3 squirrels, a horse playing with a goat...and a donkey painted like a zebra

Last time I wrote I was talking about packing, that we'd go back over to Ensenada soon....well here's what happened. Later that nite (last Friday) I was looking at a website with places to rent and saw one that just came up, in our price range, with a nice kitchen and it said it was "cocina intregal" which means it has a stove, fridge, and hot water heater. So many places for rent have no stove or fridge and lots don't have the hot water heater either. So I show the photo to Everardo who says it looks pretty good and hey give me the phone...so he calls and talks to the lady. It has a nice patio in front of the house and a privacy fence around it. We end up saying we'll come take a look on Monday! (yeah 3 days ago Monday Sept 30). Wow! He says well you've packed so much stuff already, why wait another couple of weeks; lets just go. And unless it's awful- lets agree to take this place, then we can look for something better. Okey dokey right?

Well I found 4 other places to look at plus another one I saw posted on the Punda Banda newsletter site, which I receive in email almost every day. Punta Banda is about 15 minutes south of downtown Ensenada, near the beach, and kind of an expat enclave, altho the small businesses there seem to be Mexican owned. Actually PB was where the very first place we looked, at the house that was on the guys property- not just his property but his driveway, with his front door feet from ours, and his son & daughter-in-law as well. After seeing his place I had decided I wanted to live in the city itself, be able to walk to everywhere, etc. Ok so I had 4 other places and 1 place even further than Punta Banda, closer to the Bufadora (blowhole), but it was a nice house for $450, nice wrap around porch, land, and near the beach.

Of course I get all excited cause that's what I do. We didn't get the actual address until late Sunday and then Everardo looked it up on google earth. (For some reason I cannot reload google earth on my laptop damn damn) He didn't tell me that minute but he realized it was an "infovit" house and had a sinking feeling...The infovit (spelling) houses are these small houses that the gov't builds and when you have worked for a year or so, they arrange for you to get one, and they take the payments out of your paycheck. This is a very poor country and for many people, this is the only way they can ever get into a house. They are the size of a small apartment. There's another type, even smaller (1 story) that you'll see rows and rows of on a hillside; we looked at one of those when we first came to Puerto Penasco- it was soooo small, a tiny kitchen, room for only a loveseat size couch and 2 bedrooms behind it- and maybe a double bed would fit but you wouldn't be able to walk around it. Anyway the woman had said on the phone that her husband had added on to the house- extended it back to the wall/fence. This type is 2 story with the bedrooms upstairs. The kitchen looked almost as nice as the photo...but the room adjacent was pretty small. Then you went up narrow stairs, and this is where it gets weird. The kitchen had a very high ceiling- it went to the roof so no bedroom was over it. They had put avery very tall window on the outside wall so it did fill the kitchen with light. But when you looked up you saw a little balcony on the bedroom side...

What that meant was the master bedroom had no window, so they put clear glass french doors on the side so you overlooked the kitchen, including a small balcony. Kind weird, but almost ok. So I look out the big tall kitchen window and say, oh so there is a yard in back cause I see a cement patio with a clothesline...oh I say- good. Oooops! That's the neighbors yard! So when I wake up in the morning and get out of bed...there's the neighbor hanging her laundry...or watching me?? OK well one down and 5 to go.

We felt better this trip though- we knew the streets a little better and we were looking at houses in a different price range, and thought they'd be better. ok ha ha maybe not so much. That weird house still might have been ok for a start but the neighborhood was just to sketchy.... I wouldn't have felt safe. And she wanted a 6 month commitment. We walked away but were still optimistic. We googled the next address and were on the wrong street and saw a place for rent...it was also tiny and around $400 USD. We started calling them chicken coops. So we talked to another guy who had a couple of places for 6000 pesos ($500USD) that were in private neighborhoods, gated with the security guards to get in. Oh man now the first one we saw- ugh smokers and they hadn't even cleaned it; the carpets were stained and they obviously had a cat that peed all over the place. This guy was telling us- oh we clean them up if you want them...hmmmm maybe they should try cleaning them up prior to showing them. Again thank you but no. One of the places was already rented and the other 2  we found them and saw they were also chicken coops. We were just not going to find anything in the city with a yard and a good inside. Not without alot of work.

So, new plan. Monday nite I called the lady I had called the first time who had the houses at the beach near Punta Banda. There had been a place coming up but she didn't have the keys yet so I asked about that one. Well it was unavailable but 3 others in our price range were open so we made an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. And we had an appt to see the last of the original Tue in the morning...so we decided to check into a motel and kick back. OK enter squirrel number 1.

Now the donkey painted like a zebra was actually seen the first trip- so a couple of weeks ago. I did a double take cause I saw a guy riding a zebra down the street. Yeah a horse in striped pajamas. But looking closer it was a donkey- how weird is that? Was it about the independence day? I don't know, but he was just crossing the street. The squirrel I saw Monday was running along a tree branch when we were sitting at a stop sign- and I thought it was the same place. I saw the second one running in the yard of the house we chose (ooops telling the story too soon), and the third one was at the Bufadora. Somehow this ties to my mom, ok my weird logic. I brought her blue wind breaker with me on this trip, not sure why, just ran abd grabbed it at the last minute when we were leaving to go to Ensenada Monday morning. I've never worn it before but I've had it in my closet since she died...and our mom jokes are about penguins and dolphins, not squirrels...Anyway Sunday nite I dreamed of her. She was alive and laughing, we were at some kind of function, and I woke up feeling very refreshed instead of completely stressed about making the trip again to look for a house. I guess that's why I grabbed her jacket.

