Well we went out to the Pinacate reserve last Sunday. Very cool- very very cool. I heard and then read that years ago this area was used by the United States for the astronauts to train before going to the moon...all the craters I guess. At first I thought as we started the trek out there....hmmmm what's up with this? I have been totally complaining lately about my new found HATE of the desert, and now we're gonna drive a 2.5 to 3 hour loop thru the desert! Wow maybe I'm not coming back- maybe he's finally sick of my complaining and I'm gonna disappear....I mean you could bury somebody out there and nobody's ever gonna find them, probably never even look. The first 10 or 15 minutes were just desert, and here the desert is not too awe inspiring, at least not after 11 months of it. There's no really cool cactus like closer to the border and right over the border in Arizona where they have that pipe organ cactus. Or the tall poles that then have these thick branches (are they called branches on cactus), anyway they always look like arms waving at you.
I used to have this stamp of a cactus, the tall one and his arm was waving like "buh bye now". I had a green ink stamp pad and I used it whenever a sales order was complete and shipped. Then I could easily tell if an order was complete or we shipped the system but there was something back ordered. I worked in manufacturing my entire career and over 25 years of it was telecommunications. From building product in our own factory to outsourcing locally when surface mount technology hit- the equipment was soooo expensive- so we built it off site, then put it all together for test and ship, to building it offshore in Hong Kong, then Thailand then China. I remember when we first started using email...ouch makes me old eh? Ok I'm 56....
Anyway the cactus here always makes me think of that stamp...don't know what happened to it. On the way to Ensenada the desert changes, to red dirt, to more shrubbery, to very rocky...if you're watching out the car window you see the landscape changing. It changed like that in the Pinicate reserve. Well once I saw the crater! I was so happy I went! It was very cool. Very deep. And the signs they had in English and Spanish were written in such an interesting way- ..."imagine you were standing here and felt a rumbling under your feet..." and it told you what happened as the volcano erupted. And I learned alot. I never knew some volcanoes create craters and some create mountains. It was beautiful and it was awesome. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is down this way. It was about a 2 hour drive around the loop; we saw a roadrunner and a few lizards, but we also saw beautiful foliage, amazing rock formations, and I really looked at the desert like I haven't done in a while.
So we'll leave the desert; I'm not sorry about that, but I am reminded about the beauty of everything, tropics, desert, all of it. It was a nice trip and I'm glad we took it.
We are almost packed; only things and clothes we need are still out. Our neighbor got a new puppy. He's part lab and part something else big, I think he may be even bigger than Sam. He's chocolate brown and really cute. I'm not sure she ever had a dog before, or maybe is of the common mindset here that they don't matter much or need much. I took him to the center for his first shots, stuff for parasites and a de- tick bath, and they picked over 100 ticks off of him. I named him Brownie just for the paperwork they started for him, marking off his shots and dates for when he needs to return. It's all free out there, including getting neutered, I hope she does that. But they don't pay any attention to him; they leave him outside all day and they stay inside all day, even the kid. So he plays with Sam and comes in our house. She doesn't know apparently that he needs to eat at least 3 times a day at this age so we feed him in the middle of the day, actually we feed him in the morning too since they don't get up very early. Sam is really having fun with him, they way we had hoped it would be with Lucky...
Poor Brownie is gonna be sad when we leave. We are joking about stealing him....or just asking her if she really wants him....I think she does, for protection, at least for him to bark like Sam does, but he needs love! He's huge, about 3 months and 14 pounds already ha ha. He chews everything, has stolen a bunch of shoes out of our house to chew- he needs some toys. The kid (5yrs old) Omar, named him Rango so that's what we were calling him; in fact in my head I was figuring out what I wanted to change it to if he went with us to Ensenada...I was thinking Roscoe...but then Rocky since this city, Puerto Penasco, is also called Rocky Point. But then this morning, the neighbor, the kid, and her boyfriend were all calling him Brownie.....so I guess that's his name. Ah well, we can't take him....and that's ok. We're going to a new place and having a puppy to house train, etc, won't be fun...and oh yeah did I mention that he threw up in the car on the way to the center and then again on the way back? Could you imagine a 6 hour trip? Which will probably be closer to 8 hours since Everardo will be driving the truck pulling the trailer and me and Sam will follow with the car.
