lunes, el 28 de febrero de 2011

Hola amigos. Happy lunes to all of you!!

Excitement for the dia? A treblor while we were floating in the alberca!! It was a fairly large one…we felt it and also saw the reflections in the condo windows move. As for the other pool peeps…it is a wonder what some rum and/or cervezas will do. No one else felt a thing and had no idea about the treblor until someone came down from their condo to see if his espousa was ok!! Ja ja ja

As for the rest of our day…

El gimnasio despues desayunos and here are mi fotos.

The bici hombre.

The bike guy who sharpens knives.

And this artista.

He was busy painting up a new moto for Imperial Pollo.

Just an hombre who wants to teach the World to sing…in perfect harmony….

On the way home from el gimnasio, I saw what looked like a couple setting up their stand in front of their casa.

Coco, papaya and that ever present jar of coco juice.

I have mentioned this hombre before.

Here he is busy keeping “the parque” clean. This park is where you can go sit and chill-ax if you have had a few bevies too many.

All you need is a crate to open up shop.

These mangoes came from a stand in the mercado público.

I took this foto looking east from the jewelry store.

Lalo tells me he did a summer of roofing during the H1N1 crisis as there were no tourists for his business. The pay in the 40 grado heat? $200 pesos a day…around $18n Cdn.

Lalo’s papa (as he calls him) is in town from Acapulco for the next few meses. He is working in the jewelry shop gatito (kitty) corner to the one Lalo works in.

This is Lalo’s padre talking with the hombre that has converted his verde carro into the coco-mobile!!

Do you think Lalo looks like his padre?

Lalo told me he LOVES this shirt.

Remind me to ask his papa where Lalo got his fashion sense from!! Ja ja ja

As for el jimnasio…great workout and even better when I have someone to talk to while I am pounding out my cardio on the bici.

Mi amigo Mario arrived and in short order, I found out where he lives (Copalita) and that his family owns 10 lotes at Mojon. I have a foto of our lote on my iPod and I showed it to him. Small world eh?

Also chatted up Rosa and then Memo too when he came in. And last but not least…Francisco dos when he arrived. Hablamos negocios de restaurante…restaurant business. It is the same here as in Canada…sales, sales and sales. Labour is not an issue down here…at $8 Cdn per day.

He liked my comments and is excited as the jefe (boss) has brought in an Italian chef to help re-do the menu and train the in-house chef.

Antes el gimnasio, I passed Daniel and gave him the 2^nd and 3^rd coupon we had pulled out of a bolsa de chips. I had given hom the first coupon ayer. The coupon states Felicidades and then tells you what you won.

With the first coupon he won a bolsa of cacahuates…peanuts. The other two coupons? Some sort of hot sauce. Hey…I am sure he can use it on something!!

Funny thing was that as I gave him the coupons, and otra hombre showed up and stood right next to Daniel and watched as I gave him the coupons. Daniel appreciated the cacahuates…maybe he dished off the hot sauce!! Ja ja ja

Despues el gimnasio, I walked through town…said hola to the boys and then took my USB key into the foto shop so I could get the fotos printed for Elder. The hombre in the shop was confused as he thought the fotos were the same. I pointed out the chicas and then told him one foto was for Elder’s madre!! He laughed.

Also saw a waterproof camera for some $4000 pesos…will do some research on it and see how much future Shop would charge for the same.

Went to the ATM while waiting…dólar is still on a tear, and then back to the boys for some laughs. As I was chatting with them, I witnessed an accidente. A car pulled out from the left curb and did not do a shoulder check and drove into a moto (scooter) with a mujer driving it.

The scooter and driver went flying and I ran over to see if she needed help. I was beaten to the scene by some tienda workers, the gal glared at the driver and then got on her scooter and drove off.

Lalo said that when accidents like that happen, most often the person who is hit, just drives off because they are embarrassed. It isn’t until later that they realize they are hurt or have significant damage to their moto. Strange. But the drivers here are on the loco side. Not sure what it takes to acquire a license here.

Picked up the fotos and then some sandia before returning home for alberca y treblor tiempo!!

