sábado el 30 de abril de 2011

Hola all!!

9pm on a Saturday night…a VERY warm Saturday night. It is currently 31,4 grados outside and due to cooking a rib eye steak con papas puree y grilled cebollo, it is 32,4 inside. Yikes. This might mean a secreto dip in the alberca later!!

Lots going on in regards to the internet streaming….and tonite’s internet speed sucks. We get stop, start, stop, start so we will avoid video and just go to Espn.com to see who is leading the race in tonite’s NASCAR race, see when the Canucks score vs Nashville and see how fast GSP wins his bout on UFC!!

UPDATE


Canucks up 1-0 and Jeff Gordon was just in a huge crash.

Our day was a usual sábado. We had desayunos and then walked to Papalopan to buy a steak. While we were inside, Lalo came in and and helped explain the procedure.

You can buy from the freezer or fridge, or you step up to the butchers counter and ask for whatever you are there to buy. We saw a 650 gram rib eye already cut, so we bought that. Nice piece of meat and only $80 pesos…just under $7 Cdn.

Only issue? We went to cook it tonight and found out it was actually 2 steaks. Next time we will step up to the counter!!

Lalo was getting ready for a meal with his novia who works around the corner from him. He bought some meat and today Papalopan had their bbq set up outside, so he was having the meat cooked before he went to meet his gal.

He is headed home in 2 weeks and we hope to meet him in Acapulco for some guided tours!!

After steak shopping, Bexico picked up some laundry for S&A as they are no longer here. Me…off to el gimnasio and here are the fotos.

Just a 16 litro bottle of agua outside Marius’s door.

We go through one of these every 2 days or so. Cheap…$19 pesos…$1.50.

Lots of taxis on Bumgabilia.

These hombres were getting their huevo boxes full of sandals ready.

I never get tired of taking fotos of hard working Mexicans.

34 plus grados and this guy is carrying dos mesas.

Where there are mesas, there is a factory.

Our maestra is away so we have no clase de español. How about clase de ruso?

Only $30 pesos per hour!! иметь хорошую ночь…have a good night.

The gym was quite busy, but managed to fit in a good workout before heading home and onto Mojon.

HOT at Mojon. Not much of a breeze, but the palapa helps. Good day for shell seeking and the playa was deserted. High tide so not many surfers, but we did see two trucks rollin with lots of boards on their roofs. It looks like they were headed to stay down the playa at Terrys.

Once we have our rental villas up and going, we can expect the same type of business during these months. Not so much sun seekers as surfers and Mojon is 2 hours from Puerto, 15 minutes from La Bocana and 30 from Barra. And of course Mojon has it’s own great surf as well.

Spent the day chill-laxin and then packed up around 530pm. We did get the search on the way home, but they were polite and asked us about our day at Mojon. Reminds me about the conversation I had as we packed up the truck this morning. A Mexican hombre wanted to talk about our camioneta (truck) with me. What year, what size engine, gas tank size, mileage etc. Nice to be able to actually have the discussion.

Stopped at Che and then came home for alberca time. Not many peeps left in the pool…the water was actually clear/clean too!!! Ja ja ja

Great dinner and the first period of the Nucks worked so-so.

Currently Bexico is back at work in the oficina, I am trying to watch the last 10 laps of the race and that is our sábado!!

Mañana…we have a few iChats y Skypes lined up.

Have a great domingo!!

1-0 Nucks at end of 2^nd and it looks like Kyle Busch won the race.

Marco y Bexico

viernes, el 29 de abril de 2011

Buenos noches!!

And in anoches blog, I seem to recall telling you all that we would be talking about the Canucks win over Nashville? Ta-da!! Only 1-0 but the Nashville goalie saved their bacon or else it would have been a blow out. Next game is mañana at 8pm Huatulco time.

Now…what to do about the Nascar race that starts at 630pm? Hmmmm. Ja ja ja

Our day.

Our amigos were all leaving today on the same flight to Houston and then onto their homes in different parts of the US of A. Good to see J&C again and we know they will return to Huatulco sooner then later.

As previously mentioned, we have some new amigos in Alice y Sparks and maybe one day we will see them again too.

Eric y Amber are two friends of J&C and we met them a few days ago. Eric is from Mexico and Amber is a Kelowna gal. Small world.

We said good bye to all and then headed off to the gym. I was stopped at the gate by Oscar, the property manager, to be told about the new rules regarding the water jugs. I guess someone does not like seeing all the empty jugs at the gate so now we leave them by our front doors and the water company will exchange them with full ones there.

