Living In Mexico

I am completely obsessed with the idea of living in Mexico. I hate to admit it, but I was resigned to McCain winning the election and moving to Mexico, if not looking forward to it. Now, of course I am thrilled with our new president elect, but now I don't have a good excuse to get the hell out of here.
I still want to end up in Mexico someday, sooner than later. The only problem is figuring out how to successfully live there and support myself. One idea is to go to school there for something. Another idea is to live there 6 months of the year, like in the winter. I would have to give up snowboarding, but it might even be worth it. Or I could own a bed and breakfast... Or maybe teach English? Or both? Does any one else have any brilliant ideas?
I miss the beach and the heat, and the food, and speaking Spanish every day. When I hear Mayra (my Spanish speaking worker) on the phone, I get excited that I can understand what she is saying.
I know I wouldn't want to live somewhere as remote as Olinala. But at the same time I probably wouldn't want to be in a place like Acapulco either. I have a friend who just returned from Oaxaca, on a visit with his mother. His mother is talking about buying a place and living there half the year. I have another friend who is still down there (I believe) finishing (hopefully, because I am getting impatient) a film about Mexican culture.
I keep thinking I need to write a book about Mexico. But I have seen the ones I want to write, so I need to think of something that isn't already out there.
I feel it in my bones. It will happen, I just need to percolate some more.

Reflections On a Beautiful Holiday

Caroline and I arrived home a week ago tomorrow night. The week has flown by. I am currently collecting all of my photos in one album so I can post them, shortly. It is rough getting back into the swing of things, although it has been great hanging out with my doggie and kitties.

Saturday morning I woke up and was locked in the condo. Caroline had gone out to take some photos or something and had locked the door on her way out. Curry rang the bell and I went scurrying around to find my key, to no avail. I finally realized I must have left it at the Penthouse, Melvin and Cheryl's place. I had to wait for Caroline to return before I could run up and check it out.

We had gone to dinner with Melvin, Cheryl, Carol, Laurie, and Curry. After dinner we went to finish off the beer and rum at the Penthouse and watch Cheech & Chong (which I have never seen). I was so tired when I got up to go, I left my key on the table. In any case, the key was there and not out to sea or something.

We packed everything and took it all to Curry's place. After hanging there for an hour or so we all went out for breakfast at 100% Natural. I have to tell you, crossing the main street (to get to 100%) is risking your life every time. It is La Costera, a 3 lane street in each direction with a large median running down it for the entire length of the beach. There are very few stop lights and they last a very long time making it almost impossible to cross most of the time. This time was no different. And Curry almost got knocked off crossing the intersection. Two lanes of traffic stopped, a car in the third lane not paying attention flies through the intersection. Curry stopped in the nick of time. Nothing like a little adrenalin to get you going for breakfast. 100% has a terrific breakfast but I had eaten so much the night before all I really wanted was a bowl of fruit, yogurt, granola and honey. It was perfect.

Next we went for a last quick swim in the pool. I was hoping to get in the ocean again, but after Caroline's run in with the waves and undertow, she wasn't too keen on getting back in the ocean. She preferred the calm of the pool. So, I stayed in the pool too. After 30 minutes or so, I needed to get out, shower and get ready for our final departure to Acapulco airport. Caroline and I talked about drawing with eyeliner or lipstick on Curry's bathroom mirror, but somehow (how?) decided to play nice.

After hugs all around we took off for the airport at around 12:30pm.

We arrived at the airport in one piece, which in Mexico you never know! We got our bags checked and through security in a heartbeat. Actually, my makeup kit has an eyebrow tweezers which the security guards wanted to see. Once they saw them, they gave them back and didn't say much of anything.

