I keep having to learn the same lesson over and over. The only consistent thing in Mexico is inconsistency. Zumba is out the window....some days they are out there with that huge speaker, and some days it even works, but they never seem to start the class. Some days they just don't come. I'm ok with walking around the ovalo (track). It can be consistent if I am consistent about it. I like walking alone and yet with so many people. I hear my music and I beep bop around the ovalo. People are running by me, jogging by me, walking faster than me, and even some slower. The game that's always going on in the center, and the various practices going on off to the sides. I don't know if it's the same people on the ovavlo every day, maybe after a while some faces will be familiar- ha ha I'm sure I'm the one who stands out. Not just my "walkin' to the music" swinging of my arms, but the only American...for now anyway. Everardo chats with people as he works out in the corner. Push ups and pull ups, a sit up station...in groups or individual but always stopping to watch what each other is doing.

The parents and girlfriends, friends & families who watch their kids, their spouses, their loved ones playing soccer; chatting and eating & drinking. Vendors on both sides...yes everything in Mexico has food involved. There are vendors everywhere, selling everything. Hot dogs and pina coladas, tacos de pastor, chiva, fish....burros longos. Churros, cotton candy...you name it, somebody is selling it.

Oh and my surprise the other day when I opened up our fortune cookies and they were in Spanish! Ha! What language did I expect? English of course- but silly- not of course....we're in Mexico so they were in Spanish...and more stale than even the ones in Calif.

So one thing here, don't expect anything to be the same twice. Yesterday there was no water in the house until afternoon. I heard they were working on some pipes down by the immigration office. Nice suprise when I went to flush to toilet- yeah it had water in it, but the one in our bathroom in the bedroom has a square "button" to push to flush, ya gotta hold it a few extra seconds to make sure it will finish the process. Of course my hand slipped off as it often does (altho after 6 months I'm much better at it..) and the water was gone but the process not completed. I said oh crap, and Everardo walked in just then (yes a silly joke about crap) and then uh- we have no water. So of course all morning I kept having to go to the bathroom- my crazy brain- if it hears "no" it thinks oh better say "yes" over and over. The water came back around noon so that was good. But this is nothing like Playa Ventura where we lost some service every day, something different every day. But still- make an appt, and if the other party shows up...maybe on time (probly not), but usually within a few hours.

We have a lady cleaning the house, and last week we agreed her new schedule would be to come at 2pm, at her request. This morning I received a text in Spanish telling me she would be late and was that ok, and to pls leave the key where I did last time. Hmm, ok, what time will you come? I asked...and she texted back- at 2pm. uh ok- I thought that was the the new regular time...so what time will she come next week ha ha? At least it's not boring. Everardo will drop by today to let her know to pls not touch the bed or laundry, that I'll take care of it. And he will not say "don't put plastic bags in the oven as storage" because it's already been done and she might be offended! ha ha. Well at least I know to check the oven. He also came yesterday before I left for the center to talk to the neighbor for me. Truth was I was anx'ting over it. I was waiting for her to come outside or was gonna knock before I left. She works at nite so I don't want to wake her up, and really my issue was I didn't want to come off like a bitch telling her to be sure the gate is properly closed with the bolt going into the ground at the bottom. Otherwise it swings open. That happened twice while I was home- luckily I was here so I could close it. Sam will stay in the yard, unless a very arrogant cat walks by, tail swishing and daring him to chase it. Then he will be out like a bolt of lightning. He could be hit by a car, or the dog catcher......etc. Anyway Poppi came back yesterday morning to talk to her. I appreciated that very much.

He's a good man, my Poppi. He came back because he knew I was worrying about talking to her. That I was going to do it, but was anxious. Last nite after walking for 40 minutes while he ran, he questioned me to see if my arch was aching at all; he knows sometimes I just keep going. And of course the result is a bad foot or leg and then I can't exercise for a couple of weeks. The other day I was complaining that I had no independence and that I had to look to him for so many things because of my lack of fluency, and how that...well totally pisses me off! But honestly, that's a problem in my pea brain. He is a caring thoughtful guy, who tries to help me, to be there for me, we take care of each other. Gotta give him kuddos for this.

 Oh- and HUGE news! We're gonna get a puppy! There are always puppies being dropped at the center, and I usually steer clear because I tend to fall in love with all of them. I've been wanting a dog, but Everardo's has NOT being wanting another dog, and so we were waiting. It really needs to be a mutual decision. Now he's working with the dogs every day and maybe that's what melted his heart ha ha, but yesterday I broke down and looked at these tiny puppies, probly only 3 weeks old, just thrown into the street- breaks your heart, right? Later Everardo showed up after running errands for the center, and said, why don't you pick one? I was stunned (ha ha) I said "WHAT"? Karen looked in in surprise as well. Later she told me he said, well she'll just keep bugging me...which I was not...and I told her- he doesn't do anything he doesn't want to..and she said that's what she thought. But he will do things to make me happy. What a guy! So stay tuned to hear about the puppy I choose...even now I worry about a puppy- Sam was hell and I remember saying I'd never have another puppy, better to get one 6 months old or older....hmmmm

Ok I leave you with a Mexico fun fact:

The largest wildcat in North America is the jaguar, which can be found in Mexico's southern jungles.

I remain thankful for the wind! It's getting hotter and hotter, we sleep in sweat, but the nice thing here that we didn't have in Playa Ventura is that we can sleep on top of the bed here. Down there the bugs ate us alive, nite or day. Here the mosquitos, at this point anyway, come out in the late afternoon. And, the bites do not create huge welts like in Guerrero. Of course, all this is "yet". Because we have yet to experience the real heat here, the humidity. It's coming, but so far this wonderful beautiful wind takes off the deadly edge of the heat.

