Author: zihuathyme

I'm a traveler, not as frequently as I would like , but I plan on doing more. After working full time at Mount Rainier National Park during the summer of 22 I have decided to retire completely and forever. Prior to that I was semi retired as a Wedding Officiant I officiated at about 20 weddings a season, and with my small delivery service I handled the distribution of a local high-quality Home and Garden magazine . Prior to my "semi retirement" I was in corrections and before that I owned and operated a bail bond agency. I now plan to travel to new places and exciting places, getting ready to do that as a solo as the Senior is no longer with me, his choice, and I am OK with that. For hobbies I'm a reader and love my kindle. And I enjoy writing.

LAUNDRY AND A NIGHT ON THE TOWN

The  Senor decided we (he) needed some V8 juice and we were out of eggs. There is only one store in Zihuatanejo that carries V8, The Bodega.  It’s about a 1/2 half mile from the pool where I swim. Since it was Saturday and I don’t swim on weekends I thought I would just walk up there as it was still early morning.    It was a pleasant walk and like all shopping trips you go for one thing and come back with 4 bags full. So of course on the return trip I took a cab.

We have a leisurely breakfast on the balcony  and I decide to do our laundry in house instead of the Senor taking it to the laundry as we have always done previouly.But last year there were some issues. I said I would do the laundry which is normally the Senor’s area of expertise. The roof top washer fills at a drip drip rate so to help it along I filled big buckets of water to add to the machine and it started to wash.  Of course the rinse cycle is again at drip drip rate, but I went and took a nap and when I work up the clothes were washed and I hung them to dry, starting the second load the same way. Fixed and ate lunch and the first load was dry and ready to hang the second load.  Watched some TV and went and retrived the second load from the line all except our big towels they needed another half hour. I find if you hang things nice and tight on the line they look as good as if freshly pressed. The laundromat folds and packages your clothes so everything ends up with fold marks.

We have been taking it quite slow for the most part but we decide to go out for dinner at Daniels. The Senor never seems to learn that he will always be disapointed by his steak. Beef here in Mexico just isn’t what we are used to.  On the other hand you can’t go wrong with fish, it is what they do here.

20141231_173641From there we strolled, watch a sand artist at work, found a nice street dog to give meat scraps to and at a small kids arcade a birthday party was in full swing, litterly. The pinata was about to be hung,  hit with sticks,

Birthday party
Birthday boy blindfolded with a stick, should have done video

broken and candy and small trinkets scrambled for among the shrikes as a half dozen young boys.

20141231_202037
Jimi with a friend joining in

A couple of drinks at Zorro’s and on to the Barracruda to catch the great Jimi Mamou and renew old friendships. Agreat night on the town, Zihua style.  Signing off  KO

Getting Organized

We seem to be slow to get our selves organized this year. We’ve all ready made 2 trips to the Comercial making sure we have enough items to fully prepare a meal, at least 2 to Waldo’s,(mexican equivelent of a dollar store) and several to the ATM to amass 24,000 pesos to pay our rent for the season. I’m still having a period of adjustment with the peso system, I’ll get better as time goes on. On this morning’s trip to the ATM the line was reasonable, only about 15-20 people, but while waiting we notice a little dog laying right in front of the door to the ATM. He would lift his head

20141231_162010
Pup catching a breeze from air-conditioned doorway

every time the ATM door opened,  at first I thought he was wary of being stepped on, but no he was just catching the air conditioned breeze that comes out every time the ATM door is opened.  Very smart pup!

I have spent much of the last two days trying to get my new smart phone up and running here only to find out my phone isn’t international compatable. My old phone was, all I had to do was put in a mexican chip. So now I have no app for translations and or a money calculator to carry with me. Bummer! The only thing the phone will do is take pictures and then I can transfer them to the computer.

