Odyssey Elisabeth

Takes A Village

2010-12-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here in Sayulita. The Bungalos Jacqueline have internet which is really nice. Their pool is freezing cold, so I haven't been in it at all. As a matter of fact I haven't been in the water much this trip at all. It hasn't been very alluring for some reason. It has been much colder than in October for sure. That is one reason. It is also part to do with my skin getting so dry. I hate how that feels. Mostly I love being by the ocean, hearing it's pounding surf. Sometimes when I put Eva down with her favorite toy - the little lamb with different white noises, I put on the sound of the ocean, because it is the one I love the best.

Today we had a bit of a rough day. It started bad with the shirt I wore. It is a really cute silk tank top. Problem is it is just a bit too low cut and my bra shows a little and I feel like I look llike I am falling out of it. And I was, all day. Made worse of course, any time I was holding Eva. Oh well, Mama's privledges I guess. We wanted to get out of Sayulita "early" so we ate breakfast again at Rollie's. We really like him and the food there is quite good. I am not sure how we missed it last time we were here since it it just steps from our front door. So, "early" was about noon. We took a detour out of town to look for our friendly Canadian chaps who had a restaurant we went to last year. It seems that it is either no longer here, it was washed away when the river flooded, or we were actually dreaming that we had dinner there last year. In any case, we couldn't find again. We also saw a little bit more of Sayulita on the other side of the river. It is very nice over there and probably much more quiet than this side... that is my guess any way. So, off we went to find another stretch of beautiful beach and palm trees. We hit San Francisco first. It is also known as San Pancho and is about 15 minutes north of Sayulita. It is much quieter, but also has a fair number of travelers, tourists, etc. I wanted to find the turtle hatchery and find out what time they release the turtles in the evening, which they do from August through Decemeber. This is the time the mama turtles lay their eggs. Apparently they are an aphrodesiac and sold at bars with a shot of tequila. Gross. So, we found a map and eventually made our way through town and up a little hill to a place where there are volunteers who man the hatchery. Jocelyn greeted us and was extremely friendly. She went into a small black shack filled with stryofoam coolers and brought out a little white box of baby sea turtles.. They are dark grey and black and very cute. Jocelyn took a lot of time telling us about sea turtles, their demise, and how "Frank" makes it his business to make sure they don't go extinct. At night mama turtles come and lay their eggs on the beach and the volunteers that work with Frank have to be out all night long collecting the eggs so the poachers don't get them. She told me that one night she was out and she watched a mama lay her eggs and finish up. According to Jocelyn, the mama goes into a sort of trance when they are laying eggs, so not much bothers them, they are going to lay their eggs come hell or high water, poachers or no. So Jocelyn waited for mama to move on from her nest and when Jocelyn went to get the eggs, of which one mama usually lays at least 100 at a time, there was only one! The poachers had been there before her and stolen the eggs right as she was laying them! So disgusting.
After I got my fill of turtles we decided to get in the car and drive to Chacala. I was hoping to show Ken the town we had stayed in the year before with Caroline and Curry before he arrived to join us. Somehow in the back of my head part of me was thinking, maybe we should just stay in San Pancho, enjoy the beach and then at 6pm see the turtles being released. I didn't listen to that intuitive sense.. I should have... The road is very pretty, lots of jungle, palm trees, and green everywhere. But there is the traffic to contend with: cars passing over double yellow lines and under crazy circumstances like oncoming traffic for example. Unfortunately we passed Chacala and the last town for miles. But I didn't see the sign, so before we knew it we were in the mountains and climbing. I didn't see anything recognizeable and I was fairly certain we had passed it. Ken didn't think so, but as we continued to climb and there were fewer and fewer places to turn around, he figured I was probably right. So having driven for an hour and a half or so, we headed back. Just as we got back on the road going south again, who should come up behind us but Policia. That had me a little nervous. I told Ken he might want to go the speed limit. He was certain it wasn't necessary. He was probably right. In a few minutes we had huge pile of cars behind us. But we did notice none of them were passing the policia. In that situation, in Mexico, you are a bit screwed. You don't want to break the law, but you also want to be sure that you don't want to piss anyone off. Luckily they eventually passed us, as did the rest of the cars piling up behind us. Still none of them passed the policia. I was much relieved when they were gone.

Sure enough, we had passed the turn off to Chacala and we saw it on the way back south. We kept going because it was getting late and I was still hoping to see some turtles released.

When we arrived back in San Pancho, we all (Eva, Ken, and I) had to pee, and were extremely hungry and tired. This is not a good combination for me under any circumstances. Especially not when I am traveling in a foreign place, don't know where to get decent and not too expensive food, don't know where there's a decent toilet, etc. We ended up having an ok, very expensive meal on the beach. A mistake I won't make again. After eating we went down closer to the water and let Eva play in the sand. She absolutely LOVED it. She really didn't want to leave. It seems she would have been content there the rest of the evening. But unfortunately Ken and I realized at that point we had been out for over 5 hours and by the time 6 came we might have a bit of a wait for the turtles... Mexican time and all... then we would be driving home on a road we don't know, in the dark with crazy Mexican drivers. We decided to head back to Sayulita. We can come back when Eva is older and can appreciate it and then we can stay in San Pancho and not have to worry about driving crazy roads with crazy drivers.

I think am ready to be home. It is amazing how much we rely on other people to help with Eva. I never realized it, not really, until this trip. We spend a lot of time with family and friends and it makes a huge difference in terms of having some down time. We have literally had only the time when she is asleep to ourselves. And then it is in the confines of our room or wherever we are staying. Here in Sayulita the room has a very nice outdoor space... if you aren't too worried about the bugs eating you alive. Why didn't I bring bug spray? I keep asking myself! I really appreciate my friends and family even more than ever now. I see how important it is to have people to share, even if it was just one evening or an hour during the day occasionally. It really does take a village.

Gringos and Fish Tacos

2010-12-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

Our first night in Sayulita was a little rough for me... Eva was sleeping in the closet. I was on edge because if she squirms enough she could fall out. It would take a lot but it still made me nervous. Plus there was music blarring what seemed like all night long. They know how to get their party on here that is for sure! There was a band playing until at least 11pm and then there was loud piped in music for at least another hour. But eventually it quieted down and I was able to get to sleep. Ken didn't seem to have any problems sleeping. And we were snug as two bugs... in what they are calling a queen. I find it hard to believe it's not a full - it looks so tiny compared to the king we were sleeping on in Puerto Vallarta.

Well, I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to live in Sayulita. There are too many gringos here. And it isn't exactly that they are gringos, it's the kind of gringos... a bunch of hippie, dirty... I don't know. I am being super judgemental, but they own all the shops in town, sell bread on the beach, and are generally everywhere. I think being here in the off season might be a better barometer of what it is like here when it isn't overridden by tourists. Then I think about why this is a successful place for both Mexicans and gringos... because of the tourists and gringos who come here and spend their money. And if I was to live in Mexico I would want to own a business that was successful... and I am thinking most of my money would be made from gringos... so who am I to judge.

The towns to the north of here a much more low key than here. There are drawbacks though. For one thing, mostly the beaches aren't as nice. You can't swim in them easily because they aren't protected by a bay the way Sayulita is. And, there just isn't much going on. That can be good at 1am when the music in the zocalo is so loud you can't sleep! But maybe not as good if you want something to do by day... besides sitting around drinking beer on the beach?

Today we had breakfast at a place called Rollie's. It started out as a breakfast place and now they also have breakfast. I think he has been here for at least 10 years, maybe longer. They do a rocking business and Rollie himself is right in the mix. He sells fresh roasted coffee, organic of course. And he is quite a character. He has his own restaurant song that he sings with his son.. it's taped and played over the loud speaker, but it's really cute. He is extremely friendly and makes a point to make friends with everyone in the restaurant. He made friends with a little kid who had drawn a picture and then posted it ceremoniously on the wall with other creations from other kids. And we had an excellent breakfast! I had their version of eggs benedict with a sauce that was delicious... with chipotle and something else with a green hue. Ken had the breakfast burrito he had been craving since we got to Mexico... although the breakfast burrito is hardly Mexican. It was delicious. I had breakfast burrito envy. When we were all but rolling out of there, Rollie offered us pancakes on the house! And they were delicious. And they served butter just like Ken thinks it should be done... at least a cup of butter on the side, so you can use the whole thing or leave a little. Those pancakes were the size of a large plate... no joke!

Last night we had our requisite fish tacos. Actually Ken had fish fajitas - a huge plate of grilled fish, peppers, onions, beans, rice and tortillas in a delicious butter sauce. I had a marlin taco which was served sauteed in a tomato sauce and a Baja fish taco, fried with special sauce on top. Both were served with cabbage salad on top, yummy salsa, rice and black beans. We also had guacamole which was excellent. And not too crazy expensive. I think we spent about $20 total. Of course it would have been lots more if we had been drinking beers and margaritas! So, that seems like a lot for Mexico, but I have found that the prices here and in PV are just a little bit better than at home, but not much. The further you get from the tourist spots, the better the prices.

So, I don't want anyone to get the idea that it is cold here, because it really isn't... But last night I was freezing my ass off. And there were a couple of times in PV that I was cold too. Last night I finally got warm after a hot shower. I wasn't the only one walking around all wrapped up in my sweatshirt. I saw plenty of people in sweaters and scarves. It is definitely much cooler here in December than it is in October. Same with PV. I am guessing the farther south you go, the warmer it gets. I do remember being quite cold in San Miguel de Allende when I went in October. I had to always layer up. SMdA is in the mountains and has weather much more like in the states than the beach in Mexico.

I am not sure what we are having for dinner tonight. As usual I go from one meal thinking about what I am going to eat at the next meal... and where! That is the only way to ensure that I don't lose my mind with hunger. That is not a pretty sight for sure.

Tomorrow I think we are going to take a little tour of the coast north of here. We want to check things out and get some use of the car. I guess I will be able to use my Spanish a little bit more too. We may try to go to see the turtles. There is a sanctuary at Playa del San Francisco, aka San Pancho. They release baby turtles from August to December. I think they release them at night, so we may only be able to see where they hatch or something. I am not sure. And maybe we will drive a bit farther north to see some other beach towns too. It would be fun to go into the mountains, but the town that I know of is pretty far away.. It would have been a better trip from Puerto Vallarta.

Well, Eva just got up from her nap. So, my time is up...

Where in the World is Sayulita?

2010-12-18T16:55:00.001-08:00

For those of you wondering where Sayulita is... it is just north of Puerto Vallarta on the west coast of Mexico. It is a tiny little town.

No Bath, 5 Gallon Water Heater

2010-12-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

We are in Sayulita... living the dream. The dream doesn't include a bath for Ken. And we can't shower together or even one after another because the water heater is tiny. Another drawback is the fact that the pool is freezing cold. The only way Eva can go in there is if the sun is directly on the pool. So we will try again tomorrow. Other than that we love our place. It has an outdoor kitchen and living room and a cute queen bed. There is no crib, but the closet seems to be a good make-shift. I can give more details later. There are plenty of gringos here... urban campers, hippies, and rich white folks who can actually own a piece of paradise.
We are off for some fish tacos at Fish Tacos Sayulita.
Hasta luego amigos!

Y Soda Y Fish Tacos

2010-12-18T16:47:00.001-08:00

I am still not feeling that great. I feel like I still have a bit of a cold. I think Eva is beginning to feel better since she isn't coughing as much. Although sometimes her breathing sounds like she just smoked a pack of cigarettes. I am trying not to worry about her. I think she had the same thing last time she was sick.

Ken, when on vacation, with tub, takes a tubby an average of one every few hours! It is a 5 foot tub, so it's pretty much the lap of luxury!

Yesterday Eva blew bubbles in the bath. She did it again tonight! Unfortunately she doesn't have the idea down yet that she shouldn't then try to gulp a breath of air while her face is still in the water! Practice. We are also showing her how to blow bubbles at every opportunity: bath, pool, bottle of water! I think she is going to be a natural. I'm not sure I said this before, but I am a llittle disappointed at how cold the pool water here is kept. It is at 81 which is definitely colder than recommended for a little baby. She can be in for a few minutes before she starts to shiver. Me too! I am sure it was heated better at the Sheraton! I don't think it will be any better at the place in Sayulita. As a matter of fact we are wondering what we are going to do with no warm pool, no hottub and no bathtub! Lots of our time here has been spent in one of those places during this trip, so going to a place with none of that will be interesting. We will have the beach and of course a shower... And lots of yummy fish tacos where we are going.

Ken and I decided that having a car is a necessity now that we have Eva. Being on vacation and not being able to get around easily is not easy. I think we have done well considering, but we would have been able to see more and do more if we had had a car from the beginning. Although there is something to be said for the amount of money we have saved by just staying around the resort and cooking our own food. If we had a car the entire time, we would have eaten out a lot more often.

Sayulita is our home for the next 4 days. We have internet at a corner cafe, a pool in our backyard, and Eva will be sleeping in the closet. Life couldn't be much better!
More later...Y soda...

Eva Travels...

2010-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

Eva's favorite toy seems to be the bag of wipes. It makes great noise, it is big enough to grab onto. And it is even good to suck. Perfect trifecta of options. We had to open up the bag of wipes, so it is not so perfect anymore. Now my mouth guard and case are the favorite. It is a perfect size for Eva to grab and put in her mouth. She is really beginning to utilize her hands in a more focused way. She focuses on every exact movement and when it isn''t working she seems to try to figure out a better way of doing it.

I have to admit, traveling with her is much more challenging than traveling alone. I am completely happy that we came down here, but it would have been really awesome to have someone or a couple of someones with us. It would be nice for Ken and me to go do something together without Eva. But at this point she can't really take care of herself. So, we take turns doing things alone or we do it as a family.

This afternoon we walked from our hotel to downtown. It is a good long walk. We stopped along the way at the Sheraton Bouganvillas Resort. It is very fancy, very nice and probably sets you back quite a bit. They had a beautiful Christmas tree in the lobby and a really nice gift shop that I cleverly decided not to go into. In spite of the staff with hard safari hats (just like the ones the dudes at Mayan Palace have - where they blocked us from going in last year), we were able to walk right in and check the place out. It seemed very quiet and not very crowded. We sat right at the water under a tree and fed Eva her bottle. It was beautiful, tranquil, and made me want to go back. Their rooms didn't have balconies. That could be a good thing, given Ken's anxiety about pitching Eva off a balcony.

We took a walk down the malecon, pulling the stroller so Eva's eyes wouldn't be in the sun. That is easier than walking backwards!
The one store I wanted to go to was closed. We tried to go on the way home, but it was still closed. So, I will try again tomorrow or Friday.
A stop at Starbucks to use the internet was frustrating. So many smokers outside! Yuck. I forget how many people still smoke. It is disgusting. And the internet was snail-slow. But Eva was in a good mood, especially after I changed her diaper! She is in a good mood most of the time. She gets really fussy when she is hungry and when she is tired. Go figure! Same as her mom and dad. The rest of the time she is a busy body. Into everything - moving around, touching everything, putting things in her mouth, talking, and generally being busy.

Tonight we ate at our favorite restaurant. It set us back about $65, which is not cheap for Mexico. And I think we won't get the seafood there again. We had a seafood platter with two lobsters (one big and one small), grilled fish, shrimp, twice baked potatoes, rice, veggies, and garlic bread. And everything was covered in garlic. I was underwhelmed and a little disappointed, since it has been my favorite place. Maybe it wasn't as good as I remember because I didn't have my margarita goggles on tonight?! Oh well. It was still a very nice dinner. And the best part of all was that Eva slept through the entire thing. When we arrived, we thought it would be a rough dining experience because she had been having a meltdown just before we arrived. Brilliantly, we fed her a bottle, she fell fast asleep and woke up just before we got the check. It couldn't have been more perfect.

They say, when in Mexico, do as the Mexicans. That is mostly a good idea, except for a few things, like taking your baby in a car without a carseat. But what do you do when you forget the carseat because you have walked into el centro? You either walk home, which wasn't an option at that point, or you do as the Mexicans... say a prayer to La Virgin de Guadalupe and hold your baby tight on your way home, praying all the way. We made it okay. And won't be making that mistake again. I needed a beer after that!!

Speaking of Mexico and babies, people here mostly don't have strollers. They carry their babies in their arms. These women have got to be strong. They also feed their babies all kinds of junk. And most of them are breast fed. An interesting juxtaposition.

We have two full days left here in PV and then we are off to Sayulita.
Tomorrow's task is to do the laundry and sit on the beach all day. Maybe we will have to think about what we are going to have to eat.. more quesadillas? A roasted chicken? No more lobster and definitely no more garlic!

Have Baby Will Travel

2010-12-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone thought we were crazy to bring Eva down here. I was pretty certain it would be awesome. So far I am right! We are having a blast. Eva is doing really well and seems to love it here. It is unfortunate that she had a cold when we left for Puerto Vallarta, but she is doing well in spite of that. She has a lingering cough that we are monitoring closely. It doesn't seem to be holding her back any.

Eva did amazing on the flight. In spite of getting over a cold, Eva didn't seem to have any issues with assent or descent. She winced a little, but the binkie and her bottle got her through just fine. The rest of the flight she was almost perfect, only crying when she was really tired and needing to fall asleep. THat is normally when she gets fussy anyway. She had lots of fun flirting with the men sitting behind us.

We have been in PV for almost three days now. It has been an ajustment, but nothing too difficult considering we are living on tthe beach in a resort.. there isn't much roughing it..

Having a baby is the perfect way to avoid time share babble. We were almost roped into the initial talk but escaped because we needed to get Eva situated, fed, etc. Then we just avoided the lobby altogether for the evening. One waiter asked us if we had the discount card and we told him we didn't.. He said "good for you." And then he and I said at the same time, "shhhhh."
It's a total racket. I am happy to avoid.. There was a guy in line to check in when I was checking in to switch llines and he was talking to two older women and stated to them that he would never buy a timeshare, not when you can go online and get a place for much cheaper and more easily. Another woman we talked to has been coming here for 15 years, has 5 left and just recently surrendered their timeshare. I read about doing that on the website regarding selling a timeshare. I guess they aren't coming back and she was telling us about her terminal cancer. God, poor thing.. She seemed nice, but going through a lot and really wanting to talk about it..

The day we arrived it was about 6pm by the time we got settled and came down to eat. After dinner at the bar restaurant (Ken had a good burger and I had sopes with different stuff on tthem) we headed over to the pool.. Eva had a little dip and really enjoyed it.. Then we took her into the hottub to warm her up.. She liked that even better!

After a swim we walked over to the grocery store and bought a few items for our morning breakfast and lunch. It was probably 11pm by the time we finally got to bed. And up again early with Eva..She doesn't know what it is to sleep in! So, | got up with her, got her a bottle and let Ken get a little more rest. The rest of the day was filled with figuring out where we were moving and when. We ended up with a ground floor one bedroom, having rented a two bedroom two bath place. The one we rented was up a flight of stairs and somewhat cave-like. I thought we might have to wait until Monday to get a one bedroom, but when she heard me complain about the stairs she suggested the first floor unit. Normally I am not a fan, but with a stroller and a father who is worried about dropping his child off the balcony, it seemed like a perfect idea. I actually like being on the first floor except you can't go out the sliding glass door and lock it behind you.
So, we took it. We were able to stay in our studio until the new place was ready. Then we moved everything ourselves. Avoiding more and more tips.

We tried the wading pool. I thought it would be best and warmest, but it is acutally the coldest of all the pools so that mission was rapidly aborted. Eva was shivering within the first minute or so. Bummer because I was really looking forward to swimming with her. Maybe tomorrow in the sun it will be a little better. After a warming bath, we were off to Pepe's Tacos! We have been waiting for this reunion for over a year. Delicious tacos with savory meats, sauteed with onions, peppers, mushrooms and plenty of cheese! To die for! So good you almost have to eat every last bite. But we didn't... we saved some for lunch today. In order to feel less guilty for eating so many yummy tacos, we walked all the way home! I think it's about a mile and a half at the most.. Ken thinks it's longer. Maybe we can measure it when we get the rental car? Anyway, it was a great walk except for crossing the streets.

Early in the morning on Saturday we left for downtown and some breakfast at Casa de los Hotcakes (Pancakes). We walked out to get a taxi thinking it would be a little cheaper. Interesting... there are zones for taxi pricing. from here to downtown is 40 pesos if you leave from outside the hotel, 50 if they hail one for you. When we got out there we hailed one and he said 40 so we were breaking down the stroller and a taxi who works at Fiesta Americana, next to Villa del Palmar, drove up and caused problems for our driver. So he was about to leave until he heard the guy charging us 80 pesos! Then he called his boss who had already been called by the other guy's boss... We went with the first one, Alberto who was very nice and spoke English very well. I gave him 60 becaause he was so nice and didn't leave us with the "raton."

At Casa de los Hotcakes we met a woman with a 4 month old baby who lives in a town near Sayulita. She was a math teacher until her son was born. She had a good medical benefits package and had nothing bad to say about living here in Mexico. Her partner looked significantly older than her... a hippie of sorts maybe. Anyway, she wasn't worried in the least about raising her child here. She was currently staaying at home with her son, Desmond.. It was an illuminating conversation. She told us that she made a good living teaching at an American school.. Very interesting.. Breakfast was delicious and not too expensive. Although prices are certainly more than they used to be!

Next we headed to the beach and fed Eva. When she was finished we headed over to the malecon by crossing the River Cuale. At the beginning of the malecon, in the zocolo there was a throng of people lined up to get into the cathedral. It was December 12, dia de la senora guadalupe. All the little kids were dressed in traditional costumes and some family members too. Once we got some photos of that we decided to get out of the crowds and stroll the malecon. At the end of the walk we headed for a cool patio at Hotel Rosarita's on the beach. There we had drinks and fed Eva. She got loads of attention. We also got to see two whales off in the distance jumping out of the water and flopping around with their fins in the air... what a sight!

Leaving downtown we decided to go grocery shopping at the market downtown and then take a cab from there. It was packed with people but we made the best of it and it had everything we needed. What a scene. It is definitely the store the locals use. Also cheaper than the one up by the hotel.. But it worked, other than the thing of chilies falling out of their container into the trunk of the taxi we took back to the hotel. Luckily we had bought paper towels and were able to clean it up. Finally we had the bulk of our groceeries bought and put away. For dinner we had a roasted chicken, potatoes, tortillas and lots of yummy salsa. I did a number on my tongue with a jalepeno peepper! Ouch!

Eva has been spending lots of time on the floor rolling around. She seems very close to crawling. She has also been in teh pool a few times and seems to really enjoy that as well. We spent most of the morning until about 1pm on the beach under a palapa. I took her to the edge of the water which she seemed to like and was talking up a storm. She also enjoys all the baths we have given her over the last few days. She is generally very happy although when she is tired she mellts doown and has a good cry. Nothing a little food and sleep can't fix.
Putting her to be has gotten a little easier. When we first got here she didn't want to sleep unless she was in our arms. That has gotten a little better, but it still isn't like at home where she will go down and play on her own a little before she finally drops off to sleep. If she is really tired, it is generally easier. Tonight she went down in the crib with no problem at all. Speaaking of the crib... it is really old school. The rails are quite tall. It is on old casters or wheels that are super rickety and it pops open and closed and is locked in place with some semi fancy hinges. It seems like it is going to break every time I lean on it. I try not to lean on it and pray every time I put her in it that she won't move around too much, causing it to collapse on itself. I guess we are going to get a playpen at Walmart for her to sleep in when we get to Sayulita. That will be much better...

