ouch back to zumba and drinking sand

Yesterday was my first day back to Zumba. It was pretty painful but I huffed and puffed my way thru it. My hair was soaking wet, and it was really cold outside so that sucked. The cement was hard as.....well cement and my feet ached last nite. I think my body atrophied, I mean I can't reach or stretch...or basically move much more than from bed to couch to car to leaning on the shopping cart to car, well you get it. I mean I take the dogs to the beach but it's easy for me not to walk much and let them run around.

So today I took Sam & Hazel down to the new place and measured the bedroom and I think that carpet is going to fit perfect, so I have my fingers crossed (ok not literally) that it didn't seel yesterday afternoon or today and we'll go back tomorrow and try to get it. Well Sam was really bugging me to go down to the beach, and I had lots of doggy guilt cause yesterday we were gone almost all day and they only got the walk around the neighborhood walk, and I didn't really have anything else I had to do, so we walked down to the beach. I brought a plastic chair I saw outside and my book and stopped just after the end of the path. Hazel ran around like the crazy puppy she is. Jumping straight up, digging holes, running in circles...but Sam stayed by me. Sill dog- he won't walk down to the water unless I go as well. I hope to teach him that he doesn't need me to go down to the water's edge and have some fun. I sat there reading for almost half an hour, and it was so cool. A couple walked by down by the water, and of course Hazel the welcoming committee ran down to them and then sprinted back up, but Sam stayed close. They waved and I realized I was that person I envied when I walked on the beach, that person sitting under a floppy hat (which I was wearing by the way), reading and watching my dogs play, watching the waves, no hurry, not long hike back to the car or the house. I felt very cool for a minute there ha ha! Anyway I'm hoping f I keep sitting there that Sam will start to see he can venture down on his own. I did give and walk down to the water before we left, and he ran around and got all wet, so then we stayed at the house for another half hour so they could dry off a little. It's only about a 5 min drive from the new place back to the current place. Hazel was digging holes in the sand and knocked over my water bottle a couple of times but it was closed so no big deal.

Ok skip ahead to day 2 of zumba. Almost harder than yesterday, except I did not try to keep up as hard as I tried yesterday. But the warm up song was long and I was really breathing hard by the end and I reached for my water bottle, unscrewed the cap and gulped....sand! Not a mouthful but enough to have crunchy-ness in my mouth and in my teeth. I silently cursed Hazel and jumped into the next song. And it was cold again but tonite I had on a pull over sweatshirt with a hood so I wasn't as cold. In a couple of weeks I should build up some wind, and maybe get some movement back, then I can push harder and really dance thru the class, then I should stay warm....but for now....ow! Tonite there was only about 6 women, and really 2 of them had to be under 16. The rest were 20-30 and of course there were sevearal toddlers (maybe age 2), and a couple of dogs running around during the class. But I learned about that and got used to it in Penasco so it's really easy to just ignore. But I remember in Penasco when I joined the class and these kiddies would run up to their moms or try to dance it would bug me, but slowly I got over it. I do still think though, that Mexico could really benefit from birth control. These gilrs are so young having kids- babies having babies. I'm so glad my Drewy waited, she's 28, and as for my younger daughter as far as I know there's no kids in her near future plans. Kids have to grow up so fast here; you always see the older kids taking care of the younger ones, and everybody has at least 4 kids..ok maybe that's not true, but it's at least my experience. I have a feeling that maybe those who are better off, (richer- the upper class) have fewer kids, but that's just a guess. But I like the class so far, I like the steps and as always after exercising I always always feel good...feel up- those endorphins kicking in.

It's still dark at 6pm, so coming home from zumba is a short drive, but both nites I had cars coming at me with their brights on- I hate that! But here, lots of people may only have the brights, or they have only one headlight, and one tail light, and maybe or maybe not, brake lights. There's no laws about smog and so some cars smoke like a chimney, some are super loud, and the way people drive is nuts! I think in Ensenada, in the city, people drive better. They obey the stop signs and kinda obey the lights, it's like if you were waiting but it changes to red as you're getting there- well you still get to go (ha ha). So you have to be really careful, but out here, people just go, they come into the road from a side street without even looking...it's tough to drive here. The one thing I do really like is how the stoplights work (semaforo) Before a green light changes to yellow, it starts blinking- it blinks 3 times then hits yellow, then red. So you know yellow is coming- I like it. In Penasco people obeyed the lights but ran all the stop signs. In Ensenada the stop signs are obeyed, but people are not much on blinkers. The middle lane is the safest on the main road we drive on, and on other roads, when there's only 2 lanes people make extra lanes and go around you so you always gotta be watching.

Ok about this house. Couple of things. First, apparently Irka came by yesterday when we were not here planning to show the house to potential renters. I don't like that, don't just come into our home when we aren't here, please give us advance notice- and ASK us! A neighbor told us she came by, but she didn't call or anything- so this morning I received an email from her telling me she brought people by but our dogs were out so they were unable to view the house. Then she did ask what time Friday afternoon would work for us so she could show it and would we please restrain our dogs or take them for a walk. I was pissed so I didn't reply for a few hours. In the end I merely replied with "Ah good to know our dogs are doing their job! Friday at 2 will be fine." She's just such a bitch. But I don't want to spend too much time talking about her because she's a bitch and will always be a bitch and we will just avoid her in the future. So the next thing is- Felipe Sr is back. According to all the talk he is one of the thieves. He was also a problem when we first got here by parking his truck in front of the gate and telling is we had to pay him to use his road. Everardo came inside and cooled off, then when the guy approached him again he just talked to him and then they guy said ok well since you paid my sister. Yeah a family of crooks. I think he may be hiding from the cops or the feds because he's parking his truck by our gate but living down by the entrance to the beach where his evil devil sister lives. If we weren't moving this would be upsetting news. And when he chatted Everardo up yesterday, Everardo did not tell him we were leaving, so he will think he has lots of time to rip us off.

Then a couple of hours ago, right before I left for zumba some other ruckus started down by the devil woman's and cops showed up and arrested somebody. It was not related to the return of Felipe Sr, Everardo found out while I was gone that it was something about a land/house feud; a woman who boyfriend (I think) died and he owned the house, she went to court to get the property and lost...but how Laura thought it is now hers is a story I don't know. So there were a  bunch of people and some cops, when Everardo was watching Laura (the devil) was screaming at someone and got in the face of a guy in a truck and he threw a punch at her, and the cops did nothing. They are all crazy! Did I say yippee we're leaving? Anyway I guess the guy who lives in the house by the entrance to the camp got arrested- I have no idea why he was involved, I assume to be on the lady's side because he hates the devil and her family. Last year he got into an argument with Felipe Sr and Felipe jr snuck up behind him and hit him with a shovel! And they all got arrested and the victim was forced to apologize in order to be released. Did I say they are all crazy.

Now Everardo is thinking about asking the new place if we can move in a few days early. Yippee again- that's what I want! Maybe we could move in this weekend, which would be 5 days early if we move in on Sunday....but we still have to get the dish and phone/internet moved over, but we're planning to call them on Friday. We need some paint, purple and red I think to start, but I think we're ready. Oh boy, new adventure.

Viva!

It's different than deep in Mexico here....

