Domingo Octubre 31, 2010

Buenos Noches!! Happy Halloween to all!!

It is one day early, but Happy Birthday to Nicole!!

Not a crazy day here as Domingo normally isn’t. Pan frances for mi desayunos as well as some sandia. Bex is 2 for 2 on her last sandia buying trips!!

Watched a great ESPN show on Fernando Valenzuela who pitched for the LA Dodgers in 1981 and for a several years after that. A great story about a Mexican ball player ,who made it big…earning $35,000 in his first year. They showed some signs from where he was raised, and we had stopped there on our first night in Mexcio, Navojoa….small World.

We decided to go to our playa so we loaded up the cooler and off we went. We store the beach chairs and umbrella in the back of the truck, so it is a quick get up and go situation.

Bexico drove and we were waved right through the military checkpoint at Copalita.

Threw up the umbrella, unfolded the chairs and we were ready to go. The waves were great today and it would have been great for both surfing and boogie boarding. Once we don’t have to linger around the condo waiting for any phone line related matters, we are headed to Puerto Escondido to buy a board and maybe a boogie board too.

So, some body surfing and wave crashing, followed by some shell and rock inspecting and then it was chill in the sun time. Due to the heat, cold beverages quickly followed this and then some reading of books in the shade of the beach umbrella. The cooler is supreme!!

We were soooo relaxed (no that we have anything to be stressed about) and are so excited for the time when we will be on the playa full time. We saw a new house, on a lot a few rows off the beach. It is a small house owned by a gal from Vancouver. We haven’t met yet, but a few years ago we did bat an email back and forth.

Roman constructed this house and it will draw water from wells and will be solar powered.

After a few hours we decided to head home and as we were driving back to the highway, we came upon this trail.

There were thousands of hormigas making their way across the dirt road. In the past, we have seen conejos (rabbits) bouncing around there in the dark.

I drove back and of course we had the full search on the way back through Copalita. No issue and it only took 2 or 3 minutes. The soldier was very thorough and we respect that he has a job to do.

We saw a new park called the Copalita Ecological Park and pulled in for a look. A guard approached us, and it looked like it was close to closing time, so we just asked for a moment to read the posted area map.

It looks like there are archaeological as well as ecological items in the park and we will be back to check it out soon.

The streets are quiet as peeps are doing the family thing for the next few nights. But we did see this taxi…..

This one is from a playa called la Entrega, just past Santa Cruz. Not sure who Vicente Guerrero is, but entrega means surrender and I suspect Vicente had something to do with someone surrendering.

So there it is folks.

We are going out for dinner tonite and will ask for la carta (the menu) to see if we can find some new eats…not that we don’t enjoy Los Portales!!

On our walk home, I am sure we will be picking up one of Bexico’s newest treats…truly Mexican popsicles. For $5 pesos you get this frozen agua y limon popsicle…they are better then the ones in Canada!! Bex loves the limon ones but I saw 5 or 6 different flavors.

6pm…already dark out.

Hey, can someone tell us when clocks change in both Vancouver and Toronto? Gracias.

Until manana,

saludos

LATE BREAKING UPDATE

We are at Blue using the wi fi after having a great cena at an Italian restaurant...will tell you all about it manana. The zoloco is packed and there are quite a few families with their ninos dressed up in costumes.

Sabado Octubre 30, 2010 #2

Buenos Noches!! Here is the Sabado update for the Bex and Bubba Mexican Adventure blog!!

This morning I took these photos on the way to Blue.

Dia de muerto is coming up and the streets were a buzz with people selling flowers, candles and comidas for people to buy and use when they honor and remember people in their families who have passed on. Tonite we saw many more orange flowers and lots of naranje or possibly mandarin oranges for sale. There is definitely some custom behind this. 

As mentioned in a previous blog, the food, candles and flowers will be left on graves or around the alters people have set up in their homes.

I have struggled to find out the real meaning of Dia de Muertos as it really isn’t Halloween. One explanation was that kids will be walking around in costume on October 31 looking for peso coins or candy. The other explanation is that November 1 the young kids will go out and then on November 2 the grande (older not larger) kids will go out.

Our calendar states November 2 as Dia de Muertos and Gimeli said that banks etc are actually closed on that day. We will find out and get back to you. We did see a poster for a “dress your pet up” event and might try and find it manana.

And to add to the confusion, I was told and have confirmed with another source, that the clocks here in Huatulco fall back esta noche (tonight), not next week. Oh well. But it does effect alberca time as today the complete alberca was in shade at 5pm, and that means manana it will be 4pm…2pm is the new pool time!!

After my blog update this morning and pounding off a few emails, I hit up Lalo on the way back to the condo. He wants me to review a second website for the jewelry store and we also caught up on the ac remote etc. Now that we know where to buy these remotes, he will tell anyone that is looking for one, to get a hold of me, I will then buy them and split the $100 peso profit with the boys at the shop. Welcome to business 101 in Mexico.

Here is a little something Lalo has at the store and brings out every now and then. It makes Bexico howl with laughter.

Came home and Bexico was already gone…off to the internet and to buy some veggies. I went to the gym…not much to see on the route today, but here is your taxi photo!!

