Month: February 2023

The lady who does Rosalie’s pedicures, manicures and haircuts is named Claudia. Over the years she and her family have become friends. Her husband’s name is David and so is their oldest son. We were honoured to be asked to the christening of their youngest son Valentino on his second birthday.

As much as I wanted to go, I don’t care too much for religious ceremonies and churches in general. I went even so. We wanted to support the family at an event important to them; as it turned out it wasn’t too bad.

While waiting outside the church we met an American couple Ken and Barb who were also attending. They too were not Catholic although they are still-practising Christians, so we suffered through it all with them.

Mostly it was boring as it was a Catholic service all in Spanish so we couldn’t keep up with most of what was going on. The priest, to my mind, wasn’t so much preaching, as lecturing and liked the sound of his own voice. One highlight of the service was when a dog wandered down one aisle, rounded the pews and wandered up the other side. I thought it was very funny and very Mexican. If he had cocked his leg I would have fallen off my seat laughing at the absurdity of it all.

David is pronounced Daveed and Valentino is pronounced Balentino.

They finally got to the Christening part. If you listened to the wailing and crying of all the kids you would think it was Torture-a-Tot week. There was a lot of holy water flying around and I was careful not to get splashed in case it burnt me.

After an hour and a half, it was all over and we followed the family back to their house for tacos.

They had acquired a space in what looked to me like a large garage under a house. Before the tacos were served we were treated to several Mexican appies, one of which was a plate of jicama and cucumber slices along with another of ground-up chicken served on tostadas. It was a bit on the spicy side but just right for my taste.

Next came the tacos. They had set up a taco counter with two ladies serving. I had a bit of everything on mine. As I ate it from one end, the contents were squirting out the other. I had seen this coming and had a second tortilla ready to catch the bits and so I got a second taco. Smart, or what!

Beer was offered so I took one just to be polite. As soon as that one was finished another appeared. Unfortunately, we had to leave early as we were meeting our family group for prime rib dinner. It wouldn’t have been a smart thing to stay as I saw them bringing in cases of beer. Anyway, Mexicans tend to party into the small hours.

Over all, it was a great experience. We are having the family over for dinner sometime this week.

We had been meaning to take A Day at the Ranch tour with Flip Flop Nomads for the last couple of years but because of covid we just couldn’t. This year, however, was different. Ten of Rosalie’s family were down here so we made a private day trip for all twelve of us.

The trip started at 8:am where we rode in a very comfortable twelve-seater van for forty-five minutes to La Huerta. Dan, our guide, wanted to buy us churros for a pre-breakfast treat but the guy wasn’t where he usually is, so we had to go without.

The next visit was to a handmade furniture store. The owner was very passionate about what he did and gave us a lot of information about his craft.

Then the bus took us to the ranch, owned by Dan’s Mexican in-laws. There was a traditional Mexican breakfast and then off to watch the cow milking; made even more interesting since one of the cows was being a bit uppity. The milk was later made into cheese as we watched.

Before taking a walk around the village, we had to help make our lunch for when we came back. They were making tamales and some of our group rolled up their sleeves to help out. After our walk we went back to the ranch for lunch.

After lunch, we mostly sat around talking and asking Dan questions. He is a font of knowledge about Mexico, its history and culture. He is originally from England, married to a Mexican woman; and has a couple of kids. He has been in Mexico for around 20 years and has his Mexican citizenship.

Every day we seemed to have someone to visit or meet at happy hour. On Thursday, Gordon and Giselle had to go home so we took them to the airport. As Gordon got out of the car he talked to another passenger and found out that their flight had been cancelled. They had received no emails from West Jet but later found out their flight would now be leaving the next morning at 11 am.

From what I could make out, the plane had arrived and because of weather conditions in Calgary, couldn’t fly back that day.

We all came back to our casa as they had to sort out new connecting flights to Terrace and change a hotel in Calgary. Fortunately, they still had a few days left on their hotel stay here, so there was no need to go looking for another hotel at this end. It did cost them an extra $1,000 though as they couldn’t cancel nor change their original connecting flight.

The next morning meant another drive to the airport and this time they got away okay. In the afternoon we took Barb and Dave to Coco beach for lunch and after that met Hauna for happy hour.

Today we’re taking the day off and all I plan to do is write this blog…and maybe, (if I can persuade Rosalie), go to Papa Gallos for a glass of wine.

The day after my post about entitled tourists and their being unable to be patient while waiting for their meals in restaurants, we had an experience of our own.

Eight of us decided to go to Cuastecomates for lunch and time on the beach. It took two trips for me to pick them up and get them all there. We arrived around 11:30. I had an appointment at the dentist at 1 pm to fix a chipped tooth so hung around for a while.

