life is good!!! As you can see...we've done really well sticking to our budget! We've been on the road for almost exactly a month and haven't spent beyond our budget at all so we're feeling pretty proud of ourselves. At this rate, we'll have money to spend when another adventure presents itself to us :)
Better go for now....gotta check out those mariachis tonight :)
Till next time,
Lorrie
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
December 10th continued
Hi again,
And the adventures just keep on coming!!! With several hours to kill in Tuxtepec we managed to: meet the family who owns the hotel that is keeping our bags till it's time for us to leave; get hoodwinked by a cabby (the first to take advantage of us!); discover the brewery that makes and distributes all of the Corona that is sold anywhere and everywhere in the world (that is one huge plant!!!); dodge the torrential rains that have found their way here from the storm that was brewing on the coast when we left there this a.m.; and be serenaded and entertained by yet another parade. We are soooo lucky!!!
Tuxtepec is a really nice and friendly little city (about 300,000 people) and everyone (except one cabby named Roberto) has been awesome.
Till next time,
Lorrie
And the adventures just keep on coming!!! With several hours to kill in Tuxtepec we managed to: meet the family who owns the hotel that is keeping our bags till it's time for us to leave; get hoodwinked by a cabby (the first to take advantage of us!); discover the brewery that makes and distributes all of the Corona that is sold anywhere and everywhere in the world (that is one huge plant!!!); dodge the torrential rains that have found their way here from the storm that was brewing on the coast when we left there this a.m.; and be serenaded and entertained by yet another parade. We are soooo lucky!!!
Tuxtepec is a really nice and friendly little city (about 300,000 people) and everyone (except one cabby named Roberto) has been awesome.
Till next time,
Lorrie
December 10, 2008
Well....you're getting two days worth of blogging on this post!
December 9, 2008
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out there is something to remind you that you really have no idea about anything. All is good and we’re now in a little pueblo called Tlacotalpan. We wanted little and that’s what we got! We’re going to head out exploring now but the ride here was an adventure unto itself. Right from the moment I realized that Lynda had forgotten how to speak English to the time that we ended up at a hotel that wasn’t even on our list of possibilities here – its been one surprise after another.
I should clarify the bit about Lynda losing her English I guess......we were at the bus station in Vera Cruz trying to find a bus to bring us to this little place. I was asking the driver of the bus we had been told was the correct one if in fact he would be going to Tlacotalpan. (We’ve learned that you must get the same information from at least 3 sources before trusting it to be correct). The bus driver was speaking in Spanish very rapidly to me and I wasn’t having any luck at all understanding any of his words so I mouthed through the bus window to Lynda, (who was standing down on the sidewalk) to “help me” and all she did was look at me with the same confused look that some of the Mexican people give to me when I try to say something in English to them.
In the end it was all good though...the driver refered us to the yellow and white bus who then referred us to the green bus and voila.....here we are at our destination for just 570 pesos each (approx $5.70). The trip was super comfortable and the buses here are actually fun to travel on. When the driver stops at some of the points along the way....people come on to sell food and other things and on this trip we even had a duo (guitar and accordion) come aboard to serenade us for 4 or 5 songs. It’s a festive and at the same time relaxed place to be. And yes....we did buy some of the food someone brought onto the bus too.....it was delicious. Some kind of freshly baked sandwich with cactus and salsa in it. It was enough for the two of us and it cost 30 cents. I can afford to eat out every day here – it’s great!
Off to explore....this town that has a river.....not the gulf.....we left that somewhere along the highway coming out of Vera Cruz. The main industries here are fishing, farming and tourism (although we’re the only tourists in sight....and that’s fine by us). It appears that a few Mexican tourists may come here but there is not another gringo anywhere around since getting to the bus station in Vera Cruz.
Well....we’re back and what an afternoon it turned out to be. We started out walking around the town just to get a feel for it and before we knew what was happening we had wandered into a really quaint part of town where it seemed all the houses had been painted just for our visit. They were all of quite a substantial size and each was a different colour. Most had columns out front which added to the majestic ambiance and the road was spotlessly clean with white painted benches on the grassy boulevard and matching white iron garbage can holders.....it was really pretty! As we were admiring the area, a little old lady approached and began to speak to us in Spanish. We managed to understand some of the words and finally Lynda figured out that they’re currently filming a TV series/movie here in town and have been for the past 10 months. It will be released in February and is called Verana de Amore (Summer Love). Lynda is going to have to watch for it in February as she’ll still be in Troncones at that time and since we’re both certain that they filmed us walking past....she’ll really have to watch since we’re now famous in Mexico. You’ll never guess what their dressing room trailer had printed on the side.....it was Summerland (that was the brand name) so we had a good chuckle over that. The little old lady gave us a bit of a tour explaining how large the houses are and then invited us to join her at her house tomorrow morning for a bite to eat. We have her address and will do our best to find her place. It will be another interesting experience and how sweet was that for her to invite us over not knowing who we are at all. I think we may be her vacation too – this is a pretty sleepy little town.
After our “tour” with our new friend....we continued on our own and ended up along the riverfront at a little restaurant where for 280 pesos ($28) we had: 4 beer, 1 water, 1 coke, 1 shrimp dinner, 1 fish and shrimp dinner, and a ½ hour river boat sunset tour of the area for two.
Now we’re sitting at a little umbrella covered table right beside the zocalo and there are kids of all ages (1-15) playing hide and seek amongst the trees and statues in the town centre. The birds are singing and we’re drinking Tequila, Kahlua and Milk and loving every minute of it! The weather is warm and humid and there is a breeze blowing so I’m finding it the perfect temperature. Lynda on the other hand is currently wrapped in a tablecloth (our server just came to her rescue with one from inside the restaurant so she didn’t have to try to crawl under the one that is on our table) Really, it’s not cold...just the breeze is a little cool and when you’re kind of damp from the humidity....it can be a little cool.
We’ve decided that every town should have a Zocalo....what a great gathering place. It fosters such a sense of community and the air in the place is so social and festive every night. People’s schedules in Mexico are different. Kids go to school either from 7-1 or 1-7 and stores open around 9 or 10 and then close again at 2 till 4 at which time they open again till 8 or 9 or even 10. It really depends on whether there are any people around to be their customers or not. Workers are generally paid by the week and they get paid the same regardless of whether they finish at the scheduled time or not. There is such a relaxed air everywhere....a man selling some baked ham turnovers just came into the restaurant area where we are sitting to sell his wares and the owner of the restaurant doesn’t mind at all. Everyone is so tolerant and easy going. The other thing that is really obvious is how safe it feels. Kids of all ages are able to run freely about and there seems no concern at all for their safety. It is really nice to experience.
Don’t know when we’ll be able to get to an internet connection again so will just keep adding to this word document and copy and paste when the opportunity strikes. Don’t know where the wind will blow us next but for tonight....we’re really happy right where we are.
Till next time,
Lorrie
December 10, 2008
As Willie would say.....”on the road again”.......and here we are in a nice little city called Tuxtepec. We waved good bye to Tlacotalpan this morning just after 11:00 but before we said “adios” we had time to star in the movie once again. We were sitting at breakfast and minding our own business when the filming started all around us. There was a pirate on his ship (we knew he was a pirate by the flag flying from the mast) and a damsel in distress. They had a fight and before we knew what was happening...the damsel fell into the water....and.....Lynda dived right in after her to save her. You should have seen the look on the directors face when she bobbed up with the damsel in a very professional rescue hold. LOL....seriously though....we did find ourselves in the movie during breakfast and there was a pirate and a damsel and their stunt doubles did go overboard....but....Lynda held herself in check and didn’t go in after them. Instead she waited till a lull in the filming and then she marched right over to the two stars (pirate and damsel) and asked to have her picture taken with them. Of course they complied and the pirate even bent her over backward for a very movie like kiss (on the cheek). When Lynda returned to where I was .... she was flushed and blushing....those pirates will do it every time!
Before we went for breakfast we did manage to locate the home of the little old lady who had invited us over to her house the day previous. We had some help from a couple of locals to find the address but...eventually we located it and unfortunately she wasn’t at home. Although....had she been at home....we might have missed the movie making experience!
