Thank God it's windy today! It's about 10:30am and the wind is blowing pretty good. Yesterday there was not even a hint of wind and it was soooo hot. Press you down into the ground hot. I had no classes yesterday, and after running around all morning- new windshield for my car (small cracks that will get me a ticket going to the airport in Phoenix), an hour and a half in the immigration office, an AA meeting, and another half hour on the phone with Kaiser (changing my plan) I was home and free for early afternoon. Of course we do have to go back to immigration...hmmm that's 4 times, so again in 3 weeks, and I should get my renewed visa. So a couple of different answers on what comes next. The first lady had said, next year I can apply for citizenship because I'm married to a Mexican National, but the woman yesterday said, oh you have to go down to Hermosillo and start the process there and she didn't know how many years (years?) it took. But she said next year I can apply for permanent residence, which is quicker than if I was not married to Everardo. And I may be able to get Seguro Popular now, or might have to wait for permanent residency....that's something to think about because I'm trying (again) to decide what to do about my U.S. insurance. I did just change to a new plan that's only $281 a month- but I still only go to the doctor once a year...and then as I found out last month, I get billed for going. Such a f**king ripoff! They have doctors here...why not be insured here?

Oh! Now the wind is really blowing, ah nice cool air, I'm liking this...sounds like a "read in the hammock" day. Yesterday when it was so hot early in the afternoon, I went out to my hammock, but it's only in the shade later, by around 3pm.....but but but...the clothes lines are also where the hammock is, so I got creative and clothes pinned towels across 2 clotheslines and made myself some shade! ha ha!! Funny right now the area is in shade, so before about 12:30 and after 3pm it's in shade...
Yesterday I took Sam to the park around 3pm for an hour and he spent most of it rolling in the grass, in the shade of course. I brought my book and found my own shade...then right before we left Everardo called and said to meet him at home and we'd go swimming out at Las Conchas. We previously found a good spot out there, so we headed out. It was low tide but this spot has a break in the rock to wade out. So we floated around and Sam swam and swam and swam, then Everardo had to hold him still so he could float cause he just wouldn't go back to shore without us! We walked out far enough where I was basically on my toes on top of some rocks. The rocks are not sharp; it's this volcanic rock, so from the beach you sort of are walking on this huge shelf. When the tide is out, and we come back in, it's really cool to walk on this shelf, cause it's full of shells and sometimes when you move smaller rocks crabs scurry away. There's places where little pools are left, and it's just so fun to explore. I have become the shell collector. I always think I have enough, but then there's another beautiful one, or interesting one, or perfectly formed one.....you get the picture...

Poor Sam, he still hasn't figured out not to drink the salt water when he's swimming. When he gets out he usually throws up after a little while. Yesterday I noticed he's been eating the berries, swallowing them whole, from the tree in our yard. The problem is I don't think they're berries, more like some little pod...it the tree that's a jasmine tree...the tiny flowers and the scent left a few weeks back, but these little balls are left. Ok this part is kinda gross, but did you ever see a cow lift up his tail and the stuff shoot out- like a projectile? (and it's funny, their tail is always crooked), anyway Sam has that as well. Not the minute he gets out of the water, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, so we know not to go from the water straight to the car ha ha. So he goes both ends, no waiting! But he feels fine. On the way home he is always so happy, head hanging out the car window or in the back of the truck with his face over the side breathing in every smell. The wind blows his lips back and he always looks like he's smiling- well I think he is smiling! He gets home, drinks about 2 gallons of water, gulps down his dinner, and then looks at us expectantly ...ok what's next? I love that silly dog!

Ok fun fact about the Sea of Cortez: The sperm whale is one of the species here:

The Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California, is a unique corner of the Pacific Ocean. This remarkable young sea is thought to be around five million years old and home to nearly 900 species of fish and the widest variety of whales and dolphins found anywhere on Earth. Some of the greatest changes threatening the world's oceans today can be seen in this stretch of water.

