Jerry and Karen move to Mexico

Milo the Magnificent

2011-01-16T20:27:00.007-06:00

Milo's first pictureHe loved to sit on our heads when he was little.

Giving his papi a kiss

He STILL loves to sit on our heads! He grooms and grooms our heads, leading us to wonder if there is a market for "opposum mousse."

Sitting with Dad in the bedroom tonight,
helping him read the news on his computer

About six months ago, a new little critter made an appearance in our lives. He has been a constant and delightful presence, who has moved from a tiny cardboard box to an elaborate enclosure that is 10 feet long, three feet high and two feet wide. But mostly, he inhabits a really big special place in our hearts.

Little Milo showed up courtesy of our most precious cat Millie, who, despite her diminutive size, is an expert mouser. When I saw him on the floor just inside our front door, I thought he was another mouse "gift" and prepared to take him by the tail and dispose of him (these mouse gifts are always deceased.) But he moved. And when I took a closer look, I realized he didn't look like a mouse. "Jerry!" I called. "We have a opossum!"

How to save this tiny opossum? We started by giving him a cc of evaporated milk through a hypodermic syringe. He graduated to 5 ccs at a time. I scoured the internet for recipes for "opossum formula" and actually found loads of information - there are lots of eccentric people like us out there, who love opossums. We were continually amazed that Milo was surviving, and I especially credit a kind man named Stephen Lyn Bales, a naturalist from Knoxville, Tennessee, who gave us much good advice on feeding him.

Soon, he was growing and gaining weight...the first time we weighed him, he topped the scales at about 25 grams. He now weighs about two kilos.

We've learned alot of interesting things about opossums since Milo arrived. Most of all, we learned that opossums are sweet, gentle, affectionate creatures. That hissing thing they do? Purely defensive. If they get really cornered, they never attack - they just fall over "dead", which Milo has done a few times when he's scared. Very impressive.

He is an omnivore (eats everything) , and likes dry cat food as his staple diet. He also eats fruits and vegetables, but his favorite treat is a freshly caught beetle - too bad that there are not many of them this time of year (too chilly). Neither the dogs or the cats scare him, which is why we can never release him. He'd rather have a snuggle than a banana. He is learning to go for walks with a halter and leash (and yes, our Mexican neighbors think we are "loco", but they have known that for years.)

We feel special, having Milo as our pet...opossums only live about three years (even in captivity), so we will just enjoy each day with Milo the Magnificent.

Tending to a friendship

2010-06-26T10:33:00.009-06:00

Those of us who migrate to Mexico in search of warmth and comfort share the characteristics of all immigrants who go to a new place to seek a good life. First generation immigrants seldom completely assimilate into their new culture; instead, they tend to obtain their support from others who are in similar circumstances. Accordingly, the expatriate community in our town may be small, but we form friendships quickly and socialize often. Isolated from our north of the border families, we tend to develop close family-like affiliations with our friends here.

When we met our friends John and Lisa Ozzello a few years ago, we knew that we had found a couple with whom we shared common beliefs, values and experiences. John and Lisa came here from Santa Fe, New Mexico to establish a home health agency and a hospice service. Lisa was a nurse and John, like Jerry, was a bit of an eccentric - he had made his living painting houses, advocating for the disabled and managing a number of nonprofit agencies.

During the month of May this year, many of our friends (and us) came down with unusual upper respiratory infections that were difficult to shake. Not only did we have sore throats and stuffy noses, we all felt tired and achy and miserable for about three weeks. But we all recovered. Except John.

We saw John on May 17, when he stopped by our house to return a flash drive with some movies on it that I had downloaded for them. He stood back from the gate and told us not to come too close - he was really sick and didn't want to spread it.

The next morning, John had a terrible headache, which progressed rapidly to uncontrollable vomiting and collapse into unconsciousness. On the advice of our local doctor, Lisa rushed him to Amerimed Hospital in Vallarta, about a half hour's drive. The doctors there first suspected a stroke, but a CAT scan ruled that out.

Within a few hours, the doctors confirmed that John had bacterial meningitis, a severe and often fatal infection of the tissues that surround the brain and spinal cord. Apparently, the infection in his sinuses found a breach between the sinus cavity and the brain, reaching through the thin membranes and spreading into his spinal fluid. This was likely a result of an injury he suffered while climbing mountains in the Himalayas back in the 1970s.

The doctors gave him a 50-50 chance of living through the next 48 hours. He made it through that critical window, and in the weeks that followed, he survived several other crises as the acute phase of the illness passed and one complication after another occurred, including additional drug-resistant infections, an inability to breathe that required a tracheotomy and leakage of cerebrospinal fluid from his sinuses, allowing his cranial cavity to fill with air.

I started out sending regular email updates to John and Lisas' friends and family members. When the number of addresses exceeded 100, I started a website on caringbridge.com to keep everyone informed and allow them to leave messages for John and Lisa. A detailed account of everything that has happened to John is posted in the "journal" section. You can find John's website here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnozzello

For the last several weeks, our lives have basically revolved around trying to provide support for Lisa - cooking meals, providing transport to the hospital and giving her support and comfort. Justine has been a really special help - sitting many, many nights with John in the hospital.

After 39 days in the hospital, most of it in intensive care, and several emergency surgeries, Lisa brought John home, where he could continue his journey in peace and greater comfort. On July 7, John ended his journey.

Tonight, July 9, we gathered to pay tribute to John and to celebrate his remarkable life. As I looked about at the people gathered there, I realized how fortunate we are to have landed here, among so many kind and giving people. I realize that we are, indeed, a community. And we are at home.

The Unexpected Rewards of Blogging..new friends and riches from Chicago!

2010-04-22T08:10:00.006-06:00

Grateful kitties playing with their new toys

I guess that "serendipity" is the best word used to describe a thoroughly lovely, humbling and unexpected experience. That is what happened to us last night - when we actually had the chance to meet some wonderful people whom we met through this blog.

Some months ago, I heard from a delightful Chicago woman named Annie. She had been reading our blog, and had some kind words to say. A bit later, she sent an email saying that she was on her way to Bucerias in April, and would we like her to bring us anything from the states. I made a request for baking parchment paper - I use it for baking cookies and bread, and was down to only a bit of a scrap. If it is available here, I have never been able to find it.

Last night, we met Annie and her friends Kristine, Julie and Jeffrey at one of our very best local restaurants, Roga's, which sits on a hill and has a panoramic view of the entire bay. Just a lovely setting. We intended to enjoy a drink with them, but ended up staying for dinner, as we chatted enthusiastically with our new friends.

Julie handed us a gift bag filled with GIRL SCOUT COOKIES and toys for the kitties! Annie handed us a huge bag filled with gifts - FOUR boxes of parchment paper, T shirts from Chicago, wonderful toys for the dogs, and (drum roll please) a generous length of smoked Polish sausage! Oh my gosh, Jerry has been longing for Polish sausage, and it is simply not to be found in Mexico. How did she know???

To top it off, Annie insisted on paying for our dinner, and we ended the night with a shot of smooth and warming tequila courtesy of Roga, the restaurant owner, who also happens to be our neighbor!

Thank you so much Annie, Julie, Kristine and Jeffrey. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and your generosity is overwhelming. Who would have thought, when we began this electronic journal, that we would be rewarded with such rich new friendships?

The place where everything blooms - Visiting Michoacan Part 4

2010-03-11T21:08:00.011-06:00

The picture above shows the highway between Patzcuaro and the beautiful colonial city of Uruapan (ooh-roo-AH-pahn), a distance of about 52 kilometers. In Purepecha language, Uruapan means "where the hearts of plants bloom like the flowers and enjoy a perpetual spring." With a population of about 250,000 people, the town’s environs are lush, subtropical, and as its name suggests, wonderfully fertile. Predictably, it owes its wealth to agriculture, especially the production of avocados, for which Uruapan is proudly known as the ‘World Capital of the Avocado’. They are also renowned for production of macadamia nuts. But if you ask any Mexican about Uruapan, they will first tell you about the remarkable Cupatitzio Gorge National Park, a treasure that encompasses more than 1300 acres, right in the city of Uruapan. It is the only city in Mexico with a national park in its boundaries.