The bus to Tuxtepec took about 3 hours (only about 100 km) and now we have a 6 ½ hour wait till our bus to Oaxaca leaves at 10:05 tonight. On the upside....having an overnight bus means our bus trip is basically free since we don't have to pay for a hotel room tonight....there is a silver lining to every cloud. We’ll arrive in Oaxaca at 5:30 in the a.m. to discover what adventure awaits us there.
Till next time,
Lorrie
December 9, 2008
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out there is something to remind you that you really have no idea about anything. All is good and we’re now in a little pueblo called Tlacotalpan. We wanted little and that’s what we got! We’re going to head out exploring now but the ride here was an adventure unto itself. Right from the moment I realized that Lynda had forgotten how to speak English to the time that we ended up at a hotel that wasn’t even on our list of possibilities here – its been one surprise after another.
I should clarify the bit about Lynda losing her English I guess......we were at the bus station in Vera Cruz trying to find a bus to bring us to this little place. I was asking the driver of the bus we had been told was the correct one if in fact he would be going to Tlacotalpan. (We’ve learned that you must get the same information from at least 3 sources before trusting it to be correct). The bus driver was speaking in Spanish very rapidly to me and I wasn’t having any luck at all understanding any of his words so I mouthed through the bus window to Lynda, (who was standing down on the sidewalk) to “help me” and all she did was look at me with the same confused look that some of the Mexican people give to me when I try to say something in English to them.
In the end it was all good though...the driver refered us to the yellow and white bus who then referred us to the green bus and voila.....here we are at our destination for just 570 pesos each (approx $5.70). The trip was super comfortable and the buses here are actually fun to travel on. When the driver stops at some of the points along the way....people come on to sell food and other things and on this trip we even had a duo (guitar and accordion) come aboard to serenade us for 4 or 5 songs. It’s a festive and at the same time relaxed place to be. And yes....we did buy some of the food someone brought onto the bus too.....it was delicious. Some kind of freshly baked sandwich with cactus and salsa in it. It was enough for the two of us and it cost 30 cents. I can afford to eat out every day here – it’s great!
Off to explore....this town that has a river.....not the gulf.....we left that somewhere along the highway coming out of Vera Cruz. The main industries here are fishing, farming and tourism (although we’re the only tourists in sight....and that’s fine by us). It appears that a few Mexican tourists may come here but there is not another gringo anywhere around since getting to the bus station in Vera Cruz.
Well....we’re back and what an afternoon it turned out to be. We started out walking around the town just to get a feel for it and before we knew what was happening we had wandered into a really quaint part of town where it seemed all the houses had been painted just for our visit. They were all of quite a substantial size and each was a different colour. Most had columns out front which added to the majestic ambiance and the road was spotlessly clean with white painted benches on the grassy boulevard and matching white iron garbage can holders.....it was really pretty! As we were admiring the area, a little old lady approached and began to speak to us in Spanish. We managed to understand some of the words and finally Lynda figured out that they’re currently filming a TV series/movie here in town and have been for the past 10 months. It will be released in February and is called Verana de Amore (Summer Love). Lynda is going to have to watch for it in February as she’ll still be in Troncones at that time and since we’re both certain that they filmed us walking past....she’ll really have to watch since we’re now famous in Mexico. You’ll never guess what their dressing room trailer had printed on the side.....it was Summerland (that was the brand name) so we had a good chuckle over that. The little old lady gave us a bit of a tour explaining how large the houses are and then invited us to join her at her house tomorrow morning for a bite to eat. We have her address and will do our best to find her place. It will be another interesting experience and how sweet was that for her to invite us over not knowing who we are at all. I think we may be her vacation too – this is a pretty sleepy little town.
After our “tour” with our new friend....we continued on our own and ended up along the riverfront at a little restaurant where for 280 pesos ($28) we had: 4 beer, 1 water, 1 coke, 1 shrimp dinner, 1 fish and shrimp dinner, and a ½ hour river boat sunset tour of the area for two.
Now we’re sitting at a little umbrella covered table right beside the zocalo and there are kids of all ages (1-15) playing hide and seek amongst the trees and statues in the town centre. The birds are singing and we’re drinking Tequila, Kahlua and Milk and loving every minute of it! The weather is warm and humid and there is a breeze blowing so I’m finding it the perfect temperature. Lynda on the other hand is currently wrapped in a tablecloth (our server just came to her rescue with one from inside the restaurant so she didn’t have to try to crawl under the one that is on our table) Really, it’s not cold...just the breeze is a little cool and when you’re kind of damp from the humidity....it can be a little cool.
We’ve decided that every town should have a Zocalo....what a great gathering place. It fosters such a sense of community and the air in the place is so social and festive every night. People’s schedules in Mexico are different. Kids go to school either from 7-1 or 1-7 and stores open around 9 or 10 and then close again at 2 till 4 at which time they open again till 8 or 9 or even 10. It really depends on whether there are any people around to be their customers or not. Workers are generally paid by the week and they get paid the same regardless of whether they finish at the scheduled time or not. There is such a relaxed air everywhere....a man selling some baked ham turnovers just came into the restaurant area where we are sitting to sell his wares and the owner of the restaurant doesn’t mind at all. Everyone is so tolerant and easy going. The other thing that is really obvious is how safe it feels. Kids of all ages are able to run freely about and there seems no concern at all for their safety. It is really nice to experience.
Don’t know when we’ll be able to get to an internet connection again so will just keep adding to this word document and copy and paste when the opportunity strikes. Don’t know where the wind will blow us next but for tonight....we’re really happy right where we are.
Till next time,
Lorrie
December 10, 2008
As Willie would say.....”on the road again”.......and here we are in a nice little city called Tuxtepec. We waved good bye to Tlacotalpan this morning just after 11:00 but before we said “adios” we had time to star in the movie once again. We were sitting at breakfast and minding our own business when the filming started all around us. There was a pirate on his ship (we knew he was a pirate by the flag flying from the mast) and a damsel in distress. They had a fight and before we knew what was happening...the damsel fell into the water....and.....Lynda dived right in after her to save her. You should have seen the look on the directors face when she bobbed up with the damsel in a very professional rescue hold. LOL....seriously though....we did find ourselves in the movie during breakfast and there was a pirate and a damsel and their stunt doubles did go overboard....but....Lynda held herself in check and didn’t go in after them. Instead she waited till a lull in the filming and then she marched right over to the two stars (pirate and damsel) and asked to have her picture taken with them. Of course they complied and the pirate even bent her over backward for a very movie like kiss (on the cheek). When Lynda returned to where I was .... she was flushed and blushing....those pirates will do it every time!
Before we went for breakfast we did manage to locate the home of the little old lady who had invited us over to her house the day previous. We had some help from a couple of locals to find the address but...eventually we located it and unfortunately she wasn’t at home. Although....had she been at home....we might have missed the movie making experience!
The bus to Tuxtepec took about 3 hours (only about 100 km) and now we have a 6 ½ hour wait till our bus to Oaxaca leaves at 10:05 tonight. On the upside....having an overnight bus means our bus trip is basically free since we don't have to pay for a hotel room tonight....there is a silver lining to every cloud. We’ll arrive in Oaxaca at 5:30 in the a.m. to discover what adventure awaits us there.
Till next time,
Lorrie
Monday, December 8, 2008
December 8th continued
Hi again,
Have arrived in Vera Cruz.....flights were all good. Aviasca is the airline we've used the past couple of times. Super cheap prices and really good air travel. More than average room on the plane it seems and the service is really good. Even on our second flight today from Mexico City to Vera Cruz (only 40 minutes) they managed to give everyone a bag of peanuts and a drink....and.....you can have anything you want to drink. Alcohol or non alcoholic for free :)
Got some good info from the desk clerk at the hotel the taxi driver found for us tonight. Lilliana (that's the desk clerk's name) has suggested a little town about 120 km south of here on the coast where we'll be happier as Vera Cruz is lovely I'm sure but....it's also just another big city and we're both looking for a cozier atmosphere than we're likely to find here. Here, we're only going to be able to find restaurants etc to eat in whereas in the little village we're more likely to be able to find taco stands on the corner for a couple of pesos etc.
Will touch base when we have access again.