I’ve been walking to the swimming pool each morning and I’ve decided to walk back also. That old song “keep on the sunny side of the street” does not play well here.  You learn quickly to always take the shady side which caused me today to see some wild life, well more like barnyard life. At an old dilapidated building that looks like it could have been a new car show room at some time in the didtant past minus all the glass and a parking

20150101_062952
A familiy’s barnyard

lot gone to weeds I spotted a small flock of big turkeys with tailsfanned out and on closer look there were also 2 goats. Then I saw a dad in a hammock with a toddler on his chest along with a few old broken downown cars and assorted other castaway junk it looks like this family has found a way to subsist.  I just wonder if those turkeys will still be there after the Christmas holiday!

Yesterday in order to absolve some of the frustrations over getting phone service setup I decided to take my computer to the beach and start on this blog, but better yet ran into a group of old friends and sat with them over a couple of mango margaritas and visited and caught up a bit.

Once again we ate in on our balcony, Doyle taking it very easy after one night of over doing it. I’m learning to be more accepting of his need to rest and relax. It’s helpfull that this year the TV has 3 Seattle stations and FOX news to which he is addicted. Signing off KO

PS still can’t find spell check

 

 

WE’RE BACK AND NOW ON LINE

We arrived Monday evening to sunny skies and 87 degree weather.  So happy to be out of the rain.  Breezed through customs, caught a cab and we were back at our home away from home.  Got settled in, unpacked then out to dinner on the Malecon and night caps at our favorite watering hole, the Flophouse Bar.

Tuesday morning I set about getting the computers up and running, and started my blog, but no luck, it would not save and then cut me off Completly, could not stay on line for more than a minute or two before it went away. Very frustrating since the Senor relies on one of the computers for his TV habit being streamed from home.

We did discover that our TV now gets 3 of the Seattle stations and Fox news.  That saved a lot of frustration for him, but he still couldn’t get some stations he wanted. Brought the subject up to Arturo the building owner, he checked out the internet connections and found all was well. He then called a “techie” friend who came over and fixed both computers for  200 pesos about 25 bucks.

I did a quick run to the Comercial (Mexico’s version of a super market) yesterday to get a few basics provisions to last a day or two and then this morning after my morning swim at the community pool I did the frut and veggie run to the “mercado”. I love shopping the Mercado, it is just such a sensory over load. Busy, noisy people, bright colorfull fruits and veggies and spices and cheese and yellow chickens and loud Mexican music.

Colorfull flags
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Christmas is starting to be seen around town, you could get a green, and surpriseingly fresh tree at the comercial today, the pointsetia and pinata markes are in full swing at the Kyoto Circle.Hopefully I’ll get there tomorrow.  Our street is colorful with lights and bright flags.  We strung solar lights along our balcony so we too look festive. Signing off KO

PS Please forgive any typo’s or misspellings as I can’t find the spell check on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIME IS GETTING SHORT

Had a wonderful day at the beach with friends new and old. Because some in our group have difficulties boarding the pangas from the pier,

Juan our friend and proprietor of Paradiso Escondido on Ixtapa Island offered to transport us out to Playa Linda where we would board his boat from the beach. It is much easier to board a beached boat than a bobbing one. But first a stop at the “cocodrillo preserve” to see the crocks and iguanas.

At the island we ate, we drank , we swam, shopped with the silver salesman, visited and had a great time, closed up the Island, literally we were the last folks off the island all the ferry pangas were all finished for the day. Once again Juan brought us back clear to the beach.

We are on our last few days of being in Zihutanejo. We used our last sail fest certificate for lunch at Arenas on La Ropa. We liked Arenas, nice tables under palapas, and not crowded together. hopefully a few more evenings at the Flophouse, and the difficult task of sorting and packing up. We are fortunate to be able to store some things here, but don’t need to overdo it.

We have shopped very, little while here, a beautiful fruit basket and fabric for new curtains for the RV, (fabric is so inexpensive here) and a couple of items of clothing for each of us is it. So no worries about over weight suit cases.

This year it feels ok to return home, 3 months is just the right amount of time. We will miss our many friends we’ve made here, but we will see them again when we return in December. We are now making the lists of what we should have brought and what we shouldn’t have what we plan to store and what we will pitch.

signing off KO

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

I continually hear that that schools in Mexico are not good, that many teachers are not qualified as they either inherited there position from a relative or bought it. I know the teacher union is very strong here which could give credibility to some of the stories. But last Saturday evening at the plaza there were wonderful displays by the local school children, displays of history, geography, science, engineering and technology. My Spanish is limited but I was able to enjoy the poster type displays as I could read them, but when the kids wanted to share their knowledge with me my vocabulary just isn’t there yet. One young lady was kind enough to explain about the great women of her region in English and her English while halting was very good.

