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