Lorrie
Have arrived in Vera Cruz.....flights were all good. Aviasca is the airline we've used the past couple of times. Super cheap prices and really good air travel. More than average room on the plane it seems and the service is really good. Even on our second flight today from Mexico City to Vera Cruz (only 40 minutes) they managed to give everyone a bag of peanuts and a drink....and.....you can have anything you want to drink. Alcohol or non alcoholic for free :)
Got some good info from the desk clerk at the hotel the taxi driver found for us tonight. Lilliana (that's the desk clerk's name) has suggested a little town about 120 km south of here on the coast where we'll be happier as Vera Cruz is lovely I'm sure but....it's also just another big city and we're both looking for a cozier atmosphere than we're likely to find here. Here, we're only going to be able to find restaurants etc to eat in whereas in the little village we're more likely to be able to find taco stands on the corner for a couple of pesos etc.
Will touch base when we have access again.
Lorrie
December 8, 2008
Well...... a lot has happened since we were last on here! We’re currently sitting in the Tuxtla Airport Bar (what a nice little airport!!) with our fingers in the peanut bowl and our other hand wrapped around a VERY GOOD margarita (yes, it’s after noon). Can't access the internet here so will just type into a word document and then paste into the blog as soon as we can access the e-world again.
The tequila is kicking in and I guess the only way to get started is to just begin so......yesterday morning we were once again awakened by the church bells and fireworks outside our window at 5:00 a.m. That Guadalupe mujere is muy importante!!! Everyone is celebrating her special day on the 12th and the days leading up to it just get more and more festive. (An aside here....in fact as we were descending the mountain from San Cristobal to Tuxtla today we passed another group of young men making another type of popular pilgrimage in her name....they were participating in a relay and carrying a lit torch that they pass to the next runner several miles down the road. Everyone of all ages is involved.) Now...back to the story that was yesterday......
Kim, thanks again for the b’day gift! What a great idea it was and I’m so glad that I found what I think was the perfect story/gift with the pesos you gave me. I told you that I used part of it to attend a Cultural Show the other night about the culture and history of the Mayan people and specifically about a place called Palenque. Palanque is a UNESCO site near San Cristobal and people come from all over the world to experience it. As I said earlier...the show the other night was unforgettable and what better way to finish the show than to actually visit Palenque itself to get the full “feel” of the stories and the culture. Yesterday, we did just that so here is how our day went.....
As I said, we were awakened by the bells etc at 5:00 thankfully as our driver arrived to pick us up at 6:00 a.m. We were in the van and on the road (with our driver and 8 others visitors) an on our way. The van was very comfortable and our driver ,Jesus, (how lucky were we to get another Jesus) was a great driver – thank goodness for that!!!
The drive to Palenque takes 4 hours (with no stops) each way AND even though that might sound simple enough.....take the worst old sections of the Hope Princeton and add 300+ topes (speed bumps) and then multiply it all by at least 10 and then double that and you’re beginning to get the picture. About an hour into the trip...we were questioning what we had gotten ourselves into and then when we had to stop for one woman to be sick...we were really unsure that we had made a sound decision but by the time we arrived at our first roadside stop, Agua Azul.....we knew it was all for the good. Agua Azul is the most beautiful azure water that is so clear you can see right to the bottom. There were too many little waterfalls to count as the water fell from layer to layer and pooled at each level. It was soooo inviting even I wanted to jump in but....according to all the signage and the Lonely Planet guide....swimming at Agua Azul is not recommended as it is way too dangerous with the currents that are caused by the numerous waterfalls and the river that the pools all run into. (many ignore the signs though so I hope no one was injured). After climbing a couple of hundred stairs at Agua Azul we were back into the van and on our way to the next breathtaking stop of Misol-Ha, a 200 foot free fall waterfall that you could even walk behind on the trails that led around the pool at the foot of the falls. There were other falls (much like Bridal Falls) that ran alongside the main falls that just added to the beauty of the place. By this time we were ¾ of the way to Palenque and the terrain had changed dramatically from San Cristobal. Fortunately, being the good girl guides that we are....we were both prepared with clothing to accommodate whatever presented itself to us along this portion of the journey was in our day pack. Where we had left the freezing temps of early morning on top of the mountain (2200 meters) we were now in the tropical jungles that fringed the base of the mountains. It was easy to see how jaguars once roamed freely amidst these magnificent and immense trees and vines. After some time to hike around these falls and to soak up some of the splendour we were on the road again for our final destination, Palenque.
Our arrival at Palenque was special as the site boasts a statue of a nursing woman at its entrance....haven’t seen that anywhere before and it was really nice to see that cultural piece of the story at the gates. As we began our walk into the site....we didn’t really know what to expect but whatever we had anticipated was nothing in comparison to what we were greeted with. Factually, only 5% of Palenque has been uncovered and it is one of the highest quality of ruins anywhere in the world.
We started at the first of many pyramids that are in excellent repair by looking at the stairs (super steep and narrow) leading up to a palapa overhang and considered whether we were up for the steps.....in short order we agreed that we had to make the climb and so began our tour of Palenque......that first set of steps by the end of the day were nothing and we had to laugh at our hesitation in climbing them. One pyramid led to another which led to a set of stairs leading into the jungle at every turn....and we took them all (at least I think we did). Sitting atop the pyramid to the sun (not the highest one on the site) the people on the other pyramids and walking around the grounds looked like ants.....it’s too difficult to explain how impressive it was and maybe most of all......how it could have been built in the first place. Both Lynda and I spent some quiet time just getting a “feel” for the place by trying to visualize life during the time of the Mayan Empire. The cultural show we had seen the other night was a huge help in understanding and being able to vision the city the way it might have been. The jungle completely surrounds Palenque (and remember that 95% of the site is still covered in the jungle!) so it was like the ruins and the jungle were at one with each other.....it was like being in a picture and we were right in the middle of it. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit that special place and it will sit in my memory forever!
Once our time at Palenque was over (and our legs were completely jelly from the literally hundreds and possibly thousands of stairs/steps we had taken this day) it was back into the van for another 4 hours of insane curves in the road and another 300+ topes back to our “home” in San Cristobal. By the time we rolled into the Zocalo more than 15 hours had passed! What a day!!! We ended our day with hot milk and kahlua (yum yum) as we were back into the freezing temps from our day in the hot and humid jungles of Chiapas. We still had to walk back to our hotel (another example of how much we appreciated being so close to the centre of everything – thanks to the great people who directed us to the Hotel Los Arcos del Carmen in the first place!! Anyone reading this......if you’re going to San Cristobal, we recommend this hotel and for breakfast and the best coffee in town, just down the main pedestrian street to Spezzi’s where you might even be lucky enough to meet one of our favourite people here....Eudial.
There are few words that can describe this great day except perhaps:
- Worth every inch of the road
- Worth every curve
- Worth every tope
- 15 hours of sheer torture (well...the drive was torture for some in the car)
- A fabulous birthday present
- A yummy taste of ancient Mayan culture
- Another example of how lucky we are to be experiencing all of this!
- Proof that it is possible to get out of bed the morning after you’ve climbed more stairs in a single day than in the entire year preceding.
- Proof that time travel does exist.
- Proof that even after 15 hours of challenging travel, you can still get on the internet and figure out what you’re going to do the next day after you check out of your hotel in San Cristobal.
So.....after locating another super deal of $22 USD plus taxes for a total of $95 USD each.....here we are drinking Margarita’s (well, Lynda actually is doing most of the drinking as I’m doing the typing) in the Tuxtla Airport on our way back to Mexico City where we’ll board another plane an hour or two later for Vera Cruz. Yep, we’re on our way to the Gulf of Mexico and a hammock on a beach where we can bury our noses into a book or two and reflect on all that we have seen and done this past week as it’s been another FULL one! Who knows where the wind will blow us next. We’re happy and healthy and having a wonderful adventure and enjoying trusting the universe to bring us all good things. We’re still traveling light....each of us only has one small bag and we wash the same clothes over and over and since we’re on the move so much and since no one here seems to judge that you’re wearing the same shirt day after day.....well......maybe only for 2 or 3 days.......we’re making out just fine.
Lynda just fell off her barstool so I guess I’d better go for now and see if I can help her up off the floor. Thank heavens it’s a clean floor!! LOL
Till next time.....and who knows where we’ll be by then.....
