My blog will probably be a little late. I destroyed my Mac book air by spilling wine on it. If I had been inebriated at the time I could use that as an excuse but no, I was stone cold stupid.
I’m always careful around my computers and am aware of the damage a glass of wine can do. This day though, was different. I picked up my wine and it caught on the edge of a note book I use for our investments and “kaboom” …disaster!
Within seconds I turned it down side up and doused it with clean water. I then asked Rosalie if she had any rice. We had just come back from the beach and she was a little giggly and told me “no, but we had lots of spaghetti.” Good suggestion, but not very helpful.
Before going out for dinner I left it upside down on a paper towel and called on the universe to heal it. It didn’t work. I’ll bring it back to Canada and see if I can fix it.
We went for our COVID tests this morning. We were told to get there early as there may be line ups. They open at eight so we got there just after seven. We were the only ones there so we got in early and were home by eight. Now we wait.
This the worst part of the season both here and in Canada: packing to leave.
It’s tough because we have to pack all our stuff but need to use some of it in the time before we leave. Luckily we don’t have to pack the booze.
I’ve been spraying all my tools with silicon as the air is somewhat salty and things rust quickly. It doesn’t seem to affect the car too much which is a bonus. However, I like to cover it with a shade cloth to keep some of the crud off of it.
Earlier in the year, I borrowed a step ladder from Omar’s bodega, to put up the shade cloth, but I don’t think he liked it and has kept the shed locked ever since. So, as I had to remove the said sombrilla, I asked him very politely, in Spanish, if I could use it again. He grinned and said “Si.”
Once that conversation was over I asked him if he wanted my hammock, as with the use of the loungers I don’t need it anymore. The look on his face was priceless. I can’t wait to tell him that I don’t want my guitar either.
We went to Papa Gallo’s for the last time yesterday (Monday). It was sad to say goodby to all our newfound friends who helped us so much with our Spanish and the Mexican culture. We learned a lot from them. However, we did have a few margaritas as well as a glass or two of wine to see us on our way. Rosalie was so into the wine that she insisted on staying for dinner.
I think the packing would be over a lot quicker if Rosalie didn’t insist on going to the beach every day.
Today the temperature hit 32 C. We were a bit warm so went to Barra Sunset Bar, to cool off at the beach. The problem was; it was so windy it was actually cold. So, we had a glass of wine and went home to sweat it out.
They started the round of second vaccinations in Cihuatlan today but are doing it alphabetically, so being Wells’ we didn’t get a look in. That is, until Rosalie got a text from her friend Elke saying that the alphabet idea had been scrapped and anyone could go right away starting tomorrow. We decided though to wait until we get home to Canada. As I said, it is warm at the moment and lining up for goodness knows how long isn’t a pleasant idea. Also, it won’t do us any good with solitary confinement anyway. So we’ll wait.
We have finally caved in and decided to come home and let ourselves be incarcerated in a local quarantine hotel or solitary confinement as we call it. As it turns out, it may not be too bad. Our costs are $400 a night food included, and we may be able to get a refund if our test comes back early and negative. So, we’re flying out on 1st May after overnighting in PV.
Papa Gallo’s is mostly closing this week so a new ‘local’ will have to be found for our margaritas in the afternoon.
The folks there will be missed, they helped us a lot with our Spanish as well as the Mexican culture. Gabino, one of the waiters, spoke only Spanish all season. Just last week we found out that he is fairly fluent in English. He and Rafael worked together at the big hotel until it was wrecked in the earthquake in 1995.
Iris is the cook (pronounced Ee-ree-s.) she is great and her food is always delicious. While we were waiting for the photo op, she was missing and Gabino insisted on shouting “IRIS” (not Eerees) as loud as he could until she came and took her place. (We think she was in the Baño.)
Carlito is the youngest of the group and speaks a little English. He’s quite the joker. I asked for two ’50s in exchange for a 100 peso note so I could give them a tip. He tried to tell me it was only worth 50 pesos, so when he did eventually come back with the change I pretended to keep it all. He is also great at firing up fajitas, even in the wind so his silliness can be forgiven.
Gabino, Carlito and Iris, and Rafael
Rafael is the day manager there and he has been the most helpful to us. He spent time in Ontario and has a wife and two kids there so his English is really good. Unfortunately he is now separated and is living with a very nice lady here in Melaque.