Anyway there's a silly family story about when she got bit by a squirrel at Oregon Caves when we were little kids. There were signs all over the place saying not to feed them, but I guess she gave one a peanut in the shell and it bit her finger. These rangers were yelling back and forth to each other about this crazy lady who go bit by the squirrel and she was so embarrased. She didn't get to go in the caves, and it was a story that we kept alive all these years- I mean I think this happened about 50 years ago. So- I had my mommy in my heart and on my mind, and I saw the squirrel....anyway I decided to take it as a good omen- that good things were coming. Poppi was very optimistic as well, we decided not to get nuts like last time, even though the first places were a bust. I feel her around me, alot lately for some reason. I don't know that I believe in heaven or hell, but I do believe in energy, and energy never dies, it simply takes on other shapes, or spaces...see I'm not even sure what except that I know energy doesn't die. I am also a very spiritual person, I know we are all connected, I don't know in what way, or how, but we are. I believe positive energy makes positive energy, and the same for negative, so I try to stay in the positive. Anyway.....I just think Mom was with us this trip. Poppi calls her Mellen and he was talking to her to...ha ha .

So the Tues morning house was yet another chicken coop- the kitchen didn't have room for a stove and fridge, and didn't have either, we'd have to buy them- I didn't even ask about the water heater. It was another 2 story and had no yard at all. Ok no. So we went out to eat breakfast...ok Everardo wanted cerviche and I need breakfast food for breakfast so I walked down the street to a McDonalds. Yeah they have Mickey D's in Ensenada...I don't even go to it in the US except when I really want french fries cause they have the best fries...but I digress...I got a Mcbreakfast muffin and walked back along the street in front of the docks to meet Everardo who was slurping up his fishy breakfast, and then we headed out to Punta Banda. We were early but wanted to find the place. We drove thru some neighborhoods and went into a couple of realty offices and saw a couple of places, but nothing to our liking- they were bigger but one was really expensive and not worth it and one was really big- way too big for us so we didn't even ask the price.

Oh this is when I saw the horse and the goat. I have to use the word frolic! The horse was frolicking around this goat and the goat was running at the horse- and the totally cool thing was- they were the same colors!! White and black, both of them! I was laughing out loud (yes lol but for real) It was just so cute. We drove past that area a couple of more times yesterday and I saw that there's several horses and a few goats so I guess they're friends??

So we meet this woman and she takes us to the 3 places we had chatted about the nite before on the phone. One had an amazing view, no yard, no storage and a weird guy living above the garage. Well it wasn't even a garage, just this loft on stilts....but on our property. One had a lady moving out and it was cute, walking distance to the beach, but the master bedroom was up the steepest narrow set of stairs I ever saw...I would have hated it....and it was a nice room up there, proably gets really hot...Then the third house had no ocean view, kind of a long walk to the beach, across the main road...and the most hideous thick green carpet...it had a yard, but a little house at the back with some missionary guy living in it with whom we'd share utilities. Everardo liked that one the best and I hated the carpet and was not nuts about the bathroom, but we kept saying we just need something for 6 months (all her places were 6 month commit) and then we could look around. So we get back in the lady's van to drive back to our car, telling her we need to discuss it and get back to her. I was going to give in to the green carpet place, when the lady says oh she has another little one we can see but she doesn't think it has a yard. She also told us about a place with "amazing fantastic" ocean views but it was $650 before utilities....and we passed. The view was not the thing, they yard for Sam was THE THING. So we're on the way to the little place when she says, oh there's a place in here, I forgot about it, it's not really ready, and well it's $500- is that too much? We say let's take a look.

This is on the beach side of the road, and so walking Sam down to the beach is an easy thing, but not so close that everything is grimy with salt like when we were down in Playa Ventura. We drive up and it has a huge yard, it has a huger garage for storage...and it has...wait for it....a guest house!!! A GUEST HOUSE. A tiny house with a kitchenette, bathroom and 2 twin beds. (ha ha the size of a couple of places we'd seen recently). So the main house (ha ha the main house- sounds so...mansion like...but it's not) Anyway it has a nice tile floor, a kitchen 2 bedrooms, bathroom and a laundry room with a dryer (needs a washer) downstairs, and a huge living room and a really big master suite upstairs- with a view of the estuary on one side and the ocean on the other. On the other side of the living room is a pool table, it's kind of  a seperate room because the stairs come up and there's a small wet bar. The bedroom has a big bed- Calif king I think, a walk in closet....yes! yes! YES!YES! We said yes we want this one. So it needs to be cleaned, and we said how about Nov 1? She said great.

So we will be in Ensenada by November 1. A new adventure. Sam is gonna love it. It's a quiet neighborhood and I think he could have the run of it even though the yard is fenced so we can keep him in. The beach is a couple of blocks. Yeah, I think it's gonna be good.

Mexico fun fact:
The Aztecs played ritual ball game known as tlachtli in which the losers were often sacrificed to the gods.

Packing

I'm packing. Packing to move to Ensenada. Did we find a new home? Nope. Do we have any leads? Nope. But I'm packing anyway. I have alot of knicky knacks, so I'm packing them up. Also have alot of photos in frames, small frames and medium funny shaped frames that have been om the shelves. Oh and the 3 shelf thing that Everardo built when we moved in here is already taken apart for transport as is my Elliptical- although it didn't all quite fit in the box it came in, one large pole shaped piece is gonna have to ride on top.I think we're 2 weeks (at least) away from our next trip. At this point it will just be us in the car- taking the car to make sure it can make it; we considered a pet friendly motel so we could take Sam, but it looks like he'll stay here again. Probly better to just say we have a dog- most people are too concerned about that- but when they see Sam they think he's sooo big. He's not really that big, he's a lab but has pretty short legs...ok a little bigger than medium...