This was one long long week, and now all of a sudden it's Friday nite. So now 2 weeks to go. I gave a memory stick to my zumba instructor Erica, and she's going to copy all her songs so I can make myself a playlist- yipee. I actually asked her if she'd write down the titles of the songs as they played during our workout, so I'd just ask for the ones I really liked, then I'd find them on Itunes. But she suggested the memory stick, and she said she copied 111 songs! Wow! I like the beat, it's good for exercising. And a couple of songs- when I hear them I know what to do. That's just a couple but one is a song that's just a leg workout and there's another just for arms, so I like that. I've actually heard some of them on the radio, but even if I looked in Itunes; I don't what the genre is...are they rock? contemporary? I don't know how they're rated in Spanish. Her birthday was Wednesday and everybody sang to her after class. I gave her a little pair of silver earrings that Everardo gave me and I had a nice little box...little gifts are important for people you respect here. Tonite after class we had a little potluck to celebrate her birthday and anyone in October. It was snack type foods; this kind of soup that was like cream, and then people put tortilla chips in it and ate them. There was another creamy like soup that was green, but I didn't try it; I felt lucky that the one I chose was only a little picoso (spicy)...and with the chips and hits off my water bottle it was ok. Ha ha I saw these small cups of what I thought was juice, maybe apple of pineapple and I took one and brought it up to my lips to the laughter of others- it was jello! Luckily I brought a flannel shirt with me because it's actually starting to get cold after dark. Well only after zumba when I'm wet from sweat do I get cold. I don't wear the shirt before or during, but was glad I brought it along tonite. I saw the old lady, the one who used to give me a bad time at zumba, stash food in a bag and casually walk over to her car. Oh well, I gave them a ride home once, or close to their home, and so her hoarding a bit of food is ok. Anyway she snatched about 3 of the little things I brought- and boy they went quick with lots of comments about being rico (rich)....even though they were actually low calorie. But they were little muffin shaped things made with yogurt, and were yellow cake and chocolate, sort of swirled. So I did good ha ha! One lady asked me (in Spanish of course) if I had them in my house. I laughed and told her no! When I have something like that in mi casa, I eat them all, probably in 2 days or less, so we all had a good laugh about that.
So I'm home and the windows are actually closed cause it's pretty cool outside, and with the cool air came the mosquitoes. They weren't here all summer in the heat, and that's a blessing, But they're here now. Poppi is getting bit and man what a crabby boy! I shared my bug lotion with him- I put some more on after my shower, and gave him some, but maybe it's not working as well for him. He's pretty grumpy right now, he's playing solitare on the computer, so I'm just doing my own thing. Eating peanuts and jack cheese...oh I hope SO much that they have sharp cheddar in Ensenada! I'm also doing a little research on tv applications for over there; do we stay with Sky TV? Varivision which I was offered, or Dish.
The guy at the Laptop place told me today that his girlfriend here in Penasco pays 149 pesos a month for Dish, basic package. Even if you double it to get a bizillion channels it's still less than the 510 pesos we pay now. I picked up a one page catelog/menu of packages for Dish and the woman told me it's the same in Ensenada....we want both English and Spanish channels and have zero need for any local U.S news. BBC news is the best- even much better than CNN Int'l. But I do want shows in English like we have now..altho different channels than we have now would still be ok, cause they play the same movies for...about a year! If I see Maid in Manhatten one more time I might have to kill myself. And Hangover- funny movie but in the last 3 months it's been on about 15 times....English and Spanish. Oh and Rocky Balboa....kill me!
Ok well a repeat of Criminal Minds is on...they started back at the beginning, like season one, so I don't actually remember all of it...have an awesome night all.
Mexico fun fact:
Hernan Cortés had a native mistress and able translator Marina (La Malinche). She gave birth to his first son, who is considered the first mestizo (Indian-Spanish).
I used to have this stamp of a cactus, the tall one and his arm was waving like "buh bye now". I had a green ink stamp pad and I used it whenever a sales order was complete and shipped. Then I could easily tell if an order was complete or we shipped the system but there was something back ordered. I worked in manufacturing my entire career and over 25 years of it was telecommunications. From building product in our own factory to outsourcing locally when surface mount technology hit- the equipment was soooo expensive- so we built it off site, then put it all together for test and ship, to building it offshore in Hong Kong, then Thailand then China. I remember when we first started using email...ouch makes me old eh? Ok I'm 56....
Anyway the cactus here always makes me think of that stamp...don't know what happened to it. On the way to Ensenada the desert changes, to red dirt, to more shrubbery, to very rocky...if you're watching out the car window you see the landscape changing. It changed like that in the Pinicate reserve. Well once I saw the crater! I was so happy I went! It was very cool. Very deep. And the signs they had in English and Spanish were written in such an interesting way- ..."imagine you were standing here and felt a rumbling under your feet..." and it told you what happened as the volcano erupted. And I learned alot. I never knew some volcanoes create craters and some create mountains. It was beautiful and it was awesome. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is down this way. It was about a 2 hour drive around the loop; we saw a roadrunner and a few lizards, but we also saw beautiful foliage, amazing rock formations, and I really looked at the desert like I haven't done in a while.
So we'll leave the desert; I'm not sorry about that, but I am reminded about the beauty of everything, tropics, desert, all of it. It was a nice trip and I'm glad we took it.
We are almost packed; only things and clothes we need are still out. Our neighbor got a new puppy. He's part lab and part something else big, I think he may be even bigger than Sam. He's chocolate brown and really cute. I'm not sure she ever had a dog before, or maybe is of the common mindset here that they don't matter much or need much. I took him to the center for his first shots, stuff for parasites and a de- tick bath, and they picked over 100 ticks off of him. I named him Brownie just for the paperwork they started for him, marking off his shots and dates for when he needs to return. It's all free out there, including getting neutered, I hope she does that. But they don't pay any attention to him; they leave him outside all day and they stay inside all day, even the kid. So he plays with Sam and comes in our house. She doesn't know apparently that he needs to eat at least 3 times a day at this age so we feed him in the middle of the day, actually we feed him in the morning too since they don't get up very early. Sam is really having fun with him, they way we had hoped it would be with Lucky...