The view from our hotel balcony...and

...just down the street from us to the right, one of the many decorative plazas in Uruapan. Just behind this plaza is an old textile factory that has been converted to a huge and diverse market, where you can buy everything from straw hats to electronics to delicious antojitos, or snacks. And Uruapan is famous for its wood carving. The wooden carved figure below greeted us in the lobby of our hotel:

We walked from the hotel to the park (uphill all the way - huff, puff - at about 6,000 feet elevation, it was a challenge, but we made it.) At the entrance to the park, we were greeted by this magnificent mural:

Several springs join together here to form the Cupatitzio River. Streams rush alongside cement and dirt paths or are channeled into dozens of fountains. Large trees support clinging vines and shade tropical flowers. You can feed the fish at the trout farm, or eat them at the adjacent café.

As we were leaving the park, we encountered a parade celebrating Shrove Tuesday (the last day before the beginning of Lent).

As anyone reading this can probably conclude, Jerry and I were absolutely smitten with Uruapan and hope to return there soon for another, longer visit. All in all, our trip to Michoacan was a grand adventure. I took 328 pictures, and have shared just a few of them here - we highly recommend taking a closer look at this magical region of Mexico.

Ah, Patzcuaro, un pueblo magico! Visit to Michoacan - Part 3

2010-02-23T20:29:00.012-06:00

The original name for Patzcuaro (PAHTZ-kwah-roh) is "Tzacapu-ansucutinpatzcuaro" that is translated as "door to heaven." Situated at 7200 feet elevation and home to about 80,000 people, this is the cultural and artitstic center of the area. We would have happily stayed in Patzcuaro for several nights. but only had one night devoted to this beautiful little city on our tour itinerary. One of our high priorities is to return and get a better feel for the city.

A multitude of churches, plazas and shrines make this a truly great historical destination. Patzcuaro is famous for its sidewalk cafes and great restaurants. Small and large marketplaces line the plazas and ancient side streets. Woven tablecloths, trays, carved and finely painted furniture, and gold laminated handwork are among the treasures to be found in this colonial setting. Patzcuaro hosts one of the most active Day of the Dead observances in Mexico, and is perhaps the best place to find "Catrinas" - the wonderful skeleton figures that I love to include in my paintings.

The day we arrived in Patzcuaro was a market day: there were many more items for sale than I can possibly mention, and we purchased some huge hand-woven colorful baskets, a hand-carved mask, a sheepskin, some jewelry and assorted children's toys.

But I thought our readers might be most interested in the display of medicinal herbs, which are found in our local weekly market as well. Some of them are probably very effective. Valerian/valeriana, for example is a great natural sleep-inducer. But it smells terrible.

We also found these pretty little...uh...uh...does anybody know what they are?

They are papas rojas - that's right, red potatoes. If we hadn't been traveling, I would have bought some to bring home and cook. They must be a local product; I've never seen them here. We did buy some woven straw cat toys from the beautiful native woman in the picture below. She and I were sharing a little joke about mi esposo guapo (my handsome husband) ...

Before we left the market, we encountered a lively parade, raising funds for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti:

Then it was into the shops, looking for Catrinas. I bought the small one in the lower center, proudly holding her blue dancing dress for everyone to see.

There were other beautifully hand-crafted items:

We also took the opportunity to visit one of the most extensive mask museums in Mexico, right here in Patzcuaro...

And they also had TOYS!We ended our day in the hotel courtyard, having a great cup of coffee with friends Marcia and Noble. The next stop was Uruapan (ooh- rue-AH-pahn). Many treasures and pleasures there./ To be continued....

Visit to Michoacan - Part 2

2010-02-20T14:33:00.013-06:00

Our next adventure led us to three outlying villages - Quiroga, Tzintzuntzan and Santa Clara del Cobre. A brief history lesson is necessary here: prior to arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Purhépecha tribe dominated much of Western Mexico, including Michoacan. They initially welcomed the Spanish. On a visit to Mexico City, in 1524, their king, Tangoxoán II was baptized with the Christian name of Francisco, and he subsequently requested that Spanish missionaries be sent to Michoacan. Unfortunately, King Carlos V of Spain, sent Nuño Guzmán de Beltran to govern the new territory, who turned out to be ruthless in his plundering of the Purhepecha empire. He sold the indigenous people into slavery, ransacked their temples searching for treasure, and kidnapped women. Eventually, Guzman tortured and killed King Tangoxoán.

Guzmán's cruelty had destroyed the relationship between the Spanish and the Purhépecha. In a short time, the grand and powerful Purhépecha nation had been completely devastated. Had it not been for the effort of one man whose ideals, good judgment and ability to put into practice the morals that he preached, it is possible that the Purhépechas would not have survived this catastrophe. This man was Don Vasco de Quiroga, who at the age of 60, arrived in Mexico in January 1531, with a mandate to repair both the moral and material damage that had been inflicted upon Michoacán by Guzmán. Quiroga was an idealist who embraced the concept of a utopian society, which he attempted to establish in Michoacan.

While there is controversy concerning Quiroga's role, there are tributes to him throughout the region, and he was known for educating the indigenous people in all the villages around Lake Patzcuaro. He taught the villagers of each area a different craft. These practices persist to this day, and the area is famous for artesanial variety and excellence.

The first town we visited was named for Quiroga, and enjoys a reputation for lacquered wooden products. The first thing we encountered as we sat in the town plaza was this group of children dancing:

The child on the right is wearing a "vieja" (old woman) mask, a mask that is featured in the popular "vieja y viejo" dance in Michoacan.

The lovely wooden tray we bought in Quiroga for only $100 pesos - about $7.50 USD.

From Quiroga, we moved a few miles on to Tzintzuntzan, which still retains its indigenous Nahuatl name, meaning "place of the hummingbirds." We were charmed by this lovely village, which offered a wide variety of attractive crafts at very reasonable prices.

An assortment of clay dishes in the Tzintzuntzan market

Useful pottery in the Tzintzuntzan market

A pair of attractive masks

While we were enjoying a delicious cup of coffee, a wedding procession came by. Yes, the bride wore GREEN.

Our last stop of the day was Santa Clara del Cobre, the town in Mexico that is famous for copper crafts. I got so excited here, that I failed to take very many pictures, so I've had to import a few from other sources. Note that ALL of the copper items here are hammered/shaped from a single sheet of copper. Here is a picture I took of the town square, which features a huge copper pot.

Notice the beautiful blue sky! Temps were in the mid-70s.

Incredibly beautiful images of the ubiquitous Virgin of Guadalupe

A sampling of copper selections

Our next stop deserves an entry of its own - the next day we were on our way to Patzcuaro, designated "pueblo magico" by the government and one of the most beautiful villages in Mexico. To be continued....

Visiting Michoacan - Part I

2010-02-18T22:07:00.008-06:00

Colorful balloons everywhere on the streets of Morelia

Stunning colonial architecture in Morelia

We have spent the past week traveling on a comfortable luxury bus with a group of amiable companions through one of Mexico's most beautiful states, Michoacan (meesh-wah-KAHN). Nestled in the central highlands of Western Mexico, Michoacan is full of history and magic. Michoacan's countryside is a vast expanse of rolling hills, deep lakes, winding rivers and green valleys. The state has few large cities, but rather a collection of small villages and towns that have changed little since the 1800's. It's pace is leisurely, its people friendly, and its Spanish colonial and indigenous heritage rich. The change of pace from our beach town (full of tourists this time of year) was refreshing, although the cool weather was something we were not used to: we wore clothes that have been packed away since we arrived in Mexico almost four years ago!

The first destination on our itinerary was Morelia (elevation 6,399 feet), a colonial city of almost a million people that is a UNESCO World Heritage Artistic site. The city was founded in 1541 by Antonio de Mendoza and its original name was Valladolid. The name was changed after Mexico's War of Independence, in honor of one of its heroes, Jose Maria Morelos de Pavon, who was born in the city in 1765.

A painting showing revolutionary hero Juan Morelos at his birthplace. He is almost always pictured wearing a headband, apparently because he suffered from migraine headaches.

Sunset view from our hotel window

Across the street from our hotel, Superman was keeping a vigil.

Sweet selections from the famous Morelia mercado dulce, or candy market

With our good friends Marcia and Noble Dunson, we explored the city, marveled at the beautiful colonial architecture and browsed the many markets. We savored some of the regional offerings: Sopa Talasca, a bean/tomato soup with bits of tortilla, garnished with cotija cheese and crema; Enchiladas Moreliana, chicken enchiladas in a red sauce, garnished with diced carrots and potatoes; and huechepos, a sweet tamale-like masa dish, shaped into tiny loaves and garnished with queso fresca and crema (for breakfast - yum!).

