lunes, 31 de enero de 2011

Hola amigos.

A good day in paradise.

It started with an otra clase de espanol…more verbos and conjugating. We see progress every class we go to, it is a matter of remembering what we learned ayer, and adding what we learned hoy.

Nuevo palabra y frase…

“platano macho” is a plantain

the verbo “pensar” is to think

“dificil” is difficult (ja ja ja)

and for the boys at the shop…”como es el negocio de hoy?”…how is business today?

Clase ran late and then it was home and get ready for my walk to the gimnasio.

Here are the photos from my walk.

A sign outside a restaurante.

I have not eaten any of these meals, but the place is normally busy. I would go for the costillas, which are ribs, but will avoid the pancita until I know more. I think it is something made with stuffed sheep's stomach. Ayer it was cerdo brains, today it is sheep's stomach.

Some colorful wash.

Mi amigo Daniel taking his break.

Daniel with a slight grin on his face (before he sees me)

And then the serious Mexican face. Note the home made broom.

Everyone contributes to the family income. This senora was selling a beverage as well as cutting and selling fresh fruit that was in her crate.

Here she is again, I just liked the expression on her face.

And from the “wfsitbott” (what’s for sale in the back of this truck) series...

Gotta be honest…I don’t know what he is trying to sell. Ja ja ja

And an otro hard working hombre (hidden).

He is set up on a traffic island selling his fresh juices…and maybe the naranjas as well.

And last but not least…something you RARELY see here!!

Helmets and less then 4 people on the scooter!! Ja ja ja

And then onto the gimnasio.

Feliz cumpleanos to Rosa!! I gave her a card and a bag of M&Ms and she was happy to receive them. As I was leaving the gym, an hombre was coming in to work out. He said hola to Rosa and I told him it was her cumpleanos. He went to give her a hug and she shot me the “don’t be telling people it is my birthday” look.

I then told the hombre that she was veintiuno ano…otro vez (21 years old...again) and then we all laughed.

It was a quick walk home via the zocalo (town square), including a check in on the boys. We avoid the store when we see they have customers, and today was one of those days. Good for them…el negocio es buneo!!

Very warm day, but overcast morning, and then it turned into a day of cloudy periods. Didn’t have any effect on our alberca time!!

Despues the alberca, Bexico went back to work on her many leads and projects and I chilled. I also managed to have a nice iChat with mi madre y padre. All is good in Victoria.

La cena? No cerdo brains but cerdo brochettes con papas.

Mañana? Clase de espanol y the gimnasio. Mojon again on miercoles (I found out today that days of the week are NOT capitalized).

You are up to date!!

Haste luego!!

Marcos y Bexico

Domingo, 30 de enero de 2011

Wow...what a tranquilo dia.

Pan frances por mi desayunos and then off to Mojon with our neighbors. Quick stop at La Bocana so they could pick up a board and then a wave through Copalita. They waved us through...Bexico thanked them with a shot from Moonie!!

So-so for olas today as the tide was going out and we have found the better waves as the tide is coming in. Pero...Bexico managed to stay out on the water for almost dos hora. She was tackling all waves and making friends with the locals at the same time.

Her new phrase of "podemos compartir las olas?" (can we share the waves?) seems to have been the "in" for her. That and come on...hot Canadiense surfer with her tabla de surf?

Me? A few good olas on the boogie board and then just chilled on our hammock. I actually ended up doing a little reading from our Spanish textbook.

We haven't seen this in a long time...it clouded over around 2pm. We came home, had our clean up and then ping ponged between trying to get the hot water tank to fire, doing a wash and cooking la cena. Good news? Managed to accomplish all of them.

Here is a photo of the chico tanque de agua caliente.

No instrucion manual, but it has batteries (for lighting the pilot?) and is supposed to be activated by the drop in water pressure. Well...it hasn't been working properly. It seems to want to work better por la noche, but this morning, Bexico ended up in a shower with no agua caliente!!

At night, if we run the tap in the cocina y baño, it seems to fire up.

Add that to the list of to-dos...like I am that busy!!! ja ja ja

Bexico had a great iChat with her madre y hermano, and now is working hard on one of the contracts she has secured.

Me? Tiempo para la tarea de español. Homework.

Proximo semana? Tres dias de escuela, seis dias de la gimnasio, tres dias de Mojon y....The Superbowl!!