Everardo told me "start packin' baby", so I did. We sorta had a little rough patch a few days ago regarding our intentions to get him a visa for the U.S. The fact is we gather info and then don't do anything. We had decided that once we hit 2 years married we would start the process. We lived together a year before we were married so we just got to 2 years this summer. I had the phone number of a lawyer in northern Cal, but it is always a msg machine and the guy has never returned our calls, and we've tried calling at different times of day. Then I got the number of the lady who recommended this lawyer to me when I was in Cal in April, and she only speaks Spanish, and after months, we call and it's the wrong number. I have the right number for her now, but Everardo had a really good idea about lawyers so now that's on hold. He had gone to see a lawyer here who was going to apply for a tourist visa, but then a lawyer I had emailed to for a consultation said apply for tourist and then perm was not a great idea. Well in the Mexican way, this lawyer has never gotten around to completing the documentation, and now we don't want him to- Oh and this was not the "really good idea".

The really good idea was to get a lawyer, in the states, but close to the border of Calif since we're moving to Ensenada- one in San Ysidro or San Diego. That way I can easily go and see him if need be. I found LOTS of immigration lawyers in that area (imagine that ha ha) and so tried to pick someone just on how I felt as I looked over their ads, names, and gimmicks...."we work for YOU!!"...Stuff like that. Anyway I picked one and sent an email but haven't heard yet. So I'll give it a few more days and then send a follow up, maybe a phone call. If that doesn't illicit any response...I'll go back to my magic 8ball and choose another name. Just being married is not enough; we have some other issues...so my guess is it will be expensive. But I just want to hear it's possible, I want my sweetheart to be able to visit his family, his daughter. But we know it could be an uphill battle, and we'll just see how it goes. But yeah my thing is- if you don't start, you for sure won't finish..So stay tuned for news on that.

Sam knows something is up- did I say he's the smartest dog in the world? Oh and the sweetest. He's all clingy and stayin' close. He's gonna hate when we leave again and he stays home; especially with so much of our stuff packed (or will be by then), and since that nite last week when he was way down the road, I'm kinda worried, but the neighbor knows and I think she'll be really careful, and Monica will house/dog sit and I trust her. In fact the neighbor would be very happy if we gave her Sam! WHAT??? Yeah apparently she said it would be good if we left him here when we go...oh and her 5 yr old boy, who was deathly afraid of him when they moved in, is not bringing him inside their house ha ha!! But he's also 5 and tortures Sam by driving him crazy. Anyway doesn't matter- Sam is our family- he goes where we go- of course! And our intention is a nice yard for him, maybe even grass!!

A short trip, and hopefully a cheaper motel than last time, and only Mon-Fri...could be sooner than later- he's been happily surprised by how fast- how much I've packed in 2 days...when we had that "rough patch" we were saying things like FINE- we won't move until we have this resolved one way or another...seems like moving is more important...and went down hill from there. So for the rest of that day I was wondering what we were going to finally decide..what we would agree on. Were we going to stay here? If I had to do that to prove what he needed was the most important thing, then so be it. I said we'll stay. I'm probly not explaining it right, or well, and well details of an argument that had it's ups and downs over a few hours; some talking, a little uncertainty-fear, much muttering, changing of minds and positions, well we worked it out. Our fights have become...well..less, I mean we disagree, but rarely scream and yell...and never walk away. We might retire to our respective corner, or make a meal or something, but we stick together, and we work it out. That is a process that gets developed over time, and I'm happy to say we're good to each other. Much later that evening I thought he was working on the car..yes folks he's a mechanic too...anyway he was outside and I heard some noises...then he called to me and I saw he was dismantling the elliptical! And that's when he said "Start packin' baby"...

So the next day I started and then more today. I am going to do a big push for the next 3 days (Fri, Sat, Sun) and then see where we are. Hey pretty soon I'll be posting from my third destination in Mexico. South, north and now west....Yeah and with my luck this will be a record breaking cold and rainy winter there ha ha!! It certainly rained forever in Playa Ventura, and when we got here were told it was much colder and rainy than usual....so...
Anyway I pushed too hard at zumba and pulled something in my back....it's something I've had before, down the side, kinda behind that plate coming down from the shoulder- so any way I sit hurts, and breathing deep is not an option. But like I said, I've had it before so I know I need to stretch and basically wait. The thing is tomorrow nite is when all the groups get together at the malecon for the final charity event and we have headbands and sashes...tonite I couldn't finish the class, but partly cause I want to be sure and participate tomorrow nite. I just didn't swing my right arm. I can't pick up my water bottle from the ground with my right arm without wincing...so after tomorrow nite I'll take it easy all weekend and see how I feel on Monday. So I can pack, but not carry. I was gonna take a pain pill tonite, but since for 5 days I'm taking something else, well I'll just take an aspirin...

Yeah I had this heat rash since July...because of where it is and the fact that I know someone else who had it, I figured it was just from the heat. But this week has really cooled down, and last week, while still hot, the humidity was starting to lift, but my rash and itchy-ness didn't let up. So yesterday I finally caved (after Poppi telling me for a couple of weeks to go) and we went to the doctor- my buddy at the pharmacy. He took one look and said....ok he said something really fast in Spanish but I got "allergy"...and he said I was allergic to something, could have been the sun, a plant..the bugs that were biting now....anyway he gave me 2 pills to take for 5 days and some cream...the tiny red dots are still there, but not as itchy...well and it's only been 24 hours. Oh- and every time they give me medicine I google them...and they for allergic reactions that cause itchy rash...and it is normal for them to be prescribed together (one is prednazone-spelling and the other I forget and am too lazy to get up and look- it started with an L) But I don't want too many things in my system at once...and since I already take the arimidex- one more year only!! So not pain meds for me. Pretty funny for a woman who used to drink like a fish and back in my 20's would take whatever was being handed out at a party...but 30 years since that and 12 since I've had a drink....well now I worry about what I ingest...

Well it's midnite so time to sign off....

Mexico fun fact:
Shells and stones on the Aztecs' ritual blades symbolized the faces of the gods for which the sacrificial hearts were intended. They would sacrifice between 10,000 to 50,000 victims per year. Under the rule of Montezuma II, 12,000 victims were sacrificed in one day.

Too funny not to share right away!