We walked for miles through the city, finding friendly people and lots of good coffee. The elevation didn't bother us a bit, but our feet got tired. We slept like rocks in our comfortable hotel. Because of recent unusual storms in the higher mountains, we were unable to take our anticipated side trip into the Monarch butterfly reserves, where ALL the monarch butterflies in North America spend the winter. There were mudslides and floods and closed highways in the butterfly reserve areas, and many many hundreds of people displaced from their homes. In spite of the local needs, we encountered an organized effort in the city zocalo (plaza), raising funds for Haiti.

After three days in the city, we boarded the bus again and made our way to some smaller towns, on our way to Patzcuaro, one of the jewels of Mexico. (To be continued)

More pictures of our tormenta (storm)...

2010-02-03T19:17:00.005-06:00

The recycling lot up the street from us where Jerry volunteers his time. They'll need a new sunshade before summer.

Ah, this is why you reinforce the bricks with steel rebar! We've never seen anything like this in Mexico before.

Power lines caught in a downed tree. Amazingly, we had power restored about 4 o'clock this morning.

Lots of damage at the local tourist market, where sheet metal roofs are the norm.

This is the roof from our favorite beach restaurant, Gordos. It blew off and landed on this guy's market stall. Mucho dinero damages here.
Thanks to John, Christie and McKenzie Forget for these great pictures. Good job guys! Unfortunately, our poor town didn't need this...when the tourists finally begin to arrive agin after last year's flu, drug cartel fears and the bad US economy, many of the local vendors are temporarily or permanently out of business.

WOW! WHAT A NIGHT!

2010-02-03T17:54:00.003-06:00

A new look for our front yard...

this limb crashed down on the cyclone fence.

Other broken limbs remain in the tree, awaiting some help to remove.

Our neighbor Demetrio found a young iguana that had apparently blown out of a tree...

...and Jerry gave him a new home in our poor broken tree.

Was it a hurricane? A tornado? A waterspout? No one seems to know for sure, but about 11 o'clock last night, the gently falling rain turned into a howling storm, with wind gusts estimated at 100 mph or better. The thunder crashed, the lightning flashed and the lights (of course) went out.

Our weather this winter has been puzzling for long-time residents of Bucerias. Our rain usually ends in October, and does not revisit the area until mid-late June of the next year. This winter, we had several days of heavy rain in November, again in December and again in January. Right now, it has been raining steadily for three days. Because most of the streets in town are either cobblestone or dirt, there are deep ravines everywhere, and many are impassable. People who have lived here all their lives are shaking their heads in wonder. Their explanation? "Loco." Works for me - it's as good as any explanation I've heard so far.

Things you will never see in the USA

2010-01-16T10:39:00.005-06:00

A fireworks "castillo"...

the "Passage of Kisses"...

blessing of the boats...

a thatched roof truck...

...and a vendor selling candy and nuts in the street.

Mexico loves celebrations and most towns and cities have annual festivals to honor their patron saints. We are lucky to live in a town whose patron saint is Our Lady of Peace, and today begins the annual fiesta in homage to her. Lasting eight days, this is a raucous and noisy fun time, with the entire downtown area full of carnival rides, vendors selling delicious snacks and booths full of wonderful things to buy, from the exotic (handwoven rugs from Oaxaca) to the mundane (a new pitcher for your blender).

The highlight of tonight's events is a three-story tall castillo (castle) of fireworks, right in the middle of the plaza. Can you even imagine the liability insurance premiums for such a thing? The sparks shower down on the crowd, and children rush to get closer with pizza boxes on their heads to protect themselves. Yes, people get scorched, and NO, nobody files a lawsuit.

To reach the festivities from our side of town, it is best to park on the south side of the arroyo and walk across a pedestrian footbridge that crosses the arroyo which divides our town east and west. Just after you cross the bridge, you approach the Paseo del Beso, where it is obligatory to stop and kiss the person who is with you.

Another highlight of the festival is the blessing of the fishing boats. At the northern end of the Bay of Banderas, Bucerias began as a fishing village: bucerias means "place of the diver." Fresh oysters (ostiones), octopus (pulpo), shrimp (camarones) and small red snappers (huachinangos) are available for sale in the plaza every day.

The red truck with the palapa roof can always be found parked on Calle Lazaro Cardenas - one of our main streets and the one that leads you over the foot bridge. We hired this truck to clear construction debris from our yard a few years back and the driver is still there, ready for hire every day.

And if you fancy a treat, you can grab a delicious snack from the guy who sells candy and peanuts (cacuahates) from a wheelbarrow. Yes, they are right out there in the open, no hygienic sneeze shield to protect the candies from the hands of children who long for a taste. But I don't know anyone who has ever become sick after eating these great candies...who can resist them?

These are just a few of the things that make us grateful that we live in this amazing little town in Mexico. We begin the new year with resolve to enjoy each day of health and well-being in this wonderful place.

How we are spending our summer vacation...

2009-09-04T10:15:00.013-06:00

Poor little Maggot the day we rescued him.
Ten days later, feeling much better.Lucky and her babies.

Diego, all grown up, playing with Milly. who doesn't think so.

WARNING: SOME GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS FOLLOW.

The long, lazy and humid summer is punctuated by moments of drama. Our next door neighbors, who have had their share of problems, are probably the extreme worst example of the difference in the way people from the US regard their pets and the manner in which the average Mexican views pets. Most likely an artifact of the difference in socioeconomic progress, Mexicans generally do not treat their pets as members of the family, like we do. Our neighbors, who take excellent care of their children, seldom feed their two female dogs, and even in the long dry season, do not provide them with water. So Jerry has taken in upon himself to make sure these poor doggies get fed and watered. One of them, after all, is Diego's mom.

In the last month, both dogs have had yet another litter of puppies, about a week apart. No shelter was provided for them, despite frequent torrential rains. The property has no fence, wall or gate, so the dogs live in the street. Then, a few weeks ago, the couple decided to part. He moved to Puerto Vallarta; she moved in with her parents, leaving the dogs and puppies behind. We could hear the puppies crying and Jerry went to investigate. It was a scene of true horror. Most of the puppies that were born most recently were being killed by the mother of the first litter.

The next morning, following a heavy rain, we could still hear some puppies wailing. In the yard next door, Jerry found three puppies from the first litter that had been abandoned by their mother, lying in a puddle of water. Two were near death and we put them out of their misery. They were completely infested by maggots that had burrowed deep into their skin, and they were screaming in pain. One little puppy seemed reasonably alert, especially after we fed him some cold milk through a syringe. We washed him thoroughly, flushing away thousands of maggots. He had one area near his neck that had been breached through the skin and we had to purge it clean of maggots. Off to the supermarket for baby bottles and following an internet search, we put together a puppy formula.

Maggot (what else could we name him? I know, we have a dark sense of humor.) turned out to be a fighter. He thrived on the formula and has doubled in size in just two weeks. Never having raised children himself, Jerry has learned what it is like to feed a baby with a bottle every few hours and he turns out to be a great dad.

Out of 12 puppies, three remained alive. The neighbors were nowhere in sight. A neighbor around the corner took one of the larger puppies home to care for him. The mother of the first litter appeared to want to care for her remaining puppy. And we were taking care of Maggot. Then yesterday, Jerry walked to the corner store for some milk. When he came back, he was holding a puppy, saying "Missus, I found this puppy at the tienda. Can I keep her?" This little 4-week old puppy had wandered away, almost three blocks from home, and was stumbling around in the street. Guess her mom decided not to care for her after all. We named her Beatrice, and now we have another puppy. Life is never dull here>

On a happy note, our little wild kitty who was born in the nursery next door had two baby kittens about a month ago. She won't let us touch her, but did trust us with her babies, who were born in the bottom drawer of our armoire.

And Diego and Milly are growing fast. We'll find homes for Maggot and Beatrice, as well as Lucky's kittens, and life will return to normal soon. In the meantime, we found out more about ourselves and each other as we struggled to protect the young lives.

Why we don't have a garden...

