Hot springs & mud bath

More mud and less hot springs I think

There are a couple of different places for one to go with hot springs here in northern Baja, including down the beach right here where we live. People bring shovels down to the beach and dig holes that fill up with hot water- hot, not just warm. It's up at the end by the main road, right next to where we lived the first three months we were here.

But the place in these photos is about 40 minutes east, in the mountains. There's another place a little more north and then east again. In fact someone said that the water from this place comes from the Colorado river- so it must at some point go underground and pass thru the lava? Or the hot spring? I mean I thought "hot spring" meant the water originated right there....hmmmm so not sure. Anyway I went with 5 or 6 women out there this past Thursday, for a women's retreat day. We were all alcoholics in recovery, and while the coals were heating up we had a small AA meeting- more of just a check in- we all shared a little bit about how we were feeling- and to be out there, in nature, in such a pretty spot, with other women trying to contribute to life in a positive way- well everybody was feeling pretty good. Oh and it happened to be my sobriety anniversary- 14 years. Yep I've been on recovery for 4 years. In some ways it has flown by. I will say this. I am SO grateful to be an alcoholic!

Does that sound funny? Who would be grateful to have a drinking problem, right? Well for me, coming into AA was the best thing I ever did. For me, it's really not about not drinking- it's about finding a spiritual path. I didn't know that of course when I got there- I was just trying to stop hurting the people I loved, including myself, and to figure out why- when I had everything a person could want (family, a job, a house, stuff, etc) I couldn't figure out why I wasn't happy deep down inside. I mean I loved my kids more than life itself, I loved my husband and the rest of my family, but when I was alone with myself, my thoughts...I just couldn't find it. Anyway, the 12 steps of AA were- and are a guideline for me, helped me find a way to self respect, to self love, to admitting, accepting that I am part of something bigger than me. You know I think when the people around me as I was a teenager and a young adult were learning those things, learning solutions, beginning to see how we are all connected in life....I was partying, getting drunk and doing drugs and not paying attention to anything else. And it was one stop shopping- alcohol was my solution to everything- mad- get drunk, happy, have a few drinks to celebrate, sad, jealous, scared, whatever, drink and it all felt better. Liquid courage...I drank and felt pretty, thought I could dance....thought guys liked me...felt "good enough". When did I cross the line? I don't know. I mean I had good jobs thru the years; got to travel all over the world. I bought my first house by myself,  I was married for 15 years to a great guy, so in many ways I've had an awesome life. But little by little my love affair with alcohol started to erode the good parts of my life. And the thing is- if it hadn't gotten bad enough, I might not have finally (FINALLY) looked for help. To find out there were lots of people struggling like me! People who were nothing like me but struggling with the same issue of an addiction. It truly does take a village, right?

 I was thinking of my next tattoo to say "It takes a village"....because I think it applies to everything. Raise a child, find a spiritual path, I have come to the realization that we are all connected, and it's ok that I don't know how, or even why. I believe that I am connected to all living things, not just people, but trees and animals, the wind, the sun...everything. And I want to contribute in a positive way. When I do that, my day always goes good. I'm usually happy every day, and I have a serenity today. Oh and as far as tattoos go- on the inside of my right arm, above the elbow I have the word acceptance, and then under it, esperanza (hope in Spanish). I'm going to add forgiveness. Can't see them under all that mud in the pics right? ha ha

OK so enough of my grateful to be an alcoholic. The hot springs were so pretty and peaceful. We went on a week day because one of the women goes up there fairly often and said on the weekend it's packed. There were just a few other people there. So there was one really big hot pool and another one same size but the water was merely warm. The problem when we first arrived was that the hot pool was empty!!! A guy was scrubbing it with a long handled broom. We were very disappointed- I mean it wasn't all that warm outside, well everyone but me was in shorts and flip flops but we looked for a spot that had sun and shade. I was wearing levis but had my swimsuit with me- but wondering if I needed it. But the guy said- oh we're going to fill it right now (in Spanish of course). We tsk tsked it, but started setting up our spot- everybody brought something so we had a potluck, with burgers to bbq and several salads- potatoe, macaroni, fruit, greek....and for me? Well I brought the charcoal but I also brought my own little bag of food so I could stay with my health program......I brought apples, hard boiled eggs, bananas, string cheese, some veggie chips, etc and it was more than enough.

So there was also a couple of other smaller pools that were warm, so we started there, and then headed over to the mud hole. Ok that got fun. One crazy lady with us, marched into the mud hole and found a scooper thing- actually looked like someone cut a plastic soda bottle in half- and started scooping mud. It was not a huge hole and I was happy not to step in it since I had forgotten my flip flops so was barefoot and I hate stepping in things I can't see thru. I just watched this weird tv reality show where these people go into these muddy rivers and pull these fish that look like eels with teeth out of these holes in the side of the bank....yeah I wasn't putting my hand or foot or anything else in there ha ha!! Then the small cement pool for washing it off was so dirty as well, but we found a hose nearby and used that- Unfortunately it was freezing cold water! But once we were all covered in mud we laid in lounge chairs in the sun while it dried on us. We got to laughing about well- women get together and yeah we laugh...nothing I want to repeat here ha ha!! Well a hint....sex changes, husbands, fantasies....you know! ha ha hah aha ha So we talked an laughed and the mud dried hard on our bodies. But wow! Once we rinsed off! Everybody was ooohing and ahhhhing about how silky smooth we felt, I've showered a few times since and my skin still feels silky.

While we were gettin' muddy they started to fill the big pool. I woulda sworn we weren't going to be able to use it. and hey this is Mexico- there's not going to be any getting our money back or any discount. But you know what? By the time we were done with the mud, that big pool had about 2 or 3 feet in it- and that water was boiling hot! You could move out to a far side and it was not quite as hot, but we stayed close to the really hot part and laid down in it. It really ended up being just as good...we floated around in a few feet of water, the other people there did the same thing. It was fun.

Later we ate, fed the ducks, oh and the bano (bathroom) of course was not working so we peed behind rocks and trees- another good thing about there not being too many people there that day, and before we knew it, it was 4pm and time to hit the road. It was a beautiful spot, out in the middle of nowhere. A creek ran thru it, bbq stands next to picnic tables all around the outside of the pools, a flock of snow white ducks, and we were in a small canyon, so surrounded by cliffs, really a pretty spot.