Lorrie
The tequila is kicking in and I guess the only way to get started is to just begin so......yesterday morning we were once again awakened by the church bells and fireworks outside our window at 5:00 a.m. That Guadalupe mujere is muy importante!!! Everyone is celebrating her special day on the 12th and the days leading up to it just get more and more festive. (An aside here....in fact as we were descending the mountain from San Cristobal to Tuxtla today we passed another group of young men making another type of popular pilgrimage in her name....they were participating in a relay and carrying a lit torch that they pass to the next runner several miles down the road. Everyone of all ages is involved.) Now...back to the story that was yesterday......
Kim, thanks again for the b’day gift! What a great idea it was and I’m so glad that I found what I think was the perfect story/gift with the pesos you gave me. I told you that I used part of it to attend a Cultural Show the other night about the culture and history of the Mayan people and specifically about a place called Palenque. Palanque is a UNESCO site near San Cristobal and people come from all over the world to experience it. As I said earlier...the show the other night was unforgettable and what better way to finish the show than to actually visit Palenque itself to get the full “feel” of the stories and the culture. Yesterday, we did just that so here is how our day went.....
As I said, we were awakened by the bells etc at 5:00 thankfully as our driver arrived to pick us up at 6:00 a.m. We were in the van and on the road (with our driver and 8 others visitors) an on our way. The van was very comfortable and our driver ,Jesus, (how lucky were we to get another Jesus) was a great driver – thank goodness for that!!!
The drive to Palenque takes 4 hours (with no stops) each way AND even though that might sound simple enough.....take the worst old sections of the Hope Princeton and add 300+ topes (speed bumps) and then multiply it all by at least 10 and then double that and you’re beginning to get the picture. About an hour into the trip...we were questioning what we had gotten ourselves into and then when we had to stop for one woman to be sick...we were really unsure that we had made a sound decision but by the time we arrived at our first roadside stop, Agua Azul.....we knew it was all for the good. Agua Azul is the most beautiful azure water that is so clear you can see right to the bottom. There were too many little waterfalls to count as the water fell from layer to layer and pooled at each level. It was soooo inviting even I wanted to jump in but....according to all the signage and the Lonely Planet guide....swimming at Agua Azul is not recommended as it is way too dangerous with the currents that are caused by the numerous waterfalls and the river that the pools all run into. (many ignore the signs though so I hope no one was injured). After climbing a couple of hundred stairs at Agua Azul we were back into the van and on our way to the next breathtaking stop of Misol-Ha, a 200 foot free fall waterfall that you could even walk behind on the trails that led around the pool at the foot of the falls. There were other falls (much like Bridal Falls) that ran alongside the main falls that just added to the beauty of the place. By this time we were ¾ of the way to Palenque and the terrain had changed dramatically from San Cristobal. Fortunately, being the good girl guides that we are....we were both prepared with clothing to accommodate whatever presented itself to us along this portion of the journey was in our day pack. Where we had left the freezing temps of early morning on top of the mountain (2200 meters) we were now in the tropical jungles that fringed the base of the mountains. It was easy to see how jaguars once roamed freely amidst these magnificent and immense trees and vines. After some time to hike around these falls and to soak up some of the splendour we were on the road again for our final destination, Palenque.
Our arrival at Palenque was special as the site boasts a statue of a nursing woman at its entrance....haven’t seen that anywhere before and it was really nice to see that cultural piece of the story at the gates. As we began our walk into the site....we didn’t really know what to expect but whatever we had anticipated was nothing in comparison to what we were greeted with. Factually, only 5% of Palenque has been uncovered and it is one of the highest quality of ruins anywhere in the world.
We started at the first of many pyramids that are in excellent repair by looking at the stairs (super steep and narrow) leading up to a palapa overhang and considered whether we were up for the steps.....in short order we agreed that we had to make the climb and so began our tour of Palenque......that first set of steps by the end of the day were nothing and we had to laugh at our hesitation in climbing them. One pyramid led to another which led to a set of stairs leading into the jungle at every turn....and we took them all (at least I think we did). Sitting atop the pyramid to the sun (not the highest one on the site) the people on the other pyramids and walking around the grounds looked like ants.....it’s too difficult to explain how impressive it was and maybe most of all......how it could have been built in the first place. Both Lynda and I spent some quiet time just getting a “feel” for the place by trying to visualize life during the time of the Mayan Empire. The cultural show we had seen the other night was a huge help in understanding and being able to vision the city the way it might have been. The jungle completely surrounds Palenque (and remember that 95% of the site is still covered in the jungle!) so it was like the ruins and the jungle were at one with each other.....it was like being in a picture and we were right in the middle of it. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit that special place and it will sit in my memory forever!
Once our time at Palenque was over (and our legs were completely jelly from the literally hundreds and possibly thousands of stairs/steps we had taken this day) it was back into the van for another 4 hours of insane curves in the road and another 300+ topes back to our “home” in San Cristobal. By the time we rolled into the Zocalo more than 15 hours had passed! What a day!!! We ended our day with hot milk and kahlua (yum yum) as we were back into the freezing temps from our day in the hot and humid jungles of Chiapas. We still had to walk back to our hotel (another example of how much we appreciated being so close to the centre of everything – thanks to the great people who directed us to the Hotel Los Arcos del Carmen in the first place!! Anyone reading this......if you’re going to San Cristobal, we recommend this hotel and for breakfast and the best coffee in town, just down the main pedestrian street to Spezzi’s where you might even be lucky enough to meet one of our favourite people here....Eudial.
There are few words that can describe this great day except perhaps:
- Worth every inch of the road
- Worth every curve
- Worth every tope
- 15 hours of sheer torture (well...the drive was torture for some in the car)
- A fabulous birthday present
- A yummy taste of ancient Mayan culture
- Another example of how lucky we are to be experiencing all of this!
- Proof that it is possible to get out of bed the morning after you’ve climbed more stairs in a single day than in the entire year preceding.
- Proof that time travel does exist.
- Proof that even after 15 hours of challenging travel, you can still get on the internet and figure out what you’re going to do the next day after you check out of your hotel in San Cristobal.
So.....after locating another super deal of $22 USD plus taxes for a total of $95 USD each.....here we are drinking Margarita’s (well, Lynda actually is doing most of the drinking as I’m doing the typing) in the Tuxtla Airport on our way back to Mexico City where we’ll board another plane an hour or two later for Vera Cruz. Yep, we’re on our way to the Gulf of Mexico and a hammock on a beach where we can bury our noses into a book or two and reflect on all that we have seen and done this past week as it’s been another FULL one! Who knows where the wind will blow us next. We’re happy and healthy and having a wonderful adventure and enjoying trusting the universe to bring us all good things. We’re still traveling light....each of us only has one small bag and we wash the same clothes over and over and since we’re on the move so much and since no one here seems to judge that you’re wearing the same shirt day after day.....well......maybe only for 2 or 3 days.......we’re making out just fine.
Lynda just fell off her barstool so I guess I’d better go for now and see if I can help her up off the floor. Thank heavens it’s a clean floor!! LOL
Till next time.....and who knows where we’ll be by then.....
Lorrie
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Dec 6th continued
We're back........
Couldn't resist just one more little bit of info for you (and I had to include the names of the two villages we visited today or I'll forget the names of them). They were San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan.
Now....since we last were on here.....a lot has happened!!! If you quickly turn on the news - NBC I think it was.....you'll see Lynda standing right behind the wise man who is being interviewed in front of his creche. And that is only one of the things that has happened in the past couple of hours!! (LOL....well part of it is true anyway....I guess it wasn't NBC but we did walk behind the wise man during his interview with the media and we did wave (in our minds anyway) and there is a creche down the street a ways so .... if you put it all together it's mostly true.
We've only been here for a couple of days and already none of the street vendors are trying to sell us anything so we can walk down the street unimpeded and....everywhere we go we're bumping into people we know!!! Maria, one of the desk clerks from our little hotel....was on her way home when she called to us across the street where we were enjoying a cup of delicious hot chocolate. Then just a little further down the street....there was Carlos (the man who loves me) driving on one of the cross streets almost mowing us over trying to get our attention waving and shouting hello. And then....just a little further and we were waving hello to the lady who owns one of the many book stores here. She is originally from Florida and has lived here for 15 years. It's like we've lived here for ages!!! And then when we were talking to Alex (another desk clerk at our hotel) tonight...we realized that we'd have to say good bye to him as he likely won't be back to work before we leave on Monday (unless the wind is blowing in another direction and we end up staying longer than planned) and wouldn't you know it but Alex came right out from behind his desk to give us both a big hug and in true Mexican tradition a kiss on the cheek. We are like part of the family here and it feels really good!