2009-06-02T13:08:00.004-06:00

Bananas from our own tree, hanging to ripen from the lichi tree in the back patio

Fresh, clean vegetables delivered to our door for about $3 USD

Friends and family back in the states have asked us why we don't have a garden. Certainly, everything grows here very quickly...and we do have several tomato plants growing this year. But our region has abundant truck farms, with tomatoes, beans, chiles, corn, pineapples, bananas, papayas, mangoes, guavas, on and on and on....So the availability of fruits and vegetables that are fresh and vine/tree-ripened is amazing. They are sold in the open-air markets, in the corner tiendas and in the supermarket. But best of all, is our vegetable seller Ricardo, who peddles up to our front gate on his bicycle weekly, with his basket full of fresh, clean, delectable vegetables, like the ones pictured. The mixed vegetables have corn, carrots, beans, chayote, nopal, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini. I will mix all of the pictured vegetables together in a casserole tonight to take to a potluck...other friends are making meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes and blackberry cobbler. And we are meeting at our friend Marlene's house, which is right on the beach. We will have a feast, for the tummy and for the eyes. Life is so good.

A Study in Contrasts

2009-05-26T16:34:00.007-06:00

A section of the new patio Jerry is building in the front/side of the house

Our neighbor Demetrio covering the conduit in the upstairs bathroom

Mael and Ismael (cousins) installing the new breaker box. Why do they seem so happy
about cutting a BIG hole in the wall?

Little Millie/Milagra on alert in the front yard. Hiding behind a bag of cement.

Diego is growing up...he considers a treat from Papi

Our life here lately has been a study in contrasts: as the long, humid summer season develops, the tourists here have always become scarce, and residents of our sleepy beach town learn to pace themselves,always wearing the ubiquitous "sweat cloth" over their shoulders and drinking lots of water. But this year, the slowdown was sudden, as the entire country of Mexico ground to a halt to combat the spread of H1N1 influenza. Schools, government offices, restaurants and all nonessential businesses were ordered closed for several weeks. No movies. No soccer matches. No church services in this Catholic country. Checkpoints were established at both Nayarit and Jalisco state borders, which we pass on our way to and from Vallarta. All cars were screened and passengers were questioned about their health status. Do you have a fever? Are you having any pain? Information was distributed by state health personnel wearing masks.

These extreme measures were effective: we never had a confirmed case of flu in our state of Nayarit and their were only two or three in Vallarta. Mexico has been applauded by international health authorities for containing the outbreak so well. But the Mexican people paid an enormous cost. From business owners like Carlos Slim who lost millions, to the ordinary working people who suddenly lost their incomes, all of Mexico is suffering. Cruise ships have stopped docking and airlines have stopped coming here. The streets of our tourist town are empty. The beach vendors, even the time-share salesmen, have given up.

But at our house, the air is filled with the sounds of hammers and chisels. Cement is being mixed and carried upstairs in huge buckets on the sturdy shoulders of our neighbor Demetrio. Our modest attempt to stimulate the local economy consists of re-wiring our entire house and continuing work on our upstairs addition, including - yippee! - electricity! The wiring is complete, the lights are installed and the plumbing is in place. The bathroom is tiled and the bathtub is where it is supposed to be at last. Because all construction in Mexico is cement and bricks, in order to lay electrical wires, grooves must first be chiseled, the conduit placed in the groove, the wire pulled through the conduit and the channels refilled with fresh cement.

At the same time, you can hear the sounds of "Como se llama?" and "Vivimos en Bucerias" and "Caminamos a la plaza cada dia." Four mornings a week, our friend Sean holds his Spanish classes on our patio. And in the midst of all this activity, we actually had a courageous and most welcome houseguest for a week.

I continue to find some time to paint and Jerry is busy laying bricks for the patio that will cover most of the front and side yards. Our papaya trees are heavy with fruit that is as sweet as honey and we have just harvested our first bananas. Diego and Millie are growing fast and delighting us each day.

It is becoming to warm to cook ambitiously, so last night, we enjoyed chorizo and carne asada (grilled beefsteak) tacos at our corner tacqueria, along with some wonderful fresh agua fresca made from guayabas (guava). We join friends at Tacos Itzel at least once a week for Alejandra's wonderful pollo enchiladas con mole. Justine continues to flourish in the warmth and serenity of Mexico and works with our friends Patricia and JoAnn at their bookstore.

Life continues to be unbelievably good for us while our friends and neighbors face a long and difficult summer. PLEASE consider a trip to Mexico: it is absolutely SAFE here and we need your company.

Dice "hola" a Diego (say "hi") to Diego!

2009-03-20T16:36:00.003-06:00

After losing our sweet dogs in December, we have been reluctant to become dog owners again. There is no shortage of needy dogs here in Bucerias - every few days, it seems, someone tells us about a dog that needs a home. This time of year is especially difficult - many of our Canadian/US "snowbird" residents are preparing to fly home as the weather warms up, and they often leave behind the dogs they were caring for while they were here. But we have said "no" many times and waited for the right dog. Now, we have found him.

Diego was born to a dog that lives right next door. She had eight puppies and he was the last remaining puppy after seven were given to new homes. Jerry has had his eye on Diego for several weeks - we like his markings and think he will grow up to be a handsome dog...not too big, either.

Diego is a sweet puppy who learns very quickly. He adores Jerry and follows him everywhere. He gets along (pretty) well with the cats. Bienvenidos a nosotras casa, Diego.

Discovering the diversity and beauty of Mexico

2009-02-27T20:56:00.013-06:00

From the top: (1) My handsome caballero in the doorway at Starbucks in San Miguel de Allende - in a 300-year-old building! I defy you to find a more beautiful Starbucks. (2) the monument to Father Miguel Hidalgo in Dolores Hidalgo; (3) The MUMMY MUSEUM in Guanajuato; and (4) the beautiful homes on the hills of Guanajuato.

Despite our best intentions, we have not traveled much within Mexico, mostly because we quickly acquired so many pets to care for! Now that we are down to three cats, we found a friend who would house-sit for us, and took off on a bus tour to the central highlands of Mexico - a trip with our friends Harold and Sue (and 28 Canadians!) to Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende. We discovered a very different and enchanting Mexico.

Our first stop was Guanajuato, high (6500 feet) in the arid hills of Central Mexico. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Guanajuato means "hill of frogs" in the language of the indigenous people there, and is considered by many to be the most beautiful city in Mexico. It is a colonial town, settled in the 1500s because of rich gold and silver deposits. It is a sister city to Ashland, Oregon, my home town!

The city is built on rock, and was originally built over two rivers, which flowed through tunnels underneath the city. However, after years of raising buildings to accommodate repeated flooding, in the mid-twentieth century, engineers built a dam and redirected the river into underground caverns. The tunnels were lit and paved with cobblestones for automobile traffic, and this amazing underground road network carries the majority of cars driving through the city today. It is one of the most notable features of the city.

While it is famous for many things, especially the site of the first revolutionary battle, most people who knew we went to Guanajuato asked us if we saw the Museo de la Momies, or mummy museum. A bizarre place - these mummies are here because their families failed to pay their burial taxes and they were disinterred. A few were added as recently as 1984! Some are wearing tennis shoes!

From Guanajuato, we traveled to Dolores Hidalgo, about an hour's drive. This is the true birthplace of the Mexican revolution, where Father Miguel Hidalgo made the first cry for freedom (el grito - a practice which is now repeated at midnight every September 17 in every town in Mexico by the town's mayor). Dolores Hidalgo is also famous for ice cream, colonial architecture and talavera pottery. We had only a few hours here, and it is a place we yearn to return to for a longer stay.

Just 15 minutes away from San Miguel de Allende, we stopped at the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, another UNESCO World Heritage site. This extraordinary spot has been a place of pilgrimage since colonial times. The church was built between 1746 and 1810. The walls and domed ceilings of the church are filled with 18th Century murals depicting the life of Christ, which are in the process of being restored, a process that has already taken 12 years. Many milagros (miracles) are attributed to this beautiful place, which is a treasure often missed by tourists.

We then proceeded to San Miguel de Allende, another breathtaking colonial city. Following WWII, a core of US veterans settled in San Miguel to attend the art school there, and it has been attracting "gringos" ever since. About a tenth of its 95,000 inhabitatants are foreigners, which makes for a rich cultural mix. The town is full of winding streets and tiny shops and restaurants, begging you to explore them. The colonial architecture feels just like Europe, and the climate (unlike Bucerias) is cool and dry.

