Week in review

It's only Thursday nite, but it's been a nice few days -altho' started out kinda hinky....Monday morning we went first thing into Ensenada to finish off my application for permanent residence. It went so smoothly! I kinda hopped out in glee....the other people waiting looked at me with a little bit of envy I think. Everardo said all the women were wishing they had married Mexicans ha ha. We had gone down there the first week of June and found out everything I needed; we had to get an apostille in Spanish for our wedding certificate (in Acapulco they simply let Everardo sit down and copy the one we have in English, but here it had to be official). We went to breakfast while they processed it and I had chilaquilles...yum. The other letters I had to write I copied what I had from Puerto Penasco and just changed relevant info like address and dates....

When we took it all to her she read it all and looked at Everardo and asked him if he helped me write the letters! Ha ha! He laughed and told her I copied them (in Penasco they wrote them for me and had me sign them, so I was pretty sure they were what I needed). Everything else was in order, but you can not apply for the next thing until it's almost your expiration date, so we had to wait until this week. Did I say it takes an hour to get there? That will matter in a few minutes.

Everardo started working out at the Bufadora last week. He started on Tuesday, while I was beginning my adventure with Bob the sea lion. He's a "seller". He works at someone's booth, and then gets commission on whatever he sells (based on sell price). I think he also gets paid if he goes early to help set up or stays late to break it down- which they must do every single day. I know I have written about the Bufadora before; it's a huge blowhole in some rocks at the ocean. So this place is just past the bay we live on, sitting along the Pacific. You walk down this narrow street to get there, and it is lines with booths, vendors selling everything you can think of. Tiny margaritas are given away free, and I believe other drinks as well. Lots of other food, candies, nuts, and these amazing breads- my favorite is the one that is a round loaf the size of a pizza but thicker, with sugar sprinkled on top and stuffed with a gooey cheese. There are lots of other types to choose from but I remain loyal... Anyway the place is noisy and chaotic on busy days- which are any days the cruise ships are in port in Ensenada, which is every day except Monday & Thursday. Hence, our trip was on Monday this week.

So we got down there and I felt lucky- only two names ahead of mine, and one did not respond when called, so our turn came up quickly. Everything was in order, so we walked out ten minutes later, a paper stating my application was in process in my hand; I had to turn in my temp visa (FM2 or 3 or whatever it was...) so this paper would keep me out of hot water if need be. Like I said, I think I skipped a little on the way out. She had told us to check in two weeks, that by then it should be all processed, so I would return and give my fingerprints....then in about another two weeks the card would show up. I signed so many pieces of paper I commented it was like buying a house, and she replied that yeah- but after this I would never have to do it again- the permanent residence had no expiration- it was good for forever! Did I say I skipped? Happily?

Silly silly me. In Mexico (and I know know know this)- In Mexico if it is not in your hand- you have nothing. We went and did our weekly grocery shopping and errands that used to be a Saturday thing, and went home. About 3pm the phone rings and it is immigration.They want me to come back and show a picture id with my name before I married my husband. WHAT?? I have no such document. I didn't bring old driver licenses or old passports with me....they are in my safety deposit box, and only because I am a bit of a hoarder ha ha. I like my old passport because it has so many stamps in it from all the places I've been. Africa, China, Thailand, France, Russia, Jordan, Egypt, Japan, Hong Kong, oh and Mexico...anyway I liked to look at it- maybe them, this may be over 2 passports. Regardless...I don't have them here. I gave the phone to Everardo, who repeated my question- what if we'd been married for 10 years, would you be asking. So the lady was very nice and said, just come back tomorrow morning and I'll help you write a little letter and you can sign it. Oh. Ok

So Tuesday morning we went first out to the Bufadora to tell Everardo's new boss he was gonna be late. She asked him to hurry because her other helper, her son, wasn't there that day, either. Ok ok. So back to Ensenada, an hour each way, and we didn't have to wait in line because we asked for Anna, the woman who had called and she came right out. I brought with me a couple of old business cards and a gas card I found that had my old name, but no picture. She said it was fine and said she'd write the letter for me and be right back. Ten minutes and she was back, letter in hand. We both read it....same words as my other letters, except for the specifics...I signed, we all shook hands again, and we went home- well I did, and Poppi went to work. Ok I changed and walked down to the gym house and started my workout, using my phone as a weights timer, and it rang. Immigration who wants me to come down right away, hoy. It's all in Spanish but I understand and reply in Spanish I was already there, I signed a letter with my name prior to my marriage to my Mexican husband. She puts me on hold.....comes back. Ok have a nice day. I finish and go to the beach to dance, take a shower...etc. I notice I have missed a call. Guess who? Immigration ha ha. I am unable to explain sufficiently and ask if I can call right back. I call Everardo who calls the wrong number (ha ha) and calls me to say I gave him the number of a bakery! I call again....blah blah blah...and they insist to him I provide picture id of who I was before I married him. Now the freakin' apostille is for EXACTLY that....but not good enough. Finally (as I think well someone will have to send me something and I am praying I put someone on my safety deposit box so they can go get something (the driver license might be somewhere in my stuff in the attic of the house up there....but where?). And then the woman asks if I have a birth certificate. YES!! But a copy only. That's ok bring it. However it does not have the name I had when I married Everardo...because I was using my ex husband's name......aaarrgghh. Ok so Everardo left work and...we drove the hour back up there.  And.....they accepted it! And they must have stamped it with that "yes we saw the original, made a copy and gave the applicant back their original" stamp.....

Wow long story and probly boring, right? So the moral of the story is: (remember??) In Mexico, if you don't have it in your hand, you have nothing. Well- they haven't called again so I think it was all submitted...fingers crossed.

Ha ha I said this was a nice week. But it was nice. After we left there we went to the movies and ate buttered popcorn -well and he ate nachos. Then yesterday morning, Wednesday I went to my first meeting of a meditation group, liked it, and next week I'll go to the afternoon group (they alternate and the morning group is just 5 or 6 people but the afternoon is closer to 15-20). I had just started reading and trying to listen to the cds for "The Eight Steps to Happiness" which is a ThaiBuddhist meditation, and apparently the guy who leads the afternoon group also practices the Thai Buddhist way, so I am very excited about that. I had started going to a Buddhist meditation center a few months before we left for Mexico and like it very much; I asked in there what I could do to continue on my own and they showed me the 8 Steps book. ha ha Only took me 2 years to get back to it. But very cool that right when I did start going back, a new friend of mine mentioned that she attended!
I came home from that, did my exercise routine, took the dogs to the beach to throw the ball into the waves for them, then Poppi came home, we had a nice dinner and I topped it off with an AA meeting. I am sooooo loving my life right now.

Today was more of the same. Everardo was home (no cruise ships on Thursday) and while he was out I did my exercise, then later we took the dogs to the beach and walked way down to where a sailboat had torn loose from it's anchor the other nite and floated into shore. It's been stuck there for days, and yesterday I saw a line of people trying to push or pull it in some way...there were also a couple of trucks on the beach, but today it was still there. When we got there this guy in a beach chair cheerfully waved to us, and said maybe in tonite's high tide he would make his escape. He was so cheerful! He's been sitting with the boat for days; I think he is Philippine (his accent) and he told us he's just been here for a month, but loves the weather (yeah me too). Walked back, chatted with our friend who has Iggy the dog, had another nice dinner, took an after dinner walk by the estuary...I mean yeah, my life is so good. Poppi has started steaming huge pots of veges and then we usually eat beans- and I love the black beans- or a small amount of meat. Feels good.

I feel like I am being true to myself. I want to grow spiritually, and I want to work on me physically, mentally and spiritually and I want to be healthier. I am 5 years clear of cancer and I always complain if Everardo wants to use insecticide or I want organic veges....and yet I am overweight. I read in several articles that avoiding recurrence of cancer includes eating right, being healthy...and maintaining a healthy weight. I made a commitment to myself that I wrote out, attainable goals over a long period. I am about to finish 3 months (of 12 initially) and I am meeting my goals. That feels good. Of course I am anal about making little lists and schedules. So I broke a year down into a week. Did I already write about this? Well I'll tell it quick. I divided 365 days by 5 for Monday thru Friday. So each day of the week is 73 days. And the reason is: I can do anything for a week. Right now I am in Tuesday, Wednesday starts some time in August. But for me- it works. I was surprised to day when I realized I am on Tuesday already! In fact I took it a little further and broke the days into morning and afternoon (told you I was anal). So I am actually in Tuesday afternoon now. Like I said, I can do anything for a week.

The one thing I need to be better at is my Spanish study. I do know I am waaaaaay better....and I try to talk to people wherever we go...but I need to do my basic computer work as well. Writing here helps me affirm to myself, to recommit.

I will say this. I can always do better. I said some very mean things to someone, in facebook private msg. I lost my temper at someone for saying some mean things, some very wrongs things and I felt attacked. I felt my family was attacked, and so I went on the offensive. Ha ha justified anger. It cannot be for me. The fact is every single thing I said (wrote) was true, but it was in anger, meant to hurt, and it probly did. I was right....but I was wrong to do it. This was early this week...but no excuses. So yesterday, thankful for what I receive from meditation and from AA, I sent a msg and apologized for my unkind words. I didn't try to justify or anything. Just said regardless of the situation I was wrong to say mean things and I apologized. Then I said I would not contact them again so they would know I did  not expect (or want) a reply. I feel like I did the right thing, and I think it goes to my feeling of well being. Yeah I mess up, but I am getting so much better at stopping myself, or at least making an amends right away.

So tomorrow? Well my plan is to get up and exercise, work on Spanish, meditate, take my dogs to the beach, oooh start a new book, hit a meeting. Hmmm sounds like today....yesterday.....yeah.......