Arrocito is the small community 5 minutes away from Super Che. Our landlords Rick and Heidi have a house there. Nice community and some sweeeet houses with ocean views.

Gym was good…pretty empty as most Sabados have been. Logan, Gimeli’s hijo was there and he seems to like hanging with me. Ayer, I saw them at Che and he ran up to give me a high five.

I rode the bike and he tried to ride the one next to me. He is 5 or 6 so he isn’t that big, but wanted to try and keep up with me. Lol  He is a good person to talk to because he does not speak Ingles (except the numbers 1 to 5), but it really makes you realize your skill level when you cannot keep up with a 6 year olds Espanol.

He knows I do not speak a lot of Espanol, but he looks at me strangely when I tell him I did not understand a sentence he has just spoken. It is probably a simple sentence, but he says it fast and I cannot pick up or do not understand the words yet.

Our conversations are wide ranging and sometimes include only a few words. Today we talked about hamburgers, french fries, escolar (school) as well as being tener after riding the bike and needing agua. He went downstairs to pick up his naranja (orange) Gatorade.

Walked home and then we hit the alberca for our float. And that takes us up to now, 7pm and time for la cena..hamburguesa y con queso por Bexico!!

Hasta luego.

915pm...sitting on the curb updating and posting the blog. We will then have some romantica time as we take a walk around the zoloco!!

Until manana,

saludos

Sabado Octubre 30, 2010 #1

Hola!! It is Sabado and sorry to all looking for Vierne’s blog update. I actually went to Blue at 1030pm last night, but could not get a connection.

So here is ayer’s update and a photo taken right before I headed out last night.

This insect was almost 3 inches long and hung onto the outside of our window for quite a while.

Howdy!! Happy Viernes to all!!

It was a great night, my meeting with Roman went well, and it has also been a successful day.

Anoche (last night) we first gave Lalo his cumpleanos cupcake and the home made card Bex had printed up. I have called Lalo the Calabaza when he wears this shirt.

He appreciated both gifts. Across from the jewelry shop where he works, is the town square, the zocalo. We heard some activity coming from the bandstand so we went to take a look.

It was a large group of young adults and some people in the bandstand wearing masks that represented ex-Mexican presidents. Some of the younger people were wearing parts of Halloween costumes. Not sure what the event was really about, but here are some photos.

I met Roman at 730pm and 3.5 hours later we were done our cervezas, a poco comida and a lot of discussion regarding Mojon, our actual property, construccion as well as some discussion about Mexico as a whole.

Mojon

·      Water level is only high because of time of year…beach is not disappearing

·      Big development project is being discussed for an area west of Mojon. Could positively impact land values and well as infrastructure over the next 10 years.

·      The property with the closure sign on it did not conduct their environmental study and was fined $300,000 pesos. The owner, a Nacional, will probably walk away as she does not have the $$.

·      Property next to ours has a ½ finished structure and has been that way for years. It might be for sale and we will look into the price, only so we can pull that ugly structure down.

·      Government does not want electric lines visible. If there ever is power, it will probably be underground wiring. I like that.

·      Once every 3 years some big wave action comes into Mojon and takes a chuck of sand, generally from Abel’s (a local old timer) property.

Our property, and in order of importance:

·      Need to conduct Federal zone survey first. This takes two weeks and determines if any of the property is actually on Federal land. The survey costs $6900 Cdn for the complete playa (beach) as well as $640 for a minimum of 10 official land markers. If any of the land is Federal (and I am sure some of ours is), then we pay another $3000 Cdn to have all the paperwork drawn up for a Federal lease.

We will send out an email to all the beach front owners and see who wants to chip in for this. If they do not pay now but want to use the markers later for their own survey, we collect $$ from them.

Officials in Mexico City determine the marker locations, and then the local guy uses GPS to accurately place them. Not 100% sure how it works, but the rule is 20 metres from high tide marks the end of the Federal zone. This includes property right on the beach, and if it was on a cliff over looking the beach. It is meant to ensure public access at all times, even though we would not expect to see people camped out in front of the villas, as a public beach, they have the right to walk there.

·      The Federal lease process takes a year but is cheap. If the complete 900 m2 property was in the Federal zone, the annual lease would be $864 pesos…$80 Cdn. As it was shown to me, the survey line is normally not straight across, as it goes with the lay of the land.

·      Next up would be the Environmental study. This is a fairly new process, but can take 6 months to one year to be completed. Don’t have a quote yet, but was given a $75k peso ($6500 Cdn) ball park figure. The study has some meaning behind it, but construccion guys like Roman all believe it is another money grab.

·      Bank Trust or Mexican corporation is next. Currently only Nacionals can own beach property. Foreigners need to have a bank trust or their own Mexican corporation.

The big differences? Bank trust you pay $2500 Cdn to set it up, $300 Cdn annually, and the property is actually in the bank’s name. In a corporation, it costs $1400 Cdn to set up, your corporation owns the property and you can write off all costs associated with the build as well as fees associated. Yes you need an accountant and file regular reports, but a corporation is the recommended route if we plan on running the villas as a business (as we plan to do).