I think the secondary schools must be small and scattered all through town as I see kids in different school uniforms heading all different directions as I make my way to the pool.I like the look of school kids in uniforms, they are always so neat and tidy.  Just click on a picture to enlarge it. Signing off KO

DIFFERENCES

Even after 3 months here, I’m still amazed and marvel at the wonderful differences I see and try never to judge. Here a man gets on the bus with a very large machete knife, I think nothing of it as he is probably returning home from work.The same situation at home would have me jumping off the bus at the next stop. Small children playing outside until 11, I would be questioning what kind of parents they have. Or a 5-year-old boy proudly sipping a soda beside his papa enjoying acervesa at the bar. 10-year-old boys bagging your groceries for tips or carrying them to the taxi. Peoplehere still carry the items they sell on their head, and go through town calling out what they sell. Here you can put a table on a

side-walk and sell food or beverages you made at home, or hand crafts you made last night. Here I feed street dogs and cats at home the Humane Society would be called.  Dogs accompany their masters into restaurants.

I never tire of seeing a mama or papa holding their child’s hand while walking them to school each day. Or mama’s who carry or wear their infants instead of plopping them into a stroller, and parents who take their children to work with them on a daily basis. Here they fix things instead discarding. Our neighbors had a suitcase zipper repaired, my swim fin bag was repaired and one of the Senor’s flip-flops, and for very few pesos.

Somethings I find difficult, like learning Spanish even though I’ve just completed 2 terms of Spanish prior to coming here. Sidewalks with odd pieces of iron sticking up out of them, or chunks of side-walk missing, with my propensity for tripping I have had to be very careful. ATM machines that deliver your money all in 500 peso notes, as most shops have little to no change. Learning the currency has been a challenge, but now I can use exact change for my

Mercado purchases.

I FOUND JESUS …….AND THEN BLACK CORAL FOUND ME

Friday is maid day and we usually go out for breakfast and head out to the beach. This day the beach was to

Beautiful Las Gatas beach
Beautiful Las Gatas beach

be Playa Las Gatas and breakfast at Tres Amigos and on to the beach.  The water and waves have been quite active over the last few days and we were pleased to see it didn’t look like it would be difficult to board the panga for the trip to the beach.

The Senor and I on the panga to Las Gatas
The Senor and I on the panga to Las Gatas

Our favorite waiter Juan waved to us as we headed down the beach and we settled in at Gloria del Mar. I decided I wanted to swim out to see the fabled sunken statue of Jesus just beyond the reef. This is the statue where the heart of Jesus is made from donated keys from the people of Zihuatanejo.This statue is 4 meters tall and made of bronze.

I was told there was a small orange buoy marking the spot, but I couldn’t find it then another snorkeler asked if I was looking for the statue and said to follow him.  Which I did. Well no wonder I couldn’t find the orange buoy as its the size of a orange and to make matters worse the buoy was under water.  I don’t know if that was due to the tide or wave action, but I never would have found it with out help. So I grabbed the knotted rope and pulled myself down to the head of the statue, touched the statue and chose to go up as my ears bothered me a bit.  I don’t normally dive, I’m good swimmer, but I don’t like to swim under water. My one experience at scuba diving taught me that it was not to be my sport. Once on the surface I got my bearing as started the swim back, but I get directionally challenged and soon discovered I was heading towards the pier and not the beach and I really don’t like swimming with moving boats. Changed course, but sure didn’t pick the proper one as suddenly I found myself over the coral rocks with not enough water to clear the coral.  I tried to find the pathway out of this predicament but the waves began pushing and pulling me on top of the coral rocks. I got tumbled several time over and over on the coral before I finally caught a wave with enough water to push me off the rocks. Before I got fully standing a man came over to ask me if I was alright. I said yes now that I’m out of the rocks, he looked at my hands and pulled a couple of coral thorns from them and I went on to the beach. Back at our lounge chair our waiter got some cactus thorns and started digging more and more of the coral splinters from my hands. I didn’t dare ask him to pull the ones from my rump. That job fell to the Senor upon returning to our casa. After checking on line I learned they should dissolve after soaking in vinegar for 30 to 60 minutes. Problem is I don’t have a pan large enough to sit in.  The Senor pulled all that he could and then I spread a piece of plastic on a chair, soaked a towel in vinegar and sat on it for and hour, and more could be picked out and repeated the process again this morning. I’m bruised, a little tender, jammed/sprained fingers on my right had to the point I had to tape 2 fingers together as the movement was killing me. I’m a strong swimmer, I really don’t know how I ended up on the coral rocks I think I didn’t swim far enough around the jetty and the strong wave action that was still happening pushed me where I didn’t want to go.