Our plan for today is to finish up at the Starbucks, where internet is free... not $20 per day as it is in the resort! They can gouge the unsuspecting folks who don't ever want to leave the hotel or who can write off the expense. Anyway, I think we are going back downtown for an early dinner and sunset. We have hardly been downtown at all this trip, so I am really looking forward to it.

I can't believe it's already Tuesday! It feels like we just got here. Or that we have been here for a very long time... We have a full week left. Much more fun in the sun. And none of us have sunburns yet. That is saying something. Very careful with the sunblock. Especially with Eva.

She is calling my name. And I have been hogging the computer. Ken's turn.

My Mother

2010-07-05T10:43:00.000-07:00

Well, lots has been going on. I am as huge as I can possibly get now. I am worried that this baby will never want to come out and I will somehow be like this forever. I have had quite a few meltdowns. Really, any time she wants to come out would be good with me. We are ready.
So, last night my mother... who I have to say I love more than anyone in the world... well, not more than Ken, just different...
said to us last night that she wasn't sure about being called "Grandma." I have heard this story from friends, but never thought my own mother would be one to push aside what I would consider a true badge of honor. Mark piped in immediately and stated, "Well Grandpa is taken." So, I asked if she was feeling too young to be a grandmother, she denied that as a reason. She really didn't have a reason. So we threw some ideas out at her all of which she rejected. Nana, Nanna, Abuela, Abuelita, etc. I said "Julie" thinking for sure she would reject that as well, considering how we have both identified "Mom" as an important name. I did have cousins who grew up calling their parents by their first names, which I always considered pretty weird. No offense to them of course. So, when she said, that seems like it might be the best option, I was truly floored. I basically told her that I was not going to have my daughter calling her Julie. That is just not going to happen. It's a little too "Berkeley" for even me.
Ken was on line this morning looking up nick names for grandparents. Bubbie, Mimi, DiDi, Bubbles, Lola, Lita, Deda. Or how about Big Momma?
Maybe she would like JuJu?
I have a feeling it is going to end up being Grandma. Maybe our daughter will have to be the one to break her in or something?

Baby Brain

2010-05-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

It is all about the baby now. I have total insomnia. My hands are killing me from the carpal tunnel syndrome I have had since the beginning. The morning sickness is gone. Thank god. I get nauseous when I lay on my back for too long. I get horrible heart burn. My lungs feel like they are the size of tiny balloons. I can barely get up the stairs without being winded. I am loving Fruit Loops for breakfast, and I even had them for dinner last night. I can barely eat a meal without feeling over-stuffed. I am congested most of the time. We started our birthing class tonight. Seems like a good group meeting for the next 6 weeks...Lots to learn for sure.

Muchas Gracias!

2010-01-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

I have been overwhelmed with the wonderful responses from all of my friends and family!
Thank you all so much for your warm wishes and support. I know I wouldn't be who I am without all of you. This baby is one lucky girl to be born with so much love surrounding her. A little mushy I know. I am feeling sentimental!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Genetics

2010-01-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday Ken and I went to a genetics counseling session. We had to attend in order to be eligible for the amniocentesis at 15 weeks. I had been told previously by a friend who also had a child at an "advanced maternal age" that there is a test they can do called the nucleo translucency test in which the doctor uses a very high resolution ultrasound to take an image of the baby and measures a small space on the back of the baby's neck. They can predict the statistical likelihood of the fetus having Down Syndrome or trisomy 18 (a fetus with an extra gene #18). Because I am 42 and of "advanced maternal age" I have a 1 in 40 chance of having a baby with Downs. This test can give you more accurate stats given more personal, direct data. During our conversation with Audrey, the genetic counselor, she stated that we would have to do that test before Sunday because you have to do it before 14 weeks and 2 days. The window of opportunity is quickly diminishing. Fortunately for us, there was a doctor who had a bit of free time and was able to squeeze us in at the last minute to do the procedure.
I got weighed, blood pressure and heart rate taken. 140/67 and heart rate 65. Not bad.

Then we went into the ultrasound room. This was one on the belly, unlike the first one which was done at 10 weeks through the vagina. It is much more comfortable on the belly that is for certain. The baby looked like it was sleeping face down with much less movement than when we saw it at 10 weeks. The doctor tapped and prodded my belly a little bit to get it to turn over, but then it almost immediately turned back over again, giving us a great view of it's rump. After the doctor took basic measurements of the entire body, crown to rump, and then the spot on the back of the neck, he was able to give us an up close look at the various body parts: legs, arms and hands, head, heart beat, spine, hips, etc. It was completely amazing. I asked him "Do you see any parts?" He said, "What parts?" My response was, "Boy parts or girl parts!" with an implied "Of course!" He said, "I see girl parts. She is very healthy." He also said that she is a big baby! She is actually 8.25 cm, about the size of a lemon. Those were things I loved hearing: Healthy and forming well, big, a little wild girl (like her mommy!).

I could honestly do that every day. Now I kind of get why Tom Cruise bought one for his wife Katy and himself to look whenever they wanted! I would totally do that every day. It is fascinating. And it makes the experience much more real. At first you can't really tell; then you can tell because you are eating everything in sight, feeling like puking most of the time and maybe even starting to show, and when you see the ultrasound it makes it feel real. Eventually, fairly soon I hope I will begin to feel her in there! They say at around 5 months. That will be about 6 more weeks. And I will get to have another ultrasound in February and maybe by then I will begin to feel her!
After the ultrasound was finished..

Needless to say at my advanced maternal age I am totally ecstatic! As are Ken and my parents! Yes, I was "trying. " It took two short months. I was pleasantly shocked and certainly relieved. I had thoughts that maybe it would take 6 months to a year. I feel very fortunate. So far so good!

In the meantime, there is work to be done and Ken needs some TLC. Thankfully I am out of the stage where I feel rotten and super duper amazingly tired all the time. I actually have some energy to take care of someone besides myself.

Zits, Farts, Itches, & Other Fun

2010-01-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

So, really... this is what you have to look forward to when you are pregnant. I really haven't had acne in years. Now, one whole side of my face is covered with zits. They don't go away quickly as they are relatively deep pockets of puss on the face. Lovely. And very appealing, right? I guess it could be worse, I could have them on my chest and back as well. I should feel fortunate.
Farts: these are the worst smelling gas bombs you can ever imagine. I really feel sorry for Ken who has to sleep next to me on a nightly basis. I try to keep matches next to the bed for those occasions when I have inadvertently "smoked" him out. Do women ever really talk about this problem? Is there anything that can be done to thwart this issue? Sometimes it is concerning they smell so bad. It's sometimes like something really did die up there and it is trying to get out. Ken will often suggest that I try taking a poop to assist with the problem. And not to be gross, but that sometimes works. And wow! I wonder how all that fits up there. Where did it all come from? I am eating for two, but shitting too?! Wow. That is no joke.
Since I have been pregnant, I am about 10 times more itchy than I was before. And I was already itchy before that, so you can imagine how itchy that might be. It is nearly impossible to ever feel completely free of the itch. Before the pregnancy I think there was some anxiety related itchiness. When I got home from Mexico (where I was virtually itch free) I found out I was pregnant and immediately started having the normal side effects including zits, bad gas, nausea, and extremely dry skin. It has gotten a little bit better, the air is a little less dry than it has been over the last couple of months, and I have gotten really good at making sure I am moisturizing well and often.
Did I mention mood swings? I have stabilized some but I really was going through it (and therefore putting Ken through it) during the first 9 weeks. I can cry at the drop of a hat. I try not to watch movies that will get me going. I even cried at the end of the Hangover! Really.

Exercsise And Pregnancy

2010-01-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

So, I have been encouraged to try not to gain more than 30 pounds. I think that is a noble goal. I have no idea how I can possibly pull that off without dieting. It maybe possible and I guess I will have to see how it goes over the next trimester. Given the fact that if I eat too much I feel like absolute garbage, I have been doing a pretty good job of not overindulging very often. It is a very tricky balance sometimes to eat enough to satisfy and satiate my hunger, but not so much that I want to go puke. So rather than monitor every bite I take, I am more likely to try to get more exercise. A friend of mine and I are going to start walking once a week together. I have also been eager to help move, organize, and re-organize the house since Ken moved in. I also put up the Christmas tree and took it down, not to mention vacuuming at least 3 times in the last week. Every little bit of random exercise adds up. I think getting enough sleep is also important and needs to happen RIGHT NOW!!

A New Odyssey Altogether

2010-01-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

So, the big news for the last 13 weeks is that I am pregnant! I can't even really believe it myself.
Tonight has been rough with "morning" sickness. I call it all the fucking time sickness. It has actually gotten much better, but for some reason this evening I haven't been feeling so good. Usually these days it is the morning that is the worst. And brushing my teeth is agony. I can't even think about it without wanting to throw up. People have suggested that I change toothpaste... I have, three times! It doesn't make a bit of difference. It is the gag reflex that gets me. The prenatal vitamins are also pretty bad. I have to take them at night because in the morning I am sure to puke from them. Just opening the bottle makes me wretch.
There are some major benefits to being pregnant... for the first time since I can remember I am happy to eat almost anything without being too "diet" conscious. I don't want to gain a ton of weight, but I also am not about to starve myself. If I don't eat at fairly regular intervals I start feeling really crappy and light headed. So I feel justified in eating, but eating well. I have been trying not to eat too much junk. I am eating things from as "close to the ground" as possible. It is hard to eat salads in the dead of winter though. Cravings are real. I have cravings for very odd things like sushi. Well, maybe that isn't that odd. It's just that I am not allowed to eat sushi, so of course I want it. Recently I have been craving a burger and fries... about as far from the ground as you can get. I have not acted on it of course.
So, about 3 weeks ago Ken (baby daddy) and I went to the ultrasound. My first thought when I saw the fetus doing backflips was, "that is a freakin' boy for sure!" It has a screwdriver in its pocket just like his daddy!

Driving In Mexico

2009-11-14T23:29:00.001-08:00

I am home from Mexico now and really missing it! There are always surprises and learning experiences on every trip I take and this one was no different. Foreign countries have so much to offer and there is never a dull moment. This was as true in Moscow as it was in Puerto Vallarta, although I think the later is a much more relaxing vacation in spite of some of the stress we went through there.

I would no sooner drive in Moscow than I would in Mexico City. Way too crazy. I thought driving in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara and the towns in between would be more manageable. For the most part that was the case, but it was still quite stressful and I am fairly certain I would never rent a car in Mexico again.

I drove from Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara, which took about 6 hours. It was interesting to me (in the way that watching a train wreck might be interesting) that the Mexican drivers don’t give a rat’s ass about the rules of the road. Double yellow line? Doesn’t that mean cross at any time into oncoming traffic whether or not you can see around the next bend in the road? Of course that is what it means down there. You may remember our experience last year in the collectivo (small bus) driving through the mountains… Caroline and I were sure we were going to die. The driver was pretty sure that if he crossed himself continually and kissed the crucifix hanging from his rearview mirror every 15 minutes he would probably be spared the gruesome death of a head-on collision with a mac truck. Fortunately we didn’t die.

I guess I wasn’t really thinking about that in terms of driving ourselves around this year. Unfortunately I am not so faithful nor am I quite dexterous enough to do all that praying, crossing, while driving and paying attention to possible head-on-coming traffic. Luckily we made it through to tell the tale. There were some moments when I was really worried, but truthfully they were mostly when my friend Cory was driving. I just have to be honest in my experience men drive like they are on a racetrack. It is a competition with everyone on the road. Only in this competition we had everything to lose. Imagine driving behind a giant 16 wheeler loaded down with rebar. There was a gang of vehicles behind us. At one point there was one car between us and the truck and a car from behind us tried to pass and couldn’t make it, sneaking in just behind the truck. Cory was cursing the entire time. First he was cursing about the guy trying to pass, “you are such a fucking idiot, you are going to get yourself killed…” etc. The next thing out of his mouth was, “Jesus, you dumb ass! You could have made it just then. Go, go, go.” Eventually we were behind the truck and Cory made his move. But not until after he was about to go and I had to yell, “No, don’t do it! Please, no!” I think Cory was annoyed. But I didn’t really care. Shortly after that he made his move. I squeezed my eyes closed and said a prayer. When in Mexico do as the Mexicans, right? Well, more or less.
We lived. Thank GOD!!

And that is only a small part of the learning regarding driving in Mexico….

When Caroline and I picked up the car at USave Car Rental, we were quite concerned about how jacked up the outside of car looked. It was keyed, scratched, dented, and dinged all the way around the outside. I took a bunch of photos on my cell phone. The man renting us the car lifted the felt covering the spare, showing us the spare and tools. That was meant to “prove” we had “seen” it. Have you ever even looked at the spare when renting a car in the United States?
Another interesting thing was that we were told there wasn’t an automatic economy car available for us. They agreed to give us an upgrade. Once we were ready to go, we were told that they would call us to exchange the car for an economy in a couple of days. In no uncertain terms, Caroline said, “Absolutely not. We will not be available for any exchange as we will be out of the area.”

Returning the car a week later was less than a smooth transition. The clerk was a different guy than the one who had rented it to us. He went out to look at the car. He walked all the way around it and checked every dent. Then he opened the trunk and looked at the spare. For some reason Ken said, “He is going to tell us there is a hole in the spare.” I wasn’t really paying attention, so I wasn’t understanding why he was saying that.
When the man returned, he called me to the counter and asked me how the trip went. I stated it was great, and that there no problems at all. A big smile on my face. We did have an excellent time and we thankfully had no issues with the car at all. He said, “Well there seems to be a problem with the spare tire.” We went out and looked at it and sure enough there was a giant split in the tire. The tire had obviously been in the wheel well for ages. It was dusty, red paint rubbed on it from the car, and it was obviously the spare and not a tire we had ruined and replaced with the spare.
He said he would speak to his supervisor. His argument was that it was obviously us because I had signed a paper stating that I had looked at the spare before I took off with the car. I explained that they had basically not even shown us the spare, lifting the felt and dropping it down again before we could really even look at it.
Furthermore, we would have called if something had happened to us. And furthermore, how could they have rented us a car with a screwed up spare?! We were livid. I was determined not to pay for it. It was really the principal of it all.
They did not care one bit. It was a busted tire and someone was going to have to pay for it one way or another. I honestly think he knew we didn’t do it but someone was going to have to pay for it. His manager felt the same way. She was really bitchy. She wouldn’t give us a copy of the contract. Eventually she gave me a photocopy of the original and gave me the yellow copy I had been carrying around. Interestingly the two looked very different, the original having check marks regarding what I was agreeing to having seen, whereas the yellow copy didn’t have those marks.

In any case, after at least 20 minutes of arguing with them the manager handed me the credit card receipt I had signed a week earlier at the airport, with a total that was 800 pesos more than what I had agreed to originally. I realized it was useless to try to continue arguing in my broken Spanish mixed with angry English. We left with a promised to refute the charges. I recently received my American Express bill. There were at least 800 more pesos added to the receipt she originally gave me. I will be refuting it as well as writing a nasty letter to National Car Rental who runs USave Car Rental.

The good lesson from this whole experience is pretty much: “Don’t bother renting a car in Mexico.” You might as well just take the bus. Buses in Mexico are reliable, cheap, and you can actually relax and read a book on the way to your destination. Sounds good to me.

The Beach

2009-10-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

We are at the beach. It is calling now. In the middle of nowhere. Chacala. Will be back with good blogs tomorrow or Saturday.

Bien dia en la playa.

October 27, 2009 - 42 Years

2009-10-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I am now officially 42 years old. I can´t believe it.
It was a fabulous birthday and I couldn´t have been in a better place to celebrate. Caroline and Cory really made it special for the entire day they made it all about me. Unfortunately my sweetie Ken wasn´t here with me. Next year we will definitely be together! As it is he will be joining us on Friday. That is only 2.5 days away. I guess I can live with that. It really hit me that I missed him when we first arrived in Guadalajara and I realized that he wouldn´t get to see and experience this amazing city with us. On the other hand, I am certain he and I will come back here at some point and I can show him around...
In any case, yesterday was amazing. I started out the day with coffee, pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread) and delicious yogurt with fruit, all in the comfort of our own home.
We headed out with full tummies for a day of exploring two little towns on the outskirts of the city... Tonala and Tlaquepaque. These two towns are known for handicrafts and excellent shopping. They also happen to be full of beautiful people. Their plazas and walking streets are very inviting. It actually made me want to stay there and skip the city. In any case, we all did very well with some early Christmas shopping and even shopping for a few birthdays coming up. We tried to find a glass blowing factory but didn´t find it due to very hard to read street signs. All the street names are on small tiles on the side of the buildings on the street corners. It is very difficult to spot them in a moving vehicle. If I had it to do over we would have taken a cab to the towns instead. Driving here is difficult at best. On the way back into the city we were stuck in a crazy traffic jam. At the heart of it was a car stuck to the side of a truck´s wheel well. I was just very gratefull that it wasn´t me. It seems that often there two lanes of cars for one physical lane which can create obvious problems!
When we returned to the hotel we were all starving. We cleaned up a little, put sweaters on... did I mention it is cold here, especially at night? ... and made a bee-line to our favorite La Chata. It was amazing again. And this time I had a margarita too! It seems that drinking really doesn´t agree with me. I was ready for bed an hour later. I guess a belly full of booze and good food will do that to a person.

After dinner we got on a horse drawn carriage and had a tour of Guadalajara. The horse, Vicente, was a caramel brown and of slight stature. He was carrying us in a white carriage with red trim and a glass window in the back with an etched image of Jesus. It was beautiful. I was reminded of my ride with my friend Tricia through New Orleans a couple years ago. The guide we had in New Orleans was like an encyclopedia of information on the city. Our ride last night wasn´t quite as exceptional for a few reasons: my Spanish isn´t so good that I would understand everything our driver had to say, and the traffic around us was so loud it was often very hard to hear. I was really impressed with Vicente and his seeming lack of fear. When we were finshed with the ride we all got pictures with Vicente and our driver. Funny I don´t remember his name. I got a little too close to Vicente´s face when he had his eye blinders on and he gave me a little head butt. I deserved it. He was much more gentle without his bridle and eye shades and even gave us a big smile with all of his teeth showing! I think he was really happy to have that thing off!

After a long day of celebrating my 42nd year I was really ready for some deep sleep. Apparently I slept through drag racing outside the hotel and throughout the streets of Guadalajara! That´s me, the deep sleeper. I guess it was screetching, sirens, whooshing down the street... but no crashes??

Now we are getting ready to leave this beautiful city and make our way back to the beach. We have in mind a few very small towns north of Puerto Vallarta.
I will be back with more adventures when I have access to another computer.
Mas tarde amigos.

My Annual Pilgrimage to Mexico

2009-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

Livin* the dream in my favorite place on earth!
I arrived in Puerto Vallarta with my best friend Caroline yesterday afternoon after a hectic few days.
It is always good to lose your cash card the day before you are about to travel. People don{t really use traveler{s checks any more, and it would have been too late for that anyway. So, after a meltdown I tried to collect myself and worry about all the other craziness I needed to focus on. At least I didn{t forget to refill my prescriptions before my trip like last year!

Caroline and I arrived at Puerto Vallarta*s shiny new airport. The first thing you get to after immigration and customs (a green or red light determines whether or not they go through your luggage) is a room full of people trying to sell you trips, time shares and the like. It is swarming with young, good looking men and women who are determined to sell you whatever they have to offer. It is quite disconcerting.
We were approached again at the car rental place. He said we could get $150 off the rental car if we just went to a sales talk at some timeshare. No thanks.

Guess what I forgot?! My driver*s license. Duh. We worked it out, but still I could be really screwed if I get pulled over while driving. We have insurance up the ying yang, so I am not too worried. And money speaks all languages down here. Or so I have heard.

After a few beers and some delcious antojitos at the hotel restaurant and a dip in the pool, we headed out to gather our friend, Cory, who flew down from Canada. He had been traveling for over 12 hours and was really happy to see us.

Caroline was reading a newspaper on the way back to the hotel and found an interesting advertizement for a weightloss technique... give yourself salmonela and/or ecoli. Under the direction of a doctor you can shit your brains out, feel like complete crap and when you have lost enough weight the doctor will give you some medication to get rid of the parasites. That is if you don*t die first. Good times.

We had a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. I think this is the 5th time I have been to Puerto Vallarta. I love it. Anyway, dinner was delicious, although Caroline and I didn*t eat much since we had already pigged out earlier. I will definitely be going back with Ken when he gets down here.

Walking back up the malecon (boardwalk) to the hotel was beautiful. It wasn*t too hot, and there was a nice breeze. And a ton of people everywhere. I am guessing they were all watching the soccer game earlier because when we arrived it was so empty I was a bit worried. Not to worry though, there were plenty of people roaming the streets, watching street clowns, artists, food vendors and crafts people do their things. We didn*t see many foreigners but plenty of Mexican*s. Puerto Vallarta is a common vacation destination for Mexicans from Guadalajara and Mexico City, among other places I am sure.

When we finally arrived back at the hotel we lounged by the pool for a while and then I made my way to the room so I would be ready for our big journey to Guadalajara in the morning. It felt great to shower and fall into a clean bed. Caroline and Cory apparently fell asleep by the pool. They didn*t get back to the room for at least a couple of hours. I am very happy I wasn*t drinking because I know I would have had a killer hangover this morning!

The drive to Guadalajara was uneventful... just the way I like it. We stopped in a tiny town for lunch and had very simple burritos and quesadillas. My burrito had refried beans and a mushroom concoction, no meat. It was pretty tasty.

We were probably on the road about 6 hours total. The toll road was about 2 hours. Thank god for the toll road. The free ones take forever.

Driving in Guadalajara is no joke. Not as bad as I imagine driving in Mexico City would be, but a bit scary none the less. Try finding a street sign with a truck or a bus bearing down on you. Fun. We actually found the hotel relatively easily as I had really studied the map at lunch. I was even able to park the car on the street in front of the hotel. Never mind that it was over a shit hole - literally. There are some really nasty smells in this city. The grate over the shit hole would not have kept me and my flip flops from falling through. Nice.

Our room is more like a condo. We have two bedrooms with two double beds each, a living/dining room area, a kitchen and two full bathrooms. No bathtubs though. Bathtubs are hard to find in Mexico. Sorry Ken.

After settling in a little we headed out for dinner at La Chata de Guadalajara. One of the best Mexican meals I have ever had. It is a bright, cheery place with yellow walls, yellow tablecloths, and lots of Mexican pottery and old photos of Guadalajara on the walls. There was an army of waiters ensuring we had everything we could possibly want and then some. It was a perfect eating experience. I had pozole of course!

We are wrapping up the evening with a concert (a Cuban salsa band) in one of the many plazas, a walk through the plaza where masons are chipping away at big blocks of stone, and an hour at the internet cafe. This is a perfect way to end an evening.

More later. Mas tarde.