Baja, or at least this close to the border is different than further into Mexico. I guess all the border towns are probably like this. Penasco is even more different. I think Arizona believes that Penasco is a part of Arizona. For example, last August when we were still there, I went to an AA convention..and it was so wierd, it was not publicized in Penasco...oh and they all call it Rocky Point. So Puerto Penasco has 2 names. The convention was all people from Arizona, they all knew each other- it was kinda like a vacation conference. Never been to an AA conference like that! And none of them ever left the hotel (ok maybe 99%- somebody must have explored), but the people I chatted with said why leave? We have the beach, the pools, a store in the hotel...they had everything...so why leave? I was dumbfounded! Well maybe because your in Mexico??? Another country...ok so back to Baja...

We have been hitting the segundas because the mobile home we're moving into has no furniture, no curtains, no nuthin'. At first it was a a bit of a surprise with how much they wanted for used furniture- couches, loveseats, standing lamps, clothes dressers, etc. We looked and looked and ended up doing ok, but still seemed a little expensive. Ok well then we went to Home Dept in Ensenada. Big shock! I actually saw a standing lamp, very simple, for $1700+ pesos. That's about $136!! They had thin wood chest of drawers, no handles, 3 drawers for more than 2000 pesos. ($160)...Other things the same (in fact as I write this I think that price for the lamp had to be wrong...) The point is the prices for everything is very high- higher than the states. The same for Wallmart & Costco. So no wonder the prices at the segundas are high.

There are so many Americans and Canadians down here- at least this far, not sure about further south since we have only been on one little day trip south- but they will pay anything and they shop in Home Depot and Costco. One terrible thing is here, in Punta Banda, it's basically an expat town (all English speakers), and they have alot of little businesses here, cafe's restaurants, gift shops, thrift stores (our version of segundas) and the stuff if REALLY expensive. The food is insane...we don't go out to eat here unless its the taco stands..There's this local email newsletter here and today I read a woman selling hard back books for $10US each! I mean they sell stuff that I wouldn't pay that much for it in the states. The Mexicans, well when they see me coming, everything is twice as much. I have to spot things and then send Everardo in.

Back in 1994 I went to Africa for 2 weeks. It was a cool gift from my mom- the tickets- for graduating college. She had gone to Kenya and really wanted me to have the experience. I went to Mombique, and then got to go to South Africa to the Kruger, which is a huge wild animal sanctuary. The "safari" which I think is called a picture safari, is different then Kenya where at the time my mom went, the jeeps drove wherever they wanted looking for and/or chasing animals. In the Kruger you had to stay on the road; if you saw wild life, lucky you, if not, unlucky you. We saw everything! The second day I saw a lion that had just killed an antelope. It was an awesome awesome trip. My ex husband's brother in law was in Mozambique building roads for the government, in a country that just finished a 10 year civil war. We did not go out at night, you couldn't just hike or walk anywhere because there were still landmines all over the place. But we did visit the towns, and there were these beautiful people selling all kinds of things. Same problem! I had to point out what I wanted to Aisa and then he would go negotiate. I still have the carved box- I chose one for me and one for Drewy and some other things. It was also the first time I saw a little kid shimmy up a tree and cut off a coconut, slide down, whack it open and give me the water. It was a beautiful heartbreaking trip. The poverty, the broken children...the kind of eye opening trip I need, I think that everybody needs...everybody meaning people from the states, where we are so spoiled, we take so much for granted...ok I digress... the point of this story was that in a foreign country, I have to have someone else shop for me or i will pay for everybody's kids college education ha ha!

So it's an interesting mix between Mexicans and foreigners here. Unfortunately sometimes it's who can screw who the most. I can see from the Mexican side, from people who have next to nothing, people who are so poor. The wages for working in the fields all day..12-14 hours at least is 150 pesos a day (about $12US) and they work 6 days a week. A lot of jobs around here pay that way. There is almost no middle class, probly NO middle class for Mexicans, here, nice houses and shacks with no plumbing. Ok that's everywhere in Mexico, but not so many expats in many places, to be able to charge more for things.
There's alot of nice houses out here since it's a vacation/retirement area for expats, and things are expensive here. We tend to shop for small things in Maneadero which is a Mexican town about 10 minutes inland going towards Ensenada. We go there for the doctor, and Hazel needs shots so we'll go find a vet over there, too. Rents are cheaper there as well, but you can't beat what we got and right at the beach. Playa Ventura had no expats except me, so everything was affordable. Just a little too remote for me. Anyway it's interesting. Oh- and today I started a new zumba class- and I am the only English speaker. What's really funny is the location- it's the patio behind the very first house we looked at here- but it was on this guy's property and they were a little too close. Ha ha really glad we're not there now! But the class was fun- ok totally painful because I haven't done any exercise for more than 3 months..so I died thru it, but- it's only 10 pesos (less than a buck) per class, 5 days a week. The other class I tried, was a Mexican teacher, but Americans in the class, and $3US per class! And it was not really zumba. So this class was fun and if I can walk I'll go back tomorrow. I really loved zumba 5 days a week in Penasco so I hope that's what happens here.


This morning we went into Ensenada to go to Telnor to get our bill explained, and to find a dresser, actually to go back and buy one we saw for 500 pesos, but when we got there, it was no longer on top of something else and I realized how small it was (ha ha). Anyway Everardo is still getting over the cold I had for 2 weeks and in my opinion he's pushing it and that's why he keeps on feeling shitty. This morning he didn't feel great but still wanted to go. When we first got here we went to McDonald's a couple of times because we hadn't had it in a year and a half, but we mostly come on Saturday mornings for the noon AA meeting and we found the best enchiladas....... in the world... right around the corner so we usually go there, or Everardo gets carnitas, which I only like at night. Anyway we decided that because the phone company was near the McDonalds we'd go there for breakfast (which is the only meal we like there). We walk in a little after 11am and no breakfast! I ask him if he wants to go somewhere else and he says no. So I order a big mac and fries, no drink, and he asks for my drink as oj. They have a fast conversation (too fast for me) and then I go to the bathroom and when I get back to the table there's my food and nothing for him. He said he didn't want a hamburger. AAARRRGGHHH I thought I offered to go somewhere else??? I did not want a burger either, but he said this was fine and I thought- (there's my problem-thinking) that since he didn't feel good I didn't want to make him go somewhere else. Like I said aarrgghh. I know it's on me, but sometimes it's just so frustrating to not know what just transpired.

After that we went to Telnor to understand why our bill is higher every time...and found out it's really expensive to call a cell phone long distance but free to call a landline. While Everardo's brother was sick he called the cell, and when he got home after the funeral he did the same thing. Ooops. Yeah it's funny about the telephone system here. Telnor is Telmex and I don't know why Telmex has a different name in Baja, but everything else is the same. But the overall system must be antiquated because there are all these differnent ways you have to dial. Cell to cell, local or long distance is all 7 numbers (like area code and the number). Landline to landline local is just 7 numbers, and long distance is area code and number. Landline to local cell is 044 then all 10 numbers, and landline to long distance cell is 045 and all 10 numbers. Ha ha I don't know what long distance cell to landline is! How do you know if you are calling a cell or a landline? Why isn't it transparent to the phone company?