Morning rendered me in much better spirits, just feeling bruised and I had lunch with my friend Bonnie, she is leaving Wednesday and I was anxious to hear of her recent travels to Patzcuaro, Morelia, and Mexico City. Nothing she said has given me a great desire to go to Mexico City, I’m really not a city person, but who knows maybe some day. Bonnie has been great fun and I look forward to seeing her again next year.   Signing off KO

On being a snowbird vs a

There are several different categories of folks here in Zihuatanejo, the locals, the gringo year round residents, tourists and vacationers, and snowbirds.We used to vacation in Zihuatanejo Mexico , now we have officially become snowbirds.The the difference between snowbirding and vacationing  is a bit subtle, but mostly length of stay time and also a change in attitude.. Snowbirders embrace the Mexican culture and adapt to it with little complaint.

The main difference between a snowbird and vacationers  that vacationers work hard at being sure he is having a good time every minute of the day. Snowbirds just live here. . Vacationers are  so busy filling an agenda even if that agenda is only to lay on the beach and read every day, or fill a shopping basket with souvenirs to bring home to friends and family, or see all the cool sites and eat in all the popular restaurants. Snowbirding is way more relaxed.

You do the same things you would do  at home but with the additional  perks of the area and climate. Much of our time here is spent in the daily tasks of living, cooking,eating, cleaning, dish washing with out the luxury of but the floor still needs to swept during the week, the bed  need  to be made and the dishes washed.. We have laundry to do, we  some times take it out, but the Senor has always assumed the job of  laundess?  so he either takes and delivers it to La Laundaria, or uses the washers upstairs, hangs out things on the line às they dry in 2 hours .  All this done  during TV commercials.   Grocery shopping needs to be done as we certainly can’t  eat out ever  meal as vacationers tend to do. We do eat out more as the evenings are so wonderful they draw you right outside.

We do go to the local drinking holes  more often than at home, and listen to the many musicians  more often, and dance more often than at home, but not as often as when we were vacationers. We truly have the luxury of time and have adopted the manana attitude. My favorite phrase is “manana does not necessarily mean tomorrow,  it just means not today.”

Food is so fresh here, and I shop daily for fruits and vegies daily here ,getting just what we need for a day or two. I have my little rolling bag I  pull behind me, I have my egg man, my cheese man, 2-3 favorite veggie/fruiterias. I buy fish that had been swimming just hours before I purchased it. Here shopping is fun, at home a chore. We snowbirds walk  or take buses and only the occasional taxi. Snowbirds take pride in supporting the little mom and pop businesses.

We have our favorite kids we buy Chicklets or other trinkets from, and periodically pay then not to sell to us. We support local causes and volunteer to help as we have the luxury of time, but we stay out  of politics.

signing off KO

ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B, THEY CAN BE THE BEST

Our apartment building has a roof top with washing machine and clothes lines of which the Senor has mastered the use of. It also has an area for socializing with sink, counter-tops and a barbecue, table and chairs.  We invited our baloney neighbors to dinner on the roof Tuesday evening. Now the world knows I’m no cook, but I have put together a pretty good fish dish and we thought it would be nice to share. So Tuesday morning I went to the mercado to pick up all my supplies only to find out they had no mahi mahi.  None in the whole mercado. So I asked for something “simalares” and I came home with a lovely chunk of plan B,  a

Dwight and Lynn roof top dinner
Dwight and Lynn roof top dinner

fish filet. Some tomatoes, squash, onions,red bell peppers and some still warm bolillos. Also lettuce and cucumbers for a salad. Dinner turned out great, we ate we drank we visited all with a lovely view of the city in the soft warmth of a Mexican night.