Running

2009-07-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

So, seeing as I couldn't sleep last night... I woke up at 2:15am and couldn't get back to sleep, try as I might... I got up at 3:15am. After folding laundry and tidying up, I decided I would go for a run. By the time I walked out the door it was about 4am. I ran straight from my house to Lake Merritt. This is a 6 mile run round trip. I am not fond of being outside alone in the dark in Oakland, but I was determined to not let that stop me. It took me about 11 minutes to do the first 1.5 miles. It is all down hill. As I arrived at the lake it was really dark. The lights strung around Lake Merritt are turned off at a certain time apparently. Not sure why I would have thought they would leave them on all night? That would be pretty wasteful. There was one lone light, a search light, like on a light house that moved in the same way. I found that a bit ironic - a light house on a small lake. A beacon. By then I had seen a few random people. One guy starting his shift at Safeway, another walking around the lake. Obviously nothing was open. It was dark. There was a bite of cold in the air. It felt good, refreshing. As I started clockwise around Lake Merritt at "the columns," I was a little concerned about how dark everything was. The sun really doesn't start to come up until at least 5am. There are a few spots on the far side of the lake that are REALLY dark and people could easily be lurking without being seen. But I wanted this run. I wanted to be brave. I had my music pumping. Loud. And then I saw it... one of many rats that crossed my path as I made my way around. Ew. Yuck. At one point, one actually came very close to running right over my foot! I am not really squeemish, but that was a bit much! There were so many rats out there I couldn't believe it. Running into their little dens to get away from the giant coming their way. I came around and was in the last stretch before going back up Grand Avenue, there was a cop car parked on the lawn, under a tree. As soon as I got a few feet from it, a bright search light flashed over me. If I hadn't been so much in my own world I would have waved! It did startle me and for a moment I thought they might come after me. I think the hours of the lake are sun up to 10pm or something. But they didn't. And I was back on my own, in the dark.
I made it home in 1 hour 11 minutes. That is a respectable time: 11:50 per mile. My ears were ringing. I guess I had my music up louder than I had thought.
Now I have to tell my running partner that I already went running today. I hope she doesn't get too upset. Now I am super tired. That is the problem with getting up long before the crack of dawn. You feel like crap most of the rest of the day. So far so good, but I expect I will crash at around 3pm or so.
So, I feel like I will be ready for the SF 1/2 Marathon we have been training for on 7/26/09. I am a bit anxious about how warm it is going to be, given it has been in the 80s the last couple of days! I hate running in the heat and would rather run in the rain any day. We will see.

Photos Finally

2009-05-13T07:08:00.001-07:00

You have all been bugging me to upload my photos... Finally I did it! There is a short waiting period before they can be uploaded to the blog. You can access them using the link to Picasa.
I will probably also upload them to Facebook.
It was a great trip. I am really glad I went. And now I am looking forward to getting to Mexico again! In the meantime I am training for my next 1/2 marathon (San Francisco) and planning a bunch of camping trips.
Have a great summer!

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

I arrived home on Thursday afternoon after some 48 hours of traveling. I pretty much lost track after the first 24, crossing time zones screwed me up. Sleeping in the Heathrow Airport didn't help. I was finally upgraded to business class on my flight to SFO. It took me to the last minute and lots of tears. I didn't mean to cry actually, and I wasn't doing it for pity, but I guess that was the effect. I was just beyond sanity at that point. I really just wanted to be home and I felt what they had put me through was completely unjust. I have more details of course, but will leave them for another time.
It is great to be home. Cuddles with Pearl and Ruby has been awesome.
So happy to be home!

Eating In Russia

2009-05-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

I can’t speak for the rest of the country. I guess MacDonald’s, though they do have a presence, hasn’t really taken over the country with fast food. There are lines for MacDonald’s, especially in the center of town by the Kremlin. I can’t speak for the rest of the country. I guess MacDonald’s, though they do have a presence, hasn’t really taken over the country with fast food. There are lines for MacDonald’s, especially in the center of town by the Kremlin. Kentucky Fried Chicken has also made the trek here from the USA.
I don’t know how the prices compare because I tried to steer clear of the evils of fast food.
And why would you want to eat BAD American fast food when you can get delicious Russian fast food for less than half the price? Go figure. Russian fast food is bliny (thin crepes with different fillings), pelmeny (dumplings like wontons –also usually with meat filling), ice cream of all kinds (mostly the American Nestle sort, not like the delicious paletas in Mexico made from fresh fruit and cream), and various other finger foods. I guess hot dogs are pretty popular too, with ketchup of all things. The best way to ruin a hot dog is to put ketchup on it, in my opinion. Only mustard belongs on the dog. Oh, and sauerkraut if you are lucky enough to have it.
Russian food in restaurants… if you land in a good restaurant (don’t ever go to Yolkie Palkie) you are going to find the most amazing fish dishes, bliny, and the soup is to die for! I had fish soup on at least two occasions, both with sour cream, and what a treat. Even the soup at a bad restaurant is fairly decent. Mark had a disgusting cold soup at a café we went to a couple of times. It literally made me gag. He liked it. It was a beef broth that was really sour, and additionally so due to the sour cream in it, with green onions, slices of mystery meat, and maybe hard boiled egg? I had a delicious cream of mushroom soup.
At home – dinner with the family – was simple but good. Aunt Zhenya does very good appetizer things: Syrian marinated eggplant with cloves and vinegar and who knows what, a red sauce with garlic and red peppers to eat with bread or crackers, an amazing egg salad with a green onion like thing. Her main courses were much more simple (fish, chicken, turkey, green veggie, potatoes) and not how I would cook things (a little too cooked for me), but tasty none-the-less. And then dessert: home made cherry jam, different kinds of cookies, cream puffs, and tea of course.
I thought I could lose a little weight by walking all over hell and back and not eating too much junk. Wrong! The sweets were too enticing. Oh, not to mention the cheese with bread or crackers at every meal just about. I just couldn’t resist. Now when I get home I am going to have to cut out sugar altogether. I forgot my stevia and as a result had sugar with my tea every morning, afternoon and evening. I am also going to go through serious caffeine withdrawal. Hmm. Fun. Although I am looking forward to eating fruit and veggies at every meal with little else. There isn’t the same kind of variety as we have in California unless you want to pay out the nose.
There was a salad at every meal, which was very good. And I had bananas at breakfast with my oatmeal (what Aunt Rita calls “flakes.”) Rita also introduced me to what she called “curds.” I would say it is a cross between cottage cheese and ricotta with a bit of a yogurt sourness. I loved it. We ate it with flavored yogurt, the applesauce I made, and jam.

Moscow Style

2009-05-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

Moscow women don’t eat, walk a lot and wear impossibly high heels. Actually, it is true, there are very few over weight people in general in Moscow & St. Petersburg. The women are fashionistas for the most part. They are skinny and have great style. I think they probably spend a ton of money on fashion. There are designer stores everywhere and they aren’t for the tourists for the most part. When I first arrived it was quite cold in Moscow and the uniform for most women was black shirt & jeans tucked into tall black, spiked heeled boots. Often the boots were platform with stiletto heels. I tried to imagine wearing something like that and got a foot ache just thinking about it. Then I pondered the idea of walking around in those on snow, ice and slush. Not my idea of a good time.
The other thing I saw a lot of is the recently deemed stylish shoe boot. A stiletto heeled shoe with a short boot-like upper bit. I know my friend Maeve hates that style, so every time I saw a pair I thought of her. I didn’t see one pair that would have been acceptable. As soon as the weather started getting warm (which was pretty much by the second or third day) people shed their boots for more comfortable walking wear, like stiletto (fuck me) pumps. It was particularly funny to see girls trying to walk on the cobblestone at the Red Square with those things on. Actually, many also opted for flats, fancy loafers, and even some sandals. It seemed that people were having a hard time believing that it was going to stay warm. Even when it was in the high 70s I saw lots of coats, scarves, and sweaters.
Men’s fashion was nothing to get excited about. Mostly men were non-descript and could have been from any country. There were lots of pointy-ish black dress shoes. I even saw one guy with white shoes. My mother always told me not to trust a man in white shoes. Take her advice. Gym shoes don’t count.

DIRT Russian Style

2009-05-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have never experienced dirt like the dirt in Moscow and St. Petersburg. When I first arrived my Aunt Zhenya told me (translated by Mark), “We wash our hands before dinner here.” So, dutifully, I washed my hands. I didn’t really think much of it. I try to remember to do the same at home. But, as the days went by, I realized the washing the hands thing is no joke. Every time I washed my hands, especially after coming in from walking around town, taking the Metro, etc. I would have gray suds. To get clean would take a good 30 seconds of washing. I wonder if they get sick less there due to washing their hands more often? The benefit of dirt?
I started to see that my hands weren’t the only thing getting dirty. My clothes, my shoes, my purse (pretty much destroyed – I am hoping it can be washed, but with pink leather I have my doubts), my hair, my face. You get the idea.
This is part of why people take off their shoes when they come in the door. Every home has a collection of slippers for guests to wear when they come over. I really get it. Most days my shoes were covered in dirt and dust when I came home from sight-seeing. I was giving Galia a hard time in St. Petersburg because each time before leaving the apartment she would brush her shoes off. I would joke with her that they would just get dirty again. I couldn’t persuade her, so eventually I started doing it as well. It seemed like a good idea to maybe make my shoes last a little longer?
During the day my hair would eventually begin to feel like it was plastered with dirt. Nothing was clean on my body except maybe my feet, because they had been covered with socks and shoes most of the day. Every night when I showered, I could feel the dirt and grime slowly washing off me, layer by layer.
How is it that it is so dirty there? Why have I never noticed anything like it in Mexico or other places I have traveled? Having pondered this I came up with a couple of hypotheses… In Mexico I am usually not wearing nearly as many clothes. And the clothes that I am wearing are smaller, less fabric. The shoes I wear are mostly flip-flops and don’t collect as much dust and dirt. Most of the places I have visited have less industrial made filth as well as dirt created by autos. Room service can do wonders for dirt! Maybe it isn’t as dirty?

Russian Water

2009-05-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

No, I am not talking about vodka. That is a whole different story.
The water in Moscow & St. Petersburg is incredibly “hard. ” I guess it is filled with minerals as well as chlorine and whatever else they add to it to make it potable. Still, people usually drink bottled water. We used a filter and it was fine, although bottled was definitely better. Never mind drinking the water, it’s the bathing and washing your hands constantly (see DIRT) that takes a toll. I have never used so much lotion and cream ever. I had no idea that I would need it as much as I did, so it’s a good thing I packed so much. I used it ALL. Literally I would wash my hands and once they were dry, I could feel them cracking. Drives me crazy. My hair felt coarse no matter how much conditioner I used. My legs would feel tight and itchy if I forgot the lotion after a shower. And my arms were pretty much constantly itchy – this is already an issue for me, so it was just exacerbated by the hard water.

Getting to Know Moscow Airport

2009-05-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I only have a few minutes for this post. I am finally (after almost 12 hours in the airport) about to board a flight to Heathrow, London on British Airways. I was on United, leaving at 12:35pm. I got through all the hoops you have to go through to get out of here. Boarded the plane. We were all set and ready to go at least 1/2 an hour before take-off. Actually had two seats to myself. Then we sat and sat. Finally, after almost an hour, the captain came on the loudspeaker and told us they were fixing a fuel leak in the engine of the plane. We sat another hour. Then we taxied to the area where planes seem to go to die. Or be fixed, sometimes. We sat there for another hour. They finally started coming out with drinks and lunch bags. I looked out the window and could see the buses that were waiting to take us back to the terminal.
It is too long to go into now, but suffice to say that we waited and waited for about another 3 hours. I was admitted back into Russia (my visa expired today), and was supposedly re-ticketed to go on Luftansa to Frankfurt, which I wasn't looking forward to. Well that flight was leaving in 1/2 an hour and they decided they couldn't get me on it. Now I am on a flight to London. This is much better than spending the night here or spending the night in Frankfurt. But I would prefer to be home of course!
Gotta go. I will be back online in a few hours. With 12 hours to pass in the Heathrow airport!

Moscow & St. Petersburg

2009-05-03T12:07:00.001-07:00

Well, I can't believe it, but it has already been almost 2 weeks! I would have liked to do many more posts but the internet thing wasn't as easy as I anticipated. I will posting a ton of photos when I get home. It is too slow and cumbersome on Rita's 4 year old computer. That is a dinosaur in computer years. In the meantime, I did just post a new slideshow.

St. Petersburg was really pretty - in Russian terms. It is a very European looking city, built by Italians and other Europeans. It was supposed to be the Venice of the North. There is a big river and lots of small canals running through the city. There are a couple of different islands as well. I gather the whole place was a marsh before Peter The Great arrived there. He had it filled in with stone and made into liveable space. Imagine what the environmentalists would have to say about something like that now! At a certain point, anyone entering the city had to pay a tax in stones.

Probably the most famous landmark in St. Petersburg is the Hermitage. It seems to be the Louvre of Russia. The art collections are located in the Winter Palace which is on the edge of the Neva River. It has 3 floors filled with art from all over the world. My personal favorites were the early 20th century artists - Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, etc. I actually missed some of the pieces because we went one direction and didn't end up circuling back to the rooms we missed.
The other fascinating part of the Hermitage is that it is filled with rooms that are decked out just like they were when the palace was being used by the royalty who lived there. There was one room that was entirely made of wood with glass enclosed cases of books. It was done in a beautiful gothic style architecture, probably with mohagany. The room wasn't easy to find and I joked that if you lived there you would need a map to find your way around. "I would love to go to the library, but I can't remember where it is!"

It is a damn good thing we went to the Hermitage on Thursday because I went back on Saturday to go see a special exhibit on gold and there was a line a mile long and another mile wide. They weren't letting anyone in at the time we arrived. I guess they were already at capacity and needed people to leave before they could let others in. The thing about Russia is that it can be difficult to find/figure out exactly what is going on for sure. Mark went to the front of the line to see what was happening and was told that they weren't letting anyone in right now. He asked when they would be, but was directed to read a sign posted on the door which actually told him nothing. The "guard" was too busy talking on her cell phone to bother answering his questions. We ended up leaving as I had no desire to spend my time waiting in a long line. I may have felt differently if I hadn't already been inside, but I had, so, no line for me!

Outside in the Palace Square (about the size of 4 city blocks with a statue in the center), we saw two big events, one on Thursday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. Thursday afternoon when we were leaving the Hermitage we walked out of the palace into the square and there were military men everywhere. Upon getting a closer look, it appeared they were doing a practice drill for celebrating Victory Day (the end of WWII) on May 9th. There were groups of military men from what we would call the Army, Navy, Marines, etc. all grouped around the square. In the center was a huge military band. There were a few different podiums set up facing the band at varying distances, as well as a truck parked with speakers set up in the truck bed. The officials were standing there yelling into the microphone, booming voice coming out to be heard on every corner of the square. He sounded so serious it was funny. At one point a group of soldiers marched, with legs straight out, across the square. Shortly after that two trucks, one on each side of the square, drove toward each other, stopped in the middle in front of the truck parked with the officials in it, listened to the band and some more banter and then circled the entire square one after the other, stopping in front of each group of soldiers. It all seemed so old fashioned and silly. And everyone was taking it so seriously.
On Saturday when we went back to the museum, there were throngs of people outside in the square again, only this time they were mostly wearing spandex and either running gear, rollerblades or on a bike. A relay race just started as we were leaving so we stayed to spectate. It was a funny sight to see masses of rollerbladers with the palace in the background. The military presence for the race was also quite serious. I have a photo in which a bunch of young men in uniform are standing around smoking cigarettes with their automatic rifles hanging down to one side. I guess you can't be too safe in a group of health nuts on their rollerblades.

Well, I am literally falling asleep at the keyboard, so I am going to call it a night. There is definitely more coming....
I have to tell you about the worst canal ride in history and the best French pastries you can find in St. Petersburg.

Sweet dreams.

Time Zone Correction

2009-04-28T08:02:00.001-07:00

So, actually the West Coast is 11 hours behind Moscow and the East Coast is 8 hours behind us. I think that makes Europe even less than that, maybe 4 hours behind us?
So, when my mom calls us every morning, it is the evening on the day before when she is talking to us. If it is 9am here on 4/28, it is 10pm 4/27. That is why it was so difficult to get over the jetlag when we first arrived.

My First Impressions of Moscow

2009-04-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Kitty on Holiday

A few days ago I left for Russia and somehow Hello Kitty snuck into my bag. I guess she wanted to go on an adventure! She was very patient during the 17 hours of traveling; stopping in Frankfurt for a bratwurst and beer, and a little shopping at the Duty Free store. Upon arrival in Moscow she was greeted warmly by Galia, Zhenya, and Rita. So far she has been to the Kremlin, the Red Square, in and out of the Metro many times, and even hanging out at the palace with the fancy guards. There was a tour of St. Basil’s Cathedral, and a monument where people throw coins for good luck. She has been getting lots of exercise the last few days. Today was a shopping tour at the flea market, which took 3 trains to get to. HK was eager to have her photo taken in most of the places, including with many statues. She would love to go have Indian food at the oldest (20 years?) Indian restaurant in Moscow.

Thoughts on Getting Across the World in Less than 24 Hours
Thanks to Caroline I was able to get a ride to the airport and arrived in plenty of time to check in. Mark arrived shortly after I did and zipped through the line due to on-line check-in, which wasn’t available to me because I had a paper ticket. Who ever heard of such a thing? It took me back to the days before computerized everything. Once I got rid of my 49.5# bag (½ a pound to spare!), I felt a huge burden lifted. The last time I traveled with this much luggage, I vowed never to do it again. However, I realized that going to Russia at the beginning of spring without enough clothes wouldn’t be wise. It was extremely difficult to pack for winter in the middle of a heat wave, sweating my ass off. But somehow I managed to get everything and the kitchen sink in my giant suitcase.
After eating a Panini we boarded our 747, lamenting that we didn’t have Business Class seats or better yet, First Class seats on the upper level. I don’t think I have ever been on such a huge airplane in my life. Two meals, three movies, a couple of Bloody Mary’s (the flight attendant gave me a hard time for wanting a Bloody Mary at breakfast – when else would you drink one? – after serving the people in the row ahead of us drinks all night long), and eleven hours later, after Mark had looked at his watch for the umpteenth time, we had finally arrived in Frankfurt. Only 6 hours to go! I was happy I went for a run the morning we left. I think my body would have felt much worse if I hadn’t. It was actually a great run, at a much faster clip than I usually do it.
Mark and I walked the Frankfurt terminal for a while which felt great after sitting for so long. We settled on a leisurely meal at a café that was serving bratwurst and other sausages, giant steins of beer, pretzels and coffee. I had a terrible fruit salad, probably days old and a delicious pretzel. Mark had a boiled, white sausage served in a big bowl of hot water, a pretzel and a beer. Honestly, we really didn’t need to eat, but couldn’t resist the temptation. The other temptation was the Duty Free store. Usually I do resist these places because they aren’t really much cheaper than at a regular store and I don’t need anything they have. This time, however, I actually needed a compact powder. I got a mini makeover at the Chanel counter and bought a few things besides a compact. She was a good sales person.
I arrived at the gate in time to meet back up with Mark and get in line to board our final flight to Moscow. The 3 hours flew by. I was mostly sleeping in between eating yet another meal and watching Mark checking his watch every 5 minutes.
It was very cold in Moscow when we arrived. I was wearing flip-flops and a skirt. After going through immigration I found a bathroom and changed into tights, a warmer sweater, a coat and real shoes. The shoes barely fit as my feet and ankles had bloated into giant elephant cankles. We were the last ones to retrieve our luggage and go through customs. The official barely looked at us.
No one seemed to be waiting for us when we walked out into the public part of the airport. Then I spotted Galia who was obviously looking for us, but had a peculiar look on her face. Apparently she was given incorrect flight information and had been waiting for us for 2 hours! Mark and I felt bad that she had been waiting so long, but relieved that she had waited rather than leaving us. As soon as we got into the taxi that came to get us, I was out like a light. A few times I tried really hard to pry my eyes open to see the city, but I could not fight the urge to sleep.
When we pulled up to Rita’s apartment, Mark woke me up and I could see Rita and Zhenya leaning over the railing of a second story balcony. We dragged our luggage up the stairs (I am truly happy I don’t have to move that thing around any more than twice!) and a rapid, excited conversation in Russian broke out. Of course dinner was made and everyone was ready to eat. Mark even said he was hungry again! I am not sure how that was possible since we had eaten 5 meals in the last 17 hours, which seems quite excessive to me. I wasn’t hungry at all but ate so as to not be rude. Later Mark and I walked Galina and Zhenya to the Metro station about a 10-minute walk from Rita’s. It was very cold, but it felt good to get outside and move my legs.
In spite of having a long nap, it was relatively easy for me to fall asleep my first night here in Moscow. I did wake up at 4:30 am of course! But again, I was easily able to fall back to sleep for another 4 hours.
In the morning, Mark and I made our way to the Red Square. We walked to the Metro station, transferred once and got out. Most of the stations are much like in any other city. Above ground it can be difficult to cross the streets, so there are underground passages filled with little shops that have everything from candy to jewelry, to flowers. Eventually after we had been walking for a good 20 minutes, Mark realized he was lost. In the meantime I was getting very hungry and cranky (of course). We got back on another train and then walked for a few blocks underground and came out a few blocks from the Red Square. As we were walking I spotted Avocado, a restaurant I had read about in my guidebook, tucked away on a side street. Our delicious meal there was an amazing deal: 180 rubles each, less than $5! It consisted of pinto bean salad, brussel sprout soup, unidentified brown grain with mushroom & onion sauce, a roll and cranberry juice.
Eating rejuvenated us and we were ready to tackle the Red Square! At the entrance there were a few little stands selling tourist junk: T-shirts, matryoshka dolls, and other kitsch. As I walked through the gate I could see the very familiar onion domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral off in the distance. It is truly breathtaking. On the right was the State History Museum and to the left the Kazan Cathedral with its gleaming gold onion domes. Further forward on the left was a giant, beautiful old building: GUM (State Department Store). During communist times it was a store with long lines and empty shelves, now it is home to Dior, Gucci, and Prada among others. I have heard it is as beautiful inside as it is outside. Directly across from GUM is Lenin’s Tomb. Although you often hear about lines to get in to see his corpse, there was no line the day we were visiting. There were plenty of flowers decorating the steps outside the tomb. Finally at the very end of the long plaza (aka the Red Square – which really isn’t a square at all) is St. Basil’s Cathedral. It is the icon of Moscow. It is beautifully painted in all manner of bright, vibrant colors. There are golden crosses on each of the many onion domes. Inside is also brightly painted. Practically every surface is painted in fresco with flowers, geometric designs, and images of holy people. They have a large collection of art that was in the cathedral, restored and preserved behind glass. Interestingly, when you enter the church it is not like entering a church with a nave and an altar. It is a labyrinth of small rooms and hallways. Apparently it was built with nine chapels, one bigger than the others.
The one thing I noticed most in the Red Square were all the newlyweds. They were everywhere. There were brides in mountains of tulle and others in short gold dresses or long flowing silk dresses. The men were mostly in very nice suits, but I did see one who was wearing a cream satin suit to match his bride’s cream dress of tulle and satin. They were all walking with friends and photographers, marking the event.
And how did that guy land his airplane in such a small space?! It feels big as you walk around it, but not that big!
Once outside the Red Square we walked over to the Alexandrovsky Garden and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And heading back to the Metro, I stopped to take a photo of the line outside the McDonalds and a huge fabric banner with “Sale” written in Russian on it. Communism really is dead here.
We decided to head over to Arbat, a district in Moscow that has a walking street, closed to all motor traffic. The street is mostly lined with souvenir shops, cafés and tattoo parlors… yes, really! It seemed really odd to me, but there was at least one on every block. We strolled on the street, did some window-shopping, and had stopped at a café for coffee. The price of a latte, an espresso and a bottle of water was the same as what we paid for two lunches! Wow, Moscow could get extremely expensive if you weren’t staying with family who was feeding you at least two meals a day.
After a very long day, we made our way back to Rita’s apartment. We met her on the street as she was going to the Metro to go to Zhenya’s where we would meet her later for dinner.
Dinner was simple but good: chicken, rice, cauliflower, and bread. We started with a little Aram sandwich made with mayonnaise and fake crab, which were very tasty. Although I have heard of Russian food torture, I have actually not experienced that at all. Actually, the food has been very modest, not too fattening, and not as much meat as I feared. So far we have had fish two nights and chicken one. And the only place where we have been served sour cream was at Avocado; a tiny dollop on our soup.
So, today is Saturday. We made a plan with Rita to go to a flea market on the outskirts of Moscow. It is called “Izmaylovo Market” and reminded me a bit of the Renaissance Faire without the costumes and giant turkey legs. Most of the vendors actually spoke some English – enough to bargain a little. What I liked about the market is that most of the vendors were selling traditional Russian crafts: lacquer boxes, Matryoshka (nesting dolls), ceramics, shawls, leather boxes, and fur hats. There were also stands with great T-shirts, propaganda posters, and all manner of Soviet pins, medals, hats, and other paraphernalia.
We looked around for a bit and I started getting so hungry I couldn’t see straight. I was literally going to explode (or implode?). We found food stands which had BBQ’d kabobs with lamb, chicken, beef, pork and salmon. It came with lavash bread, spicy ketchup, and a few cucumbers, tomato, and onions. That and a diet Coke hit the spot. I was ready to shop.
Although the market had a high concentration of crafts in one place, it was not what I would call “cheap.” There were decent prices on some things, and totally outrageous prices on other things. All in all I was happy with my purchases and very ready to leave… before I spent all of my money! It was close!
Returning home Mark and I spent the afternoon looking for decent places to go running. We found one… in all of Moscow! I would like to go running tomorrow. The problem is tomorrow is Sunday and there are likely to be lots of people out walking around. First, because it is a weekend, and second because it has been getting very warm outside for the first time in months. Mark doesn’t like to run where there are people getting in his way and he also runs quite a bit faster than I do. He found a lake where we could run, but Rita said it was too far. On further investigation, it seems that it is no farther than we went today (actually it sounds like it is closer – two trains instead of the three we took today). But, since neither Mark nor Rita are inclined to go to the lake, I decided that I would run in the neighborhood near Rita’s apartment. Apparently, there is a park next to the Moscow River, which is about two miles away from Rita’s apartment. She was very reticent to let me go off on my own. First she stated that it was too far to go. She asked what if I got lost? She said I would not be able to ask anyone for assistance because people don’t speak English. I told her I would take a map with me. I have the map printed out. I can understand her concern. Honestly, getting around a city where I don’t speak the language and barely know the alphabet, could be very difficult. So far I have had tour guides with me at every move. At one point yesterday, when the Metro was packed and we were going from one track to another I got a panicked feeling when I thought about being separated from Mark. I realized that 1. I did not know where I was, 2. I did not know where I was going, 3. I could not read the signs in the Metro stations, and 4. Therefore I would not be able to figure out which direction or which train to take. When we were safely on the train I found out which station Rita is closest to and which line it is on. I feel fairly sure that I could find my way on the Metro now, although it would still be extremely difficult.