Ok after that fun, it was off to the segundas, the secret segundas we has been looking for since we got here. Well today we found them; it's a couple of square blocks with alley ways and they sell all kinds of stuff, like the other segundas on Reforma going south out of town on the way to where we live. We did find a carpet that might work for our bedroom. The floor in there is a mess, tiles and then just wood, really bad, and if we could put one huge carpet that would be great. We're going to measure the room tomorrow- and I think the carpet was 9 feet long, not sure about the width, but she was only asking us 300 pesos ($24US). We also bought a brand new standing lamp with a really pretty glass top for 200 pesos. Her place was very reasonably priced, oh and she gave me a cute snowman I was lovin'. Of course Everardo asked the price of the lamp before I walked in.....we also finally found a nice chest of drawers for 450 pesos, but someone painted it black so we're gonna have to repaint- either purple or bright red I think. This mobile home is small and kinda banged up, so I want to make it cozy, make it cute, make it us, and I think we're doing that. I already love the living room more than any of the 3 places we've lived in Mexico. Smallest, but coziest.

Sam and Hazel approve. The beach is so close and lots of room to nose around. I let them explore and they always came running back. Well Sam I never worry about, but that little crazy Hazel....we move in 10 days from now, and are taking small loads every couple of days. Yeah today we also bought one of those wood rods for hanging your clothes, and one of those shelves you put in the bathroom- they go behind the toilet and have a couple of shelves above...need it for towels, not a ton of room in the bathrooms, they do have sinks with cabinets but I don't want to put towels in there. We have a wood shelf Everardo built for towels but I it's too big for either bathroom. We also have a tall standing shelf, and a long 2 shelf for pictures and decorations, and Everardo sanded them all so we can paint them. Purple I think for the shelves.

So it was a successful day and I think we have all the basics to move in. We have walked all over Ensenada and I'm so happy now we never found a place to rent there. Our puppy dogs will be so much happier here.

OK well that's all for now. Viva!

Shoppin & eating....

Yesterday we went into Ensenada to go to the fabric place I found last Saturday. I knew just what material I wanted for the mobile home curtains and ended up choosing the same pattern different colors for the bedrooms. It's fuuny how they do it. The guy measures and just cuts right across. Before we came, I took my little cheat sheet and converted inches into centimeters, even though Everardo said oh no problem, they'll have both....yeah...not. So I gave the guy the measurements and he said he had to make each as 2 sides because of the width of the roll. Well good cause that's what I wanted. After that it went down hill. I could tell at times it was too much, but others not so much... I kept trying to ask question as Everardo and they guy had a running conversation. I still don't know if the set for the sliding glass door will be wide enough, or even long enough because we haven't tried to put them up yet. So he marked on a post it after each set of cuts and then gave us an armload of material and the post it, which we had to bring to the front to pay. Then we stopped at the roads and had another almost argument when I agreed that 6 out of 7 were fine, but (again the sliding glass door) the rods weren't long enough. Everardo kept saying how "they stretch way out" and I kept trying to make him read the label that showed the narrow-est and widest length. He kept saying I didn't understand and so finally I just shut down. Ok fine. If I had been so frustrated I would have said we need the round ones- not the rectangle ones we have to fit the material over. We got to the car and then he notices....are you ok? NO NO I AM NOT OK. I said this is when I HATE not being fluent! I have to stand by and watch things happen. Then I mentioned the rods and he took them back. Ha ha I knew they would not want to let us return them cause we paid with the bank card. And ha ha I was right, but the lady called a couple of other people, and they decided to just give us cash because they couldn't figure out how to reverse the bank card charge- fine with me- pls don't try something you don't know how to do.

I love those little pieces of paper they work it all out on. It's like the bakery area of the grocery store. All the baked goods are not packaged and you pick up a tray and a big pair of tongs and choose what you want. Then you take it to the counter and they put it in little paper bags and then staple a receipt to close the bag. Sometimes I choose something I want to eat while I shop (yeah terrible I know....like a doughnut) and I have to ask them to leave it out. Luckily I am learning not to worry about what other people think of me, cause as chubby me goes walking off munchin' on a doughnut I don't want any bad vibes. Anyway I usually can't follow conversations too well so I would be thinking everybody is talking about me! But if I speak first then everyone thinks I'm fluent and then they rattle off stuff way to quick for me and I'm lost but trying to go with body language...nodding my head...or shaking my head....

I do really like how people are not self conscious about their shape. I see women way way chubbier than me wearing tight tops, skinny jeans, all kinds of stuff. And maybe in the higher class (money snobby don't mix with mere mortals) skinny and rich is a must- but most of Mexico is poor. Tiny population of rich, a few more middle class and then everybody else is poor. But man I see some happy people in situations I can't believe. I have definitely had some personal growth spurts here!

So anyway after the fabric shopping fun, we drove towards home but we were on the other side of Ensenada, closer to the docks, and we saw some segundas we hadn't seen before so we stopped and walked along the block. Yippe! Found a standing lamp, a couch and a chair. We were in the car so said we'd come back for the couch and chair the next day..this was 3 different shops. Then we stopped at a roadside stand and grabbed some carnitas to eat at home...ha ha but Poppi was in it when we stopped at Walmart for the round curtain rods. So today we went back to pick up the chair and the couch. Ouch the chair was gone. I mean the segundas are everywhere- how did that one chair get chosen...guess we shoulda given a deposit. But it worked out much better. We took the couch and then went along the segundas that line Reforma going south out of town towards our place...and I spotted a set of matching chairs in excellent condition so Everardo negotiated with the guy and brought down the price a little (remember for me the price is always always more!) Then as we walked back to the truck I saw the perfect loveseat, and Everardo said no way! The place is too small for all this furniture...I reluctantly agreed since the truck was full...but on the way home changed my mind and wanted it ha ha. So we went to the new place (tiny movile home) and guess what? The lady didn't leave the key! So we unload onto a covered porch and went back to Ensenada. We had to stop at a tire place and while we were waiting we walked over to a sidewalk vendor and had shrimp tostadas OMG so good. But it gets better! I read Jaiba (pronounced High-ba) and it means crab! I just learned this word a couple of weeks ago because I thought the word for crab was congrejo (con-gray-ho). OH MY GOD some fresh crab!!!! I stuffed myself for about $4...so good.

So we got the loveseat for 150 pesos less than marked and brought it home. We got the key, and....he couldn't get the couch thru the door. And he wouldn't let me call anyone to help. Finally we took the scren off a wide window and he pushed the couch thru it. And I mean we had to destroy the screen, but in Penasco he mastered putting up screens so he'll replace it. And.....he was right, I chose too much furniture for such a small place...but tomorrow I'll look at it again and I'll make it work!

So we get home after 4pm and there's no water in the house. There wasn't any when we left this morning but we called Mike the maintenance guy and so expected it to be resolved. He wasn't there and no water. I called him and he was in Ensenada "getting a part"...he always says that! He showed up after dark and worked on it, but as soon as he left the water stopped again. Everardo has been fooling with the pumps and the pilas all evening and it looks like we have at least the water coming up from the ground- the water that comes up hot from the ground, then gets cooled off in one tank, moved to another and then pumped into the house...and we use a hot water heater to heat it up! ha ha ha ha. Well we started using water we buy from the truck (like everyone else) because the hot water is too salty). But none of this complicated system was working today. Tonite we finally took salty showers....did I mention that the mobile home has piped in water? Oh and it's free. Yeah free and a relief. We've had so many water issues the past 3 months I'm ready for ...well I don't want to say ready for something new cause what if it's worse???