We needed a Che run so we drove and also paid our Telmex bill at their ATM. $600 bill, put in $1000 and then the machine stated something in español on the screen. I took a chance and hit the top button and $300 pesos were returned to me. I guess the machine was telling me that it was only able to give me $300 pesos back and that it would credit my cuenta (account) the other $100. All good…but different!!

Che was Che…but we did buy some candles in case we ever have a power outage during the night.

Great cena…one burger each and some papas fritas too!! Bexico ensured we were healthy by whipping up some ensalada mixta as well.

Mañana…we are hanging around the condo and will be hitting Mojon on miercoles.

As for meal planning…steak fajitas mañana and skinless muslos de pollo (thighs) para el miercoles.

Hope you enjoyed the update.

Saludos.

domingo, el 27 de febrero de 2011

Buenos noches…and the Oscar goes to…

Tranquilo dia here in Huatulco.

The biggest excitement (and frustration) has been the constant power outages. We have had at least 10 of them today, with the longest lasting about 30 minutes. The only concern was the food in the freezer and fridge, but all is good.

According to Marcelino at the gate, the problem is in Tangolunda. ¿Porque? No se.

It is hot enough here, but then turn off the ceiling fans while you are doing a mop…and the humidity sky rockets. Good thing there was still a viento (breeze) and…the stove is gas so it did not affect the pan frances desayuno!! Ja ja ja

I had NASCAR at 2pm so it was alberca time waaaay earlier then normal for us. It was quiet at the pool for a while and then peeps started streaming in. Today’s water cooler fodder is the “accident” that occurred involving two condo residents.

It looks like a scooter accident as one guy looks like a mummy with bandages up and down both legs as well as covering one complete arm.

So we floated, did some laps and then went back upstairs. Bexico attempted to do some work between the outages, and I streamed the race on line. Jeff Gordon broke his 66 race losing streak…it was a good race.

Despues the race, a quick trip to the veggie store for dinner needs and then it was time to cook.

Burgers…hmmm…burgers.

Bexico had a nice iChat with her madre and then somehow managed to eat dos burgers!! RJ…once again, thanks for the cumpleanos e-card…and yes…I promise to cut my hair one day!! Ja ja ja.

We streamed the Oscar’s until all 8 channels were dropped due to copyright issues. So, now we chillax, and bounce between The Bourne Ultimatum and los Oscars en español.

Mañana? Back to the beloved routine of el gimnasio y alberca time. No hay clases por dos semanas.

Have a great lunes!!

Here are some fotos from nuestro amigo de ayer. In real life, the gecko is slightly smaller then it's picture in the second foto.

sabado, el 26 de febrero de 2011

Buenos noches…el sábado is terminado.

Fun day…gimnasio y Mojon…need I say anything else? Ja ja ja

Here are my fotos from the walk to el gimnasio.

WFSITBOTT?

Socks and underwear my amigos!! If you look at both fotos, you will see dos hombres loading up gimnasio bags with which they will walk around La Crucecita trying to sell their goods.

Hammock hombre.

Lots to see in this next foto. Click on it to enlarge.

Lower right is a tire which is how mi amigo Elder advertises his llanteria (tire repair shop), many turismo buses in the background, you can also see the verde (green) coco “car” in the background, and oh yeah...there is also a guy rolling some wire across the calle. Ja ja ja

Old style turismo bus.

And of course some vendors ready to sell.

I have taken many pictures of this centre island on a busy intersection.

Hoy, it looks like a madre y su hijo de la venta de bolsas de mangos.

WFSITBOTT #2?

I am not sure. But the trucks states “pig products”. Didn’t see a refrigerator unit on the truck…oh oh.

My time at el gimnasio was for a quick cardio as I was tarde (late) for Mojon time!!

Came home, loaded up and we were gone. When we came upon Copalita, there was some slight confusion and that can concern a gringo when the confused people all have machine guns!! Ja ja ja

The soldier on the driver’s side was waving me through while the two on the passenger side were telling me to stop. I stopped…duh.