Silverio and I laughed as he said it was a nuevo reglamento…new regulation. I said it was reglamento número doscientos…rule number 200!!

Off to the gym and here are the fotos.

Not sure why this was on the bus’s side view mirror.

But I liked it!!

Just another delivery for the cantina.

Negra Modelo is a gooood cerveza!! Ask Bono the Mono.

A truck driver getting good use of his hammock.

These trucks deliver the fresh verdura y veggies on martes y viernes.

This tienda is on Carrizal.

In 7 meses I have never seen it open. Thus the awning?

Here is a typical story for Huatulco….

Guy drops a bolsa de naranjas on the road. The next camion has to stop so they do not run over it.

The passenger gets out to pick it up.

And throw it in his truck….thinking “what a score!!”

And then they drive away with their two tigers.

Later after my ejercicio, I saw the same cage with only one tiger. Oh oh.

I saw this nest in the parque.

Looks like some kind of bees nest.

Not sure how Kow’s picture ended up on a turismo bus.

As I walked by this hombre de helado

I said “bueno negocio” as he had served ice cream to about 20 people from the turismo bus. He put on a HUGE smile and said “sí”.

Hit the gym and there was no one there but Rosa and I until the owner, Galdino, came in.

Here is his camioneta, he was gracious enough to once stop and give me a ride to his gym.

While he was at the gym he received a delivery from DF…Mexico City.

It was a box with 5 workout protein shakes and the such. He was curious what I knew about the products and we talked about GNC, the store in Canada where I used to buy some goods. We then went about comparing ingredients in the 5 containers and talking about brand names and how much these items would cost up norte. Expensive products here…and he has to get them shipped from DF.

Maybe he uses this shipping company?

They are located in the same building as the bus company ADO.

On the way home, I stopped at Issssssste looking for some mayo sin limon…tough to find. They were out of the big jars and they also had no mil islas dressing. Doph.

I did see this poster.

It is for a dance exhibition in Santa Cruz, but we missed the 6pm show.

Walking through the zocalo I came upon hard working “Chorty”.

He works the town square every day.

And of course you all know Gato Negro.

The last foto of the day is courtesy Padre.

It is a great foto of a bici trail in Holland.

Prior to heading home, stopped in to get a grilling from Lalo’s padre who works at the jewelry store across from Lalo. Why the grilling? Mi español was not up to his standards! Ja ja ja

I said “mi amigos camioneta” which literally translated means “my friend’s truck”. I should have said “caminoeta de mi amigo”…”truck of my friend”. He is low on the patience Lalo y Daniel have exhibited.

I asked him how long he has spoken ingles and it is almost 40 years. I told him to cut me some slack as “mi hablo español para seis meses todas”…I speak Spanish for 6 months total!! Had a good laugh and then went across the street to say hola to the boys.

Business has already dropped off and they are sad about it. Pepe is headed home mañana and Lalo will head to Acapulco in another month. Quiet times are coming.

Picked up some sandia y platanos and then headed home for alberca time.

And the pool was empty!!! We had a good float, a few laps and then someone had a quick siesta!!

We needed to head to the papeleria for some special paper for Bexico’s work and off we went. Great deal on the paper…12 sheets for $30 pesos…$2.50 Cdn.

Bexico is soooo busy working on trying to land some contracts I think she has 3 or 4 possibilities. One in Ottawa, one in Paris and one in California. Her 4^th possibility is with the American Sign Language Institute…possibly doing 400 drawings. Go Bexico go!!

Scored the paper, hola again to the boys, found a new stash of mil isla dressing and then a picked up a few more veggies for Bexico’s veggie pizza.

La cena was great!! I had the pepperoni za and Bexico had the veggie.

Currently she is back in her oficina working away…one of us has to work!! Lol

Mañana? Hard to believe it is already sábado…where has the week gone? We are going to hit up Papalopan for our steak as they were closed when we walked by today. Then is it off to the gym and Mojon.

Home for racing y Canucks and you can call it a full day!!

Buen fin de semana all!!

SOOOOOO glad the Royal Wedding is over!! Ja ja ja

jueves, el 28 de abril de 2011

Buenos tardes all!! 645pm…not Buenos noches until the sun goes down…another 30 minutes or so.

Why the early blog? Tranquilo day and hello…Canucks at 8pm our time!!

Just back from the alberca, out away our Mojon gear and settling in for an ensalada and then left over Bubba burritos for me, and some potato concoction for Bexico.