They took their masks off for the photoshoot but otherwise, they wear them all the time. The whole crowd seemed to get a little less formal as the season wore on at the end we were really comfortable with each other. Perhaps this was because we were mostly their only customers.
We have tried a few other locations. The restaurant on top of the rock called ‘Roca Moca’ has re-opened, weekends only, so we tried to go there for lunch. After staggering up a whole bunch of stairs we were told that they weren’t open until later in the day.
After checking it out and taking a few photos, we staggered back down again. We probably won’t go back as the stairs were hard on Rosalie’s knee. For lunch we went to the nearest beach restaurant and met up with an old mesero friend El Lotario. We hadn’t seen him in a few years as he seems to move from restaurant to restaurant.
Then off to Bugambilias for an afternoon glass of wine. After a short time at home, we somehow ended up at Papa Gallo’s again as it hasn’t quite closed yet. It reminds me of the great line from’ Princess Bride’ where Westley is only ‘mostly dead.’ Anyway, we mean to string it out as long as possible.
If you haven’t seen “Princess Bride” go find it and watch it right now. One of my favourites.
I just realized that animals are the real threat here in Melaque.
At our last location, we had the nasty early morning rooster as well as the dogs that barked all day or until Gerry, our neighbour let them loose. There were also the scorpion incidents but they’re arachnids so don’t count; unless one stings you of course.
When we moved to Pinal Villa there was a brief invasion of goats before a young kid came in and chased them outside again. Not before they deposited a few droppings for our approval. There was the odd iguana but they tend to leave us alone and are content to sit on the wall looking at us contemptuously. Of course, we have no idea what they get up to while we’re out.
Then some kids threw the kitten over the wall and I had a problem persuading it to stay home. Mind you, I wouldn’t want to stay home in case I got thrown over the wall again.
Then we had the mad rooster from across the street that visited for a few days and expected to be fed. The neighbour soon came and took him away. I hope he was delicious, but suspect he was a price fighting cockerel.
We have a gecko somewhere in the house as a guest. It’s not a problem as they don’t eat too much and keep the bugs down. However once in a while, in the wee hours, it likes to chirp. For such a small creature it sure is loud. Rosalie’s worried that it might drop on her in the night. I however am more worried about stepping on it on the way to the bathroom as they’re messy to clean up.
There was the donkey in Jaluco who wouldn’t move to let us drive past. And then there are the squirrels who race across our roof in their boots as we are taking our morning tea.
The latest problem concerns a bunch of cats that like to sit outside the bathroom window and sing to us. They start about four in the morning and I have no access to anything I can throw without unlocking all the doors.
All in all, animals are a problem here. I know Canada has a travel advisory for Mexico. I think they should add animals to the list.
It’s been a bit warm for the last few days so more time is spent at the beach. A few days ago it hit 35c in Pinal Villa so we were forced to go to the beach to cool off. With Rafael’s help, I noticed a lot more chiquitas there. I wanted to take a few pics for the boys. I told Rosalie “You pick ’em I’ll click ’em.” But I felt like a bit of a pervert so didn’t. (Yes, I know I am anyway. No need to remind me.)
When we were a lot younger, in our 20s, 30s or even 40s we would look at the girls on the beach and think “what if I…? would she…? can I.., without getting slapped?” Pure lust!
Today I just enjoy looking and thinking “Nice, very nice.” while Rosalie looks on and grins. She knows that it’s like a dog chasing a car; once you catch it what do you do with it? My favourite chiquita is Rosalie anyway, so she knows not to worry.
As it’s ‘Samana Santa’ the beaches are packed and the atmosphere is amazing. Lots of music, people enjoying the water, food everywhere. When we first walked into Papa Gallo’s and asked for a menu Rafael said he would have to go and wake the cook as business was so slow.
That’s because the Mexican tourists bring all their own stuff. From coolers full of food and beer to their own pop-up tents so they can keep the costs down. The other day there was a Mexican family in the restaurant and they ordered food but brought in their own beer. Try that in Canada! Also, they don’t tip much so the restaurants are suffering because they rely on generous tips from us Norteños. All the time we were at the restaurant we didn’t see one other Norteño. We were the only ones.
