What a beautiful day in Mexico! Started out talking to my little sister and that was nice. She was sick but on the mend. I miss her, and we talked a little bit about Mom and how fast a year goes by. Last year this time was tough. I followed that with a call with my younger daughter. That was so nice cause it's hard to catch her; 19, working and school, and busy with friends. Hopefully I'll finish the day talking to my other daughter, but I did get to chat with her on the phone last nite for about an hour, so...
Finished a book & started another. When the tide was low, close to 3pm, took Sam down to the beach. We haven't played in the water in weeks; too dangerous this time of year. But today was fun, refreshing, relaxing. Sam loved it. Poppi brought this board, not a surfboard, much shorter and made of something like really thick styrofoam, with a lead to connect to your wrist. Well the water is still too strong for that. But we played in the little holes in front of the rocks, letting the water slide in and around, sometimes pulling us one way or the other. Then Monsie & Ronoldo showed up (7&8yrs) and jumped in with us. We all floated around, they asked about English class- when was it, and I laughed and said never if no students show up (in Spanish of course). But I said we are having class right now and they rattled off the months and week days, and asked for the words for waves, rocks, fish, etc.
Sam was so happy and now he's exhausted- me too ha ha. We stayed awhile after they went home and finally came back up. While I was in the shower my sweet hubby opened coconuts for the delicious water inside, then we ate and have since collapsed. No walk today; I'm too lazy.
So the day really started with Everardo going to find the electrician guy and having him come and tweak something on the pole across the street. 200 pesos. I think we'll have to put this guy on our payroll, we paid him 200 pesos 3 or 4 times now...after having no electricity for 2 days we got it back. But all day yesterday it- well I guess the word is surged- the lights dim & bright, the fan slow and fast, the tv was impossible cause the electric wouldn't be enough for the cable so it would go off, say pls wait...then come back onto the menu. Then you have to first lower the volume (cause at menu for some reason it's on full blast), then choose a block (movies, news, etc), then pick the channel you were watching. A few times a nite is one thing, but constantly, every 5 or 10 minutes is ridiculous. So we gave up on tv yesterday but we like to watch it at nite cause we stay up pretty late since it's so hot. Anyway whatever he did seems to have done the trick.
Breakfast was nice, we had tamales made by the neighbor across the street, who also gave us fresh picked corn that we ate tonite. Everardo says since he helped at the cemetery the other day more people are talking to him when he walks by. Ha ha I already thought he was friends with everyone! But I had never talked to the people across the street; it's kinda more than across the street- their house is set way back and there's no driveway or anything. They're not home much cause they have a restaurant and beach area at Casa de Piedras, the place we walk to in the evenings, it's about a 20 min walk to get there I think- I'll have to time it. Then on the way last nite on our walk another guy started talking to us; they have a little hotel/restaurant along that road and he was taking chicken (I think) out of a big pizza oven. Poppi said we wanted to build one and the guy said get the materials and then call me- I'll help you with it! I didn't know him either, but he was there that day, too.
Interesting note about that sad day when the baby died. I heard people saying there were signs that the baby wasn't well and I tried to ask what signs, since I also heard that the baby dr was a bad dr- that several babies had died under her care. (Over what time period I don't know or even know what's true and what's not.) But I didn't understand what I was hearing about the signs. I thought the baby must have been in distress, or it was a hard birth, or something. But the signs were superstitious signs, and people believe in this. 2 different people had dreams that somehow signified death; one was about the mother wearing white by the edge of the sea and whiteness all around her. The otther dream I didn't understand what they were saying. Another sign was that the mother brought home some flowers one day (before the birth), and 4 or 5 different people told her they were the color of funeral flowers.
So I don't know why the poor little guy passed on, but it was truly a sad day. It's nice that people are also pretty religious around here because hopefully it was some comfort to those young parents.
My husband also has some beliefs- isn't it funny how when we don't believe it we call them superstitions? When he sees a flock of birds flying in huge circles (not vultures), he says it's gonna be windy later. He also wraps a spider web around a cut for a band-aid.
He also told me of a belief that if you spill fresh milk from a cow after boiling it, the cows teats will split. This one he told me because he bought some fresh milk from a kid the other day. It's cheaper than milk from the store, and more available. So of course I had to google it to see if it's ok to just drink it like that- and of course- there's a huge debate about it. It seems like it should be ok, good for you even; although I'll have to drink it a little bit at a time to get my body used to it. Well he boiled the first amount anyway and so that's safe for sure. Tastes very rich, but the boiling of course kills off the good stuff as well as the bad stuff. To be honest I emailed my cancer doctor to ask since it's full of hormones and I'm taking medicine to block estrogen...not sure if that makes sense but I was also surprised that I couldn't eat soy anymore either. Of course he hasn't answered yet...You know, I want to eat organically, I want to eat what's fresh and available as the people who live here do- cause Ilive here, too. But the truth is that F'ing cancer scared me, so I try to be careful.
As I told my sister on the phone today I am a cross between Terry Little House on the Prairie and Terry of Maybery (ya know- Aunt Bea).
Finished a book & started another. When the tide was low, close to 3pm, took Sam down to the beach. We haven't played in the water in weeks; too dangerous this time of year. But today was fun, refreshing, relaxing. Sam loved it. Poppi brought this board, not a surfboard, much shorter and made of something like really thick styrofoam, with a lead to connect to your wrist. Well the water is still too strong for that. But we played in the little holes in front of the rocks, letting the water slide in and around, sometimes pulling us one way or the other. Then Monsie & Ronoldo showed up (7&8yrs) and jumped in with us. We all floated around, they asked about English class- when was it, and I laughed and said never if no students show up (in Spanish of course). But I said we are having class right now and they rattled off the months and week days, and asked for the words for waves, rocks, fish, etc.
