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This is how we meet new friends:

Linda and Dan live close to us in Pinal Villa. Rosalie had been in contact with Linda through Facebook messenger but we had never met since they stayed away last year due to Covid. They called and asked if they could come by. Are we going to say no? I guess not! We had a really nice hour or so with them and agreed to meet again soon.

I, with my weird sense of humour, imagined them riding off on their bikes and the conversation going something like this: “So what do you think?” She replies “Well, Rosalie seems nice and I really like the dress she was wearing but he’s a bit weird with that phoney British accent and all”

Once they’re gone our conversation goes like this: Rosalie, “So, what do you think?” I reply ” She’s okay but I don’t like him. He’s younger and better looking and obviously way smarter than me.”

We all have these conversations when we meet new people and can only hope that they mostly go well; which in this case they did..

It’s so nice to see so many of our other friends arriving here. We were a little lonely last season but now we can’t keep up with the social life. We are suddenly inundated with invitations. I think that people we know here haven’t caught up yet and assume that we are the only Norteños here and invite us out.

Jim and Ylda and Art Sr. arrived on the weekend. We thought we were picking them all up at the airport but J&Y already had a ride so we thought we were taking Art home. He came out the gate and was greeted by a lady so we thought we had come to the airport for nothing. It turns out that this was the Mexican friend coming to pick up J&Y but they didn’t quite have enough room in their car so we got to take Art home after all.

I went to pay for the parking at the machine inside the airport. I inserted my ticket with the total being 60 pesos, I put in a new 20 peso note but the darn machine spat it out. I tried an old note and that was accepted. The guy behind me traded my new note for an old one and I tried again. No Luck! It spat that one out too.

I ran to the car to get change from Rosalie but she wouldn’t part with even 20 pesos. By this time I was getting desperate. The parking cost was probably getting in the 70 peso range and all I had were 500s. Finally, I borrowed 50 pesos from an acquaintance who happened to be waiting for his sister and I made it work. In the future, I won’t be going to the airport without a whole bunch of change. In the meantime, Art was waiting by the car sucking on a cerveza chatting with Rosalie.

I punished him by taking him home and feeding him one of Rosalie’s delicious dinners. He also had access to a cold beer on the way home so he seemed quite happy.

After we finally dropped him off at his place we dropped in to see J & Y who live almost next door. We only planned to say hi and leave but after a few cervezas we ended up driving home in the dark after all.

The following day we had to pay the money for the rest of our trip in December so off to the bank to take a hefty amount out, Like 70,000 pesos. We still owed Art about 22,000 so had to get that too. After paying all this out there wasn’t enough left for us so back to the bank. Unfortunately by then, the bank had run out of cash. I had to make sure I had enough for our car repairs the following day.

That evening we met with Dan and Linda for an evening of entertainment at Tito’s restaurant. We also met up with a lot of old acquaintances including Jim and Ylda and of course Art. Afterwards, we went by Banamex and picked up more cash.

It was a rough twenty-four hours.

A few days ago Rosalie was feeling a little queasy and as the day progressed she got worse and entered the full upchuck mode. I, on the other hand, was feeling quite chipper…for a while.

I drove into town and got some ginger ale which seemed to help a little. Then later in the evening I started to feel bad and entered upchuck mode as well. The heat seemed to intensify as we got worse. I had a rough night and sometime in the night I woke up and found that I had a bit of a fever. The next day we were feeling a bit better but still not quite there yet. The heat didn’t help. But it rained the next morning and cooled things off so that helped.

On the third day, we still felt queasy but were getting cabin fever so decided to go to Papá Gallos for a change of pace. I was still feeling bad enough that I thought we may have to return home. Rosalie though was getting desperate for a glass of wine so I toughed it out for her sake.

The main square was busy as Dias de Los Muertos was coming to an end so we decided to stop and take a look. There were students everywhere putting up shrines. Rosalie wanted some ‘pan muerto’ a festive bread for the day of the dead. Trying to enter the bakery we found that they were blocked by boards strung across the entrance. After thinking about it for a bit, I realized that it was to keep the floodwater out. I spoke to one of the shop keepers and he said that the water even came over the top of the boards.

At Papá Gallo’s we decided to only have one glass of wine each as we were still feeling a little off. The waiters were very talkative and friendly as we were the only ones in there. Anyway, after two hours, a lot of wine and a shared fajita we were feeling a hundred percent better, so we went home and watched Netflix.

It was a hot afternoon so Rosalie and I decided that instead of going to the beach we would lounge around and read our books. Another one of our activities.