The rest of our day…huevos revueltos (sin leche) for desayunos, and then off to el gimnasio. No fotos today…mucho siento. Not much happening along my route, but I do see a lot of turismo buses getting ready to leave town.

Not many peeps at the gym, but Rosa corrected me…the 3 circus performers (including the one with a groovy eye patch…aye Matey) are NOT circus performers…just peeps on vacation. Sure….ja ja ja. No bearded lady, but who does 20 minutes of sit ups…as a familia? Lol

Hola to Daniel mi amigo from Fonatur and then I was home.

Mojon was HOT today. Not much viento…thank goodness for the palapa. High tide…olas not that good and not many shells to be found. But Bexico did score a 3 pointer!!

Swimming, boarding, playing with Tenouche and reading a libro. A good life if I do say so.

How to drive Tenouche nuts? Put his tennis ball INSIDE a cracked coconut!! He could not get it out, so instead he just started digging holes in the sand. He is nuts…but fun to have around.

We do have a few Tenouche fotos.

Here I am using my shovel as a bat and sending his tennis ball into the oceano. This dog loves the water and has never ending energy!!

And then I started digging a hole and placing the tennis ball in the hole and watching Tenouche climb in and grab the ball.

Eventually the hole was so deep, that Bexico said she could only see his tail wagging!! Ja ja ja

Packed up around 5pm…we could sit there until the sun sets. It gets cooler around 430pm and is soooo comfortable.

No stop at Copalita…coming or going.

Stopped at Che and had our groceries packed by Bexico’s favorita school girl, Anna. Che does not pay these 10 year old school kids, but they get to keep any propinas they receive. We generally tip 5 pesos and are at about 50/50 for getting a gracias out of the niños!!

Planned our next couple of dinners. Mañana…home made pizza, sábado is probably a steak from Papalopan (top notch steaks in town) and then burger domingo!!

Mañana? Nothing out of the ordinary is currently planned. I expect to be updating you on the Canuck win!!

saludos

miercoles, el 27 de abril de 2011

Buenos noches fellow Vancouver Canucks fans!!

Was that a game or what? Oh that Burrows fellow made it an interesting game on many fronts eh?

Nashville mañana 6pm BC time…tune it to see the Canucks take the series in 6!

Our day? Same as usual and loved it.

Had a quick iChat with Madre & Padre and the two of them were in tears laughing over some broma…jokes.

M&P…this foto is for you!!!

Off to gym and Bexico took care of negocio y her workout. No fotos today as I did not walk, but took the camioneta (pick up) to get washed.

Great workout!! We were joined by 3 performers from the circus who spent the first 20 minutes doing just sit ups…yikes.

Chatted up the team and then left to get the truck washed. Exterior solo para $50 pesos…not bad!!

I stopped in at the correo, but alas Bexico’s libro has not arrived yet. Then off to pay our Telmex bill and then into Che.

Still a ton of peeps in town, but the condo grounds themselves seem quieter.

No “real” leche at Che…or in my secreto tiendas in the industrial section. Oh oh. Theu have the UHT (ultra high temp) leche…but we are not keen on it. Back to Che mañana on our way home from Mojon.

Home for alberca time…us, our new amigos Alice y Sparks and one Mexican family. Oh…and dos nuevo regaderos para la ducha!! Two new shower heads for the pool showers. Bexico has a pequeno corte (small cut) by her eye, and it is a bit (hee x3) tender…but no shiner. Phew!!

Long chat with A&S in the alberca and then upstairs to eat la cena. Ensalada (duh…of course) and with our 3^rd block of cheddar…more burritos!!

Off to the 610pm peliculas and for the primero vez (first time), Bexico bought some palomitas…popcorn.

J…the movie STUNK!! Ja ja ja Oh well. It was The Adjustment Bureau…it needed some adjusting. Neat trick with the doors though.

A walk through the zocalo and then a pit stop at Los Portales para plataños fritos de mi novia!! I had a cerveza and at 8pm…the place filled. Grabbed la cuenta before the meseros all got busy and settled up.

Hola to the boys…Lalo has otra cold (the flu again) and then picked up some verdura for mañana’s cena.

Once home we both did some work and we are getting ready to call it a day.

Mañana…el gimnasio, the search for leche and a day at Mojon.

Our 7 day weather forecast is back to sunshine!!

Click on link to see for yourself!!

Weather forecast for Mojon

Have a great jueves!!

Marco y Bexico

martes, el 26 de abril de 2011

So tonight is the night we say adios to the Blackhawks?

830pm here in Huatulco…the game starts in 30 minutes so this will be a quick blog update.

