Ha ha so this morning the workers were back shoveling the dirt pile that has become our driveway. They had been doing it Thursday, then nobody showed up on Friday and that's when we were told oh it will be completed in 2 weeks, when we finish this other part....yeah right. Well Everardo talked to the engineer last nite after smashing the cement to bits, and the guy said well if we don't fix it next week go ahead and take out the rest of it. (Personally I think he should take it out but fat chance of that) Then this mornig we were getting into the truck and the head guy for this project was on the road, so Poppi went to talk to him. Then I saw the guy taking pictures- uh oh, he's either siding with us or gathering evidence for Everardo's trial ha ha. Actually he agreed with us; Everardo told him it's been a problem for 4 months, pointed out the short wall being built in front of our neighbors, that was promised to us at one point. So he took pictures of the area and said he was going to talk to the project manager's supervisor....hmmm I'm impressed. Poppi said see that trailer? We want to pull it out of our driveway next weekend, full of stuff. The guy apologized; he said there were so many mistakes made on this project; even pointed out a couple to Everardo. The did a "lip" across the opening to a small road that goes down off our road right before the arroyo. That road is now impossible to access at that end. It is a loop so comes back out further back, and that opening was done correctly. So, again vamos a ver....

Well we packed some more today, I packed to "fragile" bins that will go on top. There's not a lot more; clothes more knicky knacks, the bare minimum we left in the kitchen...we are leaving the furniture here for now. I am getting excited. Sam is getting wiggy- he knows something is going on. The trip is 3 or 4 days, our plan is to take the cuotas (toll roads) the whole way. Part of my excitement I know is the new adventure. The other part is expectation and I know I have to be careful with that. But ooooh- an AA meeting in English, silence at nite (ha ha the quiet here is people made quiet, but the ocean is soooo loud). I thought remote sounded wonderful, serene, peaceful. It is all those things, but add to it lonely, nothing to do, the need to travel to get anything....

 I found out something interesting that answers a couple of questions for me. This is indeed a tiny town, remote. Well it seems that nobody pays their electric bill...in fact side note: the governor just paid off everybody's past due bill in Guerrero...foolish us paid the 10 months that were past due when we moved in (not sure why the money I sent wasn't used for that), and we are current so ours didn't get paid. But the store on the corner hasn't paid their bill in 2 years! A couple of other places don't pay either. It's weird that nobody's power gets turned off. And we have no meter; only some people have it. When we went to San Marcos the other day, they gave us a sticker to affix somewhere and if we do, we will get a meter. Otherwise, they just guess. So- we took a couple pf payments to pay off the 10 month past due, and then got our regular bills. They were about 200+ pesos for 2 months, the bill comes every 2 months, so under $30USD a month. Then this bill we just got was 657 pesos! Everardo talked to them while we were there and asked what's up with the big jump? So they changed it to 150 pesos for the 2 months! Arbitrary. Weird....And if we hadn't paid the whole time we were here, she would have erased that bill since it was in the previous owner's name. ha ha intersting way to do business. We actually went up there back in July to change it to our name, but they wouldn't put the bill in our name without the deed to the property. Ha ha. And we've had some issues with the revised deed, now all taken care of...in the usual wait wait wait manner of business in Mexico.

So all of this helps me to understand why the power company won't come out here unless the whole town is down. Unless everybody's electricity is out, they don't come. So we have our local electrician, Romeo who as I think I said before is now a line in my budget ha ha. But why come to people who don't pay anyway. And I think it's the same for Sky, the tv satellite cable company, they don't turn it off for months after you stopped paying. When we got ours, at least one neighbor thought it would be a good idea to hook into ours and run a cable from our house to theirs! Yeah, I don't think so.....well we will be turning off tv and internet when we go, but keeping electricity. We want an outside light on at nite, and we can pay form up there. The phone has been off for ahwile altho the lines are there for a connection downstairs, upstairs and out in the kitchen is somebody wants to give it a go ha ha.

Well it's late afternoon, a beautiful cooling wind has come up. Maybe another nite time walk on the beach is in store for me tonite. I still love it here, and I'm sure we'll be back....for vacation ha ha.