We had the fans on for a bit of cool when I heard thump, bang, crash from the one nearest me. I thought nothing of it at the time; maybe a leaf got caught up, who knows. Then, curiosity got the better of me and I got up to look and there was a gecko laying still in the bottom of the fan cage.

I thought he had to be dead as the fan hit it pretty hard. After giving it a poke with a screwdriver, it moved. Great now I don’t have to dig a grave. So far so good, they obviously have very hard heads now how do I get it out of there?

He needed just a few more prods.

I tried to take the fan cover off but it wasn’t that easy. So I resorted to the prod and go method. This entailed prodding him gently until he got up and left. It seems to work when Rosalie does it to me so why not?. Finally, he was smart enough to get up and leave and he didn’t look any the worse for wear. Me, on the other hand, was a basket case from the stress of it all.

For the last few days, there have been threats of thunderstorms and rain. It hasn’t happened so far but we are watching the weather news. There was a tropical storm south of us and we expected rain from that but it didn’t happen.

I’ve had to plan a different route out of Pinal Villa as one of the puddles has gotten to the point where I don’t trust going through it anymore. It’s deep and may be full of cocodrilos, who knows? It’s right outside Omar’s house so I will have to have a word with him about that. When I say a word, I mean a word as my Spanish isn’t that good…yet.

The temperature has been about 33 C and with the humidity feels like 46 C. Even so, we haven’t been to the beach too often for whatever reason. I think we are getting acclimated as it doesn’t bother us too much. Papá Gallo’s is open almost full-time now so we know we can get a decent margarita anytime; a big plus to our lifestyle.

Our trip to Copper Canyon is booked, from December 9th to 15th; something we’ve been planning to do for a while now. We’re really looking forward to it. About sixteen people are on the tour so a great opportunity to make new friends.

A lot of friends are coming down here next month and we’re looking forward to seeing them and enjoying several happy hours together.

There seem to be more iguanas here at the ranch than in previous years. We were wondering if it was because the trees were knocked down and the lost their habitats. They are mostly youngsters and bright green.

We went for a drive in the country for a while today, and ended up having lunch in Colomilla. We had to take a barco (boat) across the lagoon to get there, but worth it as always.

Our view at lunchtime

Our ride back

It did rain after all. I fact it was so bad we had to go inside; a first this year. We grabbed all our electronics and took them in too. It was mostly blowing in and splashing. With nothing better to do, we went dancing naked in the rain. Something I think all seniors should do at some point in their lives. It was fun. (Video available on request; if you’re brave enough.) 

It was a bit chilly but a nice change from the heat we’ve been having. We can only go to Papá Gallo’s so many times to cool off. Because They already know our names, favourite drinks, what we are about to order and names of all our kids, grandkids, and local acquaintances. 

There are some people here who are becoming very close friends because of the kind of people they are. The only problem is that they are “NON-VAXXERS” Oh! my god, run away and be darn quick about it. I don’t want anything to do with them! Unclean!! Unclean!!

What a load of Bull Sh-t. They have been shunned by family and friends because it was their choice not to get vaccinated. I have a number of issues with this whole thing. First and foremost is to remember that they are more at risk than we are, so why are they being shunned? They should be shunning us. If they choose to come to a gathering of friends who are vaccinated and they’re not, they know that that’s their problem and they know they have to deal with it.

I found it incredible that they mentioned that they don’t want to make people feel uncomfortable??? The only people feeling uncomfortable are those who don’t think the whole thing through.

It’s interesting to note that they don’t tell us that we should not get vaccinated. They allow us to make our own choice. As I said in a previous blog they are not Anti-Vaxxers but Non-Vaxxers; an important distinction.

If you are vaccinated or not, you can still carry and transmit the virus. Those who are vaccinated have a lesser chance of complications so what is their problem? You can get infected by a friend whom you know is vaccinated, so what is the difference between someone who is and someone who isn’t vaccinated? The only difference is that the unvaccinated person is more at risk. Their choice! The control freak’s attitude is “It only makes sense that you should get vaccinated, because I did, and I know better.”

How can family or friends judge what a person can or can’t do? I’ve said this so many times during that pandemic but I’ll say it again “My choices are none of your damn business.”

I don’t agree with our friends but respect their choice. Are we going to shun them? Not a frickin’ chance: they are awesome people and we have had some great afternoons with them. Are we going to lose good friends because they are more compromised than us? Not a chance.

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Oh! And Rosalie got her hair done again

We need to open our minds and think folks.

We was robbed. We were robbed at the beach today. We sat minding our own business and were blatantly robbed by three bandidos. 

They came out of nowhere and viciously held us up with popcorn and chewing gum. We reluctantly handed over our loose change, about 30 pesos although Rosalie was more afraid than I and donates an extra peso just in case. 