The sperm whale is the world's largest predator and dives deeper than any other mammal - up to depths of over 2,000m. Its call reaches 220 decibels, the loudest made by any creature on Earth, so one of the best methods that scientists use to find these whales is by using underwater directional microphones.

With the largest brain in the animal kingdom, this creature is steeped in mystery. 

Relatively little is known about sperm whales compared to some other whales, so the scientific research into their health and how they contract diseases is crucial to their conservation.

Members of the public should not attempt to snorkel with sperm whales. To be able to film the sequence for Oceans, the team required a scientist present and permission from the government. ok- viva!

 

1 year today! We have been in Mexico for one year today! I can't believe it. In some ways it has passed by in about 10 minutes, in other ways, it was soooo slow. I would have to say slow for the first six months, down in Guerrero (near Acapulco),  and whizzed by at the speed of light for the second six (up north here in Sonora). Maybe month one went by kinda fast...moving in, getting our bearings (oh really- did I ever get my bearing down there??) And of course, at first having endless hours to lay in the hammock and read, to walk the beach any time day or nite and it was warm and inviting....yeah that passed by nicely. But wait again- the first month- try the end of the first week, we had the tail end of a hurricane and it rained in our bedroom. It went on to rain in the living room, and later, as the water soaked thru the roof and the ceiling, it rained in the kitchen. Well the kitchen was more of a steady leak....mostly running down the walls and just a little dripping onto your head. Of course at first all of our dishes, glasses and coffee cups were on a shelf attached to the wall, so yep- they got wet, too.

The lightning scared poor Sam even more than me, and he was shaking at the end of our bed those nites, and I jumped every time it hit. And it hit, not just the "flash of lightning and the crack of thunder" the lightning was hitting the ground near us, and in the water right off the beach- it was scary. And oh my God- the street in front of our house! It didn't get paved in front of our house until way after the rainy season, and the mud was a thick sloggy river down our driveway and onto the patio yuck yuck. After the first day of the rain (we'd been there about 3 days I think) the mud started to pour in, and poor Everardo was up on the road trying to dig a ditch to divert the mud flow past us and into the ditch on the other side of the road. The first morning he was out there in the pouring rain for about 4 hours straight! Yeah- welcome to paradise! And he was fighting a losing battle. He did it the next day and the next. After that he tried making a little ditch off our driveway still in our yard but off to the side, some mud/water went that way and then the rest in the gutter that ran across the front of the patio, so that worked out pretty good. Oh and when it's raining there...it's still just as hot- you're just wet. So we walked down the road in the mud in shorts and tank tops.

The beach at that time was new to us, and when the tide was coming almost up to the rocks at the back of the beach- meaning up off the beach to the houses, it was kinda scary; we'd wait until a couple of waves came way in, then run across in front of the rocks- but then our friends there said- "NO" don't do that, you never know when a rouge wave would come up and drag us out. Since I had already experienced being smacked against the rocks and starting to be dragged out the year before, I had a pretty healthy fear and was happy to use the road instead for awhile. And it rained off and on June, July, August, a little less in Sept, Oct & Nov...yeah the entire six months...but nothing like in June and July- those months were heavy rains. One side wall on our house, part of the new construction we had done was a place the rain always pounded, it seems like the wind was always going in the same direction- anyway this place, well inside it was the living room wall almost at the corner where the tv sat, and we had pictures on the wall, it started to stain, get darker with the water starting to soak thru.