So I did not use the day as some excuse to go on an eating binge and that was good. I did taste a corner of the banana bread Joanne made. She is a great cook. She made in honor of my sobriety birthday, and it was still warm when we arrived. But I really am changing my habits- my eating habits. I am beginning to crave apples, I don't think about things I'm missing- I'm not missing out on anything- the fact is I can eat whatever I want. I'm choosing. And right now I'm choosing to eat things that are better for me than others. When the time comes that I will die if I don't have some oreo cookies- well I guess I'll have some. Hopefully just a couple. But I'm not dying yet...so it's going pretty good. Tonite I made steamed shrimp and veges, and for the first time in months added a cup of rice. I think the point is- a cup...not a plateful ha ha! Oh and the other important thing- I made it! Well not the rice- but next time. But now I know how to steam shrimp perfectly! Veges, too. For me this is a huge thing. I am no cook. Never enjoyed it. Too much work when I could just buy it already made- which is what I used to do in the states- there were a couple of grocery store that had cooked meals, and I also used to buy weight watcher frozen meals as well, so I was covered. Ha ha my ex husband and my husband now are both amazing cooks, so between all that I never needed to cook! And honestly I wouldn't have to now- Everardo is happy to cook- even if it's one thing for him and something different for me. But I'm getting involved. Stranger things eh? ha ha

I'm eating alot of seafood- shrimp, crab, and white fish (usually tilapia)- we buy it all fresh and that's usually at least 5 nites a week. I can have something cold on the other nites....fruit, egg sandwhich, etc. I hit 44 pounds on Friday and I'm very happy about it! Yippee!! This is month 11, so one more month and I will have stuck with this exercise and change of eating habits for a year! I plan to continue. I'd like to lose at least another 20, and maybe more, I'll see when I hit 60 pounds which was my year goal. I won't make 60 in a year- it's only another 5 weeks to make a year, but I am not unhappy- I chose 60 pounds as kind of an arbitrary number- 5 pounds a month. But 5 pounds a month is not reasonable for a year....in fact I didn't lose 1 pound in December or the first half of Jan...and really 2 or 3 will only get harder to lose as I get closer to my goal. Then I will have to learn to maintain. After 20 years of different diets, this has been new. I am not doing a "diet". To me, diet insinuates I am giving something up for a limited time- that's not what I'm doing. I'm changing my lifestyle. Kinda like when  I quit drinking. This new way of eating and my exercise program is my new lifestyle. So, we'll see.

My life is going really good right now. I am teaching my English classes, yeah sometimes just 2 students, but that's still good. I have a sponsee in AA, a woman I am helping thru the steps, I am feeling healthier than I have in a long time- all done taking the cancer medicine and I feel like my body is taking care of itself. You know I think it takes time for my system to get everything out, and now it's been 3 months since I finished taking Arimidex....hmmm I just realized that.

Ok what else? welllll summer is coming right? Soon I will be back to spending as much time as possible outside, in my hammock, on the beach....and posting more pics here now that I have it figured out ha ha. Oh I'll try to remember to post some pics from when we lived in Sonora on the SEa of Cortez...which the Mexicans call Gulf of Calif. Ok viva!

First swim of 2015

First swim of the new year (2015)...

I just had to write at least a short post today and tell about the first swim, and the seal. We're having these warm winds; they're called the Santa Anas. Not sure why but warm wind is called that. It must have been 80 degrees here today! I sweat my butt off during my workout, which was half on the beach and half at the senior stretch.

Too bad I didn't have my camera on the beach this morning, but like I said I was dancing...well Everardo also came down to the beach to throw the ball for Sam & Hazel. We have one of those ball chuckers- long plastic sticks with a cup at the end to hold the ball and you can "chuck it" really far. It's great for me because I can't throw a tennis ball too far. Hazel can outrun Sam and any other dog I've ever seen on the beach (or anywhere else), so when I take them I throw a couple for her, then call her over and hold her collar while I "chuck" for Sam into the waves. Right as he's closing in on the ball I let Hazel go and she sprints out there like a bat outta hell and almost beats him to it! She sorta flattens out low to the ground when she's running like that- we've thought she was part coyote since we got her. I mean- it's possible, right? There are sooooo many stray dogs in Mexico and a lot of coyotes around here; we see them all the time and hear them every nite. She was a rescue puppy, and the rest of her litter looks nothing like her- and I believe a dog can have a litter with multiple fathers. (ok gotta google that- yep just looked it up!)

Anyway she actually caught a squirrel the other day! And how fast is a squirrel?? Everardo was out walking the dogs by the estuary and came around a corner and there she was with it in her mouth- he yelled at her and she dropped it.....yeah kinda freaked me out. Anyway this dog is fast! So you know in the pictures she is the smaller brown dog, right? Sam is the black lab.

Ok so Everardo is throwing the ball for them (he brings 2 and throws in 2 directions- why didn't I think of that!) and I am dancing and I look off to the right and see a lump which I think is a big pile of this sea weed stuff that comes with the tide and often is left behind, but then Hazel runs down there to check it out. Those piles of seaweed always smell good I guess because both dogs spend lots of time at them and then Sam usually leaves a calling card (pees on them) before trotting off to investigate something else...oh I gotta find the pictures from last summer when they found a live crab along the shore- ha ha! So when Hazel gets there, the pile is a young seal. I guess he was just sunning himself because he jumped right up when she got there. She was jumping around like when she wants Sam to play with her, so she wanted the seal to play. He didn't seem too distressed, didn't bark or anything but headed back to the water. She went too, and followed the seal into the surf. Everardo had run down there to make sure she didn't bother it, or try to bite it or anything- she didn't...but as she jumped a little wave coming into shore, the seal ducked into it and was gone. It was pretty cute, the whole thing. Later when we came down for the swim (ok I didn't swim...well I had the camera- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it), Hazel ran right over to where the seal had gone into the water and stood there looking out- for her new friend I think!

Last summer when Bob the sea lion was hurt and we sat with him every day for a week, both dogs were really good with him. At one point Hazel and Bob touched noses. I think Sam & Hazel knew Bob the sea lion was hurt, and they were gentle. They sniffed and then sat quietly with me while I put water on Bob, and pet him and told him he'd be ok. At the end of the week he was ok, and went back to the ocean. Oh and the marine vetrinarian from the gov't who takes care of the marine wildlife came twice and gave him a shot...she was wonderful. But anyway the seals and sea lions are a part of our beach, the really sad part though is that we see alot of dead ones on the beach because the DAMN fishermen - the ones supporting the damn tuna rings, shoot them. They are not supposed to; it's against the law- but they do it anyway.

I've only seen a couple of whales this year, and really only the water spouting up. I think this month and next are the end for that for the year...so maybe I should start hanging out at the cliffs because they don't come into the bay too much- partly I think because it's not that deep, and the other part is again- the damn tuna rings. Once they finish raping this bay of all the bait fish, the tuna rings will move further south to destroy another eco system, and then it will take about 50 years for the bay to recover. Sad, isn't it?

Ok so swimming this afternoon: Everardo took his fins and mask and dogs and headed in. Hazel came back pretty quick, but loyal Sam followed Poppi out there. The water was pretty cold- it may be summer warm here right now, but the ocean is still cold. He has a wet suit, 2 actually...one is called a farmer John or something like that- it's like overalls...no sleeves...like it needs a shirt. The other is a regular wetsuit except the legs and arms are short. But he thought he didn't need it ha ha. I don't know if the weather is going to be good from now on or not, it is only February after all, but I would be just fine is summer is here! So he swam some, then came back in and grabbed Hazel and took her out a ways, then she and Sam swam back in. Then our new next door neighbor showed up with her 2 puupies; one is about 4 months and the other is about 8 weeks. They watched Sam & Hazel in the water and they tried wading and then ran around- it was pretty cute. Then Everardo tried to teach them to fetch and that was pretty funny as well. Sharon (neighbor) told me the other day when Everardo went off down the beach with our dogs, her little one just trotted off behind him and never looked back! Yep that's my dog whisperer.

Earlier this afternoon I climbed into my hammock, read a little and snoozed a little- it does sound like summer doesn't it? The hammock is in the shade of the porch and actually I got a little cold...it's warm during the day but really gets cold at nite. But I was so happy to be reading outside. Another neighbor who lives a few houses away showed up with an armful of books by Harlan Coben who I am really hooked on right now and I had mentioned I really liked his books. This guy has about 500 books and has invited me to borrow all I want. This was great! I plan do make my way thru his books even though I have about 100 of my own I haven't read...maybe more. But I always like to read other people's books and then I always have some to read in case I need them. Sounds weird but it's exactly what this guy said too ha ha. If you love books you understand.