So this may be a short post unless other thoughts occur to me, but....soooo funny!!!!!!

I think I posted yesterday about a guy on the web forum about Baja and Ensenada in particular who sent me a msg and said he's be happy to have coffee with us and talk about Ensenada. I though that was very nice, told Everardo about it, and answered the guy with thanx and told him I'd let him know when we were coming. ok. Well there's actually 2 web forums I've been reading, one is called "talk baja" and the other is called something like "baja nomad". Talk Baja is the one were I registered so I can post comments and/or questions and so is where I chatted with this dude. The other site, I hadn't registered yet so could only read what people are posting. I had tried once or twice previously and again last nite to register but it kept saying they had the maximum requests for the day so pls try in 24 hours. So a little while ago I was reading on both sites and remembered- oh yeah I should try and register in the morning- but if it gives me that msg again I'll try to contact the administrator cause maybe something's wrong.

So I tried it and got registered. I use the same user name on all three- oh crap- all four sites I'm now on, one is the Mexico Expat forum I've been following since we moved to Mexico, altho' not as much once we left Playa Ventura....I just go on about one a week to see if any new posts are interesting (and many times they are), then I'm on Rockypoint talk, which is just for Puerto Penasco, and it's kind of really boring because it's really just about activities here...for Americans..and not too much about Mexico...so dropping that one will come as soon as we leave...and then these 2 new ones as I read about all of Baja and Ensenanda in particular. Well I go to Talk Baja and read a post from a new guy just moving to Baja from the states. His user name was something about Mexico...lots of times people give themselves cute little names like Mexico traveler or Loco something maybe tortuga grande (big turtle) - know what I mean? Anyway I read thru all this discussion since I'd never read underneath this particular heading, and a guy says, welcome- and you're #2 cause this other guy goes by the name and he uses it on the baja nomad site as well.....Wait- then I re read the post- oh hey it's the guy we're going to have coffee with. So I go back over to the other site to look for posts by him to see what he chats about. Oh- and once you're registered you can view people's profiles. Filling out the profile is optional, you can add something, nothing, a little bit or a lot.

So I spot this guy's name- and man!! How could that be??? Of all the people on these sites, how did I end up making contact with this guy? I had seen his little byline under his user name before and thought- now there's a person I NEVER want to meet...and I usually ignore his posts! Well on the first site I had looked at his profile after he invited us to coffee and saw he was a retired cop from the states and he lived in a nice area we had seen when we went over there the first time- I think maybe he lives in both places, the states and Baja. We thought ok good, we'll see what this guy has to say. HA HA HA HA HA HA
By accident I find out he's on the other site under this other name...most people don't even have a little thing written under their name, but some do, usually little affirmations, you know, positive stuff...this guy has written under his name, so it shows at the bottom of every post he writes"

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm........George Orwell
Do not wish ill for your enemy, plan for it
I support GOD, Israel, those serving in the United States military, the Boy Scouts of America, Chic-fil-A and the Second Amendment"

So the one is a quote, ok but a little over the top...the second...wow buddy.....but the third one???? Ok I SO SO SO don't want to know you!!!

Loves Israel and guns, hates gays??? WEllllll let's see...I HATE guns, I HATE war...I support all lifestyles and my children are Palestinian...along with their dad and all of his family. So I'm thinkin' that coffee is out!
Again HA HA HAHA HA HA HA Only I could chosen that person out of all the people on the forum. Or maybe I could introduce my gay Palestinian daughter to him? You know makes ya wonder how he feels about Mexicans, right? I mean the community he lives in- it's called something Country Club, and it looks like an exclusive neighborhood, gated of course and a little outside of town. I don't think I mentioned to him that my hubby is Mexican...that would have been interesting...I bet before he was a cop he was....in the military...or maybe he couldn't get into the marines or whatever branch he was shooting for and so became a cop. Shheesh he must been once hell of a bad ass cop right? And I bet it was the marines because of his arrogance in making his little motto for himself so...I guess the right word is strong but I'm really thinking "assholy"

Anyway I just found this SO FUNNY, and I told Sam, but he just looked at me with bright eyes of anticipation wondering if I was crazy and did that mean he's get a special treat! Everardo is down at the beach so I decided to write about it. It's windy again today, and not cooler, but not hotter. I think I'll take Sam to the park after this; he can roll in the grass, and I have a new book. Tomorrow however I need to start packing. I have alot of little knicky knacks, and I don't want any more of them to get broken. Some stuff got broken on the way down to Playa Ventura, and some on the way up here...my mermaids; I still have 2 but they both have broken places, an arm of a fin...they are small and the hang from a ribbon-maybe 5 inches tall, but they are chubby mermaids wearing fancy jewels and I love them. I had to throw away the other 2, and really I need to give in and dump these 2 as well. Getting up here 2 paintings & a photo in an odd sized frame had their glass broken - so since I have time I want to pack more carefully- which of course means I need some newspaper for wrapping....who reads the paper any more?? Actually they sell the papers at the intersections; I've just never bought one- ha ha what I need it where they throw them away, right?

Oh and I almost forgot. The guy broought the trailer back last nite around 9pm, and he and Everardo and another guy stood outside and talked for about half and hour- and it turns out the guy has a cousin that owns a house in Ensenada. Ha ha I've learned very quickly not to get excited! They guy lives in central Calif, and comes only for vacation, and the house is big & nice and has 3 or 4 bedrooms. Don't know if the house is rented or not but this guy is going to find out right away. This guy is the brother of Nikko- a very close friend of Everardo for many many years. Ok sounds good, right? But in Mexico, you must take in the info much differently- for example....a big house might mean big, medium, small, cardboard, and nice might mean very nice, just ok, a pit, broken down, no bathroom (and of course no stove, hot water heater or fridge)- or maybe all those things in a nice area. 3 or 4 bedrooms might be just that, or may be rooms that only a single bed and nothing else will fit. This is yet another HUGE lesson in expectations...plan for the worst, hope for the best. Oh and he'll find out right away? Maybe he'll call today, tomorrow, next week, next month or not at all cause he forgot about it as soon as he left....see I'm learning!