Good news on the FZ front, Roman was on site Mojon with Oscar, the hombre in charge of conducting the survey. Stay tuned for updates.

Hopefully more photos mañana.

Hasta luego.

Sabado, 29 de enero de 2011

Hola hola! Sabado is coming to a close here in Huatulco.

A good day, not much happened…it was muy tranquillo.

Other then Ghimbo REALLY wanting me to eat some quesadillas with pig brains in them, it was a rather pleasant day.

The full story there is that it is a treat in the state he comes from, and he really wants to share this meal with his amigo…me. Not sure what I am going to do…mad cerdo disease or possibly offend mi amigo? Updates proxima semana as he wants to share this meal on Domingo. Superbowl and pigs brains quesadillas? Yikes.

Here are my photos from the walk to the gimnasio. I told Silverio “yo voy a la gimnasio” as I walked out the gates. I go to the gym.

This guy was carrying some colorful chairs through town. He will not make a sale to the business to his right, as...

...the hairdresser already has her chair.

You see these tables set up in many a doorway.

People are trying to make extra $$ any way they can. They set up these tables and sell tortillas, bebidas, pollo, postres etc.

And from the “WFSITBOTT? Series.

For sale? Ladders, ladders and more ladders as well as dusters and chalkboards. (always dusters and chalkboards together…not sure why)

And this, a carefully balanced load.

And then this photo from my way home. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

My time at the gimnasio was good. Saw Logan and said hola as well as gave him a pequeño regalo from mi novia. Good work out and then it was some quality alberca time.

Off to Che for our grocery run and then home for la cena…ensalada mixta y pollo de roti con arroz.

Bexico is having GREAT success with her on line work. She has confirmed another contract (via Paris France) and has had a few people reply positively after she applied for a contract. But even more exciting, people are seeing her portfolio on line and contacting her unsolicited, to see if she is interested in doing some work for them. Muy emocionante!! Very exciting.

830pm…off for a short walk to work off the pollo…and pick up some paletas!!

Mañana? Mojon with our neighbor and her replacement…the manny (male nanny). Amaiaa has a 6 month visa and it has come to an end, thus her employers have brought over a new care taker for their ninos.

Hoping for some grande olas!!

Some misc news from the 3^rd floor of edificio (building) G…we now have peeps living/staying in all 4 units. Unit 11, directly across from us, has been unused since we arrived, but ayer a couple of mujers cracked the door and we have neighbors.

That is all folks.

Hasta luego.

Marcos y Bexico

Viernes, 28 de enero de 2011

UPDATE...internet is back up in our condo. The entry below was written before that occurred. We have also posted the blog entry from ayer...it is below this entry. 

Buenos noches…day two of the internet outage.

Bexico went to our old internet spot and they too had no internet. We will do a walk to Blue tonite to see how wide spread this situation truly is.

Continuing on the theme of things that are either roto (broken) or no servicio, I finally got around to buying one of these…

This is called a sapito…I cannot find the translation in the dictionary I have. Either way, for $10 pesos I have fixed the toilet.

This is a photo from the “what are they fixing on the side of the road” series.

Right in front of a grocery store, on a busy calle, this dump truck had its radiator and fan pulled out and a mobile mechanico was working on it.

Some things fixed, others roto. The alberca was out of service today. Not sure why, but we packed up and went to Playa Chahue instead. We have never spent time there before, but had checked it out a month ago.

It is only 5 minutes from home, just past Che on Blvd…Chahue!!

Different sand, different waves and no beach crabs. But we did happen to run into the CP (Condo Pacifico) crew who decided to move their party to the restaurante there, having no alberca at the condo to hang around.

So we set up camp, I napped while Bexico read and then we shared a plate of papas frances. We asked for mayo and 30 minutes later it arrived…ja ja ja.

Prior to the playa, I hit the gimnasio and have added two photos to the “what are they selling out of the back of the truck” series.

Melons anyone? And the second photo from the series...

These are hand made stereo/liquor cabinets. Later in the day I saw someone walking around town with a demo model. Hard work on a mucho calor dia.

It was so hot under el sol, I bought Daniel an otro Coke. They drink soooo much cola down here!! Me? Two days no Coca-Light and I am starting to go loonie.

