SNOWBIRDING IN MEXICO – Page 5

BACK HOME IN ZIHUATANEJO

It was a good trip toPatzcuaro, but we know we have only scratched the surface of this beautiful town and we will go again. We loved the little 5 table restaurant that was across theGertrudisBocanegra Square from our hotel. We had great interesting breakfasts, and a wonderful trout dinner there. We found both food and hotels to be very budget friendly. I really got to use my limited spanish, sometimes successfully, sometime not so. I became quite good a reading signs, directions, menus and such.

loosely translate the dogs are not of the street but of the people

But this sign was our favorite and I was able to tell the lady so. We had already noticed the street dogs in Patzcuaro didn’t seem” happy”, certainly not friendly, and very wary, quite unlike the street dogs we see in Zihuatanejo. I never saw anyone feed one or offer any kindness. And there is a large number of them.

I loved traveling in the upper deck of the bus, the front window seat is amazing although the fact that double yellow lines on the highway appear to be just a warning or a suggestion that this might not

be the best place to pass because our buss passed anywhere anytime he wanted to and oncoming traffic could just move over what I would normally call the fog line onto the shoulder. I don’t know how many times we were 3 abreast on a 2 lane road. As you board you are handed a “survival pack” your choice of water or bottled fruit drinks, an “empanada” sandwich and earphones for the video console that is directly in front of you that plays music, games or movies of many types. Of course they are all in Spanish. The seats are roomy, they lean back, it’s far more comfortable than the airlines.

the countryside was lovely everything from agricultural crops to avocado orchards to long needled pine trees reminiscent of the California mountains pines. We drove past this prison, I’ve seen a documentary on it and it wasn’t pretty,ours compared to this are resorts. I’m always impressed with how the Mexicans will make do and use what is available. But after driving through 3 other toll plazza that were manned by regular staff was was this on manned by a group of young people behaving rudely and collecting money.

I guess this road work crew ran out of orange cones. I do so enjoy mexico, everyday is an adventure. 2 14 15 Signing off KO

On the road toPatzcuaro

Our double decker bus was fantastic, a little scary in town on tight corners, but this is the only way I want to travel Mexico. And I do want to travel more. It is so much fun, so much amazement and so many “only in Mexico ” moments. We arrived at the bus station in Urupan and had no problem getting a bus to Patzcuaro. But literally it was the “chicken bus” as the folks across from us were traveling with “El gallo” in a box, whom I assume was a fighting cock. But a very well behaved rooster, we never heard a peep out of him. Dramamin, possibly??

We had preselected our hotel LA Parroguia

from a previous visit and thought it was on the main square, but the main square was a block or so away. While we liked the hotel, the young woman at the desk was less than accommodating as she had no patience with my limited spanish. There is no heat in the hotel, but wonderful heavy blankets we found in a drawer that kept us from being to cold. Nights and morings are COLD, daytime very pleasant. We tried to arrange the tour we wanted at the front desk and gave up and went to the tourist office at the main square. Very, very helpful, especially since he spoke perfect english and helped us arrange a tour. The guide we wanted was already booked, But he came and met us at the office and offered us us son and daughter. The son spoke no english, but his sister spoke quite well. We kindly accepted his offer appreciating the excellant customer service. We enjoyed the tour very much, saw a lot even though it wasn’t quite what I anticipated. We saw lots of very ancient churches, towns with very narrow, rough, cobble stone streets,

pyramids dating back to the 8th century, 2 funerals,one rich, one poor. Saw horses and cattle grazing loose, but none of the local craftsmen at work. Missed the pictureof the cart pulled by 2 ox. Nonetheless it was a great day.

Church

I’ve been using my limited spanish a lot here as not many speak english. I do the reading of menus and the ordering of meals for the Senor and myself . I’m a much more adventurous eater than the Senor. He needs to know what is in everything before taking a chance. So far everything I’ve eaten has been an adventure and a good one at that. Can’t wait for dinner.

I’m in a bit of computer hell here, I can only get the tablet to work which won’t let me caption pictures, or move them to the right place so please bear with me

chicken box. Signing off KO

BIG BUSES, LITTLE BUSES, HUGE BUSES AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION

I have never ridden a bus in my home town. One of my job skills when I worked at the Work Release facility was teaching our “residents” how to travel the county by bus within very exact time constraints, but i never rode the bus. A couple of years ago my friend Babe and I rode the Greyhound bus from Montana to Tacoma Wa after delivering my granddaughter’s truck to her at Yellowstone. And it was not a comfortable trip, one I would not want to do again. But here in Mexico I am a bus rider. Here in Zihuatanejo they range from super luxurious to how the hell do they keep it on the road.

