Zihua Pancake house – Zihuathyme

MY NETBOOK HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY ALIENS

Well not exactly aliens, but Mexican pop up advertising that won’t go away until I log off completely. So now I’m sharing the big computer with the Senor. Now the main purpose of the big computer is to watch TV which we access “Sling Media” thru our home satellite giving us the exact same programing we have at home. From the computer we use a USB cord to send it to the flat screen TV. It’s all magic to me, but it works and the Senor is blissful spending huge amount of time watching all his favorites. We will see how well this sharing works. Fortunately he sleeps later than me and goes to bed earlier.

I set out yesterday to check out the fabric store one more time as I wanted to buy that nice gauzy, no need to iron fabric that the store carry lots of shirts and pants made from. None to be found there, now it looks to me to be the most popular fabric for shorts and pants ready-made, but no fabric on bolts. This amazes me. But then many thing in Mexico amaze me, some good some puzzling. I like the fact that things are repaired and not just discarded. With in a two block radius I found 2 electrical repair shops repairing everything from washers, refrigerator s to microwaves and other small appliances, and a TV repair shop where he works on the covered side walk where it is cooler. There are a half-dozen shoe repair shops in El Centro, but at home we only have 2 shoe repair shops in the entire county and they are 20 miles apart. I do find it puzzling that I can’t find the fabric I would like and the fact there are no patterns in the fabric store. But such is Mexico.

Small statue of El Pecador. If I were wealthy it would be mine.

Coming back from the fabric store I stopped to buy 2 DVD’s that I’ve been wanting to see, Philomena and Nebraska. We’ve had poor luck seeing the movies at the theatre we wanted to see here. One turned out to be in Spanish even though it was listed as in English and last night we opted to see the late showing of American Hustle when we arrived at 9 we were told it was only at 6:30, even though the sign says it’s also at 9. From now on we will be asking the nice young man at the box office way ahead of time and not believe everything we read. Before leaving for the movie we were treated to a man playing keyboard and singing opera below our balcony.

The man has a fantastic voice that filled the whole street with beautiful music. We laughed that he was the warm up performer for young band that plays under the balcony every Thursday and Saturday. It’s not that we don’t enjoy the band, but they have been serenading us twice weekly for almost 2 months now and we opted to go to the movie instead. Since we didn’t get to see the movie, we then opted for ice cream up on the street by the basketball court. I love Mexican ice cream, at home I would never order plain old bland vanilla, but here the vanilla has such a rich flavor and a beautiful color and is so good. On our way back we noticed the Baracruda had a sign out advertising the Steve Allen Show , and since they are favorites of ours we went in as did many others all waiting in anticipation. Don’t know what the issue was but an hour later when there was only recorded CCR music we left, as did everyone else in the place. The stage was still set with the salsa band’s equipment, we questioned it was a case of false advertising, but we don’t know the whole story yet.

Friday morning we went out for breakfast at the Pancake House. The Senor and I frequently order one meal and an extra plate and s

hare. This morning we ordered 3 hotcakes, juice and coffee and an extra plate so we could share. This was the first time we had every had our shared meal served quite this way, not that it’s a problem, just Mexico. On to the Commercial for probably our last shopping trip and back for siesta before going out to dinner tonight. Our days are so busy, but a slow relaxing busy. Signing off KO

Sunday started off with a bang, literally. Just after daylight, just after the noisy bar across from Zorro’s closed a very loud explosion type noise reverberated through the street. I was on my balcony and jumped up looking over the edge and asked a man standing at the corner “What was that? Then I noticed he was Policia Municipal and he just looked at me, a minute later he ran up the street away from my

building and then returned back to the corner. By the time I could get street clothes on and get down 2 flights of stairs no trace of the policia or anyone else was around. I had sincerely hoped that the noisy bar that just closed at 6:00 AM had suffered a devastating explosion but no such luck. I guess it will forever remain a mystery.We breakfasted out at the Zihua Pancake House, a great breakfast place. I have learned to order our breakfast in Spanish, my eggs benedict, with no bread or ham and his eggs over easy with roasted rosemary potatoes. The food always is always just like you want it there. We visited with a few acquaintances along the way back to the apartment and spent most of the day lazing around. TV, reading, talking, making plans for next year as we are becoming acutely aware that our time is drawing short and not once have we said “sure will be happy to get back home”. While our life here is not always exciting it is always interesting. We are never cold, the sun has shown on a daily basis our only stress is having lost all communication with the person we left in charge of handling our delivery business while we’ve been gone.