So tomorrow we'll move some more stuff over...and maybe takes the doggys to see the new place...man I love Mexico!

Mexico fun fact:
Mexico hosted the Football World Cup in both 1970 and 1986.

Housekeeping, coyotes, and deeds

This morning I'm going back over to the green carpet house (the shared utility place) to look at the loveseat and ottoman; I sent Irka an email last nite and she replied at 7am this morning saying -sure come get the keys. We have already worked out the money being refunded to us but she is $300 short right now so we'll deduct it from that. I hope close up I still like it- but it was one of those the second I saw it I went- oh! Shopping for anything else is going to have to wait until at least tomorrow because Poppi is still pretty sick. When I got up this morning- not until almost 9am, he was on his computer out on the couch. He said he felt much better today. But now, at 10am, I am writing this from bed, and he is fast asleep next to me. So maybe not that much better.

So in a little while I will extricate myself carefully- although let's see, the dogs have been running around the bed and wrestling and I have the tv in and yet he sleeps ha ha. But if I were to talk, even whisper, he would wake up. One nice thing about this house is all the birds around it. Especially in this room. I hear them outside, and I mean lots of them. There's a balcony on this side of the house, too and on the railing is a large wood owl. The birds all fly around it. I can see it when I'm sitting on the couch in the next room and I'm not sure what the birds think, but they walk up to it, but hop away, they gaze at it for minutes at a time, maybe looking to the great bird for words of wisdom? ha ha. But I do love the sound of the birds and the sounds of the ocean behind them. It's not as loud as in Playa Ventura, but in the house with the windows closed I can still hear it. Now that's from upstairs so the sound comes across, I don't hear from downstairs but I do when I'm outside-sometimes, and more at nite. Maybe there less noise from other things at nite?

The new place, the mobile home is closer to the beach. At first I was disappointed because it's nowhere as large as the one my mom lived in for about 15 years (I think-maybe longer) after my dad died. Hers had a big master bedroom, a living room, dining room and family room, 2nd bathroom and good sized kitchen. This one does have 2 bedrooms and one with a full bathroom- they are next to each other instead of opposite ends of the house, a tiny kitchen, small eating area, and a living room. The size is actually ok, there's just 2 of us and our doggys. There;s a guy next door, but his place is upstairs, there's no downstairs, it's like a carport, just an upstairs with all windows. I think his name is Bob, and he told us about coyotes, and to watch the dogs. Now I think Sam would be ok, but Hazel could get snatched up in a second. Shit- she so's unafraid she'd probaly run up to them.

Coyotes? Really? Apparently yes. They're hungry and come down from the hills. I even heard that they had come down into the Rancho Packard neighborhood and grabbed dogs off the road...so they would be crossing the main road because Rancho Packard is on the coast side of the road, the neighborhood I didn't want to look at because it's a maze of dirt road on the side of a cliff that when it rains you can be housebound. And no real beach access except for a steep hike thru rocky brush- not something I want to do on a daily basis. I want to ask my friend Joanne who lives there if she's aware of the coyotes in her neighborhood, or is it just talk? Another place we looked at houses this week that I forgot to mention in my last post was an area called Lomas Del Mar. It's across the street from the coastline but it high up enough to have an amazing view of our bay, across to Ensenada and out to the ocean. We looked at a couple of houses, and were actually surprised that there were houses because we thought it was all mobile homes. Anyway for the price they weren't worth it. We'd also have to build a fence for the dogs. But worse, was the neighborhood backed up to a hillside and we looked at each other, thinking about coyotes. Hazel getting plucked out of our yard, and 2 of the 3 places she showed us were at the back of the compound, right against the hillside. Hmmm no thanx. And our no was based on the price, the small area we would fence, the size of the places, and...coyotes.

These doggys are our kids. I've had Sam since he was a chubby puppy 8 weeks old, his belly so big it dragged on the ground. Drew and Halla wanted to take him somewhere and he jumped right out the car window. I lived alone then, before I met Everardo, and Sam and I were 2 against the world. We went to the dog park, and he went everywhere with me in the car- in fact I sold my car and bought a truck, for him. I trained him and he is the smartest, most loyal loving lab in the world. When Everardo came into our lives he made his own relationship with Sam, and they do their own things together. Lucky was the first puppy we got, for Sam, so he'd have a friend, but Sam completely ignored him. And now I believe it's cause he knew Lucky was sick. Sam turned 6 this summer and has always had more interest in people than dogs ha ha. Well Hazel has changed that. Sam loves her and they stick together. So yeah these dogs are our kids and the place we choose have everything to do with what's good for them. Sam loves the beach. Yeah the green carpet house was away from the beach but has a huge yard so it stayed in the running for a while. But the mobile home- it has a fenced yard- not really big but acceptable, and is about 100 feet (walking feet not heel to toe) from a beach entrance. Sam is gonna love it! We have this friend Tim, and he has this huge dog named Iggy who takes himself to the beach there. (Tim is friends with the guy next door, which is how we found this place). I guess he comes almost every afternoon to sit and bullshit with Bob while Iggy runs the beach. Iggy is only a year old so I don't foresee and problems between him and Sam. Sam is not a fighter unless pushed into it, like I said he usually ignores other dogs.

This place is much further down the spit (the piece of land that stretches down between the estuary and the bay). It feels funny calling it a bay, because the opening is as wide as the bay itself, but I guess a bay is where the ocean naturally comes into an inlet made by the land, right? The spit goes along the "end" of the bay...Ensenada is along one side, and the mountain rode to the Bufadora is on the other side. So we will be directly across from the mouth of the bay. I've been there 3 times now, and I think the ocean is maybe just a little bit louder than here, but maybe not any louder from inside. Next to Bob on the other side is one more house, then the beach, so technically we are 3 back. I can see the ocean from the side window and the estuary out the back. Oh and there's a house next to us on the road and at least one, probly two to the beach behind it, so there is some insulation. That's ok, because the salty wind just ruins everything....rusts your silverware..grime on the windows...

I'm excited to fix up this cozy place. Yep- I'm gonna call it cozy. Just the right size for us. I found the right material for curtains and actually we need everything for furniture so it will probly be an interesting menagerie that I hope to make look like I planned it that way ha ha! We will watch for coyotes and I will try to get info from other sources as to where they are, what to watch for, etc. Several people have told me that they hear them howling at nite, not out there, but from other neighborhoods, so I'll write as I find out things. I feel like my posts are not too much about Mexico, but I guess it's my diary so I write what I'm thinking- but I will say this...

The other nite I was looking at my photos online and started with when we first came to Mexico..will be 2 years in 3 or 4 months, and now I'd like to revisit the places we went to first, like Playa Ventura. The towns, even the cities down there are different than here, different than Penasco. Much more vendors with booths on the streets, like the open air fair here, but everyday and on the streets of the towns. The meat market and fish market in Marquelia, I know they have a huge fish mart in Ensenada, but not out here. No English speakers, well and the crazy driving, I don't miss that. But way down there, below Acapulco, and in Morelia as well, I just never saw hardly any Americans or Canadians- well English speakers. Now that I have a much better grasp on the language I think I'd do much much better down there. There have been a couple of inquires about the house down there, but it seems we need a deed. Down there hardly anyone has one. The document is not a legal deed, but a paper notarized by the commisario of the town. A deed would have to go to a gov't agency above the commisario, and really it's just about money, so up to now we haven't worried about it. But I guess for example the guy showing interest now would need bank financing to but the house, and the bank needs to see a deed. So we are talking about a trip down there.