There is a huge fleet of little combi buses, they are vans out fitted with benches all the way around and standing room in the center, I have been on one with 19 other folks, very crowded, very mexican.They are very inexpensive, 7 pesos around town. You never have to wait more than a few minutes and they go everywhere. Unfortunately there is no printed schedule or bus route map so I don’t know where half of them go. Or which ones will take you to some of the places I might want to go, so I walk one way and it’s easy once you are there to take any bus that says El Centro and you’ll get back to our part of town. So 7 pesos vs 25 pesos for a cab in town,and 10 pesos vs 65 pesos to go to Ixtapa, I’m learning the bus system. A few more years and I’ll be expert, able to teach everyone how to use it

The other day I went to the bus station and bought tickets for a first class bus trip to Patzcuaro for our 2-3 day mid February side trip.. This should be real luxury as our tickets are for the second floor with the vista dome windows, these buses usually come complete with a stewardess and are far more luxurious than 1st class airplane travel. Out of necessity I did the entire transaction with my fractured spanish, I had a little trouble with the word “piso” which is within my learned vocabulary, but momentarily forgotten. But we soon got it straightened out that I did want the 2nd “floor” on the bus, and the 2 very front seats.
The waiters in town speak very good english, but the personal at the bus station nada, nunca, none.

The Senor teases me about my Spanish, but I know he appreciates what I have learned as he stays at the apartment and sends me out to buy tickets, or hands me money and asks me to order meals, or other purchases. We will see how well I do on our adventure to Lake Patzcuaro tomorrow. It will be just a 3 day outing with my goal being the trip around the lake to visit the villages where each one specializes in a certain craft. I have no idea as to Internet availability or if I will be able to post, but I’m really looking forward to this side trip. 2 10 15 Signing off KO

77 AND STILL ROCKS THE HOUSE

Friday was Jim Mamou’s 77th birthday, and it was quite the party. One we almost missed. Being both retired and on vacation mode we can get a little fuzzy on days and dates, and we were sure that it was only Thursday, not Friday. Sure glad we figured it out in time to be there.

The Senor dancing with our friend Josephine while Jimmi played "Josephine" — The Senor dancing with our friend Josephine while Jimmi played “Josephine”

Daniel’s was packed with admiring fans. Jimmi has been entertaining fans in Zihuatanejo for the past 12 years after having come as a featured performer at “Guitarfest” and never left. And for that we are thankful.

Jimmi and Kim — Jimmi and Songstress Kim Marcoux

Nobody plays good old rock and roll, and blues any better. Jimmi had everyone was on their feet dancing. Jimmi wife, Judy also entertained us with a song and graciously shared with us a short bio on Jimmi’s music career and the greats he has played with. Also joining Jimmi in song was the blues songstress Kim Marcoux. The entire event was filmed , so maybe next year we might find or selves on his next CD.

Computer issues are sure slowing me down, we arrived with a laptop, a net book and a tablet and of course the smart phone. The Laptop is the Senor’s TV which we access through streaming from our home TV system. The others are for me to play with. Well the net book has died, stuck on “resolving picture issue” that even a “control alt delete” won’t stop stop it. My tablet is so new, I’m just barely able to use it, and still haven’t been able to edit pictures with it. I do better (not good) editing on the smart phone. So getting time on the computer can be a challenge so my blog seems to run a little behind. I guess it is also on “Mexican time”. 02 09 15 Signing off KO

SAILFEST IS UPON US

Xpresion Immune

Projects that Sailfest did for the community in 2014

This first week of February is full of Sailfest activities, there is definitely something for everyone. And it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet folks from all over the world and do some good for the children of Zihuatanejo. Last night at the concert the opening with the “The Brothers Mendosa” very traditional mexican strolling trubadores, followed by the very talented Mexican gentleman whose name I can’t remember, and should have as he was excellent singing a variety of songs about Zihuatanejo.

Next on the bill was the very, non traditional Mexican hold time rock and roll band,

Xpresion Immune. These young Mexican musicians had all most everyone up on their feet dancing and swaying to the music. They have become favorite of the snowbird crowd who first became acquainted with them last year when they played on the street for tips, hopefully someone will help them get a Cd together. They would really sell here. The next group was the extremely popular rock and roll band headed up by long time, Zihuatanejo musician Steve Calvert that also had the same effect on the crowd, having everyone on their feet rocking and rolling to the music we all grew up with. We were disappointed that Michelle LaValle had to cancel as she is one of our favorites, so as Steve was winding up the hour was getting late for the Senor ,we headed out for a night cap at the Flophouse bar.