Poor Brownie is gonna be sad when we leave. We are joking about stealing him....or just asking her if she really wants him....I think she does, for protection, at least for him to bark like Sam does, but he needs love! He's huge, about 3 months and 14 pounds already ha ha. He chews everything, has stolen a bunch of shoes out of our house to chew- he needs some toys. The kid (5yrs old) Omar, named him Rango so that's what we were calling him; in fact in my head I was figuring out what I wanted to change it to if he went with us to Ensenada...I was thinking Roscoe...but then Rocky since this city, Puerto Penasco, is also called Rocky Point. But then this morning, the neighbor, the kid, and her boyfriend were all calling him Brownie.....so I guess that's his name. Ah well, we can't take him....and that's ok. We're going to a new place and having a puppy to house train, etc, won't be fun...and oh yeah did I mention that he threw up in the car on the way to the center and then again on the way back? Could you imagine a 6 hour trip? Which will probably be closer to 8 hours since Everardo will be driving the truck pulling the trailer and me and Sam will follow with the car.
This was one long long week, and now all of a sudden it's Friday nite. So now 2 weeks to go. I gave a memory stick to my zumba instructor Erica, and she's going to copy all her songs so I can make myself a playlist- yipee. I actually asked her if she'd write down the titles of the songs as they played during our workout, so I'd just ask for the ones I really liked, then I'd find them on Itunes. But she suggested the memory stick, and she said she copied 111 songs! Wow! I like the beat, it's good for exercising. And a couple of songs- when I hear them I know what to do. That's just a couple but one is a song that's just a leg workout and there's another just for arms, so I like that. I've actually heard some of them on the radio, but even if I looked in Itunes; I don't what the genre is...are they rock? contemporary? I don't know how they're rated in Spanish. Her birthday was Wednesday and everybody sang to her after class. I gave her a little pair of silver earrings that Everardo gave me and I had a nice little box...little gifts are important for people you respect here. Tonite after class we had a little potluck to celebrate her birthday and anyone in October. It was snack type foods; this kind of soup that was like cream, and then people put tortilla chips in it and ate them. There was another creamy like soup that was green, but I didn't try it; I felt lucky that the one I chose was only a little picoso (spicy)...and with the chips and hits off my water bottle it was ok. Ha ha I saw these small cups of what I thought was juice, maybe apple of pineapple and I took one and brought it up to my lips to the laughter of others- it was jello! Luckily I brought a flannel shirt with me because it's actually starting to get cold after dark. Well only after zumba when I'm wet from sweat do I get cold. I don't wear the shirt before or during, but was glad I brought it along tonite. I saw the old lady, the one who used to give me a bad time at zumba, stash food in a bag and casually walk over to her car. Oh well, I gave them a ride home once, or close to their home, and so her hoarding a bit of food is ok. Anyway she snatched about 3 of the little things I brought- and boy they went quick with lots of comments about being rico (rich)....even though they were actually low calorie. But they were little muffin shaped things made with yogurt, and were yellow cake and chocolate, sort of swirled. So I did good ha ha! One lady asked me (in Spanish of course) if I had them in my house. I laughed and told her no! When I have something like that in mi casa, I eat them all, probably in 2 days or less, so we all had a good laugh about that.
So I'm home and the windows are actually closed cause it's pretty cool outside, and with the cool air came the mosquitoes. They weren't here all summer in the heat, and that's a blessing, But they're here now. Poppi is getting bit and man what a crabby boy! I shared my bug lotion with him- I put some more on after my shower, and gave him some, but maybe it's not working as well for him. He's pretty grumpy right now, he's playing solitare on the computer, so I'm just doing my own thing. Eating peanuts and jack cheese...oh I hope SO much that they have sharp cheddar in Ensenada! I'm also doing a little research on tv applications for over there; do we stay with Sky TV? Varivision which I was offered, or Dish.
The guy at the Laptop place told me today that his girlfriend here in Penasco pays 149 pesos a month for Dish, basic package. Even if you double it to get a bizillion channels it's still less than the 510 pesos we pay now. I picked up a one page catelog/menu of packages for Dish and the woman told me it's the same in Ensenada....we want both English and Spanish channels and have zero need for any local U.S news. BBC news is the best- even much better than CNN Int'l. But I do want shows in English like we have now..altho different channels than we have now would still be ok, cause they play the same movies for...about a year! If I see Maid in Manhatten one more time I might have to kill myself. And Hangover- funny movie but in the last 3 months it's been on about 15 times....English and Spanish. Oh and Rocky Balboa....kill me!
Ok well a repeat of Criminal Minds is on...they started back at the beginning, like season one, so I don't actually remember all of it...have an awesome night all.
Mexico fun fact:
Hernan Cortés had a native mistress and able translator Marina (La Malinche). She gave birth to his first son, who is considered the first mestizo (Indian-Spanish).
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