We are already planning additional trips to this magical part of Mexico...and considering how we might stay in San Miguel or Guanajuato during the hottest summer months....

BIENVENIDOS A MILAGRA

2009-01-17T21:04:00.005-06:00

OK folks, time for some GOOD news. On my birthday (January 15) a little miracle (milagra) came into our lives. Some friends found a tiny starving kitten in the middle of one of the busiest streets in town. They knew we needed some new pets in our lives and called us...we went right over and brought her home with us. She is very small and malnourished, but full of spunk and affection. She loves to snuggle and purrs like a little motorboat. Just what the doctor ordered. Isn't she pretty?

A NEW KIND OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

2008-12-08T22:58:00.003-06:00

From the bottom up: (1) entrance to the cuota (toll road) to Guadalajara; (2) Guadalajara Christmas market; (3) fine art galleries in Tlaquepaque; (4) the famous Sunday market in Tonola - hundreds of artesanial vendors; and (5) candleholders waiting for new homes in the Tonola market.

Last weekend, Justine and I had a wonderful adventure: a bus trip to Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque and Tonola to do some Christmas shopping. With a group of 15 friends and soon-to-be friends, we left early Friday morning in a luxury bus. We stopped along the way to tour a tequila factory in Tequila - a surprisingly interesting experience. The factory we toured (Herraduras) is the only tequila factory left in Mexico that is actually owned and operated by Mexicans, and it has been in business for over 150 years. The grounds were beautiful and the process was fascinating. Although I am not a big fan of tequila, even the obligatory tasting at the end was great - helped me take a nice siesta until we arrived in Guadalajara. We walked a few blocks to the annual Christmas market, which filled an entire city block, met some nice people there, and then had a very special dinner at a former convent in the city.

Ever since we came to Mexico, people have told us that prices and selection are the very best in Tlaquepaque and Tonola. They were all right about that - lovely fine art and lively folk art in every price range. We had a fine time, filled our shopping bags, and didn't spend a fortune.

It was nice to get back home to Bucerias, however - Guadalajara is a mile high, and very cold this time of year (high 30s at night; mid-70's during the day.) I guess I have really acclimated to the tropical coastal weather.

Next trip? A bus tour to Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende. Justine will be here to care for the menagerie, so Jerry and I will be free to travel a bit. Dolores Hidalgo is the home of Talavera pottery...we are looking forward to it.

2008-11-23T12:24:00.006-06:00

(1) A picture I painted the week before the US election, as an offering of hope. The writing says,"Not only is a different world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." (Ahrundati Roy); (2) Blanca and Lucky; (3) Our patio on this warm November morning, dressed for a fiesta

As we begin this week of Thanksgiving, we sit on our lovely patio on a warm and friendly morning, drinking rich and aromatic coffee grown right here in Nayarit. The sun is shining; the sky is cloudless; the temperature is a perfect 72F; and the tropical breeze is gentle. We watch the mama kitty play with her kitten. And we reflect on the many reasons we have to be thankful:

Daughter Justine is on her way to visit, and will arrive tomorrow. I haven’t seen her for eight months, and having her with us for Thanksgiving is a special gift.
Our little family of personas y mascotas is blessed with the addition of Blanca and her baby, whom we have named “Lucky.” Watching them play together has provided us with many many hours of pleasure.
There is a new feeling of hope in the world. New leadership in the United States has filled everyone, even those here in Mexico, with a sense of optimism.
We continue to believe that we made the best possible decision to make Bucerias our home, and that we are the two most fortunate people in the world.
I have a special sense of gratitude for the opportunity to express my respect and affection for Mexico through my painting and drawing - and that I have sold five paintings and a drawing in the past few weeks. I am especially grateful for Jorge and Blanca, who have faith in me, and who have chosen to make their gallery a showplace for my work.
We have found so many delightful new friends, who fill our lives with laughter and purpose.
In the midst of so much economic uncertainty for so many, we have a modest and dependable income stream that is not affected (so far) by the crisis in the US. In fact (for some arcane reason we do not understand) the peso has gone from 10 pesos to one dollar to 13:1, giving us a temporary pay raise.
We are both strong and healthy.
We look forward to the holidays and the coming year, with hopes that more of our friends and family will find the time and resources to come here and share our corner of paradise for a time.

So Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may all your days be full of hope and promise.

Adios to rain and humidity; hola to Blanca

2008-10-28T18:24:00.005-06:00

Top picture: our last storm of the summer. I was lucky to get a picture of a good lightning strike...although it seems like daylight, this tormenta occurred about midnight and lit up the night sky.
Bottom picture: our newest kitty, Blanca (not a very original name, I know). She is another "rescue"; she was living as a feral cat in the field next to our house.

Although we love the summer storms, the heavy rain (about 140 inches in the last four months) takes its toll on the little dirt roads in our town. Most of them (including our own street) look more like ravines than roads right now, and navigating them is a challenge. Now that the rains are over, the municipality will grade and fill them all, one at a time. No more power outages or fried electronic equipment for another 8 months or so!

The humidity "switch" got thrown sometime during the night last night, and we awoke this morning to a dry warm wind blowing from the mountains. It almost felt like fall - and the humidity was down to 60% .... yesterday at the same time, it was 95%! Although the day was warm (around 90-95F), the wind kept blowing, and soon it was down to about 40%. Longtime Bucerians have told us that the humidity leaves in one night, shortly after the rains stop, and they are right. My paint is finally drying better and we will be able to turn over in bed tonight without sticking to the sheets. Hooray! Seven months of perfect weather ahead!

"Blanca" is the newest member of our family. She is a truly feral cat, having been born and "raised" in the field of palm trees that borders our back and side yards. A few months ago, she began coming in our cat door in search of food. We noticed that she was pregnant and began feeding her. Polo is very smitten with her - Negro not so much. She now has one little kitten and spends most of her time on our patio. She is becoming very approachable, and likes to play and be petted. She still has her baby in hiding, but I imagine that he will soon be joining our family as well. Isn't she pretty?

Some good things that are happening in our community...

2008-10-11T12:39:00.007-06:00

The picture at the top is Casa Hogar (literally, "a house that is a home"), the orphanage/children's shelter that is being built here in Bucerias, entirely with donations. Please take a few minutes to look at http://www.manosdeamor.com/and read the story of this phenomenal effort, which is being led by local resident Valiene Heckart. From now until the end of the year, a generous local architect has offered to MATCH each donation. AND, the organization has US 501(c)(3) status, so your donations are US tax deductible. I know that money is scarce and times are uncertain, but please consider a donation to this wonderful organization. You can even donate using PayPal from the Manos de Amor (hands of love) website.

The bottom picture is a wondrous treehouse that is being built at the public swimming pool for the children to play in...it will be a magical thing when it is finished, and I'll keep you posted with photos of both projects as they progress.

Now, for the good news/bad news item: the good news is that the rainy season is almost over. The bad news is that the rainy season is almost over. We love the storms and the cooling rains, for this is the most uncomfortable time of year for heat and humidity. But when the rains go at long last, so does the humidity, and gradually, the heat. We enter six months of ideal weather: cool nights (50F-55F) and warm days (75F-85F). We bid goodbye to the rains reluctantly, and we will certainly welcome them when they return next June.

The US presidential election is the main topic of conversation everywhere we go. Because we now have a SKY TV satellite dish, we are able to watch the US news and the debates (But NO annoying commercials or political messages). Everyone we know from the US is casting an absentee ballot (ours were emailed to us and we will mail them to Oregon on Monday). We are members of Democrats Abroad, a worldwide organization that has produced this wonderful video, showing support for Barack Obama from expat Democrats all over the globe. This will make your day, I promise. It may even bring a tear to your eye if you are like me and cry at Hallmark commercials... http://blip.tv/file/1338283

That's it for now - mas tardes.

The right place at the right time

2008-08-24T17:54:00.005-06:00

It is not unusual to encounter moments of breathtaking beauty here, and we were lucky to come across one this afternoon. This baby iguana posed just inside our front gate atop a blooming bird of paradise...what a wonder he is, with his long, delicate fingers and long, subtly-ringed tail. With luck, he'll grow up to be a 4-5 foot long adult, like the ones we enjoy watching in our big mimosa tree, and who herald both the sunset and the dawn with their whistling...

Puff Earns Her Wings.....