My husband never loses his temper. Ok almost never. But yesterday...wow! So let me back up a little, but not too far...The road in front of our house has been under construction since we got here 6 months ago. He talks to the workers every day as they have been paving our dirt road from the center of town to past us all the way out to Casa Peidras. I say" all the way out" but it's not really all that far. I've walked many times, even when it was a mud river thru the summer. Everardo and Sam walk it every day, sometimes in the morning and the evening. But I think gov't road workers are the same everywhere, slow, the ratio usually one guy working and 3 guys standing around leaning on their shovels ha ha. Sounds like northern Calif in the summer anyway!

There are alot of guys however and they work hard, just slow. When they've been in front of our house Everardo has brought them out cold water and jokes around with them. He's been talking to the engineer and the boss of the group for months, making sure out driveway is usable when they are done. They have said no problem, and at  first we were gonna get a longer driveway, starting a little further down so more level longer. Then it changed to sidewalks ending on each side of the driveway, like for a new street; we saw it in a couple places like that. Then the other day they started to complete our portion- yeah it's weird- they almost finish a patch and then move on. They made a huge mess of paving over the arroyo...and had to redo it more than once....so there's unfinished patches all along the way...

They connected the sidewalk on each side with a long thin "lip" of a driveway, you know how the sidewalk lowers for your driveway? But, it is too high to drive over, and all the dirt the pushed into our short ramp still leaves it completely inaccessible. In fact Everardo tried to bring the truck down in in 4 wheel drive and it got stuck on that cement lip. We needed a tractor to get it out. So....the constrcution bosses, who had been saying it would be completed this week (well it's Saturday guys), who said yeah we'll put in the cement then pave your short driveway, don't worry. Anyway these guys yesterday afternoon said, oh, well we have to finish the section past you, but we'll come back and finish within 2 weeks. He told me that and I got mad. (I get mad easy..especially when i smell bullshit)...I said we've seen what they've done so far, right?

See the thing is, we've decided to take off from here. We got all the paperwork surrounding our deed taken care of. The "to do" list is being completed this wknd. Poppi is tired, tired of fixing EVERYTHING all the time. One of the pumps went out....again. He has basically built a new house, and that's not why we came here. He has fixed the doors, the windows, the roof, the pumps more than once and bought more than one. He has fixed the fence, the back gate, and the front gate, which is a huge cyclone fence thing more than 2 cars wide- we had to turn around so it opens inward not outward to accommodate the new road.....he has fixed the sewer pipes, twice...So our plan is latest take off date Jan 1. But we see that we can go sooner. We are also setting things up in Puerto Penasco for a month's stay. But we are clear that no matter where we land, it will not be back here. We have a guy who's gonna take care of the house and we gave him a number we want to make on the sale and he can make a little something too....

So...enter the sledge hammer! He thought about it for a few minutes, I went back to reading my book in the hammock, and suddenly I hear this pounding! I look up towards the driveway and he is smashing the cement lip they put in earlier this week. He decimated it! ha ha it was a sight to see! By the time he was done it was getting dark; I was sitting out on my rock. He showed up and asked me to go for a walk on the beach. We walked a ways, with Sam...then he said let's jump in! I was in a summer dress and he is shorts & a tshirt, but I said yeah!

We jumped in right in front of the rocks where it makes the pool. Sam was so happy to be in and was swimming around us in circles. Poppi said- Let's just go, I'm so tired of fixing everything every day. I said yes! Let's go! So we are packing more quickly. New leave date, a week form Monday, so in about 9 days....

Chambuleke (dragonfly) flying around my head, an iguana a few rocks away sunning himself, pelicans swooping down and skimming so close to the water I don't know how they keep their balance! Flocks of these white birds; probly a type of seagull but much smaller and shorter wings, hovering and diving- there must be school of fish this morning. There was even 2 herons; I think they were herons, long necks and long legs, walking around at the water's edge a ways down the beach from me. One of them left and flew right past me, long legs straight out the back, but his head close to his body with his neck bent in a U going down... The ocean is amazing every morning as I sit and drink my coffee, but this morning it just feels...I don't know..like..more. The way the waves crash agaonst the rocks, and slip up the beach, bringing shells with them, leaving some and taking others back out with them. And the way the sea looks when I stare out in front of me, it looks as if it goes on forever. It's like this place is the drfinition of the universe. Everything comes together, the water, the fish, the birds, the rocks, the sand, then the trees, the wind. Feels like life, all of life. When I turned my head and saw the iguana that comes out to sun himself, I thought,  wow this morning is everything. Makes it hard to leave, but leave we will.

