Author: zihuathyme

The Senor went fishing on the Dos Amigos today and about 14 miles out caught this big one.  Of course he didn’t have the camera with him and I had opted not to go so there is no record of the fight and landing this approximately 100 lb fish.  He just gave the fish to the captain as a sail fish isn’t what he considers to be good eating, but.  Luckily I met up with him and was able to get some good pictures.  Obviously he is very proud of his catch.  While he fished I prowled around town, did a little bit of shopping, but mostly the looking kind of shopping.  Then I took myself out to lunch.  I selected one of the waterfront restaurants where you can sit at a table with your feet in the sand.  Lunch would have been cheap except for the two mango margaritas.  Which I have discovered are the absolutely the yummiest drink ever.

Always my fascination is with what I see different here.  Every morning all over town mothers and fathers walk their children to school, girls in their uniform skirts and boys in white pants at the school closest to us.  Boys all with short hair neatly combed  girls mostly with long pony tails or braids.

The “Good Humor” truck has a different look here also and defiantly a different sound. No Calliope type music just the soft tooting of a bicycle horn as he pushes his cart around town.  Today this one had 2 flavors in his galvanized tub, coconut and strawberry.  I opted for the strawberry today.  We were sitting at Zorro’s Bar which is almost right under us, I didn’t even need to get off my bar stool to trade 20 pesos for some great tasting, probably home-made ice cream.

I really could live here!

Signing off KO

I certainly made a huge mistake today, we got up early, even set the alarm to do so, as we were to meet our tour guide near the canal at 0730 for our tour, well as it approaches 8:00 and it was a no-show I decided I would go back to our apartment and check for e-mails as we have no cell phones here.  Well sure enough it was my mistake, wrong Monday.  So instead we went for breakfast at an outdoor eatery.  The senor ordered pancakes and I had eggs mexicana.  His pancakes came with syrup, but no butter, so we asked for “mantaquilla” and the little waitress headed off to the store to buy some.  Evidently they were out.  By the time she returned The senor was down to one pancake but she left the butter and took the syrup away.  I guess you are allowed only one with your pancakes.

This is quite typical of the mexican people, they want to please.  I’ve actually ordered wine at a place that didn’t serve wine and watched while the waiter went to a neighboring establishment to get a glass of wine for me.

I never tire of the sights and sounds of Zihuatanejo, after our breakfast we went for a walk about town, quite sad to see many of the restaurants have closed due to the bad publicity in the US and Canada that has caused a decrease in tourism.   we came across the “sharpener man” who sharpens knives ans scissors on his wheel, you can tell when he is in your neighborhood  by his shrill whistle. 

WE then headed to El Mercado Centro to do our shopping for the next couple of days.  Mai Mahi fillet in the fish market, packed in a bag with a small chunk of ice, on to the butcher for a couple of pork chops, then to fruit and veggie vendors for garlic, grapes and bananas.  I love shopping here it is like an adventure every time.  I cooked the Mahi Mahi for dinner tonight, that was probably a mistake.  I should have had the Senor cook it, while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. I’m sure he could have done better.  We eat every night on our little balcony after dark when it has cooled down. I wonder if this could have been my mahi mahi.

We walked so much today (and yesterday) my knee kind of gave out on me so I spent the afternoon doing very little.  The senor has his slingbox TV and is quite happy.  Tomorrow he goes fishing, and I will probably go shopping.  I’ll be pissed if he sees dolphins and turtles and I didn’t go, but I’m not sure I’ would be able to stand up after sitting in a boat all day.  I need to move around to keep my knees working.  I might change my mind.

It was a lazy day, mostly reading on the balcony, a few house keeping chores, a trip to the bank and some mercado shopping. I’ve learned how to get the best avocados, i as the fruit sell for “un por hoy y un por manana and I always get perfectly ripe avocados for both today and tomorrow.  On the way back I found my favorite ice cream man, a very elderly gentleman with a big squat tub  that resembles a short fat milk can on an old push cart. Today he was selling  coconut ice cream, I’ve never been fond of coconut ice cream but this was great.  As usual I had difficulty with the money, he wouldn’t accept a bill as he had no change, but finally I dug deep and came up with what he wanted, I think it was about $1.40 us.  I got so flustered over the money I forgot to take his picture.  I’ll get one later.

Saturday is full of people on the streets and at the Zocolo, the town square. The Mexican people socialize out side, visiting on the streets and in the Zocolo, cafe’s and fondas. The teenagers are in groups of three and four, the girls often walking arm in arm, eyeing the boys.  In secluded corners and on park benches the young boys are pitching woo to pretty girls, but this is Saturday which is nothing to compare to Sunday when I think the whole town turns out!

The senor has spent his whole afternoon watching the 49’s beat the Saints at one of his favorite watering holes as he is coming in I’m going out as I want to listen to Jimmy Mammu at Daniels next to the Zocolo. In the small area of El Centro where are apartment is, the streets are well-lit and the area is busy with bars, restaurants, and stores that are open very late on Saturdays and the streets are very busy with both locals and tourist.  And since it is only 2 blocks I feel very safe and comfortable.

Some sights her continue to amaze me,   Streets and parking lots are swept by  palm fronds.

The local cable installer truck is a VW bug.