2008-08-01T10:51:00.003-06:00

When we came to Mexico, we brought our two cats, Puff and Polo. They endured 12 hours in their carriers, and when they were finally released, they found a whole new world. They loved their new world, especially Puff. She developed an uncanny facility for tracking down and catching the enormous cockroaches that lived around the condo we rented in Vallarta. And when we moved to Bucerias, her hunting prowess extended to little field mice and lizards. She had a wonderful life, enjoying the warmth of Mexico.

Puff's Mexican adventure has come to an end. She was (we think) about 15 years old, and for the past few months, her age had begun to show. She was having trouble eating, and Dr. Wenceslao carefully cleaned her teeth and removed the few that were abscessed. He discovered a small bony growth on her jaw that he suspected was a tumor, and it grew rapidly. Finally, she could barely open her mouth, and I had to feed her by hand. It was time to say goodbye.

Her passage was gentle, thanks to Wenceslao. When it was done, we asked him "how much?" and he shook his head, tears in his eyes. "No charge for Puff."

The picture above is a tribute to brave Puff, as a merkitty, watching over her brothers and ready to rescue Polo from the giant squid.

Driving in Mexico...confusion, but no road rage

2008-07-27T13:25:00.004-06:00

When we first arrived in Mexico, I didn't drive much. Jerry is an adventuresome driver and I like to tease him that he was "born to be a Mexican driver." Mexicans, who are sometimes painfully polite and courteous, apparently lose those qualities when they sit behind the wheel of a car. Driving here is an adventure, and despite the fact that I am a confident driver who has had a license since age 16, I was reluctant to take it on. After we moved to Bucerias, it occurred to me how foolish it was to depend on Jerry to go everywhere with me, and so I gradually began to venture out on my own. Now, I am a pretty confident Mexican driver, and I even have a ticket to prove it (running a red light - yes, I did it. The fine was $110 pesos, or a little over $10 USD.). Last week, The Vallarta Tribune, a local English language weekly paper, published the following tips for driving in Mexico. I know this smacks of stereotypes and generalizations, BUT they are ALL TRUE. Really.

Turn signals will give away your next move. A real Mexican driver never uses them.
Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by someone else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane change is considered going with the flow.
The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.
Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will inevitably result in your being rear-ended.
A right lane closure is just a game to see how many people can cut in line while passing you on the right as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the orange construction barrels.
Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions.
Remember that goal of every Mexican driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.
It is traditional to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes.
Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that the driver behind you won't flash his high beams, thinking you can go faster.

Now here is the amazing part. Despite the fact that drivers cut in front of each other constantly, run stop signs and red lights and often park in the middle of the street, they never get visibly angry. They don't exchange rude hand signs. They don't yell at each other. There is NO road rage.

A few months ago, our friend Salvador came to visit us, parking his car in the middle of our street, even though there was plenty of room for him to pull over to the side. We were sitting on the patio having coffee when we heard someone calling from the front of the house, "Buenos dias. Buenos dias!" We went around to the front. There was a pickup behind Salvador who could not get by. Did he honk? No. Did he yell? No. Did he ram Salvador's car? No. He politely called "Buenos dias" until Salvador moved his car. Then he waved happily and went on his way.

What a place. Reason number 416 "why we love Mexico."

Meeting with El Gobernador!

2008-07-14T17:12:00.003-06:00

Governor of the state of Nayarit, Ney Gonzalez

This morning, the officers of the Amigos de Bucerias had the pleasure of meeting with the governor of our state, Ney Gonzalez . Following a general meeting of our group a few months ago (in which many questions were asked regarding future development in our area), we requested a meeting with the governor. A few days ago, the American Consular Officer for Vallarta, Kelly Trainor, called and said we were "on" for this morning.

Meeting with Governor Gonzalez was pretty much like meeting with Governor Kulongoski in Oregon (or any other governor, for that matter, I'm sure). Except, of course, Governor Kulongoski speaks Ingles, would likely not have invited us to his family's vacation home in Nuevo Vallarta (three miles from us), and would not have given us almost two hours of his time.

I was very impressed with the level of knowledge Gov. Gonzalez has regarding the details of the plans being made for our state, and especially the coastal area that runs from the state border north to Rincon de Guayabitos (including Bucerias) - an area that has recently been christened Riviera Nayarit. An impressive amount of state and federal money has been pledged for development of this area.

Our immediate area has been targeted for a number of new health care facilities, including a new 30-bed hospital, outpatient clinics for mental health, alcohol and drug addiction and HIV. Outreach and prevention programs are also planned, along with a cardiac and diabetes center.

Most reassuring to us, was that Bucerias is slated to remain a puebla tipica, or typical small Mexican village. Plans do include an expansion of our town plaza and construction of a malecon, or boardwalk, along the ocean front downtown.

Ney Gonzalez is a charming, well-educated and amiable man, with a good sense of humor. It was a privilege to meet with him, and a bit reminiscent of my working days.

Lichees, lizards and lovely visitors...

2008-06-21T16:58:00.003-06:00

Top picture: a pile of lichees harvested from the huge tree in the middle of our patio; Center picture: a lovely Brown Anole Lizard showing off his dewlap; Bottom picture: Kim, Amelia, Josie and Jeff at The River Cafe in Puerto Vallarta

We've had a wonderful week, with glorious summer weather. For the last eight days, we were especially excited to have VISITORS FROM CHINA! Son Jeff, his wife Kim and their two daughters Amelia and Josie got on the plane this morning, heading for the US for a few weeks before they return to China, where Jeff and Kim teach in an international school in Wuhan, Hubei Province. They enjoyed being tourists: scuba diving, boogie-boarding, going to the Splash Park, swimming at the beach, shopping and eating great Mexican food. It was so hard to say goodbye...

So many wonderful fruits are coming into season right now - we are inundated with fresh mangoes...so many friends bringing us large bags of sweet, sun-ripened mangoes. Fortunately, we can reciprocate with bags of lichees, a walnut-sized fruit that is not native to Mexico, but actually was introduced from China. It is a huge favorite of Mexican people, who love their spicy sweetness. They are also pretty expensive - about $10 ($100 pesos) for a kilo bag. So we have become pretty popular in our neighborhood, as Jerry goes from house to house with gifts of lichees.

That pretty little lizard is called a Brown Anole, and they scamper all over our patio, jumping from tree limb to tree limb and post to post - they can jump about 2-3 feet. They love to show off their bright orange dewlap. To us, they are a metaphor for beautiful and mysterious Mexico - they look very modest and ordinary, blending quietly into the background until they throw back their heads and surprise us with such an extraordinary display of beauty.

Mexico's Glorious Disorder............

2008-05-14T22:02:00.005-06:00

This picture was taken on October 13, 2007 at the foot of the arroyo on the beach at Bucerias. That was our last big rain, and 13 cars washed down the arroyo!

For your reading pleasure, a column written by a Canadian about Mexico that really captures some of the reasons why we love it here so much:

Mexico's Glorious Disorder puts Nanny state to shame.

Having just returned from a week in Mexico, and therefore being an expert, this is what I have to report:it is just like Canada...30 years ago.

People smoke in restaurants.They ride in the back of pick up trucks.There do not appear to be seat-belt laws(or,frequently,seat-belts).Half the pasty white population of Canada frolick in the water with nary a lifeguard in sight.
A vacationing builder from the United States stood poolside and gazed dumbfounded at the construction workers clambering,untethered,high atop the concrete skeleton of the condo complex being erected next door."seventy-two feet up and not one of them is wearing a safety lanyard,"observed the American, his voice a mixture of admiration and horror.
It was, in short,gloriously unregulated-just like canada used to be back when kids could take peanut butter sandwiches to school and skate without helmets.
In Mexico,smiling street vendors served up food that had basked in the sun longer than an Albertan after a six-margarita breakfast.

The waterfront walkway had no railing,not even a yellow line painted along the edge to prevent inattentative strollers from tumbling,lemminglike,to the jagged rocks far below.Parasailing tourists soured high in the sky before plunging straight into beaches packed with first-time jet skiers-and not one of them had to sign a liability waiver before doing so.
On new years eve,the fireworks burst directly overhead and fell at the feet of delighted celebrants.The floor of the bus that carried us downtown was fissured with thousands of cracks,just one pothole away from exploding into a cloud of rust-colored dust.