Spending my week with an injured sea lion "Bob"

This past week went by so fast and at the same time seems like it was so long and so long ago. But I will never again walk the beach without thinking about Bob the sea lion. On Tuesday morning Everardo came bursting in the door and yelled for me to grab the camera to take pictures of a sea lion on the beach who seemed content to sit and not be scared off. I had been about to go on my exercise morning dancing/walk down the beach with the dogs so I was almost ready to go. It was about 9:30 or 10am, and we went back to where Poppi saw it, and it was still sitting there. But he sagged, and decided to lay down. We thought maybe he was injured or sick and came to shore to die, but I had never seen that; always before they were dead when they hit the beach.

I took some shots of Everardo next to him, and he reached out and touched his back- the sea lion looked at him but didn't leave or lash out or anything like that. I felt kinda funny (funny wierd not funny ha ha) taking his picture if he was going to die, but I did it. Then Everardo took the camera and I walked further up the beach starting my exercise. I had planned to exercise way up the beach because in front of our place we were having red tide, and it was so yucky.Ok here's what I found on google:

Red tide is a common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom (large concentrations of aquatic microorganisms) when it is caused by a few species of dinoflagellates and the bloom takes on a red or brown color. Red tides are events in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column, resulting in coloration of the surface water. It is usually found in coastal areas.

Some red tides can be toxic, but here apparently it is not. I say "apparently" because it was what I was told....but I get told lots of things here that do not turn out to be the case ha ha. However I seen birds in the water all week and people fishing both on the shore and from fishing boats, (oh and lots of digs) so I think it is probably true- that the red tide here is not toxic. It makes the both the water and the shore ugly, filled with so much yucky stuff, and it stunk as well. I really didn't want the dogs swimming in because it was stinky and then they'd need a shower after, so I walked way up the beach to do my exercise routine.

So- my hour was almost up and I was dancing my way back towards the sea lion. My intention was to stop and see him again, and then...what? I don't know. So I came up to him, and leaned in and talked to him softly. Asked him how he felt, talked about how pretty the sky was, whatever came into my tiny brain. And then...... a single tear fell from his eye and rolled down his face. I simply sat down next to him. I started crying as well. I told him how sorry I was. I could not leave him. As it turns out I stayed with him from about 11am until 6pm. A woman came down from her house right behind us, just a little while after I sat down; she had actually seen the sea lion the nite before, just before dark. Her name was Meena she told me, and she said she saw him in the very shallow water near the shore and had tried to get him to go back out in the ocean, but he didn't go. Then in the morning the tide had gone out so he was out of the water, sitting & laying in the sand. By then I had already reached out to him, and touched his head, which seemed to be ok. So I was stroking and petting him and talking to him. She began to do the same thing....and she and I began to talk.

Well as it turned out my husband had talked to a guy he saw working by another house near the sea lion and got that guy to call PROFETA, which is a federal group responsible for the shoreline and came to tell us they would be there soon. I knew I was not leaving this poor baby. (yeah we thought it was a she, and very young because she was not huge- at least not as huge as a sea lion can be. Later we found out he was a he, and about 8 years old). Both Meena and I waited for PROFETA, who showed up about 2:30...yeah so not all that "soon". Well by then the tide has started to come up, and that's when we saw the blood. Not a lot, just a thin stream that seemed to pool a little down by his "feet" and would wash away each time the waves came in. These were small waves, they didn't cover him, but he needed to keep raising his head. The PROFETA guy took alot of photos and they talked on the phone, and decided with our input that he had an injury under one of his front flippers. Then he said this other group was coming, marine mammals people or something, but they would wait for them. I said, ok well I am going to go home and change my clothes and come back, and Meena thought that was a good idea so she did it too. I told him to pet our baby and talk to her...he said of course- that they cared about him. So I went home and took a shower as fast as I could, and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I hadn't eaten all day. I got back about the same time as Meena, and then, to my surprise...kinda....they told us they had to leave to another problem area, but don't worry, the people would be there soon. Luckily I got his phone number.

About 4:30 still nobody had come and we were worried the offices would close so we called them. They guy said oh yeah- let me call them so call me back in a minute. I called back and he said sorry, everyone is too busy, they will come tomorrow. I got mad and said maybe he won't make it! He hung up on me. Well the tide went back out, and then there was no more blood. My husband called me about 6pm and told me to come home. I told our baby I loved him and he would be ok, and I went home. Meena stayed with him until almost dark. The next morning Everardo went out around 8am and checked, came back and told me he was still alive so I went down to sit with him. Around 9:30 a truck drove up and a lady got out and took some more pictures. She was from the marine mammal people- so I tok a picture of her truck door that had a logo on it. She got on the phone, and then told me (all in Spanish) that a veterinarian was coming soon. Then she left. Well I sat back down to talk and pet my baby sea lion, knowing it might be hours. So I was very surprised when another truck showed up on the beach around 11:30. It was PROFETA again, but they had a woman with them who turned out to be the vet- her name was Alejandra. She spoke pretty good English and asked me to tell her everything I knew from the moment it started and to not leave out any details.

So I told her, and then Meena showed up. (we decided I was early shift and she was late shift).  Alejandra told us after looking carefully, that first, she was a he. Then that he was about 8 years old and we could tell that by his fur around his nose and mouth beginning to turn white, and that the tuft of hair/fur on the very top of his head was something a male developed after about 5 years of age. Females do not have it. Then she showed us some marks on his back and said she believed he was caught in a fishing net for an extended period and that was one reason he was so fatigued. But there was something else. We had told her that the nite before, when he was still in the surf, he had what we called convulsions, but she called seizures. We thought he was dying when that happened "death throes" Meena called it, and she and I hugged and cried as we thought it was the end. But then he had calmed down. Alejandra said that he was poisoned by fish who had eaten in a "yellow tide" further north, and that it wasn't toxic to the fish, but it was to mammals. (I think that's how she put it). That our red tide was ok, but yellow was not. That it could cause seizures, and death. So she gave him a shot, of an antibiotic called domoic acid to fight off the poison. (Meena later googled it and said the symptons fit our baby boy exactly). So in the end I think Alejandra saved him, but I believe our constant comfort made a big difference. Then Alejandra told us to go home and let Bob sleep. That he needed to heal.
Oh she also said the blood was from these tiny sea "creatures" that bite at the wounds on sea life...and yeah they were biting at our feet and ankles....and that why he stopped bleeding after the tide went down. She told us it would be better if he stayed on the shore. We did not go home right away; we stayed with him and chatted with each other. When the tide came back up...he went in it! We tried to push him towards shore but he wasn't having any. But he was so weak, he could barely hold his head up when the waves came, but he let us, carefully hold his head up. The tide finally started to go back out. It got late and I went home, but Meena stayed, and she made Bob a pillow out of kelp ha ha, but we think it helped.
I forgot to say when Alejandra first came she warned us about touching him; that if he was healthy he would never do that, that maybe he was carrying a disease, could we at least wear gloves since we would not stop petting him?? haha. I think the first lady told her- that woman was shocked when she saw me sitting so close, talking to him and stroking his head, scratching his neck and belly when he sat up and stretched toward me.He nuzzled my arm many times. I didn't put my face in close for a nuzzle, but my dog Hazel did, and they touched noses. Sam sniffed around Bob with concern, and Bob was ok with it. He knew we cared about him, Meena and I and the dogs. Both days people wandered by and sometimes stopped for a minute but never got as close as we did. Oh and I also forgot to say that the Mexican guys that worked nearby named him Bob so we thought that was cute and Bob he stayed- I had been calling him Baby Boy and Meena was calling him Hefalump...so Bob was a good choice.

So anyway we had no intention of leaving Bob or not touching him. He leaned into us, he looked in our eyes. Oh and I googled sea lions; they don't actually cry. The have tear ducts that let tears flow to keep salt out of their eyes. They can be out of the water for a couple of weeks, that they can go a week without eating, that they can hold their breath for at least 15 minutes and maybe twice that long according the the article you read. That they can close and seal their noses to keep water out. That they swim about 10-12 miles an hour but can do a short spurt at 25 miles an hour.

Ok- Thursday morning. I get there and Bob is sleeping. Like a deep sleep. Actaully the nite before when Meena made the pillow he was sleeping and snoring! So we think the medicine broke the fever- or the poison, and then he could sleep- like when you are really sick and you toss and turn, but when the fever finally breaks you fall into a deep sleep? So I sat there for a while, but decided to do my exercise and let him sleep. Later I returned and Meena was there, but she had done the same as me...watched him and then left. Then I had to go to Ensenada with Everardo but about 3pm Meena called me to tell me Bob was in the surf and rolling over and over, sitting up, but not leaving. When I got back it was almost 5pm, and we watched him do this until about 6:30. We found out it was how he cooled himself off. Meena had called Alejandra, whom i had spoken to early in the morning to report on Bob's condition. Alejandra couldn't come but said she's come back on Friday and give him another shot. She said she could only come with PROFETA- it is the Mexican law, that they have to document and "direct" her even though she is doing the analysis and the work. She is a volunteer, and told us how they really want a rehab center for the injured animals like Bob, but here in Mexico it is hard to get the funding. She was very happy that we were helping Bob, and after the first day didn't bother to lecture us that we needed gloves- she knew we loved Bob and that was that.

Well about 6:30 Bob finally stopped playing in the water and lay down. We decided to go home, so we both told him we loved him and see him later. Then Bob surprised us and made us each soooo happy. When we said goodbye, he turned around and took some silly sea lion steps towards us and stretched his neck out to us, and nuzzled each of our arms. Now that made me cry. Meena told me earlier when she came and he was asleep that she sat nearby and he opened his eyes and moved closer to her! Pretty cool eh? Then after he nuzzled us, he turned back so he was looking at the water, and laid down. We went home...and as I got a little further away I looked back and saw hin walk up the beach out of the water and throw himself down. Later a woman knocked on Meena's door to say she thought the sea lion was dead- Meena hurried out, but Bob was back in a deep sleep. She called me to tell me, but we decided he had recovered alot, had a good play, and was now exhausted and needed the sleep.