All they wanted to do was write down some of our ID info and while one soldier did that, we had a GREAT chat with another. Where are you from, going, what are you going to do at Mojon, who speaks more español?, what is the make of the truck etc. Screw clase de español, we just need to hang with these soldiers!!

On to Mojon where the initial olas synopsis was not good. Very low waves for both boogie and surfing. We still had fun (duh…it it the beach and we are in Mexico) and then chilled around and under the palapa.

Our second venture into the olas was more successful. The swell picked up and we went to the headlands where there were some “true” surf waves. Bexico caught a few of those closer to shore and I ventured further out to where they were breaking.

I caught two of the biggest olas I have ever ridden. We are adding a waterproof camera to the list as some fotos of those rides would have been priceless. I swear there are 10 foot drops into the waves!! Crazy…and tiring. Great cardio.

Talking cardio…Ganoche the black lab was back and after throwing his coconut into the oceano a few times, both Bexico and I were both pooped!!

Headed home around 515pm and were passed right through Copalita.

You know you live near the wild when as you are driving home from Mojon, you see wild turkeys, a 2 foot long lizard and then another peroito (puppy) that was avoiding traffic as he crossed the street in Tangolunda.

As for wildlife closer to home, there is a tiny verde gecko on our verde couch!!! He is one inch long and super skinny…and he has now bolted under the coffee table!! Geckos are good…they eat mosquitos…this guy? Maybe one a week!!! Ja ja ja

Shower at the alberca, a quick dip into the pool with water that felt like the temperature of a hot tubs and then up for la cena.

Bexico had the chorizo y pollo con cebolla y pimiento rojo on pasta and I finished the meatballs. Mañana…hamburguesas of course!!

Watching Casino Royale while Bexico cleans her oficina.

Mañana…tranquillo domingo while Bexico works, I start the day with desayunos of pan frances and then watch NASCAR via the internet!!

Hope to have the long delayed iChat with HK as well.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Saludos

viernes, el 25 de febrero de 2011

What a great day here in Huatulco!! Sunny, hot and great Mojon news!!

So let’s start with Mojon!!

These are fotos of the land survey Antonio completed for us. The first foto shows our lot and the second foto shows the GPS coordinates. This is critical because we can now show the government the exact location of the lots as this is needed for all info moving forward.

So that was great news.

The second news…Antonio says that Mojon had been previously surveyed for the FZ and even though we have the very rare occurrence of oceano coming up to the property line, NONE of our property is in the official FZ. Huh?

I am not questioning it…but bizzaro!! I have gone back to Lanny and asked him if Antonio can produce another survey showing our property and the official FZ, as well can Antonio provide copies of any official FZ documents. Here in Mexico, the more documents the better!!

So where does this leave us? Next step will be design. This is needed for us to proceed onto the step after that, the enviro study, and once that is approved, we can build. Seems simple. The peeps Lanny use for the enviro study even complete the change of land use. Ta-da.

As for design, this is normally charged out at 5% of build cost. And most of that cost goes to the structural engineering plan. The other 3 plans that are part of design will be mechanical, electrical and the actual design.

As we are leaning towards using Lanny’s group for the villa build, he told me to pop in anytime, make an appointment with the architects and in a month or so after that, we can have plans.

As for “title”, that is still something to figure out and will continue to press Roman for his expertise here.

So…great news!!

And all this came after a great 2 hour session at the gimnasio. I met a new amigo Mario and chatted with him in both ingles y español and also had a chat with Franciso dos.

Add to that the 30 minute talk with Rosa and Francisco dos, trying to explain what I know about the gay and lesbian life in Canada vs Mexico.

How did this come about? I asked Rosa about the town of Juchitán as we had been told about this city in clase. It is a town famous (??) for it’s muxes and tolerance for the g&l community.

Here is an article that talks about it.

Link to Muxes article

What this article does not state are some things we were told in clase. Sometimes a boy is told he is a muxe vs discovering if he is or isn't, if you are a muxe your life can become one of domesticated duties with no chance for schooling etc.

Not sure of the realities, but an interesting peace of information regarding the Oaxaca, the state we live in.