At 11:45 I thought I had better order lunch as I needed to leave in 45 minutes for my appointment. After I ordered, I waited, and by 12:30 my lunch wasn’t there so I had to leave and let Rosalie eat it as we were going to share. I got to the dentist a bit early, she fixed my tooth and I was out of there by 1:10. (Cost of 300 pesos about $21.)

I got back to the beach about ten minutes later and there was my lunch, still hot as it had just been delivered. It had taken an hour and a half to get it to us. They had obviously forgotten our order even though they had been reminded several times. The rest of our group who had ordered after me had been served and finished.

While eating lunch, I wanted to order a drink. After half an hour the waiter dropped by and I asked for a glass of white wine. They didn’t have any! I asked for red, and they only had a little drop of that left, so Rosalie let me help her drink her margarita.

After finishing our drinks, we paid the bill leaving only a small tip and headed for Papa Gallo’s for a much-needed glass of white wine to calm me down. I didn’t get mad at the meseros; I didn’t disrespect them; I just paid a smaller tip than usual so perhaps they got the message.

When we first got there the rest of the group was complaining, as tourists do, about the wait time and I was trying to calm them down and get them to remember that this is Mexico after all. By the time we left, I was furious, this was bad service even by Mexican standards.

Even so, it is all part of the Mexican experience.

As per my previous post, it’s apparent that I’m getting frustrated with the new group of tourists we are getting here. Of course, most of them are great people, enjoying being here and having a good time; but the rest….?

In Canada, we have a very diverse group of our own tourists, from Germany to China, Japan, Korea and many other countries. Does this mean that we now have to learn all those languages? No, we expect them to learn some English before coming here, so why don’t you tourists to Mexico, try to learn a little Spanish?

Back in the day, if you went on holiday to a non-English speaking country, you would get a phrase book and work it out. We did this on our first visits to Mexico. Now you expect the country you are visiting to know your language. Just how crazy is that?

When you get here, remember that you are a guest of this fantastic country. You’re not special because you can afford a holiday here. You’re no better than Mexicans; in fact, I would rather have a Mexican friend than some of you any day.

Because Mexicans don’t understand you, it doesn’t make them stupid. They are speaking their language in their country. Perhaps you shouldn’t come to a Spanish-speaking country unprepared.

While you feel so privileged, try to see how Mexicans see you. You walk down the middle of the street wearing a long sleeve shirt, sandals or running shoes with black socks and skinny white legs looking like uncooked sausages. You try not to say anything to anyone in case you end up looking silly. Trust me you started out looking silly. Mexicans however would not say a thing, as they are too polite.

You are easily seen on the beach because you are the ones with red sunburns looking bewildered because you’re not sure how to order a drink. When you do order you invariably get it wrong and blame it on the meseros and expect a free margarita.

You go into a restaurant and expect immediate service. If your meal or drinks aren’t served in the first five minutes you throw a hissy fit. Sometimes you leave, only to go to the next restaurant and find that this is indeed Mexico and time is a little different here. While you’re waiting you miss the fact that you are sitting in a beautiful location, chatting with friends, with the waves crashing and the breeze cooling your sunburn. No! you just have to have that drink right now, because you want service!

Why do you walk in the middle of the street? There are sidewalks. Are you afraid to walk on the sidewalk where they are selling tourist stuff; in case someone speaks to you and makes you feel inadequate when you aren’t able to respond?

If you don’t speak Spanish when you encounter a Mexican, at least acknowledge them. Just say Hi! and smile, they’ll appreciate it and you can be sure they will respond with Buen Día.

On the beach, it seems that it’s your god-given right to haggle with the beach vendors to get the best price you can. You probably save yourself 50 cents but take away an income from people whose minimum wage is about $15 CDN a day.

And stop being so loud! We don’t care if you own a thousand-acre ranch in Butt Crack, Alabama (the plumbing capital of the USA) or are a berry picker from Dildo, Newfoundland. They don’t want to hear how much you have or how great you think you are.

Let’s reverse roles for a moment. A Mexican family comes into your community and expects you to speak Spanish then complains about the noise and the service in the restaurants. They go to the local store and start to haggle over prices. How would you feel?

Of course, we were tourists here once and I suppose we still are. We made all the same mistakes. However, we do try to learn the language and we have never disrespected the Mexicans. Then, as now, we are always aware that we are guests in a foreign country.

A friend of ours wrote a comment on Facebook that stirred up some feelings. I read it and agree with everything she says. Following is her comment copied with her permission.

Down here in Mexico, we are doing great.

We’ve been walking with a bunch of friends up to the lookout over the ocean at 7 am to see the sunrise. A good uphill workout gets us warm on these chilly mornings and out into town (Melaque).