Friday morning I headed out- Bob was gone! I found out that meena had gotten up at 5:30 am to pee and looked out her window and he was still there, but by 8am he was gone, gone with tide.This was a good thing, a great thing!! But I was as sad as I was happy. Hmmm what had we done in our lives before Bob? Meena felt the same. But what a gift. What a gift to be able to be in service to another living thing. To comfort him. I know he knew we were there to help. I know he came to know us. I know he appreciated us being there. I know we helped to save his life. He certainly changed my life. How lucky I nothing else to do so I could spend 3 days with this beautiful animal, comfort him when he was hurting and probly scared. Cheer him on. How cool was all that..I am so lucky, I always think that!

Well- later we found out something that initially pissed me off, and Meena was so upset, but I have changed my mind about it now. She found out that a guy who works for this camp...like a maintenance guy, walked out early in the morning with this dog named Lucas. Well Bob knew Hazel and Sam and was very comfortable with them; I believe they communicated with each other thru looks and noses ha ha. But I guess Lucas scared Bob awake, and lunged at him, and Bob jumped up and ran into the ocean and was gone. I was so mad that it had ended that way. I wanted to wave goodbye to Bob as he disappeared in the surf, raising a flipped (yeah right?). But after thinking about it for awhile- Meena and I agreed it was a good thing- because around here the sea lion does not have alot of friends. I'm sorry to say that the fishermen shoot them! Yeah shoot them! Because they are in competition for the fish. It is illegal of course...but that doesn't mean too much. So Bob being comfortable around people would not be a good thing. So it is what it is. Funny I miss Bob. Meena and I have emailed each other a few times and will trade pictures that we both took as he got steadily better. Alejandra was sooo happy. She thanked us profusely and told us to keep her number. We thanked her for caring and helping Bob. I'm hoping Meena and I find some other common ground- maybe simply a cup of coffee, but you kinda get to know someone spending 3 straight days with them, you know- but sometimes it's like when you take a class and really get along with someone, and then it's over and you never talk to them again. It could be a Spanish class we found may end up being available to us right here in this camp neighborhood, so we'll see. Oh and the red tide is gone- for now anyway.....yipee.

So...this is the story of Bob the sea lion. I feel like I left out a million details, all my emotions, trying to get him to turn around in the surf, feeling protective, laughing at his antics, learning about sea lions, my initial sadness and feeling so helpless, wanting to punch the next person in the face who said...it's life....and walk away. And really? How many people get to have a relationship- however brief, with a sea lion. I like writing about here, because trying to tell people out loud felt weird somehow...like I was saying "look at me-look what I'm doing" when what I was trying to say was about how cool Bob was, what he looked like, what he felt like, how he moved, how he breathed, being able to be part of it. Does that make sense? I love you Bob. I hope you swim far from these damn fishing nets, catch tons of fish, roll and jump and play. Catch ya on the flip side!

What? Can't match the paint?

I remembered one more thing that's different here than Guerrero or even Sonora. The music on the radio. This is the first place where we get American rock and roll, or American anything. I had gotten used to only hearing Mexican music unless I used my ipod, which is a mixture of both, and so was a little surprised when we got here and found a station coming from San Diego- and it's oldies rick & rill which is my kinda music! My exercise music is a mix of Mexican zumba and old rock & roll (yeah the rock & roll is for in between the heart pumping cardio of the zumba songs!)

I saw a facebook post from a friend back in Penasco, Sonora who described the weather as "grueling heat", and I remembered how I felt this time last year, and the year before. Last year the heat pushed me down into the ground, I didn't want to do anything but sit in front of the fan that moved searing heat around. The year before we had just arrived in Guerrero, and it was storming, but still hot. So weird, humidity- something I had no experience with, pouring rain, but I'm still wearing a tank top and shorts, going about my business without even an umbrella. When the rain stopped, I got dry quick, and then wet again thanx to my new friend humidity. The first lightning thunder storm had Sam run into the room and jump up on the bed. The bugs still bit me in the rain. Mud poured down our driveway and stacked up against the patio, starting to slop over, so Everardo was up on the street digging a ditch in pouring rain. Ha ha happy new place to live. I guess it was nice to never need hot water....but not nice enough in the end. The bugs were not as bad in Penasco, and here my worst problem is the "so seeums". The tiny flying mites that make a high pitched tone sound in the middle of the nite as they buzz around your head. They bite you and it itches like hell- but if you don't scratch it, it's gone by morning- but try and not scratch in your sleep between your fingers or your neck. For the last week I've been wearing one of Poppi's long sleeved white tshirts, that I still put the bug stuff I discovered in Guerrero on the sleeves and on my hands, neck and hair. Little f%$#$%rs!

So it is not grueling heat right now, and no no no humidty yippee. In fact it's cold at nite, not freezing or anything, but after dark it cools off; I'd wear a pendelton or a light sweatshirt if I went out...maybe even long pants. In downtown Ensenada it can be 10-15 degrees hotter than here, I mean we are right on the beach, around the bay from Ensenada, so if there's fog or clouds, it's cooler here, and there's usually at least a little breeze. But I'm good with it- balance- wow what a concept. Not too hot and not too cold, altho' we've already had a heat wave, so we'll see what the rest of the summer brings us.

So-we had one wall to finish painting the inside of the house. One purple wall. This morning Everardo tells me, well, the guy at the paint store said he can't match it. Can't match it?? I chose it out of their book! I was ready all day to go over there.....but patiently (yes me-patient) waited until he needed it. He used a brush on the last couple of places, including this wall because the roller went into hiding....ha! there was exactly enough to finish the last wall!! The brush doesn't waste as much paint..well that's what he said anyway. Yippee! No more blue walls in this house. Orange, yellow, green and purple, but no blue. In retrospect I shoulda chose red for one wall....but never mind. This makes 4 houses my wonderfully patient (ooh maybe that's where I'm learning it), hubby has painted for me! 3 in Mexico. I think I better to agree to stay put for at least a couple of years cause I think the brush has probably run down the same get away path as the roller.

I'm just really happy with it because this little trailer is really old and run down. From the outside...well "ouch" comes to mind. Except of course for Everardo's vegetable garden; small but his first attempt here, and the ground is pretty crappy, mostly sand, but he drove up in the hills and came back with the truck bed filled with better dirt...I'm thinkin' some Miracle Grow couldn't hurt, right?

Small, old, beat up- ha ha there's no place like home, and this place feels like it. We don't know alot of people here; Everardo has been going to the Spanish speaking AA and meeting a few people, I mostly go to the English meetings, and except for our friend with the dog Iggy, I/we don't really socialize with any of them. But we did get invited last weekend to a birthday party for a lady turning 44 I think, from the Spanish AA group. It was a nice party...got cold kinda quick and the "younger generation" put on some really loud rap type music after the food, so as soon as another couple Everardo knows got up to go (she was freezing- no jacket), we also took off.

Silly dog news: so when we were taking our nitely after dinner walk- the last 2 nites we saw a rabbit come out of the bushes and speed down a path. Both our goofball dogs missed it both times! Sam has been looking for a bunny rabbit ever since he saw one, and Hazel jumps and dives thru the bushes the whole walk- every time! ha ha. They missed that darn rabbit and it was a surprise to see him again the next nite. I'm starting to think that maybe "he" is a "she" and she's coming out to lead us away from her babies? I mean we have been walking out there almost every nite-well me for weeks but Eevrardo for months...and we had only seen a rabbit once- but we didn't see her last nite so- hmm notice I'm now calling her "her"? ha ha. They love it out there, and it's so pretty. Hazel runs all over the place the entire time; Sam, he hangs with us unless he thinks he spies a rabbit or thinks we're going to let him go down to the water. That dog would trade his soul to go in the water...but it gets cool here at nite so we usually don't let him go in....
.........  Oh- the other day Everardo wasn't home, but it was becoming evening and they were waiting for their walk so I took them...but because of the Baja 500 I didn't want to walk near the estuary like we usually do because there were guys riding atvs and driving dune buggys all over the place. Yeah the Baja 500 is a big deal here, and lots of houses in our camp, and I'm sure the neighboring camps were rented out all last week for the race last Saturday. That meant lots of loud roaring motos all week, and in the evenings, lots of guys out drinking beer and then hot rodding around. So I was being extra careful... I thought. Nothing happened with the race cars, but my poor little Hazel. She was running in the bushes and doing her jumps straight up in the air- she looks like an atenlope ha ha. And suddenly I hear nothing- so I look around and I see her. She's so still, and just looking at me, one paw held up. I rush over to her. Sam is looking very concerned, and sniffing at her. She has a HUGE round cactus sticker thing in her paw, and when I get closer I see another in her side, and one in her back leg, above her paw. CRAP!! I gently pull on the one in her paw and to my surprise it does NOT come out. I pulled on the other two, and they came out, kinda popped, like the spines had a little hook at the end...She just watched me, and sat very still. I tried again on the one in her paw and it wouldn't come out, and it was like the other end, the end I was pulling on, was gunning for me. They kept stick me in the top of my fingers and drawing blood. So luckily I was wearing a light sweatshirt over my tank top, so I pulled it off and tried to use it like a glove, but the spines went thru it in a second and stuck me again. The more I tried to wrap the sweatshirt around it, the more it stuck, and pushed farther into her, poor baby. I kneeling on the ground in the dirt, Sam is hovering, but it seemed like he was telling her it was gonna be ok. I figured Everardo was on his way home and probably had something thicker in the car, so I called, and he was about 5 minutes away. Then I just picked her up and held her like a baby and started walking. Poppi drove up a minute later, and did have a thick cloth- plucked that sucker right out. I was so upset and felt responsible but then he told me it wasn't the first or even the second time. Oh. But she and I bonded over that- she and I are much more huggy than we were- Sam always gets jealous and Everardo is super huggy with her, so I always hug him...but how silly eh? I can be huggy with both. Anyway last nite I saw the small cactus plant that grows those evil round pieces of hell. It grows low and out. These burrs are round on the plant, and when they fall off, they stick to whatever comes by. Hazel is right back to jumping all over the place, but I am keeping my eyes peeled.