Other things that took place tonight include:
Lynda lost me in a tiny 20 X 20 ft store and the security guards had to help her....one of them even had a gun!!! And both of them were laughing the whole time because I was only steps away in another little alcove of the same store that Lynda couldn't see. So..... you know Lynda and her willingness to practice her spanish....she was compelled to ask for help and of course they were more than happy to accomodate her by escorting her (perhaps they weren't certain of her level of lucidity) but once she (and her escorts) located me all was well and the 'dos amigas' were together again :) Hugs all around (yes, the security too) and we were on our way. This really is a friendly little town (or else they just like hugging us)....
The cannons are still firing, but the church choir (right outside our window) is singing Ave Maria, which brings a kind of balance to the picture so all is good. It will be in the middle of the night that the cannons and the bells lose their balance I suspect. Really though.....we're getting kind of used to it if you can imagine that (however, Basil......please do NOT construct a cannon and a bell in the back yard to remind us of Chiapas!!)
We suspect that you think we've been drinking right now....but we haven't....well maybe one or two....but it's been at least 1/2 hour so this is completely lucid. We did have one drink with dinner if I tell the truth .... it was hot milk with a shot of Kahlua (it is really cold here!!!!) and unfortunately we forgot an important lesson in travelling. When in Rome.....eat what the Romans eat.....we went for Italian and it wasn't good :( It had been recommended but.....neither of us enjoyed the ravioli we had tonight. Tacos from a street vendor score 10 out of 10 where the ravioli barely made a 1/10. We both had soup as an appetizer though and it was great!! Mine was Squash Blossom Soup and Lynda's was Walnut Chipotle Soup. We're a little nervous that there may be trips to the john tonight but.....boy was that soup delicious!! It was just the ravioli that we should have done without.
Time has a different meaning in Chiapas. Tonight Alex was introducing us to his friend and remember....this is pretty well all in Spanish....Alex knows a couple of english words but his english is no better than my spanish. When introducing his friend he said that they've been friends for a very long time and when we asked him how long..... he replied maybe 3 years. We had to laugh and tell them that we've been friends for 30!
Okay...basta por hoy.....enough for today. Off to bed now as tomorrow will be a very long day and I'll have to write a book after that!!! And Kim....that will be the other half of your gift to me :) - thanks again for that Kim - it's been a great gift and there is already one and likely will be more stories as a result of it. It is unlikely that I'll be able to do it tomorrow night when we return so it may be a couple of days till you hear from us again. But....I've said that before and the next thing you know.....my fingers are flying on the keyboard again.
till then,
Lorrie
Couldn't resist just one more little bit of info for you (and I had to include the names of the two villages we visited today or I'll forget the names of them). They were San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan.
Now....since we last were on here.....a lot has happened!!! If you quickly turn on the news - NBC I think it was.....you'll see Lynda standing right behind the wise man who is being interviewed in front of his creche. And that is only one of the things that has happened in the past couple of hours!! (LOL....well part of it is true anyway....I guess it wasn't NBC but we did walk behind the wise man during his interview with the media and we did wave (in our minds anyway) and there is a creche down the street a ways so .... if you put it all together it's mostly true.
We've only been here for a couple of days and already none of the street vendors are trying to sell us anything so we can walk down the street unimpeded and....everywhere we go we're bumping into people we know!!! Maria, one of the desk clerks from our little hotel....was on her way home when she called to us across the street where we were enjoying a cup of delicious hot chocolate. Then just a little further down the street....there was Carlos (the man who loves me) driving on one of the cross streets almost mowing us over trying to get our attention waving and shouting hello. And then....just a little further and we were waving hello to the lady who owns one of the many book stores here. She is originally from Florida and has lived here for 15 years. It's like we've lived here for ages!!! And then when we were talking to Alex (another desk clerk at our hotel) tonight...we realized that we'd have to say good bye to him as he likely won't be back to work before we leave on Monday (unless the wind is blowing in another direction and we end up staying longer than planned) and wouldn't you know it but Alex came right out from behind his desk to give us both a big hug and in true Mexican tradition a kiss on the cheek. We are like part of the family here and it feels really good!
Other things that took place tonight include:
Lynda lost me in a tiny 20 X 20 ft store and the security guards had to help her....one of them even had a gun!!! And both of them were laughing the whole time because I was only steps away in another little alcove of the same store that Lynda couldn't see. So..... you know Lynda and her willingness to practice her spanish....she was compelled to ask for help and of course they were more than happy to accomodate her by escorting her (perhaps they weren't certain of her level of lucidity) but once she (and her escorts) located me all was well and the 'dos amigas' were together again :) Hugs all around (yes, the security too) and we were on our way. This really is a friendly little town (or else they just like hugging us)....
The cannons are still firing, but the church choir (right outside our window) is singing Ave Maria, which brings a kind of balance to the picture so all is good. It will be in the middle of the night that the cannons and the bells lose their balance I suspect. Really though.....we're getting kind of used to it if you can imagine that (however, Basil......please do NOT construct a cannon and a bell in the back yard to remind us of Chiapas!!)
We suspect that you think we've been drinking right now....but we haven't....well maybe one or two....but it's been at least 1/2 hour so this is completely lucid. We did have one drink with dinner if I tell the truth .... it was hot milk with a shot of Kahlua (it is really cold here!!!!) and unfortunately we forgot an important lesson in travelling. When in Rome.....eat what the Romans eat.....we went for Italian and it wasn't good :( It had been recommended but.....neither of us enjoyed the ravioli we had tonight. Tacos from a street vendor score 10 out of 10 where the ravioli barely made a 1/10. We both had soup as an appetizer though and it was great!! Mine was Squash Blossom Soup and Lynda's was Walnut Chipotle Soup. We're a little nervous that there may be trips to the john tonight but.....boy was that soup delicious!! It was just the ravioli that we should have done without.
Time has a different meaning in Chiapas. Tonight Alex was introducing us to his friend and remember....this is pretty well all in Spanish....Alex knows a couple of english words but his english is no better than my spanish. When introducing his friend he said that they've been friends for a very long time and when we asked him how long..... he replied maybe 3 years. We had to laugh and tell them that we've been friends for 30!
Okay...basta por hoy.....enough for today. Off to bed now as tomorrow will be a very long day and I'll have to write a book after that!!! And Kim....that will be the other half of your gift to me :) - thanks again for that Kim - it's been a great gift and there is already one and likely will be more stories as a result of it. It is unlikely that I'll be able to do it tomorrow night when we return so it may be a couple of days till you hear from us again. But....I've said that before and the next thing you know.....my fingers are flying on the keyboard again.
till then,
Lorrie
December 6, 2008
Buenos tardes amigos.....that's cuz it's only afternoon and I'm on here already - with good reason I might add..... :) We just returned from a day tour of two small villages not too far from San Cristobal where we learned so much about the Mayan culture. As has become our usual experience.....it was another great day!
We began our day with desayuno (breakfast) downstairs in our little hotel. They have breakfast here on Saturday and Sundays so it was a handy place to grab a bite before heading out for our tour. What we thought would be quick and easy turned into more of an adventure than we had anticipated though......we sat down at our table at 8:20 (we had to be ready to go for a 9:30 pick up) and at 9:20 we still didn't have any breakfast! We had been served coffee but all of the food had been going upstairs where there was obviously an event underway. We were having lots of fun trying to guess what kind of an event it might be as all of the attendees were wearing grey skirt or slacks and jacket with a pink shirt. Most were women but there were men in the rather large group as well. Yikes!!! another explosion just occured outside of my window.....it's kind of like when the cherries are in season and the orchardists set up the cannons to keep the birds away....the difference is that there is a man holding the cannon in his hand every time one of the shots goes off here!!! Anyway....back to the breakfast story......so.....everyone upstairs is wearing the same clothes. The women all have silver shoes on too. The men don't have skirts or silver shoes - thank heavens......there is even a really little girl wearing a grey skirt and jacket with a pink blouse and silver shoes too. It is way to difficult to guess what they might all have in common so finally we break down and ask. As it turns out....they're a graduating class of nurses (and I guess the little girl is the daughter of one of them who wanted to dress like her mom for the occassion). They're here for a celebratory breakfast and they're getting all the food. Okay....there was another blast.....see it is kind of like the cherry guns :) At 9:20 we asked Alex (the desk clerk who is an absolute sweetheart, to help us get something to eat as he knows we're leaving in 10 minutes). As usual, he takes wonderful care of us and within minutes there is food on our table and we're digging in. For b'fast we had spaghetti with grated white cheese and pancakes and cheese omelettes and fried plantain and salsa and chiquilles (small taco chips with salsa on them) Sounds different I know but it was really delicious!