Currently 630pm and almost time to start la cena…meatballs!!

I have finished an otro John Sandford novel. Good reading for peeps that like cop mysteries. Bexico is plugging away on The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and I eagerly await.

Great weather…average of 30.6 in the shade and then 22.5 at night…no complaints!!

Hope you get to read this blog entry soon.

Hasta luego amigos.

Jueves, 27 de enero de 2011

Buenos noches…or dias…depending on when you read this and when the internet is back up and running.

It is 930pm on Jueves and Bexico made the call to Telmex, but it is a system problem in Huatulco…should be fixed in 24 hours (ja ja ja).

Talking about Telmex, we finally received a bill delivered to our condo!! Small success!! And when we went to pay it, we discovered they have installed one of the machines where we can pay ourselves. Kinda like an ATM where you put money in. That is also how we pay our electrical bill.

Why these machines? Most Mexicans do not have the ability to pay online and you cannot pay the bill at the banco.

Anywho…what did we do today? Clas de espanol, then the gimnasio our alberca time, our walk around La Crucecita and then la cena. Sound familiar?

Highlight of the day (other then the 30 minute cat nap with B&P&BB the Mono) was a good meeting with Roman. Typical to everything Mexican, there is ALWAYS more to the story.

Today’s addition? Our property is as secure legally as it can be…until we get the last permission from the community. As the last step in the Enviromental study, we need this permission to change the property from rural to habitated.

THEN we will be able to get the Title Insurance that makes us 100% secure. Right now we have a ton of legal paperwork stating we have ownership, just need one more!!

What does that mean for the building process? We have requested Roman get us a quote on getting only our property surveyed for the FZ (Federal Zone) and once we have that, we can proceed with plans. These are needed for the Enviro as they want to know what impact we will have on the property.

Timing? Don’t book your flights yet…we will keep you posted. 

Funny story. Ayer as I was walking by the lavandería, I saw the two teenage gals who work there, holding up a 44DDD to their own bodies and having a laugh. That was until we saw each other and the laugh turned into embarrassment. Ja ja ja

I cannot review the blog from ayer. Did I tell you about the $4 CDN can of cranberry sauce? Found some Ocean Spray at Che and was about to buy two cans when I did the math. But we have cranberry sauce….now to buy a pavo!!

Our clas de Espanol? Tough class. We had to ask some set preguntas. How old is he? What does She do for a living? What does she do in her free time.

Not only did we need to ask the question, but provide answers as well. Too much thinking for me…will need to practice a lot more. And…the maestra sat me away from my supportive partner, Bexico. All for the sake of learning…it will be worth it in the long run!!

Due to class, a late start for the gimnasio. It is mucho calor at 1pm…even for a 15 minute walk…followed by 30 minutes on the bike for cardio!!

Ghimbelli arrived for work right before I left the gimnasio. He chatted me up and made mention he had emailed me while we were in Whistler and I had not answered all of his questions. The question I forgot? How much for a pair of snow goggles.

I told him about my cheapos and my expensive pair and why the two lenses. Then I told him the expensive pair came with a cammo frame. He went nuts. He loves cammo…military as they call it here. He loves my shorts, nap sack and shirt!! Ja ja ja

Anyway, he says to me “if I give you money, can you have your parents bring a pari down when they visit?”. I laughed and asked when he would where snowboard goggles in Huatulco. He replied that he would look soooo cool on his moto.

M&P? Start packing!!

Grocery inventory update…

I found three chico bottles of 1000 Island…but there is not a red pepper to be had!!

Finishing up the day…alberca time…friggin smoker is back. We watched him have 5 in a row, while sitting in the pool…with his smoke wafting across the water. Ruder. Next time I swim next to him and pee. Ja ja ja

Then came the cat nap followed by cocino la cena…chorizo y pollo on pasta.

Had our walk, met up with Roman, said hola to the boys and then came home to eat la cena. So good.

Time for bed. Internet is still down. Hopefully fixed mañana!!

Hasta luego.

Miercoles, 26 de enero de 2011

Hola amigos!!

1015pm...a new episode of The Good Wife is on and we have not done our home work yet. Oh oh...looks like an early morning mañana.

Had a great day today...it has taken a few days to get back into the routine, but today felt right. Got up, hit the gimnasio, had a great workout and a nice walk to and from the gimnasio.