While I sat in one of my favorite beach front restaurants having ice cream and visiting with both strangers and friends I can’t help but marvel at beauty of Zihuatanejo, the happy friendly people, revel in the 85 plus weather with a cooling breeze coming off the bay, the fantastic food and am very happy in our decision to stay for 8 weeks next year.

We have learned to dress for the weather and have over the years bought most of our clothes that we are most comfortable in right here. Loose and comfortable tops stylish every time. I have learned that “manana” does not necessarily mean tomorrow, just simply not today. Mexican time isn’t precise, they have no problem making you wait rather than disappoint you. We have seen restaurant staff head out to the store to buy more butter when we asked for additional butter for our pancakes of course by the time they return the pancakes are cold or eaten or go to a restaurant across the street to get a glass of white wine for me when they didn’t have any.

The Senor’s hearing is bad in english and twice as bad in Spanish accented english. He is frequently answering questions he wasn’t really asked. I’ll give him credit though on our earliest trips he would only say “mas cervesas por favor” but has now has a vocabulary of about 20 words. Yet he seldom uses them and relies on me to ask the questions and translate the menus. And I don’t mind as I rely on him for many other things. I’m enjoying building on my vocabulary if only a few words a week.

The view from Lety's — The view from Lety’s

We took our gift certificate to Lety’s for dinner and it was truly an excellent meal. Steak for the Senor which he said was very tender and cooked exactly right, I tried the coconut shrimp and found it very good, I’m not big on coconut but I did find this to be as good as everyone in Zihuatanejo said it would be. The view from Lety’s is quit enjoyable, a nice breeze blowing in, families heading across the bridge to town for the Sunday Zocolo activities, boats coming in for the evening, some fishing boats just heading out. We took a doggie bag home and now look forward to enjoying it all again. signing off Ko

Adios Zihuatanejo

Sunday night in Zihuatanejo is always an experience and our last Sunday was no exception. A carnival had come to town and st up just a couple of blocks away. A very large carnival with lots of rides including roller coasters. Pretty much a rag-tag out fit compared to what we have come to expect with our Fathoms of Fun Celebration in Port Orchard. I’m usually up for most new experiences, but you couldn’t have paid me to get on one of their rides, especially in a country where there is no “liability issues”, which can translate to no safety regulations.

From the carnival I headed to the Zocolo to watch the dancers perform the native folk dances, couldn’t get close enough to get any good pictures, but as I turned to leave an impromptu Mardi Gras parade came thru, just a few folks with clever costumes complete with a band playing music. A great end to a last Sunday in Zihuatanejo!

Our last day in Zihuatanejo and so much of it is taken up with the organization of packing. We came with 2 large suitcases, and 2 small carry ons. when we arrived we picked up a carry on size suitcase we had left with our shopkeeper friend. This year we are leaving one of the large suitcases with our apartment manager which has everything from various kitchen items including our new crock pot to our beach and bath towels. some items are heavy others are just bulky and it just makes it easier if next year all we have to pack is our clothing and our personal care items and a couple of computers. So we are returning with 2 carry ons and one large suitcase. I think this is progress

So with the organizing done we head out for lunch after dropping off our laundry at the Laundaria. I had a great new soup, I think it was squash corn and poblano chile in a great broth, the Senor of course had a hamburger. We walked around town, visited with some friends for the last time this year, learned that pedicures cost 120 pesos, about 10 dollars. Surprisingly enough my manicure has lasted 6 weeks, I haven’t even changed polish while I’ve been here. That’s what a life of leisure (and a good manicurist) does for you.

We spent the afternoon in siesta mode, reading and watching TV then got real busy and went and picked up our nicely folded laundry and headed out for dinner. Being a “fish-aterian” I absolutely love the food here and always try new menu items. So tonight it was fish tacos al pastor, which was absolutely fantastic. Topped of with ice cream at our favorite ice cream shop. They have such a variety of wonderful flavors, with mango and capachino being near the top of the list. Tomorrow I will take what little produce we have left down to my chickens, and anything else left in our cupboards we will offer to our neighbor or our shopkeeper friend.

Tomorrow we will sadly pack the rest of our belongings,