The municipal planner appeared to have been drunk.All the properties in town had seemingly been tossed into a giant paper bag,given a good shake and dumped on the ground in a dizzyingly haphazard manner.A gated mansion sat by a Quonset hut crammed with truck tires,which was beside a franchised chicken joint,which was next to a corn field,followed by a car lot,a hospital,and a farmhouse.

To repeat: the disorder there was glorious.

In Canada we have allowed ourselves to be regulated,sheltered and shepherded to the point that our national costume should be the fluorescent-orange safety vest.We have banned lawn darts,mandated bicycle helmets and robbed our playgrounds of any apparatus that spins until you trap a limb/throw up/or have fun.

Few of the rules in which we wrap ourselves are objectionable when viewed in isolation(smoking in restaurants?yeuck!bleh!ptooey!) but the cumulative effect of all these directives is a nanny state that smothers us until we are incapable of moving,of making our own decisions. The result is a society with a false sense of security.It absolves us of any personal responsibility.Coffee too hot?Sue McDonald's. Slip on the sidewalk?The city should have cleared the ice. Fall off the cliff?There should have been a warning sign.

So Viva Mexico! Down with over-regulation and those who would inflict it upon us!

written in 2007 by Jack Knox, Times Columnist

Saving a Pelican

2008-05-04T20:57:00.003-06:00

Top picture: poor pelican trapped against the fence under the vegetation
Center: Jerry rides in the back of the truck to transport the pelican back to the beach
Bottom: The pelican is back in his element, on his way out to sea

Last Sunday was a typical lazy day - Jerry took the dogs for a walk in the late afternoon, and Blondie and Bob seemed very interested in the field down the street from our house. They spotted a stranded amigo - a poor young pelican who had apparently become trapped in the field. He must have landed there and in trying to get out, got tangled in the vines and vegetation. Poor thing. He wasn't going anywhere, and he was very weak and dehydrated.

Our neighbor Pepe helped Jerry get him out of the field - Jerry handed him over the fence to Pepe - and we prepared to drive him down to the beach. Jerry sat in the back of the truck, holding the pelican's large bill very tightly shut. Only a six-block drive.

When we released him on the beach, we attracted alot of attention and lots of offers to help from Mexican families who were enjoying their Sunday afternoon at the beach. But the young pelican did fine on his own, letting the surf carry him out to sea - and home again.

Some images from our daily life in Bucerias..

2008-03-17T18:05:00.004-06:00

(1) The fruteria where we like to shop for fresh fruits and vegetables; (2) One of my favorite places, The Gringo Bookstore, run by our friends JoAnne and Patricia; (3) I am learning to cook authentic Mexican food - this is pollo con salsa roja y chorizo; (4) The reason why we sold our washer and dryer. This is where we take our laundry; and (5) our favorite little restaurant, Tacos Itzel - yummy and CHEAP!!

Our daily lives here in Bucerias are filled with color, flavor and serenity. Here are a few images that help to convey what it is like to live here. At the fruteria, I can buy 3-4 large bags of fresh fruits and vegetables for less than $100 pesos (about ten dollars). I love to buy fresh papayas, mangoes, chayote, potatoes, brocolli, chiles, peppers, pineapple, limes, oranges, bananas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, tomates verde, cilantro, zucchini and more. All fresh, all naturally ripened. So good.

The Gringo Bookstore is about the only place in town to buy English language books, so it is a favorite place as well. Among our friends, we do a pretty good job of exchanging books, however, and I am never at a loss for something to read.

I am having a great time learning to cook authentic Mexican food - the sauce for this dish is made of dried chiles (guajillo and ancho), garlic, tomatoes, onions and chicken broth. This chicken is so good it just falls off the bone into a warm, fresh tortilla. I've been posting some of my recipes on Ehow.com under "MexicoKaren" if you want to take a look.

The lavanderia is owned by our neighbors Karl and Rosa. Karl is from Houston and is married to Rosa, whose family is from Bucerias. They run a great business - 12 pesos a kilo for our laundry all clean and folded, just like it has been ironed! We sold our washer and dryer before we ever hooked it up....one of life's greatest annoyances has been taken care of.

Tacos Itzel is just up the street from us and is owned by a family who started serving wonderful tacos in their yard. Chickens, dogs and children (with or without diapers) run around underfoot. I know it looks a little rustic, but you will never find fresher, better tasting food. Tacos, enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, even empanadas made with fresh shrimp. A typical meal here of chicken enchiladas (huge chunks of chicken in a monstrous homemade tortilla, fresh salad) and a large glass of agua fresca (fresh fruit drink, made with pineapple, mango, rice, other good things) for BOTH of us is less than $5.00!!! It is crowded every night, with Mexicans and gringos alike.

These are just a few of the things that make our lives sweet every day. Come and visit, and we'll take you to dinner - our treat!!

A Dog Named Bob

2008-03-05T17:40:00.005-06:00

Top picture: Bob in closeup
Bottom picture: Bob enjoying daughter Justine's company

Every now and then, something really nice happens - in our lives, it actually happens pretty often, and we are grateful for that. While I was visiting daughter Justine in Portland, a little dog showed up at our front gate here in Mexico. It camped outside for a few days, and Jerry has a tender heart, so he began to feed him. The dog had a splendid long tail, which dragged rather strangely on the ground.

When I returned home, accompanied by Justine, the dog was very happy to meet us. But on the second day, something peculiar happened: his tail fell off. We could not find it; it was just gone. What was left did not look healthy, so Jerry took him to our veterinario marvilloso, Wenceslao.

Apparently, he had been hit by a car. Wenceslao removed what was left of his tail because it was gangrenous, fortified him with antibiotics and sent him back home with Jerry the next day. A name became necessary: "Bob" seemed to fit him just right, given the condition of his tail (or non-tail).

Bob has turned out to be a good-natured and affectionate little dog, who gets along well with Blondie and Dagwood. He'll be staying with us for awhile...long enough for his tail to heal and to be neutered. Then, we will try to find him a permanent, loving home. In the meantime, a dog named Bob is apparently just what we needed. Who knew?

A New Kind of Christmas

2007-12-19T20:20:00.000-06:00

From the top: Nativity scene in the plaza at Valle de Banderas; handmade pinatas on a side street in Valle de Banderas; Dan and Jim cradling our new pinata for the ride home; our Christmas pinata; papel picado for Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging on our patio

We have had a busy and joyful month: in mid-November, our wonderful friend Jim came to spend two weeks with us. He was the best kind of guest, who helped me to see our new home through his delighted eyes. Two days after he left, our friends Susie and Dan arrived, along with new friends Shari and Jim. It was great fun showing them around our beautiful Bahia de Banderas: the pictures above were taken the day we went to Valle de Banderas, the small town that is the seat of our municipality. As we were leaving town, we drove down a small side street, and in front of a very modest home hung an array of colorful Christmas pinatas - all painstakingly crafted by the family that lives there. Susie bought us a beautiful big Christmas pinata for our home - too big to put in the cab of the truck...no problem, Jim and Dan were riding in the back, Mexican-style, on lawn chairs and held it carefully all the way home.

Just before they returned back to Portland and Tacoma, daughter Justine arrived to spend almost two weeks. We spent lots of time enjoying her visit with our friends - going to dinner at the little restaurant we call "Tacos under the Trees", shopping at the new Liverpool shopping mall in Vallarta and simply resting on our back patio. I tearfully put her on the plane this afternoon, and now we have time to reflect on the many happy memories of the past month, as well as prepare for our Christmas celebration.

On Sunday, we were invited to attend a Christmas "posada" at our neighbor David Velasco's viviero (nursery). Friends Harold and Sue and Joan and Dennis came with us - we were the only "gringos" in attendance. There were about 200 people there, all sitting at tables nestled under the towering palms and beautiful flowers. Bunuelos were served (fried flour tortillas with a honey syrup) and delicious tamales. As I sat there in the warm afternoon sun, watching the children taking turns at hitting the colorful Christmas pinatas, I heard "O Come All Ye Faithful" sung in Spanish by young and tender voices. I realized that we are beginning to find a new Christmas.

It's not the one we have cherished in the past: the fun and frenzy of shopping amidst the sounds of Christmas Carols, decorating a fresh and fragrant Douglas fir, lighting candles throughout the house to chase away the winter gloom. This one is full of sun and light and warmth and more simple pleasures. We'll be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas with our friends Joan and Dennis, Harold and Sue, Bonnie and Brian. We will all miss our friends and family who are not here with us, and we may reminisce about Christmases past. But we will surely remind each other that we are all so fortunate to be spending our Christmases in this friendly, sunny country that is our new home. Feliz Navidad to all.