Things are slowly winding down for the season. We love it here but need to be back with our friends for a while. Hopefully, the stupid incarceration rule will be lifted and we can come back fairly easily. If not, we have the escape plan in place so one way or another should be home by this time next month.
Last week, we met some new friends and met them again yesterday for a drink. We got to talking and they admitted that they were trumpers. We didn’t know whether to get up and walk out or not. They redeemed themselves when they said they didn’t like trump but supported his policies.
A debate ensued. Ron and I got into it while the girls discussed important things like nail and lipstick colours and where was the best place to get a haircut. (Rosalie says: Did not…!)
I say Ron and I got into it but it was a very enjoyable conversation. It was refreshing to discuss things with someone who didn’t drag up long-dead conspiracy theories; although he came close a few times. They are Canadians who lived in Texas for a while so have quite a bit of knowledge regarding US politics. We agreed to disagree and arranged to meet again another day. Nice people.
There we were again at the beach because (insert excuse.) We have enjoyed going because it’s Samana Santa (Holy Week) and the entertainment can be a lot of fun. I don’t necessarily mean just the chiquitas, but the beachs’ oddball entertainment. The best part was, that a couple of the beach lovelies finally came on to me. I was so excited but didn’t know what Rosalie thought was so funny. Anyway, after all that, we still didn’t get our money’s worth.
After all the excitement we went home and I took some heart meds (tequila) to try and calm down and eventually volunteered to make dinner.
A few days ago we went to the beach for dinner (another excuse) I ordered a shrimp fajita which we ended up sharing. It was so good that I decided that I could do better.
On this day, we went to the various stores to get our shrimp and veggies and stowed them in the cooler in the car. After the beach, and when we got home, I went to work. After chopping, dicing, sauteing, burning to a crisp and over-salting, I presented Rosalie, who had sobered up a little by now, a Fajita a la Chris.
When we ordered it at Papa Gallo’s, Gabino fired it up all professional-like. Me: not so much; the darn thing wouldn’t flair up. I was using good quality tequila so that was probably the problem. Perhaps I need to use some of Rosalie’s low-quality rotgut with the higher octane to make a bigger bang.
Even though I do say so myself, it was pretty good. We have enough shrimp for the next day so I will try again then.
After expert advice from Rafael, I made another fajita but it still wouldn’t light. Perhaps we should have turned the fan off first. Oh well, next time.
In conversation with Rafael we learned that the beach bands are all different. It’s obvious when you think about it, but we just hadn’t thought about it.
We know when we see a mariachi band because they are dressed to the nines and sweating in the heat.
Bandas are the guy in the last blog who beat the hell out of their drums, play a shrieking wind instrument and generally create quite the racket.
Trios are three guys (who’da guessed) playing guitars and singing; mostly love songs.
Norteños are a larger band and have an accordion playing along.
Our favourites are the solo artists who stop by the outside restaurants and sing whether you ask them to or not and then pass a hat around for payment. No matter if they are good or bad we still pay them. One of these is Gerry who came by our last home a few times last year to play for us; he is good.
One good thing about the Mexicans on the beaches; they take their garbage away with them unlike the Norteño kids in Florida.
A trip to Cihuatlán was planned for today because I had broken one of the wall sconces putting up the shade cloth for the car.
We had tried to buy one in the market but the guy wanted 600 pesos and we weren’t willing to pay tourist prices. Raquel had been over to introduce us to a possible new neighbour for next year. When I told her my sad story, her attitude was “So what? Just buy a new one.” She and the prospective neighbour told us that we could get one for 17 pesos at the 17-peso store in Cihuatlán so that’s why we went.
Just before we left, Omar came and told us that he was going to cut the grass and his lawn tractor is very ‘ruidoso.’ We were happy to leave him to it for an hour or so.
Not knowing where the 17-peso store was, I decided to start at one end of town and drive through the main Street until Rosalie shouted “Stop.” We found several other stores but only found the 17-peso store as we were about to leave. Alas, no luck with the wall sconce but we managed to buy other stuff that we hadn’t been looking for.
It had been a hot and fruitless day so we thought that we had earned a margarita on the beach. (If you need an excuse for a margarita on the beach, come and see us we have hundreds.) Changing things up, we went to a place we hadn’t been for a while but soon realized that we missed our usual haunts. There was a table of Quebecois who were being very ruidoso. So off to a quiet glass of wine and a margarita at Bugambilias. This was the peaceful scene we encountered.