Roman can assist with all these processes and charges a fee for these services. It is worth the $$ because he speaks both languages, knows the systems and also knows the people in the “game”. He will not charge for assisting in the Federal zone and lease if he can get a survey marker for his property for free and if he does not need to pay for the actual work. It is a fair deal.

·                     Our property taxes for 2010 were $610 pesos, or $50 Cdn

Construccion

·         I saw some current quotes and designs from his company. I really liked one of the three and we reviewed some ideas we have for our villas

·     

W  Wood frames for windows is a nice upgrade…looks and will feel upper end vs aluminum

·       

 H  His current quotes range from $117 US/square foot for the main villas he is building, $77 for garages (4    concrete walls and a roof), $9 for landscaping and he just installed a small solar system for $28k US.

·     

H   He likes the idea of semi underground parking for the cars (under the villas), as it frees up a lot of surface area and allows for more flexibility

·        

      One of his designs included the split level dining/living room that I had shown him last year!!

At the end of the day, Roman is a good guy but he is still a business man looking for my dollars. We will continue to work with him on all these surveys etc and possibly into some design components, but we also know of other designers and builders here in town, and will ensure we are getting the best bang for the buck before we build.

It is important to not only have the correct design, but the quality of the finished product here in Mexico varies greatly. We want the tradicional (Espanol) Mexican feel, with a modern twist to it and the construccion and finish needs to be up to North American standards.

If we were just flopping here in Huatulco, it wouldn’t be as critical, but the level of quality built into the villas, is part of the over all business plan. We cannot charge what we will be charging if the product does not support it.

So, overall a great meeting and I have Roman quoting me on some small projects that might get accomplished over the next few weeks.

So, that brings us to hoy (oy…today).

Bex was up early doing some work and after I got up and had breakfast, it was off to gym and a few errands. I was on the hunt for the a/c remote as well as a stop at Che, so I took the truck. We really do not use the truck much and have spent a total of $50 Cdn on gas in the 5 plus weeks we have been here.

Ayer (yesterday), I was told by Lalo that one of the refrigeration stores we had visited but had was cerrado (due to siesta), DOES carry the a/c remote. The store is in a neighborhood I had not been to, but I managed to retrace the route and when I got in, I asked the senorita “se vende aqui?”. She said “si” and I asked “cuanto questa?” and the reply was trescientos cincuenta pesos…$350 pesos or $33 Cdn.

A great conversation continued as she could tell I wanted to see it and she brought it out. I needed to ask if it needed to be programmed, but I got to “pila”…battery and she said no, thinking I was asking if she sold batteries.

I started again, vende remote, vende pila en Che y finito? She said si and ta-da…a remote was about to be bought.

Uno momento as I went to the truck to get the pesos, I asked for a recibo (receipt for the landlords) and she asked por que (why?). I said for mi patron (boss), not knowing how to say landlord, and she said ok. Easy peasy.   

Before I left, she asked me another question and I did not understand it. She was asking if I wanted the remote tested before I left. I have learned that this is how business is conducted as we had the same thing happen when we bought our beach umbrella. I guess they do not have a return policy here in Huatulco. Either way, the unit worked and I was off to the gym.

Passed a collectivo (taxi stand) at the 2^nd bus station, but no new taxis to add to the collection. But here is today’s taxi.

This is a taxi from Chahue, which is an area that includes a marina, a playa, several condo buildings, Bexico’s yoga studio as well as several restaurants.

Good session at the gym and saw a sign that when translated, stated they were only going to be open 7am-7pm on Nov 1 and 2, vs their regular hours. The next sentence stated that on November 6, the gym was “permanecera cerrado”. That words looks like “permanent”, but I could not find it in my libro (dictionary). I was thinking oh oh, my gym is closing.

I asked Rosa and she tried to explain por que regarding the hours on Nov 1 and 2, but I only caught a few words. Then I asked about November 6^th…”cerrdao por una dia? “. She said si and I asked “abierto Nov 7?” and she said no. Now I was confused and concerned until she stated that Nov 7 was Domingo….the gym is cerrado on Sundays!! Phew!!

Another interesting tid bit about the gym…the “lock” used on the stacks of weights are actually old valves from car or truck engines. I just noticed that today.

All was good in gym land and I was off to Che. We have noticed more and more gringos are in town. The charter flights have started and the locals are anxious for the business. With Mexicana going bankrupt, the number of flights bringing tourists into Huatulco has been drastically reduced.

At Che, you notice that a lot of the food that gringos eat is almost sold out. They too have come into Che and stocked up, so I bought some of the last 1000 Island, some frijoles (beans for chili believe it or not) as well as pasta sauce.

At Che, your groceries are bagged by local school kids (9-12 years old) who work for the propina. I bought a Hulk mask for $14 pesos and my bagger looked at me and laughed when he bagged it. I pay by amex and had forgotten my coins in the truck, so I let the young man know I would return, but I think he did not believe me.

Came back with coin and could not see my guy. I asked the cashier “donde esta mi amigo?” and she smiled and pointed me to where he had gone. He had done a great job and was appreciative of the tip.

I followed this truck for 5 minutes. Notice anything wrong?