Our plan for the next day was for the 4 of us to go to Ixtapa Island in our friend Juan’s boat where we were to meet other friends. But the surf was high, not safe or easy for small boats coming and going from the beach so we canceled those plans and the Senor and I headed out to La Chole to see the ruins. It’s just short of an hours bus ride to where the

bus drops you off at a cross roads in the middle of nowhere. A tin roof keep the sun off you while you wait for the “pasajara” to take you to the ruins. Fortunately we didn’t have to wait too long, as I think the Senor was beginning to wonder if I knew what I was talking about.when I said we get off the bus here.

The museum is interesting, lots of artifacts, you get a guide whether you want one or not. And ours spoke very little English. None the less he explained everything most enthusiastically and we got the gist. The ball court is absolutely amazing, you get that “time trip” feeling.. The pyramid has 9 levels and is clay or adobe not

rock, This year we could walk to the top and see the alter area and ,more on going unearthing of life as it once was,  This is an on going archaeological dig sponsored by the Mexican government and depends on available money. I can’t help but think if it was sponsored and managed by a university progress might be quicker. This just the beginning of what they believe is out there, Of course now the land owners think their land is exceedingly valuable now and won’t sell unless they get their price. Can’t say as I blame them, I’m sure I’d feel the same way.

We next went on to the village and the casa of our guide where he showed us his personal collection of artifacts including some clay pieces that were whistles.We next caught the a VW bus combi back to the highway to wait for the bus to Zihuatanejo and home. Another fantastic day.  Signing off KO .

FROM WATER TO TEACHERS TO PLAN B

At our home in the Pacific North West water is rarely an issue, but I’m learning here it is a major issue. The town of Zihuatanejo has been out of water. We notified our land lord there was no water, he said “40

A" PIPA" OF WATER
A” PIPA” OF WATER

minutes I fix”. It was more than 40 minutes, but we soon had water. Then we began to notice water trucks all over town and we learn you can buy water by the “pipa” to fill your “tinacos” on your roof. but a pipa is a tank load and you buy the whole “pipa” so want to make sure your “tinacos” are empty before purchasing. We are seeing these water trucks all over town, almost as common as taxis. This happens when the city runs out of water. Water is in short supply here, but we are told the city is full of graft and corruption which is the cause for many of the problems here. This is true of much of Mexico.

A few days ago the teachers union staged a massive

Over 200 teachers marching in Zihuatanejo
Over 200 teachers marching in Zihuatanejo

protest march through town, a few day with well over 200 people chanting and carrying signs. A few days prior they had blocked the highway going to Acapulco. The teacher unions here in Mexico are very powerful and it appears very corrupt also. It sort of depends on who you talk to what the story is but it appears that it’s over who controls the funds for paychecks, the government or the union.

Our plan was to see they Archaeological site with pyramids and a museum, but we got off the bus at Los Achotes instead of LaChole. Had simply confused the names, but the Senor was OK with shifting to plan B and we headed for the “pasajara” that would take us to Barre de Potosi

where we would have lunch. Luck was with us as the ice cream man was going at the same time, His strawberry ice cream is so good it has real strawberries in it. So we had desert before lunch. A nice gentleman, a solo traveler, road with us so we invited him to share our table. Very enjoyable company. My fish tacos were excellent, but the Senor and I should have shared his fish soup as it was fantastic and enough for two. On the return trip we rode back with another very  interesting couple from the SF bay area. Our plan B day turned out to be an A+ day. PS I guess I failed my second blogging lesson as I was to add a tag line and as hard as I try, I can’t get my tagline to stick.   KO signing off