At a certain point Caroline and I finally pull up a seat at the bar get a beer with Cheryl and Melvin.
Just as Cheryl and Melvin are saying goodbye, Caroline realizes that her carry-on bag is missing and she completely freaks out. She re-traces her steps into the bathroom. Not there. She takes off for the security gate getting more and more anxious that it is gone forever, which would really suck because all of her gifts were wrapped up in the bag, including all the silver jewelry she bought. Oh, except the bracelet she bought that is pretty much stuck on her arm.
She found her bag at the gate with a bunch of other bags that had also been left there. They ex-rayed it and asked her what was inside so she could make a positive ID of her bag. Interestingly there were a number of other people who had also left things. So, although Caroline kept saying, "Who does that?! Leaves their bag of gifts at the security depot?!" Apparently lots of people.
Whew. She found it and nothing was missing at all.
We boarded our plane and sat separately. They only had one emergency exit row seat which obviously Caroline needed. If you hadn't noticed, she is kinda tall (smile). Actually, I know many of you haven't met Caroline, but she is 6'3". While traveling in Mexico she endured stares from people ALL the time. On at least one occasion someone in a silver shop said, "Wow, did you know you are really tall." News ALERT! I think she gets this often, but somehow it came to be one of those inane things we would randomly say to each other when things were getting weird or boring or someone else said something dumb. Our slogans of the trip were, "By the way, did I mention I almost died yesterday (or a few days ago, or now just I almost died in Mexico)." And, "Did you notice, you are kinda tall?"

I am literally falling asleep writing this... I need to rest my eyes.

Un Dia Mas

It´s the last day in Acapulco. We have been really taking it easy: hanging out at the pool, drinking beers and chatting with the staff here at the hotel. This morning we had an adventure: We started for breakfast at 100% Natural, a pretty good and even healthy chain restaurant. They are all over Acapulco and other large cities. I think there are at least 5 of them here. The one we went to was on the way to the old part of town on a pier sticking out into the water. We left there and walked to Sanborns which is the original Mexican department store. It is quite fancy, has a decent cafe and very clean bathrooms. They also have a cash machine which is why we ended up there. Coming out of the Sanborns we headed to the artisan market. A little man with very little neck heard us talking about it and started showing us where to go. He was walking with us and trying to talk to us about doing a tour or something. We have been warned about the Mayan Palace which we now call the Hell Palace because of the awful timeshare presentations they rope people into. Anyway, as we were walking we tried to ditch him by stepping into a clothing store. We wandered around for at least 5 minutes and came out. As soon as we were outside we realized that he was onto our game and was waiting for us. At another point he told us to go to the right and we went straight instead thinking again we had lost him. After a few blocks, there he was again!! When we finally made it to the market Caroline told some shop keepers (there are a few for every stall) that little man was making us feel uncomfortable. They got rid of him for us. The artisan market is filled with junk for the most part: t-shirts, hats, blankets, shot glasses, some ceramic odds and ends, and other things they are trying to sell for more than double what it is worth. Caroline was looking for a couple of things. I was pretty much shopped out, but of course found something I wasn´t looking for (which is a gift, so I can´t say what it is). Then I started thinking about the baskets I had seen in SMA at a store with crafts from all over Mexico. They are made with a metal frame and plastic cords. In SMA they were incredibly expensive. I figured if I could find out where they actually make them I would be able to buy them for much less. The guys in the market seemed to think I could find them at the central market.
We hopped in a taxi and made our way to the central market. It is HUGE and quite smelly. You can find almost everything and anything there... except those baskets I was looking for. But, it was really fascinating. There are stalls with veggies, with herbs and chilies, with candles, with piñatas, plastic grocery bags, flowers, decorations of all types, fabric, animal food, plastic of all types, kitchen wares, canned goods, etc. And then there are the really smelly parts with fish, chicken, and meat. They hang the chickens spread out by their feet. We avoided these areas because Caroline is quite squeemish. But honestly, I am not really fond of seeing the giant bloody animals or the fish guts. That and the smell is so foul it really could make you puke which would be really rude. After we had had enough of that, and we were all (Caroline, Cory - we call him Curry - and myself) dripping with sweat, we climbed in another taxi and headed for the hotel.
There seems to be a lot of action here today. Most of the guests are here hanging out, playing in the pool and on the ocean. We got some beers and headed for the pool. Caroline and I had a great time playing with the neighbors grandkids who are all about showing us how they can do back flips, front flips, handstands, and various other underwater feats. I also tried to teach them how to squirt water through their hands. They are super sweet kids. At one point we were all splashing with our feet and their grandmother told them to stop, but we had started it! Getting the kids in trouble..
Tonight we are going to celebrate with a nice meal at the nearby restaurant. We went there last night with Evy and had a great time. They have the best fresh veggies and potatoes and terrific fish as well. We went early for 2 for 1 drinks and rolled out of there completely stuffed because we had eaten a giant lunch I prepared in the mid afternoon. I made delicious guacamole, salsa, chips, and beans. We had corn quesadillas today, but didn´t eat nearly as much as yesterday. So, last night my belly was literally hurting from eating all together too much. But I so love the food here. I am really going to hit the WW when I get home. That and the gym.
Although I am looking forward to seeing my little Ruby and Pearl and Rascal, I will be really sad to leave here. We have made some great friends and I feel like there is a great community here at the condo/hotel. It is a community of other tourists/travelers and the staff who have treated us so well. We will leave with many fond memories.