Tony and the rest of the staff seemed a bit pissed off with the whole thing. The band had been there three days running for an hour each day. I think that when they had played three tunes they played them all again backwards and no one noticed. When we arrived they had already been going for an hour and continued for another twenty minutes. Apparently it was a wedding and the beach band was part of the celebrations. Although it was ruidoso it was very Mexican and we still enjoyed ourselves.
The beach is starting to get crowded
But not for us
And the views were not too bad
Our parrota tree has struck again. Besides dropping millions of tiny leaves all over the place, the seed pods are about to start falling and we expect to be hit on the noggin by a few. Worse than that, it’s been sapping on the car.
I’ve noticed that driving at night has been a bit more hazardous, being hard to see. I couldn’t figure it out until I took a closer look at the windshield and found what looked like tiny water spots. Sap!
I tried soap and water, nail polish remover, even WD 40; nothing worked. I also tried scraping it with a sharp blade. Nope! Finally, I got a small piece of sandpaper and for the first time got some results. But I was worried that it might scratch the glass. Back to the think tank.
Ah! A light bulb moment. I had bought some copper cleaner which is a mild abrasive and decided to try that. Bingo! With a lot of elbow grease, it seemed to be working. I needed a hose to wash it down with but the city decided to turn off the water just to annoy me.
It’s 32 c right now. Jalisco is in the green for Covid. Some good news a least.
Our escape plan or as I call it, breaking into prison.
If the government in its infinite stupidity decided to extend the mandatory three-day incarceration for air passengers, what do we do?
We’ve heard of people defying the order and just going home. However they get hit with big fines, so that’s not an option for us.
Some others are flying to the border and crossing by land as there is no three-day requirement just the regular 14-day quarantine. This is the option we are looking at.
Firstly we thought of flying to Seattle and then getting a ferry to Victoria and getting a one-way rental car to Nanaimo. That idea went out the window when we found that all those ferry services have been canceled.
So, the plan so far: Get our antigen covid test here in Melaque, fly Manzanillo to LAX, get the PCR test there, fly to Seattle, then fly and overnight in Bellingham where, by then, we will have received our test results. Next day, take a taxi to the Peace Arch border…..and then what. I’ve looked into one-way car rentals but there isn’t one near enough to the border to make that work. Walking’s not an option as I would complain all the way.
What we came up with is: From the border take a taxi to the Richmond Harbour Air terminal and fly to Nanaimo where we can blackmail somebody to take us home. Or, take a taxi to a one-way car rental place and come home by ferry. We’ll still need a ride home but in the meantime, we can pick up our car insurance.
If crossing the border is a problem, we plan to either tunnel or take some people we know from here, who know people, who have heard about some disused drug smuggling tunnels. Either way, we will get across.
Living on an island does have its drawbacks. For one thing the tunnels tend to get a bit damp.
On a lighter note, we went to the beach again and parked the car a few blocks away so we could get a little exercise. On the way back I noticed an ‘al pastor’ taco stand opposite the bus station. We had wanted to try one since last year so we ordered and sat down. Somehow, Rosalie got tangled up in the translation and instead of getting one each, we ended up with five tacos each! We managed to wade our way through them and only one survived.
Our waitress was a cute Mexican girl with a great smile so I had to get a picture.
It was a truly Mexican moment: Sitting in the street breathing in the fumes from the Primera Plus bus across the way; listening to loud Mexican music and enjoying good food and a can of Estrella.
Rosalie and I both knew that we need to lose weight but were fed up with counting calories or points and being told that we must exercise. So, we didn’t bother as we aren’t that much overweight.
The other problem is that we hear that “You have to try this diet” or “You have to try that diet.” “My diet works best.” So, I’m trying not to do that, just pass on our experience.
We met up with Ronda and John at the beginning of January and Ronda mentioned a diet she was on. It intrigued us because it sounded so easy. It’s called ‘Intermittent Fasting.’
The idea is that you fast for part of the day and eat and drink whatever you want for the rest of the time. So, an easy starter would be to fast 12 hours and eat during 12 hours. The best part is that 8 of those twelve hours happen at night. Stop eating at 10 pm and start again at 10 am. Easy, nothing to it, and it works. But of course, the longer the fasting period the better it works. Check it out with this link.