Ok park time for me and doggy.

Mexico fun fact:
During an Aztec human sacrifice, five priests, sometimes with their faces painted with different colors, held the sacrificial victims’ arms and legs. The heart, referred to as “precious eagle cactus fruit,” was cut from the live victim and burned on a fire in the temple.

Ok maybe at nite it's a little cooler, and we have the windows and the door open right now (8:30pm), and it was even a little cooler today- but I still was sopping wet sweaty all day. I mean I was laying in the couch this afternoon in a very light shift, and I was soaked to the skin. Unfortunately I was not laying in the hammock cause it only gets shady there after about 4pm, and it was too breezy to have the beach umbrella hanging on the clothesline to make shade. Ha ha do I sound like trailer trash? Yeah I was hangin' the beach umbrella on the clothes line to make me some shade over my hammock!

So saying the heat is dissipating is relative, yes the humidity is dropping away so I don't feel like I'm being pushed into the ground, and so hide in the house with the doors & windows closed and curtains shut as well. But maybe tomorrow will be cooler than today (fingers crossed). I took Sam for a drive with him in the back of the truck this afternoon to try to cool off a little. Everardo went down to the beach and there were actually a few tourists and he made a couple of bucks. They come back in October and stay until almost Christmas, but hopefully we will be gone soon...

Right now the plan is to tell our landlord when I pay the Oct rent that Nov is our last month. I printed out a copy of our rent payments to her- which were by bank transfer so that's handy. It's to show we are reliable, responsible, because apprently some people ask for some kind of guarantee beyond a security deposit. Ha ha I haven't rented in more than 25 years until last December when we landed in Puerto Penasco.

Anyway although Sam enjoyed our drive- I could tell by his happy grin and wagging tail, going back and forth across the bed of the truck to catch every smell- but I kept sweating! I drove all over town up and down and back and forth, probly for about an hour. I didn't take him to the beach cause his skin is so dry right now the salt water would just aggravate it, and his ball was in the car with Everardo so we skipped the park, too. It was so hot he probly would have only layed in the grass. So we drove around for almost and hour, and when we got home, Everardo had just gotten home, too.

Now were waiting for the guy who borrowed the trailer a few weeks back to return it, and it was supposed to be tonite, so we didn't go for our nightly drive, and on the weekend we usually go out for tacos and ice cream, but were still waiting for this guy. Poppi has just made us huge egg, avacado, cheese sandwhiches, and on his tomatoes, onions and maybe the kitchen sink.My good! Took a little break to eat and it was amazing!!

So a guy on a web forum for Baja just sent me a msg and says he'll meet us for coffee next time we come to Ensenada- he saw me asking about neighborhoods, so he's gonna help us out a little. That's nice, cause it's a big place. I'm trying not to have too many expectations about Ensenada- ha ha but this is me, and I am all about expectations. But I have done at least a little research...the weather, population, business.....I guess there will be more Americans than here- not per capita, but Ensenada is soooo much bigger, that there will be way more Americans and way more Mexicans.

When we first decided to come and first got here, I wanted to be somewhere with hardly any expats, and I got that, in Playa Ventura there were no full time Americans or anything else except for the German guy who is married to  Mexican woman. And there was certainly no English and no American food- except for what Everardo cooked of course. And for me...I'm kind of a wimp- I don't like spicy food and I hate tomatoes ha ha -the food that goes in everything! Oh I don't like peppers either....Poppi would have to spice up half our meal for him...Then we came up here but we don't eat at any American food places, except for our monthly cheeseburger, when we go out it's tacos, burritos, queadillas carnitas...you get the picture. And I can be around as much or as little English as I want. I go to AA meeting probly 3 times a week in English, and when I was going out to the center, the directors spoke English, but I really like navigating in Spanish. The ladies in zumba all talk to me now, it's funny though- the girl next door never talks to me, and when her kid talks it's always a mile a minute so I never know what he's saying.

He's 5 and spoiled rotten, and always wants to come in and just talk non stop, even Everardo is sick of him ha ha. Yeah a private yard will be a must in Ensenada. I neeed (ok we need) my private space, some inside and some outside. Anyway...our first (only) trip to Ensenada we mostly only spoke in Spanish. In Starbucks, in McDonalds. Yeah they have Mickey D's there. I like their french fries, and we had egg mcmuffins one day. We had Starbucks a couple of times, especially for those 7am appointments to see houses! They also have Costco and Wallmart, and other stores I can't remember- oh Office Depot I think- or maybe it was Home Dept ha ha. I realize, as I realized here, that Mexico is what I make of it. Like we will most likely never live in Punta Banda...the expat neighborhood- which seemed like just Americans, and never live the way I have seen some Americans live here- never learning Spanish or mingling....last nite was a zumba with all the classes and the instructor who flits all over the place (thinks very highly of himself) was asking me why I thought the Americans would rather pay for zumba in the gyms by the beach than do the classes in the park for free....I don't know why I'm the only one- I always tell people; for instance with Deb I have met several of her friends and I always invite them, bit nobody comes. I encouraged Karen as well, but she's always so busy- I know she'd have fun. She's nothing like the people who live by the beach, she lives in the "hood" as Deb calls it- Deb, me, Karen, Melody, there's a few and I want to say that cause it's not all the Americans, but enough that the Mexicans notice ha ha. But there are lots of Americans and Canadians here who speak Spanish and shop, eat, and play immersed in the culture.