Vamos a Taxco

Taxco is a town built on the side of a mountain about 3.5 hours from Acapulco. It is known for its silver and gold mines and jewelry design. Although they still mine silver there, it isn´t what it once was back in the 1600´s. On the other hand, the entire town is filled with little and not so little silver shops with amazing jewelry, plates, tea services, statues, and anything you can think of made with silver.
Caroline, Cory, and I went on a tour of Taxco yesterday. We got up at 6:30am yesterday morning, climbed into a mini van with 5 other people and a driver and took off through the mountains (again!). Happily, our driver, Ruben, was a much more mellow driver than the last one we had! And he was filled with knowledge of the history and ecology of the entire area. We got a whole lesson on the various trees and cactus that grow on the mountains on the way to Taxco. When we got closer to town, we got the history lesson. I won´t give you all the details here, but suffice to say, when the Spaniards took over Mexico, they also took over all the riches they could find, including the mines in Taxco. Additionally, there is a huge church that was built in Taxco. The altars, organ, and most of the church is covered in gold leaf. They are planning to restore the entire church for the 250th anniversary. This will be very time consuming and costly of course. And they are planning ahead at least 10 years to raise the money and begin the actual process of cleaning and re-applying some of the gold. Additionally, there are many original oil paintings of God, Mary, Jesus, all the saints, various bishops, etc. Those will also be restored I presume.
Because Taxco is built on the side of a mountain, and it was built before there were cars and during a time when the indigenous people were not allowed to own any form of transportation, the roads were built for walking. They are mostly still cobblestone roads, very narrow, winding, and quite trecherous if you are not paying attention. Cars actually drive on them, but there are places where no cars can get through. It is actually very similar to Guanajuato in this way. In any case, I highly recommend going if you haven´t been there before.

Yes We Can, Yes We Did, Yes We Will

Well, in all the rush of winning the election I completely missed the fact that Prop 8 passed. I found out this afternoon watching CNN that there was a huge protest in Los Angeles in front of the Mormon Temple because they were such supporters of ¨traditional marriage.¨ Since when was polygamy traditional? Anyway, I was so disappointed. It really burst my happy bubble.

Caroline and I joined an American couple, Melvin and Cheryl and our Canadian friend Cory to watch the election coverage on Tuesday. As it happens, Melvin and Cheryl are African American and they live and work in Washington DC. It was really exciting to share such a momentous occasion with them. We all agree that this was one of the most amazing moments in history to witness. They both agreed that they never believed in their lifetimes that they would see an African American president. This really completely changes the entire landscape of life all over the world, but especially in the United States. I am really excited to see positive changes in the coming 4 years. It is already happening.

As an aside, Mexican people here have made many comments about how relieved they are as well. Before the election many people asked us, with some reservation, how we felt about Bush and the current election. As soon as we told them that we were looking forward to getting rid of Bush and hoping that Obama would perservere, you could see a look of relief come over their faces. No one would want to risk their tip over a political controversy. As soon as our opinion was on the table they were happy to commiserate. We all understand together how important it was for a democratic win, never mind the importance of the actual candidate.