One of the Bandidos

I couldn’t understand why the rest of the locals were laughing at us. Don’t they see how serious this is becoming? They are becoming a scourge on the beach. Next time they come by I’ll  direct them to the Québécois’table, that’ll teach ‘em.

They were kids ranging from about five to eight. This was our second hold up in a few days. Mostly the beach vendors are fine, when we say no gracias they leave us alone. Some that we know well, we buy a bottle of water for, as their’s is a hot tiring job. Some are a bit pushy, there is one women though, who has over stepped the line on occasion and I think we will have to be a little harder on her. She empties all her stuff onto the table and won’t take no for an answer until I get mad at her and eventually she may go away.

We left our dashcam in Canada with the idea that we would get another one for down here. So, I ordered one from Amazon and got it in a few days. I ran all the wires inside the car for the front camera just to see how it worked. Then my problems began.

First I found that both 12-volt outlets were not working. I checked the fuses as much as I could and found a burnt one. While we were in Cihuatlán I found some more fuses. I installed one and it worked.

Next: read the instructions??? They were printed so small I couldn’t see them. I knew that Google would help me out, not so. I couldn’t find a manual for the thing. Feeling clever, I took photos of each page and blew them up but the quality was so bad I sighed and quit.

But wait, we have an HP printer/scanner: I could scan the small print in and then blow it up to make it readable; Brilliant! Of course, it wasn’t that easy. I first had to find and download the HP drivers. I got the whole package but nothing worked. I think the printer may be hooped as it tends to print randomly; even in the middle of the night.

Anyway, I managed to get the dash-cam up and running so that’s a step forward. The printer can wait for another day.

Besides that, we were surprised to find that Pápa Gallo’s was open for Canadian thanksgiving dinner so we booked a table. We were talking to the owners, Gary and Joyce, and told them that we should be thanked for our patronage as we kept them open last season. Gary responded that if it wasn’t for us he could have closed earlier and saved wages. All in fun, and they also told us Gerry and Elaine were coming that night. We shared a table with them, did some catching up and had a great evening.

We’ve had a lot of thunderstorms since we got here accompanied by lots of rain, so when we go out we are mostly driving through very deep puddles. All part of the fun of living here. We hung our laundry up and had to wait a few days for it to dry.

There is a cleaner who comes each week. Usually it’s Rubi, but apparently she ran off with another guy to Pátzcuaro. So she recommended her Mum, Lupe who arrived at 10 am and at 6 pm we were still trying to get her to leave. She wasn’t slow, just too thorough. We only pay 250 pesos about $15 so Rosalie added another $100 pesos to the payment but she still wouldn’t leave. Rosalie messaged Rubi to let her know that Mum was over doing it. If she wants the job she has to cut it back to no more that three hours. The problem is that we have to stay out of the place for that long, Not a good idea when we need to make dinner.

The other downside was that she managed to find three scorpions in the house. One was right by where I was sitting this morning. I will be a lot more vigilant from now on.

It was Raquel’s granddaughter’s birthday and we were honoured to be invited to join the festivities. The party was to start at 3 pm but it didn’t seem to be jumping enough at the time, for us, so we waited a while. Most Mexican activities start later than planned, so I thought going early wasn’t a good idea.

In the meantime, we watched the setup of the bouncy castles, tables and chairs and all the other things associated with a four-year-old’s birthday party. Rosalie wanted to try the bouncy castle but I vetoed that as I remember a few years ago she nearly broke her neck on a trampoline. I was tempted to let her try this time since the trampoline incident had been hilarious.

I was a little apprehensive to go over, as we knew no one other than Raquel and Omar. Also, no one except Raquel and her son Lalo Jr. speaks English. We readily accepted the offered tacos, although I could only manage one.

The whole thing turned out fine, as we were left alone with Raquel. We enjoyed all the babies; said how cute they were and the Mums and Dads smiled their appreciation. We watched the bigger kids trying to maim themselves on the bouncy castle. Altogether, a fun afternoon.

Lalo Jr. does our dental work every year but he had a problem remembering us. Of course, he has a lot of clients and can’t remember everyone.

These are upper-middle-class Mexicans, and like most places in the world, there is a hierarchy. As we were waiting to join the festivities I noticed a little boy standing on our side the gate looking in. It reminded me somewhat of me as a kid. I wasn’t sad or upset about being on the outside looking in; it was just the way it was. Some have money, some don’t, you just keep pushing until you get to where “they” are; or not, your choice.