We loaded up the truck, tabla de surf, cooler, the Moonie (ja ja ja)...and we headed out to Mojon. We were not stopped at Copalita and made it to Mojon in good time.

Why did we buy the bandola mosqueton?

Because...

Ta-da....we hung our hammock, which had been a regalo from mi M&P!! We roped up the clips to the corners and now we can quickly hang and unhang the hammock. And as you can tell, it works, and...

...it works!!

We had some great progress with surfing today!! Bexico made it out to some great breaks, this is an accomplishment because just being able to get to the breaks can be a lot of work. We floated around waiting for the right olas and for the first time in a long time, we had some great surf waves.

These waves are bigger then what Bexico has been riding, and she almost has it down!! A bit more practice at "popping up"and keeping the tip up, and she will be on the cover of Surfing magazine!! 

Meanwhile, not keeping the tip of the board up has allowed for some exciting spills!!

Me? I continue on my boogie board adventures and had a few awesome rides...maybe a 10 foot drop into a wave followed by a 150 foot run!!

We kicked back in the sol and then headed home. We were stopped at Copalita, but all they did was run a sensor down the side of our truck...probably a drug and/or explosives sensor.

Raced home, washed off the sand and salt water, had a quick left over burrito and then headed to the cinema. Not sure how, but we ended up watching the De Niro movie, Los Realizadores vs  Russell Crowe's The Next Three Days.

The movie? It was baaad...probably baaaad when it was released in 2008 and was called What Just Happened. ja ja ja Oh well...$50 pesos for the two of us.

Red alert!!! 1000 Island dressing shortage in La Crucecita. Nada at Che and the last chico bottle at the mercado on Carrizal!!

Despues the movie, came home, had chorizo quesadillas and updated two blogs.

Mañana? Homework, escolar, gimnasio, alberca time...

Hasta luego.

Martes, 25 de enero de 2011 UPDATED

UPDATED


Ok...it is 1025pm and I am pooped..not sure why. Here are the photos from today and mañana (dig the squiggly thing?...grassy ass padre y Le Streb) I will update the stories that go along with them. Ok? Please check back!!

saludos

This photo is looking up Carrizal. These are tamarind trees and the color of the "seed" is the same color as the uniform of the transit cops...thus they are called Tamarindos (not to their face I am told).

This is from Imperial Pollo, across the street from the condo. There have been many complaints about the smoke, and it seems they are adding another 2 feet to the stack.

And these are the delivery scooters from Imperial. They leave the seats up so they do not get hot from the sun.

I just like the looks of this hombre cycling around town.

Just a guy walking through the industrial section of La Crucecita...while carrying a door.

These next photos come from the "auto repair" section of town. A lot of the work is done right on the street. Not sure what parts we are waiting for here.

And this is more typical of a garage. Someones front yard.

As for our Martes, it started with an otra clas de Espanol. More verbos and some vocabulary too. Cabbage is col, zanahoria (silent H) is carrot, berenjena is eggplant, trocitode de limon is a slice of lime etc.

I have gotten by using my words and knowing many verbs, but now finding out I should have been saying hablo (I) vs hablas (tu) etc explains some of the looks I received. I suspect most Mexicanos understood I was using the correct verbo, just not the correct conjugation. Honestly, not my favorito by ANY means, but muy importante.

Hit the gimnasio (the g sounds like h) and asked Rosa if she had any pregunta regarding her translating of the Canada libro. She did have a few....wildlife, bestowed, endowed (ja ja ja) and then we reviewed some pictures. Eskimo is eskimal (or eskiman) and when it came to polar bear, she stopped, looked at me and then said "Coca cola". She knows polar bears because of the Coca cola commercial during Navidad. ja ja ja.

Of course it was alberca time after the gimnasio and then we did a quick walk around town before la cena...burritos for yours truly. 

We did pick up two of these...

y 

Rosa did not know what the proper name is, but I went back to the store that only had chico ones, and wrote down the name....bandola mosqueton (bandola caribiner). Rosa called it a gancho (hook).

Why we bought these? Tell you in Miercole's blog update.

Hasta luego.

Lunes, 24 de enero de 2011

Buenos Noches...and welcome to blog (or blog-spot if you prefer) posting numero 150!!