Rosa and Franciso dos (2) are not homophobic, but their world does not include knowing any g&l people, or understanding the culture, ways of life and freedoms they are supposed to experience in a country like Canada. Interesting session at the gimnasio and still managed to burn off 1500 calories.

Here are the fotos from the walk to the gimnasio.

I first hit up an ATM as the dollar has been on a tear from 11.78/dollar in early Feb to 12.04/dollar today…a 2.2% gain.

Here is a fresh fruit cart.

Said hola to the boys and then saw this nina.

Limes and more limes

WFSITBOTT?

Huge papayas.

So I walked by my tire repair guy and he was sitting on his butt and I asked him about business…cómo es el negocio? Tranquillo was his reply and as we had never officially introduced ourselves, I told him my name and asked his. He said “Elder” but I was not sure so he took me to his oficina (a counter) to write it down.

On his counter he had magazine that had some scantily dressed gals on the cover. He pointed it out to me and laughed. I changed tones and with aghast, I pointed and then stated “mi hermana”. His jaw dropped as he truly believed me and then I broke out laughing so hard. He too laughed and I had a new amigo!!

He asked for his foto to be taken and here it is.

As you might be able to tell…he had a few “pictures” on the wall behind him. Nothing a little photoshop cannot take care of to ensure family friendly content!! Ja ja ja

I will get a copy (with and without the photoshop!!) printed and drop it off to him proximo semana.

Despues el gimnasio, I saw these guys bombing around.

Still room for one more on this scooter!! Thank goodness they do not play the tuba.

I came home and then went to see Lanny and then popped into Che for leche…forgot the huevos though…doph. And for $5 dólares CDN, I picked up a bottle of Bacardi Añejo and dos vasos…two glasses. Five dollars!! And now we are prepared for company at our new villas!! Ja ja ja

Came home and we had some alberca time. Bexico has been busy with work and a little break was well deserved!!

We then did a walk around La Crucecita as we had some needs.

Here are a few fotos from the walk.

Just a couple of guys discussing their bonsai plants!! Ja ja ja

A view south down calle Bugambilia towards the montañas.

And la Iglesia.

Link to map of la Iglesia

What did we pick up? Fresh pan for la cena, 4 big bottles of Mil Islas dressing (great SCORE), some sandia and veggies too!! And of course the latest Condorito!!

Came home and cooked la cena…meatballs on pan for me and for Bexico…meatballs y broccoli (of course!!).

As for ahora (now)? Writing the blog in front of the TV while Bexico is hard at work in her oficina.

Mañana? El gimnasio and then off to ride some olas at Mojon!!


Nueva palabre de dia? Sombre....shade. Ayer fue de 33,9 grados a la sombre...HOT!! Hoy? Frio at 33,4!! ja ja ja 


I love new words as I can use them instantly. I learned sombre at the gate as I asked Silverio what it was called (¿cómo se dice...?) and then 5 minutes later I used it again with Daniel my Fonatur amigo as I told him how hot it had been. Not that he did not realize this working 8 hours sweeping the streets. Oh well.

Tener un buen fin de semana!!

Marcos y Bexico

jueves, el 24 de febrero de 2011

Hola Hola!!

Not much new from Huatulco…another sunny and hot day.

Had an interesting email from Lanny. I am meeting with him mañana to pick up “something” he called good news.

I hope it is our land survey papers but as of ayer, we had not seen any FZ posts on Mojon. If not, I will see if Antonio is qualified for that and if isn’t, we still have Roman’s guy or maybe Lanny knows another hombre.

Got up esta mañana ("this morning" as mañana can mean "morning" when used as a noun or "tomorrow" when it is an adjectivo) to do some tareas…but we did not review it in clase. Hmmmm?

Clase was a review of los comparativos y superlativos…más, menos, menor, mayor, major y peor etc.

Throw in some tan, tanto, tanta, tantos and tantas and you have conquered “as xx as”…for example “mi novia cocina tanto como yo”…my girlfriend cooks as much as I do”.

And do not forget el/la/los y las when using extremes. Mi hermano es el mas alto de mi familia. My brother is the tallest in my family. PS…he likes being called hermano…no sé por qué.