I didn’t know where they were headed until it dawned on me as I was floating in the alberca. They were headed to the llanteria (tire store), which is located on the way to my gym. I must get you a photo, as it is truly a drive in kind of shop. You drive to the curb and they do the work right there.

I came home and Bexico put away the groceries as I tried out the a/c remote (all is good!!) and then we hit the pool.

Bex went off to the internet and I worked on this novel (sorry about that) and then cooked dinner. Pollo (we love the pollo) and more yummy super fresh French stick with oil and balsamic vinegar. Bex picked it up on the way back from the internet…as well as a Mexican short bread galleta (cookie) for her Bubba. My dessert!!

We have discovered that clocks here will fall back one hour next Saturday. If you look this up on the internet, you will see that there is no rhyme or reason to where the time boundaries are in Mexico.

Well, that is a full day. Not sure of our plans for Sabado or Football Domingo, but we may hit the playa.

10pm and finishing the dvd K-Pax, a fun little film and then will make the short trek to post this entry.

We hope you all have a great weekend!!

Hasta luego.

One last photo…

This comes from a fortune cookie we had at PF Chang’s in Las Vegas. A good fortune indeed.

Jueves Octubre 28, 2010 #2

Buenos Dias. It is Jueves Octubre 28…Lalo’s birthday!!

Got an email from one of the hosts of the tv show Secord and Siskel. His review of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was that it was a very good movie. He makes an interesting point though, how will a Swedish movie with Ingles sub titles play in Mexico? Lol

I posted mi blog from ayer (yesterday) and then went to the INM website (www.inm.gob.mx/solicitudes-web/seguimiento-tramite.html)

to check on the status of our Forma de No Immigrantes. The last entry on the website states: “favor de presentorse a una oficina de INM”. I think this is a good thing…or else something is missing from the 100’s of pages of info we gave. Doph.

Also sent the email to Salina Cruz looking for the ac remote. Google translte works well here…something my snow boarding compadre seems to have discovered. He tells me about 30cm of freshie up at Whistler!! Will be buying a 3 day Edge Pass before the November 22 cut off for the pre season discount. Going from living in Vancouver and vacationing in Mexcio, to living in Mexico and vacationing in Vancouver…we are not complaining. Maybe we will bump into Randy Quaid and his newly anointed Canadian wife? lol

Bexico was up before the roosters today. She walked down Blvd Chahue and went to yoga. I picked her up and she told me she had enjoyed the class. A nice teacher, a good group of students and Bex signed up for Tuesday’s and Thursday’s for the next month!!

Some breakfast and then off to gym. Hope Roman comes by today, either way I am meeting him at 7pm tonight to discuss Mojon.

Hasta luego.

Welcome back!!

Today’s taxi comes from Benito Juarez. I need to do some research on this as I do not know where or what this is…sorry to be unprepared.

We were on our way to look at the chest of drawers for sale, when Roman came by. He gave the conduit a shot with his cable tool but no luck. We discussed options and he suggests that if his electrician cannot fix it, that we get Telmex to install an exterior line.

It is 5pm and Roman and his guy should be here soon and we will have an answer. If it is a no-go, we will head to Telmex manana and see if we can communicate to them what we need, get a work order opened, and if need be, pay for the installation. The good news is that we have the installers cell number and also that we will be reimbursed by our landlords.

After Roman left, we did the walk and stopped off first at the larger truck and their wood work (blogged about this guy a few weeks back). They quoted Bex $1000 pesos for a chest of drawers and $1200 for some shelves. We continued onto where Fahostino was ayer (yesterday), but he was not to be found. Hopefully he sold all his stuff and headed back into the mountains to make some more.

Left Bex to go back and see if she could barter with the other peeps, and I went on to the gym. I found out when I got home that the guys actually increased the price when Bex returned and after she repeatedly told them $700 pesos was the top offer and that she had no more pesos, they still repeated the higher price. Oh well.

Gym was good and as always, interesting. Family Feud game show style…what might be the top 5 kinds of businesses who might drop by your house unannounced? Paperboy? Witnesses (come on...it’s a business!!)? Parcel delivery? Vacuum sales? Bill collector?

Well at my gym, I have seen many peeps inquire about prices, but today was a first.

I was riding the bike upstairs and I saw a senora approach the front door and ask Rosa a question. I then squint (no glasses on) and I see this old senora has a “sleeping” rooster (turns out to be a hen…gallina) in each hand, being held by their necks.

I see Rosa shake her head saying no, and I yell out, “Rosa, perdon, dos por mi cena por favor”…two for my dinner please. Rosa laughed and off the Senora went. Door to door hen service…who knew.

We talked about it before I went home, and it turns out these senoras are selling hens so they can be used as an ingredient in tamales, a comida (meal) that is closely associated with Dia de Muertes, Day of the Dead or Halloween.

Came home to Bexy “don’t call me Becky” Crocker baking up a storm.

This pan de platanos is delicious!! Bex is going to slightly tweak the recipe she found on line and then we are taking a piece to the Patron (boss) of the panaderia (dictionary spelling for bakery) and start a baking competition!!  Mind you, their pastel (pastry) known as orejas (palm ears) will be hard to beat!!

NEWS FLASH!!!