And if someone can tell me how to get a squiggly line above my n's, you will all be able to pronounce manana correctly.

It has been a very good day...I am almost fluent in Espanol, or at least in the verb hablar (to speak). More on that later.

We both got up, had some desayunos and then headed out to meet with Sue, the maestra de Espanol (Spanish teacher). She is the expert...and put us into what she calls Beginners II...like I said, she is the expert and who am I to argue...even if I don't know my numbers past 30 (or the alphabet).

Anywho...class is a group of 8 peeps including the two that manage Senor Pucks. Sue and one student are Americanos and the rest are Canadiense.

Class started semana pasada, but we were away. We played catch up prior to the class starting and then went straight into the new lessons. Bexico has a GREAT grasp of verbs and conjugation, while I am the man who knows a bunch of words and strings them together for a sentence, let alone a conversation.

Sue is a good teacher, reads faces well and knows when we don't get it...hello Devo to you MS peeps reading the blog. She also only speaks Espanol, so that helps too.

We practiced a few preguntas y respuestas (questions and answers) and really zeroed in on proper use of the subject pronouns. Oh this is the part that got me excited...not.

By passing the rest of the day for a moment, that leads us back to what we have been doing for the past hour or so. Starting a lil'book with all the verbs that end in "ar", "ir" and "er".

Oh, don't stop there. Then I chose hablar to use as my example of conjugation.

Yo hablo (I)
Tu hablas (You)
El habla (He)
Ella habla (She)
Usted habla (You...formal)
Nosotros hablamos (We...if a man is included)
Nosotras hablamos (We...if it is all mujer)
Ellos hablan (They...if a man is included)
Ellas hablan (They...if it is all mujer)
Ustedes hablan (They...formal)

Bexico who studied all of her schooling in Frances, grasps this quite easily. Give me some more algebra and then we'll talk!! ja ja ja

And next up...practicing my numeros, alphabet as well as the other two types of verbs. This ain't no holiday down here!!!

Our class schedule? Lunes, Martes y Jueves from 11am-1215pm. So manana? School and then gimnasio.

Hoy?

After school, we went to Che and did a quick pick up...the pollo we bought on Viernes was a touch p-u...so we tossed it and bought new product for la cena.

Then I drove the truck to the gimnasio as time was ticking away and I also wanted to get the truck washed. I went back to the same spot as last time and the boys recognized me. No need to barter the price as it was set last time...$60 pesos for the exterior solo...roughly $5 for dos hombres to hand wash and dry the car...all done in 25 minutos.

The car wash is 1 minute from the gim, so I started my workout and picked the truck up despues the 25 minutos. Great job equaled $20 propina.

Finished my workout and was thrilled to observe Rosa looking at the Canada libro I had brought her from Van. She was also taking some notes, stopping only when one of the regulars asked her what she was doing and she showed him the book. I know this hombre and was excited that he then took 5 minutes to browse and look at the great pictures.

Spreading the story and facts about Canada, one Mexican at a time!!

I still have sore ribs and chest from snowboarding, but did my best. When I was done, I chatted up Rosa and she showed me that she had copied EVERY word down from the introduction of the book and was in the process of translating 3 loose leaf pages. I asked if she had any pregunta and she said not yet.

She was excited that we are learning the proper Espanol as that only makes us more a part of the community.

Alberca time when we came home. Our senior neighbor downstairs has taken a shine to me...he actually says hello and has invited us to join the "group" on a fishing expedition in February. Not sure we will attend, but it was nice to be offered.

To give you an idea about what some of the peeps at the pool are like...they own condos here and I overhear them say that they cannot understand when some people speak Mexican to them. Hello...it is Espanol. Do they speak Canadian where you come from? ja ja ja

Despues the alberca, had a chico salad and then did a walk. We have not done one of those for a while...back into the routine. Hey, guess what? Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 movies at the theatre are in Ingles. Hello 2 for 1 Miercoles!! And soon...no need for Ingles movies.

Not sure what we will see...there is one with De Niro and the other has Russel Crowe.

Picked up some french stick for our o&v dippings and then said holahola to Pepe and then we spent some time talking in Espanol with Daniel. He speaks very good Ingles, but is more comfortable in Espanol, which works out well for us.