It's unfortunate, but in Mexico, if you have any construction done- you have to be there. You, not someone you appoint to take care of it unless you know them really well, that you trust is because of previous experience and knowledge, not cause you met them and "instinctively" like them. Our roof leaked, our walls were soaking thru. That should have never happened. We had been given a price which we agreed to. Then of course there were other little costs and we agreeable sent more money. To say I was PISSED OFF when that stuff started happening was an understatement! Oh and the windows! Ok first thing you need to know. When you build a house, or an addition like we did, and it has doors and windows, well the doors came with it, but not the glass in the windows. They cut the holes in the wall, but oh- you want glass in the holes? Oh that's extra! WHAT?? But of course we paid. But what they did not do, was put any kind of sealant around the windows (well or the roof either obviously), and when the second hurricane tail hit, the winds came blasting in from the ocean and I got up in the middle of the night, woken up by some noise that didn't "fit", and walked into the living room with about 3 inches high of water in it. Now all these leaks, ceilings and windows happened in our first 2 weeks so we still had stuff all over the place. In the case of the bedroom it was a good thing cause nothing was ruined. In the case of the living room it sucked cause there were boxes, but luckily mostly plastic tubs with stuff all over the place. Yeah as it turns out there was about an inch of space under the windows....

Hmmm ok so maybe the first month didn't fly by. The truth is, it was a long six months. I think after I finish this I'm going to go back and see what I wrote. I know it wasn't all bad. Ha ha covered in bug bites, and by bites I mean welts the entire time, intermittent tv, internet, lights, then atms machines with no money, stores with no milk...ha ha ha ha. But I did see so many beautiful places and met so many wonderful people. I experienced so many celebrations, the celebration of each town's saint, a funeral procession, a quinsineirra (spelling), the rodeo, watching the guys come back from fishing with baskets of lobster and huge fish, my dog Sam catching a fish! The old lady taking her pig for a walk! Iguanas all over the place, and the big one who always sunned himself on the big rock behind our house overlooking the ocean. And the ocean...so amazing there. The water is always warm. The sand is warm and so many cool shells. The meeting of the ocean and the sky when the sun first comes up and right when it goes down. Every single night there was an awesome and I mean AWESOME sunset. Wispy clouds of different shades of blue and pink, I mean I was sure we were so much closer to the sun there. When the sun first came up and it shined across the water it took your breath away. And every morning there were these huge pelicans, sometimes just one or two in each group and sometimes as many as twenty. They would just soar, just sit on the air and lazily pass you by. Then start diving for breakfast. I would sit out on my rock for an hour in the morning and at nite, not every single day, but almost, and rain or shine cause it wasn't cold but it was always amazing. You couldn't help but get in touch with your spirituality. And for that I am grateful.

So it was very good and very bad. I ate and read and swam and laughed and cried and was sooo lonely and isolated...ha! It was exhuasting in some ways. I do not regret the experience because of the introspection, the new experiences, the harsh reality of life in a third world country. How many expectations I had and how wrong I was about almost all of it! How cool it was to find that out, to survive it all. To become....more. Wow and that was just six months ha ha!

Guerrero was tropical, very green and lush, high humidity, you were soaking wet in your clothes all the time, day or nite, 365 days a year. Except for the rain, the weather stayed the same all the time. Iguanas and tarantulas walking around, parrots walking in the road. Oh and scorpions. I saw 3 close up. One the first day in our kitchen sink, the second about a month later, in a pile of dirty clothes, luckily I saw something and dropped them, and the third the puppy from next door was barking at on our patio and the scorpion was waving his claws at him- Everardo came up and stomped on it. Sonora on the other hand is a huge desert, cactus and sand, dry, not too much green. So around town is dusty all the time. But the desert is pretty and you see little prairie dogs run across the road. The water here is different of course, it's not open ocean so no huge waves, but since April the water has been warm enough to swim in (unlike Guerrero where it always warm enough). So it's different.

