What a beautiful day!! Internet and electricity all day. Time for reading in the hammock and a nap. Had a wonderful hour long phone call with my dear bff Veronica and just feeling good about the world. On our way back from an errand we saw a soccer game going on around the corner towards the lagoon, lots of people watching. Lupita, who was one of the best students this summer asked if I was gonna have anymore classes for English. I told her what I told Oscar, come to my house after school and we can have a class. Right then Everardo walked up and she asked him about the other kids- but I understood so I said, they don't want to learn, it's ok. You want to learn, come over. So again, we'll see. Oscar didn't show up, but Lupita might want it more. I wouldn't mind a bit if she comes....
Then we stopped by Chela's; she was next door, and while Poppi and Gume chatted (with Tigre fast asleep on Gume's stomach- they were in a big hammock), I spotted polo in the waves. I said- be right back, and ran down there, and jumped in the ocean in my clothes for the second day in a row. he and I had a ball jumping into the waves. The sea was nice, rolling waves and we were laughing and ducking into them as they hit.

Came home and Everardo had 6 lobsters! Oh and a fish. He didn't actually catch them himself. He went with Gume and Romeo, he caught the fish, but he can't dive down far enough to get the lobsters. Yet, he says, yet. I don't want him to f**k up his ears. Anyway he cooked ALL of the lobsters, oh and the fish. I took pictures of him cooking it, yes and the fish too, I took pictures of it on the table, then him about to eat (the fish), and then he took a pic of me about to dig into the lobsters. OMG I was stuffing huge mouthfuls of lobster in my mouth! They were so big that the meat was in hunks! I thought I died and went to heaven. Sooo good. Oh and I like to dip mine in melted butter with alittle salt in it. I ate until was completely stuffed. Everardo was laughing and said he loves watching me eat something when I love love love it. ha ha I was chewing with my eyes closed. He polished off his fish and joined me for lobster. He was much more patient, breaking open claws and legs...
It was perfect; the sun was setting, there was a breeze so it wasn't excruciatingly hot, Sam was laying nearby hoping for a handout at some point, and Poppi and me were enjoying ourselves and each other. It was just...nice. And to top it off, in a couple of more hours, maybe 3, we'll have ice cream, vanilla and chocolate...I like vanilla last so I put in in the bowls first. I love lots of flavors, but I always like to have vanilla at the end.

I also plan to talk to at least one of my daughters tonite, the older one, I'm waiting for her to get off work since we're 2 hours ahead. I'll try Halla too, but she's harder to catch up with. Hmm maybe I'll try her right now, it's only 5:30 in Calif. Yeah, nice day.  

This morning no internet and this afternoon no electricity. Hopefully the internet will stay up thru this short post so it doesn't end up scrambled like the one from yesterday- which I tried to fix, but...I just write straight thru so if stuff is missing...I might not figure it out ha ha. And yesterday I didn't copy and pasted, I wrote the whole thing at once, but I did notice that the internet went out, but came back...squirrely.
The internet was down this morning, and after sitting out on my rock and having a yummy breakfast- Everardo made me potatoes and onions and eggs since he was eating the mole from the neighbors that was just too spicy for me! Picoso! My most unfavorite world. Anyway I decided to start a new book, they're running low after making a short grocery list. Did I say I love my hammock? Anyway Everardo decided to try to fix the internet. He walked down the road and saw a place where the power lines were down, or broken or something. He came back and got the ladder we just borrowed from Guerro to paint the second story, and climbed up. Oh- the road construction crew said the workers building the house next door did it, and those guys just shrugged and looked at the huge truck that was dumping dirt...or sand. Anyway he saw where 2 wires had been streched or pulled apart and the twisted pairs were showing, but not too twisted...so he twisted them...got a big shock, didn't tell me about it- this afternoon when chatting with Gume I was kinda following what he was saying and when he did the body quivering cause you are being electrocuted thing- I knew what happened. So he came back to the house and announced he fixed the internet! And he did!