Poppi got the bedroom window open and although we usually need the fan most of the nite, in the wee hours, or about 4am, it's actually cool enough to turn off the fan. Yes I lay in bed and dream of a remote for it. We had a remote for the bedroom fan in Playa Ventura ha ha. Anyway the window is on my side of the bed. I open the curtain when I turn off the lites and get into bed. There's a gentle breeze, but I just like seeing the shadow of the branches, and also about 4am, there's these birds tweeting, I really LOVE hearing birds when I wake up. You probably don't even notice it, but try sleeping next to the ocean for 6 months; it's sooo loud you hear nothing but the waves, and in the middle of the nite it sounds like static, like white noise. And sometimes I think I hear voices when I hear continued static. Oh how I love the silence! Yeah, I don't even like the noise of the fan, and will sometimes choose sleeping in sweat rather than have the fan noise.

The other thing is when I wake up, really early and see those same branches, they're green right now, and "willowy". It doesn't matter to me that if I got up and looked out the window, saw the street and the houses there, that there's trash that has blown down the street and is up against walls and/or caught in shrubbery. That the road is dusty and dirty, and that the houses are shabby and old, some put together sort of haphazardly. Like when you get a little money, you build another room or start another hallway, so many houses have funny shapes. That there are beat up cars parked around and skinny dogs that may or may not have a home. No, when I wake up, I see floating thin branches with long thing green leaves, sometimes little yellow flowers blooming on them, blue sky peeking thru, or maybe it's earlier and the sky is a soft gray that lightens into blue. Some mornings I hear the train in the distance. It's nice, it's peaceful...at least for a couple of hours before the day begins ha ha.

Then, no later than 9am, and usually earlier, the constant horn honking of the water guy, assorted engines in different stages of having a muffler(!) start up...this morning a guy pounding on the door of one of the houses thru that window. Some houses are right next to each other, some closer ha ha! Many have a fence with a gate, all have bars on the windows. Ours, too. I don't even see them anymore. They're skinny, and on some windows "decorative", meaning maybe every other one has a little shape in the middle or at the tops & bottoms.....Around here all the houses are made of these cement blocks and then I guess they put cement around them. As much as I think our house is a piece of shit- it does have insulation in the roof, and that makes a huge difference as it gets hotter.So for now, we stay. But of course I drive around and look for empty houses or houses with for rent signs. The new neighbor is ok enough. She doesn't talk to us at all, isn't here much. But her kid (5yr old boy) is afraid of Sam so that kind of sucks. I wish she spend a little time outside with him and let him get used to Sam, he'd like him. The other problem is that she doesn't close the gate right; this morning was the second time she just swings it shut and then takes off. No way she didn't see it swinging open as she left! There's a bolt at the bottom that slides into a hole in the ground, that's how it stays shut. But she doesn't make shut it's in. But now I have to wait for Everardo to tell her, because I want to be sure she understands it's important. I don't want her to leave the gate open when Sam is in the yard and we're gone. He'd stay here, but what if a kitty cat goes arrogantly by his yard? Will he run out? Will he get hot by a car or grabbed by the dog catcher? I'm not confident enough in my Spanish to be able to relate the importance but not offend her. So he'll tell her.

But that's one of my issues here. Lack of control. Having to ask my husband to talk to the neighbor. Asking him to call the Sky TV company cause the bill is wrong. I'm a pretty independent person, I can take care of things, of stuff, of people. He's like "don't worry about it, I'll talk to her"...but today was the second time. The tv thing, well the bill shows on the tv, you don't get one in the mail, and he got on the phone with them, but (like the US) it takes forever to talk to a human voice. Then what they told him he related to me, then I thought it sounded like bullshit, but I gave in. But then I wanted to know what this other line item was...oh that's for the equipment, really? Then what are these other 2 line items? All for the same equipment? So he promised to ask as he sat on hold waiting to cancel this 24 peso a month magazine they send us that never comes in the house- straight to the garbage can...and they out waited him- meaning they put you on hold and NEVER come back. And we are stuck with them until Dec, then I want to try Mega cable or the other one (I forget the name).

Anyway I know my frustration is my problem. Hello Terry- it's the language and you knew it when you moved here! Ha! I know I know. And now I'm diligently putting in my time every day with Rosetta Stone- at least an hour a day. Cause in a much smaller but still happening way, I have to ask Everardo what was said or would he say/do this or that, and sometimes it feels like then he decides the importance of it and then acts accordingly. Yes it's human nature, but if I ask for translation, pls translate without judgement. We totally had a fight over the lady that's now cleaning out house every week. We pay her 150 pesos, about $12. And the problem is me- I need to be clear about what I want. And I thought I was clear, pls don't do any laundry- and that includes pls don't take the sheets off my bed and put them in the dirty clothes basket, or the towels or any clothes that are not in the closet or drawers! I said the bed was fine, needed nothing, it's made when she comes- I put the blanket only on the bottom half of the bed, really just to keep the sheets flat, and the sheets nicely turned down right below the nicely put pillows. SO THE BLANKET DOES NOT NEED TO BE PULLED UP ALL THE WAY AND THE PILLOWS STACKED DIFFERENTLY.....oh sorry did I just lose it? So she's only come about 4 times and I come home and blow my stack. So last week I came home and the blanket wasn't on the bed...hmmmm, then I notice it was folded to a narrow rectangle and was sitting under the pillows- I further noticed they were different  sheets than the ones that were there this morning....aarrggghhhh!!

Ok and WHO stores plastic bags in the over??!! Ok so people here don't use their ovens- weird but true. So she just needs to know- specifically- what it is I want and do not want, oh including, pls just clean, don't rearrange and put things away somewhere out of sight if I have them IN sight..Yes I know I sound like a bitch, but I want things the way I want them. Sooooo,  I have to ask, yes ASK my husband to talk to her. aarrgghh did I say that already. And he thinks none of it is a big deal! That belittles me...to decided what is important. I do minimize the things he tells me about working down at the beach...I am not even clear about how some of what he does makes sense, but he is happy and so I'm happy. Ok anyway, he now knows how I feel, and we have talked it thru. He does have to be the one to have all three conversations- tv, neighbor, cleaning lady. And I have to remember that I am powerless of people places and things...have a little acceptance and give myself a break. Work on becoming fluent! At some point I'll be able to do these things. Ha ha my friend Karen told me her last cleaning lady rearranged all her furniture in her living room and bedroom, so maybe my lady is not so bad ha ha ha ha ha