Yesterday I went to an AA meeting in Ensenada, on a boat that was in the original King Kong movie- pretty cool. They have it every week there but Wednesday mornings I am usually exercising. I strained my elbow though, and then in an effort to protect it I think I strained my shoulder ha ha. That was Monday on the bowflex, so I decided not to do my normal weights on Wed and my girlfriend had been after me to go to the "boat meeting" so I went. It was nice; so peaceful on the boat, it's in the harbor with a ton of other boats and right neat the cruise ship port and one was pulled in. But I got back on my exercise schedule today though, and that's when Hazel saw the seal. Well here's hoping summer has arrived in Baja! Viva (oh and I'll look for that photo of the dogs with the crab!)

Fish and other interesting things....

Fishing in Playa Ventura:

Sometimes it's fish.........and sometimes.......

It's lobster........yipee!

Tonite I was sooooo proud of myself! I made the most amazing dinner! Ok it's a salad but for me it's a huge deal to make something sooo good. Shrimp. Fresh shrimp, spinach leaves, goat cheese, cucumber, cauliflower, avocado.  I put 2 tablespoons of Italian dressing on the spinach and put it back in the fridge, then cut up the cucumber & avocado and threw it in. That's when I spotted the goat cheese. It was mushy, in basically a plastic bag tube- so I squeezed out 2 ounces 7 put it aside. Then, I steamed the cauliflower and the shrimp for 3 minutes each and took out the salad and dumped them in. I looked at the mush cheese and decided to make it into tiny balls and threw them in as I rolled them- so they kinda melted wherever the hit hot shrimp or cauliflower. Then we ate! OMG! It was soooooo good! And and and....it filled me up. It looked good and tasted amazing! Another great thing: 516 calories! Hmmm maybe I should have put a picture of my salad here eh? Too late I just finished it.

The thing is, for me to be creative with food, and to make something that looks so good and tastes good....hmmm maybe next time I should add pine nuts...of course more calories. The cool thing is that seafood is so good for you, and low cal. My wonderful hubby has been bringing home fresh cracked and cleaned crab for the past 2 or 3 weekends. He gets a half a kilo which I can split into 2 meals. He has been eating clams that he collects on the beach. I do not care for them- they're kind of rubbery and hard ha ha. He isn't fishing for the crab; he gets it from a pescaderia called Jesse's down the road. He brings me fresh shrimp and white fish fillets, too. I'm eating more seafood than I ever have before. The crab, when it's in the shell looks very different than the crab I am used to up in northern Calif. This crab has huge legs, really big around and long. I'm not sure how long the season is but I'm very happy. We haven't had much lobster, but that's ok. I love it best with melted butter ha ha which kinda messes up the whole low calorie thing, right? The shrimp can be made in a salad or with a big plate of veges. The crab I still prefer the same every time- in a salad, and the fish stand alone so with veges or maybe beans.

The pictures above are from when we lived down south, and I wasn't being careful about eating and so pigged out on lobster whenever it was available ha ha.

Ok new subject. I expected to be writing this last nite and talk about getting a driver's license here in Baja since I got one down south and one in Puerto Penasco, Sonora and the experiences were completely different. I heard here there was a written test! And possibly a driving test! No such thing the first 2 times. In fact the first time was nothing- hand over 200 pesos, they took my picture and 10 minutes later handed me a license- good for a year. In Penasco it was a huge hassle, I had to go to the red cross and have a blood test- which I was never given the results of so I still don't know my blood type...and then Everardo had a huge fight with them in the office because they were quite rude to me and tried to make it impossible for me to comply. They finally grudgingly gave me one- for 1 year they said (oh and no test of any kind- the hard time was about how long I lived in Mexico...our address, my visa...etc). The really funny thing is that yesterday afternoon and the way to the government office to apply, I put on my reader magnifiers & realized the license was for 2 years. We laughed pretty hard- Everardo pulled over to check it out for himself and we really laughed hard. They were such shits about it- and we paid for a 1 year lic....and it's for 2 years! So it's good until Aug of 2015. Ha! The other good thing is we didn't have to spend about 1000 pesos! I was going to take a picture of all 3 licenses...ah well- this summer. And as we were laughing we said- for us- 7 months from now- Aug? That's a lifetime away- who knows what we'll be doing? Moving to another part of Mexico? Going back to the states? Living right here?

We've now been here longer than anywhere else. We are starting year 2 in this trailer, and been in Baja for 16 months. And although it's winter, hopefully those 2 or 3 freezing cold weeks were it for that kind of cold. I'm still working out in tank tops and shorts. But it's cold at nite. I still sleep in a long johns shirt & sweat shirt, pajama pants & socks- but I have given up the wool socks I wore over the socks and the sweatshirt hood. In the evening we sometimes use the propane heater- it's weird how much longer it seems to last than when we used it in Penasco. If we sell the Playa Ventura house will we move to a better place? hmm probly not. Because to get this beach, we'd probably have to pay at least $500 U.S and why pay twice as much when this place gets more liveable all the time? I tell you, move to Mexico if you want to get down to basics- to find out what you can really live with and/or live without. I am sooo happy to have a new faucet in my bathroom! It's shiny...and clean...and then we got new faucets for the other bathroom and the kitchen! Awesome. Ha ha is that pathetic? That I am so happy for new faucets? Like I said, come to Mexico to see what you really need and all the things you don't need! A guy who lives a few houses away came by today to lend me a couple of books to read- I like that. I walked next door to see the woman who lives there to see if she wants to go to "senior stretch" with me. Ha ha I always laugh out loud when I call it that- or even write it! She's about my age, or actually maybe younger....she's a lawyer. Anyway the funny thing was she was walking towards out place at the same time.

I walked to her place out the back- on the beach side, and so did she so we met in the middle. She has 2 puppies, one about 4 months and one about 2 months so she has her hands full. She invited me for coffee which we had on her back porch watching the waves. She's the one who gave me the goat cheese because she bought too much. I was happy to accept it- thinking about looking up the calorie count ha ha. She's the one who told me about the jobs online- which I looked into- got intimidated and have let go of for now; I'm all about my English class and planning class activities and my exercise program..and now maybe even cooking? Whoa movin' too fast- ha ha ha ha I really am becoming Mexicana! I do want to talk to her about it a little bit more, and she was also talking about something she does that she makes something like $400 USD every time- it's lawyer stuff, but repetitious and when she told me about it she was saying how she could teach me, then split the fee with me since it's her accreditation as a lawyer that earns the fee (the work has to be done by a lawyer). I was thinking of telling her- shit! I'll take $100 and you can have $300 to entice her to take on the work. For me, $100 a shot is a hell of a lot more than I make now- which is ZERO. But I'll wait until I know her a little better. She asked me if I want to do this dvd workout with her- it's Jillian what's her name- the one who did Biggest Loser, but I guess is not on it anymore? Anyway it's a 90 program, and she has a huge living room with a tile floor (of course) that we could do it in. We looked at the package today; she has to find the book and I'll lend her a dvd player...but if we can agree to do it maybe at 1pm in the afternoons...I'm ready to give it a shot. And this way we would get to know each other a bit.