Over all us and our dogs...well our lives are pretty damn good...exercise, beach, sun, fresh air, naps, good books, yeah....it's alllll good. viva

OH- and dirt roads, water, bread, time....in English or Spanish??

I wrote so much in the last post and yet.....I forgot what I wanted to say about a couple more things...
Dirt roads. Well 2 years into this adventure and I still live on a dirt road. The road in Playa Ventura, Guerrero was getting paved as we left. I heard recently that water is coming out there. All the water right now is delivered in the big trucks and stored in pilas, usually on your roof- otherwise you need an additional pump. We had 3 pilas, and it rains so much down there that we didn't ever need to buy water. But many people have only one pila, or a smaller one, and so they have to buy water when it runs out. Now for drinking water of course, we had to buy. The truck came down the road once a week, blaring the horn- usually Thursday and we usually bought 4 garrafons. (That's the huge water jugs that hold about 5 gallons). I think we use less than that here- and we take them to places to get them filled, where they rinse out the jugs before refilling. In Playa they water truck guys got to know us, and were bring the garrafons down before we got out there ha ha. They would bring us new ones each time and take our old ones. We always gave them a tip, and they were always really helpful when I was home alone. So we didn't have any hot water or a hot water heater and really didn't care- last thing you want down there is a hot shower. I heated only for shaving my legs- just a pot on the stove and then did it outside at the table. Washing clothes was harder. We had hardly any water pressure so a machine would have been useless. Ha ha I was washing it in the outside sink, and then taking it in the shower where I had to step on a rope for the water to come down to rinse them. Ok not as bad as washing them on a rock- right? SOME women did! There was a small arroyo next to our yard and in the spring women brought their laundry, scrubbing and visiting...that was just too much for me. Then in the nearby town we found a laundry that washed, ironed and folded our clothes- maybe 2 weeks worth so probably 3 loads, for 90 pesos! Sold!! That was after about 4 months of shower rinsing ha ha.

As the road down there began the process of being paved, I watched crazy little side deals happening. One friend of ours needed cement....and he got it. Another wanted a paved driveway, and they got it. People got stones, dirt, whatever they needed, and the construction guys got side money. It didn't work out that great for us....and in retrospect I now wonder if one of our "friends" didn't help us not to get help....ah well, water under the bridge. Our issue was that where the road went past our house it was a downhill driveway into our yard. Probably about 10 feet from the original road to our gate. We had a nice wall...maybe 5 feet high- really just to keep out donkeys and dogs, not to block views- as I said the road was higher than our house and so along our fence was a 3 or 4 foot wide path, then a slope up to the road (only 4/5 feet)- so anyone walking along the road looked into our yard and house. So Everardo talked to the guys, almost on a daily basis. He gave them cold water a few afternoons, and our short length from road to gate got paved. We did have to pay a couple of guys to take down the gate and turn it around so it swung in to open when previously it swung out. It's a wide gate, maybe 10 feet across, but with the road paved and the dirt piling down, it couldn't open outwards anymore. That was all great. But then came the sidewalk and the driveway lip it needed, and not to be too tall.....etc etc etc. Somehow when we were gone for a few days- and this all took months and they do the couple of days we're not there....and do the sidewalk past our house with no driveway dip and about a foot drop down to the driveway. Everardo was sooo pissed- and this is a man who rarely and I mean really rarely loses his temper, stewed for a few hours and then silently left the house. I went out a little while after that and he had a sledge hammer (hmmm from where?) and destroyed the sidewalk where it passed our driveway. He then piled cement and dirt to make it passable for us. We moved about a month later, and had to send money down to the guy watching our house to pay to have it fixed.

We got up to Puerto Penasco and rented a house on- yep- a dirt road. It wasn't bad until it rained and then it became a huge lake. Luckily we had the truck and didn't really drive the little Toyota Corolla we bought there much during the rainy season....which started about mid Jan, but only last a couple of months. Living on a dirt road with a dirt yard makes for a dusty house. The wind is always welcome in both Playa Ventura and Puerto Penasco because it at least moved the heat around some, but it always blew dirt and/or sand into the house. It's amazing what you (slowly) get used to. Now we are in Baja- and I'm not sure if we are actually located in Punta Banda or Cantu...we're renting on Ejido land an it's called Ejido Cantu, but we may still be in Punta Banda? Hmmm- doesn't really matter because we don't get mail here...we put the address down that was on the telephone & electric bill of the person who lived here before us, and now are using it for the bank and my permanent resident application, so...Anyway we are again on a dirt road. But we are in between the ocean and an estuary so it's all good.

Funny I noticed that I walk always looking down since I got to Mexico. If there are sidewalks in the towns they are many times crumbling or uneven in places, and I spend a lot of time on dirt roads which have rocks, ect., or the beach...so I always have to watch where I'm walking - oh except maybe inside-since I'm wearing shoes, right? ha ha

In Penasco we had city water and received a bill for it. Again, not by mail- someone dropped it in our mailbox just like the phone & electric bills. Funny right? We paid them by going to the company itself- everybody did. Here in Baja, we don't pay for water or garbage- but the phone & electric bills are at the rental office when we go pay the rent. We can pay them at the local grocery store at a little wall kiosk like an atm- but we mail nothing. I can however, for the first time receive mail from the states by sending it to an adress in San Ysidro right over the Calif border and the rental people pick it up on a regular basis- of course I have to pay for the pleasure...We also took our garrfons to a water place to be refilled in Penasco- just like here in Baja- it's about 12 pesos I think, but in Playa Ventura it was only 8 pesos I think. Here we are on a well, and as I said that water is free. I think it probably has some salt in it, maybe not enough to taste- but man our clothes are taking a beating in the washing machine. It must be the water along with the old machine. But I like free. We had a washing machine in both Penasco and here, and always line dry.

Ok the bread. This will be short. I just wanted to say that we loved the bread lady with the basket on her head in Playa Ventura, and in Penasco we had something similar, but different. A guy had this little station wagon that played a song that I am shocked I don't remember. It played every single day around 4pm, and when you first heard it he was a few streets away so you had time....He had bolios, the french bread like rolls, pastries, cookies, that funny bread with the sugary paste on it, etc. For sandwich bread- which my husband calls toast (whether you toast it or not), you got it at the store.
I also like how the stores sell bakery goods all over Mexico. You take a round pan and a pair of tongs and choose what you want, breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, etc and then bring it all up to the counter. They put it in little paper bags and staple it closed with the receipt.

Anyway here, no mobile bakeries, not walking or cars with silly bread songs. There are lots of little bakeries all over the place, but I just liked how you heard it outside your door.

Ok time. And not "Mexican time" like ok tomorrow and we all know what that can mean...I mean the actual time. We only have a clock in the kitchen, well we both have cell phones, but we usually have the tv on at nite, even if we're on our laptops or reading. So whenever an ad for a tv program comes on, I know to automatically subtract 2 hours because it's all on Mexico City time. In Playa Ventura I only had to subtract 1 hour, but that was the place where I first had the 24 hour time on the tv, So if it's 7pm, the 24 hour clock will say 1900, so oh boy more math. Once you pass 12 noon, subtract 2 from the time to know the hour....so 1900 is 7pm, 1400 is 2pm, 1700 is 5pm, get it? Ok so now, after you subtract 2, then 1 more IF it's a tv ad, but not if it's the guide menu on the tv. Fun eh? Then we moved up to Penasco and it was 2 hours different so it was subtract 2 and 2, or just 2 if it was on the menu.
So we move over here, and guess what? No more 24 hour clock on the tv (might be cause we switched from Sky tv to Dish?), but the ads are still off by 2 hours. Then daylight saving time came, but Mexico City doesn't change for another month, so the online tv guide didn't change either. So for a month I had no idea what time any show was on...and sometimes what time it even was....It's funny the guide for the main channel we watch in English is wrong all the time, too. It's noty the show it says it is, but we don't seem to have that problem with any other channel. We're now watching a drama/novela in Spanish on that channel- El Mariachi-. I think it's the only show in Spanish on that channel.
Now add that fun to a Mexican comedian husband who always asks me "In English or Spanish?" when I want anything. We are Lucy and Ricky Ricardo sometimes. Sometimes he pretends to misunderstand me and asks me back with silly questions. Sometimes he really does misunderstand me but I think he's joking. Sometimes he understands (but not really) and I don't realize we are not on the same page. Sometimes he knows he didn't understand what I said but says ok anyway. Now add in that sometimes I don't understand him and say so, and sometimes I don't say so and assume.....yeah we have alot of confusion in our house, but it is almost always funny....except when it's not-ha ha.