I am told that jefe (ef-eh) is also a term for patron (boss) and that “someone” has been telling me this for over a week. A public apology will be issued in an upcoming blog update.

We managed to take a 90 minute float before the alberca became loud with chit chat and that takes us to 530pm and I am meeting Roman at 7pm. We hope his electrician comes before 630pm as we need to go buy Lalo his cumpleanos cupcake and bring it to him.

Tomorrow we will update you on how Lalo liked his postere and how my cena and dialogue went with Roman.

Until manana,

Saludos

Jueves Octubre 28, 2010 #1

Sorry team, it was too late last night...that and the 2nd X-Files movie was on tv...in Ingles.

Here is Miercoles update.

Buenos Dias. It is Miercoles, another Wednesday.

935am and we have had our desayunos, uno platano, granola y yogurt. Bexico is busy making her ensalada de fruta, we will turn on the idiot box for our daily dose of Felicity, and then a run to Che for a big load of groceries.

It has taken some time, but we have managed to stock the pantry and freezer with enough items, such that we don’t need the daily or every other day trip to Che. Phew.

But veggies are so easy and fresh to buy that it has become a daily 5 minute walk to see buy the freshest. And the store seems to have been taken over by the younger generation. They have done a great job decorating it for Halloween, rock and roll is always playing, and last week they added some strobe lights.

In my email last night I had a reply from R&H our landlords, in regards to the telephone line. I guess it wasn’t tested when they bought the unit 4 years ago, and none of their previous tenants used it. They all stuck with cells phones and did not have the urgent need for internet that we do.

Rick says to try and get the new line installed at a reasonable expense and we had another email with the good news that Roman and his electrician will be on site today or tomorrow and will pop by to look at the obstruccion en tubo. Here’s hoping it is a quick fix.

Here is today’s taxi!!

This taxi is from Sitio (place/site) H3, another sector in town.

Off to get ready for Che and then gym.

Hasta luego.

We are back. It is now 925pm and we will see how long it takes to tell today’s story before we can decide of we post tonite or manana.

We hit the Che and loaded up. Found a few items that had been out of stock, so we bought extra of them (anti bacterial dish soap etc). Also picked up a candle for the postere we are buying and giving to Lalo for his birthday manana. Feliz Cumpleanos and make sure it doesn’t sound like Feliz Comfy Anus we were told…lol.

Bexico is going to try her hand at pan de platano…banana bread, so we bought some harina (flour) and struck out on the pan, baking soda and vanilla. Doph. No worries as I thought I had seen baking soda on my Blue walk and we could look at the plasticos store for a pan.

A Mexicoism…on many items, it is the opposite of in Canada that you normally save money when you buy something in a larger size. Here is today’s example. The mantaquilla (butter) that we buy comes in a box with 4 sticks of 90gm each. The cost for that is $38.90 pesos. But they also sell individual 90gm sticks for $6.50 pesos each. So I bought four sticks and paid $28 pesos vs $38.90. Laundry sopa…2 litres is just double the 1 litre price. Etc.

But man do they ding you on the #1 beverage in Mexico, Coke and Coca Light.  Two litres of DC is $17 pesos. 600ml of Coke is $7 pesos and 600ml of DC is $8.50. But you will all be happy to hear I have been able to maintain a one 600ml bottle per day consumption level!!

We came home from Che and I turned right around to go to the gym. I bumped into Oscar and Gabriel at the front gate. Gabriel is a Mexican tri-athlete who works at the local Red Cross as a paramedic, and loves Canadians so much that he has maple leaf tattoos on each of his calves…and I am not talking baby cows.

Anyway, we ended up chatting for 15 minutes in Ingles, Espanol and Spanglish. Good phone line news, if we cannot clear the conduit, we have a green light to run an exterior cable. Might have internet soon!! Hopefully Roman and his team pop in manana.

Anyway, walking to the gym I saw these chairs for sale and on the way home, they were sold.

A little further down the road I met Fahostino, who had made these with his own hands and was now selling them.

It takes him one day to make both and he wants to sell one for $1,000 pesos. Cuanto questa? (how much?) and Cuanto hora trabajo? (how many hours of work?). I chatted with him for a while and told him I may come back manana. We could use a chest of drawers in our bedroom, but would offer him $600-$700 pesos for the chest of drawers. It is a way of life that bartering is often expected and conducted. As a gringo, the offered price is almost always higher then what a Nacional would be offered.

Great workout and bought Rosa uno regalo (a present), a bag of M&Ms. I found these at a grocery store on the walk. I stopped in to look for vanilla and happened to find it and the M&Ms.

I have re-upped my gym calidad de miembro (membership) for another sies mes. This cost me uno mil y doscientos pesos…$1200 pesos or about $17 Cdn/month.

Came home and we walked to the post office, the plasticos, the panificidoria and the veggie store. We also popped into the movie theatre and Bexico did a great job asking what movies were playing in Inlges…all in Espanol!!

On the way to the post office, we re-traced my Blue walk (where I use wi-fi) and ta-da…baking soda was found. In the pharmacy of course!!