This weekend was that huge moon and it was so beautiful here. Friday nite we had dinner at some friends of the community center who were renting a tiny place on the beach and it was nice. I actually was sporting a bad sunburn on my back cause earlier in the day I laid on the beach and read, for just 20 minutes and got a hell of a burn! Usually we go down to the beach around 6pm when it's still warm enough to go swimming and look for shells, but we went early Friday cause there weren't many tourists on the beach and we weren't needed at the center. Ouchy ouchy won't make THAT mistake again. It's feeling a little better now. Last nite we went to another couple's place for dinner and that was nice too (yeah we ate around this weekend...food whores). This lady I know from the center as well, but they have a business in Tuscon and are trying to wrap it up and live here full time. They are trying to figure out a business here and they were telling us about a few ideas they've been kicking around. Ooooh I like business, and was very interested. And I like that they want to start something and try to put some people to work, and hopefully people from out in the San Rafael neighborhood- that's where the community center is where I volunteer. One idea was about solar, another about this tiny pepper that could be harvested, bagged and tagged, and exported, but man, needs the due diligence done. How much money do you want to make. How many tiny peppers make how much money? how much land do you need to grow x amount of tiny peppers, I mean all the questions have to be asked and answered...but this guy seemed very savy and he and I were on the same page there. So I like getting to know them, and hey, wonder what's going to come next?

A lot of people seem to think that things are turning around here and that the future is bright. I try to read a lot of local stuff, to kinda try to see who's bumpin' and grindin'.....I believe there's a lot of opportunity, and maybe I can jump in somewhere.....of course I want (I need, for me) to keep up my teaching out at the center. It's a win win, and a few people are really putting me thru my paces; figuring out what to teach next, putting together conversations, reviewing what we already did...and the music of course! Everyone has fun with that! Ok well time to do my Rosetta Stone....so I'll leave with a Mexico fun fact:

A Mexican tamale called the zacahuil is three feet long and weighs about 150 pounds.^c

Ok short one: The Zumba class. Ha ha they got me! They arrived same time as me- 6:28 pm. The music was working less than 5 minutes later. And then...well they stood around the big speaker and talked until about 10 min to 7! It's kinda not worth the frustration. But I was smart and brought my headphones and ipod. I was about to grab it when 1 lady just started a dance routine with another lady- weird, not like let's go but just started it right there. I watched for a few minutes and then decided to join in, it was ot a warm up, but a pretty complicated dance step. Then a short warm up and the class started...ha ha and then the music started cutting out. I sighed to myself and got my ipod and started to walk over to the ovalo. The teacher yelled over to me- "manana!"........yeah right.

So we will go back to eating dinner between 5 & 6, then heading for the ovalo around 7pm. If they are doing the Zumba I can drop into it, otherwise I'll just go with walking. (anyway just wanted to finish the Zumba story)

My daughter's birthday was over the weekend, she turned 20. My god my baby is an adult. I didn't know what to get her, so I bought, in her name, a share in a donkey ambulance cart in Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a tiny country in Africa, the names of the countries seem to change alot don't they? When I was in elementary school I did a report on Rhodesia. I wonder how many times and how many names that country has had, in fact I wonder if I could google it. I am the google queen! This small country is not very kind to women. And in many areas the mode of transportation is camel, bicycle or donkey cart. These carts are to help women in trouble with having their babies. I know my young daughter has aspirations to help change the world for the better. She is interested in the environment, in green solutions, she is young enough to be outraged at the politics of the United States and I am so proud of her for that. Stay mad! Try to be part of the solution! Accept nothing less than change.

Well she is also about to move out for the first time. She has been living with her dad and his new wife, but they have sold the house and are moving to a nice condo complex. I have a feeling she could go with them, but why? She has a good job making pretty good money, enough to move out with a friend to an apartment or a house, or simply rent a room somewhere; Petaluma has a lot of cool old houses that have tiny in law units behind them, or caretaker cottages. It's an exciting time for her. I hope she makes a decision about it now while she's not in school so she doesn't let herself get overwhelmed. But she is a stubborn kid, a little spoiled (altho' she doesn't think so ha ha) and has to realize that her not wanting anything to change will not prevent the process ha ha. And now she's all grown up. My baby, I can remember like yesterday rocking her to sleep at nite. My other daughter carrying her around the house like a stuffed animal....taking a bath in the kitchen sink. The two of them looking for Easter eggs in the back yard in the grass.

Yep I'm missing them right now. I miss the smell of a redwood tree. I think I said that here before I went up there, and I never did get to go to Armstrong Woods. I did see some beautiful redwoods while I was there, but I like to rub my hands on them and carry the smell around with me all day. Next year at this time one will be turning 21 and the other will be getting married. Wow! We will of course go up for that...our anniversary is also in July...Drewy's wedding month- not sure if they chose a day yet..have to ask her. Drew has only been back on the day shift for a week and I already miss our nightly chats on facebook, but I'm really happy for her to be on days. But she is still trying to get a different job and I'm still trying to send good vibes up there to help her.

Oh they have Father's Day here in Mexico too. Everardo's daughter sent him a belated happy father's day msg yesterday...he acted like it was not a big deal but I know he was happy. So I am very happy that I asked Drewy to contact Elena and ask her if she sent him a msg. (He'll never read this so it's ok for me to spill the beans). His sister called Sunday and again today so he called her back and she had wanted to wish him a happy fathers day- but he said I'm no father, I was not there when they were growing up and that's what a father is. But she told him- you are still a father. You know, we all make mistakes, bad decisions, but its who we are right here, right now.

Ok I'll close with a Mexico fun fact:
Mexico is home to a very rare rabbit called the volcano rabbit which lives near Mexican volcanoes.