Raquel had to leave to babysit another grandkid so we gave our thanks and went home. Later I noticed that they were starting to bash some pinatas. We hustled over there and had fun watching the kids beat the hell out of these things. They always let the little kids go first and in the end, the heavy, older kids move in and demolish it once and for all. In the video, the guy pulling the rope is Lalo Pimienta Jr., Raquel’s son. The stocky guy in the blue shirt is Omar, and the tall lady behind Rosalie is Susanna, Omar’s wife. I did some misspelling of the video title which just shows that even I aren’t perfect.

Rosalie, in the meantime, found Omar and Suzanna’s new baby at which point Suzanna walked off and left us to babysit. It was nice that they trusted us enough to leave their three-month-old baby with us. Eventually, Omar came by and relieved us of the lovely little bundle and we went back to our casa to spend the rest of the evening.

But we weren’t quite finished, Lalo Jr. along with the little birthday girl Lua, came by with some birthday cake for us. We wrecked our fasting but what the heck it’s only once in a while. They also brought us a goodie bag of candies, that we will hand out to the kids in the neighbourhood, who didn’t get to attend. In the meantime, the adults were having fun now, in the bouncy castle, giggling like a bunch of kids. All in all a very fun day.

While driving around town, we saw a few palapas being repaired because of the hurricane. Raquel told us that a section of our patio roof had been torn off and they had to replace it, as well as the palapa of our neighbours. The plants around our patio were all gone when we got here, now, after less than a week, they are between six and eight inches high already. Soon things will be back to normal.

The streets in most places are usually pretty bad for driving but now they are worse, with puddles everywhere. It will fill in and be back to normal soon. While driving through Jaluco, the paved streets are covered in sand that has washed down from goodness knows where.

We took our first trip to Chiuatlán to pick up a dashcam I had ordered for the car. I enjoy putting together those ridiculous videos of the drivers here. Having said that I got a few scratches on the car and almost killed a garbage can today, and I hadn’t even been drinking…Yet!

Rosalie just commented that the best thing about our trip down here was that we booked our flight back in June and we had no cancellations. Now that’s a novelty!

We went for lunch at Bugambilias as we had only just stocked up our supplies. Though we like eating there, it was disappointing, but fuel for the blog. I will recap a blog I wrote several years ago:

While in Barra one year, I ordered a rib-eye steak; it was a quarter-inch piece of shoe leather. A few weeks later we went for lunch in Melaque and there was rib eye on the menu but not wanting to chance it I ordered the ham steak. I got the same piece of shoe leather as before. Later still, knowing that this trend can’t possibly continue, I once again ordered rib-eye. Guess what? I got the same piece as I had before, tough as leather. I swear it had my teeth marks from before on it, but Rosalie says I’m being ridiculous; as if.

Anyway, Rosalie ordered a ‘surf and turf’ the surf was fine but the turf was that same f**king piece of shoe leather I had previously ‘enjoyed’ – Not. I was so mad I only tipped them 20%. We went home so that Rosalie could calm me down with a few glasses of wine and an Agavero. Incidentally, it’s so hot at the moment that before I had finished my Agavero my wine got warm. It’s not all fun and games here in Pinal Villa.

We’ve been coming here since 2005; some things have changed but not a lot really. The people are just as awesome as they always were. A few more buildings have gone up and there has been some damage from the storms; other than that it’s still the beautiful paradise we have always loved and looked forward to.

The taxi pulled up outside of El Rancho and we saw the gates were open which was a bit unusual. When we looked inside it was heartbreaking. We had been warned by Omar that there had been some damage but we weren’t expecting this. The two beautiful Parota trees were nowhere to be seen, The Jacka tree was gone, and so were about six coconut palms. Almost all the mango trees, the platano and banana trees were gone as well as our lovely little papaya. At least Omar can’t steal them when we’re not looking anymore. Also, all the foliage around our patio was nowhere to be seen.

It was devastating. Omar and a bunch of other guys were working away trying to make the place look a bit better. It must be serious as Omar was working on a Sunday, which he rarely does. The good thing down here is that things grow quickly so although it won’t quite be as it was, I’m sure it will look great in a year or two. They are already planning on planting more trees. Raquel said our rent money will be for new trees.

I got the car started after cleaning up the battery terminals and we went into town for supplies. Luckily the beer and wine store was open even on a Sunday. Then off to the beach to drown our sorrows with a Margarita, a glass of wine and a bite to eat. It feels good to be back. We paid about $30 for two meals and two drinks each. Yesterday in Nanaimo we paid $60 for some wings and fries which we shared, and three drinks. And people wonder why we live here half the year.

We hadn’t had much sleep on the plane so we both crashed for a couple of hours. It will take a few days to acclimatize but we’ll get over it. Wine helps.