Rosalie and I are currently doing, 17/7. Seventeen hours fasting and seven hours eating. In the beginning, I thought that during the eating period I would want to eat more; not so. We both noticed that were a bit hungry to start with but it goes away after a while. Now we can eat and drink whatever we want in our eating window. One of my favourite foods is bread but it tends to make me chunky so I avoided it. Now, I eat as much as I want with no adverse effects.
The secret though is that you must be strict with yourself during fasting. The only thing allowed is water, green tea, black tea, or coffee. No snacks, no gum, no cookies, not even a little bit. Nothing sweet at all. There was even some debate about brushing your teeth as the toothpaste has sweetener in it.
There were some subtle changes to our bodies but we had no idea if we were actually losing weight. When we started we didn’t have a scale to weigh ourselves. About six weeks in we bought one and were surprised to find that we had both lost some weight. Me 8 pounds, Rosalie about 5 pounds. They say don’t weigh yourselves, we got an idea why as a few times our weight actually went up. Overall, besides the weight loss, we are both feeling a lot better.
It’s recommended that you change the time periods occasionally so your body doesn’t get used to the routine. We noticed that when we changed our times, our weight went down a lot more. This isn’t a fast (pun) diet it’s a lifestyle.
We read the book ‘Fast. Feast. Repeat.’ by Gin Stephens. Here’s a summary. It’s a bit technical in the beginning but the science makes so much sense. Very simplistically, the idea is, that while we fast our bodies think we are starving and so taps into our fat reserves.
As I’m writing this our eating window has opened. I had egg on a bagel with two cups of coffee with milk. This afternoon we will have a light snack and then go to the beach for margaritas. This evening, dinner and a few glasses of wine and at six o’clock, close the window for the night. Easy peasy!
I could go on for a while longer but won’t bore you anymore. Check it out.
It was Wednesday so Rubii was here to clean the place. Usually, at this time we take off for breakfast somewhere. As we stepped out the door a lady across the street asked if she could look for her chicken. They hadn’t seen it for a while and her husband kept asking “Dónde está mi pollo?” We knew we had it somewhere so we let her in and the fun began.
First, we had to find the thing. That didn’t take too long so she started trying to herd it toward the big double doors we use to get the car out. It didn’t want to go so we decided to join in the fun. Several times it was surrounded, even Rubii came out to help. Even so, it constantly managed to slip by us. Only one door was open so Rosalie had the idea to open the other one and that finally did the trick.
The neighbour herded it across the road scolding it all the way. It obviously knew where to go as it went straight home. All this time we all were laughing like a bunch of kids. It was great fun but I didn’t want to be woken by that beast at 5 am again so was happy to see the back of it. Also it was a rooster and didn’t lay eggs; that and the fact that it would be really tough if we BBQed it.
I forgot this in the previous blog.
Rosalie and I went on our merry way still chuckling. First to Barra to pick up our fresh bread. Every time we go there, there is a lady standing at the side of the road selling what looks like deep-fried styrofoam. We had passed her several times and always wound down the window to say “Hi!” I always felt bad for her as nobody seemed to buy any from her. So this day we stopped and bought a bag for five pesos. Later when we tried them I liked them but Rosalie didn’t; so now they’re all mine.
On to Melaque where there is a restaurant that we hadn’t been to in a while so we parked the car and went in. The proprietor didn’t speak any English but was quite the guy. Rosalie asked his name and he said Luis, followed by about fifteen other names. We settled for Luis.
He then asked our names. Rosalie told him hers and he said her name was Rose Lee so she must be either Japanese or Chinese. Eventually he settled on Bruce Lee. So that’s what we call her now.
On the way back from the baño, Rosalie spotted some stuff on a table and asked him what it was. He said”Guamúchiles.” I said “Huh?” He showed us that it was a seed pod and inside are little balls of styrofoam with a seed inside. We tried them and found them delicious. The thing was, you don’t eat the seed but the styrofoam. I found they were a bit dry but very tasty.
The funny thing is that Rafael had been telling us about these things only a few days ago.
Next, margarita time. We found that when we go to the beach we talk to each other a lot more than at home. We make a lot of decisions there, aided of course by the alcohol. Rosalie also stocks up on useless touristy crap from the beach vendors; again aided by alcohol.