I asked my husband if this place feels like Mexico. I mean, we're an hour south of the Arizona border, and there's lots of Americans living here full time, part time, weekends, and vacations. The side of town by the beach is where almost all of them live/vacation, etc., and there's lots of English speaking hotels, restaurants, and curio shops down there, I mean that's how they make their living - off of the tourists. I just read that that there are a million Americans living in Mexico. I couldn't quickly find a statistic telling how many of them are in Sonora, but I know there are alot of other states with large populations of Americans...expats they're called here. But another statistic is closer to half a million with another half million here at least 3 months out of the year. But both sources say 100,000 in Mexico City, and 10,000 in Lake Chapala (with double that during the winter "snow birds"). Ok one more interesting fact then back to me. The US has over $350 BILLION dollars in trade with Mexico; Mexico is the US' 3rd most important trading partner.

Ok back to my original question. Does Puerto Penasco feel like Mexico. His answer: Definite YES! hmm ok good. I had thought maybe it didn't, even though for me it feels like Mexico. And I guess you could stay over on the resort side and never speak Spanish, never eat Mexican food, and sadly, I think there are some people who do just that. This is mostly retirees I think, people who want to live more cheaply, want warm weather most of the year, have the beautiful beach, and basically interact only with others in/with the same mindset..and certainly is not all the retirees- I know people who speak Spanish, who are learning it, who eat at the stands, etc. But this side of town is definitely Mexico. (Oh and a new hot dog stand just opened up the other nite out on our main street just a few blocks up towards the main drag-and I really liked their hot dogs! Could be our new hot dog stand- just don't tell our good friend Conrad who also has his own stand) Spanish in the stores and Abarotes (tiny corner stores), you can buy a baggie of dog food ha ha. People out at nite, whole families, eating outside in their yards, walking in the street, music all over the place. Between 8and 9am every morning the honking of the water truck coming by wakes you up...he has the big jugs of water- I'm not sure for how much cause we take our jugs and refill them, which you can do all over the place for 6 or 8 pesos. In the afternoon you hear the pan (bread) car coming by, his rooftop speakers play a song about "pan para comer" (bread to eat) and you can walk outside to choose rolls, breads, doughnuts, cookies, fruit filled pastries, for just a few pesos. During the rest of the day different speakers on assorted trucks or cars tell you about the ice cream they're selling, or an upcoming event. Yesterday when I took Sam for a drive after buying some blank cd's for songs for my English class, I saw some Mariachis playing in someone's yard. Last nite we ate dinner on the porch about 8pm- our first dinner outside- where it was much cooler than inside-and I thought about Playa Ventura where we ate outside every meal. The table was outside on a covered patio which had the kitchen at one end and the rest of the house so it was very convenient to eat right next to the kitchen, and again it was almost always cooler out there. After dinner last nite, we went for a drive around 9pm, and so many people were out. So yes, this is Mexico. I think it's what you make it.

When we eat out, we eat at the stands. We have (currently) 2 places we love for tacos, and now a favorite hot dog stand. We also have a favorite place for carnitas, which are only sold in the morning, but now we buy them and save them all day and reheat them in a pan for dinner. Many times when we buy it, it seems a little pink for me, for pork, so frying it up a little more is a good thing. They give you all the fixings with it, salsa and shredded cabbage, and tortillas. Sometimes we add avocado. mmmm so good. Too bad churros can wait for the next meal.  I love them- with coffee, but they only sell them at nite, so no coffee for me, and I tried saving them overnite- yuck doesn't work out so well. Then they also have these stands that sell chicken, they call it chicken Sinaloa. They grill whole chickens and when you say you want one, the use this huge knife and quickly chop that sucker up! They also give you all the fixings. All these places, you can eat right there or take it home- oh and everybody has Coke and bottles of water. I read that the coke here is sweeter; that in Mexico it's sweetened with cane sugar and in in the US- well corn sugar right? I am not a soda drinker, since we've lived here maybe I've had 3 cokes, probly a few more Fantas (orange), but generally I don't finish them so I just stick to water. And there are food stands and carts and little holes in the wall everywhere, literally. Oh and I left out the hamburger place for the times we just want a burger. Star burger, and you get a double cheeseburger and a very generous helping of fries for 45 pesos...about $4US. Oh the hot dogs we had tonite...mine with only avocado and cheese, but his- wrapped in bacon, and then the works...tomatoes, jalapenos, mushrooms, onions, avocado, 24 pesos for both so about $2US. Another good food thing is the ice cream places called Michocana. The truth is, today is the first time we stopped at one even though I'd heard they were good. They have ice cream, but they also have juices, freshly made juices, lemonade (which is called limon of course), jicima, different berrys, pineapple, mango and more. These places are also over over. Oh and the guys who sell stuff at the intersections- in the morning newspapers, and there's a nice man I always see coming and going from my meetings and we chat in Spanish at the light. At the same intersection later in the day they sell fresh orange and jicama juice. I've had the orange and it's a little puply- I mean they squeeze the oranges into the plastic bottles. At other intersections they have flowers, snacky stuff. And then theres the performers at the lights. Some guys juggle flaming sticks, some do tricks with hula hoops and have painted faces; people here are very creative on finding ways to make a few pesos. Yeah- I would say this IS Mexico.

We went down to the ovalo tonite; actually in different cars cause I have Zumba at 6:30 and Everardo doesn't want to run much before 7pm. Ha ha the timing...yeah Zumba is free, and it's nice to be in the park...but man they just don't come at 6:30. Tonite I waited until 6:45 and decided to go home and get my music and come back and just walk. From now on I'll bring my music so I can do that- anyway as I was leaving- of course they showed up. So I still wait in my car to see if the big speaker is actually going to spit out music since last time I was there (last Thurs), it didn't work, so we warmed up with nothing, and then I left... But the music started to play so I hopped out of the car...and waited....and waited.....and yep..waited. They finally started the warm up about 7:10...why you might ask? I have no freakin' idea. I was sooo irritated! Then after about 5 minutes another lady shows up- and she was the instructer- I guess the other one is just the warm up and cool down person- I saw that last week as well. So this lady walks over to the music, the warm up stops and they chat, then she flips thru about 10 (YES TEN!) songs, and picks one for us to work out to. The problem (ha ha) there was she did that after every song! And truthfully- Zumba? Please! It was merely an aerobics class to Mexican music..and not even a good class. I could have totally ad libbed a better class than that. She shook her fat ass a couple of times (yeah very sexy...barf) but the rest of the routine was hardly anything. Then another one song cool down..also pathetic. Oh and at the end, when I was picking up my keys and water, the teacher asked if I was coming back tomorrow. I asked what time (privately sarcastic) and they said 6:30 and I started laughing and asked "de veras?" Is that true? They all laughed and said yes of course...and I said ah ok..and another one said 6:30 en punto (actually this entire exchange was in Spanish)..but when she said that (which is like EXACTLY at 6:30) I think I snorted. Then said ok I'll see you then. So I'll be there tomorrow at 6:30 but I'll bring my headphones and music so I can walk while I wait for them. The whole routine was about half an hour instead of the hour it's supposed to be, so even if they're on time tomorrow I'll probly walk a few laps. You know while I was steaming about it I was thinking- just because it was free doesn't mean it can be crappy, but my lovely husband pointed out I could have gone to one of the gyms or soley Zumba places and paid for it and they would still have been late! ha ha how true. On time just is not a priority in Mexico...