Ok time to take Sam & Hazel for a walk. It's really nice outside. There's alot of activity in our neighborhood that's not usually here because the Baja 500 is this weekend and starts/ends in Ensenada, so there are quite a few short term renter here. Keeps it interesting, right?
Viva

After 2 years in Mexico

2 years ago we left northern Calif; packed up our little truck and pulling a trailer full of clothes, bicycles, pots and pans, lots of books and just a couple of pieces of furniture (one of which did not survive the trip), my husband, our dog, and I changed our lives forever. We drove south and then east to cross at Santa Teresa, right next to Juarez- which we ended up going thru anyway. We sat at the border for a day and a half because we wanted to nationalize our vehicles, then finally crossed into Mexico. Ha ha we were pulled over within the first half hour by the feds- who were looking for money- which my Mexican husband did not give, even though the feds were sure we didn't pay the right amount at the border for all our stuff, or for the truck, ect. Hubby showed paperwork and stood his ground. Maybe the most effective I have been as a "gringo" woman was on that trip- when every time feds pulled us over, at some point they would notice me, ask who I was, find out I was his esposa- an Americana- and then they would smile politely and send us on our way. However by the time we got to Guerrero (after Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Jalisco & Michocan) we were only being pulled over by "regular" or state police and they didn't care who I was and we usually paid. Acapulco was the craziest- pulled over 3 times in the first half hour or so, and then finally took our license plates off. Got pulled over again and Everardo angrily asked this cop how much $ to stay with us thru Acapulco. We saw at least 3 other cops be waved off by this guy....However- 6 months later when we packed up again and drove north with Guerrero plates we were not pulled over once. (north after Jalisco was Nyarit, Sinaloa to end in Sonora)

Ok interesting observations or things I have learned or changed:

I never go barefoot. Inside or outside. At first, in Playa Ventura, Guerrero, it was because of scorpions. Ok I shouldn't say "at first" because it's still the main reason- at least indoors....We lived there 6 months and we had 2 in the house and one on the patio that connects the kitchen to the rest of the house. That one was fighting off a puupy who was barking and poking at it and it was waving it's tail and I swear had a mean look in it's eye (ok maybe a little over the top.) So I always wore flip flops or slippers in the house, and tennis shoes or flip flops outside.  This has remained true for all 3 places we have lived or live. My feet have gotten...well wider. I wear a size bigger than when I got here. Fine for slip flops and sandals, but the rest of my shoes are now basically useless. Ouch- I was always a big shoe person, lots and lots of pairs. Now- I heard the extremely mild winter here in Baja is not normal so I may need covered shoes next winter...but unless I'm working out (which is mostly beach dance/walking) and wearing tennis shoes- no covered shoes for me. I don't go barefoot on the beach because sadly there is often garbage on or just under the sand. Maybe fishing stuff, maybe broken bottles, sometimes bones from seals or other fish. Sound yucky but...I found the same to be true in Sonora on the Sea or Cortez, and down in Guerrero the sand could just get too hot.

I don't put my hand way back in shelves or dark closets where I can't see- pretty much the same thing- scorpions, but here in Baja there seems to be a lot of black widow spiders. I go to an AA meeting in English here, in a tiny building, and there are black widows ALL the time- so my logic is then they might be in my house as well.

Ok this is for women only (I think). After living a year and a half in humidity, 9 months of which you are wet and sticky ALL the time- 24/7, pat don't wipe. Obvious conclusion, enough said. 

I never pay for anything I do not have in my hand. Sometimes when today is over- well you simply start over. The telephone company, the electric company, even the bank. And always always a street vendor, a store...etc. Tomorrow does not mean tomorrow. Oh it might....but it also might mean the day after that, next week, next month, never, or...who are you? Anything that needs to get ordered? ha ha have fun with that. Our dogs got their rabies shots, and actually, 7 months later we did just get the tags for their collars. But- when we got the shots, I asked for bordetella shots and the very nice vet said- let me check- no I don't have any but I'll order it, should be here in a week. We'll call you. so 2 weeks later I went back and he said oh bordetella? Let me check- no I don't have any but I'll order it, should be here in a week. We'll call you. Next week- exact same thing. It was all in Spanish, but I was able to ask, do you remember I was here before and asked for it? Oh yes, I remember you. Well we'll call you when it comes in. When we're near there we stop by to ask......Yes comical, sometimes not so much, like the telephone company who accidently over charged us and said- oh we'll reverse it tomorrow- can't right now because the transaction blah blah blah...after a couple of months of driving up to Ensenada and arguing with them, then they wanted us to prove we didn't get the money back! Yeah I'm not allowed in the telephone company anymore. Not by them, more by me and hubby agreement. I lost in there and everyone just looked at me. ha ha. Interestingly, the bank finally took money back.....

Most things are not my business and nobody needs my input. Yes I should have learned this a long time ago and before coming to Mexico. This is a different culture. Dogs are not treasured family members to most Mexican people. (At least where I have been). Expats cherish their pets, but here, in a country so poor, with people simply trying to eat, who may or may not even have plumbing in their homes- dogs are not treasured family members. They might be good to have around, for protection, or...hmmm not sure what. They may or may not get fed, and it may or may not be dog food. Humans eat first. There are sooooo many stray dogs in Mexico! I have seen some dog rescue operations, but they have been expat. Even neutering dogs is just not the culture- that somehow the male dog will lose his "manlihood" his muchismo...Females don't get spayed because- well in many cases- it just doesn't get a second thought. So- for me- if there is a place or a way I can help- fine- but it is not my job or my business to tell (lecture) people on how they should treat their dog.

Maybe it's just animals in general. The horses and the cows around here are so skinny- in Guerrero, too. Ensenada is a cruise port and buses come out past where we live on the way to the Bufadora (a huge blowhole), and they'll stop up on the main road where locals have strings of horses that tourists ride down to the beach. These horses are so skinny! And I see horses all over the place tied up with pretty short ropes. Those cruise ships look like big floating apartment buildings and have sooo many people on them. They come 4 maybe 5 times a week, and so the horses are out there alot. I think they charge 200 pesos for the short ride across the dirt road and over to the beach for a few minutes. Poor skinny horses- but these people are trying to make a living. No for me to judge and not for me to say.

I don't understand why birth control is not on everybody's mind! Again, not my business, but my blog my opinion....such poor people and sooo many kids, and so many children having children. Mexico is very complicated in it's culture, it's history and it's current situations on so many levels, in so many areas. I know it's hard to think about tomorrow when you are struggling today. Many times what do not see is hope. That's a hard one.

Lower my expectations- customer service is not top priority. Recently a friend of mine who has lived in Europe told me that customer service is an American thing. Finding it lacking here is not odd but rather the norm. There can be 10 cash registers in the store, only 2 open with 20 people waiting in line. Nobody complains. When I first came to Mexico I would get frustrated and say something loudly. People turn to look at me. When I had that meltdown in the phone company- customers and employees alike turned to look at me. People do not complain- they wait. In Mexico everything is possible, but you must wait for everything. I used to say things here are simple but never easy. I was wrong- they are never simple. I had to work on my acceptance or I was gonna go crazy.

We opened a bank account down in Guerrero, with Santander- no problem moving because they are all over Mexico. Now, down there it was an all day affair- it was an hour north driving to Cruz Grande, the first city big enough for a bank. When you get there- every time- there is a line down the street before they open and it stays that way all day. When it's your turn, you get their full attention, even if you simply visit after your business is done- even though there is a huge line waiting. When we moved up to Puerto Penasco, Sonora- there was a bank, but it busy all of every day. You always wait. Ok so we move over here to Baja, just south of Ensenada. They have 2!! Santander branches, and one is at the south end of town and so convenient for us. Recently my husband's atm card wasn't  working that good when swiped at the store, so we stopped in to see if we could get another. The answer was yes- but not one with his name on it- because....(this is a good one).....we didn't open our account there and they will only send a new card with his name on it to the location where we opened the account. WHAT?? Yes they can electronically move funds, they even receive money from our U.S account. They have our new address, they can see our accounts on their screen, and can print us out a statement if we like. But they can NOT give us a card with our name on it. We can open a new account there and then they will give us new atm cards with our names on them. But they can NOT close the old account.....because (right?) because we have to go to the location where we opened it and close it there. ahhhhh ok- what if we take all the money out? Well then it will sit in pending.. and if you leave money in it- it has to be more than 1500 pesos, or they will penalize you and take 150 pesos each month until you increase your balance. If it goes to zero then it moves to pending. Hey- clear as mud!

One thing I'll say about that card with no name- I actually kind of like it because it has a chip in it, so when the card is swiped for a transaction- your name pops up on the screen. Not a bad idea in case it gets stolen, cause most places are pretty good about asking for id with cards unless they know you.

Now for us, as it turns out, I was planning a trip to the US and could set up a new express send so we could transfer to a new account. And we are also planning a trip down to Guerrero to see our house, make some repairs, ect, so we could spend a day in Cruz Grande to close it. So we opened a new account- we just felt that it was better to do it now when we're planning to go down there, and not be forced to at some other point. So it's working out- but the technology and lack of understanding it sometimes just floors me! So patience..acceptance is the key to surviving here for me ha ha.

Be open- logic does not always lead the way! This sort of goes with the above about not "expecting" things or services or attitudes. When I go with the flow here, things seem to have a way of working out. When we got up to Sonora I really wanted to join a zumba class, but they were not cheap, and then if you did pay, the class may or may not be there, or start when you think it us "supposed to", etc. After grumbling about it for a few months, I started following Everardo down to the "ovalo" where he ran on the track while soccer games usually went on in the middle. I put on my ipod and started walking for an hour down there in the evening. After a couple of weeks I saw off to the side a group of women....then heard the music...zumba! I walked over and was motioned into the dance. It was free, it was a class every day- 5 days a week! Apparently the Mexican government wants women to be more healthy and zumba classes are free in many cities. In Penasco they had classes at about 5 different sites. In Ensenada they have them as well, in the morning and the evening, but it's too far for me to go- at least a half hour. But in Penasco I went every week nite and had a ball. I went for months as so learned alot of steps. I was the only American- even tho there are lots of Americans and Canadian there- but it's kinda weird how they kinda don't mix. It's kind of Arizona's playground and sometimes the arrogance of that was quite troubling to me. Anyway it was great for my Spanish, and I got invited to family parties and really felt "a part of".

I loved the instructor, Erika and am now facebook friends with her and several of the other women from class. Erika did me a huge favor and downloaded all her music for me! So here I have made lemonade. I put the music on my ipod and every morning I take the dogs and I dance and walk on the beach for an hour. I feel great and my doggies get to run and swim and play.  I dance by myself and mostly make it up as I go. I am at an age where I finally don't care what anybody thinks about me, When I was a drunk I always danced wherever I was, then was ashamed or embarrassed later- but it's been a long time since then more than 13 years...and in that time, and really since moving to Mexico I have come to know, trust and love myself. The beach is her mostly deserted, a person or two walking their dogs in the morning or late afternoon...those who pass me give me a wave or a thumbs up. I was in the rental office paying rent a few weeks back- it's just down the road from us, and this older woman looks at me and asks- esta mujar que baile en la playa? Yes I said. She told me she wished she could do it. I told her she could. Just takes desire.....