It's funny down here, people are different- I mean well I know people are people...but what makes someone move down here, especially alone and not knowing anybody? I mean I moved with my husband, and it totally helps that he's Mexican. And yes, this is just a couple hours from the border so it's not as huge as say- when we moved down near Acapulco- there are a lot of Americans here. Lots and lots of seniors. They seem to be in a couple of groups; one group is here because they can't afford to live in the U.S., everything here is cheaper, from rent to medical care, to car insurance, everything. The other group is retired with money. They have the really nice houses and cars, housekeepers and gardeners....hang out in the local restaurants and bars.... And then from both groups there are a couple of types: the type that never learns a word of Spanish, "tolerates" ha ha all the Mexicans- have US expectations of everything. The other type actually live in Mexico- try new foods, try to learn the language, embrace the culture, treasure their surroundings.

In Peansco there were alot of people running from the law. A guy we knew was wanted and we heard after we left that the US came down and got him and he's in prison for something like 20 years and he was in his 30's. He was a nice kid- but irresponsible as hell- grow up daddio! He didn't and I guess the feds were happy to hand him over. I just heard the other day that in Ensenada there are about 10 rehabs for the rich and famous...mostly for druggies- that they give their incoming clients drugs that let them float instead of going thru withdrawals to avoid the pain...Not FDA approved so can't be done in the states- but here- no problem. I had heard there was a rehab like that just down our road- one for the really rich & famous so now hearing that Ensenada is the place for actors and singers needing it, I guess it's probably true...hmmm I'll have to wander down that way and see what I can see ha ha. Oh that reminds me- tomorrow I'm going to an AA meeting on a boat that was in the original King Kong movie! Pretty cool eh? I know the woman who owns it...I just haven't been to that meeting cause on Wednesday mornings I have my workout. But yesterday I strained my elbow, and I think hurt my shoulder trying to baby my elbow so now my entire arm- well the joints anyway are really sore, so I decided I can take a day off.

Oh and next week I'm going with a bunch of AA women to the hot springs which are about a 40 minute drive from here, for a "retreat" day. So that experience will be something to write about here- the hot springs not the AA portion....Anyway it's interesting to see why or how people come to live in Mexico...and I look forward to getting to know my neighbor a little better- hopefully anyway ha ha.


Oh and today I hit 41 pounds! That's a big yipee for me. There's a guy at the AA meeting in Ensenada who is about 70 I think, and he's starting an exercise new eating program like mine so we're kinda email buddies to give each other encouragement. It's nice to do a "buddy system" right? So even though I hurt my shoulder & elbow I worked out today...danced and then senior stretch :)
And Thursday I'll take the neighbor with me. Next week I'll skip exercise on Thurs, but have decided it's ok if I skip one day during a given week. Tomorrow I'll go up to Ensenada for the boat meeting, then home, then off to the meditation meeting (every other Wed afternoon), then home to grab my stuff for English class at 5:30. Wow busy life eh? I'll make up for it by spending Thurs afternoon reading or walking on the beach. Today I read, then when I went to see the neighbor I went with her to take her puppies to the vet in the next town....a little laundry....then the day seems to slip away ha ha. I do spend Mon-Fri until noon exercising though so it's afternoons....

I am very happy right now. English class is awesome! I am loving it- the class flies by each time. Meditation, working out, eating smarter....talking to the universe from my beach chair...soon it will be warm enough for my hammock.....yeah what's not to be happy about? viva!

Don't fix it if it ain't broke!

The estuary on the other side of our place...

This is what I saw this morning out the window of the place where I went to try zumba. It is actually the far side of the estuary from us. Standing right outside our trailer the beach is on one side and the estuary on the other; the beach is much closer, but the walk to the estuary is nice. Full of squirrels for Hazel to chase- I think sometimes they wait for her to see them...they both freeze (squirrel & dog)...then one moves a tiny muscle and the chase is on! But the sneaky squirrels have holes all over the place and they dive in. Hazel digs furiously but I suspect the tunnels are long and connect to lots of escape hatches. Sam is usually content to amble along next to us; but will take off on a tear if he does spot something...usually a bird making noise in the bushes.

So this morning I headed off for zumba about 7:45. My plan was to start going to zumba Tue & Thurs mornings for a few weeks- to push myself and to learn some new steps for my own routine. I also wanted to see how much it would kick my butt; meaning how much harder it w as than the dancing I do on my own. Wow what a surprise I was in for! Yes I did work up a sweat, but I kept up- easily. I was never out of breath. Yeah I could probly work it a little harder as I become more comfortable with the steps, but the fact is, it just wasn't that difficult! My workout is much harder! Can I get a yippee?? On a couple of levels; I'm happy to affirm that I am working out hard. I've been reading about the idea of interval training- meaning get my heart rate up, then slow back, down then up, then down,.....during the fast songs I always push as hard as I can. If I'm feeling really tired or weak, I do more slow ones...where I can twirl and sorta rock & roll dance, right? It's for minimum 50 minutes, but the days I go to the stretch class I only dance for 30 minutes, then the class is an hour. Ok so I am happy to know I am working hard. (I thought so) The next thing is, the zumba class is at 8am....that means I want to get up by 6:45 so I can have coffee, etc. I usually start exercising at 9, so I don't have to get up until 7:30 or 7:45....which is a comfortable wake up time for me...natural. And I have to drive to this place, and pay. Now it's only 20 pesos (in fact she said I could workout for free, but that isn't right)...but my routine is right here. I get dressed and walk outside. I dance on the beach and my doggies are with me. My original idea with zumba was just to change it up a little, an a class is fun, and maybe when it gets warmer I give it another shot...oh but the time still sucks ha ha!

Then I had an hour to waste before the stretch class- so I came back home and threw the ball for Sam & Hazel for a few minutes..home is in between the 2 classes....Everardo went to Penasco super early this morning to register the vehicles, and since I wasn't exercising at home I felt guilty about them not getting their morning play from him or me. As it turns out, Poppi left at 3:30am! He got to Penasco and finished his business by 11am! I think he stuck around for an AA meeting and saw some of his friends from there, and then started for home- I'm expecting him in a couple of hours- ouch what a long day for him! I took the dogs to the beach for another 45 minutes of chasing the ball this afternoon and they are fast asleep in front of my chair right now. Ahh tomorrow back to normal ha ha. Oh and one thing- Penasco changed how they do their yearly car registration and now they just give you a sticker- like in the U.S. I thought it was an incredible waste to give new license plates every year! But that's what happened last year- he went over there and had to turn in the plates and they gave us new ones! Crazy eh? Either way it's still way way cheaper to renew the registration in Sonora than to change to Baja plates. Next comes my new driver's license- hopefully this month since my Sonora license expired. I've heard that you must take a written test here- then from someone else I heard no written, just a driving test- so we'll see. In Guerrero and Sonora there's no test of any kind.

Here's a couple of pictures of this afternoon playing ball on the beach behind our house...as you can see we basically have the beach to ourselves...all the time.

Our house is behind/under the studio apt on stilts. The house on the left if empty and the house on the right has one lady. Most of the houses near us are empty...some get rented for wknds when the weather is nice. We love our beach.