More for later:
Inside the subway stations – beautiful art, light fixtures, etc. Lots of references to war and revolution.
Ethnic differences and ethnic profiling. It just isn’t in their vocabulary here.
Black people – few and far between, mostly Africans.
Styles

Off to the Kremlin

2009-04-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

Today Mark and I are off to the Kremlin. We are going to see the Armoury which is filled with stuff like jewels from the tsars and weapons and armour. It should be quite interesting - there are nine rooms in all.

Yesterday we went on a wild goose chase all around the city looking for an internet cafe with WiFi. Thinking they would be on every block - this is Moscow after all - we passed one in search of one closer to the center of town. The search was interesting, but not fruitful. Apparently MacDonalds has WiFi, if you can stand sitting in MDs for any length of time (which I don't think I can). Also, The Ritz Carlton has WiFi. It is a lovely place to sit, for a price of course. It is 500 rubles for 1 hour or 1000 for 24 hours! That is on the order of $15/hour or $30/24 hours. By the time we figured all this out I didn't have enough time to make it worth the trouble to either go back to the first place we saw or spend $30 for 24 hours! According to the younger family members, there is a cafe close to where we are staying that I may check out later. Hopefully then I can post more photos and work on getting some of the novel I wrote posted.

Mas tarde.

Frustration Hopefully Resolveable with Translation

2009-04-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I practically wrote a novel for my first post. Put it on a memory stick. The computer isn't reading it. The problem is probably because I have a MAC and this computer is a PC. Bummer. It is too late to figure out. Plus everything is in Russian so I need my translator - both Russian and computer translators!
I may be able to load a few photos at least...
More later.

Living In Mexico

2008-11-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-07T14:55:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-06T19:56:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-06T19:33:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-11-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

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!)

Bugs and Creepy Crawlies Just in Time for Halloween

2008-10-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

Making our way to Olinala was an adventure taking 2.5 - 3 hours. More mountains, up down, around. Our driver was careful to not have any head on collisions. Nice of him. Once here we easily found the Moon Travel book recommended Hotel Cindy. It is owned by an older man, Domingo. He and a bevy of young girls run the place. For some reason there have been lots of bug and critters in my life since we arrived here. I am hoping to leave them here when we leave in the morning. Last night we both wore ear plugs which protected our ears from earwigs and kept the noise level at a minimum especially at 5am this morning. Basically there were at least 3 earwigs on the bedside table last night. In the morning we came across a scorpion in our doorway. As soon as I opened the door and the light hit it, it went scurrying for the next doorway. Caroline got a quick photo though. Then, as we were descending the stairs, a giant grasshopper swooped just milimeters from my head. Later in the afternoon at lunch Caroline had to flick an earwig off my shoulder - that really freaked me out. Back in the room for a quick siesta, an earwig was having its way with my toothbrush. And finally (we can hope)in the tiny church yard I was buzzed by a giant bumble bee or something like it.

I don´t mind spiders, but these other things really bother me. I did find the scorpion fascinating. I have only ever seen a dead one and one in a cage at the Vivarium. I like to think of myself as pretty tough and not easily ruffled. I become a blathering idiot when it comes to these things.

Other than bugs and creepy crawlies, Olinala has been absolutely beautiful. The people here are incredibly friendly (including the missionary who tried to lure us into watching a movie about Jesus they were playing on the wall in the place next door to our hotel). The girls who run our hotel and make food are very sweet and have fun talking with us about random things like bugs. Everyone on the street has been very nice. We have both received lots of stares as if people have never seen two gringas in their town. It is probably true they have never seen a woman as tall as Caroline. Kids are particularly impressed by her and will stare as we walk by and then turn so they can keep watching! We have met lots of sweet dogs and even a few cats. Tonight we even found some pigs, burros, cows/bulls, and giant turkeys and chickens. Speaking of which, the animals here appear to be VERY well fed compared to other places in Mexico I have been. It makes me happy to see.

Finding food for Caroline has been an interesting task and somewhat humurous. We ask for a torta with queso Oaxaqueno (somewhat like mozzarella) and they go to the store, come back and tell us there is only Bimbo (bread in a bag) no rolls. We settle for tortillas. Then she shows us the cheese she has, something much different than the one we requested. But they try very hard. And in the end we ate like queens: handmade tortillas, refried beans, tomatoes, avocados, onion, and salty fresh cheese. That was after a giant plate of papaya, pineapple, and oranges with fresh honey. Wow. I believe it will be a bit easier to find fish and other edible items for Caroline in Acapulco.

The craft stores have been exactly what I expected. Beautiful works of art stacked up one on top of another. Francisco (Don Chilo)Coronel is definitely the most talented and his prices are reflective of the quality. He even had silver and gold leafed boxes, then painted with the traditional flowers which were gorgeous. There are a handful of shops around town. I think we hit all of them. I will take photos to post at some point. I got a decent variety of the available designs, but somewhat regret not sucking it up and spending the money on a silver or gold one from Don Chilo´s.

Tomorrow we are off to Acapulco. It is going to be a very long day, starting at about 6:15am, catching a combi (van) back to Chilapa and from there, getting back to Chilpancino and then Acapulco or possibly straight through from Chilapa to Acapulco depending on what is available and how uncomfortable it will be.

Mas tarde.

Travels to Chilapa

2008-10-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Caroline and I left on the plane at about midnight on Tuesday night. We arrived in Mexico City at 6am. Our flight to Acapulco wasn´t leaving until almost 10am so we had quite a bit of time to wander around and get some exercise.
I hear a horse walking down the street outside.
They actually have a Starbucks, Subway, MacDonalds, and Burger King in the airport domestic terminal. We splurged on $4 lattes. And slept, and ate a delicious torta (Mexican sandwich), and sat around people watching. We finally boarded the plane for Acapulco 4 hours later. It was an hour flight over beautiful mountains and past two snow capped volcanos. We arrived just as I was getting a little shut eye.
As soon as we touched down and the cabin door was open, you could instantly feel the hot muggy air. I couldn´t get my sweatshirt off soon enough.
A cab to the bus station was $25. When we arrived there, they told us the first bus for Chilpancingo (our first stop) was going to be at 1pm, in two hours. So, we hopped another taxi for $15 to the central bus station. Acapulco was teaming with activity and almost bumper to bumper traffic. Lining the beaches and the main streets are huge high rise hotels mixed in with smaller, ocean side restaurants and clubs. I was happy to be driving through and not stopping. I need to brace myself for that mess.
We arrived just in time for the 12:30pm bus to Chilpancingo with front row seats. Perfect for Caroline with her very long legs! The cuota - toll road - goes from Acapulco all the way to Mexico City actually. We were only going about an hour to Chilpancingo, however.

Chilpancingo is a fairly large city with a university and lots of businesses. It is also the capital of the state of Guerrero. We wanted to take a bus to Chilapa, a small town on the way to Olinala, but the next bus wasn´t leaving until 6pm. Obviously that was much too late. The bus station attendant directed us up the street to find a combi - a van - going to Chilapa. Sure enough, when we reached the aformentioned street, there were thousands of combis all going to various locations. We didn´t see any going to Chilapa. I was feeling very conspicuous with my long red hair, very tall friend, backpacks and rolly suitcases. There were men everywhere staring at us. I asked a couple of people about combis to Chilapa, but was unsuccessful. I am not sure if I didn´t understand, or was just getting too overwhelmed. It was loud, tons of cars, lots of people, men staring at us and I decided the best thing to do would be to find a taxi. So, we got one and he wanted $40! I talked another one down to $35. Actually that is a deal! It was about an hour and a half drive on a narrow winding road into and through the mountains.

The ride was gorgeous. The landscape is very green and lush. The terrain is mountainous, but not at a very high altitude. I think Chilapa is at about 4000 feet. When we arrived, the town was bustling, lots of activity particularly near the market on the main road into town. The hotel we had picked out was very easy to find, just off the main street and up a block or two.

The hotel room was very basic, but very clean. Two very hard double beds, an overhead light, a TV, and a shower in the bathroom. Hot water too. All for $25. That is $12.50 each! After getting settled in we headed out for some comida (food) and found a great restaurant a few blocks away, near the zocalo (town center). The restaurant was in a giant open building with brick walls, wooden beams and beautful wood and clay masks all over the walls. We both had cheese enchiladas served with cream and something like parmesan on top, black beans and salsa on the side with fresh tortillas. Excellent.

After a stroll around town, into the iglesia (church) and up the hill to see the vista, we were ready to chill in the zocalo. Everyone in the town comes out to sit in the square, eat popsicles of fresh fruit, sweet pancakes with fruit sauce, fresh potato chips, and corn on the cob with mayonaise and hot sauce. Caroline and I feasted on strawberry popsicles, mine chocolate covered, nut dipped.
On the way home we met two very cute, very attentive chiuauas. Their people, in one of the many shops were happy to share them with us. Such sweet boys! It really made me miss Ruby (and Charlie too)!

At 8:30pm we crawled into bed and fell asleep reading about our next adventure.

Mexico!

2008-10-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

I leave for Mexico with my friend Caroline tomorrow night! I am super excited to show her my favorite place in the world. She has never been there, but has a true traveler's spirit. I think she will love it! Stay tuned!

Pacific Northwest Tour

2008-09-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

I am planning to post a bit about my trip up north. I had a fabulous time. It was awesome to see some great friends and meet some new ones too. Ruby and I recovered and enjoyed a week at home chillin'. Back to work now... my first day in my new position went really well. And, I am looking forward to my second day.

I am leaving my unit...

2008-08-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my unit and I went to lunch at the Dead Fish in Crockett. It was a goodbye lunch because I am moving to supervise a new unit. I have been in the unit almost 8 years! 4 as a Child Welfare Worker and 3.5 as a supervisor. It is time for a change, but it isn't easy to leave. For the first time since I have been supervising the unit, I feel like we are really bonded and cohesive. We also have the best assistant/clerk in the entire agency!
Anyway, it was a bittersweet celebration. We had wonderful seafood (I had a delicious crab louis and fried calamari for appetizer) and carrot cake for dessert. The Dead Fish is in a beautiful location right next to the Carquinas Bridge and with a 180 degree vista of the water. It was really warm on the patio outside, but it was worth the view. They gave me a lovely card and a couple of very appropriate gift certificates. One for my favorite Ethiopian restaurant and the other for a pedicure. They are the sweetest and I will really miss them all.
Happily, I know they will be in good hands when I am gone. We finally found out who is going to take over the K230 Unit.

When I return from vacation on 9/8/08, I will be reporting to what I lovingly refer to as "the haunted building." St. Joseph's Hospital is located on 26th and International Blvd. in Oakland. It is really close to the Fruitvale neighborhood and therefore LOTS of Mexican food! In a month or so we will be moving into Eastmont Mall. How fun! I actually don't think it will be bad and it makes a lot of sense for our clients.
Oh, yes, our clients... I will be supervising the Independent Living Skills Unit. Mostly what this means is that I will have a lot more interaction with the clients who are all teenagers. 15.5 - 19 and then the emancipated kids up to 25. I will also be intimately involved in developing different programs for our teens, as well as various programs that have already been developed, such as the various independent living classes, youth adult partnerships, contracts with outside agencies that serve the youth both before and after emancipation, and a growing movement toward finding permanent connections for the kids/adults who are emancipating into the big wide world. It is a very exciting move for me at a pivotal point in the history of the Agency and ILSP. There are many inspired changes afoot in the program that I will be a part of.
Furthermore, I am totally thrilled that my former first supervisor when I arrived at the Agency, then co-worker, will once again be my supervisor! Sonya was promoted to Program Manager over the ILSP and Group Homes Section. I am really really excited to get started!!

Until then,,,

Training

2008-08-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

I have started training again. I have a triathlon Sunday September 28 - The Mermaid in Santa Cruz, and the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon in October. I started a training group which has been pretty successful. I can usually find at least one person to train with most days which truly keeps me motivated. First of all, I am accountable to more than just myself and second, I am more likely to get out there when I have someone else to go with. We have been all over too, which is nice. I go to Danville on Sunday mornings at 8m generally. Then on Wednesdays we have been to Inspiration Point/Nimitz Trail, Lake Merritt, Lake Chabot, San Ramon, and today I was at Cesar Chavez. My running has improved significantly. I am actually looking forward to it some of the time. This is a huge improvement. I am going to start putting in the biking and swimming next week. And I really need to make my runs a bit longer as well. September will be here before I know it.
Angel's Camp Triathlon was killer and really kicked my ass. I almost passed out on the run. I was completely dehydrated due to the heat and obviously not having enough water. It was quite an ego crusher, because I have usually done pretty well. It was also much longer than most of the sprints I have done, so I expected it to take lots less time than it actually did. I want to be in better condition for the next one!

East Coast Visit

2008-06-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

I have been back from the East Coast for over a week now. It was a fabulous vacation! Rest and relaxation were the name of the game. Success! Thanks to the Yellow VW Bug (Sunflower Power) I was able to see lots of friends and some of my family. I visited with my Auntie Louise who is my last surviving great aunt. She is the sister of my father's mother and she was my father's God Mother. They came from a family of 13 kids (3 of whom died in childhood) and now she is the last one. I can only imagine how lonely that would feel. She has a great sense of humor and a positive outlook on her life. Last November, just before Thanksgiving she passed out and fell, breaking her shoulder. She was found by my cousin Lauren who was over to take her to dinner. Thank goodness they had dinner plans, or who knows how long she would have been trapped in her house. As it was, the fire department had to break in to get to her. She immediately went to the hospital and had surgery to fix the shoulder. Apparently she almost didn't make it through the anesthesia. But she was strong and came through. For many months she was living in a rehabilitation center, but eventually she was able to move into basic assisted living, where she lives now. It is a relatively nice place and just a block from her house. Auntie seems to be doing relatively well. She walks around with a walker, is able to get out and go places with some assistance, and has a bright spirit. She has a birthday on 6/20 and will be 82 years old! She told me that she doesn't mind telling people how old she is now. It is more a badge of honor than something to be embarrassed about!
Susan, Adam, Lily, Zoe, Fabian and his clan, Saul, Carolyn, and Maya with one on the way, Josh and Jane, James and Lucy, and Barbara. I missed Ben and wish that I had seen him too.
Showed Tricia and Roger around Boston a little. Took the T to the North End, ate pizza at Regina's and cannoli at Modern Bakery.

Angels Camp Triathlon!! It's here!

2008-05-09T08:59:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my triathlon at Angels Camp. I am getting really excited.
Wish me luck!

Zachary

2008-04-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

This is the story of Zachary. He found me, as most cats do, in Seattle in October of 1992. Scott and I had just moved into an apartment on Pine, a really busy street, near downtown. We didn't have our phone hooked up to the door yet and we were having a friend over for dinner. I went down to the lobby to wait for our friend to arrive. While I was waiting, a man came to the door with a beautiful, fluffy gray cat with clear, wise, green eyes.
He told me he had found the cat outside wandering around, trying to get out of the rain. I said the cat might be my neighbors' cat and took him into my arms. He was very sweet and very happy to be in my arms. He had no tags and no collar.
I took the cat to the neighbors' house and they laughed. Their girl kitty looked nothing like the gray kitty I was holding. I immediately took him home and told Scott we might have a new kitty joining us. We made a poster and plastered the neighborhood with them. We never received one call. He adopted us easily. We were good suckers for it.
My kitty Jazmine was still in California when we found Zachary. When she arrived in Seattle she was NOT happy to meet Zachary. She was really angry about the whole thing. Eventually she got used to him and even grew to love him fairly quickly.
Zachary was a one man show. He loved feather toys and anything he could wrestle to the ground and kill. He could jump two to three feet in the air. We both played with him for hours at a time. While we were living in the apartment on Pine Street, we lived on the top floor of a converted warehouse. It was pretty fancy and the top units each had an outdoor patio big enough for a chair or two and some plants. All of them were connected, with low barriers. Zachary taught Jazmine to go from patio to patio. I believe he even made a habit of visiting people in their apartments. Not much changed over the years!
We did some kitty research and found a photo of a Norwegian Forrest Cat. It was an exact replica of Zachary. Norwegian Forrest Cats are known for their love of people, being really smart, needing companionship and playmates, having large paws and continuing to grow up to 4 years old. That was Zachary, although I don't think he ever got over 15lbs. (I have a friend with a 30lb Maine Coon cat! Prince Willie)
Scott and I moved to a duplex in the Fremont District of Seattle after living in Seattle for a little under a year. Zachary loved our new digs. He was allowed to be outside for the first time since his escape (or his exile?) from his first family. There is nothing he loved more than to roam the neighborhood. He made friends everywhere he went. There were a number of occasions that he would wander off and stay away for two or three days. I would always find him walking down the street as if he was just on his way home.
When Scott and I broke up, I got custody of Jazmine and Zachary. There was no question in my mind about who should have custody of Zachary, but apparently, Scott loved him as much as I did and seemed to be really sad about having to leave him with me. It was this way in which Zachary really made an impression on people.
About a year or so later Zachary became an only child. Jazmine was hit by a car during the day when I was at work. It was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. Her spine had been broken and she was paralyzed from her shoulders down. The only thing I could do was have her put out of her misery. God that was awful. She was my own very first kitty. It seemed that Zach missed her, but how can you really tell?
I eventually had a roommate. May had a 19 year old cat, Prince. He and Zachary got along great. I always hoped Zachary would live that long or longer.
There were only two cats Zachary was ever afraid of. One was "Gimpy" aka Bazil. He lived with the girl next door. He had a bad front paw (and he was mean) so we called him Gimpy. Apparently the trauma to his paw really affected his personality. There are very few cats I would call "mean" but he was definitely one of them. He would pace back and forth outside my place, looking in the windows to catch a glimpse of Zachary. If any windows were open Gimpy would happily come in and chase Zachary around our house! It got ugly a few times. I am sure they both lost fur and skin more than once. Gimpy's mom tried to keep him in as much as possible, but sometimes wasn't successful.
Zachary and I left Seattle for Berkeley in 1997. We moved in with my parents and their cats, Trouble and Pandora. He took to Trouble fairly easily. Pandora didn't really have anything to do with him. She is another story altogether.
After about a year and a half Zachary and I moved out of the parents' house and into an apartment in Oakland with my cousin Dylan.
Shortly after, Dylan picked out a kitty for himself at the SPCA in San Francisco.
This was only one of the many kittens Zachary had to accept into his life. He did it with absolute grace. He got along very well with other cats most of the time.
He continued to run away occasionally. He made friends everywhere he went. And he loved a party. Most cats will run and hide when there are lots of people around. Zachary, however, was quite the party animal. He would spend time mingling and sitting on laps whenever there was one to sit on.
Zachary enjoyed all the finer things in life, many of them things I enjoy myself... he was a man after my own heart. He liked to sleep in till all hours of the day, he regularly ate tortilla chips, bread, and he LOVED butter, preferably right off the stick in the dish on the counter.
It was during this time that we had to start shaving him. While in Seattle I had him groomed once at the vet. I think they gave him some drugs to accomplish it. When we were at my parents' house I took him to a groomer who said they could groom any cat. They were confident it wouldn't be a problem. When we picked him up he was mostly shaved, but not completely and the women said they would never have him back because he was so vicious. He really hated being shaved.
At our apartment on Benvenue my mom, Dylan and I all got together to shave him. We were using a people shaver and it wasn't working very well at all. All of his fur was getting caught in it and clogging it up. At that point my mom grabs her bag and pulls out a pair of MONSTER clippers! These things were seriously on steroids. About two or three times the size of normal clippers. They certainly did the job. Very quickly too. After clipping him we called him the "Lamb Lion."
The second really mean kitty Zachary encountered showed up when Dylan, Dawn, Wendell and I lived in the big house on Benvenue. The cat was another white cat. He would come into the house in the middle of the night and terrorized Zachary and Tom. Neither Zach nor Tom were easily intimidated, but there is something about being woken up in your own house by some terrorizing freak of a cat. I think we called him "Paycho kitty." When we went to tell it's owner she couldn't believe that her sweet, loving cat was literally going after our cats. I think she finally put him on some prozac and she kept him in the house at night. he stopped coming around.