The post office was another success story for the multi-lingual Bex. She found out that the box rentals are $300 por dos mes (two months)…perfect timing if RJ is hoping to send some presents for Navidad (Christmas). Lol

Bex actually talked to a guy, gave him our direccion (address) and nombres (names) and he will look to see if mi Padre’s post card is in Huatulco and if it can be delivered. That is as far as we got. Not sure of the system here in Huatulco…we will probably stick to email, iChats and DHL for packages.

Plasticos…found a glass baking dish…not 100% correct shape or size, but the closest we could find. We also picked up a new agua jug for the fridge as we found the round one was just taking up too much space and blocking the cold air vents in the fridge. With the heat and sometimes humidity, the fridge can take a while to cool down if the door has been opened, so properly shaped storage containers is a must.

A learning for our villas…a big fridge!!

Bakery…one galleta (cookie) for me, some French bread to accompany esta noche’s (tonight’s) la cena and a croissant for Bexico’s desayunos por manana.

Picked up the veggies and then headed home. Phew. Pooped and hot so we hit the alberca for a float. Four new faces at the pool, all older Canadians from Alberta. We are told 70% of the condo owners are Canadian and that many know each other from the same towns in Alberta.

Anyhow…idle and endless chatter in the pool so we split. Dinner was the pasta con chorizo y pollo etc that we love so much. A new chorizo…took a chance on this one as my normal chorizo has been sold out for the past few semanas. Our normal chorizo is ahumar (smoked) and this wasn’t. It wasn’t quite as uncooked as some chorizo sausage filling, but it still makes you wonder. Lol

Anyway, once it was cut up and fried, it was fine!! Add the cebollo (onions), green peppers, pollo, spices and pasta sauce, pour it over the penne and top with parm cheese. Bubba Van’s Mexican take on a Jim Romer classic. Waaaay better then the queso dip he created…lol.

The pan was eaten with oil and balsamic vinegar…soooo good.

We ate in a hurry as it is ½ price Miercoles and the theatre and Wall Street was playing at 7pm. We made it on time and paid $50 pesos for the two of us ($4.50 Cdn). If we had not just eaten la cena, it would have been combo #2. Medio popcorn and dos grande coca for $80 pesos. Just like in Canada, all the money is in the drinks and popcorn.

We got to theatre 3 and there were no lights on. The stair well had a track light, but it was pitch black in there. The movie started on time, and all 10 of us sat back. One hombre kept talking on his phone during the movie…we were warned that this is common in theatres here. The movie was in Ingles with subtitles in Espanol. Now for you that haven’t seen Wall Street, save your $$. If we had a Mexican cell phone, we would have probably been using it during the movie too!! Baaaaad flick.

You are caught up.

Watched CNN today and it looks like a bad day on the Dow…oh well. For all you investor folks, keep an eye on Emerging Markets and Latin America…great “invest your money to grow into villa building capital” funds!!

Bex is up early manana to try the local yoga studio. Me? Might get up early and see if Migracion has had any issues with our paperwork.

Until manana,

Saludos

Martes Octubre 26, 2010

Buenos dias!!

9am and we are just waiting around for our 8am meeting with Oscar (the Grouch), the site administrator.

At 820am I went to the seguridad gate and asked if Oscar was there. Hector said si, so I asked them to come up to the condo. Hector arrived and said diez minuto as Oscar was on the phone. I am hoping he is talking to someone in regards to our obstruccion en tubo!!

I asked Hector “hablo Oscar el problemo in Espanol?” and he said si. So…our hope is that Hector has talked to Oscar and explained the problem and the possible solutions, and that Oscar has already chosen a solution.

More phrases on stand by….

“es possible arreglar?”…can this be fixed?

“puede arreglalro?”…can you fix this?

“nuevo cable est nessecito”

“pronto”…friendly way to say soon

“el electricista”…elektrehseesta…electrician

Funny addition to the story…Bruno from Telmex said we could get our own guy to run the line and try to save on the $700 peso bill from them. I tried to confirm that we would still need Telmex out to make the connection at the locked Telmex box, but Bruno said the box isn’t locked, but be careful that we don’t fry the other lines if we connect the line ourselves. LOL.

Suffice it to say, I am fine if someone runs the new wire, but we will get Telmex in, to do their thing.

In my email review from last night, our landlords have not been able to secure us a second a/c remote control. She did supply me with a 1-800 number for here in Mexico, and if I cannot find a dealer here in town, that will be my next option. A phone call in Spanglish…esta bueno!!

If anyone out there can find me a LG remote for a modelo M242CS…please let me know!!

Here is today’s collectable….

This taxi is from Bahia Maguey (ba-ee-a…not ba-hai as I had been pronouncing), a bay just up the coast. There are 35 bays including Maguey and Mojon, thus the area is officially Bahias de Huatulco. 

UPDATE

Oscar was actually quite pleasant today. He arrived at 935am for our 8am meeting, and was gone by 940am. We spoke in Spanglish and he understands the problem and the two solutions that I am aware of. He is going to talk to the “association”, I think this is like a strata council, and get back to us.

I stated that “internet es muy importante por mi nobvia trabajo” and then asked when he would get back to us (cuando?). He said hoy (oy), today….which probably means manana.

So our day is back on schedule. I will watch Felicity at 10am and then off to the gym.

Hasta luego.