Yeah at first Everardo was talking about just him going, but I really want to go down there. When I left I didn't care if I ever went back, but my feelings softened- well and I'm only talking about a visit. And the bad feelings with what happened later with my "friend", well those people never confront each other so this time it's to my advantage. We will surely all hug and be happy to see one another, regardless of anyone's true feelings and that's fine with me ha ha. I want some things from the house, probly not much, probly just a few things we can fit in the car. We would take the car (the gas for the truck would kill us)- but I guess if I really wanted something big we could ship it. We need to pay the property tax for this year and now it appears we also need to shell out the money for the deed. We are trying to do the right things for the right reason, but also in self protection. Not too many people down there pay their property taxes, or even their electric bills, but they live there. If we are not there, someone could, move into our house and it would become theirs- except- except that if you pay the property taxes and can prove it, no one can do that to you. Now we have this guy Jay taking care of our house, he rents it out to vacationers and so it would probly never happen. But stranger things, right? Who knew I'd pay $30, 000 dollars too much for the house to people who hugged me and laughed with me and helped(?) me? So I trust no one down there. And then after my "friend" wrote to me- and I think she must have been drunk- and accused me of telling her private business and saying horrible things about my husband- which she later apologized for- well I got mad and wrote back and told her to ask jer own brothers and sisters who said all the things she was accusing me/us of. Well that messed up the wonderful (I thought) relationship I had with at least one person...another member of the family who bascially runs the town...so who knows what could happed.

But I want to go! I want to swim in the warm ocean and walk on the beach. I want to chat with my friend in Spanish and walk up the road to the other beach, drive out by the lagoon, and maybe even see the bread lady. I want to sit on my rock and talk to the universe and feel who I am since living there and then moving on. We will do the paperwork that needs to be done. Hopefully sometime soon we will sell the house. It's a great house, and it sounds like whomever is interested will probably be someone who will have it as a vacation beach house, perfect for someone from Mexico City- just a couple hours drive. That house was my dream, it was me living out my dream, and who gets to actually do that? How lucky am I? And then struggling to understand it ok to change my dream, to do something else. One thing about my living in Mexico, I have done so much introspection, and my spiritual growth! But ha ha I am still selfish and self centered, and struggle over silly things.

So we'll see. We need some work done on the car, and we would need a dog/house sitter. And we need to be really sure about whomever that is- for the dogs- like I said-our kids, and how long would we be gone. Driving long hours we can make it in 3 days- or wait that was from Penasco, so 4 days...so there's 8 days right there, and then how long to take care of paperwork? Hmm hopefully we can find out exactly what we need before we go....ha ha so I hope I'm going, too!

Well it's time for me to get out of bed, I'm not sick...but I am hungry! And I want to go see that loveseat. Poppi is still sleeping, and now the doggys, too. It's kind of gray outside, foggy maybe, but probly not too cold. If this is as cold as it gets, yipee. And in the new place, well if it's as cold inside as this place- we will use our little propane heater- it's a much smaller space so should work- and we really only need it when we're sleeping. So happy Sunday!

Mexico fun fact:
The national symbol of Mexico is the golden eagle which features prominently on the coat of arms.

Found a new home!

What a week, and the craziness continues. Now Everardo has the flu I had for 2 weeks, and I still have the cough. He's at the worst point right now I think, so hopefully he'll start to feel better tomorrow (fingers crossed). Well we made a decision that we are definitely moving Jan 31. So we looked at the house in the camp our current realtor has, and we thought it was $450, but it turns out it's only $350. But there's a casita in the back where a kid (20 something) lives and we would have to share the utilities with him. he also smokes, which I really hate....So he said when asked, that he filled his pila (water tank) every month and it was the size we don't have to refill for 2 months! Next door, and thru a waist high cyclone fence are about 5 dogs- one of them this huge dog named Molly who barked the entire time we were there. She was like a geat dane, only filled out like a boxer or some other meaty dog. So anyway- $350 means $385 because Irka has this plus 10% policy of the lease is less than a year- that's why we paid our whole 6 months in advance  here to avoid that 10%. We looked inside and it was ok, only one bathroom, but all in all a nice house, so we decided to think about it. She also showed us another place, but it was a no as soon as we got there.

So I need to back up. We decided over the weekend that we were going to move for sure. Monday I went to this meditation meeting ( I liked it and want to try to go every Monday..and it's my favorite price- free), and I mentioned we are looking for a place. This guy named David says- what are you talking about? A new place? Oh right below us is a house for $300. Ok great when can I see it? How about now? So we went to his place, which is really nice. His partner is a contractor and they bought the place in 2005 I think and basically gutted it and rebuilt. Really beautiful in a Mexican style with lots of nice pieces of art and color, He called the guy who owned the house that's for rent, and he agreed to meet me at 3pm. It was about 2 hours before, so I had a nice visit with a new friend, Joanne. She came with me to see the place, and well, it had lots of character, but sadly, no stove, no fridge. It was one big room for kirchen and living room, then a hallway with a bedroom, and the one bathroom in the hall. Even needing the stove and fridge we might have considered it, but no fence. It is one a hillside, about a block and a half up from the main road, with a gorgeous view of the estuary, but no fence is not going to work for us with our doggys. Sam, maybe, but Hazel is no way trust worthy yet, and it would be a huge hassle, so we crossed it off the list.

Oh I didn't mention that Monday about 4am, Everardo left for San Luis to renew our car registrations, and thought he might be back same day- if everything went smoothly and quickly. HA HA silly man this is Mexico. It took him 5 hours to get up there and then stand in a line of about 100 people. To find out that he had to go to Puerto Penasco because he didn't have a San Luis address, so he couldn't process it there. Now this makes no sense to me, because not all towns have a gov't office in which to renew car registration, but that's what they told him. So 2 or 3 more hours driving to get to Penasco to stand in another line where his number was something like 62. Well as I have seen in many Mexican gov't offices where you're waiting, there's boredom waiting, there's confusion and angry words over who's next, there's those who come in filled with their own self importance and want to be next....only 2 windows open for a room full of people...well sometimes, just once in a while really, things work out- Everardo was standing around, and it was after 5pm and they weren't letting anyone else in, there was much discussion, and a woman behind the counter waved Everardo over and took care of him...and they were only on about 27 or something ha ha. Anyway he did not make it home until Tuesday, so I saw the hillside house on my own. The cool thing was though, that the guy told me to hang onto the keys until I could show it to my husband! He had never met me, but he said -you know David so I know you! He was so nice it was kinda hard to say no thanx after Everardo and I looked at it together, but he was fine and I gave David the keys last nite.