Our tour operator didn't arrive till 9:45 so we had lots of time after all and by 10:00 we were in our van on en route to the first of two small villages not too far from San Cristobal where indigenous people live in fairly traditional environments today.
Our first stop was at the top of a hill overlooking the town. This little town is the centre for all of the other little places surrounding it. It is where everyone comes for the market and for their spiritual events. That would be the focus of this first stop...the church and the spiritual norms of the Mayan people who live here today. To sum it up....and assuming I understood all that our guide told us.....and further assuming that all of what he told us is true.......the local people continue to be very connected to their Mayan roots even today. Their philosophy is very simple, they are very honest and they live very much in the moment. They have no word for friend in their language as they believe that in this moment they like you and they also believe that the next time they see you they may not like you any longer as you may be doing something they no longer care to associate with. They're sometimes considered to be rude as they're very forthright in their communication. For example, if you're doing something they don't want you to do (taking a picture of something you shouldn't be) they'll tell you once and if you do it again....they make no bones about addressing your lack of respect very aggressively. At first glance their church looks Catholic and in many ways it is but the difference is that they believe what they believe and it may or may not concur with what you or others believe. Their cross has three rounds at the three ends of the cross and each of them represents the sun. Most everything in their spirituality goes back to agriculture and the sun is an integral part of that. Mayans believe that the best they can do is to serve their family and their community so the leaders (both political and religious) earn their posts by the amount of good they do for others. They believe that one of the most important jobs they can do is to clean the church. The important things in the church are liquid and light. The light represents the sun and from what I saw today takes the form of candles. The liquid can be any liquid from Pox (the local hooch) to cola (which everyone drinks to excess). The belief of the people is that the religious healers heal ones feelings while the medical healers heal the body - they see those two parts as being connected but very different from one and other. They also believe in sacrafices and so while we were in the church there were several people who had brought chickens with them for that purpose. They believe that they can pray for ill feelings to pass to the chicken and then when the chicken dies the feelings die with them. They believe that the spirit and the feelings are closely connected and that there is only one spirit per being and when that spirit dies...the being dies with it. It's kind of complicated but at the same time it was really very simple. There is no symbolism in why there is hay or the needles from trees spread all over the church floor....they're just there because they think it looks nice and there is no reason that the short sleeved fur jackets the men wear are all white and the long sleeved ones are all black.....it's just because they used white sheep or black ones. The women all wear fur skirts too. They're unusual looking but very functional. They spend a lot of time on their knees working so it must be very helpful having their skirt longer in the front than it is in the back and having the thick padding to kneel on would be a treat! Anyway.....as you can see from my ramblings....it was a really interesting stop.....except remember I said that we stopped at the top of a hill overlooking the town.....guess what....once our tour was finished it was a hike back up the hill to the van - yikes! there are a lot of hills in Mexico!!!
Our next stop in another smaller village was also super interesting. This time we visited a family home where we were invited inside (there were only 8 of us on our tour so it was very intimate and personal). We toured their home (one room only) where the family (5 of them) all slept and where their television and phone was located. Supposedly everyone here has a TV a DVD and a phone and/or a cell phone. Our guide suggested that we not assume someone is poor based on the way they look or the way they live but rather that we only look at their bank account to make that determination. He said that the Mayan culture isn't interested in buying things, that they prefer to be self sufficient so other than the TV etc....they have no where to spend their money and they have quite a lot of it generally. He also said that they are a very hard working people who put their family first. They begin working as a part of the family unit when they are just toddlers and they continue working until the day they die. The man whose home we visited today is 72 years old and he works 7 days a week from 4 a.m. till he goes to bed at 7 pm every night. He looks in amazing shape. His work is in flowers. This part of Chiapas produces the majority of the flowers from Mexico and no entrepreneurs can compete with the traditional methods as the cost of labour is too great compared to the family unit that all work together for the good of the family. Anyway....we had a tour of their home and then we had lunch with them in an adjascent building that was the kitchen. They made tortillas in the traditional way (which is how they do it every day here) and we were surprised to discover that the people here eat much less spice than in other parts of Mexico. Perhaps that is because it isn't as hot here as it is in many other areas....yes folks....you can stop drooling over us lounging around in the heat.....we're wearing jackets and scarves. We're high in the mountains and although it is lovely for about 4 or 5 hours in the day the other 20 hours are super chilly!! And....there is no heat in any of the buildings! After we had lunch with our "family" we toured a small weaving cooperative (weaving is a common industry for the women here) and then we were off to head back to San Cristobal.
It was a great day and since tomorrow will be a very early start and very late ending (I'll leave that story till tomorrow or the next day), I'll sign off for now, grab a bite for dinner and hit the hay. Hopefully tonight won't be as full of sounds as last night was.....yes.....last night was quieter in that there was no one next door having a party but at 5:00 this morning...the church bells next door began to ring and the fireworks began again. All the celebrations are in honour of the Virgin Guadalupe and they'll continue till that special day passes on December 12th. Speaking of which....I must clarify something I said earlier in this post.... there really is a guy holding the "cannon" that shoots the fireworks....but it is gunpowder that he has packed into a cylinder and I don't think it is dangerous....so he just holds it away from himself when he shoots them off every 1/2 hour of so. It is a big bang though so perhaps his eardrums are in danger! And further speaking of Guadlupe....it seems that huge numbers of people make a pilgrimage to many places in Mexico for that special day (their biggest of the year) and San Cristobal is one of them. In fact....we were told today that people come from as far away as Mexico City (walking)!! We now believe that some of the groups of people we passed on the roads as we've been travelling were doing just that .... beginning their pilgrimage. It's an interesting place and every day there are new things to learn and to try. We're having a great time!
Anyway.....that's all for now.....till next time.....
Lorrie
We began our day with desayuno (breakfast) downstairs in our little hotel. They have breakfast here on Saturday and Sundays so it was a handy place to grab a bite before heading out for our tour. What we thought would be quick and easy turned into more of an adventure than we had anticipated though......we sat down at our table at 8:20 (we had to be ready to go for a 9:30 pick up) and at 9:20 we still didn't have any breakfast! We had been served coffee but all of the food had been going upstairs where there was obviously an event underway. We were having lots of fun trying to guess what kind of an event it might be as all of the attendees were wearing grey skirt or slacks and jacket with a pink shirt. Most were women but there were men in the rather large group as well. Yikes!!! another explosion just occured outside of my window.....it's kind of like when the cherries are in season and the orchardists set up the cannons to keep the birds away....the difference is that there is a man holding the cannon in his hand every time one of the shots goes off here!!! Anyway....back to the breakfast story......so.....everyone upstairs is wearing the same clothes. The women all have silver shoes on too. The men don't have skirts or silver shoes - thank heavens......there is even a really little girl wearing a grey skirt and jacket with a pink blouse and silver shoes too. It is way to difficult to guess what they might all have in common so finally we break down and ask. As it turns out....they're a graduating class of nurses (and I guess the little girl is the daughter of one of them who wanted to dress like her mom for the occassion). They're here for a celebratory breakfast and they're getting all the food. Okay....there was another blast.....see it is kind of like the cherry guns :) At 9:20 we asked Alex (the desk clerk who is an absolute sweetheart, to help us get something to eat as he knows we're leaving in 10 minutes). As usual, he takes wonderful care of us and within minutes there is food on our table and we're digging in. For b'fast we had spaghetti with grated white cheese and pancakes and cheese omelettes and fried plantain and salsa and chiquilles (small taco chips with salsa on them) Sounds different I know but it was really delicious!