Of course I'm the only American in the class, which since I've only been 3 times is not for sure ha ha, and only 8-10 people are in class, less today maybe 6. The class is close to the ovalo (track) and there of course were tons of people walking, lots jogging, old and young, and a soccer game in the middle. Peewee practices along the back side of the park, so as always maybe 300 people scattered about..all Mexicans, yes this is Mexico. And little by little people are starting to know me. And by hook or crook I'm getting better in Spanish all the time. Right now I'm loving Rosetta Stone and have been putting in time every day (at least 1 hour usually more) since I downloaded it last Wed or Thur. 

As we head towards July, I hear the "season" will go thru July and Aug. This is a different season, the vacationers will be Mexicans. From Juarez, Chihuahua and other points inland, coming to the beach. They said this place fills up. They don't care about the heat, which I am hearing will be suffocating...like Playa Ventura? Yes this is Mexico.
As always....Viva!

So I found a free Zumba class, 5 nites a week, down at the ovalo where I walk and Everardo jogs. I hadn't been in about 2 weeks cause I hurt the arch of my left foot, trying to protect the heel that I had jammed...duh, instead of stopping I limped in a weird way, and hurt my foot in another spot. Like I said- duh. I went back to walk last nite and on the first go round I saw what turned out to be a zumba class going on behind the track on the back side. I heard the music first and then saw the ladies exercising/dancing so I walked over. One of them waved me in, and I rubbed my fingers together to ask if it cost money and she shook her head no, so I jumped in. But it was the cool down; they were done. It's from 6:30-7:30 and we usually don't go down there until after 7 cause it's too hot, and after 7 the sun starts to go down. So...tonite was my first nite and now I am a little dead. My feet are throbbing and I'm weak (ok read old!), but it was fun and I plan to go every nite if I can, it's more fun then walking...and maybe once I build up some wind I can walk a few laps afterwards. The steps were really simple & easy to follow, and it was a really comfortable environment; outdoors, the music blasting, and nobody dressed in skimpy too tight outfits...a couple of women maybe my age, a couple younger, and a school down the street got out while we were working out and 4 or 5 girls who must have been about 12 jumped in. They of course had audience of 12 year old boys who hooted and took pictures. Lat nite I think there were about 20 people, tonite only about 10 not counting the school girls. Like I said the moves, the steps were pretty easy to follow, and I'm sure once I get them down, and be able to breathe I can have some fun with it.

Of course maybe they have a different routine on different nites; I'll find out tomorrow nite. And I was also the only American woman, but I'm able to chit chat..or at least make tongue hanging out expressions to show I'm tired and say see you tomorrow nite. Everardo says he's seen one other English speaker (white lady) on the track but I haven't seen her. I'm good though, just makes me have to use the language. Ha ha on the other side of town there's a gym where you can pay for Zumba, $4 or $5 per class and they speak English, but I like my side of town just fine.

Karen & I had our first Spanish class with a guy who works out atthe center; the idea was for us to have a conversation and he could correct us, and also answer questions for us. The class didn't go that great, we couldn't seem to get on the same wavelength with him and I think he was pretty nervous as well, and probly wishing he had never agreed to help us. I got home and told Everardo about one of the problems we were having and he immediately answered the question ! ha ha I called Karen to tell her and we had a good laugh. We really had a few blunders that made us laugh, be embarrassed and laugh some more. Poppi has offered to help us out, and altho' at first I didn't want to have him teach us, it might not be such a bad idea after all. We decided to have Richard again tomorrow and see if it goes any better, then we can make a different decision (again!) if we need to. One REALLY cool thing is that Karen has a copy of the Rosetta Stone for Spanish! And actually I brought it home with me tonite but I am just too tired to even open it up, but she gave me the key so I can download it on my laptop! It's sooo expensive; about $500, altho I just googled it and it's on sale from $499 down to $350 I think...still just way too expensive. So she and I are talking about doing the Rosetta Stone on day a week, together, as well. I like that she is so committed to this. I also dug up a "learn Spanish" cd I may lay in the hammock and listen to, because I keep telling people I can speak much better than I can understand, that I need conversation. Well I'm getting conversation all over the place, but maybe actually sitting down and listening to a cd is also a good idea- another duh! Not sure why I didn't think of that before...ok ok I'm thinking of it now.

Everardo started working out at the center last week, and is already "upping" his time out there. I think he likes and respects Karen, which is nice cause I really like her. Her and I really connect on a really basic level. Anyway she told me today she likes him; and it's good cause he has a vehicle, that he talks to people, he gets involved. And he has a good head on his shoulders. Unfortunately for her she has a few people working out there who maybe have a little less integrity, their interest is only money or whatever they can get. Not alot of people, but a few. Poppi is also good with the animals. So he is an official part of the pet ministry. He's able to do both; work on the beach and do this, cause the beach is really Friday afternoon, Sat, & Sun, and the pet ministry is Tue, Wed, Thur, and sometimes Friday in the morning- for example this Friday the city is going out to the center to hold a free spay/neuter clinic and he's going to help out. He does get paid a little. And of course they pay for his gas to pick up dogs and take them to the vet, bring them back, etc. Oh and it's also for cats. I'm glad he wants to be a part of the center; I love that I'm part of it. We do different things, and mine is strictly volunteer, but I see him out there sometimes now, oh and I think he's also going to work for the other part of the center, helping Mark (Karen's husband), going down to pay bills or pick up things for the garden projects, to help Mark to be able to stay focused and Everardo do the running around.