Thursday is the Senor’s favorite event, the chili cook off and silent auction. The Senor loves the chili as long as it doesn’t have too much heat, and I don’t care for spicy at all and just stick with the key lime pie. The Senor also loves an auction, something about the thrill of the win.

Since we had won 2 dinners the night before through the raffles, we decided that we would plan on just picking up 2 more dinners. These auctions can become a contest of who is more determined than who to win despite the cost, but

the Senor was on his best behavior and when the prices got to high he said well we can just go there anyway. Our big desire was the lunch at La Chula Vida on Playa Blanca, as we had one of our most memorable evenings there last year with friends, but we will just have do it on our own as it wasn’t to be ours this year. A couple of dinners later the auction was over for us and we retreated to the shade. Another great event, another great day. Only to be followed by Fridays sail boat parade, another day another story. 02 05 2014 Signing off KO

FROM FRUIT TO ART

I’m really enjoying my morning routine of walking to the pool, swimming, then busing back to el mercado, do a little shopping for fresh fruits, veggies and eggs on pretty much a daily basis. At home this is a chore, I would do once or twice a month, but here it is an adventure. I’ve tried several different fruit vendors and have settled on one that will help me select what I need if I ask. I used to deal with one where a grouchy lady took the money and would select my avocados, but twice in a row she gave me over ripe avocados, so now I go else where. Some of the amazing art isn’t in galleries but on walls for all to enjoy.

Horse race mural on wall coming back from the pool

Also the fruit cart man stops by our apartment and today I was able to buy just a baggie of papaya. A whole papaya is too much for us even thought we frequently breakfast on just a variety of fruits.

I do ok at the fish mercado, but when it comes to meat at the carnecerias I just don’t see anything I recognize as a steak for the Senor. So I buy them at the commercial.

I really enjoy the many art galleries here. I have learned that I can’t afford art so I treat these galleries as one would a museum, look but don’t touch, ask before phtographing. But art casn be found in many, many places here.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

We have been watching with interest the removal and repair of the tile overhang on the side-walk across the street. Two of the buildings lost their overhang in last year’s good Friday earthquake, and the third just needed replacing. The Mexican people work very hard, and with little help from modern technology. This is a project of labor with only the barest of hand tools. I’m amazed and somewhat horrified at what is being used as scaffolding for the ensuring work, and the fact that the men work in “hurrachies “instead of steel toed boots while working with huge bags of cement, heavy tiles and timbers. The Senor groans every time he sees two men on a ladder, or coming down the ladder like a stair case. His years of working”hazmat” and being safety officer just have him shaking his head. They mix the cement on the flat roof of one of the buildings, then shovel it into a 5 gallon bucket, lower it by rope to the fellow below who then carries up the ladder to the top of the form for the supporting pillars, pours the contents in, goes down the ladder , throws the bucket up, to the man on the roof while getting the next bucket off the rope. All this is happening with pedestrians walking under this construction project and two children playing in front of their mothers shop. Absolutely fascinating, no TV for us today this is real life drama. Almost no power tools, the wood is notched with a machete, they work very hard through the heat of the day and are real craftsmen. I am so impressed but at the same time fear for their safety.

When they clean up at the end of the day, they do their best to block off holes the holes they have dug so no one falls in them, but none of the yellow tape we are so used to seeing around construction projects is ever used

Had a nice dinner at La Vita Bella, the Senor loves their Spaghetti and they have good fish. Then met friends at the Flophouse for a couple of drinks. I sure miss the music they used to have, but it is still one of the nicest friendliest bars in town. Then on to the Baracruda for some music ending up at Zorros for a night-cap. We haven’t been out in a week or two but sure made up for it last night. (The Senor is still napping) The Baracruda was featuring a Mexican trio who were quite good and the crowd was lively, so lively that a couple of

Music was so good you would dance with anyone available

fellows got silly dancing with each other, when one sat down and the other sat in his lap bumping our table, drinks hit the floor, glasses broke I got a bit wet, but” no problema’. The gentlemen kindly bought us new drinks, all part of the fun. I think I have finally discovered my drink, Sangria which is basically a red wine punch. It comes in a tall glass, is very refreshing, very pretty and not too potent. I’ve never been a “sipper”, the Senor reminds me “your not drinking coffee” so I like a tall drink or it disappears too quickly. While I like white wine, it’s quite expensive and you only get served half a glass. That has always frustrated me. So Sangria it is.

ANOTHER GREAT ZIHUATANEJO DAY

A quick trip to El Mercado on my return trip from the pool has now convinced The Senor on the wisdom of Mercado shopping. The bulk of our supplies we get at the comercial, but he always wants to get eggs and some produce while we are there. The produce is never as good and the eggs are more expensive. This morning I got a flat of 15 eggs for almost 1/2 of what he paid at commercial for a dozen. I think I have him convinced.