Later when I realized he got shocked on the pole I asked why he didn't tell me; he said he didn't want me to worry. I said, I'm not worried- just stay off the poles!!! Then later we went to Marquelia since we needed more of this white powder paint that's very cheap to paint the bottom of some cement walls around the house, and picked up the groceries (milk cheese bread coffee), and ice cream. We came home, I put the stuff away and he went back to work on the second story and the kid working for us used the white stuff. And....then the electricity went off, and that automatically negates the internet. Crap, again, crap! CFE won't come unless it's the whole town, and it might have been, cause about 3 hours later it came back, ok maybe 4 hours. (that's why we pay Romeo every 2 or 3 weeks to fix our electricity...and so do other neighbors....)
Actually once it went off, we decided to return the ladder to Guero (down by the lagoon) and then we stopped by Chela's; she was about to take Tigre into the ocean with Polo, so I said hey me too! and we went and floated around in front of the rocks. Everado went back home and got Sam who ran down the beach to join us. Everardo sat in the shade with Gume...that's where the story of the electric shock was told.....and after about an hour in the sea we switched to the pool. Polo and I jumped in the waves right before we hit the pool and that was fun!
The electricity came back while we were in the pool; the filter suddenly went on...I stayed in the pool awhile longer. Then we walked home and got the truck and went back by the lagoon to the Itailan pizza place. This Italian guy moved here about 3 years ago and built a little pizza place. This was our first time there and OMG it was worth the wait. Me thinks we should pick up a pizza there once a week until we leave....

So just another day in paradise. I forgot to say that I mentioned to Chela and Marina that last time I bought ice cream in Marquelia, the electricity went off. Polo said maybe...and I said  No way! I am not giving up ice cream!! A wonderful breakfast, a great dinner (ouch no lunch) but a bowl of ice cream in a minute...good eating day even if the internet and lights went off....ha ha the land of don't have any expectations!...ok the ice cream is probly not too soft anymore.....

Farina, not sure of the spelling,  but loosely translated means community service. Yesterday as we drove the 7 mile winding road out to the main road (well it's a highway but one lane each way with topes whenever you hit a tiny town or a few buildings), there were men along the road, cutting back the bushes on both sides. It's a commitment that people in the town have. I think it's every six months here. I think all the communities do it. And you can make a donation if you don't do the work. I think the donation pays for the water & food during the day and  beer they drink after working hard in the hot sun. There's 2 other really little towns, way smaller than us along way, they have little dirt roads out to them Papagayo (which is a fruit) and Fogon (chimney), and some of the guys we saw were from those places. And by smaller I have a feeling less than 100 people....

I like it though, you take responsibility for your community. We donated, but if by chance we're here next time, Everardo will do the work. (but I don't think we'll be here unless it's for a visit or moving). We went to Ometepec yesterday to shop; partly just to go for a drive. Along the way I really looked at the small towns, and thought about life here. I keep saying, it's simple but that doesn't mean easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Some houses are so small, some places really are just shacks, sticks and thin wood. I wonder how people feel who live in these remote areas. A lot of places, even tiny buildings, one room houses, have a satellite on the roof, they have tv. There are internet cafes all over the place; of course you have to go to a town for that, but Copala has at least 2, Playa Ventura has 1, Marquelia 3 or 4 that I've noticed. With the internet people are so connected to the outside world, and the truth is, it's just not that old- I was an adult before the internet was readily available. Do people wish for more, or do they "accept" their lot in life. I totally understand why people try to come to the US where they think there may be opportunity. I mean- what would you do to feed your children? Or maybe you simply want something better for yourself. I don't know, these are just things I'm thinking about.

 . I remember the first time I went to Bangkok, I came back to the states and was emotionally a mess. But I kept going back and little by little I came to see a beautiful people, a happy country, people who loved their king. Yes there is terrible poverty, and other problems (with drugs & the sex trade), but the people were working on those things. And really those things are everywhere....well at the very very least, I am grateful for the life I have, the opportunities I've had, and continue to have.

Maybe what would be really good, would be if all of us could trade places with each other in this world, even for a short time....ha ha ok enough of Terry's philosophy!