So, we can bask in the pure joy of Obama winning.
And, we have to be committed to fighting the fight against the crazy bigots who don´t feel that all people should have the opportunity and right to be married. Honestly, I believe it is only a matter of time before it is looked upon as so backward that same sex marriages are acknowledged just as straight marriages. Just as we look back and think how crazy it is that blacks couldn´t vote, women couldn´t vote, blacks couldn´t marry and interracial couples couldn´t marry. It is a matter of time and a good fight. Yes we will!

Snorkling and Our New Friend Evy

Caroline and I have been having a great time. Monday we went snorkling at Isla Roqueta. We had a giant 32´catamaran to ourselves. It was us and two crew, Pepe and Raymondo. It was a beautiful day as it had rained a little and cleared out the sky a bit. It was really sad though. All the coral here is pretty much dead and they are trying hopelessly (it seems) to get it to grow back. The pollution and the amount of building, fishing, boats, etc. has really destroyed the environment and it was never more apparent than out under the water. On the way to the snorkling location we saw tons of plastic bottles and plastic bags floating around. It really made me realize how much we humans have negatively impacted our environments. It is really awful. I am making a concerted effort not to use plastic anything from now on. Anyway, there were quite a few beautiful fish, trumpets, butterflies, puffer, and we even saw some eagle rays. I also saw a sea snake (my first ever) and a couple of eels. After getting back on the boat having been out for over an hour, I felt very woozy. We went to another good snorkling spot and I actually just swam around the boat while Caroline went with Raymondo to see the sunken Virgen de Guadalupe. Ray cleaned off her face and crossed himself. Too bad we didn´t get any photos of that. How sweet.
When we got back we spent lots of time in the pool. I had one beer and felt drunk!

Later in the evening Caroline and I took Evy out. We met her the first evening at the grocery store. She is here by herself. She was supposed to come down with a friend of hers, but she died. Her husband has also been dead for 5 years. She is 83!! We are so impressed with her courage and she says she doesn´t let things hold her back. She even has a few boyfriends. We were both so happy to have some time with a ¨grandma¨ again. She has some serious spunk and many years I would guess. Dinner was fabulous, although a little loud with techno music for the bungie jumpers.

Every night we sleep like rocks. Tonight will be the same.
Mas mañana.

Baños and More

Actually, we have been lucky for the most part. The bathrooms in Mexico have been greatly improved over the last 10 years. Most places actually have toilet seats and some soap to wash your hands with afterward. There is really nothing worse than trying to squat over a filthy dirty porcelain seat while buzzed off tequila, except accidentally sitting down. Lucky for me I rarely drink to excess any more so I don´t have to worry too much about balancing while drunk.
When we first arrived there were some bodily functions issues that we both had. At one point or another we have either not been able to go or it was coming out much too easily. I think we have adjusted and neither one of us has been sick yet. So, really we can´t complain. It is rather humurous though because we are constantly checking in about ¨dropping the kids off.¨ It is a very fascinating topic I guess. Never a dull moment down here.
Speaking of which... the last time I was writing on the blog two days ago I think, Caroline came running into the lobby giggling hysterically about something. She had been on the deck by the pool checking out the stars and she noticed something funny going on down the beach about 50 feet. Two men were making out against some stacked chairs and started getting hot and heavy. At first she wasn´t sure of what she was seeing, but as soon as it became clear to her what was going on, she ran in to get Aurelio (our hotel manager) and me to come and see too. I actually stayed at the computer, but Aurelio and Caroline went running out to the beach. Sure enough the lovers were totally getting in on under a spot light right on the beach with a bunch of on lookers. Not much later, from what I understand, they were caught by the Federalis. According to Aurelio, that probably cost them more than a 5 star hotel. Bummer. A 5 star hotel would have been a lot more comfortable that is for sure.
Anyway, remember if you are in Mexico: it is illegal to have sex on the beach, drink in public, piss in publc, and most things you can think of that are also illegal in the USA. That is unless you are able and willing to PAY for it. And you will pay one way or another. Either you will spend time in jail or you will pay money and lots of it. They do not play around. It is no joke.