I love love love Mexico!! I love the slower life. Yeah sometimes manana never comes, but the less stress is nice. And it takes some getting used to. I love the people, I love the music, I love smells, I love love all the food vendors- we never go to restaurants- we eat at home or the stands. I love living near the ocean, I can sit for hours watching the waves, the pelicans, and sometimes dolphins and/or seals. Our dogs are so happy. No leash laws, and our dogs always poop in the bushes or on the beach, so soon enough its gone. People are so nice, so open, always willing to help me stumble thru my Spanish (altho I am much much better than when I got hee). We always stop and gave people rides. But I also love the public transportation- there are so many buses all the time- bg ones for long distance but lots a small shuttle type buses always moving people from one place to another. And they'll stop along the road and pick someone up...not only at designated stops.

Ok I don't trust the police but I have never had any problem with them. And what a deal! When we did back into someone- the police were called- they surveyed the minimal damage to the other car's front bumper/headlight, and announced we had to pay 1500 pesos. The people followed us to the bank and we paid them. End of story. No insurance company, no estimates, no nothing. Done. Everardo didn't even get a ticket- altho' that cost him 200 pesos- but better it was all done right then.
 I don't know anything about all the violence of the cartels, gangs, etc. I don't do drugs, I don't have any criminal friends or even acquaintances...so I am not around or even aware of violence or illegal activities.The bad guys deal with and fight with each other. I believe the U.S. reports it solely to try to get people to spend their vacation dollars at home.

I love the healthcare I can afford. Doctor and dentist. I don't go where the Americans go around here...they flock to Ensenada to the English speaking doctor just for them (ha ha sarcasm) Actually this place we're currently living is around the most Americans we been around....we are out on a spit, but up at the main road there's a couple of restaurants, a veterinarian, etc, but we don't go to any of them. The restaurants charge U.S. prices!! There's a town up the road maybe 5 minutes that is a Mexican town- we got to the dentist and doctor there, as well as grocery shopping or out to eat. Ensenada is a mixture but I'm lucky being married to  Mexican because we find the places that are NOT catering to expats. It costs 25 pesos to see the doctor, and if he gives you any meds...those are cheap as well. Oh it costs 35 pesos on Sunday (less than $3.50 USD). It goes to show that the U.S is so so so wrong with healthcare. It's insurance companies and drug manufacturers...(ok I do think that Obamacare is a good start- but just a start down a really long road).

I love the family atmosphere, families are close (and of course big). I love the celebrations for so many holidays! Always about food and plenty of it, and always about music. It did take me a while to figure out the time thing. If you are told the party is at 6pm, and you show up at 6pm...they will look at you in surprise. Even 8pm is kinda early. And they never end! Music and food all nite. Everybody watches the little ones, older kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles- the whole it takes a village to raise a child concept works here.

Ok climate is everything. The weather matters. I already knew I never wanted to live anywhere that it snowed. Hey I'm a Calif girl....I like the sun. I don't even like to go snow skiing. I've been to the snow, especially when the kids were small so they could experience it- sleddding, snowball fights, hot chocolate....but cold is not my thing. I am from the northbay area above San Francisco so it can get foogy, rainy in winter, really cold....but not freezing snowstorm cold! But, as it turns out there are levels of heat that I found out I can't take either.

 I found out I do not want to live in the tropics. The 24/7 sticky humid, push you into the ground heat is not for me. We had no hot water and I didn't care. But Playa Ventura was amazing! This was a tiny town, a fishing village, no grocery store, no atm, gas station, etc. People live there, yes a couple of small abarotes (sp) (smaller than 7-11...in front of a house or simply a stall), but that was it. Some really cool things: a boy who walked down our road with a bucket of milk from the cow they just milked! We only bought milk from him a couple of times, but still, right? The lady with the huge basket on her head with breads and pastries who came down the road every day. She always stopped with us and we gave her a glass of cold water.

But the humidity was too much. The gigantic bug bites I had the entire 6 months, I did finally find an oily lotion that helped alot and I still use it. Sleep was always always hard....you lay still and sweat. I became a big nap person. I slept best in the hammock, but at nite that was impossible because it was outside- we tried that once....my god the mosquitoes! So you sleep when  breeze comes up- any time of day. The iguanas that sunned themselves on the big rock behind our house overlooking the ocean. I sat out there for hours almost every day. The waves smashing against the rocks. The warm, really warm ocean water- I went swimming every single day- even when it rained. One day out for a walk I saw a parrot- just walking down the path! Everything was so lush and green. The prettiest place on earth maybe. And I know I already wrote about watching the tarantula fighting the chicken! ha ha I was mesmerized. The chicken won in the end....but that tarantula added to my whole- don't put your hands or face or even feet where you cannot see! The rainy season there is June thru Aug or Sept.....but it was still raining (not every day but often) when we left at the end of Nov. Oh and it's still humid and sticky when it's raining.

Ok so we moved north to the Sonoran desert on the Sea of Cortez. The winter was cold and rainy, the spring got warm warmer and slid into blistering heat. Hotter than Playa Ventura- unbearable. The desert also has boasting rights for scorpions- there they have some huge one and then a tiny one more dangerous than all the others! The desert is dry, dirt everywhere. We lived on a dirt road just like in Playa Ventura. We did have hot water- altho once it started to warm up we stopped using it. The truth is you can wash your dishes in cold water and get them clean. I learned that in Guerrero.I was careful to be sure they were really clean, and guess what? We didn't die. I had the amazing opportunity to teach English to adults out at a community center where the poorest of people lived; they came for lunch every day, and for many, it was the only meal they had that day. But- people were happy, and loving and giving. It's weird- I wrote about people not having hope for the future, and yet they are happy today. That's what  mean about being complicated. But when I stop trying to understand every single thing....it's easier to exist.

We stayed almost a year in Puerto Penasco. My husband had some friends and he worked selling jewelry he made to tourists on the beach. But I grew less, well, happy. I didn't like the weather, and it wasn't pretty like the tropics. It was the desert. Hot and dirty and bland. Yes there are pretty cactus, hmmm not sure I can go on from there. My husband is a wonderful man, so we came over to Baja to "check it out". It was hot in September, but NOT humid! It was pretty, and it was the Pacific again. I was instantly ready to go ha ha. We talked an visited here again. We decided and we moved here last November. I am really happy here. And truthfully it's all about the weather. I have not been able to find a place to interact to improve my Spanish, but I did find a website I really like. Everardo has not been able to find a place to sell his jewelery- people have their spots and guard them closely. However he is talking to a couple of people- one in Ensenanda in the tourist area, and one out at the Bufadora where people flock to- it's always packed. He's not looking really hard and I don't want him to push. We are cruising along right now. He got a new fishing reel and goes out to the estuary and next is going to try open ocean. We are both working out with the free gym equipment in an empty house down the road. He runs with the dogs in the afternoon. He goes to Spanish AA meetings and I got to English - I could use the Spanish meetings to practice- but we need some things just for ourselves, ya know? It's foggy sometimes in the morning- that's familiar to me. Supposedly it doesn't get really cold or really hot- and never humid. I think I'm good with that!

We can afford to live here without jobs, living off the income of the rental house we have in Calif. Our life is quiet, we enjoy our dogs, our beach, and our nightly walks along the estuary.
I have changed emotionally over the last 2 years. I am more patient (sometimes) I am in acceptance much more of the time. I am more thoughtful. I am much more grateful, especially for the little things. Wow I feel like I've been writing for hours and not even sure if I said everything I had in my mind to write when I thought about it last nite as I fell asleep. Oh-

We are in Baja and just 2.56 hours from the border- someone said not the real Mexico. As soon as we cross the border we are in Mexico. Anywhere in Mexicoyou can surround yourself with expats if you want to, or you can live as a Mexican, or somewhere in between. I guess we're in between leaning towards living as Mexicans since my husband is one already ha ha.

Did I say I love Mexico?

Ants and mouses

Before I left on my trip to Calif we had an ant problem. When the weather began to get warmer, even warmer than the nice mild winter we experienced, in late march early April the ants came. Remember the song ...The ants came marching 2 by 2 hurrah hurrah ...and the ants came marching down, to the ground.....Well they marched into our house. In one day we were drowning in ants. Yes I had seen one walking along a countertop or near the stove, and usually I squish them with a finger. But I also had forgotten about the "chemical trail" they leave so the others know where to go. I don't thin me wiping a soapy sponge afterwards would have helped. Everything in the cupboards had to come out, lots of stuff thrown away. I wanted to use natural remedies, soapy water, water and vinegar, chalk lines, etc. They kept coming. We put everything into airtight bins or in the fridge. They kept coming. We'd get up every morning and wipe everything down. And then they seemed to slow down. Yipee.

We still kept most stuff out of the cupboards and have given up on cereal...somehow they still broke into the plastic jugs.  So I left on my trip. I forgot about ants.....

I talked to Everardo on the phone. He was laughing so hard trying to tell me. He noticed something fall onto the keyboard of his laptop- he looked closer, and it was ants! He looked up and there was a thick line of ants walking across the beam on the ceiling, heading for a plastic bag hanging on a knob, filled with individual packs of Ritz crackers- you know the rolls with about 20 cracker in the- they had been in a bigger box we bought a Costco, but that box had been filled with ants by the first day. Our ceiling is probly 8 feet at the most- I can a;most touch it, and he can for sure. The ants were falling over each other and down onto my husband, his chair and his computer! He bought some stuff we heard about that was odorless, and put it around outside, and I suspect, inside. I haven't seen any ants since I got home, but the last couple of nites I've gotten back up after going to bed because of the noise.....mice.