Today was a day of meeting locals.

A guy in a truck honked at me while I was walking to the gym. Normally I ignore horns because it is usually a taxi looking for a fare, and I normally do not have my glasses on to see who it is. So on the second honk I squinted and saw it was a guy from the gym.

I am not sure if he owns the gym or is the manager, but this hombre is a big boy. Muscles. And he has a dark brooding look, which makes him look tough. I have seen him around the gym and have said hola, but did not expect him to offer me a ride.

It is a 5 minute drive so the talk was quick, but we chatted in Spanglish. I told him my name and asked him his, and he said Benjamin. The gym is called David Sport and he told me David is his hijo, son.

I thought he was going to the gym, but he actually dropped me off and after a hasta luego, he was gone.

Rosa was outside the gym and I asked her “como esta su caeza?” as yesterday she had a head ache and she replied she was buena. I then asked her about Benjamin and she looked confused. She told me his name was Elfego Galdino (dos nombre…two names)…and now I am confused. I will ask him about it next time I see him.

Meanwhile at the end of my biking cardio session, a hombre walks in wearing full street clothes and starts riding the bike. After I was done stretching he asks my age in Espanol. I tell him and then ask him por que (why?) and in Spanglish, he says I look 32 or so. He then proudly tells me he is 40 and I congratulation him as he did look fit, dress shirt, pants and all.

I introduced myself and found out he was Fransisco Marcos, again dos nombres. Finished my work out, had another Espanol lesson from Rosa and headed out looking for a store that might sell me an a/c remote. Before I left the gym, the Eagles were playing Hotel California and Rosa knows the words in Ingles. My lesson for Rosa was asking her if she knew where the real Hotel California was located. It took some convincing, but it is una hora norte of Cabo San Lucas on the Baja peninsula. I have a post card that Stuart brought me back, I will take it to the gym to show Rosa.

After I left the gym, I first found a barber shop and manana I might stop in por el corte de pelo…a hair cut. He has pictures and I have a libro (translation book)…might be a wild hair cut!!

Then I found a repair shop with the LG logo and asked “se vende aqui” and was told no. Then a hombre at the back of the store asked to see the remote and asked his assistant something in Espanol. She gave me a name, phone number and email address of someone who might sell them.

Walked to Gabriel the Owl to ask Lalo to call, when I realized it was not a local number. We went across to the phone store (a store where you can go in and use one of 10 plus phone booths for both local, Nacional or Internacional calls) and found out the number is in Salina Cruz…of course it is….we were there last week!! Lol

Sergio, one of the sons who now manages the jewelry store, thought he knew of a place that might sell remotes, so I went and got the truck and we drove to a few places. First place was closed but he took down the phone number. Second place was locking up, third place was gone and the fourth place might be able to bring in a Universal remote. We realized it was around 2pm, siesta/lunch time, thus the stores were closed or closing.

We will wait and see if the first store (the largest) carries these remotes, and if they don’t, we might make a deposit on the Universal one and have it brought to town. Sergio also said Puerto Escondido is bigger and may have them there, so we might hold off as we hope to go to PE soon.

I did learn that you must ask full sentences in some situations. I saw a fifth refrigeration parts store on my way back to the condo, so I stopped in and asked “se vende?” and showed the remote. The answer was si and then I was given a piece of paper with a name and the Spanish name for the remote. I was a bit confused as both counter peeps then left me alone. I asked “cuanto questa?” and he said $400 pesos and went back to paperwork.

So now I ask “cuando?” (when) and he says “no venta aqui”…no sell here. I had asked if you could buy remotes, not if they were for sale “aqui”…here. Doph. So now I have a contact in Salina Cruz, and a piece of paper that states: “zona de talleres, tienda refrig climas…” which I think means Mechanical Zone, refrig and climate store. Duh…no specific store, just a sector. Seriously, I love this. You just have to get used to this way of life.

Well, after that adventure I was quite hot, so I met Bexico at the alberca and went for a float. The weather forecast had been cloudy, but it turned out to be one of the regular weather days…mainly sunny, a few periods of high clouds and then more clouds rolling in between 4 and 5pm. Lunes we had highs of 32.8 and a low of 25.6…as per my indoor/outdoor thermometer!!

Veggie run…Martes is the day the truck arrives and then we came back for la cena, pechuga de pollo con y papas (chicken breasts and potatoes).

A great read that I just finished (thanks Padre), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I think the movie is out in Canada/USA…anyone seen it? Any good? And the 7 books I ordered off Chapters.ca have arrived at mi padres condo (el padre is “father” and los padres is “parents”) and will be brought down along with those pods and a few 3 prong extension cords!!

Ok, 815pm…off to update the blog.

Hope all is well where ever you are.

Saludos  

RJ, can you please drop Bexico an email letting her know that you and Roly have arrived safely?

A bit cooler out tonight. Lots of gringos in town and the parking lot at the condo has seemed to fill up over night. Tourist/high season is coming!!

PS...915pm and Oscar did not get back to us yet...manana!! lol

Lunes Octubre 25, 2010

Buenos noches on this Lunes.

Quite a full day, but not a lot completed. Make sense? It will.

There are a few extra photos for today’s blog entry.