By the Way, Did I Mention We Almost Died Yesterday?

Okay, no trip to Mexico would be complete without a ride from hell with some crazy driver. There is no exception this trip. Caroline and I woke at the break of dawn on Saturday and walked over hill and yonder to get to the combi stop, arriving at around 7am. There were already a few people in the combi waiting to leave. Caroline took her seat in the front and I in the seat behind the driver (who I will call Pedro) While we were waiting I commented to Caroline that the broken window wasn´t a great sign for the kind of driver we were going to get. When we finally took off at about 7:20am. Pedro didn´t shut the door which I thought was interesting. It slammed shut itself as we pulled out of the parking lot. We laughed. Little did we know.
As we were pulling out of town Pedro put his seatbelt on. This is something you never see in Mexico. They laugh at you when you try to make the seatbelt work. I made a comment to Caroline that this was also not a great sign.
As he was putting on his seatbelt, screetching around a corner, the woman sitting next to me double or triple crossed herself. She promptly fell asleep. She was in such a peaceful sleep that during some of the more ¨curvas peligrosos¨ (dangerous curves) she fell into me.
The beginning, middle and end of the ride was like being in a bad video game. At each curve (only some were labeled peligroso and I wondered what made one more so than another since they all seemed extremely dangerous to me) Pedro would lean into the turn and lean back the other way. He was a wanna-be race car driver.
I guess I should explain: this was about a 3 hour drive of curves up mountains and down, similar to Wild Cat Canyon or Grizzly Peak. Most of the time on the edge of one cliff or another. This 3 hour drive took only 2.25 hours! At some point I said to Caroline, "Well, IF we get there, we will get there early."
At certain points Caroline and I would look at each other and give each other knowing stares of pure terror. Occasionally Caroline would get out her camera and try to take a photo of some scenery. There was a point at which she wanted to take one of the volcano Popo and not having very much luck. He actually stopped the van and let us get a decent photo of it. Then back again, lurching back and forth over the mountain side.
One of the last people to get off was a man who said, ¨No mas.¨ Dejarme aqui (Let me off here). At that time Caroline turned to me and told me that he was sometimes going at least 100 km/hour! We were laughing hysterically. I actually was laughing so hard I was crying.
Did I mention that there were lots of pot holes in the road which he would steer around, crossing into the oncoming lane - at a blind corner. At any moment another car could be coming and we would have been dust. Or, another car could be doing the same and we could hit them, especially since we were going so fast. There would have been no time to stop or get out of the way. On a number of occasions we just missed cars in our lane and the driver honked and cursed at them! As if.
One of the things that made it feel like a video game was that he was playing chicked with other cars on the road, particularly taxis. One taxi ¨Street Pirate¨ was really playing. Going slow and then speeding up so we couldn´t pass. He was driving so close we almost touched the taxi´s bumper (more than once according to Caroline). Mr. Driver was really unhappy with him and kept calling him a ¨cabron.¨ My response to that was, ¨Now who is the cabron here?¨ I would have certainly said our driver. He was completely insane.
What I learned later from Caroline was that throughout the entire drive Pedro was grabbing the cross he had hanging from his rearview mirror, kissing it and then crossing himself with it. He did this at least 10 times!!
By the time we arrived in Chilapa Caroline and I were both shaking and could barely get out of the van and stand on our feet. I felt like I had run another 1/2 marathon! My legs and butt cheeks ached. It was as if we had had a full body work out while basically sitting still the enrire time. What a concept. I think someone could make some money off gym equipment that simulated something like this!
We have gotten rested and are fully recovered. Enjoying the heat, beaches, food and beautiful people of Acapulco.
In my next installment: baños and bm´s (another story that has to be told when you are traveling in Mexico!)