The day we went up the mountain to the cemetery for the Dia de los Muertos, there were hundreds of dragonflies swarming above us. I am a chambuleke lover, so it was especially amazing. When I sit out on my rock in the mornings, usually it's just a couple, but it's nice that they come every day. Some of the pelicans have white heads. Ha ha my mother would be able to identify all these birds! She was a bird watcher, Mrs Twilligers bird watching club ha ha. I can only say the white birds that look like a type of seagull, only different, the long legged birds that look like a heron, only different, the pelicans, some with white heads and long beaks but not real deep like the cartoons...Anyway the pelicans seem to glide right under where the wave is about to peak, where it starts to curl, turn white and the foam spills over....but they never get caught. I was hoping (again) this morning to maybe see some dolphins since there must be so many fish to attract that many birds, but I didn't see any. No worries; my god, this morning was such a gift with all those birds, and my iguana friend and my chambulekes! It's pretty easy to feel spiritual in the face of all that I'll tell ya.

But I can only sit out there for about an hour or hour and a half because by then I am so hot, sweaty and soaked clear thru. I should take my rain umbrella out there! I always see women walking with the umbrellas for the sun but I haven't purchased one yet....but I do have my purple rain umbrella and it would work just as well I'm sure...cause man it gets so hot out there. I guess maybe the weather has changed a little, I can stay out there an hour instead of only 20-30 minutes....but it is still just so hot. I'm sitting in the house with the fan on me and it's 9:30am...I can't believe I am about to write that I miss the cold. OMG I said it! BUt it's true. Ok I don't miss freezing cold, or for sure I don't miss rainy and cold, but cool enough to wear sleeves, or long pants. In 6 months I have worn long pants only the week we went to Morelia, and then only at nite, and then only 2 of the nites.

I kinda miss shoes and sock, altho sometimes I wear tennis shoes and peds, but those aren't really socks ha ha. I had this thing- planta Flaciaitis (I know spelled completely wrong) a couple years back and it's some kind of damage to the muscle in your heel where it meets a joint..something to that effect anyway. Well I had to wear this speacial boot back then for several weeks, and then I need to put inserts in my shoes or wear Danskins that have the special arch. I love Dasnskins, very comfortable but very expensive, like $100usd per pair. But I don't wear any of that here, just flip flops, and so some days my foot really hurts and I get all limpy. So I wear the tennis shoes now when I know I'll be walking alot one day. I wore them with a skirt to the fair this past weekend cause I knew we'd be dancing and I wanted to be able to walk the next day ha ha! So the internet says Puerto Penasco gets down into the 60's at nite during the cold season, hey that's cold enough for me. And probly colder since I'm sure that's just an average. Yeah I haven't worn sleeves in 6 months either except for Morelia, in fact I cut the sleeves off of a couple of things, but luckily not too many things since we're not staying. I cut off 2 pairs of sweat pants as well, but I still have a couple of pairs so it's all good.

It was so nice to talk to my family yesterday, both my kids- I talk to Drewy alot and I love it. Halla is a little harder to catch up with, 19 school and work, busy girl and that's a good thing. I also talked to my brother and left 2 msgs for my older sister, one in the morning and one at nite so maybe I'll try her after this post. Poppi is outside working on something, sounds like he's cutting metal...loud...I think maybe he's altering the rack that goes on the truck. The construction workers are not out there today and that's not great cause we still can't put the truck in our yard cause they have to fix the driveway. Yesterday they didn't get too far...ha ha par for the course...they work so slow; they've been working on our patch of the road for 6 months! Lots of guys working really slow...ha ha gov't workers of the world unite! But it's Friday and usually they work Friday and half of Sat...and then half of Monday ha ha. Everardo was going to make them a chicken soup; he makes it with whole pieces of chicken, thighs, legs, wings, and potatoes and rice, etc. But they don't seem to be out there...so it will be next week before our driveway is usuable. Kinda sucks cause walking up and down it is no picnic either. It's only about 10 feet, but steep and like I said I only wear flip flops if I wear shoes at all. Well lately I always wear shoes cause once the symptoms come back they stay a long time, especially when you keep re-injuring it....

Well it should be another beautiful day, probly a swim in the ocean, and maybe in Chela's pool too, a nap in the hammock...a walk down the beach...well actually if he finishes the paint upstairs I can put that room back together and take some pictures. I want to make a little 8.5x11 sheet with house photos and laminate it and leave one with Chela for a for sale sign. The guy who's gonna stay was here last nite and (of course) he thinks he can sell it too. We told him the price we want for us, and anything over that he can have....oh and I just found a book I haven't read, so.....