So Poppi told me oh yeah we have a mouse problem as well. But they are very small. Yeah well they leave what we politely call mouse droppings everywhere. Mouse poop. Why do they poop so much? Do they poop as soon as they eat something? Or do they just poop everywhere all the time? I needed the A&D ointment; I got a new tattoo in Calif...well a couple actually and needed it. Ok side story about the tattoo:

The first full day I was there I went to "my" tattoo guy, at Eye Spy Tattoos. It is the only place I have ever gone, and Tim is the only tattooist? Is it tattooist? Or simply tattoo guy? Anyway Tim has done all my tattoos. I got the first one when I was 50 years old; I called it my freedom tattoo. It was right after I became single after being married for 15 years. I don't know, I had been thinking about a tattoo for some time, and once  I was single- well I answered to me. I actually went down to the place- and now I don't remember who told me about him, maybe my daughter...and I went just to look. I wanted a dragonfly. He was not busy and grabbed my arm and drew one on with a pen and said "like this?". Yeah exactly like that! I wanted it to be purple and green, and put it on my left arm, inside the forearm (between my elbow and wrist). I got it right then. I loved it! Ha ha a week later I was back and on the other arm got a peace sign...and then it was on. My left arm has a ring of dragonflies now, and a vine winding thru them, and the words "vive in el momento" and a couple of tiny dragonflies in the vines. All of it is probly less than 6 inches wide from right below my elbow. My other arm is a different story. At first it was just peace signs, then a world with a peace sign in it, and then the word "peace" in English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and Japanese, in different colors and fonts, and the words Let peace begin with me. Oh and 2 birds in a heart with a peace sign, which I later added some sunburst stuff to....I also have the words esperanza and acceptance.

And now I have a penguin, a very small penguin down near my wrist with his arms out saying "oh well" in honor of my mom. It says Elly underneath. She always said "oh well" sometimes long and drawn out like oooooh weellllll in her later years. The penguin is about at the end, when she was, well I guess hallucinating, about people, about what was happening around her, and she pulled me close to say she didn't like how they were treating the penguins and we said we'd get right on it. Even though it was hard, we laughed alot with her at the end. At one point she wanted Captain Jack to be in charge, and we'd train all the baby animals, and then charge people to see them do tricks....Oh and we never did find out who Captain Jack was....some mysterious person from her past? And no not the Captain Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean, we asked that right off and she indignantly told us NO! She always wanted to look her best for him, and talked to me about that fluttery feeling when HE walks in...it was like we were two girls in high school that afternoon. Love you mommy. So the penguin thing stuck- with me anyhow. They have become special to me. And they always always make me think of her.

Ok so three days before I came home I got another tattoo. On my right shoulder, so although there is a lot of open space, I basically have tattoos on my whole arm. I got flowers- oranges and reds- I wanted something bright, and with- of course- a couple of dragonflies (ooops they've migrated to the other arm), but you have to look for them, they look like flowers, it is an amazing tattoo and I love it. However, it is the biggest one I ever got, and I have to keep it covered with ointment and out of the sun. It's now a week and a half, so it's healed pretty much, but shit- I live at the beach with alot of hot direct sun, so I'm trying to cover it up when I go outside. I told someone my tattoos are a 50's thing. But I realize I need to say it differently. They are not from the 50's. I am not stuck in the 50's (maybe the 60/70's since I wear tye dye all the time, one earring or maybe 2 different ones -which really comes from losing one of a pair and always my favorites). No, the tattoos are a thing of my 50's... when I turn 60 in a few years I will be done. I might be done now....but naaaa...I thinkin' more flowers....So anyway....at my daughter's house I used her A&D ointment....ah ha! See how I finally came full circle?

I knew we had a big tube of A&D at home, hubby uses it on his poor feet that get dry and cracked, me for tattoos etc. BUT- when I opened the drawer.....at least 6 bites marks in each tube!! It wouldn't be so bad if we used for non broken skin....but -and I'll now have to google it- mice carry dieseases! They are dirty little critters- I mean come on...they poop everywhere.....

So Poppi had been dealing with ants and the mouses! He actually put some powder used mainly for agriculture..in the house, and of course I freaked out about it..I hate poison, in spray, in powder....I mean since I let them poison me with chemo (yes it's poison- the point is to kill fast growing cells which is why your hair falls out- so it must be poisoning me all over), so now I am totally paranoid about any kind of poison. I wiped most of it up with wet paper towels holding my breath...I went out to the shed and wrote down what the sack said, then looked it up in English. It's pretty common and also used in indoor stuff like Raid (which I hate), so I'm probably ok...maybe. So the ants are gone the mouses are not gone. They merely change paths. They sound like miniature construction workers out in the kitchen at nite. The ointments and lotions are in sealed bags and are now untouched. They seem mostly to be out on the kitchen counters, altho I think maybe in some drawers...yuck. So today we bought mouse traps- interesting we had to go to 4 places...although in place #2 they had the kind that is a glue strip. We both agreed we did not want that. Came home and he set out 4, and in about 6 hours now, we've already caught 2. Everardo said a boy and a girl- and I said how can you tell and he said the boy had balls like this!! and he cupped his hands! ha ha ha hah!!

I missed my beach living. The ocean immediately offers me serenity when I sit quietly and watch it. I finally got out this meditation set of cds I bought right before we left for Mexico 2 years ago. Yes!! We left the first Monday in June- the 4th, 2012 and arrived in our first home down south a week later. That was also on the Pacific, but now we are on a bay, and so the waves are not crashing, not huge, and because we are much further north, the water is not as warm. I came home with a cold, so I gave myself until Monday to restart my exercise and stricter eating. I did dance/walk 3 days this week, including today, but have not started back to the weights, although I'm excited to begin again. Mexico is my home. I love it here. It's crazy and interesting, the same as anywhere I think. I'm excited to resume my plan of health and learning...I only worked on my Spanish once this week, but that felt good as well. I hope to reflect and then hopefully write about who I am after 2 years in Mexico, sometime in the next few days. I have been reflecting, I kind of do it all the time, especially after visiting up in Calif and coming back. I have changed, but don't we all change, all the time? I think, if not for my daughters I would be happy to stay here forever....ha ha but that thought will probly also change at some point.

Hmmm how many traps will I hear snap tonite???
Viva

Back home to Mexico

Well I've been home for a week today (Thurs). I came home with a horrible cold, couldn't even talk by Friday and have felt simply shitty until about yesterday, when I woke up feeling great. So I went down to the beach and danced my butt off to resume my exercise....ha ha...and woke up during last nite coughing and with an aching chest. Ok so today I took it a little slower. But- and this is very cool....I started the today with my coffee in my chair by the beach watching the waves, bot dogs by my side, and then finished the day off by doing the same thing. It's not dark yet, so I came in before the sunset, but yeah- getting my balance back...my acceptance, my serenity. Did I say I love it here? I love you Mexico!

Northern California was nice. The weather was amazing, and my daughters everything I could have hoped for. Little drama with daughter #2- always right? But (thank you God) it was with or about me!! She will be 21 in just a few weeks and has been living at home with my ex and his wife, but apparently it has not been all rainbows and unicorns- yes the ego me is not unsatisfied with that ha ha- but honestly I want my daughters to be happy, confident and self assured, and for that to be, those around them, those who influence them- well I want the best for them as well- simply because they affect my children. Ok so anyway- my daughter has had a hard time not being the only star in her father's eyes, and so was not really nice about it. Meaning: sullen, disrespectful, etc.....so as a young adult it was time for her to move out, and she's doing that. She's very excited about it and I am so happy for her! Instead of leaving something, she's going towards something. She moving to a small town, a college community in many respects and she and her roommates are all in school so she has many happy plans.

My older daughter started a new job, closer to home and in the field she wants her career in. So everything is working out for everybody, this is all a mom can ask for. They took me to Armstrong Woods for Mother's Day- a grove of redwoods with trails and picnic areas, a place I love, I like to simply breathe in there, I like to rub the spiney leaves on my hands so they smell like the trees. It was a perfect day. It started with a beautiful brunch at a hotel, then we went to the Redwoods. I love them both so much! I also got to spend alot of time with my "future" granddaughter, she calls me Grandma Terry and I consider her my granddaughter already....I got to go on 2 field trips with her kindergarten class. One was a mentor appreciation day. Ha ha the 3rd graders mentor the kindergartners! So about 200 kids walked from school to a nearby park for a bbq and games and fun. Then at the end of the week,  at about 7am, my daughter comes in and says -we're going on the school bus field trip to Armstrong Woods! (The "real"- and of course as I am completely un-objective I use the term "real" loosely ha ha- had to cancel about an hour before) So I went to the redwoods a second time, this time with only about 90 kids (ouch), and we explored, saw a banana slug, listened to the woods, laid on our backs on the benches in the amphitheater and counted shades of green and how many different birds we heard...had a sack lunches...I was happy and tired. Then- they announced the hike to the waterfall!!! AAARRRGGGHHH I was tired- hike to a waterfall!! Ha ha talk about trudge the road of happy destiny...(AA reference)....I was wiped out. Yep I'm a grandma- not a mom of a 5 year old!

Other things....oh we went to see the place my daughter wants to get married at- it's a castle that's a winery- or a winery with a castle I guess. We went after she got home from work from her first day, and the place had just closed. My daughter is nothin' if not determined. She wanted me to see it. Ad I am not allowed to say the name, or show any of the fantastic pictures I took, either. After they both got laid off jobs last summer, they lived off their savings- which included their wedding fund, and that's why the wedding has been moved to next summer. This place is very very expensive. She wants a fairy tale wedding and is willing to work for the money to pay for it- so I say- go for it! I'm sure I wrote about this before. So now I got to see the place she is dreaming of- no wait- the place she planning on. So did I say it was closed? Ha! We were at one set of huge gates that we could not figure out how to open and decided to go to the other set. Well as we got there, the last employee was coming out, so we flew thru the open gates, just before they swung closed. Uh oh- but in totally me and my daughter's style decided to worry about that when we wanted to leave. So we drove in, parked along a side road, jumped a small hedge and went to look at this awesome castle and the amazingly beautiful grounds. Oh did I say 5 yr old granddaughter was with us? She asked if we were going to jail.....I told her she was our ticket to stay out of the pokey- her sweet smile...Anyway the grounds are so beautiful; roses everywhere, a big fountain, statues, big patches of thick green lawns, and then the castle itself. We talked about a couple of places they could have the ceremony, where they food would be, the dancing, everything. My daughter's face- she was excited, awed, happy, and she was darting all over the place to show me this and that. It will be....amazing, awesome, epic...everything she wanted- a fairy tale wedding. Oh and when we finally left as the sun was going down, the big gates swung open automatically as we approached...so we were never really stuck, even tho' we talked about ramming thru the gates with the big truck we were in, but I told her that might create a problem for her wedding if she is forbidden on the grounds......

