Zihuathyme

Coming from a cool climate it takes a little time to get used to the high temperatures and the high humidity. The good thing is I have spent the past 6 months getting used to 80-86 degree weather and think I acclimated quite easily and comfortable. But take into consideration that I am a cold person by nature. I’m always the first to put on a jacket or sweater and always kept my home at 72 or 72 plus. So the heat of the sun has always been my friend.

On the down side, I perspire heavily. I learned years ago that the make- up that give you that lovely flawless complexion look, just runs in rivers on my face and I gave up wearing it while in Mexico along time ago

We are now where the daily high is hovering at 89-90 and cooling to 75at best in the dead of the night. And I don’t think the indoor temp has been lower that 76 ever in my apartment. All winter my balcony has been in shade all day long and it is where i have been eating all my meals. The sun is now shifting so that I will have lots of balcony sun and hot sunshine streaming through my windows all summer long. The solution I chose to keep me more comfortable rather than full on air conditioning 24/7 is “parasinas” which is Spanish for shades. These are sun screen shades that roll down to my balcony railing and beautifully filter the light. I can still see out but it keeps my balcony shaded. This will help to keep my apartment cooler and hopefully keep the air conditioner off as much as possible. I’ll be letting you know how well I think these sun screens help as time goes by.

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Now this is just the early days of summer weather, and I’m told that it will get hotter. But once your set up for hot weather you expect it and are prepared for it. None of this 3 days of super high temperatures followed by a week of 65 degree weather. You know you never go out with out water and a sweat rag. Be your busiest during the morning and evening cooler times. And take that siesta, weather you nap or not is of no importance, but relax, read a book, rejuvenate. It really makes sense. Also I’ve learned not to hurry. since I am fully retired it’s easy to accomplish. I make sure I have lots of time to get to wherever I’m going.

In my apartment my rule has been that I would turn on the ceiling fan if I started to sweat. And that’s worked great up til now. But now I am sweating most of the time my fans are almost always on continually depending which room I’m in. I have 3 ceiling fans one for kitchen, living room and bedroom. I try to only run only the fan for the room I am in, but quite frequently all three will be whirling around in concert.

Preparing meals under a fan has some interesting aspects. Please remember I’m no cook, and anything with more than 3 or 4 ingredients is gourmet and I leave for the experts. But when grinding salt or pepper for my salads I find a large grainy circle surrounding my plate where the fan has disbursed half the salt and pepper. Same thing happens when I tear open the packet of Splenda for my coffee, most of it is flys halfway down the countertop. I laugh to think of someone needing to sift flour.

Sweeping the floor is another issue, as you sweep the fan is busy redistributing your sweepings. I think I need a housekeeper as it is to warm to clean with the fans off and quite impossible to do with them on. Maybe that’s when I should turn on the air conditioner? Still like the idea of a housekeeper.

Signing off KO

I’ve started my Spanish classes and as always it is much easier to do the written work than the oral work. I go 3 days a week with private instruction. I think I’m making progress but it’s a lot to try to remember.

My swimming occupies two other mornings each week and I’m hanging in with 10-12 laps each day and a mile plus walk back home. I do run some errands on the way back. I’m thinking that is adequate.

I still have lunch weekly with some local ladies, swim with friends at Escollera, some beach time at Maderas and have an occasion dinner out with friends. Pretty much the same only at a slower pace.

Since I now have my residency I have acquired a dermatologist for those annual skin checks, and will be setting up an appointment with an internist in the next few weeks for a review of medicines and general health check up and to see if he recommends a cardiologist. Everyday just goes on.

The weather is slowly warming up, int’s now in the the 90’s, or 32 as they would say here. I need to learn Celsius. Damn one more thing to learn! I’m finding I have the fans in my apartment going more and more. Still don’t need the air conditioner on. I’m no longer able to eat dinner on my balcony as the sun has shifted and now it is full on sun from 3 PM on. My tomato plants are a good 2 feet tall and noticed the first blossoms this morning. I find it incredible to have tomato blossoms in early May. Back in Washington you might not even have planted your tomato starts, and these I planted from seed, not starts. I’m excited!