We apartment-sat for a friend who went out of town for a week, because I decided to check out what I was missing by living rurally and found, to both my delight and Dan’s relief, that I don’t like being in town.

That is mainly due to too many white folks, a lot of whom don’t seem to be at all polite to either our  Mexican hosts or each other,  seldom making eye contact or greeting people as they pass, which is the norm in this country.

I find I am lumped in with this rudeness and feel very sad at receiving dark looks from local Mexicans simply because of the colour of my skin and what I’m perceived to be; stingy with both money and friendliness. On the positive (?) side, I get to experience being prejudiced against due to my colour.

And I have to say it has changed dramatically here in the past 5-7 years with the huge influx of Canadian-American tourists. And no, there is little difference between the behaviours of the two nationalities.

So this is yet another example of the detrimental effects on local places that are attractive to tourists. All of the local resources are being taxed by entitled white folks who seem to think locals should know how to speak English or are here to take time out of their already overstretched work days to teach them how to speak Spanish, and who leisurely walk down the middle of busy streets, as if everyone is on holiday, making traffic slow or halt. Locals have a much longer wait to buy their daily groceries, hardware materials,  get $ from banks, etc., in long line-ups that didn’t exist before.

It is a truly shameful way for tourists to behave and this is on top of not bothering to inform themselves about local customs or to respect that we are guests in a completely different country.

And no, money cannot, does not, and never will make up for a lack of ethics, especially in this culture that values family and respect and surrounds that with a wonderful sense of perspective and above all, humour.

So I am glad we live in a small Mexican village apart from the brouhaha of the tourist crowds.  

I value highly my Mexican friendships, for their attendant generosity and humility which seem to be much more rare commodities in the northern latitudes. They make me want to be a better human, to attain the level they seem to intrinsically inhabit. And although our experiences here are somewhat different from casual tourists, I acknowledge that as a visiting Canadian who comes from a country with a hugely different economy and customs, I too am a part of the problem.

We see this every day and one thing Linda forgot is that the locals are now expected to learn French even though the French speakers also speak English.

Another example of tourist disregard for the locals is that on Valentine’s day and other holidays, restaurants were turning people away because tables had already been reserved only to have the people who reserved them, not show up. There are so many instances like this it’s disgusting.

More on this later when I cool off.

I haven’t posted a blog for a few days. It’s not as though I don’t have much to say it’s just that I either keep forgetting or I’m too busy.

On Halloween Valentine’s day, we went down to the other complex and had dinner with the gang over there. Barb and Dave were invited so I picked them up and took them with us. As always with those guys down there, a great time was had and the food and company were great.

All of Rosalie’s family have arrived so we have been busy visiting them. There was a get-together at the location where Vic, Suzanne, Dedee and Marina stay. It was a Greek night as friends, John and Johanna, are from Greece and they made delicious beef Souvlaki skewers for each person.

There is a lot of time spent at Papa Gallo’s lately as Gordie and Giselle like to go there so we feel obligated to go. (Yeah, right.) A day was arranged to take Barb and Dave to Boca de Iguana for lunch. Arriving at 11:30, we found they didn’t open until 1:00 so had to turn around and go to Mary’s at Colimilla, across the lagoon from Barra instead. It was a long drive for lunch but well worth it.

Rosalie and I decided to invite the whole family and a few friends over to our Casa for a potluck party on the roof. I started the day by raiding the complex down the road of a lot of their chairs and a long folding table. In the meantime, Rosalie was cooking up a storm with her Chilis Rellenos casserole.

Then I had to take all our tables and chairs from downstairs up to the roof. Later, after dropping some of the girls off at the market I picked up Gordie and Lorne along with a few more chairs and we came home to organize things. The girls came back later to rearrange things to their liking as I had put some things in the wrong place.

There were twenty of us and had a great time. As we were the only ones with a car, I ran a taxi service to get a lot of them here and then ran the closer ones home afterward. I find that with helping Rosalie and running around I don’t seem to drink too much so I could drive okay. There is a taxi driver we can call any time so we can get all the taxis we need.

Everyone seemed to go home too early but it was still a good time. Afterwards, Rosalie and I sat and had a few glasses of Agavero, a tequila liquor.

The next morning I had to return all the captured chairs and the table. Then rearrange all our stuff to get things back to normal until the next party. It’s a lot of work but we love doing it.

At the end of it all, I was a bit pooped, but happy.

She’s at it again! Rosalie picked up a cold from somewhere and now has a great excuse to have me wait on her hand and foot. I think it was all those trips to the airport and mingling with all the incoming tourists who make a habit of bringing all sorts of germs from up North.

