Tag: rooster

Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle

After trying out Gerry’s bike the other night I wondered if I could ride it sober. We wanted to buy a couple of bikes but decided to rent some for a day to see if we could do it and if we liked it.

We went to the adventure tour shop and looked at a few bikes. Having made our choice, we paid 180 pesos ($11.68) for both of them for the day. Rosalie hadn’t ridden for some time and got off to a bit of a rocky start. She wobbled down the road expecting to be hit by a car at any moment. But I think only one car passed us on the way home.

When we did get home, however, she had remembered how to start but was not too good at stopping. She wiped out onto the concrete and scraped her leg.

We rested up for a while and after a few tips and checking with Gerry to see if he had any training wheels, we were off again. That’s my girl, tough as they come!

She did way better this time. We rode over some pretty bumpy roads and I had a terrible saddle so have a few saddle sores to show for it. Rosalie was leading so I think she did it to make me suffer as well. Also, my bike was a bit big for me so if we buy one I have to remember that.

So we took a trip into town to get some more money for our trip to PV. We went through some traffic as we were going the wrong way up a one-way street like most people here. I managed okay but Rosalie was a bit apprehensive. On the way back she was a lot more confident but we still drove the wrong way up another one-way street.

The following morning we had to return the bikes as well as get ourselves to the bus depot with our little carry-on case. I had planned to take it on my bike but couldn’t figure out a way to do it. So, we strapped it to Rosalie’s carrier. I watched with some apprehension as she wobbled up the road but she seemed stable enough and made it safely.

How I feel riding into town.  Note the rooster I was about to strangle.

Bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like

“Queen”

2nd November

We went for a walk into town today to get more supplies. On the way back we saw a house for sale. We’re curious folk so we stopped to check it out. The interesting thing was that the house on the left was number 12. The one on the right was number 19 and the one we were looking at was, of course, number 75. Such is Melaque.

Further along, we saw some guys taking down a tree bit by bit with a machete. It looked dangerous but I guess they know what they are doing. We just looked the other way and bravely scurried by.

The rooster next door is still at it. We’re hoping he’s soon big enough for the cooking pot. I’m sure another one will soon take his place though. We are close enough to the beach to be lulled asleep by the crashing of the waves as we soon nod off again.

Today is Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). We haven’t seen too much activity associated with it but perhaps that happens more after sunset. We are going out for dinner and some musical entertainment tonight so we will see.

More and more Canadians are showing up. Our friends Mike and Faye arrived yesterday so we went for dinner at our local restaurant ‘The Red Lobster’. Lucy, the owner’s daughter, and our waitress took our drinks order; I ordered red wine. She asked if a Mexican brand was okay. I said”fine”. She went off to open the bottle and returned with it with a grin on her face. She then asked if I wanted Mexican or Chilean. I’d already agreed to Mexican so was a bit confused. Then she showed me the cork, which was printed with ‘Chile’ on the side, while the bottle said Mexico.

Lucy also reminded us several times that Sunday is BBQ rib night. We didn’t need reminding as we have been there several times before and wouldn’t miss it.

The Red Lobster also does a Tour of their banana plantation. For $500 MX ($35) each, you get breakfast and lunch. A trip to the plantation where you sit around the pool and drink free drinks until they bundle you into the bus for the return journey.

The problem is though, as, with many local tours, they have to have enough people to make it worth their while so if you want to go you have to persuade as many friends as possible to join in.

I’ve noticed that the temperature is dropping slightly overnight but is still a  balmy 26 C. With 75% humidity. It gets up to about 30 C during the day and is still quite humid. It’s been cloudy for the past few days making it a bit more comfortable so we don’t have to wear our sombreros when we go walkabout.

 

Settling in

We are starting to settle into a somewhat normal routine. We still don’t do a lot but we are having fun doing it.

We don’t have lunch on the beach as much as we used as it does add up. So we have lunch at home and then go and sit on the beach and have a beer and discuss the language. We’re picking up more and more Spanish and use it whenever we can. Mostly when ordering food.

We came home a few days ago and a gecko dropped out from the door frame. It startled me as I was thinking: a great big spider. I almost stood on the little guy but somehow we managed to avoid each other. I call him Ramon. We also have a wee one roaming around. Rosalie found him this morning trying on her jewelry. I think we’ll call him Brucie.

Rosalie has been walking around with an absolutely stupid looking hat so we decided to buy her a new one. As I had just got my new one too we make a great looking couple. I call this photo”Miss Marples and the old Geezer”

DSC00664

We sleep with the bedroom windows open at night to let a breeze in. The only downfall is that we have a rooster with a sore throat right behind the duplex who loves to wake us real early. We are getting used to him, as we often sleep right through his morning recital.

The temperature is hovering between 28-30 C with 76 humidity. It is quite humid but doesn’t bother us too much. We read that Sage leaf tablets help cope with the heat so we have been taking them from before we left. It does seem to help or perhaps we’re just used to it.

There are a few more tourists coming into town. You can tell who they are because when you say “hola” they come back with “Hi”. Heavy sigh, there goes our quiet solitude. This week starts the influx of our friends. We look forward to seeing them again. Even though we saw some of them just a few weeks ago.

I’ve been trying to include shot video clips in the blog but have had some technical difficulties. (I don’t know what I’m doing). I seem to have sorted it out though and will try to grab the local scene.

This one happened when we were walking uptown. The little bar at the side of the road is opposite where we stayed last time and we know it as a party place so we weren’t surprised to see the band.

Living here does have its downfalls. We lost a brother-in-law this week and wanted to head to Prince George but when we started adding up costs it became too expensive so we will have to send our thoughts and prayers instead.