A great day here…not too hot!! Bexico had a fun time having some java con Crista and I hit the gym.

Not much new at the gym, but had a great workout and chatted up both Rosa y Yeu. Rosa did tell me Brenda is getting better everyday and she also showed me some family fotos taken over the past 6 months. Hardly a smile in any of them, but she could not answer why.


I gave Yeu his regalo, the muscle magazine and told him it was for semana pasada...allowing me to use the gym last week. He appreciated the mag and started reading it promptly.

Came home and before we headed to Mojon, we managed to look at another condo here in the compound. Sparks y Alice are staying in a unit with a loft so we asked if we could take a peek. The loft is above the cocina so the kitchen is darker, but wow…a lot more room with the 3^rd bedroom and a second baño!!

Amazing that we have been here for 7 meses already and need to think about next year’s lease.

Headed to Mojon and had a fairly thorough search on the way back through Copalita.

The weather today…a bit of haze and not as hot. At Mojon…some cloudy periods, but wow was the viento kicking up some sand. But two times in a row it has been nice and cool out there. We will have no problems living on the playa come humido season!!

We scored large on shell collecting and Bexico spent most of her time amongst the olas!! We did have a visit from both Tenoche y Nips…just like a little family down there at Mojon!!

After a visit from J&C who just happened to be down there catching some of their own waves, we headed home.

Looking forward to the ducha (shower) at the alberca. I might rig up something from one of our two fresh water wells…that would be fun!!

What was no fun at the alberca? Bexico was taking a shower and the looking up at the water as it came out of the regadera (shower head), when the regadera broke off and SMACKED Bexico in the eye socket. OUCH!! Lucky for us no real damage but it hurt. She has a tiny cut and possibly some swelling mañana.

When it happened I ran over to her and a nice senorita from the alberca also came over and suggested we put some hielo (ice) on it. We did that for 30 minutes and mañana we will see if she looks like Rocky.

Bexico did some work, I did some internet surfing and then we had the cerdo for dinner. It was delicious!! Where did it come from?

Hilarious when I cut the package and saw it was from Canada.

Here are the rest of the fotos from today.

Sr Iguana is back at the gym.

This familia was waiting for a taxi outside the gym.

Madre, abuela y niña.

Paco’s comedor is doing some great negocio!!

Especially when a turismo bus pulls up.

Some Mojon fotos.

These were the first footprints in the playa.

Mine!!

From directly in front of our lot, here is today’s view looking left and right.

The good surfing is to the west (right of our lot if facing the oceano). Here are some shots from that side of the playa.

And here is some slow but steady progress on a structure being built further up the hillside.

Last foto of the day.

Sr Gecko is welcome in our house if he keeps eating bugs!!

Our plans for mañana? Celebrate the Canucks win, ejercico (me at gym and Bexico in house), alberca time and Bexico hopes to have some work accomplished so she can sign another contract!!

Also cine miercoles and I need to re-up at the gym. $200 pesos/mes...around $18 Cdn for all that fun!! ja ja ja

Have a great night. Go Canucks!!

lunes, el 25 de abril de 2011

Hola amigos!! What a great day here in Huatulco!!

It started with making desayunos en la cama para mi novia. We had some pancake better leftover from ayer, so it wasn’t too tough!!

Off to el gimnasio and as I got to the corner of Carrizal y Blvd Chahue, I saw an hombre y his familia sitting on the sidewalk as their van had a flat.

I asked if he needed a llanteria and he said sí so I told him where Elder’s tiendas was and off we went together. Only a 2 or 3 minute walk but we talked about who I was here with, how hot it was, how long we were staying etc.

When I got to Elder’s shop, he was not there but his amigo was. I said “negocio” (business) and both the hombre and Elder’s amigo both said gracias. Winning the peeps over one Mexican at a time!!

Then as I was walking by the new comedor (see foto from April 2)

the hombre stirring the vat asked me what I take fotos of. Oh oh I thought. But I had only 3 fotos and showed him what I had.

We talked about his good negocio and I told him felicidades…congrats. I also asked what was in the big vat…cerdo y pollo and he confirmed it was cerdo. Looks nasty, probably not healthy due to all the oil, but it smells GOOD!!

His name is Paco and I now have otro amigo.

Got to the gym and Rosa’s stuff was on the counter, but no Rosa. There was a “regular” working out, but I did not know his name. I asked him “¿donde es Rosa?” and he told me she was having desayunos.

Next thing I know, I have met Fermin (fear-mean) the taxi driver and we are chatting it up in both ingles and español. He has a wife and nino and speaks some ingles and wanted to practice.

