Everardo kinda found that out by accident, so he bought some and now he's been eating flour tortillas. I have a feeling it will be both; cause he likes the corn tortillas he gets in Maneadero, in fact we always have corn...but these days I don't eat too many tortillas so either kind is fine with me.
So there's a bunch of kids living there, maybe 5, maybe more. They get up about 5 am I think and make tortillas, and when I go out to exercise they're working on laundry. They told Everardo the little ones like to watch me dance...he told them to come over and exercise with me ha ha. I did make a CD of my songs to make a 55 minute routine and could play it on my laptop, but so far I just use my huge headphones and dance to my own songs playing in my head...loud. But it works. Friday was an "official weigh day" and now I've lost 74 pounds. So that's in a year and a half. I think 6 more pounds would be good, then a new concept- maintaining! Ha ha Can I do that? I still have work to do....chubby tummy and that fat that hangs down from the upper arms...takes weights and it looks better but I keep re-hurting my shoulder so it goes slowly.
Anyway I was thinking about all those kids...and they look happy. Now- down the road the other way, we walk with Sam, who can't walk too far anymore. He has arthritis in his front leg, and a bad hip in his back leg on the same side. The vet says he thinks the arthritis is bad because he always pulls himself up with his front legs. He slipped and fell after we moved here- well I think he slipped or skidded in the dirt, but maybe he stepped in a gopher hole..whatever it was his "elbow" swelled up and he was really hurting. Now he takes a pill every day to reduce inflamation, and although he's a little gimpy limpy, he seems happy and not in pain. But- he doesn't want to walk too far. I really want to walk the loop (or the square). To get to our house we come up a dirt road from the main Bufadora road and then take the first left. If we keep going past our house and a few more lots, there's a road up to the right, then I believe it crosses (right turn again) and then hits the road we come up on from the main road. But Sam just won't walk that far....he gets to a point and just stops ha ha. Yeah he stops and looks at us. I'm going to have to drive the car in that circle. With Sam in the back seat and his head hanging out the window.
So- right where that first turn is, close to where stubborn Sam stops, 3 young dogs will run up from what I thought was an empty building. It's unfinished for sure...just some walls and no glass in any of the windows. Well I got closer and saw a couple of little kids playing, very small like 3 or 4 yrs old. Wow then I saw a bunch of kids...like more than 10! Today we walked that way with Sam and I pointed out how many kids were playing around those unfinished walls and Everardo said several families lived there. As we got closer I could see a couple of little tents, and some low laundry lines put up. What will happen when it rains? I guess there's a roof over some of it, but no windows. So many people really have hard lives here.
I was thinking this morning about how many adults walk or ride bicycles here. Not for exercise but every day. I watched an old man standing on the corner wearing a long sleeved white shirt and a hat selling plastic bags of carmel corn. This man was old, 70's for sure. He should be home, reading the Sunday paper or playing with his grandchildren. I see so many senior citizens working, and in very menial jobs, selling things on the street, running food stands; it's really just a hard life.
I saw this cartoon on Facebook the other day that made me laugh out loud and say "right?" So it was this huge sloppy kind of fat guy riding one of those sitting scooters like they have in the grocery store. He's saying immigrants are what's ruining the country (the United States). But all around him you see a guy painting a house, a gardener mowing the lawn, a carpenter nailing something...and theyre all Mexicans! ha ha right? People here are so creative! They can find ways to make anything, to fix anything..and to sell everything. I always say- everything is Mexico is possible....but you have to wait...and you have to pay!
The manana thing. Ha ha again. I now understand that manana does not mean tomorrow...well it might, but it also might mean the day after that, or next week, or next year...or never. It just means not right now!(I don't have the little accent mark to put on the word- sorry)
I went to San Diego a couple of weeks ago for the day with 2 friends. I was noticing how everywhere I went there was a bathroom opportunity! I had a roll of toilet paper in my purse, which I have been carrying for the past 3 and a half years, but I didn't need it once! Here I always have to think about bathrooms- the little building where we have AA meetings here- we call it the coop (for chicken coop), and the only bathroom is an outhouse nearby that I went into once, and then went behind a tree to pee. But luckily that time I was there with just one other woman, because it wasn't a very big tree ha ha! And the office where I taught English- which is also the office I can work in if we have no internet here in the house also has no bathroom, and i have peed behind the building, hoping nobody would drive by. Now on Saturdays we go together to the noon English speaking AA meeting in Ensenda, and it has a tiny bathroom- but I don't like it- so I go across the street to the Carl's Jr. In fact I believe the Carl's Jr has the cleanest bathroom in Ensenada! Before the meeting we always stop at this food stand that is mariscos. I always have a shrimp & avacado tostada and Everardo always has the cerviche tostada. And of course there's no bathroom there! Ha ha once we get to the meeting, I run into Carl's Jr and he goes to another food truck and has a couple of tacos!
Our life is simple here, sweet. I think I like this spot we've landed in better than any other in Mexico..and we've lived in 5 different houses. One down below Acapulco, one in Sonora, and then 3 here. One for just 3 months, then the trailer for a year and a half and we've been here 2 months already.But the truth is, after going to northern Ca in Aug, I just miss Drew so much! And they have Danica full time now (Rex's 6 yr old). I got to go school shopping with her- she started first grade while I was there. They also have Rex's 14 yr old son living with them now. And I was Grandma Terry. When we went to Yosemite, I sat in the back with the kids. I watched my daughter and her fiance be the grownups, chatting in front seat, engaging the kids, everyone laughing...I was so....well I was a part of it! (Even tho part of the time I felt like I was outside myself watching it). I want to be part of it. I had a lot a family this year. Spending a month with my big sister, and reuniting with my little sister. I don't want to be far away.
I think Everardo misses his aunt and uncle as well. He told me a while back that he's come to realize that his realy family is his aunt & uncle and cousins- those 5 sisters are his sisters more than his cousins. We went to visit his brother and sister in Michocan twice, and that was great. He spent time with his nieces and nephews. But he is closer to the family up in Gilroy. So we are thinking about going back. It's funny, I read my blog from last year at this time, and I wrote that Poppi was dreaming that we went back and we talked about it, but decided to stay. I think maybe this time, we'll go.
Checking out her new school
So maybe we'll go home sometime soon. Funny, we finally a place I love, I sit in it, I sit contented out front looking across at the estuary, at the ocean, or off to the side to see the mountains...or the buildings of Ensenada....and now I'm ready to go home. Everardo and I talked and he said- we've had an awesome adventure. You got to live your dream, I got to find out things about myself. And now we're ready to move on. To go back. Not to the same house- ha ha we can't afford to live in the house we own. We need the rental income! I'm thinking I wouldn't mind working part time like I do now. In fact I might even be able to keep this job, she's just need someone to do the airport runs I do now. But I could still do all the paperwork on my laptop, talk to customers, manage reservations. But I was looking at Craigslist and there are part time jobs. Probably not high paying, but I don't need much since we'll have the rent. And if we move a little more north, maybe Ukiah, we could definitely afford a place. It's an hour north of Santa Rosa where Drewy lives so we'd only be an hour away. Seems like a plan. I mean I'd love to live in Santa Rosa but we'd have to be pretty lucky to find something livable in our price range...which is soooo low ha ha. So there's lots to think about. Hmmm will I still write this blog? Will I have to change the name? To what? Mexico and back? Well that's enough for now. Lots to think about it. Viva