Ok- so after that, I saw a post in the local newsletter about 2 bungalows for rent very cheap. I called and we said we'd see them the next day. Oh and that $400 trailer we were gonna see last Sunday?? ha ha ha ha It was not a trailer, it was an rv, sitting in a dirt drive...$400? You know the Americans are the worst for overcharging! For everything- houses, food, even used items ha ha what a joke. The next morning we went looking for the 2 bungalows. She said at the beginning of camp 9, too bad she didn't say across the street! So we followed this dirt road around and up and up...ha ha another adventure! We could finally see that we had come the wrong way as we hit camp 9. So we tried to follow a different road going out- it looked like we could follow it and come out at the Bufadora. Ha ha wrong, we were in the car not the truck and the road started to have huge ruts in it and we were crawling and bumping around...until we came to a fence! We had to turn around on a narrow road on a cliff! Scraping the sides of the car on these sharp bushes...kinda scary, but the laughing kind- we would have only fallen down the mountain onto more mountain, we were not on the cliffs above the ocean at this point. We got back to the main road, and then spotted the 2 small houses across the road. We called the number, but the woman had told us she would be in Ensenada and have her son be down there, so there was no answer and he was not around. However we noticed the barbed wire fence had a huge gap so we walked thru it and over to look at the houses. You know, the word bungalow conjurers up a picture in your mind, a comfy little place, maybe made of wood, maybe a fireplace. But these were two really small concrete block houses, one so skinny I couldn't understand how it must have been laid out. So it was a NO. But wow the view! They sat overlooking the bay we live on now, but almost at the open ocean. You could see forever. The tuna rings and the boats all around them were right down there. Yes the view was amazing. I guess you could sit and look all day.

Oh and the tuna rings; I was just told this week that it's a tuna farm. That they catch tuna in the ocean, little ones, and they bring them to the rings to grow bigger. But I also just read an article about tuna and the consumption of the blue fin tuna in Japan, and it was talking about how something like over 80% of the tuna caught and exported to Japan was caught before it hit reproductive age, so how can they survive?

So, on the way back from there I asked Everardo to go back to the ugly carpet house in La Jolla so I could ask the kid some questions about the utilities- it was not resting easy with either of us this whole sharing the utilities. So we went over there and I talk to the guy. He told me that he didn't know how much his utilities were because he just gave Irka extra money along with his rent every month. I asked- but you don't know how much it is? He said no, that he asked but she didn't tell him (in my opinion- shame on him for not insisting). I asked him if he was open to not having Irka pay his bills, they we would get them and review and pay, he said yes, but he also thought it was an HOA (homeowners association) requirement to have a phone, and to use their garbage and pay them. I looked at him and asked HOA?? Are you nuts? This is Mexico they don't give a shit if you have a phone or not or where you dump your trash! Actually even in the states I have never heard of an HOA dictation anything about phones....But after all this conversation, I left feeling less confident about it instead of better. We decided we wanted to see the mobile home again. We went to see it and I started to see the possibilities. Everardo already liked it. This time I looked for where we could walk the dogs if we didn't want to walk on the beach. We decided, after everything we saw...that this little mobile home was a great deal- only $250 and the water is free. (not the drinking water of course).

We were supposed to sign the next day, and stopped by the place that gets mail from the states, and while we were talking to her she said she rented places and wanted to show us a house with a trailer attached. That's very common here..a house, and one wall is not there, but a trailer of some size is. I've seen a couple, and the one my friend Meryl lives in is really cute. So we looked at each other (almost laughing because how many houses can we see?) and said sure. So we went over there, and it's really close to this house, but in a different camp and you can walk right to the beach. But she didn't have the key so we just walked around. It had a big yard and a nice view of the mountains and we were hopeful. But a couple of hours later, we saw it and it didn't even had a bedroom...it was a big no. Oh and during that couple of hours, we went to the grocery store and saw our friend Tim- he's actually the guy who turned us on to the mobile home, and we chatted, he told us about a house that would be for rent in Feb, but it's in Rancho Packard, another camp that is down a cliff- dirt roads with no real beach access, and when it rains hard for a couple of days, you cannot get out. We had already decided we didn't want to live in Rancho Packard so we never even went to look over there. We said goodbye but as we drove out of the parking lot he waved us over and said he forgot about another place for rent for $300 in Cantu (next little tiny town to us), so we followed him. Well he went up a hill on a road we hadn't been on, but then made a left and went back to a road we had been on, ha ha he took us to the same house we saw earlier this week- the one with no fence (& no stove or fridge)! I still had the keys so we looked again anyway. Then we went back and saw the house with the trailer attached.

So, I didn't not relate all that in perfect order, but where it ends is, yesterday, Friday, at 3pm, we signed a 6 month lease for the mobile home. We paid one month and the equivalent as a security deposit. We don't start paying until Feb 1, but we get to start moving in Jan 15. It doesn't have any furniture or curtains, so we need to get curtains up first thing. Oh and another thing I forgot- I spoke again to Irka and we are getting our unused rent back, but we do have to pay the 10% for the three months we are here, so we owe $150, and she's also making us pay her back for 2 months of the $25 fee we paid the devil woman for our beach and home access. I'm tempted to ask for that back..but probly better not to interface with her- bad karma.

Today I went into Ensenada to the noon AA meeting and then to a big fabric store one of the people in the meeting told me about. I think I found the perfect material for the curtains- for 4 windows and maybe all of them (2 more in the bedrooms & the sliding glass door). My plan was to put them up and then I'll try to hem all the sides on set at a time, but Everardo told me when I got home today he knows a guy who sews in Ensenda so yippee I won't have to try!

Well Poppi has woken up from a nap, still feeling lousy. The dogs are in asleep at our feet, they haven't seen the new place yet- oh man Sam is going to be so happy when he sees the beach out the back door. I think I'm all caught up, on activities...more about how I feel about everything next time. No- now. I feel really good. Maybe even serene...calm, that this is going to be good, great even. I have not been happy for the past couple of months in this house- I mean I'm really happy in this area, in Baja, just not our exact spot, the big cold house, all the stairs, and the lovely criminal family here. Not all of them are criminals, and like Everardo said, nothing bad happened to us- but I feel more like the saying- hang around the barbershop long enough you're gonna get a haircut. We haven't been robbed...yet. And that bitch, all smiley- yeah easy to smile when you steal my money. So enough of the negative vibes- it's all an adventure. And I'm lovin' it! Viva

Mexico fun fact:
The highest mountain in Mexico is Pico de Orizaba, a dormant volcano that reaches 5,636 metres (18,491 ft) above sea level.

Well it's NOT abalone season

We took our road trip to San Quintin the other day and it was a beautiful ride. I did not, however get my abalone. It's not in season. They do have abalone "farms" down there, the guy in the restaurant told us it was about 40 minutes further down the road...but if they have farms to grown them, they why does there need to be a "season"? Maybe it has to do with the temperature of the water? Ok another google session for me. We drove down and it felt like northern California ha ha- lots of road construction! So it took a little longer to get down there than we thought it would. At first the terrain is really green, rolling hills and lots of vegetation. There are acres and acres of produce- starwberries, looked like watermelons and other squash. And then miles and miles of vineyards. They were dead vines, dormant....after the harvest and before they start again. I thought all the grapes were grown in the Guadalupe Valley which is north and east of us, but like I said, there were rows and rows and rows of vines. After about an hour, maybe a little more it started to become desert-y. The dirt started to get redder, and the vegetation was brushy...When we got closer to San Quintin the fields became tomotoes. I read that more tomatoes are grown in this area than anywhere in the world!