Being married to a Mexican helps me out on this score, because honestly, sometimes I do get nervous about going in somewhere or asking for the price of something- cause if it's not marked, it's more for me than for him! I need to just let go and live. Maybe I'll make some closer friends there- my Spanish is alot better, and I hope to find zumba right away....and if I can find a place to volunteer to teach English or something...of course that will probly be thru some churchy thing again....but hey I love Deb and never feel like she's trying to convert me ha ha. Karen and Mark, althought they don't try to do that, they are all about their god and being Christians instead of being people who are Christians...clear as mud/ And another lady, Monica, the one who babysat Sam while we were gone, she's a wacky some kind of missionary as well, but like I said I really love Rick and Deb- they have many interests and it makes them, well, interesting.

Lots to think about, lots to look forward to, I do love to travel. And many times meeting other expats is fun because it's other people who had the courage to jump into something new. Ok well enough for now...

Mexico fun fact:
The Aztecs adopted human sacrifice from earlier cultures (such as the Olmecs) because they believed the universe would come to an end and the sun would cease to move without human blood. There are many ancient statues of gods sticking out their tongues, such as Huitzilopochtli, which may be a sacred gesture that suggests their thirst for blood.

The heat MIGHT be over

Last nite was the first nite in maybe 2 months, maybe more, that we slept with the bedroom window open! This morning I heard birds! I have a suspicion that they never left, but with the window closed, and the fan on, or the ac, can't ear much. I am looking forward to not even needing the fan! It was also the first evening in weeks and weeks that we had the door open to let cooler air into the house. We had it cracked when Lucky was here so he could go outside and do his business, but it let in hot air. We kept the curtains closed in the living room as well, so if I wanted to read, I had to turn on the light. (when Everardo isn't home I often open the curtain anyway cause I hate living like a hermit). But last nite was cool-er, meaning still hot but actually a little less hot. Even after zumba last nite on our ride with Sam I noticed it just wasn't as hot. But it was like that the day before we went to Ensenada for one day, and then the heat returned, so we'll see.

Zumba was fun the last 2 nites. And tonite we go to a different park one more time for the charity thing, and hopefully we won't have a freak storm or sand storm ha ha. I guess last week was uneventful so tonite probly will be as well. I do know our instructor is leading at least 3 of the dances- maybe to make up for the sand storm nite.....Then next week it gets very interesting! We are doing zumba at the Malecon on Friday nite. We wear black and we will all have these orange sherbet colored sashes to wear at the waist along with our arabic belly dancing sashes with the little shiny coins that make noise when we shake our booties. I think it may be the final charity nite, and maybe is also a demonstartion...hmmm I am the only American in all the classes- I think- I've been to 2 of the classes where all the groups come (like tonite), and it's been all Mexican ladies and me. Maybe dancing at the Malecon will show the Americans that they can come to the classes! I mean the Americans pay for zumba classes at a couple of places down there by the beach...and this if free! I know it's at least 4 parks and I think it's 5, Monday thru Friday- why wouldn't you go for free? I have so much fun, in this god awful heat it been the only thing I look forward to every day.

I'm getting to know some of the ladies, well a little bit- they talk to me and ask where I've been when I'm gone and make sure I know where the other parks are when class is somewhere else. I'll miss them. I hope I can find the zumba classes in Ensenada quickly....and I hope there are some in the evening as well as the morning- but what the hell- if over there I can sleep- no heat making me toss and turn all nite-maybe I can go to sleep earlier and get up for zumba- sounds like an awesome way to start the day. Getting those endorphins going always always puts in me a more positive place.

This morning I had breakfast with my friend Deb, a lady I know a little bit- Ro, and a woman I had never met named Gretchen. I will miss Deb, if I was staying I would hang with her and find ways to get involved. But they are mostly connected by their church, in which I have no interest. So yes there are good things here; I could even keep teaching out at the center, being careful to stay out of everything else out there- which by the way is none of my business. But Deb is a mover & a shaker..she will find a business to start or get involved with and another place to donate her time since she's getting soured on the community center, and if we stayed we could probly find a way to make money together. Yes I will definitely keep in touch with her; she's full of funny stories and her husband, too.

But in Ensenada I will make new connections, new friends, and find ways to be involved. I'll find the zumba class! Maybe I'll find a place to volunteer teach English, maybe I'll even look for a job. Oh yuck I don't even like to write that ha ha!! But there are mfg companies that export the product and I know how to do that. There's a couple of houses on the net right now that look pretty good, now that we decided to bite the bullet and pay more for rent- at least at first. There's a nice looking place with a huge yard in one area called Ejido Chapultepec. It's a little south of el centro but I couldn't really tell looking on a google map, but it did seem alot closer than Punta Banda where we first looked, so that's good. Hmmm maybe I have no problem moving so much because I don't make super close connections...well in Playa Ventura I kinda did with Chela, but still it was hard to communicate and little by little I came to see that I would always be a bit of an outsider there when push came to shove. Just to isolated. Here I may have gotten really close with Deb and have to a certain extent, but I started hanging with her just recently. This has definitely been an adventure of learning about myself.

Oh and before I forget- the federale that rented our house in Playa Ventura? Well when the storms started to hit he got assigned up there, and he decided to take his family with him. Then "Manual" hit, and nobody knows where the guy is- he hasn't come back to Playa Ventura. I think he's probly just stranded. I hope that's what it is. And Playa Ventura apprently is a little bit higher altitude even though it's at the beach and they really had no problems with the storms. Ah except for the leaking roof of course. Between the weather and the violence in Guerrero, when we will ever be able to sell that house!! Everardo's gonna talk to Jay and make sure he knows we are open to any reasonable offer, to negotiation,,,,

I am looking forward to going back down there when the house sells. I hope my stuff is still there. Not stuff I'll die without but things I want; some books, a blanket being used as a curtain, things like that. To see the ocean outside our backgate, to go wading in it. To sit on my rock and have a chat with God. To see my friend Chela- and my Spanish is way better than when we left so we could have a real conversation. Yeah it's nice to revisit when the emotion of the moment has passed. I was so down when we left, isolated and depressed and questioning myself cause who is unhappy in paradise??? Yep Poppi always say..."my wife-she suffers in paradise"...But even before we left I started to understand the spirituality I gained while sitting on that rock alone. Alot of my insecurities were put to the test, and so acceptance was a big part of my growth. Understanding that really, really, when I have a problem with somebody else- it's really a problem within me.
That I can only change me, affect me. And I cannot have expectations for other to change- it's not my place, my right to judge. Of course I judge people in my little pea brain all the time! I do try to stop myself or at least keep it to myself- ok I try sometimes ha ha.