I was looking at my blog from last year at this time because we moved in Feb 1 here. I hadn't been thrilled about moving into this old trailer, but the views; the beach & the estuary, the fact that our dogs could run free...not too many neighbors, quiet...well those things sold me and after a year I'm so happy we chose to come here. Oh and the price was right up our alley ha ha- $250USD per month and water & garbage free....with our small income the price was right!

I was not super happy to read some of my other posts for this time period, basically because I felt like ouch- zero personal growth in one area. I had written at this time last year about my frustration and sadness about the relationship or lack of one with my younger daughter. I find myself in the exact same place. This is the opposite of the title of this post- which was actually referring to my exercise program and not my relationship with my kid. With the older one, Drewy, my relationship is awesome! The only thing that could make it better is if she moved down here! (not gonna happen0 We talk all the time, about everything, personal to each of us, family stuff, her work stuff, what we both do with our time...everything. I love her so much and her soon to be step daughter and her finace as well. He loves her so much, and it seems like he is so good for her and to her. Calm where she is not ha ha- Yes she is a mini me! But he is calm and strong and loving and kind. And my granddaughter is a mini Drew ha ha! The facebook photos of her getting all dressed up like Drewy, playing school with her dolls and the dog- just like Drew did when she was that age. They are a beautiful family.

Hmmm I guess it's easier to talk about the good relationship, right? Well I know the same things as last year where my younger daughter is concerned. That I need to find acceptance. That I need to let go of her. That I need to continue to ask the universe for guidance where she is concerned. I actually wrote a big long thing here last nite- and this may be the first time I came back and edited my post. The things I wrote were true, and how I felt, but they were in my context...some details that were/are bothering me, and of course not the complete picture. So I woke up and decided that I felt better for getting it out of me- that sometimes that's what I need. In fact this blog has become huge for me in getting out my feelings when I'm confused or scared or angry. I write how I feel and it helps me work thru whatever it is. But this time I felt like the feelings were more private- or maybe just too hard to articulate accurately without telling a long story with too many details...ha ha it's called life.

OK so I end up with this: I do have a relationship with my daughter; I just wish it was different, more. We have not been close for a very long time; basically since she turned 13. She chose to live at her dad's even though I only lived about 5 blocks away. Of course she chose him- she had a huge living space- the house had a finished "basement" so she had 2 bedrooms, a full bath, a bigger living room than in my house, a huge big screen tv, etc- oh and her own entrance. Add almost no rules and no chores/responsibilities, well I guess she was in hog heaven. My little house was cozy...but I had rules, curfew, etc.

Anyway I missed alot with her...homework, watching tv at nite, eating together- you know- life! Honestly broke my heart, over & over. It has not changed. Last summer I thought we made some progress, but it seems it was again it was just that she needed something- and as my husband tells me over & over...when she does contact me I jump up with joy to be hearing from her, and then she just wants something. This time I tried to capitalize on a negative (her relationship with her dad's new wife was not going well) and in the end it bit me in the ass. I should have known you can't get something positive- you can't "win" or accomplish anything positive by using a negative situation. Now I've lost the friendship of my ex husband who I have been friends with over 20 years, as well as his new wife. My fault. And my daughter? Well we are back to not communicating. And when we do, if I call her on anything she is not interested. Like I said, not much of a relationship. Over the years I have driven myself crazy...trying to see her, call her, text her, msg her....being ignored unless she feels like it (read wants something). I knew we spoiled her too much and I did my best to stop when she became a teen, but then I really lost her. Ha ha it's lonely being right sometimes. Yeah yeah do I want to be right or do I want to be happy (well I'm always happy when I'm right ha ha)....but sometimes doing the right thing doesn't make me happy in the moment, but ultimately it usually does.

My kid needs to be responsible, to face consequences...to grow up. Right now she's 21 and full of herself. I love when she gets excited about something; she's very passionate...but it is always fleeting and then she's off to the next thing. Well I know she has her own path. I knew it last year too - but still I circle back to the same spot. So...I need to keep asking the universe for guidance, I need to use the serenity prayer in all things- you know- the last line with the wisdom to know the difference of what I can change. because the thing is- I can only change myself. My attitude. I can't change anyone else. I can only behave in a positive responsible way- for myself. I love you daughter.

So I am going to try to let go again. I am not going to pursue her, chase after her, beg her to love me, to need me, to choose me. I love her and always will, but she is on her own path. I am out. I will be happy to hear from her anytime, but I cannot be on this emotional roller coaster anymore. Not fair to me or to my husband, and affects her not at all. Now I've said it out loud and in writing. I hope I re read this- alot- so I stick with it. I have family and friends who want a relationship with me and that's who I will spend my time, my emotions, my life with.

I can see that I've been trying to rewrite the past, make it different. This whole obsession with wanting her to "choose" me, like it will make me a good mother somehow or something. Acceptance is what I need to embrace. I ask the universe for guidance and motivation and I need to supply the acceptance and forgiveness. I was also asking the universe for support, but I realize that guidance and motivation is support. Doubting myself is just another way to be a victim. I don't want to be a victim- for anything. Usually I am not- but I think doubting myself is doing just that. Hmmm! See! This is why I love writing things out...I figure things out sometimes. I feel relief right now. Here is an opportunity for change- in me.

Yes I believe a nice "VIVA" is in order! VIVA!!!!!

My pelican friends

The edge of Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada, Baja California

This is the bay we live on. This picture was taken today from the backyard of a house my friend is house sitting. It's on a cliff, very close to the mouth of the bay on the opposite side from Ensenada. We live almost in the center of the U which is the bay. What is that called? The bottom? We look straight out towards the ocean. Her place is beautiful. We sat there this afternoon watching pelicans soaring- but since we were up on the cliff, the pelicans were at eye level- they were amazing! The colors were changing as we watched. The deepest greens slowly changing to lighter coral greens and then back to dark. But I must say, as beautiful as it was, I prefer being closer to the water; we can't see as many dramatic changes in colors- or the cliffs....but I can touch it! I can breathe it in...my silly dogs can run in and splash around.

There were soooo many pelicans out there! In front of our place the land - that's when I call them a pelican convention, but here they flew along the shoreline, then out over the water, then back. I could hear sea lions barking near the tuna rings....probly trying to get to all the bait fish in the rings that the tunas must munch on. Those damn tuna rings- too soon our beautiful bay will be stripped of all its bait fish, then the dolphins and seals and sea lions won't come.....I read it will take at least 50 years for the bay to recover, and by then these rings will have moved on to ruin the ecology of another beautiful bay...

Oh- so today with our dogs & the beach! While I was out visiting my friend, Everardo took the dogs running with him. He runs on the beach and Hazel runs circles around him. Sam trots alongside, stopping to sniff interesting stuff that's come in with the tide. It's funny because he has a bad leg, after a long day he is stiff and sore...limpy. He can't run too far, and can only run really fast for a short time. But he can jog along with Everardo in the sand. Anyway, today as they were running, Poppi passed a seal asleep on the beach - actually he wasn't sure if it was a seal or a sea lion - he didn't actually see it as he went by, but Hazel did. She went up and sniffed the seal's tail and the seal woke up and barked at Hazel. Our Hazel wanted to play. She kept wanting to sniff nose to nose- that what she did last summer with Bob the sea lion- the injured on we found on the beach. That one was so tired, he let Hazel and Sam both come close and didn't shy away. I didn't have my camera then but I swear Hazel and Bob did touch noses. I mean Bob let me stroke him and gently pour water on him those days he recuperated on the beach. And then he was gone. But today, this seal was ok...barked at Hazel and then went back into the water. Hazel followed (of course)....Poppi said it was funny- Hazel followed and the seal kept looking back. He was a little worried that the seal would attack Hazel once in the water, but when it was finally a little deeper, he gave a last look and dove away. So if we lived out on a beautiful cliff, we would miss that.