He was interested in the ingles words for humido (humid) y asalta cunas (cradle robber)!! Ja ja ja The humido is self explanatory as it was hot and humid, while he was caught off guard that I knew the phrase asalta cunas. I used the phrase when I said his espousa was asalta cunas because she was 3 years older then him!! Ja ja ja

It is GREAT to meet all these peeps and to be able to chat em up. I really enjoy being able to walk to the gym and through La Crucecita and be able to say hola to everyone…including Daniel mi Fonatur amigo. That one always throws peeps for a loop. ¿Porque es el gringo having a chat with the street cleaner and making him laugh?

UPDATE

9pm here in Huatulco and as I sit here typing the blog entry, I have Tom Hanks and Cast Away playing…and it is actually raining outside!! Let’s see how that effects the humido!!

Back to the gym…had a great workout and Fermin had me write out his nuevo palabras so he could show off to his espousa!!

Rosa arrived and filled me in on her hija’s situation. Brenda was not feeling well for 4 days before she went to the doctor and was told it might be a flu. When it did not get better, further tests showed it to be appendicitis and she was rushed into surgery. Rosa found out right before the surgery and flew up to meet her. The flight was $1500 pesos (muy caro…expensive) and she could not even get a flight into DF…Mexico City.

But all is well and Brenda now just needs some time to recoup.

Yeu arrived as I was leaving and told me he had a great weekend. Memo has a new amiga…3 years older then him!! Ja ja ja

Bexico and I had a walk during the afternoon and picked him up the muscle mag at the periodico tiendas. He will appreciate the gesture.

We also bumped into Francisco II from the gym. He said hola to us and introduced us to his espousa y hija. I have not seen him at the gym lately and he said he is busy at the restaurante but will return in a few weeks. He also mentioned that he has taken some of the business ideas we had discussed together and he asked us to see for ourselves in a few weeks. Nice to help out…the restaurante negocio is the same here as in Canada!!

Here are the fotos from both walks.

¿Porque hombre de basura? It is hilarious to see people run out with their basura when the truck drives by and the hombre clangs his horn.

WFSITBOTT’s?

The gas bbq y laundry cleaner equipment guys.

Y it looks like a hombre de cama…small 2 person outfit.

Bexico avoiding eye contact with the Tamarindo.

Tamarindo busted checking out one hot Canadiense!!

And here is a Tamarindo double score.

A moto y una Bug being hauled away!!

This was the view up Carrizal towards the montañas.

Hoy, it was sunny until 330pm and then the clouds rolled in.

A cute niña.

She was sitting on her padre’s lap in his taxi.

On the walk Bexico and I took, we stopped in to check out what would be playing for cine miercoles and it looks like Matt Damon’s Destino Oculto, The Adjustment Bureau.

We also picked up the magazine for Memo and some verduras...veggies.

Look at the size of this steroid monkey radish!!

Here is a platano macho (plantain) that Bexico bought a few days ago for 30 pesos.

If you are like me, you don't buy brown platanos (bananas), but if you want a sweet and ripe platano macho, it needs to be this brown, if not more.

Before our alberca time and the walk, we hot Che up. Scored on a flat of the fresa nectar y some great looking cerdo para la cena de mañana!! It is called “lomo” and I think that is loin.

Stopped off for gas and tanked up. 62 litros para $635 pesos equals about .86 Cdn/litro for Premium. Not bad!! Another Mexico’ism….I asked them to fill it up…lleno con premium…and they ask if I want it “to the zeros”. Huh?

Quiet pool time…only one family there today. Jay came out to tell us how he snapped his surfboard in two and then his amigo from out of town (Colorado?) arrived. We had met him a few months ago so we said hola.

But the big sopressa? Crista emailed him anoche and asked him to load up some Fibre 1 bars para Bexico!! What a kind gesture on both their parts!! Gracias!! You should have seen the look on Bexico’s face!!

Had a great T bone steak para la cena…yummy!!

You are caught up!!

Mañana? Bexico and Crista are having some girlie time and a coffee and I will hit el gimnasio. We are thinking Mojon if the weather holds out as on miercoles we cannot go as Bexico is expecting some work emails.

And then there is the 8pm (Hux time) Canucks game!! Canucks in 7 baby!! (I had called it in 6…but will take 7).

Misc fotos

M&P are on a house exchange in the Netherlands and Padre sent out some fotos. I really like these 3…another photographer in the family!!

Their accommodations.

They are surrounded by farmers fields.

Madre about to hit the road on her bici.

Hasta mañana!!