San Quintin is kind of long, with everything along both sides of the highway. It was a nice outing and I didn't find anything there extra special, the ride was the goal. Now we did not follow the highway to the south end where it met the ocean, we took a right and went out to the "old port", a nice woman at the gas station told us it was nice spot, so we went for it. The bay is called - crap! I forget what the name of it is! But it's narrow and winds around as it comes inland. And pretty interesting, right by the dock we were standing on, the water eddies around, whirlpools and it's going pretty fast- on both directions. And the pelicans! They are huge...all waiting around for some fisherman to throw out old bait or parts of the fish he has no use for. They were in comeptition with some pretty hefty (read chubby) seagulls as well. I got some great pictures of them all. So there was a guy, a fisherman, well I think that's what he was- but he took the discarded fish pieces, and cut them up even more, and kept parts of it to make fish soup. So he was throwing away pieces and the fight was on.

On the way out this dirt turnoff we spied 2 kids walking and trying to wave down a ride- they must have been only 10 or 12 years old. We picked them up and they were on their way to go crabbing. But they had us stop at a little bodega and they didn't want is to wait. They were getting bait and said they'd get a ride the rest of the way. After we ate and went back to walk along the water again, we saw them and they waved. Their "fishing poles" were plastic soda bottles with sand and rocks in them, and fishing line wrapped around them. Don't know if they caught anything, but in the car- one kid very talkative and one very quiet- we were told all about it so I have no doubt they reeled 'em in.

The restaurant was very nice, and they said over holidays they get very busy and the rest of the time they have people drop in, and as we ate we saw quite a few groups of people arrive and walk along the docks, some coming in to eat. There were also some vendors with trinkets set up, so there must be some steady-if light- tourist traffic. Now for the food- well I'm sure it's probably good, and the presentation was very nice. But I ordered crab stuffed shrimp. First they brought us a very nice clam chowder, it almost tasted like mashed potatoes, corn and clams...hmm well it tasted really good. My plate came and looked so pretty. Some rice, some nice veggies, and my shrimps in some kind of a thick sauce...really good. But my shrimps- well they were wrapped and cooked in bacon. Bacon! Might have been something to mention on the menu or when you ordered it- I mean I asked if it was picoso (spicy)...and they had a meat & seafood menu that I did NOT order from....so I was disappointed. Everardo had shrimp in some kind of sauce, and he only got 6 shrimp...not big prawns or anything, small shrimp...which he gave some of to me because I couldn't eat Bacon-y shrimp (and no crab in sight). The thing is- it was not cheap..about $20 US a plate- that's expensive. As we drove by several street stands all with signs about the seafood they offered, Everardo kept pointing them out...and YES YES we could have had the same thing- probably much better for about $3US each. I had insisted we find a nice restaurant because I wanted to be sure we got abalone- yeah joke's on me. But as I said, the drive down and back was nice. The walk around the waterfront of the old port was fun, watching the pelicans and the people. So it ended up being an almost all day thing; it was after 4pm when we got home so poor doggys got a very short walk. Anyway it looks like abalone season opens in April so we will be making another trip.

Did a little house hunting in Ensenada- yeah I will never learn! But maybe I finally get it; the houses for rent there have no stoves, no refrigerators, no hot water heaters, no house heaters. Unless of course if you are willing to pay $750-1000 a month rent. We called the nite before on one place, and planned to call on 3 others once we got there. One, the number had been disconnected, one didn't allow dogs, one had no yard, and we went to see one. It was in Colonia 89, past a huge cemetery (which is fine with me I kinda like cemeteries) and a jail, a police station...and winded up a hill, then started to get steeper, then turned from paved road to dirt. We finally turned...and then continued to steeply climb! Finally we got there, and I think the air was actually thinner! The guy was rapidly saying how the house had everything!! The listing said parking for 3 cars, and Everardo gently reminded me if we had 3 Volkswagens that would be true. Luckily for me I had almost zero expectations after the other places we'd seen in the city before we arrived and after. Well we went in and it was pretty trashed, but nothing some paint couldn't have fixed...well some of it anyway...then I asked about the fridge...oh, no. And the stove? no...Hot water heater?? No...he was even saying something about furniture, but there wasn't any. One bedroom did not have enough room for more than a twin bed, but the other one did...we didn't bother to look in the backyard, we just thanked him and said we'd give him a call. Once we got down into air we could actually breathe we started laughing. And I was done...ok ok no more looking for a place to live in the city.

Today the best thing that happened was we got the seat belt fixed on the passenger side of the car. Yippee!! Because when we go somewhere together, Everardo always drives and that seat belt works. People tend to drive like insane nuts here, so I want my seat belt. It's not always that they drive too fast, sometimes it when they want to be in your lane, so they come. And after the light turns red, a few cars will still go, but other times the people waiting for the light to turn green are inching their way into the intersection...so ait's a mixed bag and you never know what's going to happen next. And I guess I'm just so used to wearing a seat belt. Here I cringe when I see mothers holding babies and/or little kids on their laps in the front seat. Or the kid is in the seat alone, but standing up...aarrgghh scares the hell out of me. So getting my seat belt fixed was a very big deal to me.
The worst thing about today was that we finally went over to La Jolla to see about a house for rent. Everybody tells us that's the best place to live. That there's always some houses there for rent. Why do people say things when they don't know what the hell they're talking about? It happened in Penasco as well. Everybody talked about how there were so many houses to rent...not true not true. I looked for all those places for months. So here the same thing. My concern had been which place would we like, and to get the best place for the dogs. WHOOPS They very nicely told us they were not in the business to rent houses. They rent/lease land and then you build a house. The houses that were for rent- if there were any, were by owners or real estates agents like Irka Davis, who we are renting from now. In fact she had shown us 2 places in there. One was pretty good but it's $450 and we could rent that little trailer for $250. Wow was I surprised and depressed! I got in the car and couldn't help it- I cried. Yeah I know- what a baby. But all of a sudden the week I was sick (last week) and struggling with the stairs, the devil woman whom I hadn't seen almost since we got here and paid her ransom to go to the beach- she approached me a couple a days ago and hugged me (yuck-) and said she had a cookie package for me (like I would eat her poison cookies), the ghost town feeling here...not feeling comfortable going downstairs at nite cause there's no curtains...aarrgghh we're stuck in this house, all hit me at once and I cried. I feel much better now. I sent an email to Irka asking about some other places on her website, found a couple of other rental websites and sent some emails requesting info, and then saw a place for rent right down the road, at this woman's place...Pam's Hacienda. The houses are all painted carzy colors, right down my alley. Actually I'm not sure how many houses besides hers, the rest might be mobile homes, which is also fine with me. So I called her, and she only has a mobile home and it's $400. More than we want to pay, but we're going to look at it tomorrow afternoon, and hey, maybe she'd go for $350.

Then a little while ago Irka replied and said, you have a lease, talk to me. Yes I know we have a lease, and I realize we'll lose the security deposit, so what about the places I mentioned? She did not reply again. Tomorrow we'll also go out to Loma del Mar (I think) and see if anyone is around that can tell us rents there. It's a small camp, I think all mobile homes, and they all have a great view of the bay and Ensenada, but not a way to get to the beach. Which would be ok, too. And of course there's still the trailer for $250. We talked about that as well, it's half of what we're paying, it's about 10 feet from the beach, there's people around, friendly people, and has security. It's small, but do we need big? No. I am no longer upset. We have options. And one of my absolute worst character defects is feeling trapped and then making bad decisions. So now more.