Life is moving on at a slightly slower pace than during the season, i miss my snow bird friends but there are quite a few of us full timers, we were 8 or 9 at our last Ladies Lunch. Life is good in warm and wonderful Zihuatanejo. Signing off KO.

PS to see the small pictures larger just click on them

It has been a whirlwind of activities this month. Most importantly I’m back to a regular regimen of swimming. I swim 3 mornings a week at the lovely “Alberca de Olympica” the Olympic size community swimming pool in Zihuatanejo. And yes the water is on the cold side at 8:30 in the morning, but that is good for lap swimmers. I started off at 10 laps [this pool lanes are crossways], so a full crossways lap is 50 meters. Each week I’m adding a lap with my end goal being 16 laps which is about a half mile if my math is right. This week I’m up to 14 laps. That’s half of what I used to swim pre covid, but I’m not in training for anything and I’ll be quite happy with 16 laps. I’ve been taking a taxi to the pool and walking back and doing errands along the way as needed. I’m not the good walker I used to be, I find I’m not enjoying long walks, and I walk so much slower than I used to. I’m finding my friends walk much faster than I do and it’s a struggle to keep up with some, but I’m going to walk at my own pace and get to where I’m going at my own time.

What keeps me busy is groups of friends with some regular activities of weekly lunch gatherings, a biweekly dinner group with a goal of trying some of the “better” restaurants in the area. Beach time, pool parties just a lot of fun and frivolity. But now that I live here I need to do more that just play, so this week I am doing my first volunteer project of sorting and labeling seed for local folks to do future plantings and self sufficient gardening. With plans to do more of these types of projects.

A group of us, 9 ladies, chartered a sailing and snorkeling trip with a delightful young Mexican couple who not only took out sailing, whale watching, only saw one, snorkeling, saw lots of fish, and then served us lunch and cocktails. It was a great day even if I got a little sun burned.

On a sadder note, my only sister died this week. It was expected as Parkinson’s disease had rendered her helpless as a baby. She was ready, but I will miss her. We had been spending a lot of good phone time together recently. Signing off KO

I live at the corner of an alley and a very busy one way street which my balcony over looks. This is the polar opposite of the bucolic lake front view I had in Washington. Yet I enjoy it almost as much. Mexican street life is very vibrant, colorful and yes noisy. But I find it exciting, varied, interesting and amusing.

On my one way street cars park on both sides of the street and no one, except some of us gringos, find it odd that it is perfectly OK to double park. And not just for a minute or two. They will double park and go in to a store to pick up a couple of items, or wait for someone they are picking up no matter how long it takes. Mean time the traffic slows and snakes their way past the double parker, with surprising skill. I have yet to see a car sideswiped. It amazes me. Some prefer to park across the entrance to alley instead of double parking. I would prefer they double park as this is when it gets noisy. It seems like as soon as the mouth to the alley is blocked one or more of the alley residents wants go some where or will be trying to return home and they lay on the horn until some one comes and moves the offending vehicle. But no cross words are ever exchanged, it’s just how it is done. If the car is one that is trying to return he may have the street blocked back with up to ten cars behind him all waiting. Sooner or later someone in the line up gets impatient and starts honking his horn also, but oddly enough it’s usually someone who has just pulled up to the back of the line that honks his displeasure about being held up.

Impromptu parties happen frequently on my street, sometimes its pedestrians fueled by the large beer drinks the store down the block sells. And conveniently enough for them there are a couple of concrete benches right across the street from me where they can sit, drink, laugh, and sing until the wee hours of the day. Last week a newer pick up truck parked across the street, opened up the doors, turned the music up and 5 or six of them had a lovely tailgate party right there in the middle of this block.

A parking violation is cause for the local policia to remove your rear license plate. In order to retrieve it you must go to the local station and pay the fine. If you don’t do that and get a second violation the front plate is removed and another fine is levied. Of course driving with no plates is a separate violation and of course it will open you up to much policia attention. Gotta love Mexico!

Signing off KO