Zachary and I moved back in with my parents at the end of 2001. We were back home. Although I bought a house in Oakland and moved out of my parents house in July 2002, Zachary stayed with his grandparents. My house was in a pretty bad neighborhood. My mom wasn't happy about me moving there, I guess she felt she had to draw the line with her grandkitty. She was worried he might get eaten by a pit bull or something.
During his years with my parents, Zachary was very well taken care of. He had the run of the house and kept all the other animals (Pandora, Trouble, Pancake, Inky, and Finnegan) in line and where he wanted them. For example, Inky was not allowed on the bed with Zachary until recently.
When he was out in the neighborhood he also reined supreme. My step-dad, Mark received a telephone call and the person asked if he belonged to Zachary. Once ownership had been established the guy said that Zachary was sitting on the dining room table as if he owned the place. Mark said, "Yep, that's Zachary. Can I come get him?" And the neighbor said it was fine and he actually liked Zach and he could stay as long as he wanted.
Zach also taunted the neighbor's dog by sitting up on the fence just out of reach of the dog, until the dog was frothing at the mouth. That particular dog almost got Zach in the front yard when he was off guard.
At one point a year or so ago, Zachary was staying out all night. Unlike my cats, Zachary had to be home for dinner and in for the rest of the night. But he had found a home down the street where the owner was feeding feral cats. Zach, being opportunistic would wait around for the food and scarf it down. There was no reason for him to come home!
One day Zach was outside with Mark. Zachary had recently been shaved and looked like his little lamblion self. Someone walked by and asked if he was some special breed.
In the last year, Zachary had been getting really skinny. Last May he had a tumor on his back left leg. The tumor had not metastasized, but his leg needed to be amputated. He became a tri-pod kitty and actually adjusted to having only 3 legs rather quickly. What he didn't get used to was being home-bound. Due to his compromised ability to run, he was no longer allowed to leave the house. He did get away a few times, and was thrilled to run around the neighborhood while my Mom was in a complete panic.
The last days of Zachary's life he spent curled up in a ball under various tables and in a box of bedding in the basement. He didn't eat much and when he did he wasn't able to keep it down. An ultrasound showed a cancerous tumor in his intestine. There was no way to remove it and it was only a matter of time before it would kill him. Rather than waiting for certain death, my Mom, Mark and I decided to have him put to sleep in the most humane way we could. We were able to locate a vet who does house calls only for euthanasia of animals.

I arrived at my parents before the vet came to the house so I would have some time to spend with Zachary. I retrieved him from his bed in the basement. I decided I would take him outside to enjoy some fresh air since it had been more than a year since he was allowed to go outside. We sat on the back deck taking in the sun and breeze. At first he tried to get away from me, but eventually was convinced I wasn't going to let him go. After about 5 minutes, I went to the front yard and sat on the stoop of my parents' house. He got calm more quickly this time, settling in to being held and petted. Zachary had big, soft paws. I stroked them and thought about having one on a key chain like we used to have lucky rabbit's feet. Remember those? Zachary would have left a beautiful lucky cat foot!
The euthanasia process was relatively quick and mostly painless. My Mom, Mark and I all sat on the love seat in the living room. Zachary was on my Mom's lap; Mark and I on either side. Zachary was looking at me to the last minute. His eyes ever green, clear, all seeing, seemingly all knowing. Just like they were when he found me.
He was loved by all who met him. The king of cats. He will live on in our hearts.

Glory Hole Camping / Angels Camp Tri Preview

2008-04-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Camping at Glory Hole was awesome! I was able to preview the Angels Camp Triathlon and go camping for the first time in eons at the same time.
We arrived on Friday afternoon. Set up our camp site. It is amazing how much crap 4 women can bring to live outdoors for two days! We had both a station wagon and a full size car FULL. We each had our own tent, two dogs, bags and bags of food (we ate really well), three coolers filled with drinks and more food, and all of my tri gear of course. Friday night we fixed tilapia, asparagus, potatoes, corn on the cob, and a spinach salad. Everything was gourmet; cooked on the grill. And we topped it off with a couple of roasted marshmallows. Yummy. The other girls did a bit of drinking, but I held off knowing I would need my strength and no raging hangovers for the next day's exercise. I had seen the hill I was going to need to tackle the next day and didn't want to be dehydrated.
Ruby, my dog, really didn't like being in the dark out in the open. She spent most of the afternoon and evening in the tent. She knew where her home was as soon as she saw the Mexican blanket.
When I crawled into my tent, I had a really hard time getting comfortable. I got next to no sleep. I had to turn over every hour or so to relieve my hip from becoming one with the earth. It is amazing how little the Thermarest does. You still really feel like you are sleeping on the ground. Ruby needed to move about every half hour and wanted to sleep inside the sleeping bag with me, making it impossible for me to easily roll over or move my legs. It is no problem having her sleep with me at home in my queen bed, but in a small mummy bag, it is incredibly awkward. Of course I had to pee at 3:30am, as did Ruby. Then she disappeared. She decided it was a good time to get a little bite to eat! I was somehow reminded of my friends with babies. And to top it off, my friend across the camp site snored the entire night. My earplugs didn't work at all.

I was relieved when the sun came up and I had an excuse to get up and start my day. I treated myself to a lovely cup of coffee. I thought I wanted a nap before going to check out the site of the tri and starting my brick workout. As it turned out coffee and some French toast breakfast was perfect.
It was about 10:30am and getting really HOT.

We all drove over to the boat launch, where the tri will begin (off Angels Creek Road), with all my gear in tow. The boat launch looks like it's a mile long, down down down. And it is concrete corduroy, not so great for the feet. I walked down and threw on my wetsuit... more like squeezed my sweaty self into it. Take note: it is harder to get a wetsuit on when you are wet in any way. And I forgot my conditioner to help be more slippery. After what felt like a workout in and of itself, I was zipped up and ready to go.

The lake up close looks nothing like what you see in a satellite photo. It was difficult to discern where I was supposed to swim based on what Mark had told me two days before. I figured I would swim for 20 minutes or so and call it a swim. There were lots of boats coming in and out which was quite nerve-racking. I hope that on the day of the race there won't be many boaters early in the morning when we are doing our swim. Apparently, however, they don't close the boat ramp or the road at all during the race.

The swim felt good. The water was cool but not like Aquatic Park! It was warm compared to swimming in SF. Once I finished, I got out, climbed up the boat ramp and jumped on my bike.
For those of you who may go out there and check it out before the event, you will get out of the water, run up the LONG ass boat ramp, hop on your bike and ride out Angel Creek Road to the right. When you get to Glory Hole Road you will take a right turn and take that road all the way to the other boat launch. There you will turn around and go back, passing Angels Creek Road, and heading up the hill (this is the most difficult part of the ride) to Highway 49. Just before the highway, you will turn around and ride down and back to the boat launch. It is about a 15 mile ride.

Once you return from the ride and are ready for the run, you will be running up a good hill for the first 100 yards or so. before the top of the hill is a little trail heading out to the left. Take that "turn." From that point on the run is a single track trail, which circles a small peninsula. It is beautiful, especially with all of the wild flowers! I believe there is another fork about a mile in, again stay to the left. When you are almost finished with the loop, there is yet another fork in the trail. Here is where things can get a little tricky. This time you will go right. Just when you think the run is almost over, because you come out of the woods and can see the parking lot, you actually have to turn to the left again and go around another loop, coming back to the most recent fork where you took a right. You are essentially doing a figure 8. This will make much more sense when you see it for yourself.

Check yourself for ticks after your run. Ruby got a tick out there. Yuck! And stay away from the poison oak too! It is growing all over the place. Although the trail is very well kept up, there is some poison oak growing into the trail. Last but certainly not least, there are holes and roots riddling the trail. You will need to watch the ground some when you are running so as not to trip and fall on your face.
That is pretty much it in a nutshell.

I think it is going to be a challenging, but very fun event. If you have been training with See Jane Tri, you are going to be more than ready to tackle this and just DO the damn thing!

Monday

2008-04-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

Feeling better already. And it's only Monday.
On Friday I am going camping! Caroline, Suzanne and I are going up to Angels Camp, Glory Hole camp site. I am going to try out the course. I was hoping to get some other Janes to go with me, but it looks like I may be on my own. We will see I guess.
Anyway, I am getting really excited. I think Ruby is going to have a terrific time. I haven't been camping since the time I went to Lake Chabot with Kathleen, Mike, Paul, etc. It was fun. I really enjoy being out there. So, it should be a fun time. Hopefully I will get a good preview of the course from one of the guys up there. I have to call and check in with Mark because I never heard back from him.
Tomorrow I have a training with Bob Lewis. One of the gurus of permanency.
Apparently he has the exact opposite view of permanency than Darla Henry. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.
Then I will go swimming. I am looking forward to getting back to it. An entire week with no exercise begins to work on my mood. And not in a positive way. It really is amazing how evident it is to me when I am not working out how negative I can get.
And when I am, I feel even keeled, happy, content.
I will be feeling better and better as the week goes on because I will be getting more and more exercise... swimming, running, and more running. Then more swimming and a bike ride and a run. Hopefully the weather will hold.

Slump

2008-04-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been one of those weeks. I am happy to be starting a new week with the possibility of feeling a bit better. Not exactly sure what was going on with me besides my period which is plenty I guess. Monday was okay. Tuesday I missed swimming because I didn't want to be away from Ruby all day and then all night. So, I just coached, but didn't swim and figured I would swim on Wednesday. But then I donated blood on Wednesday and that kicked my ass. I was really woozy afterward and there was no swimming in my future. On Thursday I wasn't feeling much better so I didn't go to the track after sitting on my ass all day in a training (to be a supervisor). On Friday I went again to the training. Sat all day on my ass and went out to a really nice dinner with my friend Suzanne. I went to bed at 10pm and slept 12 hours. In the morning I was supposed to go to Shadow Cliffs to mentor at the mock tri. At 6am when I woke up I had a sore throat and a raging headache. When I woke up again at 11am, the headache had gone from bad to worse. Blinding, debilitating. I was sick to my stomach and really couldn't do anything. Last night I forced myself to stay up and deal with my back room which literally looked like a bomb had gone off in it. I managed to get everything filed, checkbooks balanced, bills paid (including property taxes and fed taxes), and documentation for a new mortgage gathered. Whew. Thank God that is done. Today I slept late, watched a movie and then went over to Marianne & Jerry's to say "Aloha" to Shred and Joanie. It was a very sweet gathering. I love being over there. Ruby had a good time too. And although it was a little hard saying goodbye to Shred, I think I will see him again in Hawaii. I would love to go visit. So, I have his phone number and will make some plans. He is really an inspiration. He has stage 4 cancer, but looks great and is full of life.
I am feeling better today, but drank a little too much this afternoon. Also, yesterday I realized I hadn't taken my meds for a few days. That couldn't be helping my mood. Funny how that works.
I am making a commitment to myself to get a good 4 or 5 workouts in this coming week. And I am getting ready to go to Angels Camp next weekend to try out the course. Hopefully there will be someone available to show us around. Hopefully there will be some others from Team SJT to join us, but if not, I will be happy getting out there myself as well.

Busy Life

2008-03-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quite some time since my last blog entry. I have started training again for another triathlon. It is on May 10 in Angels Camp, CA. I am getting really excited which keeps me doing some of the more difficult workouts. Last Saturday I swam at Aquatic Park in SF Bay and then ran 2 miles. My legs were trashed after that. So, what did I do but hike 5 miles (down to and then back out of Lake Chabot). It was beautiful. Ruby my little Chug, loved it...ran circles around us.
I am also getting excited about another trip back east to see family and friends in May and then another trip to Mexico in October/November. I feel so alive when I travel.
Now it's time for zzzz. I keep sleeping through my alarm (mala chica!)..

December in New Orleans

2008-01-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

Did I mention I was in New Orleans for a conference in December? No, I guess I didn't. It was fabulous. I would love to go back sometime and spend a little longer, seeing more of the real New Orleans, and volunteering to assist building or whatever needs to be done. The interesting thing is that the downtown area and the French Quarter were mostly spared from any devastation because the levies in that area held. If you went to New Orleans and only visited downtown and the French Quarter, you would never know anything had happened. You might think that the tourist business was failing though.
Before I left I looked at the weather report. Even though it showed warm weather, I somehow didn't believe it. I thought it was going to be a little chilly. WRONG. It was steaming hot there. I actually had to go shopping for flip-flops and a couple of short sleeved shirts. I brought sweaters, boots, and all long pants...no shorts, skirts, sandals, etc.
The food in New Orleans is out of control. There were great restaurants everywhere. I think K-Paul's was my favorite fancy place. They served a giant basket of different types of bread, including cheese & chive scones, molasses muffins, and regular dinner rolls. For dinner we shared a Cesar salad and both had blackened red fish with mashed potatoes and broccoli or something like that. There was no way to finish it all.
And Acme Oyster was my favorite down-home place. The oysters were awesome both on the half shell and baked: fresh, flavorful, juicy. And very reasonably priced. The evening we went Acme (we also went for lunch one day) we had a great time sitting at the bar, chatting with the oyster shuckers and the other patrons.
We frequented Cafe Du Monde, for beignets and cafe au laits, both in the afternoons and evenings after dinner. Their beignets are like pillows of fried dough (think chewy doughnut) covered in a mound of powdered sugar. And their coffee is smooth with a hint of chicory.
One night we took a mule drawn carriage ride around the French Quarter with a guy who could have been a history teacher, he knew so much about the area. It was fascinating. I highly recommend taking a tour if you ever get down to New Orleans. Their history is thick with scandal and intrigue. Nothing dull about it, especially given a good story teller.

Ruby Loves Apollo

2008-01-22T12:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess it's been more than a month since my last post. I was busy getting used to having a dog. She is really amazing. We are still working on potty training. She has done rather well recently. Although she still seems a bit unclear on the concept of going to the door to be let out when she needs to go. However, when she was left in my Uncle David's kitchen for a few hours while I was at a seminar and he was out, she used the pad I set out for her. This was a major breakthrough.
So, I came down to Ventura to visit my Uncle David, his girlfriend Cindy and their posse of dogs: Diggie the old man, Trevor the mellow one (but don't fuck with his food), and Apollo Cindy's 65lb baby Golden. And Anisa also visited one night. She is a 100 lb Ridgeback. When we first arrived Ruby was skeptical of the boys, especially Apollo because he was so big and aggressive. By the second day, however, she had no issues and had a great time playing with him. He was able to play really well with her, just rough enough not to hurt her. On Monday morning when we got up (Ruby and I) she ran around the house looking for Apollo. He had been taken to the vet really early to be fixed. She seemed very sad. Now we are having to keep them apart, because Apollo really wants to play, but he is not allowed due to his fresh sutures.
In any case, I got some great photos of them playing.
Today it is raining in Ventura. I don't think I have ever been here in the rain. I am happy I decided to stay another day, because I don't really feel like driving in the rain. Hopefully it will be dry, for at least part of my trip, tomorrow.

Thoughts on Mexico

2007-12-02T15:14:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I have already been home almost a month! I think I ended my posts about Mexico before I even left there because I didn't have computer access during my last 4 days there. But the last part of the trip was really exciting! Doug, Brianne, and I went to Cuernavaca together and then made a pilgrimage down to a little town, Chilapa, for their weekly Sunday market. It was somewhat grueling, but I think definitely worth it! It was a long drive from SMA to Cuernavaca, made even longer by our detours through Toluca. Toluca is a large city southwest of Mexico City. Although it has big easy roads, getting around is nearly impossible if you don't know your way. We missed our turn and got really turned around. We eventually turned off onto small roads and after a dead-end dirt road, and hours of driving, we found our way to the main highway. It was beautiful country. Some of it was in the Sierra Madre, some in the dusty farm lands of central Mexico. All of it was interesting, slightly stressful (navigating with a pitiful map) and beautiful.

We drove into Cuernavaca before dark which was the most important factor. It was fun staying outside of downtown because I was able to see parts of the city I had never seen before. After we settled in, we got in a taxi headed for el centro. It was hopping! There was all kinds of different dances going on. We saw break dancers, Aztec dancers and drummers, and even traditional salsa being danced by elderly couples. Then we went to the church, but there was a wedding in progress so we couldn't really go in and check it out. After walking around a little, we went to eat at La India Bonita the first night. It wasn't great. The best part of it was the dance show after dinner. It was incredibly warm there compared to SMA, although it did get a little chilly after the sun went down.

The next day we took a trip down to Chilapa. It was a 6-8 hour drive round trip. It was too much for one day really, but we had a pretty good time. And we found the little boxes we were looking for. The town is basically a long dusty strip of road in a valley. We went up and down narrow windy roads to get there. What looks like a blip on a map, was actually much longer because of the driving conditions.
Originally, we were going to drive to Olinala where the boxes we were looking for are actually made. They are made of wood from trees that grow there. Well, that idea was quickly dashed when we realized how much longer it would be. We would never get there and back before dark.

When we arrived we were all extremely hungry. We stopped at a place I spotted. They had pork and pork. It was cooked in a tasty sauce. I was a little worried, but ate it because I was so famished. While we were there we asked the girls working there about our lacquer boxes. One of the girls said, "Oh, boxes like this?" and pulled one out of her backpack. She offered her sister to show us the location of the table in the market. I was pretty sure their would be someone selling them at the market, since it is the closest market to the tiny town in the mountains. Sure enough.

They had hundreds of boxes all lacquered and hand painted with either flowers or whimsical little creatures. Brianne grabbed mostly floral boxes. All very beautiful. She was a quick little shopper! I got mostly animal boxes. The couple, Antonio Cortes Calzada and Rafaela Castillo Rendon, from whom we bought the boxes and gourds are from Olinala originally, but now live and work in Chilapa. They were incredibly nice. They invited us to come see their home and where they work. They also offered to contact family members in Olinala to show us around. Unfortunately we were not able to take advantage of their generosity due to the time constraints, but NEXT TIME!!!

That was pretty much all the shopping we had time for. Brianne stopped and got a mask and a bunch of straw/cornhusk flowers. They were obviously getting ready for Christmas (which is a HUGE holiday in Mexico) because they had loads of green and red decorations made of straw, including wreaths, flowers, and garlands.

After shopping for about an hour, we hopped back in the car and drove all the way back to Cuernavaca. It was fine until we got into Cuernavaca after dark. It was difficult driving, we were all really tired, and on edge.

Somehow we made it back to La Casa de Malinche in one piece. For dinner we caught a cab down to La Gringa Tacos. They were some of the best tacos I have ever had! We had al pastor which is marinated grilled pork (see photo) with a sliver of pineapple on top of each taco along with cilantro and onion. It was so damn good. And dinner for 3 was $15 or less. That was one of the most memorable dinners of my time in Mexico.

The next day we slept in. And then toured around town. Unfortunately, in Cuernavaca as all over Mexico, museums are all closed. So, we didn't have much exciting to do and I was really bummed because I really wanted to show Doug and Brianne all of my favorite museums, of which there are many. The Robert Brady Museum, one of the most memorable of all. He was aa American guy who lived in Mexico most of the year and also happened to be independently wealthy. He traveled all over the world collecting folk art and his "house" is chock full of folk art. Most of the rooms are available for viewing. It is located in a building that was at one time a convent. It also has beautiful gardens. I hope they go back when the museums are open!

Doug suggested that we go to Las Mananitas (on him) and have lunch. It was quite a treat and very generous of him to offer. It was first class all the way... including the prices. But, everything was really amazing, including the service. My only complaint was that drinks weren't refilled for free which seems really ridiculous. But it really was a great dining experience. I ordered the Mexican plate with a quesadilla with huitlacoche (corn fungus), a chile relleno with white sauce, and chicken enchiladas one with salsa roja and one with salsa verde. All of it was served with guacamole and rice and beans. I had to take leftovers home, which I ate for breakfast the next morning.

New Family Member!

2007-12-02T14:39:00.000-08:00

Meet Ruby Rose! She is my new puppy. She is a Chihuahua Pug, about 9 months old. I met her on Wednesday and picked her up on Saturday morning. She is really cute (as you can see). She also has serious anxiety when I leave the room. Tomorrow when I go to work things are going to be very interesting. On a good note, she did very well in her crate last night. Although, she did wake me up at 6:30am. When I took her out she didn't want to go potty at all. No pee, no poop. I crawled back in bed, but realized that it was a lost cause and that I most likely wouldn't be getting any more sleep. It will be good because I won't have any problems getting up in the morning.
She is quite the couch potato. She would happily spend most of the day on the couch under a blanket. Her favorite one right now it the Mexican striped blanket.

Yesterday I brought her home to introduce her to the rest of her family. The cats are doing much better than I expected. It helps that Ruby almost couldn't care less about Rascal and Pearl. They are certainly more interested in her than she is in them. Rascal seems to be very curious and will get pretty close to check her out. He even chased her lead which I left attached. Pearl was much more upset, which I knew would be the case. She isn't hissing at her at this point, which is progress. Pearl even jumped on the couch when Ruby was safely asleep and sniffed her out. I think it is only a matter of time before they are all cuddling together. Especially Ruby and Pearl. It goes to follow since they both have the same favorite pastime: sleeping.

So far Ruby has met Paul, her grandparents Julie and Mark, and Rita. She ignored my parents' cats completely. She is very social with people. She seems to love kids because whenever she sees a small person she stops to check them out. The thing she hates most is when I leave her alone. Like when I go in the other room to brush my teeth or take a shower (oh, that's right, that's why I haven't taken a shower yet). She comes up to the doggy gate between the living room and the bedrooms and cries like a baby. It is really rather pathetic.

Ruby does like to go for walks and trots along, usually in front of me. At times she will slow down and things can get interesting because she is so small. I am afraid I am going to step on her!

Today I took Ruby with me to get my nails done. She sat on my lap contentedly the entire time. The sound of the water pouring into the foot soaker freaked her out at first, but she got used to it quickly. This afternoon we are going for a walk around the lake with my friend K.S. I may end up walking her some of the way, but usually she is happy walking.

I am learning about house training her, including potty training. Ick. This morning at around 7am she started circling the living room. I almost didn't catch her in time. One little drop of fairly dry poop came out and I grabbed her and took her outside. At the grass she didn't want to go in to potty. I stayed out there until she decided she was ready. I was relieved because I didn't want to get back upstairs and have a repeat performance.

There is a thing about the stairs. She is okay on the first flight, but the second flight, she completely freezes. This is both coming and going, up and down. It is something we will have to work on with treats. So far I am trying to not be too hard core, but also not too accommodating. I think there are bets about how long it will take me to let her sleep in bed with me. I did very well last night. And I feel strongly that Pearl should have some time to have me to herself. This is a difficult adjustment for her too.

Home Sweet Home

2007-11-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

I arrived home on Tuesday evening. I can't believe I have almost been home a whole week! It has really flown by. And in a few days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving! Jeeze. Well, I have much more to say, but for now it is good to be home. Tomorrow I start work again, after a month off. I am happy I have a three day week and then some time off again. It is good to get back into things slowly. My house is mostly back in order. It was a disaster because after my birthday party I pretty much just threw things in the back room in a pile. This week I have been cleaning up and putting things away and doing piles of laundry. Fun. I also went out and bought a few things to make some fun Thank You cards. That will be my project next week.
Mexico was amazing as usual. I am already planning my next expedition down there!
More thoughts on Mexico and traveling to come...
And photos... Finally!

Adentures in Mexico

2007-11-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

The computer is extremely slow this morning. Very frustrating, so this will be short.
I woke up this morning with a big swollen eye. I figure I was bit by a spider or mosquito in the night. It was almost completely shut. Glad I am not going to school today.

Doug, Brianne and I are going on a trip to Cuernavaca and to a couple of small villages south of there. I am really exciteded to be going with them as they are great company and will appreciate the adventure of it. The one of the villages has a market on Sundays and the other is known for painted laquer boxes. I think I may have written about it earlier.

I need to get the map and stuff which may take some time given the speed of the computer today. Adios para ahora.