So I am starting to work on my new years commitments...to myself. To dig a little deeper, to embrace acceptance. Not letting myself trapped, not making bad decision on top of other bad decisions, and hurting the people that I love in the process. Hey awareness is a pretty good start eh? Anyway, hopefully by Monday my cough will be all but gone, and then I'll go find that community center and see if there's something I can do..ok enough for now, Everardo is sleeping next to me on the couch, Hazel is snuggling up with him (hey that's my job), so time to wrap this up.

Mexico fun fact:
Stone tools have been found in Mexico that suggest the existence of humans there around 23000 years ago.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2014-wow...don't wanna think about how old that makes me ha ha! Well not really cause my birthday is in December so I have all year. We had a quiet New Years Eve; briefly considered going down to the Bufadora where a restaurant was serving filet mingnon for about $10US and staying open for fun until midnite or late, but Sam does not like loud fireworks and was upset with the few going off around 7pm, and we just couldn't leave him. And at midnite, there were A LOT of booms and bangs going off. Mostly fireworks that were just noisy with just a few shooting up lights. We could see some of those lights off in the distance in Maneadero and Ensenada, and like I said, Sam was very unhappy. And honestly, I still have a nagging cough that altho' isn't too bad when I'm sitting still, but being out in the cold nite air, and dancing, laughing, whooping it up for New Years Eve, well I'd probably be paying for it today, even though I don't even drink.

Today was a quiet one for us as well. Jammies most of the day, only getting dressed to take Sam & Hazel for a walk on the beach. There were alot of people out there digging holes to make little hot tubs and the steam was coming up all over. I tried to take some pictures, but the steam didn' come out in the shots, so it just looks like people digging in the sand ha ha.

There was a big freighter in the port across the bay in Ensenada with nothing on it. I saw it yesterday too, so maybe the port was on holiday- which would be nice for the workers, rigth? Then right before we left for the beach this afternoon I saw another freighter coming into the bay all loaded up, so I remembered to take the telescope with me. I love using it to look at the boats and the ships. There's usually a few out at the far end of the bay, on our side, where the big tuna rings are, and then sometimes there's the big cruise ships. In fact the other day there were 2 cruise ships, different cruise ship companies, both in port. We were in Ensenada and so parked down by the docks and walked along the malecon to look at them. You can't get up right next to them; there's a gate and a road that extends out to them. They mesmerize me- they are like apartment houses they are so big. The bigger one had a name "Sapphire Pricness", and I googled it when we got home. They are just massive with swimming pools and niteclubs and you can certainly spend a hell of a lot of money, but really I think you can not go crazy, and it can be reasonable. I always look at them thru the telescope when I see them from here (which is about twice a week I think), and if we're in Ensenada I want to look at them, but I'd never actually take a cruise ha ha! It looks really cool- but where the ocean is concerned- I am a big chicken. And to be out in the middle of the ocean and not be able to see any land....thinking of it gives me a kind of claustrophobia...like when I was a kid and we were driving in the desert and you could see nothing but desert I would get that same suffocating feeling. I used to say I'd do a cruise if I could see the land, like along the Mexican coast, or up the channel (wrong word, I know) in Alaska where you see the glaciers, but after the day the ocean beat the shit out of me in Playa Ventura, I really really understand the force of the ocean, how strong the waves are- how they swatted me like a fly. I was holding onto the rock and I was slapped off it like I was a flower petal floating in the air. And the water then threw me back against the rocks, very luckily for me I had moved to the side with the first swat and so I hit rocks on the sand, only about ankle high. It all happened really fast and yet I knew I was going to die there. The first swat pushed me along the rock and then dragged me out. I only wasn't dragged further because another wave came and thre me back up the beach. I barely remember any details of that part, but after the second one, I was digging my fingers into the sand like a cartoon character and was pulled right back in anyway. The third time, miraculously, I was thrown onto only sand, and although I couldn't see I just started crawling as fast as I could. The next wave just pushed me up the beach but didn't drag me out. I know how lucky I am. I also have huge respect for the ocean. I understand that if I fall off a boat, even if I can see the land, the water is choppy, surging, I'd never make it to shore. So cruises are out. For the first time I realized how lucky I was, (and how fucking stupid) back in the early 90's when I jumped off that yacht in the Sea of Snakes off the coast of China. I knew the water in Hong Kong harbor was dirty, but a slew of drinks later I was drunk enough to be "daring" (again-read stupid) to jump off the boat. This boat was 110 feet long and had speedboats on it to take little rides, the boat was owned by the company we were doing business with. I don't really remember alot about the boat, the pads they put down for us to sit on, the crew wearing starched white uniforms with gold braid and no shoes, and food, so much food, as well as continuous drinks whenever your glass emptied. However I do remember the second I hit that cold water! Again I was like a cartoon because I swear I ran across the top of the water back to the boat! So, again, no cruises for me.

So- back to the freighters. I watched them from the beach, and the empty one never moved, but the full one did a big "L" shape to get to a port a ways away for the empty one. There have been continuous commercials on tv for the movie with Tom Hanks on the freighter; Captain Phillips and we watched on the free movie site the other nite. It's called Watch32 and you can watch movies for free, so Everardo hooks his laptop up to the tv and we watch them. I love Tom Hanks movies and of course afterward I had to google to see how close to a true story it was. The producer said it was close, but there are lawsuits going on about the story from the crew, who said the captain received warnings about the pirates and should have take a course further out to sea, and the captain says he didn't think they'd be any safer further out. Anyway it was a pretty good movie. And like I said, I like to look at the freighters, think about what they're picking up and/or dropping off, where they're going next.

A family stopped to chat with us as we watched Sam chase the ball and Hazel chase Sam. I of course was looking at all things far with the telescope and was surprised to hear the man's voice right behind me. He was asking Sam's name and then he started to tell us that they had a lab some time ago. There was also a wife and 2 kids, teenagers at least, a boy and a girl. The conversation got too fast for me as always so I lost track of what everyone was talking about, but near the end the boy said something in English so I said- hey you speak English (ha ha yes painfully obvious) and he said he was learning. He had no accent in his English which surprised me, anyway the wife and he said I spoke good Spanish and so I told them, in Spanish that I speak better than I understand and they laughed. I said when I speak, people assume I'm fluent and the start speaking really fast (& they laughed), or they speak low, or use words I don't understand (since everything gas at least 2 or more words to describe it). Then Everardo asked for my cell phone number and I knew they were talking about where we lived, and I thought they were on vacation, so I assumed they were looking for a place to rent by the beach...ha ha wrong. They live in Maneadero and we gave him our phone number because he might know of a place for us to rent. So see, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing  ha ha, I get everything all mixed up....oh and they also may know of a place I can teach English, so it was good to meet then. My hubby makes friends with everyone he meets, he's me, just in Spanish ha ha.

So tomorrow I think we're going to go on a little road trip, down to San Quintin which is about 2 hours south I think. This area grows more tomatoes than anywhere else in the world. They also have abalone! Well I'm not sure how old the article I read was, but oh man would I love some abalone. However first I need to know how they prepare it. I thought everyone did it the same, dipped and then quick fried...oh man my nouth is watering. But once I had it in Bangkok, and it was one thick "steak" and you cut it with a knife and fork....and I was SO disappointment, but the person who brought me was so happy to treat me to something I was so excited about, so I said it was wonderful...it was good...but usually abalone is AMAZING and that's the experience I want. Well I will be sure to make a full report here. Viva.

Mexico fun fact:
There are 31 states in Mexico as well as the capital city (Mexico City).