I heard a statistic a couple of days ago that 200 puppies are born every day here in Puerto Penasco. 200! And even if half don't make it, that's still 100 puppies every single day. The city is trying, the center is really trying. I mean Everardo and a few other guys have these business cards; they hand them to people who can take their pet to the vet's office and get them spayed or neutered for free. Then the vet gives the card to the center, and they pay him for the work. The city does at least one free clinic a month. They're trying, we're trying, but it's an epidemic. In all of Mexico. The culture has to change the way they look at this. So here are some facts about the dog problems in Mexico that I googled.

Mexican Street Dogs

There are thousands of stray dogs living in the streets and on the beaches of Mexico. Though there are no hard and fast stats for how many dogs are eking out an existence in Mexico, Mexico City authorities report that they capture and kill an estimated 20,000 dogs per month in their city alone. In Manzanillo, a city in Colima, there are more than 16,000 dogs and cats living on the streets. With little food and sustenance, searing heat and very little shelter, these dogs have few friends and a lot of enemies. Because they lack basic care, they succumb to diseases and serious problems such as claws growing into their feet and coats matting, which pulls on the skin and creates a safe haven for insect larvae. They are infested with fleas and ticks, and many suffer from mange. But starvation, dehydration, sickness and exposure are not their biggest challenges; tragically, their biggest challenges are apathy and ignorance.

Mexican Attitudes

There are many stories all over the Internet of street dogs in Mexico being tortured by kids, killed for sport and tossed overboard when they sneak onto a fisherman's boat to look for scraps. Anti-cruelty laws, if they exist at all, are ambiguous. Authorities don't prosecute offenders. On top of that, spaying and neutering is not widely accepted. The machismo attitude of the men in Mexico prevails. They don't believe in neutering because they believe that by doing so will "make them gay," as reported by Smithsonian Magazine and explored more fully in a documentary about Mexican street dogs called "Companions to None." But not all Mexicans are of the opinion that dogs are pests; in some families they are beloved pets, just like in America. In these families, dogs are walked on leashes and lovingly cared for.


There is hope. There are several rescue and spay/neuter programs in place around Mexico. I know that the center here will send dogs to a no kill shelter nearby and then those are transported up to Arizona to another no kill shelter. So we'll just keep plugging away...or as Nemo says..."just keep swimmin'...or wait that was Dorri.....

Thank God it's windy today! It's about 10:30am and the wind is blowing pretty good. Yesterday there was not even a hint of wind and it was soooo hot. Press you down into the ground hot. I had no classes yesterday, and after running around all morning- new windshield for my car (small cracks that will get me a ticket going to the airport in Phoenix), an hour and a half in the immigration office, an AA meeting, and another half hour on the phone with Kaiser (changing my plan) I was home and free for early afternoon. Of course we do have to go back to immigration...hmmm that's 4 times, so again in 3 weeks, and I should get my renewed visa. So a couple of different answers on what comes next. The first lady had said, next year I can apply for citizenship because I'm married to a Mexican National, but the woman yesterday said, oh you have to go down to Hermosillo and start the process there and she didn't know how many years (years?) it took. But she said next year I can apply for permanent residence, which is quicker than if I was not married to Everardo. And I may be able to get Seguro Popular now, or might have to wait for permanent residency....that's something to think about because I'm trying (again) to decide what to do about my U.S. insurance. I did just change to a new plan that's only $281 a month- but I still only go to the doctor once a year...and then as I found out last month, I get billed for going. Such a f**king ripoff! They have doctors here...why not be insured here?

Oh! Now the wind is really blowing, ah nice cool air, I'm liking this...sounds like a "read in the hammock" day. Yesterday when it was so hot early in the afternoon, I went out to my hammock, but it's only in the shade later, by around 3pm.....but but but...the clothes lines are also where the hammock is, so I got creative and clothes pinned towels across 2 clotheslines and made myself some shade! ha ha!! Funny right now the area is in shade, so before about 12:30 and after 3pm it's in shade...
Yesterday I took Sam to the park around 3pm for an hour and he spent most of it rolling in the grass, in the shade of course. I brought my book and found my own shade...then right before we left Everardo called and said to meet him at home and we'd go swimming out at Las Conchas. We previously found a good spot out there, so we headed out. It was low tide but this spot has a break in the rock to wade out. So we floated around and Sam swam and swam and swam, then Everardo had to hold him still so he could float cause he just wouldn't go back to shore without us! We walked out far enough where I was basically on my toes on top of some rocks. The rocks are not sharp; it's this volcanic rock, so from the beach you sort of are walking on this huge shelf. When the tide is out, and we come back in, it's really cool to walk on this shelf, cause it's full of shells and sometimes when you move smaller rocks crabs scurry away. There's places where little pools are left, and it's just so fun to explore. I have become the shell collector. I always think I have enough, but then there's another beautiful one, or interesting one, or perfectly formed one.....you get the picture...

Poor Sam, he still hasn't figured out not to drink the salt water when he's swimming. When he gets out he usually throws up after a little while. Yesterday I noticed he's been eating the berries, swallowing them whole, from the tree in our yard. The problem is I don't think they're berries, more like some little pod...it the tree that's a jasmine tree...the tiny flowers and the scent left a few weeks back, but these little balls are left. Ok this part is kinda gross, but did you ever see a cow lift up his tail and the stuff shoot out- like a projectile? (and it's funny, their tail is always crooked), anyway Sam has that as well. Not the minute he gets out of the water, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, so we know not to go from the water straight to the car ha ha. So he goes both ends, no waiting! But he feels fine. On the way home he is always so happy, head hanging out the car window or in the back of the truck with his face over the side breathing in every smell. The wind blows his lips back and he always looks like he's smiling- well I think he is smiling! He gets home, drinks about 2 gallons of water, gulps down his dinner, and then looks at us expectantly ...ok what's next? I love that silly dog!