I didn't want this story to get messed up so I ended the post and started a new one. When we went to San Marcos we decided to head up to Acapulco since we were so close and get dog food and a couple of other things. All the way there we got stuck in traffic cause it was a school celebration of (I think) Revolution Day...anyway every town had all the school kids marching. It was pretty cool. Some as we passed were doing special things like yelling "Viva" to whatever the teacher was shouting, and another group was making a human pyramid. In Mexico all the kids wear uniforms to school so they looked really cute. I guess there were some kind of cheer leaders cause there were girls in groups of about 6 with batons and/or pom poms.

Then on the way back we saw SO may cops- state and federales, and trucks with army guys and I think I saw some navy guys- does Mexico have a navy? If not it was some branch of the military in their dress uniforms.We're guessing it had to do with the celebration....altho' the next day we did hear about some bodies found in Acapulco. But since it was not all over the news, it was either pure rumor, or simply bad guys whackin' bad guys.

So we saw this young woman hitch hiking with her dog; looked at each other, Everardo braked and we backed up and picked her up. We were about an hour and half from home, and she said she was going to Oaxaca City. She was from the LA area and on her way to Chiappas to be there for the Mayan calendar ending. She was meeting up with friends in Oaxaca. Her and her dog, Kona were in the back of the truck and she stuck her head in and we started to chat. She had been traveling with 2 guys until they hit Acapulco; they wanted to stay and she did not, so she went on alone. It was late afternoon so we asked her if she wanted to stay the nite in Playa Ventura and then we'd give her a ride back out to the main road in the morning, cause she was planning to sleep on the side of the road in her little tent and sleeping bag. She said sure so we brought her here. Her name was Ashly. She said she had been hitch hiking around the states for a year, and now wanted to see Mexico. Sam and I took her and Kona to the beach, then walked to Chela's to ask about the best route to Oaxaca.Chela thought Ashly was nuts to be traveling alone and so did we. She told me later that she was meeting friends in Chiappas to drive back with, but she didn't want to drive down with them in a hurry so she took off with the 2 guys she had now left in Acapulco. She told me she was 20 yrs old. I thought of both my daughters and thanked God they aren't doing this!

The next morning Everardo and I talked; we had the same idea. He took hr to the bus that goes all the way to Oaxaca at Puerto Escondido- about a 7 hour trip- and bought her a ticket (only 240 pesos I think), and gave the money to buy the next ticket up to Oaxaca City. He told her it was  safer to stay in Puerto Escondido for the nite; it's a beach community and probly safer than the city. He talked to the driver into letting the dog on the bus, but he had to ride underneath by the luggage, but it was a big space with lots of air. She didn't want to take the bus with Kona not riding with her, so Everardo said he took off his sunglasses so she could see his eyes and had a stern talk with her. He said he loved Sam more than she loved Kona and he would do this to be safe, and he is a man. He told her hitch hiking thru this area is very dangerous and she shouldn't have left her friends, that very bad things could happen to her and she would simply disappear. She agreed to take the bus....He gave her his email and said we're going north first week of Jan if she needs a ride. That girl was this carefree kid, a vegetarian of course ha ha, didn't want to drink any juice with sugars in it...and naive as hell.  The dog had a little back pack and so did she; one pair of pants and pajama pants. One shirt. She did have a tiny notepad computer though and she checked in with her family that nite. She did say she was eating better since being in the road because people always shared...?  Personally I think it's dangerous to hitch hike in the states too! So...we did our good deed.

So Rosa just came by to chat and Monsie brought fish enchiladas that Romario made so no pork tonite. That's ok, now I can look forward to them tomorrow nite...crap the mosquitos are back out in force along with the "no seeums"....I have bites all the time. Another very cool thing about moving, using actual lotion for lotion instead of Autan the bug oil....oh yeah Ashly was covered in huge welts, much like me when I got here. I gave her a bottle of Caladryl and had her use my Autan but she'll have to buy some cause I need mine! ha ha

It's Thanksgiving! Well in the states anyway; here it's simply Thursday. We are not having turkey and stuffing today, but we are having my favorite little pork chops- ok not really chops, sorta more "rounds" ha ha cause I don't know what to call them. Small round bone in each piece with that yummy fat to suck out of them. It doesn't really feel like Thanksgiving; it's hot outside, the kids are at school, the guys are outside working on the road. The job that never ends ha ha. Eveardo made us a yummy breakfast though; potatoes, onions, eggs and cheese. mmmmm. Later I had a pb&j, my favorite any time, and he had ham & cheese. I started a new book in the hammock and had a nap.