Mi Ultimo Dia en San Miguel de Allende

2007-11-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

So, it's my last evening here in SMA. Time, as usual, has flown by. I feel like I just arrived! After school today I went to a knitting (crocheting, and quilting too) group with Brianne and finished the sweater I started in June. It's a good thing, because it is actually really cold here, especially in the evenings and in the morning. When the sun comes out, all is grand. In any case, the knitting group is a group of women who live in SMA, including one woman from Mexico City. I even got to practice my Spanish a little. It was good to meet some people who live here. I think they are all really interesting and have great stories to tell. When I come back, I will definitely be in touch. I guess I feel at home with other "artists."
This morning was interesting. I woke up at 5am, before the sun rose, to the sound of really bad singing through a mega-phone, with acapella accompaniment. They were singing about Santa Maria Ava... at least that is what I remember from the fog of my brain at dark o'clock. I tried really hard to ignore it, but wasn't successful. Although I have earplugs with me, I find it hard to fall asleep with them because I can hear my heart beating in my ears. So, I didn't have them in. Not that it would have mattered! Eventually I fell back to sleep. Then at 7:30 or so, I am wakened again by a big marching band coming down the street. I threw on a sweatshirt and ran outside to check out the action. It was a much smaller group than I expected. And I didn't take any photos because I have seen that the people from more rural areas ("campesinos") really do not like having their photos taken. Although it was a small group, there were even some dancers.

Yesterday, after a trip to the inaugural opening of the department store "Liverpool" there was a group of campesinos marching down the street in the afternoon at around 3pm. It is amazing to me the contrast between the have and have-nots here. Liverpool was a glittery place like Macy's with REALLY expensive clothes, shoes, makeup, and everything else you can think of. There were mostly rich Mexicans shopping, although we didn't see many purchases happening. On the other hand, the other typical life lived in Mexico is that of the people who are extremely poor. They work hard. They live out in the ranches and rural areas seemingly in the middle of nowhere. (You will often be in a bus that will stop to let someone off in the middle of the highway, maybe at a crossroads, or maybe not. They will disappear into the shrubs.) And they are very very religious. According to my Spanish teacher, there are pilgrimages all throughout the year such as the ones I have seen (or heard). The one I am really bummed that I missed was the caballeros marching through town on their horses. I had heard about it, and seen some of them on the way back to the house from Liverpool. But, they marched through while I was on my way home and I missed them! I really would have loved to see them. I heard there were at least 500 of them. They make a pilgrimage to be blessed (maybe here at the Parroquia, the big church in town - there are numerous churches of course) and then go on to the next blessing. I will have to do more research on the event.
I have met so many amazing people down here. I am really sad to leave.
I would highly recommend the Academia where I took my Spanish classes, and my teachers Aida (group) and Ezequiel (private) in particular! I really got to know Ezequiel pretty well, because a lot of what we did was converse. He has a lot in common with me in how we look at the world and also what kinds of things he has done for a living. Before teaching, he worked at CASA which is an agency for battered women and he did groups with people regarding various gender issues. I gather he did other things more administrative as well. Now, in addition to teaching he works with a non profit agency that gives loans to people (mostly in the campos/rural areas) so they are able to start little businesses. I believe he helps them with all of the processes involved with starting a small business. And he is a great teacher too!
Well, for now, that's it. My hands and wrists are getting sore.
Hasta mas tarde. Besos.

Escuela y Mas Escuela

2007-11-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

Buenos dias!
I haven't had time to write for a couple of days... mostly because I have been in school studying Spanish 4 hours a day. I think today is Thursday and today is my last private lesson. That is good because I am feeling like I really want to do something else in the afternoon, but I can't because I have class. Anyway, I can really tell that my Spanish is MUCH better. I definitely need to continue taking classes during the year and maybe find a conversation group or a cute Mexican man to speak with regularly. I need to start up my salsa dancing again!
Anyway, not much has happened here. I have been busy studying and have done a little shopping here and there. I am really enjoying hanging out with Doug and Brianne. We have had some pretty interesting and deep conversations. It wasn't deep but last night, they told me about 2 girls, traveling gringas, who died in their hotel room because they left their heater on in the night and it killed them with carbon monoxide poisoning. Awful. I had no idea about those heaters because I have never had one. When I first arrived, Doug was explaining how to use the heater in my room and told me not to leave it on when I was sleeping. He didn't tell me why! Even so, I have been very careful to turn it off every night. I guess when he said it he made an impression (and I want to be good guest). Anyway. I don't think it would be possible for me to die in the room where I am staying because it is really big and airy with lots of cracks in the windows and a very tall ceiling.

The ceiling is really cool actually. It is a dome made with brick. Every morning I wake up looking at it and wondering how the hell they made it. I am certain they built it by hand, but I have no idea how. It has a beautiful symetric pattern emminating (my spelling sucks and I don't know how to use spell check on this Mac) out from the center.

There have been a few experiences I will write about when I have more time. One is garbage collection day, another is about the old ladies I have met, and yesterday I met a guy with candied apples and guyabas. He let me take a photo of them (but not of him). Those are the ones that come to mind right now, but I am sure there are a few others... I try to write the gist of it down when it happens so I won't forget. I am 40 now after all. The brain just isn't the same. :)

Carnitas Galore

2007-11-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

On the way into Delores Hidalgo, we went to eat carnitas at Vincente's. Brianne told me the rule: "As you are walking into the restaurant, do not look into the big pot on the left." Well, of course I had to check it out... This is why I don't cook carnitas myself! It was a giant stainless steel vat of oil and pig parts; all the parts. (Maybe I can get Anthony to try the cabeza/head? He will eat anything!) But, damn that shit was good! We ordered chips and guacamole. You have to order chips down here, they don't just come with a meal. Usually there is at least one salsa, in this case there were two, one hot and one salsa fresca. And a pile of carnitas, both ribs and white meat, with loads of handmade tortillas. GOOD GOOD GOOD! It seems to be a popular place among the gringo population here as well as with the Mexican folks. At around 1pm when we arrived there were only a few other people. But by the time we left we were surrounded... a giant family of Mexicans were sitting right next to us eating chicharron (fried pig skin), empanadas, tacos, and carnitas.

After stuffing ourselves, we headed down the street. Someone asked Doug, who was driving, where he was headed and weren't we going to the ceramics shops. He said,"Oh, I was heading for ice cream. Were we going shopping?" We didn't stop for ice cream. I am not too crazy for ice cream, but hear it is excellent down here.

The shops were actually HUGE warehouses FULL of plates, bowls, cups, sinks, vases, dining sets, spoons, boxes, planters, whimsical animals for the wall or for plants, and even a fish serving dish that is made with space underneath for a little fire to keep the food warm. That I will have to have a photo of so you can see it! Very funny. Basically, anything you can think of, you could find. And everything is painted with brilliant colors in various patterns, many with a floral theme. I thought if I didn't bring too much money I wouldn't spend much. Famous last words! I borrowed some cash and got everything I wanted. And then some! I keep wondering how I am going to get it all home without breaking it.

I am making dinner tonight: pasta with shrimp and veggies, and a salad. And maybe even chocolate chip cookies. Mmmm.

AKA Todos Santos

2007-11-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

I have almost been here a whole week already! Wow. Time flies when you are having a good time! Last week seems like a blur. But I have more to say about Dia de los Muertos...
On Friday Brianne, Doug, their friend Suzanne (very fun, friendly person) and I took a short walk over to the old cemetery. They no longer bury people there because it got too small for the ever increasing population of SMA. Interestingly, there are plenty of gringos in the cemeteries. There was even one who died in 1908 or so. The old cemetery has been totally locked up for many years and only recently did they open in for Dia de los Muertos. A group of Mexican women get together on Nov. 1 and decorate all of the graves, hang papel picado, and make an altar. This year the altar was for a man who was a big radio personality in SMA who died last year. Apparently he was very well known and respected in the community.

After touring the cemetery we had a pleasant lunch at a small place on the way home. We all had beautiful salads with real lettuce, carrots, beets, cucumbers, and avocado. The wait staff all spoke perfect English. And if I spoke in Spanish they responded in English. I find many people will do that. It works for me. I get to practice my Spanish while they practice their English.

That was the big event of the day. I haven't been going out at night, because it feels weird to go alone and I am just as happy having dinner and conversation here with D&B. The first few nights we were trying out two different cooks. It was fun to do little critiques of their Mexican cooking. Some of it was excellent (the green salsa one made was to die for) and some was pretty bad (apples, pineapples, and nuts with cream). In any case, I have now been earning my keep by cooking a few things... which I am loving! It is so nice to be appreciated.

The first dish was chocolate bread pudding. I call it Pudding de Dia de los Muertos because I made it Friday and because I made it with pan de muertos (special bread for the day) and the chocolate (with cinnamon) they use here to make hot chocolate. It tasted really good, but it was not at all light and fluffy like the last bread pudding I made. Maybe the altitude was a problem? SMA is at 6500 feet.

Last night after visiting a really interesting gallery, owned by a couple from Berkeley (more on that later), I made potato leek soup, green salad, and zuccini cheddar muffins and bread. It all came out pretty well. Apparently Doug REALLY loves soup, so I made a friend! I just love cooking so much! I am going to do some chocolate chip cookies tonight because there are no good cookies here in SMA.

One thing I am not able to do as well as the Mexicans is their carnitas! On Saturday D&B and Suzanne and I took a ride into Delores Hidalgo. It is in this city that most of the talavera (brightly painted ceramic dishes, etc) are from. Puebla is also known for it's talavera, which is supposedly nicer and has a commiserate price tag. I personally think they are totally different, like comparing apples and oranges.

Running off to school.

Dia de los Muertos

2007-11-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Did I mention I had the best birthday ever? I have the most awesome family and friends!

In any case, here I am in San Miguel de Allende. I am staying with Doug and Brianne, father and step-mother of my good friend Alison. I wish she was here with me! But, I am making due. Doug and Brianne are awesome! Their home is beautiful (we're talking Home and Garden beautiful!), they have been extremely welcoming, helpful, and very fun to hang out with.

The first day I was here I stayed in the house all day. I spent time on the roof terrace, reading and chatting with D&B, in the courtyard when the roof got too hot, in the bed taking a luxurious 2.5 hour nap, in the TV room watching the news, and in the dining room eating a lovely meal of green bean soup, albondigas (meatballs) with red sauce, rice, and one of the best green salsas I have ever had in my life. It was a good day.

In the morning I went to a yoga class with D&B. It was perfect since I haven't done yoga in ages. I was stiff! So, the class is held in a room in the Bellas Artes, which is located a couple blocks away in an amazing colonial style building, all the rooms set around a large courtyard. They had papel picado (colorful, cut tissue paper) strung all over the walkways around the center. After yoga was breakfast and then a jaunt to check out the local Spanish language schools. I ended up choosing one that is located almost directly across the street from the hotel K & I stayed in April. Academia has group and private lessons and as I am not here very long, I have decided to do both for a week. I started with one private class yesterday and will continue for the rest of next week with both. I am very excited to improve a little and possibly be tested for bilingual pay at work eventually. I think I will have to come down here more often if that is going to be a reality. In any case, it is great to have a place to meet people and improve my Spanish.

Thursday and Friday, November 1st and 2nd were huge celebration days here in San Miguel de Allende (SMA) and all over Mexico. They celebrate and eulogize their family members, important people in the community who have had an impact on many lives, and friends. Altars are created which assist the dead to pass back into the world of the living to visit their families. The papel picado is cut with different scenes with skeletons in all different colors of tissue paper. They come in all sizes. I even saw some that were probably 5.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide. These are hung all over town (mostly in the zocalo) and in the cemeteries. Gold or orange marigolds and purple garra de lion (lion's claw) flowers are everywhere. Thursday is a day of preparation. In the zocalo there were students hanging papel picado, erecting a giant altar and putting marigold flowers everywhere. Additionally, there were designs of skulls and ancient Aztec and Mayan gods "painted" with colorful wood chips, corn, seeds, and other natural dry ingredients.
On the way to the main cemetery there is an entire street devoted to stands of florists, people preparing and selling food, and tables with sugar skulls, lambs, hens, and fake food. All of these items have significance in promoting a safe journey for the soul to come back and then return again to the realms of the dead. Most Mexicans are Catholic, so they mostly believe that souls are in heaven. This is a holiday which is definitely not Catholic and originates from the indigenous cultures pre-Spanish take-over.
Inside the cemetery people were busy cleaning the gravestones, painting them white in some cases, and putting colorful flowers all over the tombs. The tombs and plots are different than those in the US in that they are mostly raised, there are very few marble stones, often the grave has a gate around it, and in some cases there is nothing but a simple cross and a mound of dirt. There were also stacked crypts, walls of them, each with a small box facing out, with enough space and a ledge to put flowers on and other items you might find on an altar.
The place was buzzing with activity, but there was very little display of sadness.
November 1st is also a day to specifically celebrate the lives of children who have passed.
In the evening D&B and I went to my favorite place for pozole. It is their favorite place too! Actually it was the first restaurant K and I went to in April. And their pozole is very good. (I have never had better pozole than a little place in Cuernavaca and one of the stand in Coyoacan in Mexico City.) The zocalo was swarming with Mexicans, gringos, and children in costumes, mariachi bands, a skeleton couple on stilts, both before and after we had dinner. It was very exciting and the energy was high.

Mas, mas tarde.

Mexico, where else?

2007-11-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

After a whirlwind birthday week, I am back in Mexico. My home away from home. I arrived on Tuesday October 30th early in the morning. The flight was very bumpy, lots of turbulence. Luckily I had some sleeping pills that made me almost anxiety free. Last time I was down here, we stopped in Zacatecas for immigration. This time conveniently there were no stops. Have you ever been through immigration and customs in Mexico? Immigration isn't much different than any other country I have been to, in that the customs officers have little to no affability let alone a sense of humor. They must be very bored. Although I checked my bag (I wanted to bring more than a quart bag of toiletries), it was circling the carousel when I was finished with grumpy pants immigration man. Customs is my favorite part of the process. I guess because it seems so kitch how they decide whether or not they are going to check your bag. After they ask you a bunch of questions about what you are bringing (apparently there is a big business in fashionable clothes down here so many people bring in giant bags full of clothes to sell without claiming it... illegal of course... someone is getting paid) in, you are faced with a thing that looks just like a traffic light with two lights. You push a button. If the green light shines, you are free to pass. On the other hand, if you get a red light, there is a terrible, loud, buzzing sound, just like in a game show when you get an answer wrong. Of course this means you don't pass until they tear through your luggage looking for contraband. They say this process is completely random. I am skeptical. I have only had the red light once since I have been coming to Mexico.
I was greeted by a man holding a sign with my name on it. How is that for special? Well, it comes with a cost of course. A shuttle from the Leon airport to San Miguel de Allende is $28 plus a tip. I guess it is about an hour drive. There was a couple from Arizona who joined me. They were very interesting (both retired teachers from Chicago) and we passed the time chatting and me giving them some suggestions on places to go. I was also able to practice my Spanish a little with the driver. It's like using an atrophied muscle sometimes. I arrived at the front door of my friend's parents by around 9am.
More later...

Road Trip Labor Day Weekend 2007

2007-09-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

I am in Ventura California visiting my uncle David.
I drove down from Oakland on Wednesday afternoon. I left work at 1:30pm and arrived in San Luis Obispo at around 5pm. My plan was to meet up with my friend Amber, have dinner, spend the night, and leave for Ventura the next morning. When I arrived in SLO, I got a little lost and had to pee so bad, I thought I was going to piss my pants. I got off the freeway and basically pulled into a parking space across the street from a public restroom and next to the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, which is actually in downtown SLO.

Once I found bladder relief, I made my way over to her place: her grandmother's condo where she lives with her mother and grandmother. Three generations of Boyce women. And Sadie the black and brown mini Dachshund. She is very cute and loves to give kisses right on the kisser. When you say, "that's enough Sadie" she turns her head away, to stop. She can't look at your face without kissing you. Barbara, Amber's mom, is a very sweet, very interesting woman. She engaged us in conversation and told me there was a good story about how she acquired Sadie which she ended up telling me later. After taking Sadie for a short walk, we were both ready for some food.

Dinner at Big Sky was okay. I had pozole which was a decent Big Sky-ed version of the Mexican soup with hominy I so love. But, it seemed rather expensive for what it was and it wasn't served with the typical chips, oregano, onions, avocados, and hot sauce it comes with in Mexico. What did I expect? Amber got a tagine with a chicken sausage and pearl couscous. We were definitely full when we left the restaurant. Good thing we didn't have a dessert... I was eye-ing a spicy Latin American chocolate torte with pepper sauce. But, Amber talked me into frozen yogurt.
We walked around downtown SLO, slowly burning off some of the bloated feeling. Eventually we made it to the frozen yogurt place: serve yourself. It was awesome! You get to fill your own cup with the frozen yogurt of your choice of at least 8 flavors and then there are about 15 different toppings, including hot fudge and caramel (my favorite). I had a peanut butter and chocolate frozen yogurt with chopped butterfingers, chocolate peanut butter cups, and caramel sauce. All for just 27 cents per ounce. It was a great deal!

On our way back to the car we ended up in a sporting goods store, like Sports Mart. It was a huge store with everything related to sports you can imagine. We wandered around the store and found a room with special contraptions for doing "sit-ups," stationary bikes, treadmills, and the like. We tested them all out, making complete fools of ourselves and laughing hysterically. We really didn't give a rats ass what the kids working in the store thought of us! They were really nice, considering....

After a quick workout, and checking out the coming thunder and lightning storm off in the distance, we went home, ready to call it a night.

We were both incredibly tired. After crawling into bed, under a down comforter, I realized it was going to be way too hot for anything so heavy. So, with one leg out, I was ready for a good night sleep. We talked each other to the point when you can't remember what the other person just said one second ago, and when you try to speak all that comes out is nonsense.
A few hours into a deep sleep a clap of thunder and bright light from lightning woke us up. It was an intense storm which seemed to last forever. At one point Amber went to the window to look out and maybe to close the window. A few minutes later there was a down pour. And then I passed out again. I guess Amber felt wired and had a hard time sleeping.

The storm cooled things off a little bit for the next day. But, it was still pretty damn hot when I left for Ventura.

I arrived at Uncle David's house just in time for a trip to the grocery store, Peet's, a soak in the pool, and a lounge in the spa. Life is beautiful! We made hamburgers for dinner. I mixed in egg, onion, breadcrumbs and seasonings. David does it that way too I guess. I think that's how my Mom does it too, which is why I do it that way. It is the best way if you ask me!

Although my uncle and I aren't blood related, it seems that we do things very similarly, tease in the same way, are smart asses in the same way, etc. We think it has to do with me being raised by his little brother.

So, by now I have been here three full days. We have accomplished a lot in those three days! First of all, we have spent ample time in the pool, spa and on the hammock. Every night we watch the sun go down, the bats come out, and listen to the coyotes howl at the moon (or at each other?). It is beautiful here, if a little HOT. It must have been 98 here today, at least!

So, Friday at 11:30pm we took a boat ride to Santa Cruz Island, of the Channel Islands which are right off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara. It is an hour boat ride which is a little choppy, but not bad enough to make anyone sick. We sat in the back of the boat on the way there. I love the feeling of the wind in my hair, and the sun on my back. I gather you can sometimes see whales and dolphins on the way out or back, but we weren't so lucky. As we arrived, you can see the water is clear to at least 15 feet. There is sea kelp carpeting the water close to the shore. I quickly took out my camera and took over 100 photos while we were on the island.

First thing, we had lunch. I was about to bite David's head off I was so hungry. Sitting facing the ocean, at a picnic table, we scarfed down just about every morsel we brought with us. Fully satisfied, we found an acceptable, fairly easy hike to Cave Point, which is actually located above the caves you can kayak through down at the ocean level. It is an incredibly beautiful island, even given the dryness of the landscape. It is various shades of brown set starkly against the blue green of the ocean. In places, as you can see in my photos (above), you can see red, yellow, and green flowers, shrubs, and grasses.

By the time we got up to the bluff which overlooks the rest of the island as well as the mainland as far as the eye can see, we had to turn around to get back to the 3:45pm boat. If we missed it, we would be spending an awfully long night on that island.

Friday night we sat around, talked, hit the spa and made dinner at around 9pm.

At some point over the weekend, David showed me the joys of eBay and surfing the net. As if I didn't already know! But, really, I hadn't ever been on eBay. I am not the same kind of junkie he is, and I probably won't be, but I can definitely see the attraction! I have a few things saved that I probably won't buy, but it was fun looking for them. The thing is, his notebook is down, so we have been doing eBay shopping mostly on my laptop; much more convenient than his desktop. I am not sure what he is going to do when I leave! I guess he will have to commit to getting on the phone with Apple for who knows how long. The last time he tried to call he got cut off, just as he was getting somewhere with the fixing. Oh well. Such is life with a computer.

Okay. So, Saturday was yesterday. We were very productive. At breakfast, over coffee, we discussed the state of his kitchen counter bar stools. He claimed they needed to be replaced. I suggested he should have them re-chromed and reupholstered. He seemed dubious at first, but quickly realized that it is quite do-able. He is never going to find stools as cool, first of all, and as comfortable, second of all. We found a couple of places who do the metal work. He says he will call on Tuesday to get a quote and see how long it will take for them to be done. They are going to look fabulous!

David recently moved out of a large office space. He brought all the furniture and art work home and put it in the living room. So, we moved most of it out of the way into an extra bedroom. We then hung 2 paintings in the red room (aka the TV room). Once that was done, we started talking about the guest bathroom and how hideous the shower curtain and the blue paint his ex-wife had picked out. This was unusual because she usually had impeccable taste and a good eye for color. In this case, she missed... big time. The pattern on the shower curtain was something that might have been popular in the 80's sometime. It had a beige background with rectangular splotches of blue, purple, and brown. UGLY. Luckily, David agreed with me. I suggested a new curtain to match the towels in the bathroom. He said that all the towels in the house need to be replaced, so we should do the whole thing: curtain, towels, and bathroom accessories. And new paint too!

We headed out to Linens and Things and spent at least an hour picking out a sage colored faux suede shower curtain and beautiful, thick, cozy, cream towels. We did not find appropriate accessories. At Bed Bath & Beyond we debated over a few different styles and left with my favorite ones: brown with different green circles, sort of a retro look.

After all the shopping we were exhausted and starving. We zipped into downtown Ventura for a bite to eat. Finding ourselves at an outdoor restaurant was perfect. The minimal menu (due to them setting up for dinner) and slow service was difficult to deal with, but somehow we managed. We had some salads and a yummy mushroom pizza. And left with five different desserts: raspberry filled heart cookies, chocolate heart cookies, lemon bars, a hazelnut chocolate torte and a raspberry bar. As it turned out none of it was very good. But that didn't stop us from finishing it all by this afternoon!

On the way home we talked about going to a paint store. David nixed the idea saying he just wanted to get home. But somehow we got sidetracked... I suggested getting a movie at Blockbuster and when he realized his DVD player isn't working, we were 100 feet from Lowe's home improvement store. We got a bunch of paint chips and a DVD for helping design rooms.
We weren't able to load the DVD. So, we had to design on our own. David picked two shades of deep purple for the bathroom walls and upper board that goes around the light and the shower curtain rod. He picked a light yellow/cream for the cabinets, door, and moldings. It actually turns out to be a really beautiful combination.

As I was in bed this morning, I had a thought... light bamboo accessories. I even thought it would be cool to have bamboo towel rods, but I never figured we would find anything like that. Well, when I told David about it over coffee, he was juiced. Immediately he grabbed the laptop and started looking. Then he went to his computer and I had mine. Together we found a plethora of bathroom accessories made of bamboo. I even found a site that had the towel racks, hooks, and toilet paper holder I had envisioned!

