statues in Zihuatanejo

Following the Yellow Brick Road

The newly complicated bike path has beckoned us like “the yellow brick road”. I frequently have walked on it to Soriana’s and one day asked where it ends and was told Ixtapa. Challenge was on, other friends had done the walk and survived so I rounded up my adventurous friend Bonny and suggested we do this and she agreed (with a barely audible groan.)

We had heard it was a 5 mile walk. Now I am no spring chicken, but Bonny is several years younger than me. We figured it was a challenge, but one that we were up to.

We started off early Tuesday morning, 7:00 am and expected to arrive in Ixtapa about 9:30. Weather was pleasantly cool at that hour of the day. I did need Bonny to walk at my pace, but we chatted on and it what seemed like minutes came to the place where the path heads left to Ixtapa instead of straight to Soriana’s. I had no idea what parts Zihuatanejo this path would take us but soon we crossed the main road where we could see the statues of the 4 ladies and knew where we were.

That was the last time we knew where we were until we spotted the new high school high on the hill overlooking the highway. Along the way we walked through Mexican neighborhoods where we were not only the only gringos, but the only ones using masks, watched a young lady doing her wash on a stone in a trickle of a creek. Saw a beautiful spread of purple and white morning glories but soon we were in a tunnel and going under the highway and approaching “THE HILL”.

The hill had been our concern as it is long and quite steep, and by this time it was about 8 O’clock.

To our surprise the hill wasn’t bad, we just put one foot in front of the other, stoped only once for a breather and soon were at the top. We stopped to take a picture of 3 Mexican girls doing it on bicycles, used their camera so all 3 could be in the picture and we headed down to Ixtapa. It’s a lovely trip down to Ixtapa and finally we were on flat ground.

But I swear we walked 2 miles (or at least it seamed like it) through the back residential area of Ixtapa before our path brought us to the “Los Patios” area. That was the longest part of the trip. By this time we knew we had been walking for a couple of hours up and down hills and the body was reminding us of that fact.

But here it was 9:26 and we are at Deborah’s ordering the largest breakfast they had. After breakfast we wandered through some of the stores congratulated ourselves with Margaritas at Zorros and finally went to my favorite store when it opened. I went in to buy a blouse and came out with a dress instead and across the way I bought two hats and Bonny found a gift for a friend.

Combi’s looked empty so we took a combi back to Zihuatanejo and were home by one ish. I will admit to having my knees remind me every time I get up from a sitting position that I gave them a real work out today.

It was a great adventure, it’s great to have friends like Bonny to adventure with. Signing off KO

A VISIT TO EL DOCTOR

The street where we live from the balcony

For the last several days I’ve had a bit of a sore throat that bothers me mostly at night. during the day with enough food and drink It’s not been as uncomfortable. But in the evening my voice gets horse and at night it feels dry as sand paper. So I wake up a hundred times a, night drink water, but no real relief. Since I am extremely healthy I thought it might just run its course and go away. Well not the case, so I decided to go to the doctor. Two or three years ago I got the same sore throat, but at that time the Dr. Grayeb was just around the corner, and I probably would have gone sooner if he was still there. Now he is several blocks away and I vaguely remember how to get there, and decide to walk. But was smart enough to take a map. I knew the far side of the market just beyond Kyoto Circle, and bless his heart there is a sign on Las Palamas pointing the direction. There is always a couple of folks waiting to see him but my wait was very short. I got a shot 2 prescriptions and I already feel better today.

Dr. Grayeb told me to drink some orange juice with in 20 minutes of receiving the shot. so on my way back I

bought a little bottle of OJ but due to an ongoing digestive issue I was only able to get 1/2 the bottle down, I was a bit concerned that might slow everything down. I filled my prescriptions but wasn’t feeling to good-by the time I got back home. Slept all afternoon and didn’t wake up till 6:30 spoiling our plans to go to see “The secret Life of Walter Mitty” in Ixtapa. I was pissed, with no one to blame but my self (and the Senor for not walking me up). The Senor could care less and he has his TV. At home we never go to movies maybe once or twice a year. I love movies and here is willing to go as often as they change. Also there is a clothing shop not far from the movie theatre that I like, and since my weight loss I’ve dropped 3 sizes and was hopping to do some shopping before the movie.