I called and talked to Drewy (daughter #1) earlier, and they're gonna have Thanksgiving at her dad's house with daughter #2. They are very excited cause they just signed a lease for a house and they've been in a condo for a few years, so it's very cool. I'm so happy for them. Then to top it off her bf, Rex won $500 on a $1 lottery ticket this morning. Happy Thanksgiving. Anyway they also have his daughter with them for the day so they're having a nice family celebration. I'll keep calling Halla (daughter #2) until I get her today, but we did at least chat a tiny bit- ok left each other messages on FB saying I love you. I also called my older sister twice, once this morning & just now, but had to leave messages each time. I did get to talk to my brother though, so that was nice. They were in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner so we made it kinda short, but talked about how much closer we'll be when we move, so hopefully they'll be able to visit. I've tried to stay up today, not feel sad that I'm missing the holiday. Actually I really miss the AA alcathon that goes for 24 hours.

Everardo took apart our dining room table and packed it in the trailer. It looks like a picnic table, nice wood with benches, obviously for inside the house. I love that table, we had it in the Petaluma house and brought it down here, Of course I think we ate at it exactly once since we've been here. We always eat outside, or if inside, just at our regular watch tv or use our laptop places; we have a small coffee table. And yes, still using the fake wicker outside couch and 2 chairs as our living room furniture. Well I'm glad we never had anything made yet; we'd just have to cart it up north. Last couple of days we've been packing up everything that we don't use, trying to see how much room we have, what we want to take. Looks like it will be everything except the furniture and my elliptical
and books. But we will come back for it all after we get settled.

The guy who's gonna watch the house for us just came by. I guess we're offering him and his wife to live here if they want since they are living with parents and maybe grandparents. They have a baby who's just walking- anyway he's going to talk to his wife and let us know what they want to do. We are also trying to decide the price- the amount we want to get in our bank account; then if he sells it he cam ask for more and keep the "more". Chela and Gume also think they might be able to find someone, so as I say, we need to decide our bottom line.

He almost finished painting the upstairs room today and I think the outside is done. The to do list is geting pretty small.

We went to San Marcos on Tuesday and changed the electricity into our name and we have the deed, finally, so we're just about ready....

Ha ha! 3 posts in one day! Well I did zero today, the smallest of walks and it wasn't even until after dinner, a small walk on the beach with Everardo and Sam. I was so tired from dancing at the fair, then not going to sleep until after 2am...yep it's official...I'm old ha ha.

A high school kid came today to keep working in the back, moving these bricks so that there's a patio in front of the big pizza oven, then I'm gonna start a rock lined path from the bottom of those steps to the top of the next set....then to the gate out to the beach. We weren't sure what we were gonna do with all these rocks, and now have no plans for them. They are pretty, orange. And I think paths will make the yard look nice. Today is another holiday from school...yeah another one. So Oscar showed up too, and he helped Everardo and the kid. Everardo did some painting, the upstairs is almost done, and the outside is completely done..I think.

Tomorrow we go to San Marcos to put the electric in our name; we had to show our deed, which we finally got corrected. We might hit Home Depot in Acapulco for some plastic bins for moving since it's less than an hour to Acapulco from San Marcos. In Mexico you take care of all your business in person, not thru the mail, not email and not telephone. You can pay your bills at a central place in every town.

I was thinking about what I wrote about being resentful of my own husband. Ouch am I ever selfish! Well luckily that's usually a fleeting moment. Actually we are SO lucky that one of us is Mexican! Speaks the language! he has figured out so much stuff for us. And really- thank God he has not felt the isolation like me. Yes he is also bored, not too much to do here, not very many people, no activities. Like my reading in the hammock he says yes- he loves fishing, but you can only go fishing a million times in a row, then it gets kinda boring. Wait! A million??? No, I'm glad he can bs with our friends and neighbors. He has been wonderful with me, cause when I'm miserable I tend to make everybody around me miserable too......he understands it's hard for me, that sometimes I feel so left out on a crowd. Ha ha he has wanted to go to Puerto Penasco since before we left Calif. But he understood what this meant to me, he told me when I finally said....ok I screamed...uncle!! I can't do this anymore ha ha.