Our tour operator didn't arrive till 9:45 so we had lots of time after all and by 10:00 we were in our van on en route to the first of two small villages not too far from San Cristobal where indigenous people live in fairly traditional environments today.
Our first stop was at the top of a hill overlooking the town. This little town is the centre for all of the other little places surrounding it. It is where everyone comes for the market and for their spiritual events. That would be the focus of this first stop...the church and the spiritual norms of the Mayan people who live here today. To sum it up....and assuming I understood all that our guide told us.....and further assuming that all of what he told us is true.......the local people continue to be very connected to their Mayan roots even today. Their philosophy is very simple, they are very honest and they live very much in the moment. They have no word for friend in their language as they believe that in this moment they like you and they also believe that the next time they see you they may not like you any longer as you may be doing something they no longer care to associate with. They're sometimes considered to be rude as they're very forthright in their communication. For example, if you're doing something they don't want you to do (taking a picture of something you shouldn't be) they'll tell you once and if you do it again....they make no bones about addressing your lack of respect very aggressively. At first glance their church looks Catholic and in many ways it is but the difference is that they believe what they believe and it may or may not concur with what you or others believe. Their cross has three rounds at the three ends of the cross and each of them represents the sun. Most everything in their spirituality goes back to agriculture and the sun is an integral part of that. Mayans believe that the best they can do is to serve their family and their community so the leaders (both political and religious) earn their posts by the amount of good they do for others. They believe that one of the most important jobs they can do is to clean the church. The important things in the church are liquid and light. The light represents the sun and from what I saw today takes the form of candles. The liquid can be any liquid from Pox (the local hooch) to cola (which everyone drinks to excess). The belief of the people is that the religious healers heal ones feelings while the medical healers heal the body - they see those two parts as being connected but very different from one and other. They also believe in sacrafices and so while we were in the church there were several people who had brought chickens with them for that purpose. They believe that they can pray for ill feelings to pass to the chicken and then when the chicken dies the feelings die with them. They believe that the spirit and the feelings are closely connected and that there is only one spirit per being and when that spirit dies...the being dies with it. It's kind of complicated but at the same time it was really very simple. There is no symbolism in why there is hay or the needles from trees spread all over the church floor....they're just there because they think it looks nice and there is no reason that the short sleeved fur jackets the men wear are all white and the long sleeved ones are all black.....it's just because they used white sheep or black ones. The women all wear fur skirts too. They're unusual looking but very functional. They spend a lot of time on their knees working so it must be very helpful having their skirt longer in the front than it is in the back and having the thick padding to kneel on would be a treat! Anyway.....as you can see from my ramblings....it was a really interesting stop.....except remember I said that we stopped at the top of a hill overlooking the town.....guess what....once our tour was finished it was a hike back up the hill to the van - yikes! there are a lot of hills in Mexico!!!
Our next stop in another smaller village was also super interesting. This time we visited a family home where we were invited inside (there were only 8 of us on our tour so it was very intimate and personal). We toured their home (one room only) where the family (5 of them) all slept and where their television and phone was located. Supposedly everyone here has a TV a DVD and a phone and/or a cell phone. Our guide suggested that we not assume someone is poor based on the way they look or the way they live but rather that we only look at their bank account to make that determination. He said that the Mayan culture isn't interested in buying things, that they prefer to be self sufficient so other than the TV etc....they have no where to spend their money and they have quite a lot of it generally. He also said that they are a very hard working people who put their family first. They begin working as a part of the family unit when they are just toddlers and they continue working until the day they die. The man whose home we visited today is 72 years old and he works 7 days a week from 4 a.m. till he goes to bed at 7 pm every night. He looks in amazing shape. His work is in flowers. This part of Chiapas produces the majority of the flowers from Mexico and no entrepreneurs can compete with the traditional methods as the cost of labour is too great compared to the family unit that all work together for the good of the family. Anyway....we had a tour of their home and then we had lunch with them in an adjascent building that was the kitchen. They made tortillas in the traditional way (which is how they do it every day here) and we were surprised to discover that the people here eat much less spice than in other parts of Mexico. Perhaps that is because it isn't as hot here as it is in many other areas....yes folks....you can stop drooling over us lounging around in the heat.....we're wearing jackets and scarves. We're high in the mountains and although it is lovely for about 4 or 5 hours in the day the other 20 hours are super chilly!! And....there is no heat in any of the buildings! After we had lunch with our "family" we toured a small weaving cooperative (weaving is a common industry for the women here) and then we were off to head back to San Cristobal.
It was a great day and since tomorrow will be a very early start and very late ending (I'll leave that story till tomorrow or the next day), I'll sign off for now, grab a bite for dinner and hit the hay. Hopefully tonight won't be as full of sounds as last night was.....yes.....last night was quieter in that there was no one next door having a party but at 5:00 this morning...the church bells next door began to ring and the fireworks began again. All the celebrations are in honour of the Virgin Guadalupe and they'll continue till that special day passes on December 12th. Speaking of which....I must clarify something I said earlier in this post.... there really is a guy holding the "cannon" that shoots the fireworks....but it is gunpowder that he has packed into a cylinder and I don't think it is dangerous....so he just holds it away from himself when he shoots them off every 1/2 hour of so. It is a big bang though so perhaps his eardrums are in danger! And further speaking of Guadlupe....it seems that huge numbers of people make a pilgrimage to many places in Mexico for that special day (their biggest of the year) and San Cristobal is one of them. In fact....we were told today that people come from as far away as Mexico City (walking)!! We now believe that some of the groups of people we passed on the roads as we've been travelling were doing just that .... beginning their pilgrimage. It's an interesting place and every day there are new things to learn and to try. We're having a great time!
Anyway.....that's all for now.....till next time.....
Lorrie
Friday, December 5, 2008
December 5, 2008
Welcome to the list of 'followers' Val and Paul - glad you're enjoying the ride :) We're having fun writing it too but not as much fun as we're having living it!!
I used to think that I was the luckiest person I know but I have to ammend that and say that Lynda is pretty darn lucky too!! We just keep having adventures piled on our plates and have been enjoying every minute of each of them.
Today was a wonderful day wandering the streets of San Cristobal. The main street runs through the Zocalo and the entire main street (that is more than 20 blocks long) is pedestrian only. It is a constant maze of people and all of them are smiling - it is such a vibrant place and it feels so "right". We're both enjoying this little city so much.
There is some balance in our little world though and last night it came in the form of a sleepless night for me. The people in the room next to ours partied all night long which meant that I was up almost the entire night :( Lynda on the other hand (and this is one of the reasons I say she is darn lucky) slept right through the whole thing. There were fireworks going off just steps from our door, people were laughing and talking and laughing some more. It was all very festive but at 4:00 and 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning....it's not so much fun for the folks next door (that would be me). In hindsight, I should have joined in their party I guess....but at 4:00 in the a.m., that didn't even occur to me. What occured to me was something less festive and far more agressive....grrrr.....
With the light of day came new perspective though and after a shower and a change of rooms to one that promises to be quiet tonight.....I was happy again :) The hotel staff were very apologetic and wanted to do whatever they could to make sure we were taken care of. Our new room is at the end of the hall and upstairs so very private and very quiet. It is also quite a bit bigger and the beds are larger and the bathroom is a little more roomy and we have it for the same price as the other so here we are again.....lucky....out of something bad comes something good :)
Our hotel is just this side of an arch that leads to the main pedestrian street where there are countless shops and restaurants. We located a spot for breakfast that looked like it was a good place to park ourselves on the street for a while. Our waiter's name was Eudial and what a sweetheart he turned out to be. His english is excellent and for the most part he is self taught. We enjoyed spending time chatting with him and our breakfast was really quite good. In fact the coffee we enjoyed there this morning was some of the best I've ever had! Eudial is a perfect example of whatever the secret ingredient that the people here seem to have.....they're happy.....it's that simple! He has really never been anywhere else and he loves it here. He hasn't even been as far as Palenque (the ancient ruins about 3 hrs from here). He grew up on the coast and his parents are still there but other than coming to San Cristobal....he's happy to just be here. He has been thinking though that he might go to Cancun as he's been told that with his level of English he would make a lot of money in tips and I think he's right....he is a perfect waiter! Lynda and I were trying to put our finger on what that secret ingredient is that the people we've met here seem to have and decided that they're all SuperHosts.....not that they've had to take a course.......it's just who they are naturally.