Ok fun fact about the Sea of Cortez: The sperm whale is one of the species here:

The Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California, is a unique corner of the Pacific Ocean. This remarkable young sea is thought to be around five million years old and home to nearly 900 species of fish and the widest variety of whales and dolphins found anywhere on Earth. Some of the greatest changes threatening the world's oceans today can be seen in this stretch of water.

The sperm whale is the world's largest predator and dives deeper than any other mammal - up to depths of over 2,000m. Its call reaches 220 decibels, the loudest made by any creature on Earth, so one of the best methods that scientists use to find these whales is by using underwater directional microphones.

With the largest brain in the animal kingdom, this creature is steeped in mystery. 

Relatively little is known about sperm whales compared to some other whales, so the scientific research into their health and how they contract diseases is crucial to their conservation.

Members of the public should not attempt to snorkel with sperm whales. To be able to film the sequence for Oceans, the team required a scientist present and permission from the government. ok- viva!

 

1 year today! We have been in Mexico for one year today! I can't believe it. In some ways it has passed by in about 10 minutes, in other ways, it was soooo slow. I would have to say slow for the first six months, down in Guerrero (near Acapulco),  and whizzed by at the speed of light for the second six (up north here in Sonora). Maybe month one went by kinda fast...moving in, getting our bearings (oh really- did I ever get my bearing down there??) And of course, at first having endless hours to lay in the hammock and read, to walk the beach any time day or nite and it was warm and inviting....yeah that passed by nicely. But wait again- the first month- try the end of the first week, we had the tail end of a hurricane and it rained in our bedroom. It went on to rain in the living room, and later, as the water soaked thru the roof and the ceiling, it rained in the kitchen. Well the kitchen was more of a steady leak....mostly running down the walls and just a little dripping onto your head. Of course at first all of our dishes, glasses and coffee cups were on a shelf attached to the wall, so yep- they got wet, too.

The lightning scared poor Sam even more than me, and he was shaking at the end of our bed those nites, and I jumped every time it hit. And it hit, not just the "flash of lightning and the crack of thunder" the lightning was hitting the ground near us, and in the water right off the beach- it was scary. And oh my God- the street in front of our house! It didn't get paved in front of our house until way after the rainy season, and the mud was a thick sloggy river down our driveway and onto the patio yuck yuck. After the first day of the rain (we'd been there about 3 days I think) the mud started to pour in, and poor Everardo was up on the road trying to dig a ditch to divert the mud flow past us and into the ditch on the other side of the road. The first morning he was out there in the pouring rain for about 4 hours straight! Yeah- welcome to paradise! And he was fighting a losing battle. He did it the next day and the next. After that he tried making a little ditch off our driveway still in our yard but off to the side, some mud/water went that way and then the rest in the gutter that ran across the front of the patio, so that worked out pretty good. Oh and when it's raining there...it's still just as hot- you're just wet. So we walked down the road in the mud in shorts and tank tops.

The beach at that time was new to us, and when the tide was coming almost up to the rocks at the back of the beach- meaning up off the beach to the houses, it was kinda scary; we'd wait until a couple of waves came way in, then run across in front of the rocks- but then our friends there said- "NO" don't do that, you never know when a rouge wave would come up and drag us out. Since I had already experienced being smacked against the rocks and starting to be dragged out the year before, I had a pretty healthy fear and was happy to use the road instead for awhile. And it rained off and on June, July, August, a little less in Sept, Oct & Nov...yeah the entire six months...but nothing like in June and July- those months were heavy rains. One side wall on our house, part of the new construction we had done was a place the rain always pounded, it seems like the wind was always going in the same direction- anyway this place, well inside it was the living room wall almost at the corner where the tv sat, and we had pictures on the wall, it started to stain, get darker with the water starting to soak thru.

It's unfortunate, but in Mexico, if you have any construction done- you have to be there. You, not someone you appoint to take care of it unless you know them really well, that you trust is because of previous experience and knowledge, not cause you met them and "instinctively" like them. Our roof leaked, our walls were soaking thru. That should have never happened. We had been given a price which we agreed to. Then of course there were other little costs and we agreeable sent more money. To say I was PISSED OFF when that stuff started happening was an understatement! Oh and the windows! Ok first thing you need to know. When you build a house, or an addition like we did, and it has doors and windows, well the doors came with it, but not the glass in the windows. They cut the holes in the wall, but oh- you want glass in the holes? Oh that's extra! WHAT?? But of course we paid. But what they did not do, was put any kind of sealant around the windows (well or the roof either obviously), and when the second hurricane tail hit, the winds came blasting in from the ocean and I got up in the middle of the night, woken up by some noise that didn't "fit", and walked into the living room with about 3 inches high of water in it. Now all these leaks, ceilings and windows happened in our first 2 weeks so we still had stuff all over the place. In the case of the bedroom it was a good thing cause nothing was ruined. In the case of the living room it sucked cause there were boxes, but luckily mostly plastic tubs with stuff all over the place. Yeah as it turns out there was about an inch of space under the windows....

Hmmm ok so maybe the first month didn't fly by. The truth is, it was a long six months. I think after I finish this I'm going to go back and see what I wrote. I know it wasn't all bad. Ha ha covered in bug bites, and by bites I mean welts the entire time, intermittent tv, internet, lights, then atms machines with no money, stores with no milk...ha ha ha ha. But I did see so many beautiful places and met so many wonderful people. I experienced so many celebrations, the celebration of each town's saint, a funeral procession, a quinsineirra (spelling), the rodeo, watching the guys come back from fishing with baskets of lobster and huge fish, my dog Sam catching a fish! The old lady taking her pig for a walk! Iguanas all over the place, and the big one who always sunned himself on the big rock behind our house overlooking the ocean. And the ocean...so amazing there. The water is always warm. The sand is warm and so many cool shells. The meeting of the ocean and the sky when the sun first comes up and right when it goes down. Every single night there was an awesome and I mean AWESOME sunset. Wispy clouds of different shades of blue and pink, I mean I was sure we were so much closer to the sun there. When the sun first came up and it shined across the water it took your breath away. And every morning there were these huge pelicans, sometimes just one or two in each group and sometimes as many as twenty. They would just soar, just sit on the air and lazily pass you by. Then start diving for breakfast. I would sit out on my rock for an hour in the morning and at nite, not every single day, but almost, and rain or shine cause it wasn't cold but it was always amazing. You couldn't help but get in touch with your spirituality. And for that I am grateful.