Well before that little walk we had a great dinner! Tacos, just strips of meat, avacado, and cheese. Yum...oh and some very sweet cantaloupe. In the land of fruits and vegetables, I still don't eat enough veges....but we eat alot of bananas, apples, and cantaloupe. Life is good. Full of opportunities. Online  I found a place that has zumba classes in Puerto Penasco!Did I say...life is good.

I moved here because it was my dream. Move to Mexico and live on the beach in a tiny fishing village...become part of the local community, buy milk from a cow and bread for the lady who walks down the road with a huge basket on her head. Fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the waves hitting the beach. Sounds pretty nice eh?

One piece of advice I would give (and this is only my opinion so means...hmmm...zero), is become fluent if you are moving to a place where only Spanish is spoken. Yes you can totally immerse and you will learn; but it's hard and it's lonely. It's humbling to a painful point as you find you control nothing, you decide nothing...meaning you always always have to ask for help. It is good for me that mmy husband speaks Spanish. But sometimes I almost wish we were struggling together. Sometimes I feel alone, even from him. And it's hard not to be resentful sometimes, too. And wow want to feel like a huge asshole? Resent the fact that your spouse can maneuver and you cannot. Yes I have been that petty and small. I am a people person. I am very outgoing, and friendly. I am also sarcastic as hell and think everything is funny- but here- nobody but me (yes and him) get my jokes. And yes my Spanish has improved greatly, but still to sit around in a group and chat with ease...not happenin' yet.

Another thing is living at the beach is no picnic.I guess I coulda figured that out in Calif, but I didn't. This is just too close...everything is grimy from the salt every day. And anything metal gets rusty, quick. Silverware, picture frames. We keep our dishes and pots and pans in drawers to keep them clean, and unrusty (is that a word). I probly wrote more than once about how grimy the windows are every day. The table, my elliptical. Yeah, next place at least 5 blocks from the beach.

We are in month 6, and I bet in month 12, I will see this differently. But for now- it's hard. Of course it has been a combination of tough things...we gave up and cancelled the phone. Now we have discovered skype to phone & it's only .02 per minute and that's not bad at all. So as long as the internet is up we can call- oh wait- I forgot to say this is only for international calls. We haven't figured out long distance, or local calling with skype to phone. So we can call the US but need our cell phones for inside Mexico. This is ok, we can drive to Copala (10-15 min) or Marquelia to get cell service to call Everardo's family in Morelia or other businesses in Mexico. But ha ha that would be silly for calls to our neighbors, like Chela, so if we want to talk to her or someone else here, we have to walk or dive to their house. Not a big deal of course, but for the last 2 weeks we were in the process of getting some papers signed by the comissario, and he's a drive not a walk. So we stop what we're doing 3 or 4 times a day to go see if he's home.

And the skype- I did say we need the internet for that right? Well the internet has been much better since we cancelled the phone; used to be when one worked the other didn't. Now we only have internet and like I said it works pretty good. But...I want it to work all the time. Not most of today, not too much yesterday and we'll see tomorrow, know what I mean? same with the electricity, which of course affects the internet.

But these are issues of living remotely. In the nearby larger towns there does not seem to be any issues with services. So this come down to figuring out what you want. I have seen so many posts on international forums, mostly I look at Mexico, where the advice is RENT first, make sure you like an area. A vacation is very different that long term.

That is very very good advice. Unfortunately I did not start reading those forums until after I bought a house in a remote area. Maybe if some of those things were different. If I was fluent, or services worked all the time. But the truth for me is that I find I need more. Remote means remote. I think I have read more than 100 paperbacks in a little less than 6 months. Maybe more. Well, and I am also in recovery and going to AA meetings has been a part of my social life for a few years now and I miss it. I attend online, and that's great, but it's not enough. There are meetings in Spanish, which again is ok, but they are at nite in another town and it's not always the best idea to be out on the roads outside your own town at nite.

So my "ok's" have piled up. I do not wish to live an "ok" life. I made this choice because I wanted to experience life in a new way. I am adventurous. I am lucky; I got to travel to some cool places I wouldprobly never get to visit for work, and a couple for vacation, but I have spent time in Bangkok, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Jordan, Egypt, Singapore, Africa, Russia, France,  maybe a couple more, Africa, France and the Middle East were vacation, the others were work, with Thailand being the most time spent- usually a week at a time but almost every other month for a couple of years, and a few years before that job I did something similar in HK. I have seen alot of third world life. I know how lucky we are in the states. I see that over and over here in Mexico. It a very hard life in the rural areas.