They now have a new computer (never had one before) and the internet at Gabriels, so you know the boys are playing on that. Both computers and internet are not common items for all Mexicans...but most of them do own cell phones. a few days ago I smiled as I watched a 8 year old nino showing someone how to use the computer at Gabriels.

Veggie pick up and then home for la cena and homework.

You are all caught up. Hopefully some photos for manana, as I too prefer to show you Huatulco vs just write about it.

Until manana.

Hasta luego.

Domingo, 23 de enero de 2011

Buenos noches amigos!!

NFL Domingo here and it is 4^th and 1 for the Jets who happen to be down 24-10 with 11 minutes left in the game. Doph…1^st y 10. But enough about football.

Ayer we experienced something e had never seen at Mojon…some brown’ish sea foam. It did not look pretty, but we did not know what caused it. Only one thing to do…Google (Googleeee) it.

So, from http://www.myinterestingfiles.com here is what we found.

This is amazing. This happened in August 2007, when the Australian shoreline at Yamba, north of Sydney, was swallowed up by a layer of foam.

Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. All are churned up together by powerful currents, which cause the water to form bubbles. These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore. As a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards and, massed together, they become foam. The foam “surfs” towards shore until the wave “crashes”, tossing the foam into the air.

“It’s the same effect you get when you whip up a milk shake in a blender,” explains a marine expert. “The more powerful the swirl, the more foam you create on the surface and the lighter it becomes.” In this case, storms off the New South Wales Coast and further north off Queensland had created a huge disturbance in the ocean, hitting a stretch of water where there was a particularly high amount of the substances, which form into bubbles.

Now our foam was nothing like this, but either way, I am not sure you will find us frolicking in decomposed fish etc. ja ja ja

4^th and goal…and they are stuffed!! No points.

Today was clean up day and that meant after mi desayunos of pan frances, it was time to vacuum y mop the piso.


Then it was time for a walk through the industrial section of town. Bexico does not come that way often so it was good to go for the walk and show her some of the places I see daily.

But it was a hot walk…phew.

Not many photos but here they are.

A duster salesman working on Domingo.

An advertisement for Familia de Dios…God’s Family.

Looks like they are having an event here in town. No admission charge but they are hoping for a $500 peso donation, which is a ton of money for most of the local Mexicans.

We walked to the hardware store but could not find a clip or bungee cord. We went to another hardware “stall” and as we started to speak Spanglish, the hombre starts speaking Ingles. Oh well. We are given the small bungee and decide we need grande and tell him so in Espanol. I try to use the Espanol as much as possible...they continue to try and use Ingles as much as possible. ja ja ja

He has the clips, but they are chico. They support 230kg but are not big enough to clip onto the hammock. Proximo semana I will go to Pepes and see what they carry.

Then off to Isssssssste (ok…there are really only 3 s’s) and we grab some items. Not the best selection at this abarrote, but what they do carry is much cheaper then Che.

Lugged 6 litro of laundry soap home and that was enough to prompt us to go straight to the alberca after dropping the groceries off.

Not many peeps staying in the condos, so the pool was tranquillo. Hung out for a while, met another Mojon owner and then came up to watch the Packers seal the deal vs the Bears.

Bexico continues to do on-line work and also had the iChat de Domingo with her madre.

La cena…hamburguesa con papas frites. Yummy.

Manana? Escolar at 1030am…wish me luck!! Then off to the gimnasio and also get the car washed.

Mojon? Need to check our horario escolar (school schedule) but we will head there 2 or 3 times this week.

Have a great week wherever you may be.

Hasta luego.

Steelers win. Steelers over Packers for the Superbowl?

Sabado, 22 de enero de 2011

Happy Sabado!!

Para el snowboard, Whistler esta el mejor de montana de America Norte…this is the phrase I have been practicing to explain to Ghimbo why he was given a Whistler playera (t shirt) as a regalo.

Ghimbo really appreciated (not sure he loved it…but appreciated the gesture) the shirt and Logan liked his cammo shirt…even more so when he grows into it. (lol…ja ja ja).

Here are some photos from my walk.

From the “what’s for sale in the back of this truck” series…

Bricks, roof tiles and a few floor tiles

I liked the colors of this photo. Here is a young hombre making his living by selling aprons door to door.