Sam was so happy and now he's exhausted- me too ha ha. We stayed awhile after they went home and finally came back up. While I was in the shower my sweet hubby opened coconuts for the delicious water inside, then we ate and have since collapsed. No walk today; I'm too lazy.
So the day really started with Everardo going to find the electrician guy and having him come and tweak something on the pole across the street. 200 pesos. I think we'll have to put this guy on our payroll, we paid him 200 pesos 3 or 4 times now...after having no electricity for 2 days we got it back. But all day yesterday it- well I guess the word is surged- the lights dim & bright, the fan slow and fast, the tv was impossible cause the electric wouldn't be enough for the cable so it would go off, say pls wait...then come back onto the menu. Then you have to first lower the volume (cause at menu for some reason it's on full blast), then choose a block (movies, news, etc), then pick the channel you were watching. A few times a nite is one thing, but constantly, every 5 or 10 minutes is ridiculous. So we gave up on tv yesterday but we like to watch it at nite cause we stay up pretty late since it's so hot. Anyway whatever he did seems to have done the trick.
Breakfast was nice, we had tamales made by the neighbor across the street, who also gave us fresh picked corn that we ate tonite. Everardo says since he helped at the cemetery the other day more people are talking to him when he walks by. Ha ha I already thought he was friends with everyone! But I had never talked to the people across the street; it's kinda more than across the street- their house is set way back and there's no driveway or anything. They're not home much cause they have a restaurant and beach area at Casa de Piedras, the place we walk to in the evenings, it's about a 20 min walk to get there I think- I'll have to time it. Then on the way last nite on our walk another guy started talking to us; they have a little hotel/restaurant along that road and he was taking chicken (I think) out of a big pizza oven. Poppi said we wanted to build one and the guy said get the materials and then call me- I'll help you with it! I didn't know him either, but he was there that day, too.
Interesting note about that sad day when the baby died. I heard people saying there were signs that the baby wasn't well and I tried to ask what signs, since I also heard that the baby dr was a bad dr- that several babies had died under her care. (Over what time period I don't know or even know what's true and what's not.) But I didn't understand what I was hearing about the signs. I thought the baby must have been in distress, or it was a hard birth, or something. But the signs were superstitious signs, and people believe in this. 2 different people had dreams that somehow signified death; one was about the mother wearing white by the edge of the sea and whiteness all around her. The otther dream I didn't understand what they were saying. Another sign was that the mother brought home some flowers one day (before the birth), and 4 or 5 different people told her they were the color of funeral flowers.
So I don't know why the poor little guy passed on, but it was truly a sad day. It's nice that people are also pretty religious around here because hopefully it was some comfort to those young parents.
My husband also has some beliefs- isn't it funny how when we don't believe it we call them superstitions? When he sees a flock of birds flying in huge circles (not vultures), he says it's gonna be windy later. He also wraps a spider web around a cut for a band-aid.
He also told me of a belief that if you spill fresh milk from a cow after boiling it, the cows teats will split. This one he told me because he bought some fresh milk from a kid the other day. It's cheaper than milk from the store, and more available. So of course I had to google it to see if it's ok to just drink it like that- and of course- there's a huge debate about it. It seems like it should be ok, good for you even; although I'll have to drink it a little bit at a time to get my body used to it. Well he boiled the first amount anyway and so that's safe for sure. Tastes very rich, but the boiling of course kills off the good stuff as well as the bad stuff. To be honest I emailed my cancer doctor to ask since it's full of hormones and I'm taking medicine to block estrogen...not sure if that makes sense but I was also surprised that I couldn't eat soy anymore either. Of course he hasn't answered yet...You know, I want to eat organically, I want to eat what's fresh and available as the people who live here do- cause Ilive here, too. But the truth is that F'ing cancer scared me, so I try to be careful.
As I told my sister on the phone today I am a cross between Terry Little House on the Prairie and Terry of Maybery (ya know- Aunt Bea).
Hi Ter,
ReplyDeleteI woke up thinking of you because I was reading all your posts last night. And thinking of mom -- I think tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of her death, isn't it. So a year ago today we were planning the circus with Captain Jack. Oi. I spent all my writing time this morning with memories of her . . . I am loving your blog, I feel like I'm experiencing things alongside you and I really have a handle on what's going on in your life. Wow. Listen, I've lived in "foreign" countries for most of the last 30 years, but never in the way you are. For one thing, I was always with Barry, which on the one hand meant I didn't have a direct link to the culture like you have with Everado, on the other hand, it meant the two of us were in the same boat. Also, we were in a sub-set of the community, the live-aboard set, and that was predominately English-speaking no matter where we were. So there was never the isolation you often feel. But on the other hand (I'm beginning to feel like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof) there was never the immersion or involvement in the local culture that you are experiencing. And none of the places we lived (Australia, Spain, France) were as far from, oh say, middle-class American culture, as you are in your little village. I believe you are having an incredibly more rich and deep experience than I ever had. I can't help, though, but hope that at some point you discover some other foreigners/native English speakers in the area in order to give you a little break, I think it will mean a lot to you to have some friends you can truly understand. I hope this will come. Meanwhile, you are doing fantastically. You know, we live totally without TV but have lots of tapes and DVDs so we can watch movies. Would you like me to put together a care package of these for you? Nice on your late nights when the cable's out! Do people have generators to take up the slack when the electric's out?? Well, the last time I responded like this, you never got it. So I'll try hitting "publish" and see if it works this time. xxxxoooo Karen