But what a relief it is to not be in judgement of others. And letting go of expectations...sounds easy- right? Well Mexico is a great place to work on THAT lesson ha ha.

Last nite I saw this guy being interviewed on CNN and he was talking about how old the earth is and when it will become uninhabitable. He said in about 1 and a half billion years the temperature will be about 4 or 5 hundred degrees- uninhabitable. That's because the sun burns brighter and brighter (very slowly). So then they were talking about these 2 planets (one might have been a star) that could be habitable if we can figure out how to travel faster- that these places are light years away and even the closest one- traveling in our fastest spaceship we have today would take something like 400,000 years to get to....hmmm so that needs a little work. It started me thinking though- that if there's life somewhere out there- which I believe there is, and maybe we could recognize it and maybe not- they might be thinking- why do they bother trying to find a new planet to live on- they have spent their entire existence trying to kill each other. Can you imagine us with a true alien- not simply someone you don't want in your country, but still a human!!- but another being, around us? Why we would want to kill him so quickly!! Sad isn't it? Why must we always be at war? With ourselves? Ah well food for thought...me? I'm for peace..."all we are saaaaaayyyying, is give peace a chance" la la la la la

Mexico fun fact:
In the fourteenth century, a group of Chichmecas (warrior nomads) called the Aztecs (or Mexicas) settled in Mexico when they saw an eagle (representing the sun) standing on a cactus (a symbol of the heart) clutching a snake (a symbol of the earth or Quetzalcoatl)—an image which is now depicted on the Mexican flag

Got my laptop back..did I say we're moving?

I've been using a used laptop we bought when my laptop crashed and burned. Power surge knocked out my motherboard. We both had our laptops plugged into the wall instead of a surge protector; luckily when it happened only I was on mine or we might have had 2 blown computers. So we bought this big heavy Dell laptop; I like Dell but it was so big and so heavy...probly a 17 inch screen and thick keys (to me anyway). I love this little laptop, it's an HP Pavilion and Everardo gave it to me for a wedding present.So I love it and it's special. There's a guy with a laptop store but he's really a programmer- you know- software vs hardware, but he sent me to a guy who did a little troubleshooting and confirmed it was the motherboard.

So then I had to find a new motherboard...EBay, other websites had them, but they only had used ones. There were several websites to order them from China, and in the end I chose one of those. I asked advice, mostly from my friend Roger, who is an engineer I worked with and we've stayed in touch. I had lunch with him and another engineer Lee & his new wife when I was in California at the end of April. Anyway his advice was for sure do not buy a used one! And even better advice, get a photo. So they had a photo of the revision of the board I wanted, which I took to the technical guy, who confirmed it was the right one. So I spent $118 and had it shipped to Tuscon, Arizona to our friends Deb & Rick. Then they brought it down. Oh and I also paid $38 to ship it DHL after googling Chinese shipping companies and DHL seemed the best way.

All this took about 4 weeks, and I was really worried the new board wouldn't even work, but...wait for it....YIPEE YIPPEEE YIIPPPPEEEEE it works. I dragged that big ole Dell on our trip and man after this pettie little laptop it was awkward. But the fact is that it works fine, and I even reloaded Rosetta Stone on it. I gotta remember to "deactivate" it, cause you only get 2 licenses with it, and if Karen's copy gets messed up she won't be able to reload it. And she is the one who lent it to me. Wait- actually I called their customer service and got another license, so it has 3; but it should be one for me and one for her, the extra one should be for her- she bought it after all. Yeah and after the software guy put everything from my hard drive onto the new one, the damn thing crashed about a week later. I took it back to him and he said- oh no problem- there was an issue from Microsoft but I have the fix now, come back in about 4 hours. I did, but he had wiped out everything I had loaded...aarrgghh yeah it was a painful process the whole way. But he's a good guy and the technical guy was great as well.

So- I'm up and running. Did I say we're moving? I think another yipee is in order: YIPPEE. We're now looking at a couple of websites, and at a higher price, 4500 to 6000 pesos a month...that's a top number of about $500US a month. The choices are much nicer looking. I spent some time today redoing our budget, and we can swing it, but will have to pay attention to what were doing- what were spending our money on. Sucks that my favorite sun glasses crashed to the floor the other day and now have a spiderweb crack in one lens. They're Ray Bans and I've had them for a few years, and have always been so careful with them. Damn. So I looked up on google to see if I can get them fixed, and I can, if I have the sales receipt. Did I mention I've had them for years? I don't have the receipt. So I looked at a replacement pair, the same ones...well boohoo, although they are cheaper than when I bought them, they're still $155US dollars and I can't even think of replacing them. Well the good thing is that I don't even see the crack when I'm wearing them, and anyome looking at them can't see it either. I think I may have had them polarized, and that would cost even more. Oh for the days when I threw away my money! Ha ha that's why I don't have any now....

So we saw 2 or 3 houses that look pretty good and are in neighborhood I've read are good ones. One just came up yesterday, and one has been available for awhile but maybe cause it's more. Today Everardo had me look for storage units over there; meaning we could pack up and go, and store our stuff for awhile if we needed to. But for now the plan is still to go in a couple of weeks, but just for a Monday-Friday trip, calling on a few places before we go. We are still very open to choosing something that will be temporary while we look for something else. Hopefully if we have to spend 6000 pesos, we can find something much cheaper when we're there and have learned the "lay of the land". Sam will be a happy dog. Poor baby is sooo hot, and his skin is so dry and itchy, and in places he's just scratching the hair right off himself. He's not too hungry and mostly lays in front of the fan...hmmmm kind of like me!