Can you believe I Googled “adverb” to make sure I understood it in Ingles before trying to tackle it in español? Ja ja ja

No hay clases hasta el 17 de marzo, but we will study all the verbos etc to stay on top of it. And of course use what we have been taught while we tour La Crucecita, el gimnasio y Oaxaca City.

Despues clase, pit stop at Che and we struck oro (gold). More Heinz ketchup in stock (we now have 3 back ups), Hunt’s pasta sauce (12 back ups) and all our meat products except cerdo brochetta were also available!!

So dinner is planned for the next 4 noche. Quesadillas esta noche, meatballs mañana, pasta con chorizo y pollo on sabado and end the week with hamburguesa domingo!! Lunes…steak fajitas compliments of Chef Bexico!!

And from the hombre who once famously said, “this veggie dish would be great with a side of prime rib”…we are going to try some of the many different moles while we are in Oaxaca City!!

Link to Wikipedia and their info on Mole…

CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON MOLE

Came home and then off to the gimnasio in the 34 grado heat. But…it was the best session I have had since antes my enfermedad. Phew…about time.

Here are the only fotos of the day.

I am thinking it is a 1975 Pinto?

As I came home, this thing darted across the sidewalk and came to a stop under a truck.

Going to the gym at 130pm is not the best for fotos as many peeps are headed home and shops are closing for the 2-4pm siesta, thus not much to take fotos of…except iguanas.

I looked on line but did not find any info on the purpose of the siesta, because the word does not always leave a good image. Many shops close from 2-4pm to allow the solo worker to go home for lunch or to spend time with their families. Most workers in these shops work 8am-2pm and then 4-8pm.

As for el gimnasio, had a nice chat with Rosa, great work out and then alberca time.

After the pool, Bexico went back to work and I caught up with the goings on in the world.

Had a great dinner and have spent the evening relaxing. Bexico is back at work and we are planning our fin de semana…when will we go to Mojon…will we watch NASCAR…tough decisions.

Have a great viernes and I look forward to shooting more then 3 fotos mañana!!

Sauldos

miercoles, el 23 de febrero de 2011

Miercoles has come and gone. It was a good Wednesday.

Feliz Cumpleaños Senor Dodger. Only menos 25 in Edmonton today!!

I cannot believe I am still not 100%...but am getting better slowly. The biggest complaint is that I am lethargic, but I expect the energy to return in a few more days. And thanks for the get better wishes from RJ!!

11pm here in Huatulco. I will keep this short as we are up early mañana for clase de español.

Nice to be back at el gimnasio, but a short session due to lack of energy. Rosa liked the story of San Augustine and a few peeps in the gym wished me Feliz Cumpleanos. Rosa also gave me a Kinder Sorpresa Huevo…illegal in the US of A!!

No word on Ghimbeli. He probably won’t return is the word from Rosa. I hope he and Logan are safe and sound and that their issues are being dealt with.

Mojon with no stop at Copalita on the way there and only a sensor “walk by” on the way home. Copalita is the military and on the way through Tangolunda, we came upon a Marina (Marines) checkpoint. First time we have seen one of these pop up…they are making their quota as per the request of the Mexican Presidente.

At Tangolunda we had a full search and again they could not get into the cooler. Flip handle…lid opens. Doph. Bexico was having a nice chat with one marine while I was showing some ID. My marine really liked my camo knapsack!!! All things militar draw that attention, including the new camo surf shorts Bexico bought me for my birthday!!

As for Mojon, very low swell so no surfing but we caught a few boogie board waves. Mainly chill-axed and had a “design” meeting for the next set of Bexico’s drawings.

Not my forte, but here are some fotos of a bird that was at Mojon.

Double click on a foto to enlarge it. I like the primero (first) one the best.

Bexico was boogie boarding when a group of small fish jumped around her. Small fish = birds…and sharks? Ja ja ja

Dinner was a Bexico pizza, pepperoni y chorizo…so good!!

We then hit the cine for El Rito with Anthony Hopkins. Somewhat scary as it is based on real events…and exorcisms!! We rated it 4.5 out of 7.