After that excitement we planned a trip to the beach with the dogs: Diggy and Trevor. They are the most amazing golden retrievers ever! Diggy is about 12-13 years old and Trevor is about 4. Ventura has a long "boardwalk" along the beach. David says you could probably take it all the way to Santa Barbara. Well, I didn't make it that far. We all walked together about 20 minutes. David then turned around to find a shady spot to rest. Diggy was really hot and tired and I think David enjoyed the rest as well. Trevor could probably have come with me for a quick run. I did about a 20 minute run. I was covered in sweat, thirsty and ready for a dunk in the water. David and the dogs followed me and we took a quick swim. It was COLD!! But so refreshing. I was contemplating the swim I will be doing for a triathlon at the end of the month. Hmm. As we were leaving the parking lot, we realized that we got to the beach just in time - before the mobs!
At home we cleaned up the dogs, cooled off some more in the pool, took showers, ate lunch, and got ready for some more power shopping.

First we hit Costco. Okay, remember how I said David and I have a lot in common? Well, the way we shop at Costco is completely different. He leaves his cart at the end of the aisle and walks all over the place, then having to carry the stuff he wants back to the cart. At one point our cart got stolen! When I go to Costco I keep my cart with me and walk up and down almost every aisle, unless I know for sure I don't want anything down that aisle. If I go in knowing exactly what I want, I go - with my cart - directly to the things I want and then leave. In any case, we made it through in less than an hour I think. It is good that he had a list, because I think if he hadn't it could have taken all day.

Our next stop was at Lowe's to get the paint samples. David wanted to see what the colors he chose would look like next to each other. While we were waiting for them to mix the paints, we walked around the store looking for other things to buy. We found a thermometer for the spa... the one he had said it was 60 when it was probably 100! We also got a thermometer to give us a more accurate temperature of the outside than he can get from the internet. The weather and temps on the net are generally from down at the beach, which is quite far from the house. David lives up the hill in a little valley and it is generally a bit warmer up here than at the beach.
Finally, we started looking at kitchen cabinets: I was getting ideas for corner cabinets. I also looked at dishwashers and refrigerators. Nothing I need now, but sometime in the future, I definitely plan to gut my kitchen and start over.

Paint complete and on our way home. But, we had to stop in the downtown Ben & Jerry's for dinner. Chocolate and fudge brownie ice cream in a chocolate waffle cone for David and Half Baked frozen yogurt in a chocolate and peanut waffle cone for me. Best dinner I have had in a long time! Of course I was hungry after sweating a gallon crammed in the bathroom with David doing test painting.

Now my vacation is slowly winding down. I think I would like to go back to the beach with David and the dogs tomorrow. I will be leaving here at around 4pm to drive back up to SLO town to see Amber again. It is a much easier drive from her house to mine than straight from Ventura. And, since she didn't come down here with me I would like to spend a little more time hanging out. I will see her again though... at my 40th birthday party!!!

I have to come back down here to see David sooner than I did last time! Kelley and I came down for a visit 2 Thanksgivings ago. Almost 2 years is too long. Besides, I have to make sure David follows through with the new bathroom design! It is going to look fabulous! Not only that, but I will be looking forward to seeing his re-furbished kitchen stools.

Well, that's it for the moment. David just came in and asked, "Aren't you done yet?" My reply: "I am just writing my last paragraph." And in response he said, "I am just going to turn on the spa." So, that is what I will be doing next. Getting into the spa, looking for shooting stars, and having some "deep and meaningful" with my uncle. Last night it was about the universe and sub atomic particles and God and the meaning of life. Maybe tonight it will be a little lighter?

Financial Responsibility

2007-09-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

The first step to gaining financial responsibility... admitting that you aren't yet responsible? Deciding that you need to get a grip? Well, I have finally taken action. I may never have done anything, save for the fact that a good friend of mine recently started working for Morgan Stanley.

So, my friend Jenn, who I have known since college (some 17 or so years), married John. It's been at least 5 years since they have been married. Ever since they have been together, Jenn has raved about how savvy John is with finances, investing, and just understanding how it all works. Apparently he has assisted a number of friends in making loads off the stock market. He is smart about it and has been watching and studying the markets and how they fluctuate over many years. Really, John is an amazing person all around. Not only is he good with numbers, but he is an amazing artist, a talented "handy-man" (he just remodeled their house almost single-handedly), and is a great father as well.

It appears that John was ready to have a 9-5 job after mostly completing their house and started looking into financial planning, I imagine both because he is good at it and it is a lucrative field. He landed a position at Morgan Stanley, where they trained him and he became certified or licensed to do all kinds of things like write loans, trade stocks, and advise people on what to do with their finances. Well, John and I had talked a number of times before about investing and various options, but always at their house, over dinner, playing with their daughter, in between having a drink and knitting, or watching a movie. So, he was finally open for business! I gather I was John's first client!

The evening before I left for his office, I was filled with anxiety. I collected all of the paperwork he might need: my mortgage, bank, student loan, and credit card statements, tax info, pay "stub," and retirement statements. I can honestly say that I know I must be somewhat responsible, since I actually have all that stuff, can easily put my hands on it, and know basically what it all means and can even explain to you what it is. That is a good start. I also know that the market has been very temperamental recently. Interest rates are going up and there is no telling when that trend is going to stop. Knowledge of this didn't help my anxiety.

By the next morning I was a nervous wreck. I met John in his new office in downtown Walnut Creek. The office is a wall of mirrored glass. By contrast to the 80's style building, the decor of the actual Morgan Stanley office is very staid forest green and burgundy striped wing back chairs and a brass lamp on a very dark wood table. The office assistant called John and told him I was waiting. He came out from cubicle land, dressed in a shirt and tie. I know the last time I saw John in a tie was at his wedding. It's all part of the job. In any case, we headed off to a little European cafe John has started frequenting.

John really put me at ease. We looked over all of the documents I brought, he explained how each document was a piece of the puzzle and how we could approach the planning in several different ways. He remembered that I had talked about the possibility of going out on my own at some point and said that we could look at what I would need in order to make that a reality in 2-6 years. John was excellent at explaining things so they made sense. It demystified my financial picture and made it feel manageable. He has in mind different options that I can choose to go with or not, as I see fit. So, not only was I feeling relieved, but I was feeling very excited about my future.

I will have more to report on in a couple of weeks when I meet with John again and discuss in more detail the various paths I can take. But, as of now, I would highly recommend him to any of my friends and family who may be in need of the type of services Morgan Stanley offers. Although he is new to the firm, he is not new to the field, and has many excellent references.
If you would like to contact him, you can email him at:
John.Sanchez@morganstanley.com
He would be happy to hear from you! Tell him Elisabeth sent you.

Check in again to see how it's going with me and my money.

Possum Chronicles

2007-08-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a movie; at around 11pm I got up from the couch and headed toward my bedroom. You will never guess who was in my hallway! Yep! One of Percy's brothers! He looked really scared and angry. He was hissing, his little pink mouth open with all of his pointy teeth showing. Fearsome. George was his name. Just then, Rascal came through the cat door. I was really shocked and perturbed by this turn of events. Where did this guy come from? What was Rascal doing and where was he getting all these baby possums?! Was there a nest on one of my balconies? I actually went out to look after I was able to coral George into the bathroom. There were no nests of possums I could see on either balcony. I also had to go down to the car because the cat carrier was still in the trunk. I wiped it out and threw some towels in it for George.
Meanwhile, Rascal was pacing the hall and he stopped and sprayed (pissed on) the door to the closet when I was looking right at him. I grabbed him and threw him out of the house, locking the cat door. I was really pissed (no pun intended) at him!
Before I could get George in the carrier, I needed to go outside for something and there was Rascal at my neighbor's door. I was happy to see he was going to bug someone else. These neighbors are like Rascal's second parents. They really love him. I took a closer look and realized he had another baby possum! Holy shit Rascal, I yelled. I could not believe my eyes. Really. The couple I could see were at the door and could hear me yelling. They opened the window and I told them to throw a towel over her (Lucky) and I would come over with the carrier. Well, when I went to get the carrier, he got a towel. But when he went to throw it on her, she did a flying leap off their balcony and landed down below in their carport, about 15 feet down. She seemed a little shocked and just sat there looking from side to side. We both ran over, me with the cage, he with the towel and successfully grabbed her.
All the while, Rascal was hovering over a hole in the ground on the side of their apartment building. I walked around to check it out. Sure enough there was a big hole under the sidewalk. And there staring out was a big momma possum face. I can't say she looked sad, but I was feeling really sad for her. I wasn't able to see if she had other babies in there with her, but here we had already taken three from her. Guilt. But I didn't feel that it was safe to reunify the babies with her because Rascal would easily be able to get them again.
In any case, we locked Rascal in the house to try and prevent him from more hunting, at least for the night. I went into the bathroom to find George clinging onto the bottom of the shower door jam. He was holding on for dear life and hissing at me of course. I was able to get him into the cage by carefully prying his tiny little paws off his perch. This time I was able to give them some cat food and a big thing of water. George played dead under a towel, the entire time I was arranging the little dishes. Lucky on the other hand, was telling me just how pissed off she was about the whole thing and where I could stuff it!
I finally got to bed at around 1am. Having Rascal locked up in the house is not conducive to sleeping. First of all he wears a bell (supposedly to warn critters he is coming!), and second of all locking him in is like locking up a wild animal. He paces, scratches at the cat door, chases his poor sister Pearl, and is generally obnoxious. All of his antics keep me awake and have Pearl hyper-vigilant, worrying that he is going to pounce on her at any moment. I finally broke and let him out at 5am. I couldn't handle it any more. Pearl's relief was apparent and she was finally able to come to bed with me.
When I went in to check on George and Lucky, they were snuggled up together in a ball sleeping. Although I didn't want to disturb them, I had to remove the cat food and water from their cage. I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos. Their water was nasty, filled with possum crap. (The Lindsey people told me that is what they do in the wild. I guess to clean themselves?) They had probably eaten some of the cat food. But mostly they were happily sleeping.
Lucky and George were taken to join their brother Percy. I can call and check on them next week. I now have two passes to the Lindsey Wildlife Museum. I am becoming a wildlife expert, thanks to Rascal. Well, maybe not an expert, but I certainly know more now about possums and pigeons than I ever cared to know.
For example here is a bit of information you wouldn't think about unless you were in my situation:
Although they are quite slow moving in general, what I realized is that possums play dead. This was quite a revelation! I kept wondering why Rascal would bring these guys in and release them and then basically forget about them. Well, this is why! He grabs them in his mouth and brings them to his mommy to show off his toy. He drops the baby which then plays dead. Well a dead anything is no fun to play with! Rascal only wants to play with a toy that is trying to get away. So, he leaves it. Eventually the possum gets brave enough to escape. I gather this is usually once kitty is far away.
I will keep you posted on how Percy, Lucky and George are doing. They will be released back into the wild once they are healthy and old enough. I am not sure if they are released back into their old neighborhood or into a place more rural than where I live. I know they often release birds back into their original community. I will learn about possum release when I call for an update.

Possum Chronicles

2007-08-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Critter tales.
So, apparently Rascal was at it again over the weekend. I found a little bit of poop on the floor in front of the bathroom. I cleaned them up and didn't think much of it. Maybe one of the cats had stepped in some crap and tracked it there? In any case, it was clean. A day or two later (Tuesday) there was another little spot. Now I was certain there was a critter lurking around. I have no idea where it was hanging out, but apparently, it thought a good place to take a shit was in front of the bathroom. He had the right idea, I guess. So, as I was getting ready for work on Tuesday I was thinking I would probably have to do a sting operation to find it, since most critters Rascal would be interested in are nocturnal, much like himself. But that idea was unnecessary, as he came out of his own volition. There he was, little gray, furry, rat-like critter: yes! another baby possum. He was littler than the one we caught a couple of months ago, but attempting to look just as fierce. Hissing at me, snarling at Pearl. This is not an easy prey for a cat. Rascal seems not to be bothered. But Pearl is a true scared-y cat. She was definitely interested in him, but very cautiously.
I couldn't believe my eyes! This time I had a better plan on how to catch it and what to do with him once he was safely in a carrier. I am getting good at this wildlife rescue thing. I threw a kitchen towel over him and threw him into the cat carrier. He was a fierce little guy, but thankfully didn't bite me.
I have decided that I am going to name all of the animals I have to rescue from Rascal. Having just read Harry Potter, I decided his name was going to be Percy. I took him to work with me so I could take him directly to a rescue place from there. He was the talk of the office. Everyone came in to get a look. He was really very cute.
He climbed around the cage and at one point was hanging onto the front with all four paws/claws, and alternately sticking his nose out of the bars and trying to chew them. According to a website, possum have a keen sense of smell and their eyesight is pretty poor. This would explain the constant sniffing around he was doing.
He wasn't at all interested in the raisin bran flakes I gave him to eat. I found a few internet sites that suggested fruit. He devoured the piece of pear I offered. He took to drinking the water right away. Eventually he took a long nap curled up under the kitchen towel.
At the end of the day I took Percy out to the Lindsey Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. They told me I could call to follow up on Percy in four days.

2007-08-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

In the depths of making apple butter and pear-ginger butter. It is quite tedious. You have to cook the hell out of it. And because it has so much sugar in it, it really wants to burn to the bottom of the pot. So you have to be really careful to stir it often preventing the burn. The upside is that my condo smells wonderful. The pungent smell of apples, pears, cinnamon, ginger and burning sugar! Yummy.

2007-07-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here I am getting tattooed. As you can see below, I am grimacing. And digging my nails into my arm. This shit HURTS. Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't. But as I have said before, it is completely worth it.

2007-07-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

A weekend at home. Time to write.

Work has been really busy over the last month. Never a dull moment.

There is another pregnant woman at work. I had a dream the other night that I was pregnant and in the hospital. I was waiting and waiting. There were no labor pains. I was getting impatient. Interesting.

To celebrate Kelley’s birthday in the beginning of July I went with Kelley and two other friends of hers to Arnold, a small town on Highway 4 in the Sierra’s. It was a great, very relaxing weekend. We ate, drank, talked (and talked and talked and talked), slept, ate and drank some more. It was hot as Hades up there. I loved it. For some reason the heat doesn’t bother me.

Last weekend I was in Tahoe, Soda Springs. It wasn’t as hot as I expected. And the water in Ice Lakes (Serene Lakes) felt very cold. It wasn’t hot enough out to warrant getting into freezing cold water. The company was great. Again we did lots of eating, drinking, talking, and fucking around. On Friday my friend John and I took our mountain bikes out for a spin. I hadn’t been on mine in years. As we made our way out the dusty access road, I kept thinking, “I am going to have to climb back out of here.” But it was well worth it! And getting out took about half as long as I expected. The next day, Saturday, when the others arrived, we drove down the same road and did a little hike along a ridge. We had planned to find a private lake to take a dip, but couldn’t find one that wasn’t on private property. Next time. I have more information now. I have been told that most of the land out there labeled “private property” is actually public land. In any case, after our easy hike we drove back out and over to Ice Lakes, which really are icy right now. I got some sun and walked back to the house. On Saturday night we actually had dinner before it was dark out! That never happens up there. We had a feast of grilled (some charred) veggies and chicken, tortillas, corn on the cob, refried beans, cabbage salad, and red wine. It was all delicious. For dessert I baked “no pudge fudge” brownies – Trader Joes special! So yummy.

Thursday I finally had my 10 year old, very faded tattoos re-colored. I have a beautiful new pink lotus and a blue and green butterfly. Getting a tattoo feels something like a red-hot butter knife digging into your flesh. The closer it is to the spine, the more it seems to hurt. The black outlines are particularly painful. Fatty deposits don’t seem to temper the pain what so ever. So, don’t ever let anyone tell you it doesn’t hurt. But it is all worth it! I am now going through the icky dry, scabby faze of healing. I have been putting cream on it three or four times a day. I think it helps a little. I am happy to be though the painful periods.

2007-07-15T15:26:00.001-07:00

Adventures with Burt the baby pigeon.

Rascal caught him. I imagine it wasn’t much of a fight, because the poor thing could barely walk let alone fly. He probably fell out of the tree at a very opportune moment for Rascal. Of course, wanting to share his prize with his Mommy, he brought Burt (who didn’t have a name at that point) into the house, and dropped him in the dining room.

Pearl was all worked up into a fluff-ball state. Her tail looked like a squirrel's. She was in the most animalistic state I have ever seen. She hissed at me, threatening me when I got too close to her bird. How it became her bird, when Rascal was the one who brought it in, I will never know.

When you grab a cat by the scruff of its neck it really does become paralyzed, even with an adult cat. When I got them both safely behind doors, I was able to check out Burt a little more extensively. I could see that he was a baby or fledgling. He was all gray with long, skinny, little yellow feathers sticking out all over. His beak was not fully developed. He had a hurt wing, which was a little bloody, from where Rascal had bit into him. After pacing the floor for a minute, I thought I should try putting him outside to see if he could fly. I grabbed a dish-cloth, which was the suggestion of one of the CWWs I work with the last time Rascal brought in a critter, the possum. I gently threw the towel over him. He was relatively easy to pick up; he didn’t even try to bite me. He had a really cute squeak, not a coo. I took him out to the front porch to see what he would do. But he just stood there, looking very confused (can a bird really have expressions?) As I went toward him he scooted back. He was about to fall off the balcony. So, quick thinking, I got him outside in the back balcony, which isn’t accessible except by the back sliding door. Or by other birds, as I was soon to find out. I put him in an old wooden wine box, standing up on end, sitting in the corner. I was hoping that he would heal and then fly away on his own.

After about a day I went and bought birdseed for him and gave him a bowl of water. This is stupid, but I don’t think I would have thought of water; that was Paul’s suggestion. At some point, after becoming attached, I decided the pigeon needed a name. I named him Burt. Come to find out: Burt, of Burt and Ernie, has a love of pigeons. Who knew?

The cats didn’t figure out Burt was on the balcony right away. When they did figure it out, the sliding glass door became like their own personal TV, with their own personal reality TV show. Burt really didn’t do much. Regardless, the cats sat, glued to his every move. It took him about a day to figure out that the birdseed was to eat and the water to drink. That Burt was a shitting machine! There was bird shit all over the bottom of box, getting stuck to his tail feathers. Yuck.

For the most part, Burt didn’t do much besides eat, drink, shit, and sleep. After he had been out there a few days, my friend Kelley and I were sitting in front of Rascal and Pearl’s TV. Burt got up, walked slowly across the edge of the balcony, and sat down on the corner. He sat there for 15 minutes, watching the world go by, got back up and walked back to his “nest.”

After he had been on the balcony about 5 days, I began to worry. I didn’t see him walking around and he seemed to always have his wings out in different awkward positions. Almost like he didn’t quite know what to do with them. Big birds started coming and stealing his food. He hid behind and under the plant shelf. He seemed terrified and very unhappy.

After calling a number of veterinarians and wildlife rescue organizations, I finally found one in Oakland who agreed to take him. I carefully placed him in a box with a towel for padding. He stopped squeaking only after I put him down. I drove up in to the Oakland hills to a house on the side of a steep valley. The front drive was littered with cages of all sizes and shapes. A young woman came to the door with a baby squirrel on her shoulder. As we stood in the dining room, he tried to jump over to my shoulder, but she stopped him. I think she may have had him wrapped in her robe the entire time I was there, preventing him from leaping around. I looked out to the back balcony because I heard a commotion and there were three fawns! They were super cute, white speckled, baby deer about the size of medium dogs. It appeared they wanted to come in and play. She told me if she let them in they would jump all over us. I wasn’t daunted. Apparently the Oakland Police Department brought them to her a few days before, having found them abandoned. She also had two hummingbirds in a cage. One had just learned to fly. She offered to give me a tour the next time I am there. I figure that I will definitely be seeing her again, given the hunting nature of my cat Rascal.

I called back a few days later to see how Burt had made out. He is fine! Burt was taken to Ohlone Wildlife Rescue in Newark and is now flying with a flock of rescued pigeons.

I am so relieved to know he is okay and now learning how to fly with his own kind!

2007-07-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Rascal and Pearl are the cats who reside in my home with me. To call them “my” cats would be stretching the truth. The reality is, I am their human. I am here, at their beck and call. I feed them, give them water, and provide a lap when needed. Pearl and Rascal balance each other well. You would never guess they are sister and brother. They don’t look anything like each other and their personalities are about as different as you can imagine.

Pearl is a sweet, little gray tabby girl with beautiful green and amber eyes. She mostly hangs around the house, eating and sleeping. Occasionally you will find her outside taking in a spot of sun or saying hello to the neighbors. Pearl is initially shy, but once she knows you she is very demanding of attention. If you are sitting down you are a sure lap, made just for her. Sometimes she follows me from room to room, hopping up on waist high objects (bed, couch, chair) so she can get a pet while you are walking by, all the while chattering away. She is a bit of a whiner. The sweetest thing is when she is on your lap, purring, and gazing up at you adoringly. Of course she has an ulterior motive: to have you scratch her little chin. But I also honestly think she is checking in with you, keeping the love going.

Rascal, on the other hand, is your archetypal, adolescent, tomcat. He is a muscular, sleek, black boy cat. He has about 5 white hairs in the middle of his chest. His eyes are pure gold. Rascal generally exhibits an air of disinterest, unless there is food involved or he wants something from you (food). Rascal is mostly an outdoor kitty. Well, let’s just say he doesn’t spend most of his time in the house. I am not exactly sure where he goes when he is not here. I do know that ALL of the neighbors know him and that is no exaggeration. I live next to an apartment building and all the front doors face out. I can see Rascal making the rounds to each of the 4 floors, visiting everyone. I asked a guy in the building I had never met before if he knew Rascal. He said, “Oh YES, we know Rascal very well over here!” So, it may be that Rascal is couch surfing throughout the night, every night. He usually comes home for a scratch and some food.

About two or three months ago I had a serious scare. It was at the same time as the wet cat food scare. Rascal was looking really run down and tired. I came home from work and there was a note on my door from a neighbor who is particularly fond of Rascal. She stated that he seemed listless and not his usual peppy self. A few days before I noticed that he was home, begging in the kitchen. I even made a comment that someone must be feeding him wet food because he wasn’t happy with the crunchies I was feeding him. At that point I had never fed R&P anything but dry food. The night I received the note getting up the stairs was slow and laborious for him. He came in and drank down two entire bowls of water. He wouldn’t eat the crunchies, but eventually I cracked open a can of tuna and he managed to choke down some of that. I was going to take him to the vet the next afternoon due to issues at work. I talked to my mother who talked me into taking him to pet emergency right away. I am so glad I did.

Taking a pet to the emergency room is probably as traumatic as going to a human emergency room, if not more so. At the Kaiser ER, most of the really dramatic, potentially traumatic stuff either comes in the side door or is behind a closed door. At the pet ER you see every animal, hear every story, and see exactly what is wrong. I saw at least two dogs who were either dead or quickly approaching death. It was really sad. A very drunk couple brought in a huge Airedale who must have weighed a ton. The man was too incoherent to help his partner carry the dog, and she was obviously having a hard time managing his weight. One little poodle-like dog came in covered in blood and the family said he had lost a fight with a pit bull.

Rascal was diagnosed with kidney failure. The outcomes for kidney failure in cats are not great. Often the failure is too far along to be reversed and you have to eventually put them down. Sometimes it can be reversed enough to maintain them with medications and a special diet. In rare occasions, if you treat it aggressively and quickly, the kidney can go back to basically normal functioning. Of course I had to prepare myself for the worst-case scenario: spending a shit load of money trying to save my cat and then having to put him down anyway. Well, Rascal was really lucky. He must have at least 9 lives. After about 4 days in the hospital, he came out with a clean bill of health.

Rascal is back to his old antics. He is at home a bit more than he was before, because I now feed them wet food. Twice a day, like clockwork he is home to lap up the disgusting stuff and beg for more. Sometimes I cave. He did lose quite a bit of weight (2-3 lbs) when he was sick, so he could use a little more meat on his bones.