So now we explore another part of Mexico. First the southwest, then the north (middle I guess) and now the northwest. I'm sure there are other parts of Mexico we find acceptable..climate etc, but for now, being closer to California has alot to do with it. Both our families. In Baja there's a much better chance Poppi's aunt and uncle will come to see us, and I know he's really hoping for that. His nephew Francisco has family in Ensenada, and he'll probly do a road trip with his brother- he's my favorite nephew. It will be much easier for Drewy and Halla, road trip or fly- the tickets are cheaper, and there's no 4 hour road trip thru the desert ha ha. I was talking on the phone with Halla and we were talking about Puerto Penasco; that yes I like it here- I liked teaching English- ok I LOVED doing that-but maybe can find something like that over there. That I love free zumba in the park, and they have that in Ensenada as well (a woman txi driver told me), and I also liked my Spanish lessons but I'm taking Rosetta Stone with me and we'll see about other kinds of classes. But the one thing that I don't like here in PP is, well it's like the life has been sucked out of it; all the empty buildings- hotels and condos, all the empty houses; throw in  the dusty roads and it resembles a ghost town sometimes. Halla really felt that, that it doesn't seem alive here, not alot of hope, not alot of excitement. Of course we don't live on the beach/touristy side, but I do feel the same way. Yeah in Ensenada I do NOT want to live on a dirt road.

I know it seems like we move alot. Well 6 months down south and a year here (or will be a year in Nov). But it's an adventure. I couldn't know what I'd like or not like until I tried it. I'm so grateful to be be so lucky to be able to try this. We do spend money every time we move, that's true, but so be it, especially if we can spend it a little more wisely then when we started all this. I'm hopeful that this will be our spot for a few years, actually I sort of had to promise that it would be....but maybe in future years we will want to explore more places here in Mexico. I've been to the east coast- to the Yucatan and I know it's too hot for me there. I saw the pyramids there and had an amazing time there, but I know I don't want to live there. But there's lots of other places, so here's to the future! For now however, the near future we're gonna try Baja. I liked the 6 short days we were there, I was so happy to see fog! That's the northern california girl in me.

I'm going to start packing, the stuff I've barely touched in months; ha like warm clothes and blankets, Gotta go get some boxes from behind the stores. Yep -here we go again!

Mexico fun fact:
Snakes appear repeatedly in Mexican mythology, from the serpent god Kukulcan which can be found the side of the Chichen Itza pyramid to the feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl.

The rest of the Ensenada trip

It's Tuesday and we got home yesterday afternoon. We came back on a different road than we went over on, this one was less twisty thru the mountains, but the problem was there was alot construction and detours. The other thing was we noticed there were no cops or those emergency phone boxes along the road in case one has car trouble, and the Rumorosa road has them all over the place.

So we came home empty handed. The house we were supposed to see at 7am Sunday morning was a bust. The house was HORRIBLE inside. I don't know how this woman was telling us (in Spanish of course)...oh- I'm going to paint it, and it needs to be cleaned up a little- you know how it is have a single man living in your house....It was a shithole, a dump. The floors were cement even though she said it was tile- it was tile in one small room and it was broken in places. The place looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years! So the big thing we learned was "really nice, or beautiful, or grande" is all a matter of perception.

As it turns out, the grandmother of Everardo's nephew lives in Ensenada and we called her because the nephew thought she might know about a house for rent. She didn't but was very nice and next time we go we will go to visit her. Her kids or grandchildren are around and maybe they can help us with some things like telling us the names of the neighborhoods; since I called on a house that was in an area called "Ojos Negros", and it was miles and miles outside the city-maybe half hour or 40 minutes inland. Most of the ads say in "colonia ..." naming the neighborhood, so we need to know which ones are in the city and which are not. Also, it seems her son lives on a rancho...but we're not clear if it's in the Ensenada area or not, but if it is, maybe we could pack up and store everything at their rancho while we look for a place.

So we have some homework to do. We also realize that we need to move up in price range for rents- at least initially to get in somewhere. There were lots of rentals in the 2000-3500 peso range, but they are horrible little places, so we need to be more at the 5000-6000 peso range (meaning up around $500 USD). We ran out of time before we could adjust our plans. Oh and another thing, we were used to houses not having refrigerator, but these houses have no stoves...and some have no hot water heaters! I find this amazing for a place to rent.

So we came home. I actually sent an email to thank the first guy with the house on his property that was out of the city, and while I was writing I thought- why not ask if he'd rent to us just for a month or two; he hasn't replied yet. We also need to see if we can work something out with Everardo's relatives. I just need to chalk it up to a learning experience, regroup, and start fresh.

We came home to hot hot hot!! The day before we left it had been a tiny bit cooler for 2 days, so silly me though ok, the heat is over and when we get back it will be headed for cooler. WRONG!! It's so hot outside that I thought I might burst into flame. But the good news is my motherboard came while we were gone and I dropped it off with the guy this afternoon- so I may be (maybe maybe maybe) using my laptop again!! Yipee!! This one is big, and heavy. We're planning to give it to Elena, Everardo's daughter. And Sam was so happy to see us! Poor baby, his skin is so dry from this heat and all the dirt, so this morning Everardo brought him to the vet for a nice medicated shower with oils for his skin. He doesn't seem to be scratching and last nite and this morning it was all he did.

Everardo is making fish for dinner. We had invited the woman and her husband who babysat Sam, but she forgot and called to say her hubby was sleeping- so I guess we'll eat the fish. She did a wonderful job, Sam is happy and she even did some yard work...she's a nice lady.

ok time to eat....

One unusual Mayan weapon was a “hornet bomb,” which was an actual hornet’s nest thrown at enemies during battle.