Like the different fiestas I have been lucky enough to attend- including this weekend's fair. I think these are time for women to let their hair down, to have some fun- no wonder they dance all nite! And last nite I could still hear the music at 2am a I finally drifted off, probly went until dawn. But women here work hard...all day, Yes the men work too, but maybe not from sun up to way past sun down. I am not comparing  men and women here, just commenting on the fact that most of the women in this part of Mexico at least, work their asses of from when they wake up until they go to sleep at nite. Taking care of everything, and never finishing. I am in awe of them.

That being said, this is not how I want to live. I can visit with my friends in their home; I chat with Chela while she works on something or other, at times she kicks back with me, but mostly work. She can't go shopping or swimming or out to lunch. She has kids, a home, a husband, a restaurant, all that she is doing something for all the time. You have to pump your water. Even if you have washing machine it can't be left alone, needs interaction, then of course the rinsing- don't get me started ha ha, the line, and I don't think things get ironed here, I don't know I'm probly wrong. Most people wash by hand, some in the stream, some in big sinks. Run up the street for tortillas or eggs for a customer, clean the fish hubby caught for tonite's dinner. I cannot accurately describe how hard it is here for women, my examples seem feeble, I didn't even mean to go off on this tangent ha ha. I was only talking about how I feel.

So I am excited about moving to Puerto Penasco. It has gone from an idea to a plan. Of course if I don't like the area we'll look in the nearby towns, but at least as big as PP. Around 50 thousand people a opposed to less than 1000 with half being kids ha ha. Services work. They have AA meetings, and they are in English and Spanish. Grocery stores, banks/atms/ gas, coffee shops. And still beach....just not too close ha ha. I've been on their forum and emailing with a couple of people, we might have even found the place to rent for a month for a very reasonable price. Then we can look around for something long term. I can continue to work on my Spanish but have English available to me when I need it. Ha ha this will make Poppi happy I'm sure cause he can not be everything to me- not good for him or me. So this is where I'm at today. The weekend was super fun, and it was a nice diversion and spent laughing eating and dancing. Now I just have to figure out how to do that every day....I think I have a paln.

OMG! The fair was amazing last nite! I had so much fun, everybody had so much fun! We didn't go until after dark; around 7:30 and when we arrived there were alot of people, eating, talking and the carnival rides were in full swing with screaming kids and watchful mothers. So we went back to the bull riding ring where people were gathering; we borrowed a couple of chairs from a food vendor and got a better spot than the nite before. There were about 15 or more little boys, maybe aged 9 and younger playing in the ring, They would put 2 kids behind the metal sheets where they hold the bull for the rider to drop down onto, and then they swing it open real fast and one kid was the bull with the other one on his back trying to buck him off. Pretty soon they were doing it all over the ring and people were watching and laughing. Our little friend Oscar was in there with them and they were all laughing and rolling in the dirt.

Then finally it started, the caballeros introduced and then the bulls came out, dragged into the ring and then running once they came thru the fence. The first one was so exciting- the bull did not want the straps put on (I'm guessing) cause there was alot of commotion inside that sheet and at one point the bull knelt down in resistance. Finally they got it going, and that bull was mad! he burst out and rammed the fence, knocked a couple guys over, then was thrasing around and went for another section of fence. It was wild and I was rooting for the bull! The next three were very short rides, then a couple of really good rides; the caballeros hanging on and the bull bucking all over the place.

Then they had a break from the riding and the rodeo clowns came out. They were really funny, and one of them was also a balloon animal maker. Later he was making balloons and I saw him look our way from the other side and I waved him over. He made a balloon sword for the little boy next to me and a heart flower for a little girl. Later last nite I looked down and there was the boy who got the sword smiling up at me on the dance floor. After the clowns another bull rider, and then another demonstration using the kids, they told them they were gonna ride a bull. They picked kids from the audience- and the kids were shy- didn't want to go out there...but they got 5 little boys, kept asking for number 6 and this tiny litle girl ran out there. She had on jeans and cowboy boots and a hat- she was a doll- and unafraid, she got a lot of cheers from the crowd.