I wrote yesterday about my health commitment to myself. I felt like since it takes up so much of my time right now, that I should include it in my blog. I kinda wish I didn't....at least the part about how much weight I wanted to lose, how much I have so far...I woke up feeling pressured- and ha ha I did it to myself! It has been private up until now, something I'm doing for myself. Now I have set up an expectation for myself. Well there's only one way to fix this. To say it is still my journey. That I will continue for myself. I may continue to write about it here however not in the same detail I think. I'll say this- I'm still planning to start the zumba class Tuesday morning at 8am- but I don't know where the place is ha ha. Also Everardo is leaving at about 4am Tuesday for Penasco to renew our car & truck registrations so he won't be here. And my goal is actually simply to learn some new steps for my own dancing, to maybe bump up my exercise program for a month or so, and then let it go. Unless of course I find I love leaving the house at 7:45am at least twice a week ha ha. Yeah I doubt that will happen. I like the idea of not fixing things that aren't broken. I like getting up at 7:30 or 7:45, then having coffee and not starting my exercise routine until 9am. I plan to return to that routine in 3 or 4 weeks. I did have an awesome dinner tonite- a huge plate of steamed broccoli, green beans, garlic and a half pound of fresh shrimp. Stuffed me good. I did have my glass of carrots and beets earlier too! The juicer rules!

This past week I've tried halving my ingredients for my protein shake....but I found myself hungry not long after. I'll have to think about it & decide if it's how I want to go forward. The thing is with half the shake I can have other things during the afternoon...well maybe I can do it different on different days, right? So today is day one of month 11.

I can't believe it's Feb 1!! Funny- I looked at my blog for today last year and I was talking about going to zumba on Monday! Well this time it will be just Tue/Thur and in the morning not 6pm in the afternoon. It was when we just moved into this trailer, about Sam & Hazel running all over the beach- so my writing is not that different ha ha. But and this is huge- I wrote about having a migraine and how panic attacks always proceeded them, and about the woman in the pharmacy who gave me the "magic pill" that I could only take a quarter of that cured my headache. I have not had a migraine since I got those pills; a couple of times during 2014 I felt one coming on, I felt a panic attack coming on- there's always something I can smell...a funny taste in my mouth. But they're gone! No more panic attacks equal no more migraines for me! I got a prescription for those pills, and Poppi took one when he got stung by the jellyfish....but the qty 30 they gave me will still last me the rest of my life!

The weather was pretty nice this time last year and if the news is correct we are heading into good weather this week. Yippee if that means the nites will be warmer! ok well that's all for now I think. I'll let you know how early morning group zumba goes- should be interesting after 10 months of dancing alone on the beach- doing whatever I wanted....yeah at the senior stretching class I sort of make up some of the steps to get more out of it...I twirl and jump ha ha! However I suspect the zumba class will kick my ass at first since I have become a believer of the fast & slow exercise concept- to rev up my heart rate for a song or two, then do an easy one to slow my heart back down...then back up....so....vamos a ver, right?
viva

Nayarit...along the free road coming back from our November trip

Nayarit...along the free road coming back from our November trip.

I added the photo above because it's so pretty. I had heard of the Nayarit Riviera before, but didn't understand until we drove thru. Nayarit is a small state on the western coast of Mexico. It is lush and green and beautiful. I think it would be a nice vacation spot- but we only drove thru on the way home from our trip down south.

I'm looking thru my photos and thinking about how I can add them to my blog without being in the past all the time. Mexico has so many faces, so many cultures, different lingo, right? For example the word for dragonfly, up here in Baja is Libelula (not sure of the spelling), but down in Guerrero near Acapulco, it's called Chambuleke. I know this because I love dragonflys and have a couple of dragonfly tattoos - most of the year I'm wearing short sleeves or no sleeves so they get seen, and often commented on ha ha. I do not have "tough guy" tattoos- skulls or things of that nature; rather I have dragonflys, flowers and peace signs. In fact one arm has the word "peace" in English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, and Thai. Different colors and different writing styles, and I have an earth with a peace sign in it. Hmmm I probly have pictures of that, too...but will have to wait until another day when I'm going thru my photos again.

So the English class is AWESOME!! I am so happy with it! Week #2 was just as exciting as week #1. I had less students; only 6 on Monday and 4 on Wednesday, but 2 or 3 students sent a msg with a student who came - one saying they had a sick kid, another was stuck at work. One thing I'm worried about is a family who came on Wednesday of the first week didn't return; the mom and dad and daughter were all students, but they had a small little boy who I said could be there but the class was for the adults. I think maybe I messed up by not being clear they could come and bring him- I mean he was quiet, coloring by himself, and the daughter was only about 9, but she was doing good and I was including her. But I don't know where they live or anything and they didn't show either nite this past week. I really really hope they come back! There are so few students, and the little ones are well behaved that I don't care if they are there. Don't get me wrong, a small class is good, and even when I only had 4, we had fun. In fact on Monday I had 2 students who wanted to learn Spanish!

They were young guys; probly early 20's who rode their bicycles from Wisconsin (I think-somewhere like that), to Baja! Crazy, right? They are staying with and working for the guy who is renting the building and he told them to come to class. One left for Puerto Penasco, Sonora on his bicycle on Wed so I only had the other one on Wed. What was really funny was the Spanish students started asking him to say the lessons in Spanish since they had to do it in English! ha ha. So I was sorta teaching both! I love students who want to learn- and these people want it! We worked on the vowels and how they have 2 sounds (long and short)- I had been thinking of how to present it and ended up printing drawings of things with the long and short vowels...like unicycle and sun, bacon and ham, etc. As I put them up I asked for the word in Spanish then in English...then we talked about them. The class drives itself. We laugh alot!

The zumba teacher, Carmina did not show up this week; she's the one with a sick kid. She teaches zumba at 8am Mon-Fri; last year when we first moved here I went to her class which at the time was at 5pm. It was December- it was cold, the class was outside, and it was on cement. After just 2 or 3 weeks I stopped going. Then I didn't exercise again until I started my commitment on April 1. Her class is the one that now I want to try and go to, maybe just on Tues and Thurs mornings for a few weeks' partly to learn some new steps for my own routine, and partly as an addition to my trying to shake it up a little; my modified eating plan and extra workouts to get off this plateau. 8am is early for me though, which is why I'm only thinking 2 morning a week, and on both those days right now I'm dancing for 30 min, then going to the "stretcher-size" class for an hour. The class is also on Fridays, but I just want to do the zumba twice a week. If I load myself up too much I'll hate it, it will become a hassle, and I start not wanting to do anything. I've been doing this for 10 months straight and it's working for me, so I'm just gonna take it in small chunks. Plus it costs money ha ha.