I went to the gym and had a great workout and had a short chat with Salvador, a hombre who often works out at the gym. We were both taking a break and even though most Mexicans don’t seem to sweat much, he stated mucho calor…much heat. I agreed, asked his name and off we went.

The cover story is now becoming more and more told in Espanol, but people are interested in the Ingles words for things like snow, cold etc. They are all blown away that we drove the siete mil y cuatrocientios kilometers to get here. And I finally remembered to use this nice phrase, mucho gusto...nice to meet you.

Rosa was not feeling too well and she told me this by saying “me duele mucho la cabeza” which translates into “my head hurts a lot”. I asked if it was cerveza, vino or tequila and she laughed and said no. I told her to rest and drink lots of auga.

She also laughed that I write so much down. I told her I forget things (the verb olvidar) and she said I was distraido…distracted and/or absent minded!! Lol

Saw this truck on the way home. Everyone is working hard to make a living!!

If you click on the photo you will see they have a sale in the bottom right hand corner.

I applied for a job here, but they knew about my addiction.

I have been searching all over town for a bottle of this. I hear it is great with some cantaloupe?

And here is the 4^th photo in the on going series.

This is a cab from Tangolunda, a 7 minute drive from La Crucecita, and where all the resorts are located.

I got home at 1pm and was pleased to see that Bexico had some contact with Telmex. Do these photos tell the story?

If not, here is the written version. Grab a comfy seat.

Half way through Bex’s work out, Lalo shows up at our condo door. He tells Bex that there is a Telmex truck working out on Calle Carrizal. Bex grabs our paperwork and then goes with Lalo to the street. As a matter of fact, they are working in the hole that I took a photo of and had posted in the blog a few days ago.

One of the hombres looks at the paperwork, makes a call and says someone should be at our condo in 2 hours. Lalo had given his Coca Light to one of the workers and Bex asked if the other guy wanted one. He made a joke that he did not need the diet part, even though he had a bit (hee hee hee) of a Buddha belly.

Bex ran back to the condo, got some pesos and bought a Coke for one worker and Lalo scooped the Coca Light Bex had bought to replace the one she had given Lalo (and he gave away) when he first arrived at the condo.

I arrived home about 2 hours after all this excitement and took a dip (ok…another float) in the pool and when I took the 20 second walk back to the condo, the Telmex guys were working on the phone line. Yahoo!!

So we wait while the two installers work away. We plugged the microfiltro into the wall (photo #1).  This allows us to plug in both the phone and the modem (photo #2).

We were reading the installation guide and came to this part in red. Here is the Espanol version….”Sistema Linux, NT, Mac no cuentan con soporte infinitum. La instalacion en estos sistemas operativos es responsabilidad total del cliente.

Oh oh…this modem may not support the Macs and we are responsible for the installation. We are not too worried as I have been using the wi-fi at Blue and Macs are Macs after all. Anyway, the installation looks easy in Spanish.

So it seemed to be taking some time, and photo #3 shows what they were working on from the building side of things. This is where the phone line for our building, comes into the compound.

Photo #4 shows what was happening in the actual condo. They were trying to run a signal from our condo down to the wires downstairs to find out which line was ours.

Photo #5 shows you what the wires that used to be in the wall and conduit look like. This is not good news.

So, they could not get a signal to go from the wires in our condo to ANY of the wires downstairs. Well it looks like the wire was broken in the conduit…doph. And then the installer tried to use his cabling tool to run another wire down the conduit, and his tool stopped after 3 feet. Something is plugging the conduit and you know there is only one phone line conduit.

Our installer explains to us in Spanglish what the problem is and says he needs to speak to the condo administrator. Well Oscar is not here and won’t be back until tomorrow, so I grab Hector (silent H) to come up and chat. He cannot explain if there is a solution and the only thing Bruno from Telmex can suggest is to run a line on the outside of the building.

Well, no one can approve that due to being a condo, and I am not sure Oscar can, either. A new line will cost $700 pesos, but we need approval as well as a new work order from Telmex. Argh.

So, tomorrow Oscar is to meet with us at 8am and we will do our best to explain the problem and as him for a solution. I suspect we will try another electrician first and see if the conduit can be unclogged. If not, I am hoping we get approval for a new exterior conduit and/or line.

Bruno says that is will take 5 days to get a new line once Telmex has it entered in their system. Better yet, Telmex is only responsible to get us a working phone line to the building (not the condo itself), and since they have done that, we are now paying for the services even though we cannot use them. Lol…we LOVE Mexico!!

We were frustrated for a few minutes, but are now just disappointed as we thought we were there. Oh well, no need to get uptight as that will not help anything.

I am also going to email Roman to see if he has any insight into how to fix this conduit issue.

So, Bexico had been dealing with and waiting for Telmex for a total of 5 hours and since we were now at a stand still, we hit the alberca…the pool!!

After a float, and some laps for Bex, we hit the veggie store and then Bex went to use the internet. I came home and finished preparing la cena…Bubba’s chili!! A few fresh bollos (buns) that Bex brought back from Alejandros Panificodora and dinner was served.

It is now 830pm and I am off to Blue.

Until manana,

Saludos