It started a few days ago but she didn’t think it was too bad and she felt pretty good. Even so, we did a Covid test to make sure it wasn’t the plague. It was a negative result so that was good. I’m happy it didn’t show she was pregnant.

The next day it was obvious it was a bit worse. As we had told Barb and Dave that we would go with them for lunch, I had to show up alone. It was great, freedom for a few hours. In the meantime, Rosalie was making a ‘ponce’ , whatever that means. It consists of hot water, honey, lemon, and in this case, tequila. By the time I got home, she was getting quite sozzled but feeling better.

She wasn’t feeling her best.

I ran up to the Farmacia and got some Mexican cure for 80 pesos, about $5. I’m praying for a miracle.

That evening we spent time on the roof patio as usual and she started to feel a bit worse so, off for another ‘ponce’; I thought I would have to roll her into bed.

There’s a cough that goes with the cold, (apparently it comes free.) And when she uses it, it sounds like a seal barking and scares the heck out of me. The same when she sneezes; it’s so loud, even the birds take flight. Secretly I’m quite proud of her lung capacity.

I hope she gets better soon. I don’t think it’s fair that I have to make my own food and do the dishes… but wait Rosalie does that all the time so I can’t really complain, although I know I will.

I know she’ll be better soon.

It’s been a little crazy for the last week or so. What with the palapa and the party afterwards we have been busy. And now, the relatives and some more friends are arriving.

I knew it would be a rough week but I was ready for it.

Gordie and Giselle came on Sunday and their flight was an hour and a half late. Their plane was delayed in Calgary as it needed to be de-iced. Brent was enlisted to drive us back from the airport as I can’t drive at night. Barb and Dave showed up a day earlier than we thought and we had a nice evening with them and Gordie and Giselle.

Next came the cousins, Jeannine and Louise. Their flight was on time and they came out fairly quickly, in fact; the quickest pick-ups at the airport this year. When we got to their hotel, they couldn’t get into their room since the manager wasn’t there. So we all went to Resta-Rita’s for dinner.

Next came Vic, Suzanne, Dedee and Marina. I couldn’t pick them up as I don’t have enough room for all the luggage.

Next week we pick up Uncle Lorne and Aunt Elonda.

At pick-up time, a bar service is provided. Options are: red wine, white wine, beer plus any additional drinks left lying around, and all kept in a cooler. It seems to be appreciated after a long flight. So far no complaints; except for me, I can’t drink on the way home…mostly.

In the midst of all this, I’m finding that the Star Link dish is being obstructed so I have to find another location. I plan to put it on the palapa so it gets an unobstructed view of the sky and all those satellites.

Me at the end of the week. It’s been hot as well as hectic.

With all this going on and multiple visits to the airport, Rosalie has contracted the sniffles. Probably bought in by one of the tourists. She has a sore throat, sniffles and a bit of a temperature but otherwise feels great.

The new palapa was a great excuse (as if we need one) for a party. So, we contacted our friends in the complex down the street which is owned by our landlady, and it was on.

There were twenty of us in all, which included Blanca, her sister with her husband as well as Blanca’s son and his daughter. It was a pot-luck so we had plenty of great food.

Before the eating got underway, we had to sit in the shade for a while and wait for the sun to go down While we waited, we were visited by an iguana. He tried to climb the wall but soon fell on his butt and scuttled behind the tenaco where he waited out the party. The following day he hid in an area between two walls with about a one-and-a-half-inch gap.

I connected the bluetooth speaker and sought out some music. I started with some great old blues tunes. As the evening went on, I had to find more music and as I had no current subscriptions to any music stores, it was a bit of a challenge. Gerry suggested Youtube and from then on I got lucky and not only found a lot of good Mexican music but a lot of old favourite norteño dancing tunes too.

Then the eating started, which I’m sure the Mexicans found way too early for them as they usually eat late and their parties start at about 10 pm. Some fools insisted on dancing so I had to turn the volume up and the tunes just kept on coming.

It was great! Our Mexican family had a good time listening to us trying to speak Spanish. Blanca’s son Junior was born in the States so he speaks both languages fluently as does his daughter Emily who’s fourteen. Then we had to explain why Canadians end most sentences with”eh”.

Blanc’s family left fairly early, probably thinking they just had lunch and were now going home for dinner later on. The rest of us stayed and enjoyed some more music and the die-hards sat around telling lies to each other.

Overall, it was a great party. The following night we had four more friends over and then on Sunday Rosalie’s sister Giselle and her husband Gordie arrived. We have a lot more family and friends coming this week and next so we have a lot of trips to make to the airport. I suppose there might be a bit of drinking done also.