It only costs 20 pesos a class (which right now is less than $2 USD), but still, the other class is free and my dancing and gym is free. I've mentioned my workouts and change in eating a little here, but not too much. I didn't want my blog to be about weight loss. I've been keeping a journal by hand about it. I call it my commitment to myself. I did all of it alone until the week of Thanksgiving when I added the stretcher size class- it's kind of a class for seniors, I think I'm the youngest by a few years ha ha. That's why I dance for a half hour before I go and try to really push myself to keep my heartbeat up. The class is like 20 min of light cardio, 20 min of light weights and 20 min of floor work. The weights portion is using hand weights, and I started using just 1 pounders to stretch out my muscles since I do heavier weights on Mon and Wed. I was doing the heavier weights M-W-F, but I've been doing the class T-Th-F..... I made a year commitment to myself for exercise and to change my eating habits. I call it eating habits because if I say a diet- then I'm telling myself this is not a permanent change. And I want it to be a permanent change! No more ice cream every nite, no more sugar snacking. So I chose 2 days a week to be "official weigh" days and commited to journaling about it. I weigh on Tues and Friday. It should probly be just once a week, but ha ha I'm too obsessed for that. I write at least on those 2 days. I write about how I feel, how I've done exercise and food-wise. In the beginning I had to really pay attention carefully to my choices. Now it's much more of a habit, just the way I eat. I don't really crave too much crap...if I don't eat chocolate or sugary snacks, I don't crave them...but I swear I'm a junk food addict ha ha.

I tell this story in Alcoholics Anonymous that any time I think I could have just one drink, all I have to do is think about oreo cookies. Sorry if I already told it in my blog before but I'll tell it now. I have to buy oreo cookies in the small package- the one that just has 6 cookies in it, like you get a 7-11 or any quick stop store. The reason is I will eat them all. If I buy a regular size package - I will still eat all of them. Maybe I'll just eat 3 or 4 or even 6 today, maybe tomorrow the same. But by tomorrow nite I will be thinking about those cookies. I'll probly wake up during the nite thinking about those oreos sitting in my cupboard. By day 3, I will eat all of them. They might make me sick, but I will keep eating them, I can't help myself. So I know with alcohol it would be the same - but worse.

I am happy to say I have not had an oreo cookie since March 31, 2014. ha ha. It's really cookies in general that I need to let go of, but oreos are my favorite, one of my comfort foods and the one I would obsess over; I stopped eating them and told myself I could have some when I really really wanted one, but I just haven't; like I said I'm pretty much staying away from chocolate (and things coated in sugar).

Tomorrow I start month 11. During month 12 my plan is to make a new commitment to myself. I have lost 40 pounds as of a couple of days ago. My goal was to lose 60 pounds in a year- this is not going to happen, but I'm ok with it- like I said I plan to recommit to another year of exercise and to my new eating lifestyle. A huge part of the reason I made this commitment to myself is health. I knew in 2014 I would come to the end of 5 years of post breast cancer medication and it scared me. I take these pills (Arimidex) for 5 years and then I'm done. So....these pills will keep cancer from coming back...and then I stop taking it? Yeah, scared me. I even wrote to my oncologist, who explained that the studies showed 5 years was the right amount of time to take the medication, and after that the risks outweighed the benefits. So I started reading everything about recurrence of cancer and every single article- every single one- said being overweight was a factor. So I decided to do something about it. I'm feeling pretty good now- I'm a size 12-14 depending on what I'm wearing...but I know I know- that's still too heavy. 40 pounds is good- I'm proud of myself. But 60 was and is my goal. And who knows, maybe another 10-20 after that.

I'm lucky, I have some gum equipment available to me. I call the place a gym, but that's using the term loosely ha ha! It's an abandoned house about 6 or 8 houses down from us. There's this old equipment in there on the second story; the stairs are on the outside. The first time I went up there, I said "no way!! This place is gross I'm not exercising in here," and went home. The next day Everardo walked down there with me, took a look, and said- are you crazy? You can use this stuff! I went home and thought about it...and a couple of days later went back down. The owners if the camp gave me a key to it- I think I'm the only person who ever goes there ha ha. Ok well I took some pictures of the place and will post them here:

 The place is sooo beat up. Oh I should have taken a picture of the front side; the people painted it green and it looks pretty nice- but they just painted that one side because it faces the road ha ha. This is the side I go in. And those stairs...yeah every day I go I am super careful because the wood is rotting and old! If you look at the 3rd picture from the top, I piled up those weights there because the machine (it's a bow-flex) is not bolted down so when you pull down on the weights the whole thing swings towards you ha ha.The floor is a disgusting carpet, really dirty, but I never take my shoes off or touch the floor for any reason, so I guess I don't care. So I use the bow-flex and the bench you see in the second picture for leg lifts. There's a pull up thing in the corner...you can also do a type of leg lift that works your stomach...and so far I cannot do a pull up..it kills my elbow....The second to last shot is like a little eliptical- and see how it's put together with little ropes? ha ha but it works. I don't use it because Everardo put my eliptical in our spare bedroom so I use it at home. But maybe the most important thing is........THE VIEW! See the beach out the windows? And when I use the bow-flex I look out the rusty door and see the ocean! One day I saw dolphins swimming and playing, I've seen seals and/or sea lions and many occasions....I have music playing, I brought down a wall clock to measure minutes between weight reps....I look out to the beach which is almost always bare...maybe a person or two out walking with their dogs.

My dogs come with me every time.Sam, the lab, stays down under the stairs, and Hazel runs all over the place; down to the beach and back, in to check on me...then back out. I don't even see the rusty door anymore, or the dirty floor. I do my thing, less than an hour, and head for the beach for 50 minutes of zumba dancing. It's free, my doggies get their exercise, I watch the water, the pelicans, fishing boats....yeah it's a pretty good deal. So my exercise program is a pretty big part of my life, which is why I decided to start talking about it here.

Anyway......Carmina, the young lady who is now one of my students and teaches the zumba class told me I could come for free- I know she said it because the English class is free, and we also talked in class about the zumba class. I was initally excited since I've been thinking about adding it to my routine for a few weeks (to push myself and also to learn some new steps), but I have decided I need to pay her. My class was never going to be for money; her's is her business. I know she started it last year when I went in the evening and she just had 5 or 8 people. I heard she has closer to 20 now, but she is very young- maybe 19 or 20, has a daughter (at least one) has another job, and is trying to do this zumba class in the morning and come to my class. I need to be paying- I think I can afford 40 pesos a week (since I only plan to go twice a week). I also think I'll probly not do it for too long! I usually get up around 7:30 and drink my coffee and watch the news, then start my exercise routine at 9am....so this is really early for me ha ha. I really hope she comes back to English class on Monday- she sent word that she planned on it...

So- I had a good week. Hit 40 pounds, getting in the groove with the class, still going to meditation every other Wed in the afternoon....yeah my life is pretty good. I'm also going to try and start writing every day or at least every other day here. I read that a successful blog has entries ever day, and that photos are a good idea. Someone made a very nice comment just today; that they like my writing style and following my adventures. So I'll end this with a picture of my dogs who you will start seeing more of...

So this is a photo of the walking path on the other side of our place (beach on one side, estuary on the other) and a photo of my dinner- low cal but you can't go wrong with fresh caught shrimp and veggies from a roadside stand....jealous of me yet?? :)

Viva!