As for the gimnasio, I had a good work out and had some great chat with Ghimbo. He told me he will be running his own restaurant one day a week…every Domingo. His menu? Cerdo cooked many different ways…including brains…yikes. He lost me there but told me that this is what they eat in his state. On a tortilla…yikes #2.

After my work out, I came home to get ready for Mojon. Happy to see SB (Sleeping Beauty) was awake and ready to go.

As we were nearing Arrocito, I noticed the lid on the canopy was bouncing up and down. Pulled over and sure enough the one of the pistons that holds the rear window open had broken off its attachment. Argh.

A u-turn to Che and we picked up some rope to hold the window shut while we drive. Proximo semana I will buy a bungee cord. A few screws should fix the piston…if not I am sure someone here in town is willing to try to fix it!!

On the road again…

Our latest attempts at making Mexicans laugh and/or just smile, is the Moonie. I mentioned it in the blog from ayer, and here is what it looks like.

So we drive where we drive, and with a squeeze of the air pump, the Moonie goes from this…

….to this.

It has been a hit all around town…starting from our gate and down Carrizal!!

No time to use it at Copalita as we were recognized and got not only a wave through the checkpoint, but also a wave "hola" from one of the soldiers that knew us.

Nice to get back to Mojon!! We noticed that there had been a rainstorm while we were away as the lot looked groomed. There was also a high wave from a swell as it had cleaned the beach up to the foot of our lot. The rainstorm seems to have included some viento (wind) as we lost a few palm leaves from the top of the palapa. All good…it can be repaired!!

We also brought down the hammock which was a regalo from mi M&P. We needed to figure out how we can easily attach and detach it from the palapa. A run to the hardware store should solve the question. Once it is hung…check back for photos.

Had some time in the sun and some boogie boarding too. Here are the photos.

Bexico worked on both the boards and had a good couple of runs on the surfboard. She is getting there!!

The playa is sooo relaxing and we were very happy to get back to enjoy our piece of paradise!!

Around 5pm we packed up and headed back. We were questioned at Copalita, where are we coming from, where are we going and a question that Bexico understood and I did not…what is in the back of the truck. All good and then we showed the soldier the Moonie and he smiled.

What made us howl was the laugh we got from the VERY stern looking soldier who cracked up when he saw the Moonie in action!! Ja ja ja…it was hilarious!!

Upon returning from the playa, we hit the alberca to wash off the surfboard as well as ourselves. We did a quick dip when we smelled some smoke. We made a comment and got out of the pool and after we showered off, one of the smokers came by and in both an apologetic and facetious tone, told us that next time just tell her to butt it out and she will. No need to leave or make comments.

Bexico explained the whole story of her quitting and the smoking a-holes we have put up with around the alberca and the lady turned the tone down and told us she would recognize us in the future and butt out accordingly!! One smoker at a time!! Ja ja ja (Mexican version of lol)

FYI…another thing we enjoy about being this far south…610pm and it was still light out.

La cena was the yummy cerdo con papas and we are watching Mystic River on DVD.

Manana? NFL football baby!! And some alberca time of course. Hmmm…maybe pan frances Domingo?

Hasta luego amigos.

And the last photo of the day...

Bubba Moonie 

Viernes, 21 de enero de 2011

Hola....from our home town of Huatulco!!

Well, we made it safe and sound….but what a long day.

Thrilled to be home!! 

Not much to report in regards to the travelling…

-no scales at the United check in at YVR…so the VERY heavy baggage made it to Mex City with no extra charge

-US Customs does not recognize us as a legal couple, so we have to approach them separately

-when Customs scanned my boarding pass, a picture of my luggage going into the x-ray tunnel appears….high tech

-cat nap on the way from YVR to San Fran

-had a 10 second iChat with mi Padre while in San Fran. Lost the connection and then had to board the flight before saying much

-spilled a bag of M&Ms as I was trying to hurry to the gate. Luggage extra heavy know as we have added 2 bottles of Crown (I am ready for you TS)

 -empty flight from San Fran to Mex City so we both took up a row and tried another nap. I got 2 plus hours…not so much for Bexico.

-the Spanish word for boarding (as in board your flight…not snow boarding) is abordamos

-when you pick up your luggage off the carousel, you have to show a security guard your luggage tag stubs that they give you when you check in. It would be good to tell peeps to keep these when they check in…they currently don’t

-when we left Mexico, they made us fill out the salida (exit) portion of the migracion form and gave us back the unfilled entrada portion. When we returned, they wanted that empty section of the form back. Good thing I kept it. Why they wanted it? Not sure but I guess it just shows that we have returned…even though we had to fill out another one as well. Mexicoism?