All’s well that ends well, I feel one hundred percent better this morning and looking forward to going to El Pueblito to-night to see the young group of Mexicans that have been doing street performances under our balcony twice a week. This is their debut “professional appearance “IMPRESSIONS INMUNE” doing a benefit

concert for aid for the home for seniors in Zihuatanejo. In Mexico the culture is that families take care of the aged, but if you don’t have family you are in a tough spot. From everything I hear the senior home has great need. I believe it is a $10 donation to get in, and while these kids don’t speak any English, they sing in English the Beatles, CCR fantastically and also a Latin Salsa number that makes you want to get up and dance. Signing off KO

One of the beautiful statues in Zihuatanejo

I LOST MY FAN

I arrived in Zihuatanejo with 2 fans, lost the first one the very first day. Probably left it in the cab going to the Commercial as I was not yet in the habit of carrying one every where I went. To most folks this would be minor inconvenience, for me a small disaster, but I have a spare. That is until yesterday, when I must have dropped my fan in the movie theatre when I stood up to leave. The issue is I perspire, not only do I perspire I sweat like the proverbial pig. Especially my scalp and face. It’s embarrassing, and if anyone has a better solutions than I have come up with please let me know. My friend Cathie (who first introduced me to Mexico) gave me a sort of headband/scarf with elastic band across the back so it fold up compact but opens up to fit your head like a cap. Originally I used it so I could snorkel and not sun burn my scalp and made several extras. But now I have learned to wet them, keep them in the refrigerator and put it on under my hat, cold & wet before I go out. It acts as a sweat band and protect my eyes, and while it doesn’t totally solve the problem it reduces the issue and keeps me cooler with less perspiration. This in addition to a fan and a wash cloth to dab away with I maintain comfort even though I look like a drippy mess.

So my last fan disappears and I have to bargain with the “Fan Man” for a new fan, but this one is too big to fit in my purse. Anyway I got him down from 50 to 20 pesos and I think that’s 10 more than I paid last year, but I have it and am happy.

It’s Super Bowl Sunday in Zihuatanejo and almost every bar and restaurant has the specials and the game going. I’m not a fan, nothing against football I’m just not a fan, but the Senor is and has his favorite bar to watch it at. So Sunday evening I’m a football widow, which gives me a chance to just wander the streets and admire the beautiful statues that are placed around town. Each statue represents a specific area of the state of Guerrero which I am in. My favorite is “The Pescadore” the fisherman, which just doesn’t photograph well, but certainly speaks of not only the past but of the present of Zihuatanejo. I visit him on a regular basis.

oNE OF MANY STATUES — ONE OF MANY STATUES

After a dinner of Pescadillos at Daniels I return to my balcony to listen to the beautiful Mexican music being featured this Sunday evening Zocolo. I can hear it like I was there and here I have a place to sit and glass of wine and no crowds. Can’t beat that. From time to time I hear the roar of approval from the crowds at the bars as the Super Bowl continues. I do love my balcony, my view of this small part of our world. Signing off KO

Another Adventure into the Wilds of Mexico

Well not exactly the wilds, but out into the countryside.

We had won on a raffle tickets to “El Refugio de Potosi”, the wildlife eco park. We decided Friday would be a good time to go, it had sprinkled the night before and was very cloudy with sprinkles predicted for the day. And we thought that it would have been better for viewing the wildlife when it’s cooler and they are more active. We had the brochure, so we knew the hours and days of operation and once again we plan to take the bus. We have been there before and we know the name of our bus stop, Los Achotes, as you pay by your destination when you get off. We knew it would cost each of us 13 pesos or about a dollar each way for the 10 mile ride. This bus stops at every cross roads or when anyone waves it down. After getting off at Los Achotes, we then catch the” passajara” which is a big pickup truck with benches on the sides and a tarp canopy over the top for the next 5 miles to the Refugio. It has no schedule, it just leaves when the driver feels he has enough passengers, we are the first to climb on and eventually we are joined by 6 other Mexican passengers and off we go. It stops long enough at the entrance to the Refugio for to get off and it goes another 3-4 miles to Barre de Potosi village and lagoon where there are many ocean side restaurants, outside palapa type are located.