About a month after his return from the hospital, we had a fun little adventure. I woke up in the middle of the night. I was hearing a “thunk, thunk, thunk.” It was a muted sound coming from one of my closets. I got up and opened my bedroom closet to let out the cat (probably Pearl) I was sure I must have locked in there. No cat. I went to the hall closet and opened it. No cat. I must be hearing things. Back to bed, sleep. Rudely awakened, again. Damn cats. Lights on. There’s Pearl on my bed with me. Oh, and there’s Rascal under the bed snoring away. (Yes, actually both cats snore!) Bedroom closet, open both sides: nothing unusual. Hall closet, open one side: nothing. Open the other side: there I see what looks like a pink, thick tail. Oh shit, there’s a rat in my closet! No, I didn’t scream. I stood back a little. What I thought was a rat, turned around and started hissing at me. It was a baby possum! It had a little white body with a black neck and a pink snout with distinctive little pointy teeth. Really it was quite cute. Pearl is quite interested by this time. I have to push her back into my bedroom. Rascal is still sleeping. I shut the closet door. The last thing I want, besides a possum in my closet, is a possum running around my condo! As I was trying to shake off sleep and figure out what to do with baby possum, I started putting things together in my mind. The day before I had found the pillow I had in the closet had a bit of poop in its pillowcase. I thought it was odd, but figured one of the cats had left a mark before I put the pillow in the closet and I just hadn’t noticed. Very unlikely, but anything is possible. So, how long had this guy been in the closet? Long enough to poop and pee all over the shoulders of most of the coats in the closet.

I could hear my neighbor downstairs watching TV so I called her and asked her what she thought I should do. She suggested calling the Piedmont Police. They have nothing better to apparently. I called them, and even though I don’t live in Piedmont (which they were keen to point out to me as if I didn’t already know), they came with a snare and grabbed the little guy. I was amazed at how flat he was able to get trying to get away from the snare. So, there he was, attached to the bottom of a long pole. I asked where they would take him and the older cop said, “I’m just going to take him out to the street.” The younger cop said flippantly, “In the morning he’ll just be road-kill.” What an ass-hole. In retrospect, I wish I had thrown a towel over him and taken him to a wildlife rescue organization. He would have been better off getting checked out and living in a place away from cars, people, and especially cats! In any case, I haven’t seen any baby possum road-kill. Nor have their been any possum visitors to the condo.

2007-06-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hola Amigos,
This is my last afternoon at the internet cafe, the last few hours before we take off for the airport. The last part of our journey in Mexico will require big muscles to carry all of the things I have bought, a taxi to the bus station, a bus to a bus station closer to the airport, and another taxi to the airport. We get home at around 11:45pm and are hoping that Mike will be there to pick us up. Otherwise we are taking a shuttle home.
Yesterday I made the journey to San Miguel. The fact is, the shopping in Guanajuato sucks. And there were specific things I wanted to get from SMA. Also, K was going in search of tequila and mescal, which I wasn´t too keen on doing myself.
I left in a taxi for the bus station at around 10am. I arrived in SMA at around 12:45pm. I was starving, so I enjoyed a torta at Tortitlan...my favorite torta place ever. You can pretty much tell them exactly what you want on it and they make it. I love how they melt the cheese right on the skillet/grill surface. They burn one side and it is really yummy. Then I asked for grilled onions, chicken, and no mayo. The mayo is way scary. For some reason in Mexico most people leave the mayo out all day in the blazing heat. No worries about bad things growing in it. No thanks! That is touristas/Montezuma´s Revenge waiting to happen. After the torta I went to a few shops collecting the things I had missed the first time. I ended at the mercado, buying bolsas from the local grocers. They have the name of the grocer and bright pictures of fruits and vegetables. I was weighed down with things, but Christmas shopping is complete... before July! How´s that?
Always take the first class bus in Mexico if you can. If you want to see the people and all the places they get on and off between locations, and you don´t mind tacking on an extra half hour or more, take the 2nd class bus. It can be very interesting when you are in the mood. I timed my return for the first class bus. It was the first 1st class bus since I arrived here. I was back in Guanajuato by 5pm.
K and I met back in the room. She had done lots of shopping too and also found out about a cool mescal bar up on the hill outside of town in Santa Valenciana. We went out looking for tamales for dinner. We had tried some the night before and they were excellent (aside from the American cheese in the one I had!). Apparently there is an evening for everything, but not all evenings have the same thing. We could only find elote (corn on the cob - they slather with the scary mayo and pour cheese and chile all over it) but that wasn´t calling. We ended up back at the Mercado Hidalgo. This time we ate at a Fonda, just outside the market. There are stands one next to another, and the owners are cat calling for your business. We went with the place that had guacamole. Of course. If I am going to get touristas, this was the place. I had a plate with beans, salad, and a 1/4 of a chicken. I also got a bottle of auga tamarindo which they must have bought from another stand, because she told me they didn´t have any. If you want it they can get it because someone around has it. It was all very tasty, but I wonder how clean it was. K was more safe with an order of quesadillas. Although she did order one with barbocoa, goat´s meat. It looked okay, but she said it was too gamey and didn´t end up eating it.
Then we went in search of a bus to Valenciana. We were directed here and there. K saw a bus with a sign for "Valenciana." It´s a good thing it dídn´t stop for us, even when we were running after it because it was going the wrong direction. We ended up in a taxi for 30p. It was up up up to the top of the ridge of mountains surrounding Guanajuato. Very beautiful little town. Very isolated. He agreed to return for us in a couple of hours. (It was 80p to get back down.)
It was well worth the trip up there. We met two really nice guys, Alon, the bartender, and Scott the chemist from Toronto working in the mine here. K was really excited because we were able to have a tasting of all the mescals they have. Basically they buy a big barrel of mescal from a guy on a ranch out in the middle of the state. Then they bottle it with different things like cinnamon, ginger, citron, raisins and jamica (rose hips flowers). We also got shots of the mescal reposado (8 years in a barrel). It was excellent. Our new friend Scott had been in the bar most of the day. Apparently, there is no food anywhere in the town, except in the little market. So, he had a liquid lunch and was working on dinner. We invited him to come to town with us.
Back in El Centro, we went to a taqueria that was recommended to us by Riley and Aaron, a few days ago. They enjoyed the food and music by Oscar Chavez...oldish Mexican folk. We got the entire place to ourselves. The chicken sopes had a red sauce that was amazing. After food, we went back to the casa to drop off the bottle of mescal we bought (we will share) and we had a little bottle of mescal K had bought that she didn´t want to bring back to the states, as there are quotas of how much you can briing back with you. Or at least that was the excuse.
Back out in the street, we found Bar Ocho that was recommended by the woman who owns it who K met at the liquor store earlier in the day. Actually, we first stumbled into another place that had big couches, almost as big as beds! Scott and I fell onto one and had a very hard time getting up. It was so inviting! But the problem was the lighting. It was bright as day in there. No mood lighting. I would like to think that it was because they were closing and not that they have no sense of what good mood lighting looks like.
Bar Ocho. Very cool. The coolest place we have been to yet. Lots of cool shit on the walls and bohemian people both inside and out on the patio. It was 4 stories of places to sit and a pool table on the top floor. I met a group of Chinese restauranteurs who came in and sat next to us. I learned some Mandarin. Like "ganbei" means cheers in Mandarin. It was all a little sureal. We stumbled out of there and to another taco place at around 1am. Those baby tacos tasted so good! Satisfaction. We got Scott in a cab going back to his apartment in Valenciana. I am pretty sure he made it okay.
I was feeling pretty cruda (hungover) this morning. I think K was suffering a bit too. It has mostly worn off by now. Lots of water and some good food helps.
We had an expensive breakfast this morning...$190p ... the ONLY thing I have put on my credit card my entire vacation. Not bad. I had eggs with a sincronizada under it. I am not surprised if you don´t know what that is. It is two flour tortillas with ham and cheese melted in the middle. The entire thing had a red sauce over it. During breakfast we had to suffer through two musicos muy mal. You know the drill: they come and play, standing right next to you (which is almost unbearable with a hangover), and then they want a tip, even though you didn´t want to hear them in the first place. It´s a bit of a dilemma because they have nothing I am sure, but on the other hand, I really just wanted to pay them to go away.
After some last photos, searching for items at the pharmacy, and some little chochkeys, we are ready to go. The bags are packed. K is actually waiting for me. We are going to try to have one last meal: chiles enogada. Finally we found a place that has it.
Hasta luego amigos.
Besos,
Elisabeth

2007-06-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, it is SUPER hot here. I like it mostly, but it can sap your energy really quick if you aren´t careful. The internet cafe is a good place to be in the middle of the day when you can´t find any shade outside anywhere.
Yesterday I walked up to El Pipila monument. It takes about 20 minutes with frequent breaks to catch your breath. I don´t remember if I mentioned that this town is at more than 6000 feet. It was in the morning, so it was still relatively cool out. I took some great photos of Pipila. The view from up there is incredible, so I got a bunch of photos of the town and the surrounding mountains as well.
In the afternoon, K and I met up for lunch. We walked down to the Mercado Hidalgo, making a number of stops in interesting looking shops. Our priority was finding some good tacos. After walking around the market a little, we settled on a stand that had carnitas, tacos and tortas (Mexican sandwiches). It wasn´t an easy decision because there were so many to choose from. We each had two large tacos and I had a coke. It was $5. It seems like prices have gone up a bit, but that was still a decent deal. And I saw another patron pay for the exact meal and it was the same price. Often I think we get prices and salsas for gringas.
After satisfying our need for food, we wandered around the market. It is quite small and doesn´t hold a candle to the one in SMA. I was very disappointed. It actually made me want to go back to SMA to buy some things I was sure I could find here, but haven´t. Anyway, it is a large building, about the size of a Safeway at home, with lots of stalls. Upstairs there is a balcony, one stall thich, that has tourist chochkeys. Most of it was complete junk. I did get a few interesting things.
On the way back to the center of town we stopped in a number of little plazas. They are all over the place here. It is a good thing, because the traffic on the main streets is thick with petrol fumes, enough to get you really high. And there were lots of people on very narrow sidewalks. So, going via the little side streets is much more agreeable.
We stopped in the Jardin for a cool drink, which was actually warm. Not as refreshing as expected. That was a short rest before a serious nap.
After a nice shower and getting some decent clothes on we looked around for some street grub. Unlike SMA there are lots of places to get tacos, tortas, chile rellenos, pozole, sopes, and huaraches (a bigger version of a sope in the shape of a shoe sole). K wasn´t too keen on any of the options available, so we went to a plaza we had passed through. After looking at all the menus, settled on La Oreja de Van Gough. While we were searching out a restaurant, we stumbled upon a really great jazz band playing. Unfortunately we weren´t able to hear them from our table, because they were in the next plaza over.
Dinner was acceptable, but nothing amazing. We left there and decided to get a bottle of tequila for the next part of our evening. At the Jardin is also a church and Teatro Juarez right next to each other. In front of the church there is a band that plays every night. The group is all dressed in matching costumes like they used to wear in the 1600s. They do a little show and then take off through the town, singing and playing as they go. It was silly fun. They actually go part of the way to our room, so we stopped in and dropped off the bottle. We met back up with the group, following the music it was easy to find them. During this parade, you are required to pay $80 pesos. For that you can be a part of the parade and they give you a ceramic thing (that looks a lot like a bong) from which you drink orange juice. When I first saw it I thought it was pulque, but I was mistaken, much to our dismay.... We have both been wanting to try it and haven´t had an opportunity yet. Apparently it has a very low alcohol content and you have to drink a lot of it to get any buzz from it. Anyway, when they realized we didn´t have a cup, they made us leave.
Later in the evening K and I parted and I went back to the casa. There I met up with the guy I had met a day or two before. Then a French guy (Franc) joined us. It was a good conversation about cool places to see in the world and especially in Mexico. It was Franc´s first time in Mexico. He is loving it so far.
When I returned to the casa, K had already gone to bed. I ran into (almost literally) one of the students living in another room in our casa. We started talking and moved up to the terrace so we wouldn´t bother K and la Señora Lidia. Then the other student joined us. I was really putting my Spanish to good use. At times I understood well, and other times I had no idea what they were talking about. Both are from the state of Guanajuato and are attending school at the University if Guanajuato. Armando is also a folklorico dancer and a bull rider. That is quite a combination! When I asked what he liked better he said bull riding, without a doubt. Abraham is into mountain biking, climbing, rapelling, and other outdoor sports. It sounded like their parents were all well educated, teachers and something for the government.
This morning we got up and had a breakfast of frutas and cafe with Sñra Lidia. While we were sitting there, a man came in with two huge boxes of candy. During the day she comes down to the Plaza Mexiamora (the closest plaza) and sells candy to the kids who go to school nearby. It seems as if she is the grandmother to all of them. Anyway, she bought a stack of new candy to sell. She paid with a plastic bag full of coins. It was about $200p. I wonder if she is making any money with her side job? She also told us that she isn´t in any guide books for lodging because they wanted to charge her per person she gets to stay at her place. Apparently Casa Bertha has to pay some of the guide books to get their name in them. It seems really wrong to me. We told her that when we got home we would plug her place to the Lonely Planet. We are fairly sure they don´t charge.
Just outside of town is an area called Presa de la Olla. We took the bus up there after breakfast. Many of the homes are grand art deco places. Their roofs are caving in, but they still run businesses in them. Social services. Go figure. Actually the CPS down here DIF is located in a very nice, fairly new building. We stopped in at a haunted house that was recommended by Sñra. It was silly, but still I was scared. We were supposed to see real antiques, but I don´t think there was one real antique in the entire house.
The walk back to town was getting really hot, so we jumped back on a bus and here I am!
We have two and a half more days to explore Guanajuato, more than enough time. This afternoon we are planning to check out the Museum of Diego Rivera, some building with famous murals, and the Callejon de los Besos. The story is much like Romeo and Juliet. Feuding families and two kids in love. The callejon (very small street) is so narrow they were able to reach across and kiss each other from their respective balcony´s. So romantic. I am also considering taking a day trip back to SMA to pick up those things I didn´t get when I was there. It´s a bit of a trek though, so I´m not sure yet what I want to do.
Well, I need to run to the baño. I have to drink lots of water down here. And still I feel dehydrated constantly. I will see you all very soon!
Muchos besos,
Elisabeth

2007-06-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
We arrived in Guanajuato yesterday. It´s a good thing we left SMA because I think if I had stayed there a minute longer I would have killed Kathleen. Not necessarily through any fault of her own. For those of you who know both of us know that we both have very strong personalities, and we know what we want and what we don´t want. Some things are important to her that I couldn´t care less about and the other way around. Also, I have noticed that she is very cautious about certain things that I don´t worry about at all, but I worry about things that she would not think twice about doing.
For example, when we first arrived in SMA she spotted a bar across the street from our hotel. It is a cantina with the swinging doors. El Gato Negro. I told her that from what I understand, only putas go into places like that. They are for men and an occasional hooker. (of couse the irony of a white hooker in SMA is not lost on me) Anyway, she was obsessed with going into El Gato and I refused. Well, the evening before we left she found out that this particular cantina is actually okay for women. And gringas are definitely welcome and not considered to be selling themselves. This was a comforting thought for me, but I still wasn´t really interested. Anyway, because I wouldn´t go with her, I will never live it down. Oh well. I figure if we find a similar place here I will amuse her curiosity and go with her.
So, on the other hand, it is not unlike Kathleen to carry around three different bags so she can have her money with her and spread out over her body. Very smart I know. But I just can´t be bothered. A safe in the room would be nice, but at $10-20 a night, we are not finding safes in our rooms. So, I hide things around and just hope that we are staying in places where the housekeeping is honest.
In spite of these differences, our crabbiness with each other is around guess what!!? You guessed it! Being too hungry. We both lose our minds when we are hungry. It is not a good combination. The other problem is when we have different ideas of what we want to eat. I was looking in vain for tacos all over SMA. There are no good taco places that are open late. For some reason the stands didn´t look too appealing for various reasons. The stands on El Jardin were all elote (corn), helado (ice cream) and hamburguesas or salchichas (hot dogs). I have no idea why there are no taco stands on El Jardin. Anyway, one night we were starving after spending the afternoon at La Gruta, a hot spring place. That was a disappointing adventure in itself and when we got back to SMA we were rushing to be ready for drinks with friends of K´s. We ended up at El Tomate, a health food restaurant. This was not at all what I was looking for, having been dreaming about succulent tacos for the last 3 nights. So after a small meltdown on my part, I left and got a hamburger. It was really good for street food. I have yet to get tacos!
Yesterday we had a VERY Mexican experience at the bus station. K bought the tickets and for some reason neither of us thought to ask for the tickets. Well, you HAVE to have a ticket to take the bus. So, when I realized that the woman hadn´t given us our tickets, just before we were supposed to take off, I ran to the counter to have her print us out new tickets. That would have been way too easy. She claimed to have printed them and handed them to us. K and I were positive that she just gave us the change, but no tickets. She said she could not re-print them no matter how much I tried to argue...which is difficult given my level of Spanish. I was able to basically state what I needed to, getting my point across. But this is Mexico and a rule is a rule. You must have a ticket to take the bus. It didn´t matter that she had a record of us paying for the tickets and she even remembered us buying them. After much argument I paid for two more tickets. I decided that it wasn´t worth having a heart attack over $12 total! I never for one minute gave any thought to the fact that she was taking us for a ride. K suggested that she printed out our tickets and then sold them to someone else and pocketed the cash. I hate to think like that about people, but I think that is a likely explanation. There is no way she gave us those tickets. And if she hand´t sold them to someone else, what would it be to her to re-print the tickets. Anyway, maybe not. It certainly isn´t the first time I have experienced something so rediculous in Mexico that was due to some crazy rule that no one wanted to bend.
You take the bad with the good down here.
The towns we have visited have all been very well kept up. There are garbage cans everywhere and people hired to clean the streets regularly: in SMA, Queretaro, and Guanajuato too. One thing that has taken me totally by surprise is the cleanliness of most of the bathrooms in town. Even the bus stations have clean bathrooms with toilet seats and paper. It costs 3 pesos. Well worth it if you ask me!
Guanajuato is really amazing. It is a colonial town tucked into a little valley with houses built up the hillside and streets are mostly walking only. The roads for cars are mostly underground. The tunnels are very old, built for the mining that was going on here when the town was first built. This is a town of many college students, some tourists/travelers from around the world and lots from here in Mexico. It has lots of history as one of the first places the revolution was started. It was a big mining town and was very wealthy as a result. Many of the buildings are very grand and seem strange given the scale of the tiny streets. We have yet to really explore. It seems a place you could get very lost and turned around. There is no grid here. Pipila (a statue of a revolutionary, not Jesus) is the only real landmark I have been able to use to find my way around. I am looking forward to seeing the Diego Rivera Muesum (where he was born), the mummies, el mercado (of course), and some of the churches.
Our room is up on one hill off a tiny alley. There are alleys everywhere, winding up the hills. Walking only. I had to lug my suitcase up a zillion stairs to get there. But it is $10 each per night, quite a deal! There is nothing fancy, but Lidia, La Señora, is very nice and accomodating. We have our own keys and can come and go as we please. It seems like a good deal. We looked at another place too, but it was too much noise and people for K. But, we ended up meeting two nice kids who are traveling around Mexico. We had dinner with them last night and may meet up with them again. It´s always entertaining to meet people and exchange travel stories.
I have tried to send some postcards, but you probably won´t get them until after I return. I failed to get stamps the first day and then it was the weekend and then a holiday; May 1 is Labor Day here. When I finally got to the postoffice all they had were the stamps they print out separately. They are too big, or I have written too much on each card to accomodate the sticker. So, I will try again.
Well, I think I have shared enough for the moment. My wrists are beginning to ache. And I need a nap. I got very little sleep last night. Too much fun. That is what vacations are for right?! Hope you are all well!
Love, Elisabeth

2007-06-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Kathleen and I arrived in San Miguel de Allende yesterday morning. It took us about 2 hours to get here from the Leon airport- which is brand-spanking new. We took a taxi to the bus station, a bus to Guanajuato and another bus to SMA. I was able to sleep a lot. We were on a second class bus from G - SMA which stopped every 10 minutes to stop and pick up people going into town. It got very crowded and I wasn´t too popular when I had my suitcase in the seat next to me. I quickly moved it to the aisle after almost killing myself trying to put it in the overhead area.
We walked around a little when we got here and looked for a hotel. We weren´t finding anything good for a decent price. Both of us were also hungry. Not a good mix. The two of us hungry is like a volcano about to errupt. So, we stepped into a Mexican version of a healthy, organic restaurant. I had yogurt, granola, and fruit topped with the best honey I have ever tasted in my entire life. Once fortified and cooled off, I went to scope out some hotels. I found the perfect place, close to the center, but not so close that they can charge an arm and a leg. It is a great old home with rooms around a central courtyard. It has two double beds, a fireplace, and a very clean bathroom. The people running it seem very nice and helpful. I looked at a bunch of rooms before I went back to get K. Later we found that it has a beautiful patio on the roof. Perfect for drinking beers at sunset.
We have been walking around taking lots of photos. Eating great food. I even found a place that has excellent coffee, which is a feat, as most places here think Nescafe is coffee. I don´t usually drink coffee, but the tea here is not so good, so I will have to sacrafice!
Last night we found a beautiful restaurant that had a rooftop terrace where we had a drink while we listened to a band that was playing on another roof nearby. Very nice. At night they light up all of the churches, so they all have a halo around them when the sun goes down.
I got to have some pozole! It was so yummy. Not as good as what I used to get in Cuernavaca, but it will have to do.
Kathleen almost got her wallet pinched earlier today. Luckily she is very aware and caught it just in time. That could have been very bad, but it makes me remember to be extra careful with my backpack. You have to be conscious of your surroundings, even when it feels very safe. It actually feels extremely safe here, even at night.
Kathleen and I have been getting along fine. There have been a few moments when I had to tell her to back off, like when she started telling me what I should put in my photos. But nothing more than that. We have to make certain that we don´t get hungry at the same time because that could be a disaster.
So far I think of San Miguel de Allende as the best of Mexico... that is if you like your bathrooms spotless, toilet to have a seat on it, toilet paper available to use even in most of the public bathrooms, clean streets, mellow drivers who don´t consider you a target when you are crossing the street, yoga and pilates studios (although not as many as in Berkeley), and beautiful old architecture. It really is a beautiful town. It is a little too gringo-ized for me, but I can understand why old white people want to move here. It is a perfect mix of Mexico and Santa Barbara or Santa Fe. I like my Mexico a bit grittier, but I am certainly not complaining.
I have surprised myself with my understanding of Spanish and my ability to express myself. I really had a hard time in Spain, so I didn´t expect it to be so easy here. I have even been translating a little for K, when she really needs it. Her Spanish is getting much better as we go, but sometimes people speak really fast, making it hard to comprehend. One of my favorite expressions is ¨mas despacio por favor.¨ Well that´s about it for now. Just so you know, my cell phone is on if you have some emergency, but I have no idea how many hundreds of $ it will cost to use it. Unblock your # if you really need me to know who it is. Also, a text message I can receive. No photos please!
More soon.
Love, Elisabeth
p.s. alison, i forgot to get your parents address/phone # to say hello. i would love to do that if you can drop me an email with their information. thanks!

2006-11-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

This is a first posting. I have been thinking about doing this for some time now. Just reflecting on things more often. Lots has gone on in my life over the last year and I have only recorded some of it. Now I would like to blog daily. Just as a daily journal would be, except online. We'll see how it goes.