-Migracion officer spoke perfect Ingles

-blessed with the green light at Customs…they will not be checking our year’s worth of shave cream etc

-checked our luggage at the Interjet counter for our flight to Huatulco. Both bags together weighed 49.2 kilos….8 below the limit!!

-745am and they have still not listed the gate we need to be at for our flight

-wow…busy airport for 530am!! By 7am I have seen some 50 flights take off

-love hearing the announcement in the aeropuerto for the flight to Chiuaua (chee wa wa)

-interesting crowd…Chilangos, a full on monk, a pilot who looked like he was 15 years old…

-super clean banos in the aeropuerto!! And after you wash your hands, a lil’dude gives you a paper towel to dry them

Our flight from Mex City to Huatulco was 30 minutes late leaving. You know your airline company might have issues when the 840am flight is late.

The flight had no less then 20 ninos…and some of them wailed the full hour of the flight. Yikes.

Taxis at the aeropuerto are expensive…$500 pesos for privado, and $110 per person for collectivo. But if you walk just past the toll booth, you can catch a city cab. We did this and ended up being picked up by Jorge who was thrilled to know we live in La Crucecita and were just returning from vacation in Vancouver. He hadn’t heard of that one yet!! Lol

Had a great chat with him. He speaks very good Ingles, but I tried to keep it as much as possible to Espanol. He got us home safe and sound and all for $120 plus a $30 peso propina for being such a good guy!!

Here are the photos from our trip home.

Bexico at YVR posing with MORE friends.

Bexico with our “carry on” (more like lug on) luggage in Mexico City…6am or so.

El Gran Pastor in the Mex City aeropuerto…. frozen meat…not sure how you get it home.

You know Bexico hit this place up!!

You know I hit this place up!!

Mc Muffin con huevo y salchicha solo (only the sandwich). As for the photo, it was a reflection that I thought looked neat.

After coming home, Bexcio hit the sack for a Gilligan’s Island nap. It was supposed to be a one hour snooze but it turned into a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour.

I did some unpacking and then hit the gimnasio in mi new shoes y playera (shirt). Took these photos on the way. I just liked the “chorty”…shorty hombre.

Said hola to Daniel and he was excited to see my vacation was over!!

Gave Rosa a “hola I am back” greeting and then gave her the regalo…a book of photos from across Canada. She loved it and thanked me several times. I was a bit (heex3) concerned that she may feel she needs to buy me gifts, so I will keep an eye on this.

So so workout as I was pooped from lack of sleep on the avions.

Walked by the boys on the way home…they are all good.

Took this photo…added it to “the project”.

This taxi is from Vera Cruz…a big oil town I am told.

Picked up some sandia y platanos and then it was time to wake up Sleeping Beauty for our alberca time.

Despues the pool, we got our salad veggies and then jumped in the car to drop off some things for Lalo as well as go to the Che.

We drove to Lalos and gave him his Roots knapsack for his hijo and a Whistler t-shirt for himself. He looked truly appreciative. We also showed him “moonie”.

I will try to take a photo of “moonie” for mananas blog, but lets just say that so far it has made many peeps laugh!!  

After Che it was all about la cena and cleaning and putting away our travel mess.

Hey…went to the correo on the way to Che and we had two pieces of mail waiting for us!! One from mi hermana, was sent from Calgary on Dec 7 and arrived in Huatulco Jan 12, while the other piece, from mi amigo JG, was sent Dec 14 from Van and arrived Jan 21. It must have been the high volume of Navidad or Dia de Reyes cards that slowed down my two from Canada!! Either way, thanks for sending the cards and photos.

MISC

Two photos Bexico took while we were returning from Whistler.

Bexico checked in with her on-line job websites and has been invited to interview for an on line job!! They saw her work and contacted her…how exciting!!

You are caught up.

Manana? Gimnasio where I have a regalo for both Ghimbo and Logan and then we are off to Mojon!!

Hit 30.6 degrees today…and hit 35.4 sometime while we were away. Not missing the cold rain of Vancouver…but do miss the peeps.

Hasta luego.