Started English class for Spanish speakers this week

Well my class was AWESOME!! If the students were half as happy as me, they also thought it was awesome! It started Monday nite, and then nite 2 was Wednesday. The class is at 5:30pm to 7pm (an hour and a half) because some people work, unlike where I taught in Puerto Penasco where virtually everyone in the area was out of work, and the class was to help with English skills in order to find jobs on the other side of town where the tourists went- the hotels and restaurants, curio stands, etc. I think maybe half of my students this week had jobs, maybe less. I had only 5 students on Monday, but 11 on Wednesday, and everybody said they were coming back on Monday. Actually 5 was the perfect number for the first nite- I was nervous, and so were the students ha ha. But when they came back Wednesday they were much more comfortable, which was good for the new additions. I also expect to get a few more, then after that if it's anything like Penasco, a few more will come, then a couple will stop coming, in and out, with a core group that always comes. It's more women than men, also the same as before....but maybe more will come once they see they are not the only ones. Both men in this class know at least a few words in English, but come in contact with English speakers and want to learn more.

This is so cool to be able to add photos of my class! Anyway... it seems like an hour and a half is the right length for class- in fact at first (meaning right now) it's almost too long. There's just SO much information...and so many questions. The first nite I had a helper, a young woman who is going to be the office manager in this building, and she is biligual and helped me out alot. But nite #2 she was not there and that was ok as well. I told the students that my Spanish will get better as their English gets better. That at first I will try to speak Spanish with them, but slowly I will stop and do the class in English-AND they will understand! The most important thing is practice. They have to practice at home and we will do the same things over and over. So soon they will know- "ok-who knows....." and "ok who would like to go first?" ha ha ha ha! I like to review whatever we worked on previously and then add something new. And if I have a basic idea of an outline or lesson plan, well then the class really leads itself. We get onto a topic via somebody's question and it can be the evening's subject. Our first nite was days of the week, the 5 W's and the "bag". The bag is 10 items, like a coffee cup, a pair of sunglasses, a candle, a fork, etc., that I take out one by one and we identify them. Then we practice the words when all the pieces are lined up on the table. Finally I put them back one at a time and say "bye bye coffee cup, bye bye candle" and I told them we say "bye bye" because this stuff is comin' back! Until everybody remembers their names...then I'll put in some new stuff. The second nite I had a woman, Lupita- and she could name almost everything! The 5 W's are Who where what when and why. Then we built a little story around them. I ask and choose someone and it gets pretty funny- and will be funnier as they get the confidence to try new words.

I do have printed lessons from a book that I got for learning Spanish; it has a page of words, then a page with a paragraph, then a page with questions. I will probly introduce that in a couple of weeks, after we do some more stuff like I, you, he, she, it, we, they (personal pronouns). But I do not label words as nouns, pronouns, etc...This is not a formal class. I just give them the list, we talk about it, and for some things, my answer is "I don't know" which they also like. I told them alot of things they just have to memorize, to practice. One of the items in the bag is a knife. Uh oh- why does it start with a "k" and we don't hear it? Spanish is not like that- in Spanish you pronounce all the letters- I like that! And the truth is I don't know why we have crazy words with silent letters...

Anyway both nites we had fun. The class is lively. I make lots of mistakes in Spanish and they correct me. I encourage them to help each other with English. For the first time in months I had trouble sleeping though- I was so excited about the class I was busy forming lesson plans in my head and couldn't fall asleep after Monday's class and that lasted all week! I've decided what to do on Monday so hopefully tonite I will sleep!

The building is rented by a guy who is wrapped up in several projects and I have a feeling now that he is back in town I may have to take down the posters I have on the wall in between classes. The books in the bookshelf are for sale I think, and I guess the place is also part art gallery. He has a non profit that is supporting/trying to save a forest up in the hills above us; he has projects like making a campground up there, walking tours and education about the area, planting trees. He keeps an office there in the front - the opposite side from me. I know he came back to Mexico this week but I haven't seen him. He was probly there during the day this week, well hopefully I'll be able to touch base with him next week. I want to be sure I am not out of line taping up my posters over his stuff ha ha!

The building is right along the main street in this tiny town called Cantu. It is the only paved road- actually it's the main road and goes out to the Bufadora. Dirt roads going up the hill have the homes of the people who live there...

Only 20-30 minutes south of Ensenada, Punta Banda and La Bufadora offer an ideal side trip and family excursion. After following Highway 1 through the "lower" section of the town of Maneadero, turn west at BCN23, the signed junction to "La Bufadora" (the Blowhole). The 14-mile, two-lane paved highway winds through fertile farmlands and scenic countryside as it leads onto the Punta Banda peninsula that forms the southern end of Todos Santos Bay. Roadside stands feature cured olives, honey, iced coconuts, firewood, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and delicious homemade tamales. Open during the summer, there are several recreation parks with pools, play areas and picnic grounds that cater to families.

The tiny poblado of Esteban Cantu serves as the local business district with small grocery stores, eateries, auto repair and tire shops, hardware and building supply stores. Just past the poblado is the turnoff to the Punta Estero "sand spit" with unspoiled beaches and the currently defunct Baja Beach Resort. 

Hmm well I was trying to google and find some info about population of Cantu and only found this tourity thing. I like how it says small grocery stores....I wouldn't call them that! Tiny "abborotes" that are like tiny 7-11's (or here in Mexico OXXO) But these are not as big as Oxxo. Tiny stores that have cold drinks, munchy food...like a store at a campground, you know? The closest grocery store is in Maneadero...about 10 minutes away- but the first store is a Calimax and it's where all the Americans shop so it's the most expensive grocery store on earth ha ha!! We only stop there for emergency things...we shop in Ensenada for groceries. Ok I can't find anything more about Cantu, but it's about the size of Playa Ventura, so maybe 1000 people? Not counting Americans I mean. My point was going to be that the building holding my classroom is pretty close to everyone. I only saw one group of 3 show up in a car, a couple on bicycles, and the rest by foot. 

So I am hoping that the students were sincere in saying they will be back and that the class moves forward. I will report here on my progress and what the class is like. As I said, I's just so excited about it! Oh and I forgot to mention- I pay no rent for my classroom and the tables you see in the photos were lent to me by a neighbor who had a restaurant in the area but closed it a few months ago. Across the street from class is a building called Open Air Fair and they open just on Friday and Saturday. It looks like an open restaurant; there are tables and chairs...but it's local people, expats who cook at home and then bring food in the morning for breakfast and lunch and sell it on Fridays & Saturdays. I walked over there last weekend when I was straightening up the classroom area and wondering what I would do for tables- I had posted in the local newsletter asking anyone for donations and gotten zero response...anyway I looked at the people sitting over there across the street, and walked over to talk. 3 old ladies (ha ha but they had to be 100 years old each!) were sitting at a small makeshift bar smoking cigarettes and at least one was drinking beer (I think it was noon) and one is named Baja Mama- well that was the name of her restaurant- I asked her- where do you guys get these tables? Then I told them what I was doing across the street- starting a free class to learn English, and well Baja Mama is an angel! She said ok I am not giving these to you- I'm loaning them to you 'cause I might be opening another restaurant someday...but take those 2 tables against the wall- and take the chairs as well! Ha! I gave her a big hug and a loud kiss on the cheek! I hadn't even see the really long table that was standing up against the wall! The other one was set up but she said unused for anything. The chairs are those white plastic beach chairs but she had put these blue bandana things on them and said oh just leave those. I had purchased blue plastic table clothes on a whim the week before when I was in the states, at the dollar store- so it all went together perfect! Can you believe how wonderful that all was, coming together like that?? Ain't life wonderful?? Viva!