As we approached the entrance we see the gate to the parking lot is shut, and a sign is posted on the gate that very clearly says in spanish, new hours of operation only open Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. Even I can read it with my limited language skills. Now we are literally 3 – 4 miles from anywhere and no clue as to when a “passajara” will pass by again. We decide we will go on to Barra de Potosi for lunch rather than just return back to Zihuatanejo. At this time we didn’t know quite how far it was to Barra de Potosi and rather than stand around waiting we decided we would walk and if we got tired we’d flag down what ever passed by first, passajara or taxi. We hadn’t gone far when a taxi came by and we climb in and rode the rest of the way and glad we did as it was a good 3-4 miles.

I’ve only been to Barre de Potosi a couple of times and there are these very large eating establishments, many, many picnic tables on the sand and covered from the weather with tarps and no one there. I think they get quite busy on weekends with mexican families and large groups. We picked one at random, ordered our drinks, asked the waiter how many oysters were in an order he said 12 so we decided to share an order of oysters. My spanish is limited to nouns and verbs and simple phrases and I do ok in restaurants and stores reading menus and asking simple questions. We had read the menu it listed several types of fish and how they were cooked, but the oysters were just listed as “ostiones” (sp?) and sure enough we were brought 12 raw oysters on the half shell. Now one or two raw oysters I can do but not a whole plate of them, I finally was able to convince him that we wanted them cooked, cocido was as close as I could remember and yes he brought them back beautifully cooked and we had a great lunch before returning to Zihuatanejo.

A siesta, dinner by candle light on our balcony, then Senor opted to stay in and watch TV while I went out to watch our “local boys” play at Pacalos. Just another interesting day in paradise. signing off KO

Laundry, statues and dinner out & Jimmi Mamou

Zihuatanejo is very beautiful with some very old buildings and lots of statues. After getting some photography tips from my sister I set out to photo graph some of the statues they have around the city. My favorite is El Pescador, the fisherman and I’ve been trying for years to get a decent photo of him, one that shows some of the details and workmanship, at last I have one that’s ok. This morning was to be laundry day, but due to some hot water issues in this building we are no longer able to use the roof top laundria. So I filled our rolling cart and a carry bag and took it to the laundria a couple of blocks away. It is either do it your self or they do it. Naturally we let them do it. A full weeks worth including towels and beach towels cost about $11 US money. Taking it was no problem as I split into two bags, picking it up was a different story. One large bundle sealed in plastic, by the time I go back to the apartment I was sweating so profusely that the bag was slipping out of my arms. I told the Senor that either he picks it up next time or we launder twice a week. And of course his reply was, “no problem we can launder twice a week!”

It’s Sat nite and we are going out to dinner, I put on a dress for the big occasion, and we went down to Porto de Mare, sat right on the “Paseo de Pescadores” walk of the fishermen , had a great dinner I had my cold avocado soup and a little of the Senor’s fillet done Vera Cruz style. While we were there Gabino came by doing the woven bracelets and we had him do a couple for us to bring home for grandchildren. It amazes me how fast he can weave them and still carry on a conversation you. He told us how he learned to do them from his Mama, and as a small child he started weaving hammocks. He said it takes about 2 days to weave a hammock. Then on to see Jimmi Mamou, it was a short performance as someone hit his car, fortunately there were witnesses but he had to find an interpreter and take care of that business. So we went on to the “Beachcomber Bar” just at the end of our block for a nite cap before going home. It’s a cute little bar, right on the corner with out 6-8 chairs right on the side-walk and about 6 inside. Some day I’ll get a picture of it. We find that consuming a bit of liquor on Saturday nights is helpful, as one of the bars in our neighborhood doesn’t start music until 11 PM and was just closing

at 6:30 AM when I got up this morning. The other bar that caused us a sleepless night seems to have quieted down, anyway a bit of booze and earplugs and we sleep good. This morning the Senor fixed a marvelous breakfast of watermelon, mangos and papaya’s. I can’t think of any better breakfast. Signing off KO

Election day in Mexico

Some of the many beautiful ststues in Zihuatanejo — Statue in the zocolo or main plazaMorning street view fom my balconyFisherman in the morning

: From the balcony towards the bay