Very manual labor is how most things are done.  We watched and actually crossed under while 4 men used ropes to rehang a heavy metal garage roll up type  door at the entrance to a little market we frequent.  This was all done with ropes and ladders, one rope was tied off to a pickup truck parked out front of the market, all the while people were coming and going from the store.  The men held one of the ropes down so I could step over it.  All I can ever think of is OSHA would have cardiac arrest on the spot.

Almost daily we walk by this combination vet/pet store, in a cage is darling golden retriever puppy, the Senor frequently stops to play with the pup thru the wires, while doing this a small child about 8 or 9 taps the Senor on the leg, chattering in Spanish and points to the sign.

The senor was certainly chastised by this cute kid.  Signing off KO 

It was a great day even with a bit of a confusing start. We took a half hour bus ride out to Playa Linda to meet our friends and Juan who’s restaurant we were going to.  Well directions were confusing and we missed connecting with them and ended up taking the water taxi to the island and without much problems located the restaurant , Parisio Escondido, and our friends.  When I say restaurant I mean a series of tables and beach chairs on the sandy beach.  No better place to eat or drink with the ocean just steps away. This was our menu!

When I first get up and head out to the balcony to listen and watch the day unfold here all I see is a few fishing boats coming in, but this AM the bay at the end of my street was ablaze with lights.  A cruise ship had anchored in the bay. I thinks it’s the only one that comes while we are here, tourism is way down with all the negative publicity Mexico gets and the shopkeepers and restaurants here are having a very tough time.

At the Mercado yesterday my limited spanish was so rusty that most of my shopping was done by pointing and asking “como se dice” (how do you say).  Next time I will do a shopping list on the computer have the computer translate it to Spanish and I’m sure I will do better.  I always have trouble with the money, I either try to underpay or overpay. But the shop keepers always help me out and never get grouchy.

Roof dogs are quite common here, sometimes it’s scary to se a dog running on top of a roof with no railing, I’m always afraid they will fall.  Some times they are just pets and it’s the only outdoor space for them, but quite frequently they are guard dogs.  But I thought this little fellow was really cute, he would throw his head back and howl like a coyote.

We are off to Ixtapa Island today to snorkel and swim, one of the restauranteurs has invited the 3 couples here in the building to his restaurant, he will be taking us in his boat. Really makes one feel special. Should be a fun day!  can’t quite get my pictures where I want them, will have to work on this. Signing off KO

As we are going to be here 6 weeks this year we are taking it slow and easy which is great.  We have no need to rush around.  We did our big grocery shopping yesterday morning, we are forever amazed at how you get almost everything here, frequently the same brands.  We brought a few things with us, mostly the sugar-free products I use.  The one thing we didn’t bring with us and should have as we knew from before it cannot be found here is dill pickle relish.  That’s what we like in our tuna fish.

The morning shopping trip absolutely exhausted us so lunch and a brief siesta and we headed out to a near equivalent of a US $ store to pick up some house hold items for our apartment to make life more comfortable. thing like it only comes with 1 waste basket. On our way to the dollar store ran in into a couple we met last year and stopped and had a drink with them at the “Flophouse Bar” in their new location.  My first strawberry collada, I just may become a frufru drink aficionado. As we headed out to dinner we ran into our downstairs neighbors whom we had visited with both here and at their time share at Pacifica in Ixtapa last year.  It’s really comfortable not only to know our way around town, but to actually know people here, American, Canadian and Mexican. Dined at La Hija del Capitan, not my favorite, but Doyle likes it.  The only fish on their menu is shrimp, it’s ok but not great.  but it was a great day if not our most exciting.  The big plan for today is  head to the Mercado to get our fruits and veggies, something we do every couple of days, there I visit my cheese man and my egg man also.  Signing off KO

We arrived yesterday afternoon and were able to hook up with a fellow from the Zihuatanejo Message board and shared a cab to town.  As we walked up tour little pedestrian street to our apartment Rose, from the drinking emporium next door, waved and called to us welcoming us back. As it was siesta time, Javier our manager and proprietor of the sccoter rental & liquor store downstairs wasn’t available to let us in to our apartment, so our best option was to go next door and enjoy a cool one while waiting for our key. Ron, the Canadian proprietor, greeted us like old friends.  We recognized several faces around the bar and thought how nice it is to return and feel so welcome, so familiar and comfortable yet be thousands of miles from home and in a foreign country.

We settled into our apartment, got somewhat organized, said hello to our friends and neighbors and promised to catch up on things the next day. Then we  opted for a quick snack and headed off to bed as we had not slept well the night before and were up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight.

Of course the problem with going to bed early, adjusting to the time change now has me up  long before the crack of dawn.  But that’s Ok as I have always loved the early morning sounds.  There is a full moon shining, just a touch of pink in the sky over the bay, the roosters are hard at work waking up the dogs, in turn the dogs wake up the neighborhoods.  From my balcony I watch the fishing boats coming in and soon the housewives and restaurant cooks will be walking through town with bags and buckets of fish so fresh that some are still flopping. The street sweepers with their push carts are just finishing up. Life is good as good as it gets here in beautiful Zihuatanejo.

Our big plans for the day will be to grocery shop, we go to a fairly modern grocery store for the bulk of needs, but prefer the old mercado for our fruit, vegetables, cheese and eggs. I’m trying to sync this with face book, but I’m not sure I’m sucessful yet.

2 15 11 It is our last morning in Zihuatanejo and I’m savoring the sights & sounds.  The roosters waking the dogs, then the dogs waking the