A quick walk, a hola to the boys and then some veggies y plátanos machos. ¿Porque? Bexico’s favorita treat...plátanos frito con lechera of course!!

You are up to date. Sorry the blog is short…more meat in it tomorrow.

Did you hear about the 24 Hour Roti Chicken channel? And we thought Libya had issues.

Hasta luego!!

martes, el 22 de febrero de 2011

Hola amigos!!

Hoy es mi cumpleaños y gracias por todos los saludos!! I had some great emails, an iChat with mis padres…followed by a phone call from mi padre…but also received 2 hilarious Hallmark e-cards. Gracias HK y mi hermana!!

Cannot forget about the happy birthday in español…but will he sing it?

The big 4-6 today…but feeling a sprite 35!!

As for the camarones mal…I am almost over them. I actually made it to clase, shopping at Che, alberca time and a nice long walk through La Crucecita.

No gimnasio…hopefully mañana…but it is not like I have been eating so much that I need the cardio.

A shout out to TS for checking in on my health. An otra shout out to RJ who is also continually reading the blog on the look out for more fotos of her hija, whether they are of her surfing or hard at work on the computer!!

Clase was interesting. Our maestra was still feeling the effects of her ailments, so the lesson plan was a bit up and down. All good…but it was difficult to follow sometimes. Today was all about adjectives and adverbios. Normalmente, rapidamente etc.

It is all coming together but it will take some time and more MB of memory!! Ja ja ja

Stopped at Che on the way home. No need for a big grocery purchase as I have not eaten much in the past few days. But…we did buy two friggen awesome donuts to celebrate mi cumpleaños!! Can you say bigger and better then Timmy Ho’s…for 35 cents each?

Here is what they look like.

Oops…they were not around long enough to take a foto of. Ja ja ja

No el gimnasio as I was pooped, but a quick siesta and then alberca time!!

Despues alberca time, we took a nice walk through town.

Here are the fotos we took.

I just love these two senoritas. They are soooo baja (small)…maximum 4 feet tall.

WFSITBOTT?

They have a speaker on the roof blaring out the recorded message that they are selling refrigeradoras!!

WFSITBOTT #2?

It is the basket and paper flower salespeople. We saw an mayor (older) hombre walking around town selling the baskets etc.

Here are our options for mañana’s movie night…noche de peliculas.

El Oso Yogui looks good!! Ja ja ja

This is a view norte on calle Carrizal. A nice shot of the montañas in the background.

This is Betto and hijo.

Betto works 6 days a week, from 5am until 8pm. He cleans pools from 5am-8am, then takes care of his ninos and then works at the restaurante as a host, from 10am-8pm.

Everyone has multi-roles and we will use Betto when we book our 5 bahia lancha (boat) tour.

After we saw Betto, we said hola to Lalo as he works next door. We were then introduced to Lalo’s padre…an identical, but older, twin of Lalo. He is in town from Acapulco to do some sales at the jewelry store kitty corner from Gabriel the Owl. Lalo’s padre is a sympatico hombre who speaks very good ingles.

Despues the introductions, we went to Yamaha to see how much for a new boogie board. We have the need to upgrade to a two board familia!! Ja ja ja

But muy caro!! Very expensive compared to the identical one we saw in the mall, so we went back and bought this board.

Identical to the one J&C gave us, menos the duct tape!! $590 pesos…we asked if there was a deal for $500 and the senorita said no. Oh well.

Picked up some veggies for Bexico and then came home to chill-lax and eat la cena.

We found some steak brochetta so I cooked them up. Not bad…not as good as the cerdo, but a nice change. Bexico was happy…must feed machine!!! Ja ja ja

Blog is done. Estoy cansado so it is time for bed.

I have paid the $10 for a month subscription to Justin.tv so I can stream the Nucks and NASCAR...it will be worth it. Nucks are down 2-1...lots of time left!!

Mañana I hope to be back in the full swing of things but also hit up La Bocana as we have not been there for a while.

Lots of bad stuff in the World right now. Hug your loved ones.

Hasta luego.

Marcos y Bexico.