Our cleaning lady showed up a day early this week, we usually do a beach day when she comes but this through our schedule into a tizzy and we at last decided we go visit La Bodega as we haven’t been there yet this year. Surprisingly enough the Senor suggested we walk there. It’s so good to get him out of the room and moving around a bit. La Bodega is basically on the back side of the pool complex so at least we knew the way. We did a little shopping, had just two bags so we took the bus back. We are reallylearning to live and travel the Mexican way.

Lights of Zihuatanejo in the background.

In the evening it was the “Chic Party” held on the enormous patio of this lovely home high up the hill next to Amueleto where the view is to die for. Especially the sunset. This is pretty much an open invitation party where all “interesting” ladies are welcomed. I’d guess the crowd at maybe 150. There were some local crafts people displaying their wares. I bought 2 pair of one of a kind type shoulder duster earnings that I thought would be fun to wear. Ladies from Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo and all parts of Canada and the US were there, giving everyone a chance to greet old friends and make new . A very pleasant day.

My dear friend Cathie ,who first introduced us to Mexico, suggested I might date my postings. I think that’s a great and helpful suggestion as some times I’m writing about yesterday or even two days ago or both. So when I sign off I’ll let you know what day I rambling about. 1/22/15 Signing off KO

EGGS AND OTHER ISSUES

I’m getting in to a new morning routine of walking out to the pool, swimming for 30 minute then taking the bus back works for me. I’m always amused by the differences that make Mexico so charming. On my walk to the pool I noticed an attractive building that was an architect and construction company, the appearance would lend credabilitycredibility to the company. But as you look higher up the building to the second story, the attractiveness ends. The paint job only

went up half way. The residents up stairs I guess are responsible for their exterior area. My gringo attitude says the architect is

WeI going a dozen eggs — Weighing a dozen eggs

cheap and would cut corners.

I marvel at how eggs are sold by weight and packaged in plastic bags. But if the Senor goes out for eggs he takes a carton with him. I do marvel at the facts that eggs aren’t refrigerated here. That’s because they don’t pasteurized the eggs thereby ruining their natural protection. Lime is added to many things including mayonnaise, especially since there is no refrigerator in many homes.

Speaking of eggs we have planters at each end of our balcony . Both had an egg in them when we arrived. In one a pidgin has been nesting on this old egg on añd off. In the last couple of days she has added quite a bit of new nesting material so maybe she is ready to lay a fresh egg. I wish her sucess. Signing off KO

SALSA AND MORE

While the Senor was footballing again on Sunday, my agenda was to go to El Pirata on La Ropa to listen to the music and watch the salsa dancing. As luck would have it my balcony neighbors were

just leaving for La Ropa so we caught a cab together and headed for the beach. We found El Pirata no trouble, found shady spot to sit and enjoy the

afternoon and watch the dancing. It appears to be the “in” spot for a Sunday afternoon as just about everyone we know was there. Including the handsome cheese vendor from El Mercado. Who knew he dancer! A few drinks, some nachos and guacamole, a lovely sunset and another lovely day has come to an end. We took the bus back, and in the future I would take the bus the bus both ways.

Donna and the handsome cheese vendor Bernardo

Easy enough to do and cheap, 7.5 pesos.

This morning I set out to locate the municipal pool, I had information that it was olympic size and very nice. I used google earth to locate the pool and the streets that I need to walk to get there. I got to the sports park that it is located in, but still didn’t see the pool, a couple of quick questions and the parking lot attendant sent me toward it on the opposite side of the park, as a gentleman passed me I asked if I was going the right way to the pool. He understood my spanish but as luck would have it he spoke a little more english that I do spanish. And as always the mexican people are so willing to help he walked with me to the office/reception area and I checked with the lady as to the time it opens and making sure it was open to the public, and the cost 20 pesos, less than $1.40. I thanked my new friend Deno for all his help and said I would return manana. I checked my phone and it was 1.60 miles, an easy walk in the cool of the morning. (Yes there is an app for that). I can either walk back or take any “El Centro bus” . I’m not sure what bus I would take to get there, and I don’t mind the walk and maybe I’ll learn the bus system yet. At home when I was working, that was one of my great skills, teaching the inmates how to maneuver the county by bus. Kind of excited to be swimming again in nice clean pool. After swimming in the open ocean at Troncones which is clear and clean, I really didn’t want to go back to swimming at La Madera where my suit smells fishy after swimming. Signing off KO

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