Next they lit sparklers on the ground and led in the bull, a guy all dressed up as a bull. The kids made a great show of acting like the adults, wiping their hands in the dirt and rubbing them on their jeans; making the sign of the cross, waving their hats at the crowd. Then they rode the bull, hanging on and when they fell off, the other kids ran out to drag them away with the bull trying to get them all the while. The little girl went last, and she was too short to climb on the bull, so he flattened out and she stepped on. The crowd loved the whole thing, and we laughed and clapped; we had kids sitting on the ground in front of us right at the fence the whole time, and their eyes wide watching everthing, from the real bulls to the chance of receiving a balloon animal to the "man bull". Actually during the real bull riders we had to gran the kids in front of us and pull them away from the fence when the bulls were charging everything. It was a great time. And sadly I didn't have my camera either day so no photos.

After the bull riding the music started. Well at first it was the stereo while the band set up so we walked around, then found Chela and Gume and Tigre & Polo. We watched Tigre on a little kid ride and Polo on this big scary ride- I thought the equipment looked about 250 years old and no way I would have ridden any of those rides ha ha. Everardo almost went with Gume on the scary ride we saw Polo getting whipped around on, but they changed their minds and I was happy. Then the band started, and Chela dragged me to the dance floor, ok not dragged- led cause I wanted to dance! But I really wanted to dance with Poppi, but I didn't find him again for a few dances. Then I finally left the dance floor and we found each other. So he and I danced until that band was done with their gig, and decided it was time to head home. It was a little after midnite, so a good time to go. Didn't want to try to be driving out when it ended and be in a traffic jam with a lot of drunks ha ha ...and there were alot...alot... of drunks. We had a great time and so glad we went back the second nite!

So I noticed my long stories get scarmbled sometimes so I will quit here and start another to write more.

This weekend the fair is here. We went last nite (we went during the day and there was nobody there ha ha). We saw the bull riding and it was VERY exciting. Some of the cablleros got thrown right away but a few rode those bulls, trying to do so with no hands, only grabbing on at the last second. A couple of times I was rooting for the bull. It was pretty cool to watch the process. First these guys run into the ring pulling this rope and attached to it is a bull. He, at some point decides not to be pulled, to run, and the first one looked like a fast motion movie- he wasn't galloping, more stiff legs going really fast...then they get him over to one side of the corral where there is a metal sheet on the side of the fence. As he lines up there, they swing another metal sheet across him and he's sandwiched in, kinda looks like a toaster to me... The cowboys do something with him, maybe get that strap around his belly that the rider can grab onto, not sure what else. Then the rider who is standing in the middle of the ring kneels down and makes the sign of the cross in the dirt and on himself. Praying for a good ride I guess, and maybe not to be gored by the bull's horns (which were pretty big on every one of them). Then he climbs the metal sheet and lowers himself onto the bull. I think at the exact moment his butt touches the bull, the release him cause he BURSTS out and starts kickin'!!

One toro was dirty white with black spots on his butt, look like a dalmatian dog.He was smaller than the rest and I decided I would root for him. He was a scrappy little sucker and threw his rider in less than 10 seconds; less than 5 seconds. It was cool.

Anyways after that we got some tacos from a stand and our feet were tapping to the music and I was getting ready for some dancing! But as we finished the band took a break and then this ridiculous beauty contest started. Except there was no judging, nobody one so I'm not sure what the point was. It was very unorganized, with 6 young women, and very quickly I found out saying young women was stretching it! They were 14! Ha ha asked their fantasies and the answers were..."famous model", "famous singer". etc . They each danced alone for about 30 seconds as the emmcee would say "music maestro" and then in 30 seconds make a slicing motion to stop the music. Then they changed into swim suits, walked around, and then it was over. 14? Give me a break. My husband said- hey in Mexico at 14 you are an adult...yeah I said that's why all these 16-18 yr olds have babies!

Ok not all Mexican girls have children so young but alot do, and I just didn't like the idea of 14 yr olds struttin' their stuff like that- but hey- in the US that have girls competing in beauty contests from about 3yrs ol, so I guess what I will say is I don't approve of it anywhere.

After that a new band came up and they were so loud and not the kind of dancing we wanted to do- it was more rapid staccato, and by then it was 11pm, so we went home. However- we are about to go back tonite, in a little while so I will report on that too. It was a fun time, lots of people and lots from neighboring towns. Food music, games and carnival rides- a good time was had by all! ok more later