After breakfast we just roamed and explored. There are loads of amber shops here as this is where a lot of amber comes from. There is also a massive outdoor market where there is lots of handmade weavings and blankets and knitting and crocheting (indigenous art) and lots of people on the street trying to sell their wares everywhere you go. Once you get the hang of saying "no" to them....they stop asking as often as they do the first time they see you. I think Lynda and I were visible enough today that they've all figured out that we're not looking to buy, so they're not trying to sell as often as they were. As much as there are tourists here....we still kind of stick out in the crowd. My blonde hair doesn't help us to blend in at all. In fact this morning while we sat at the restaurant for breakfast....an old man that I can't even begin to describe except to say that it is doubtful that he has ever taken a bath or combed his hair as what we could see hanging out below his winter hat was way past his shoulders and completely matted.....looked at us for about 1/2 hour non stop. Eudial said that he just likes to look at people who look different and I guess that was us today :)
Today, as I said was a great day, but the night got even better. (Kim, this is where you need to start paying attention as this is the beginning of your birthday gift to me). My friend, Kim gave me some pesos for my birthday in October with instructions to buy myself a story and here is the start of it :) I decided that Chiapas would be where I would find my story for Kim as I really think this place is special. Tonight we attended a cultural show (best seats in the house I might add) - thanks Kim!! The show was about the history of Palenque and the ancient Mayan king who ruled there. As legend goes....he eventually sacrificed himself and became a star and a ruler in the cosmos. The play was called Palenque Rojo and it was amazing! It was full of traditional costumes and music, it lasted 1 1/2 hours, the athleticism of the actors was unbelievable and all in all.....it couldn't have been any better! We both loved it and as we left the theatre...our hearts were still pounding. We had been given a synopsis of the play prior to attending so we could read it in english and get the gist of it ahead of time. The cast all spoke in the ancient tongue of Mayan so we were glad of the synopsis but even without it....the play was so full of passion and action and so well done that we would have enjoyed it just as much. And now....for the rest of the story Kim.....one of the players was on the street when we bought our tickets.....his name is Carlos and he is from El Salvador. You're gonna love this Kim.....Carlos is in love with me. His words are that I am "his love" and he wants to buy a ticket to come home with me. Lynda even has a picture of him with me that I may even manage to get off the camera one of these days and onto the blog. Anyway.....it was a great night - thanks Kim.....I'll tell you about the rest of my gift from you after tomorrow as there's still more to come. You can't believe how much you can buy for that amount of money here. :)
Even though the veritable book I've already written tonight seems like it would be enough for one day....we also attended a high school prom this afternoon and a wedding tonight and were in a parade for the Virgin Guadalupe for part of the evening as well. It was another day full of adventure and we loved it!!
Till next time....
Lorrie
I used to think that I was the luckiest person I know but I have to ammend that and say that Lynda is pretty darn lucky too!! We just keep having adventures piled on our plates and have been enjoying every minute of each of them.
Today was a wonderful day wandering the streets of San Cristobal. The main street runs through the Zocalo and the entire main street (that is more than 20 blocks long) is pedestrian only. It is a constant maze of people and all of them are smiling - it is such a vibrant place and it feels so "right". We're both enjoying this little city so much.
There is some balance in our little world though and last night it came in the form of a sleepless night for me. The people in the room next to ours partied all night long which meant that I was up almost the entire night :( Lynda on the other hand (and this is one of the reasons I say she is darn lucky) slept right through the whole thing. There were fireworks going off just steps from our door, people were laughing and talking and laughing some more. It was all very festive but at 4:00 and 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning....it's not so much fun for the folks next door (that would be me). In hindsight, I should have joined in their party I guess....but at 4:00 in the a.m., that didn't even occur to me. What occured to me was something less festive and far more agressive....grrrr.....
With the light of day came new perspective though and after a shower and a change of rooms to one that promises to be quiet tonight.....I was happy again :) The hotel staff were very apologetic and wanted to do whatever they could to make sure we were taken care of. Our new room is at the end of the hall and upstairs so very private and very quiet. It is also quite a bit bigger and the beds are larger and the bathroom is a little more roomy and we have it for the same price as the other so here we are again.....lucky....out of something bad comes something good :)
Our hotel is just this side of an arch that leads to the main pedestrian street where there are countless shops and restaurants. We located a spot for breakfast that looked like it was a good place to park ourselves on the street for a while. Our waiter's name was Eudial and what a sweetheart he turned out to be. His english is excellent and for the most part he is self taught. We enjoyed spending time chatting with him and our breakfast was really quite good. In fact the coffee we enjoyed there this morning was some of the best I've ever had! Eudial is a perfect example of whatever the secret ingredient that the people here seem to have.....they're happy.....it's that simple! He has really never been anywhere else and he loves it here. He hasn't even been as far as Palenque (the ancient ruins about 3 hrs from here). He grew up on the coast and his parents are still there but other than coming to San Cristobal....he's happy to just be here. He has been thinking though that he might go to Cancun as he's been told that with his level of English he would make a lot of money in tips and I think he's right....he is a perfect waiter! Lynda and I were trying to put our finger on what that secret ingredient is that the people we've met here seem to have and decided that they're all SuperHosts.....not that they've had to take a course.......it's just who they are naturally.
After breakfast we just roamed and explored. There are loads of amber shops here as this is where a lot of amber comes from. There is also a massive outdoor market where there is lots of handmade weavings and blankets and knitting and crocheting (indigenous art) and lots of people on the street trying to sell their wares everywhere you go. Once you get the hang of saying "no" to them....they stop asking as often as they do the first time they see you. I think Lynda and I were visible enough today that they've all figured out that we're not looking to buy, so they're not trying to sell as often as they were. As much as there are tourists here....we still kind of stick out in the crowd. My blonde hair doesn't help us to blend in at all. In fact this morning while we sat at the restaurant for breakfast....an old man that I can't even begin to describe except to say that it is doubtful that he has ever taken a bath or combed his hair as what we could see hanging out below his winter hat was way past his shoulders and completely matted.....looked at us for about 1/2 hour non stop. Eudial said that he just likes to look at people who look different and I guess that was us today :)
Today, as I said was a great day, but the night got even better. (Kim, this is where you need to start paying attention as this is the beginning of your birthday gift to me). My friend, Kim gave me some pesos for my birthday in October with instructions to buy myself a story and here is the start of it :) I decided that Chiapas would be where I would find my story for Kim as I really think this place is special. Tonight we attended a cultural show (best seats in the house I might add) - thanks Kim!! The show was about the history of Palenque and the ancient Mayan king who ruled there. As legend goes....he eventually sacrificed himself and became a star and a ruler in the cosmos. The play was called Palenque Rojo and it was amazing! It was full of traditional costumes and music, it lasted 1 1/2 hours, the athleticism of the actors was unbelievable and all in all.....it couldn't have been any better! We both loved it and as we left the theatre...our hearts were still pounding. We had been given a synopsis of the play prior to attending so we could read it in english and get the gist of it ahead of time. The cast all spoke in the ancient tongue of Mayan so we were glad of the synopsis but even without it....the play was so full of passion and action and so well done that we would have enjoyed it just as much. And now....for the rest of the story Kim.....one of the players was on the street when we bought our tickets.....his name is Carlos and he is from El Salvador. You're gonna love this Kim.....Carlos is in love with me. His words are that I am "his love" and he wants to buy a ticket to come home with me. Lynda even has a picture of him with me that I may even manage to get off the camera one of these days and onto the blog. Anyway.....it was a great night - thanks Kim.....I'll tell you about the rest of my gift from you after tomorrow as there's still more to come. You can't believe how much you can buy for that amount of money here. :)
Even though the veritable book I've already written tonight seems like it would be enough for one day....we also attended a high school prom this afternoon and a wedding tonight and were in a parade for the Virgin Guadalupe for part of the evening as well. It was another day full of adventure and we loved it!!
Till next time....
Lorrie
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