My granddaughter is a hoot. She talks to herself to the point of me jumping up and running out to the front room because I thought she had opened the door to someone. Nope- she teaches school- to her "kinders". They all have names and need frequent discipline. Sometimes Cookie is in the class and so has to wear her leash in the house, and all her chew toys get put up on the table to get her attention. ha ha. Cookie is only 6 months old, but big enough to get her paws up on kitchen counters and strong as an ox. But the sweetest puppy dog who instantly won my heart. She slept with me a few nites, and we went on a couple of walks- well she pulled me around the neighborhood. She's at that stage where she steals shoes, clothes, my new camera (it was unscathed), did I say shoes? and then makes a beeline for the back sliding door to take her treasure out to the lawn. I love that silly mutt. Kids and dogs- yeah that's what life's about. 

I saw a few other friends, saw my house and our renters. They are such a wonderful couple and the house- now their home- looks fabulous. Everything is green and growing, they use the backyard all the time, and he showed me this wireless doorbell they attached to the front door and you can plug in the bell anywhere so when they are so often in the backyard they can now hear it when somebody comes to the door. Cool. We couldn't be happier with them renting our house. When and if we ever go back up there to live, we can't afford to live in that house- need the income...and this trip I let go of it, just a tiny bit. I love that house, more than any I've ever lived in...but unless we win the lottery....yeah I own it free and clear, but property tax, insurance, and utilities in that area....big ouch! Yeah we could live there if we worked....but I don't wanna!!

So the trip was nice, but different than last year. This year it really felt like you can't go home again. I mean I felt exactly at home with both my daughters, but otherwise I felt like  visitor, which I am. I love Petaluma but am no longer married to the idea that we need to live there. I want to be near my kids, but Santa Rosa, or further north, or west towards the beach would be fine. A granny unit on someone's property. Living in this tiny trailer- although apparently it's a "double wide" (oh god oh god)- but with all the outdoors we have here, the beach, the estuary, the open fields....it's outside I crave now. Tiny inside is cozy, less to clean, and warm.....

I had a crazy funny day with my best girlfriend (oh bff right?) who went with me to me -LAST as it turned out- oncology appointment. My cancer doctor said he never wants to see me again! Yippee! 5 years clear of cancer. Yeah baby! Anyway after that, we went to a mall in San Rafael, first to Macy's where I made myself not look at anything, and then to Kohls which is like the old Mervyns...more affordable, and then found out they don't check you at the dressing rooms! ha ha you can take all the clothes in you want, and I immediately noticed nobody bothered to take the discarded clothes out....they were just in piles on the floor. So after telling my bff I was ok with my body image; that yeah I'm overweight, but starting to make different choices about food, and getting into exercise down here with my beach dancing/walking and the free gym.....I start to try on a swimsuit and she yells "I'm comin' in" I protest, and then say- "yeah I'm ok with my fat but not while I'm stuffing it into a plastic bag!". In she came anyway with an armload of clothes, and pretty soon we were trying stuff on in the hallway outside the dressing room! Oh forgot to say she had the same swimsuit so put it on and we took a "selfie!!" in the dressing room mirror- laughing like we were in jr high! I have NOT posted that pic on facebook and do not plan to do so....After that we went back to her place- and it's so funny! She is living in a "double wide" too! And yes this is in northern Cal not Kentucky or Louisiana.....or wherever it is that people live in trailers, marry their first cousins and are on episodes of Cops! (Is that still on the air? Bet it is). She is in a nice park at the north end of town, and her mobile home is basically the same size as ours, just a different layout, but 2 beds 2 bath. She is so happy- it is the first home she bought herself- she is no longer a renter. It needs work and she's doing it. It was fun and comfy and...real to be there with her. Love you girlfriend!

I saw my dear Russian friend, once with her hubby and they made me a vege pizza from all homegrown and homemade ingredients as well as a yummy Russian soup. But the second time I saw her was the best- no husbands- just her and I, and we got to talk, from our hearts and souls. She and I have had a special connection since the day we met, and can talk about anything. She has been in the U.S. for just a few years; came by way of marrying her American husband...but we are close in age, and thought and heart, so we talk, talk talk. She will come to visit us soon we hope. I saw another friend I used to work with and we have only communicated thru email or fb msging. We met for lunch and fell instantly into easy conversation. She just got engaged and I'm so happy for her. It's funny there are just some people that you can go forever and not see, then see them and it's as if you were just apart minutes. Had coffee with yet another woman, who husband had been Halla's soccer coach for years, and she and I chat thru facebook, but are a little closer than that. She loves my daughter and offered her a safe port in the storm while she was struggling with things at her dad's house. I love her for that.

So it was a more thoughtful trip. Family and closer friends. Yes, I went to some AA meetings, some in Petaluma so I saw many old and new faces. One day when Drew was with me I was asked about 5 minutes before the meeting to be the speaker and that was very cool. Down here, at least in the English meetings there are no speaker meetings, all just open discussion, so it was nice to hit a few speaker meetings, and to be a speaker. But I will say this- except for my daughters, I could stay here in Mexico forever (at least that's how I feel now).

I caught a cold- I'm sure from one of those little kindergartners! It really hit the day before I left so I just tried to ignore it. By the time I got on the place Thursday morning I was full blown sick- yeah and just saw a news story about germs on a plane ha ha. Actually, I had to get up at 5:45 am to catch the 6:15 am shuttle to the San Francisco airport. My flight wasn't until 10am, but commute traffic....I foolishly didn't eat or pack some fruit and nuts and a pb&j sandwich like I did on the way up, so by by the time I got to the gate with about an hour and a half to go, I was really sick...my carry ons were soooo heavy because I bought some clothes, a camera, a fishing reel...etc etc etc so my suitcase was overweight, so I was dragging. Of course it was a full flight, with kids and all. Some kids who were running all over the place while the mom ate and talked on the phone. I KNEW they would be seated next to me-hmmm well at least I could give them my cold...ok just kiddding...kind of..... Then I hear there is a long wait list including 2 pilots who want to catch a lift. A third pilot shows up and gets really pissed off when they say they are not even writing down anymore names because the list is so long. Then I find out that SFO has some runways closed for repair so if your plane misses it's place in line, then your flight can be delayed up to an hour and a half. Oh so I didn't mention I had these 2 posters that had been too long to fit in my suitcase..and although light as paper, constituted a 3rd carryon and they weren't going to let me take it (2 taped together so it- not them). I was so sick I didn't care. They were AA posters of the 12 steps and 12 traditions in English because the place I got to meetings- which are all and only in English, have all the stuff on the walls in Spanish. Then in my fevered head I made up a story wherein I left the posters right there at the gate, somebody found them and decided to put them up. So an AA meeting started in the airport which became very popular for travelers, (crazy eh?), and then next year when I came back thru I attended the meeting and heard the story of how the meeting came to be. Then I was so humble I never told them it was me. Ha ha ha ha ha what an ego I have eh? Ok so thru this fantasizing I hear the woman at the gate make an announcement that there is one seat available in first, pls come up if you are interested. I am sitting so close I merely lean forward and whisper loudly..."how much?" Well one of them tells me it's only $89...and I look at the screaming kids, the pissed of pilots and the long line for standby....and I ask her "do you take debit cards?" Yep. So she tells me stuff one end of the posters in the outside pocket of my laptop case and then I will "technically" only have 2 carry ons. Uh....ok. So I am the first person on the place, first row next to the window, sipping coffee and orange juice in real cups.....and watch the fun begin. They were trying to rush people in very polite voices...saying we were going to lose our place in line....the monster children were...well being monsters, but they disappeared down into coach somewhere never to heard of, by me anyway, again, and I closed my eyes. During the hour and a half flight I listened to the very funny flight attendant make jokes and tell us how Virgin Atlantic Airlines came to be, and be pampered with pretty fruits, humus and pita bread, and a tiny chocolate truffle that was exquisite. Going first was like my own little perfect storm- if I hadn't been that sick, the screaming kids, the arguing pilots wanting to catch a lift, my heavy backpack and laptop case, both stuffed to the point of bursting....if any of those things had been different I could not have justified to myself spending the money....I spent quite enough during my stay ha ha.

It was also my first time walking across the border at Tijuana. It was super easy- except for the whole being sick and heavy stuff part.... I took a bus from the airport for $1.25 right to the trolly. The trolley was $2.50 and took me right to the border. The correct trolley is called The Blue Line, but the trolley is red....hmmm in my sickness I stared at it for a long time and a lovely young lady asked if she could help me and showed me how to buy the ticket and helped push my suitcase up the step into the trolley. The walk is pretty short but a steep incline which I think is crossing the highway but I'm not sure. I only looked at my feet saying...step step step because I felt so shitty I was thinking about sitting down on the walkway. So I walked right thru, a nice Mexican policewoman asked me with a smile on her face if I had "cigarros? armas? alcohol?" To which I replied no, solo ropa (only clothes) and she told me told me to have a nice afternoon. I walked into the sunlight and there was my wonderful darling husband who jumped forward and grabbed ALL my stuff! He also handed me a small package wrapped in newspaper, which was 2 little dragonflies he bought at a stand while waiting for me. Home sweet home. I slept most of the way home, and then was sick for 4 or 5 days. Someone sent me an email from the states asking if I was ok- that many times Mexicans visiting the states got into trouble drinking the water. ha ha.
Viva