So it was very good and very bad. I ate and read and swam and laughed and cried and was sooo lonely and isolated...ha! It was exhuasting in some ways. I do not regret the experience because of the introspection, the new experiences, the harsh reality of life in a third world country. How many expectations I had and how wrong I was about almost all of it! How cool it was to find that out, to survive it all. To become....more. Wow and that was just six months ha ha!

Guerrero was tropical, very green and lush, high humidity, you were soaking wet in your clothes all the time, day or nite, 365 days a year. Except for the rain, the weather stayed the same all the time. Iguanas and tarantulas walking around, parrots walking in the road. Oh and scorpions. I saw 3 close up. One the first day in our kitchen sink, the second about a month later, in a pile of dirty clothes, luckily I saw something and dropped them, and the third the puppy from next door was barking at on our patio and the scorpion was waving his claws at him- Everardo came up and stomped on it. Sonora on the other hand is a huge desert, cactus and sand, dry, not too much green. So around town is dusty all the time. But the desert is pretty and you see little prairie dogs run across the road. The water here is different of course, it's not open ocean so no huge waves, but since April the water has been warm enough to swim in (unlike Guerrero where it always warm enough). So it's different.

Then the big move. Because I am a person and I need stimulation. I need to talk to people, to share things, thoughts and experiences. It became too lonely for me, and too remote for Everardo. There was no work for him, not diversions; he can only fish so much and I can only read so much. We needed to be involved with life and we just weren't finding it there. So we came to the place Everardo wanted to try. Ha ha home run! He is very happy here; working on the beach selling jewelry to tourists, and now he's making most of it. He also makes these spiders and scorpions and they sell as well. Now he's also working out at the center where I teach English, he goes on Wed & Thur, when there's not too many people on the beach, and he's helping with the dog ministry. Sounds funny right? Dog ministry. But in Puerto Penasco, in Sonora, in all of Mexico, there is a HUGE problem with the dog population, people just don't get their dogs fixed (spayed or neutered). And some huge percentage of them are sick, spreading sexually transmitted diseases, dying from parvo or distemper, not getting vaccinated. Well the center will vaccinate the dogs, and they have fix them, too once or twice a month, but to go s step further, they will pay for someone's dog to get fixed. So Everardo is helping to transport dogs to the vet or to the no kill shelter, where they get the dogs and healthy and send them to a no kill shelter in Arizona. Is it like spitting in the ocean? YES. But it's still better than nothing. So my hubby is a happy guy. He has some friends here, he loves his work, he's helping out a good cause, and now we're exercising again, too. He's running for an hour and then doing a weights workout, I'm just walking at this point.

I'm getting better at teaching; finding materials to do vocabulary and then a conversation. And for Spanish classes, we we're being forced to be creative. We just lost Laurie for the summer. We had her for one day, then the next week she was sick, then had her for a week and that was last week. Yesterday (Tuesday) she told us, oh I have to go to Arizona, then my grandkids are coming, so...well for sure by September. SEPTEMBER??? Did she not know any of this when she agreed to start a class with us? Well and the class left something to be desire for me. She was aiming at Sean, the new kid working out at the center, and he's a beginner. After the first class I asked her if she could make the class work for beginners and intermediate and she said yes, but that has not been my experience in these short few classes. I was wiling to stick with it and see how it went for a while longer, but then she told us she was leaving. As it turns out, Karen feels the same way as me. So we have a new plan. (You know what? I really really like when things go wrong and we just decide to figure out a new plan) So the new plan is: tomorrow we are both bringing the books we liked the best from prior classes- and they both happen to be books from Isabel.....great teacher, but too expensive and really inconsistent about showing up...so we have similar work books and we're gonna choose lessons and the things we both want to work on, like she wants to do possessive pronouns and I'm happy to review that. And we'll make a scenario to have a conversation around- like we're 2 sisters home from college and our parents put all our stuff together in the garage and we have to go thru it, talk about it, trade it, insist it mine or hers...stuff like that. And we got a guy who volunteers out there who is a Mexican guy that lived in the States for 30 years and he'll correct us, teach us, lead us, and keep us in conversation because we both believe that conversation is what we need- we need to apply the lessons. We're gonna pay him 50 pesos a class, and we're going to use the time we had carved out for Laurie, 3:30-5pm Tue & Thur. We "UN-invited" Mark and Sean who are at least a level below us and we want to be challenged. She understands better and I speak better. So we can challenge each other.
The other thing we're going to do is take another afternoon, an hour or hour and a half, and use the Rosetta Stone program. She bought it a couple of years ago and is willing to share it with me. So I think we have a strong plan....but of course I thought Isabel was a strong plan, and I thought Laurie was a strong plan...oh but maybe third time's a charm, right?

I should say a tiny bit about the weather here. It's pretty hot every day but it's also windy every day and that really helps! I hear it's windy longer this year, that usually it's gone by now, but I'm happy it's here. Although I did hear that the wind is not good for the fishing vessels, that many of them can't go out when it's too windy....ok so I'll just hope for light winds....It was really cold the second half of December, January, and most of February...started warming up in March..and it warms up quick. In March I started wearing shorts. I know it's going to get hotter and hotter, peaking I think August/September. But I'll have to look up the rainy season. Cause google says it rains less than 2 inches a year here, but in December and January it rained way more than that- oh and it was cold like actual winter when it was raining- no shorts in the rain here ha ha. So if the rainy season is in the summer..but I don't know because in Guerrero we were really far south...ok info for my next post.

So we are happy for now, here in the armpit of Mexico. We are pursuing things we want for ourselves and each other, and also trying to contribute to our community in a positive way. So, as always...Viva!