It's always hot, and there is always a roadside stand or restaurant along the road. Some people sell watermelon or whatever is in season. Lobsters now, oysters too on every stand. Women wear nice clothes, they are usd to the heat so they don't live in shorts and tshirts like me ha ha. I see women wearing long pants and real shoes ha ha. So who am I to have pity? Or to judge? And hope I'm not doing either. Yes of course for those who are really poor and struggling we must have compassion, but for those who eat, and work, and play, and laugh, and love?  For this area,the time for people to make all their income for the year is basically in  2 weeks at Christmas and 1 around Easter, (called  Semana Santa). Those 3 weeks are when this town fills up with vacationers. Mexican tourists pouring out of Mexico City and into Playa Ventura. I've been told huge buses bring them. Everybody makes money. We could rent our upstairs room, we could sell sodas outside our gate, make some shade on the beach and sell food/drinks to the people who will come to lay under our umbrellas. The rest of the year people come sparesly. I mean yesterday afternoon Chela had 2 full picnic tables of people. But maybe they will have nobody all week, and Fri, Sat Sun have a few. Rosa and Gencho just put in a beautiful pool (swam in it today) and it will probly help their business.
We saw a cat cross the road in front of us on the way home, and later a dog. After what usually crosses the road, a cat & dog were kinda weird. I started laughing- so what's our new normal ha ha?? And then right as we came into Playa Ventura, a pig darted across the road and a second one hesitated and waited until we passed...ok now I feel normal! We got home and saw a neighbors yard with a bunch of people in it. Everardo chatted with them when he took Sam for a walk. Apparently they planned to kill a pig on the 18th (for a reason unknown to me..). Anyway for the last few months this stubborn pig kept breaking put of his pen and running up in the hills and they kept catching him and bringing him back. (For me- I asked- a pen?? I never see pigs in a pen, always runnig free or on a rope). So anyway I guess this yesterday they brought him down to the house to put him in the pen, and according to them- he got so mad, he just died. I guess he had a pig heart attack. I asked if maybe it was from fear? Maybe they'd been telling him how good he was gonna taste? Well they didn't cook him in a pit like I thought it would be, they butchered him up. It got dark and I guess they had no light that extended, so Everardo brought them down an extension cord and my little lamp I had clipped to the headboard for reading in bed. Ok the truth is I have read in bed exactly once! It's sooooo hot in our bedroom at nite, we don't go in there until we are ready for sleeping! Since we aren't staying we are not going to invest in AC.

Just a few minutes ago the son of the neighbor called out so I went outside to see who was there. Here, nobody calls on the phone (not everybody has one- including us) and nobody knocks at the door. It a whistle from the road, or a car honk, or simply a yell. Whether it's the bread lady or the guys calling for Poppi to go fishing, or a neighbor, that's how it is- except kids of course and they show up and walk into the house...still no knocking ha ha.

Anyway he was at the gate with a bowl of mole and my lamp, asking for Everardo and I told him that Everardo was fishing, so he said the mole was from his mother, thanks for help last nite, and gave me both. It's nice to know our neighbors. They are all so nice, and one thing I will miss here. I only hope we can make friendships like this in Puerto Penasco or wherever we land. And yeah, sometimes I feel left out, cause it's him making the friendships for the most part. Of course everybody is always nice to me, they just don't know any English and so it's as hard for them as it is for me. Sometimes I just avoid it for all our sakes. (yeah lazy me). It's my intention to take a spanish class in PP, and there will be both English and Spanish, but I think the class will help alot, it's not fair to Everardo to translate ALL the time, and I need to figure it out for myself anyway...I am used to being independent, and am starting to miss it horribly.

So this week is more painting and fixing, and maybe even an English class, Oscar asked me yesterday why we don't have class- ha ha I said because no students come! I asked if he wanted to learn and when he said yes, I said ok come tomorrow after school, so....vamos a ver (we'll see). And I sure hope Poppi comes home with some lobster! I'm ready to eat it again!!!

My daughter & her boyfriend got the house they wanted to rent and they are so excited! Me too! For them I mean; renting your first house is just different from an apartment or a condo. I'm so proud of her. She's so smart, and beautiful and funny and sarcastic ha ha that's what both my daughters get from me (sarcasm). We're gonna be looking for a rental soon ourselves...actually I don't know how soon, when we will start out next adventure. But soon knowing me. I'm gonna try to call my younger daughter this afternoon, too- but it's still a problem because now I need internet to make a call unless we go to Copala, and she has both school and work....yep just another vote for moving closer to civilization ha ha....

so I just noticed this post got messed up probly cause the internet went off and back on while I was writing it; I tried to edit to fix, hope it makes sense....it did when I wrote it anyway...