Then the big move. Because I am a person and I need stimulation. I need to talk to people, to share things, thoughts and experiences. It became too lonely for me, and too remote for Everardo. There was no work for him, not diversions; he can only fish so much and I can only read so much. We needed to be involved with life and we just weren't finding it there. So we came to the place Everardo wanted to try. Ha ha home run! He is very happy here; working on the beach selling jewelry to tourists, and now he's making most of it. He also makes these spiders and scorpions and they sell as well. Now he's also working out at the center where I teach English, he goes on Wed & Thur, when there's not too many people on the beach, and he's helping with the dog ministry. Sounds funny right? Dog ministry. But in Puerto Penasco, in Sonora, in all of Mexico, there is a HUGE problem with the dog population, people just don't get their dogs fixed (spayed or neutered). And some huge percentage of them are sick, spreading sexually transmitted diseases, dying from parvo or distemper, not getting vaccinated. Well the center will vaccinate the dogs, and they have fix them, too once or twice a month, but to go s step further, they will pay for someone's dog to get fixed. So Everardo is helping to transport dogs to the vet or to the no kill shelter, where they get the dogs and healthy and send them to a no kill shelter in Arizona. Is it like spitting in the ocean? YES. But it's still better than nothing. So my hubby is a happy guy. He has some friends here, he loves his work, he's helping out a good cause, and now we're exercising again, too. He's running for an hour and then doing a weights workout, I'm just walking at this point.

I'm getting better at teaching; finding materials to do vocabulary and then a conversation. And for Spanish classes, we we're being forced to be creative. We just lost Laurie for the summer. We had her for one day, then the next week she was sick, then had her for a week and that was last week. Yesterday (Tuesday) she told us, oh I have to go to Arizona, then my grandkids are coming, so...well for sure by September. SEPTEMBER??? Did she not know any of this when she agreed to start a class with us? Well and the class left something to be desire for me. She was aiming at Sean, the new kid working out at the center, and he's a beginner. After the first class I asked her if she could make the class work for beginners and intermediate and she said yes, but that has not been my experience in these short few classes. I was wiling to stick with it and see how it went for a while longer, but then she told us she was leaving. As it turns out, Karen feels the same way as me. So we have a new plan. (You know what? I really really like when things go wrong and we just decide to figure out a new plan) So the new plan is: tomorrow we are both bringing the books we liked the best from prior classes- and they both happen to be books from Isabel.....great teacher, but too expensive and really inconsistent about showing up...so we have similar work books and we're gonna choose lessons and the things we both want to work on, like she wants to do possessive pronouns and I'm happy to review that. And we'll make a scenario to have a conversation around- like we're 2 sisters home from college and our parents put all our stuff together in the garage and we have to go thru it, talk about it, trade it, insist it mine or hers...stuff like that. And we got a guy who volunteers out there who is a Mexican guy that lived in the States for 30 years and he'll correct us, teach us, lead us, and keep us in conversation because we both believe that conversation is what we need- we need to apply the lessons. We're gonna pay him 50 pesos a class, and we're going to use the time we had carved out for Laurie, 3:30-5pm Tue & Thur. We "UN-invited" Mark and Sean who are at least a level below us and we want to be challenged. She understands better and I speak better. So we can challenge each other.
The other thing we're going to do is take another afternoon, an hour or hour and a half, and use the Rosetta Stone program. She bought it a couple of years ago and is willing to share it with me. So I think we have a strong plan....but of course I thought Isabel was a strong plan, and I thought Laurie was a strong plan...oh but maybe third time's a charm, right?

I should say a tiny bit about the weather here. It's pretty hot every day but it's also windy every day and that really helps! I hear it's windy longer this year, that usually it's gone by now, but I'm happy it's here. Although I did hear that the wind is not good for the fishing vessels, that many of them can't go out when it's too windy....ok so I'll just hope for light winds....It was really cold the second half of December, January, and most of February...started warming up in March..and it warms up quick. In March I started wearing shorts. I know it's going to get hotter and hotter, peaking I think August/September. But I'll have to look up the rainy season. Cause google says it rains less than 2 inches a year here, but in December and January it rained way more than that- oh and it was cold like actual winter when it was raining- no shorts in the rain here ha ha. So if the rainy season is in the summer..but I don't know because in Guerrero we were really far south...ok info for my next post.

So we are happy for now, here in the armpit of Mexico. We are pursuing things we want for ourselves and each other, and also trying to contribute to our community in a positive way. So, as always...Viva!