Tenemos dos chivas bonitas (we have two beautiful goats)

2007-11-27T15:54:00.000-06:00

Top picture: Noelle and Virginia
Bottom picture: our Thanksgiving feast, served on the patio. The picture above shows my sweetheart Jerry, Linda, Jim, Sue and Harold. On the lower left corner - a plate of homemade pork, corn and cheese tamales.

As we mark our second Thanksgiving in Mexico, we have some sadness and some happiness - one of the goats has been sold. The vivero manager Pepe came to our house early one morning about a week ago and said that the owner has ordered him to get rid of the goats...they are starting to eat the palm trees. So Pepe talked to Jerry and offered to give us one (of our choice). Jerry chose Virginia. Then, he said that we could also buy Noelle ($500 pesos, or $50). But June (the biggest one - and the one we named after Jerry's mom) had already been sold. So someone came and got her. It was very hard to watch her being captured and taken away, and the little ones cried and cried.

Jerry made a trip to the ferreteria for fencing and to the feed store for hay - we are now sharing our yard with Virginia and Noelle. Not exactly what we had planned for that space, but we are happy to have them, and they seem to be figuring out that they have landed in a good place.

Our Thanksgiving celebration this year included some special treats - our good friend Jim Grant joined us from Portland, and our friends Linda, Sue and Harold also shared tamales with us. Jim, Jerry and I put them together the night before and had a great time. They did not look perfect, but they tasted heavenly.

It goes without saying that we have much to be thankful for this year, as always. Our friends and family in Portland remain in our thoughts and we miss you all. But.... you CAN come and visit. Ask Jim - doesn't he look like he is having a good time? Book that flight!

Adios to sweet May....

2007-10-16T11:00:00.000-06:00

In the midst of much happiness and accomplishment, some sadness occurs. That is the full flavor of life, and we must taste it all. One of the goats who live next door to us has died.

If you read this blog, you already know that Jerry and I have a deep affection for the goats that share our world. They live in the vivero next to our house, and since their owner is absent most of the time, we care for them, i.e., feed them, make sure they have water, have conversations with them, take pictures of them, etc.

A few days ago, the pretty little goat we call "May" became ill. Over the period of just a few hours, she simply lay down and died. Her owner, Raul, did try to give her some medicine, but his attempt to make her better failed.

Her amigas miss her terribly. Poor June, the other grown goat, just stands and stares at the place where she died. She is not even interested in a tortilla snack. Her kid, Noelle, cried all night the first night. Virginia, the other kid, has been very kind and nurturing to Noelle, and she seems to be doing better.

Although Jerry's family kept goats when he was a child, I have never had any exposure to these sweet animals. They have such gentle spirits - who knew?

May was the most gregarious of the group - always the first to come over to be petted, always nudging her way to the front of the group when snacks were offered. We will all miss May.

LIFE KEEPS GETTING BETTER, OR.......

2007-10-13T23:48:00.000-06:00

all this and Chinese take-out, too?

The gorgeous yellow-flowered bush (we don't know what it is called) pictured above is actually a pretty good metaphor for our experiences and attitudes toward our adopted country. About eight months ago, we admired a beautiful bush with abundant yellow flowers that was growing in a vacant lot a few blocks away from us. "Could we take a cutting?" we wondered. We finally decided that it would probably be OK, but when Jerry went down the street to get a cutting, the bush was gone. Not only had it been chopped down, the whole lot had been burned to clear all the vegetation. A tiny little blackened stump remained. Jerry dug it up and brought it home.

He planted it in our front yard and then we forgot about it. A month or so later, we were wondering what the new foliage in the front yard was - oh, could it be that poor dead bush? It grew and grew. It got REALLY tall and started crowding out the other plants, especially the bamboo. The bamboo fought back and also got bigger. But the bush still had no flowers. Then, a few days ago, they all seemed to appear at once.

Mexico is an amazing and magical place. Things are not always what they appear to be...there are hidden treasures and surprises waiting for us in unexpected places.

A month or so ago, we were visiting with our friend Jorge, who is one of the first people we met when we moved to Bucerias. He owns a lovely gallery, Casabor, that is full of wonderful paintings, sculptures and art objects. We drop in often to see what he has added to his inventory, and we have bought some very nice pieces from him to adorn our own little casa. I mentioned to him that "I (uh) have some (hmmm) paintings I've (uh) done," and asked if he would (hmmm) mind taking a look at them and giving me some (umm) advice on whether I could sell them, and if so, how could I best (hmmm) accomplish that. He generously agreed.

Yesterday, we picked up 16 paintings from the frame shop, and Jerry suggested that we stop by and show them to Jorge. I was a little reluctant - I did not want to presume on our friendship. But I thought they looked pretty good matted and framed, so I was feeling brave. As Jorge helped us unload them, he began to exclaim "I love them!" As he looked through them, he was full of encouraging comments. He liked the colors, the style, the clean lines. He began walking around the shop, planning where he would hang them. The bottom line? He took them all to hang in his gallery - minus one I had already sold and the mer-kitties, which I want to keep.

I was stunned (still am!). This is a dream come true for me. So much better than my original plan - a show in conjunction with the Bucerias Art Walk (which has now been postponed until November). I have been painting (almost) obsessively for several months and I am overwhelmed that someone besides Jerry and me and our family and friends thinks they are good. I am almost ready to call myself a real artist.

NOW - the icing on the cake:

We are very grateful for a growing circle of friends. Last night, we went to a party at a friend's house that was attended by about 25 other expats. All of them interesting and friendly people - some we have known almost since we arrived, others who are new acquaintances. The occasion? An expat couple who have lived here 18 years has decided that the thing Bucerias needs most is (drumroll)....Chinese takeout! YES!

Richard is Chinese, and he and Denise used to own a Chinese restaurant. He is a wonderful chef, and he brought dish after dish for us to sample. It was all delicious: dumplings, egg rolls, shrimp rolls, Kung Pao chicken, cashew chicken, beef and broccoli, on and on and on. Oh gosh - and THEY DELIVER. Wow.

PS - Oh (in case you are wondering) Oscar and the vanished workers have not returned. It looks like they probably won't. Not ever. Oscar has given up and is taking a job in a car wash in Vallarta. So we have hired our friend Jeno, who is a masonry "maestro" to finish the stucco. He is doing a beautiful job. Then we will ask our friend Alfredo to finish the plumbing and electrical work. And Pancho, a very talented metal worker, has already been here to measure for the gates and windows. Bit by bit (poco a poco). That is the way things happen here. And that is fine with me.

What do I do all day?

2007-10-02T15:54:00.000-06:00

Lately, I paint. The painting gets blurred sometimes because the sweat runs off my face into the paint, but I doggedly keep at it! This is a painting of our three cats as mer-kitties, done purely for fun.

The rest of my paintings will be part of a show the last Thursday of this month here in Bucerias, and I'll get a chance to see if anyone else likes them besides me and Jerry (and maybe even likes them enough to buy one!) Most of them are posted on our flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/casabucerias/

That's the good news. The bad news is that construction has come to an (almost) complete standstill on our upstairs addition. Two weeks ago, our workers were offered jobs at twice the pay, as well as mucha comida y mucha cervesa in Mascota, a town in the mountains about an hour's drive from here. That's the last we saw of them, and Oscar, the contractor, is still trying to hire a new crew. Hmmmm - we haven't actually seen or heard from Oscar in almost two weeks, so he may have joined his crew in Mascota. Doesn't answer his phone and his buzon (mailbox) is full - probably messages from lots of other customers wondering why the work they already paid for isn't done yet.

So, we continue to live and learn...we have our friend German helping us with the finishing stucco, and will continue to make a little progress daily. Jerry is learning how to be a Mexican plumber, and I can hear him chipping away cement upstairs to bury the sewer pipe for the toilet as I write this. The temp this afternoon is 90.5F with 90% humidity, and it is slow going!

We remain optimistic and happy despite the setbacks, and look forward to the day when we FINALLY have all the construction done on our little casa.

Arriba grows!

2007-08-31T09:52:00.000-06:00

Work is progressing on our upstairs addition, but not always as fast as we want, of course. Everyone who builds or remodels a house in Mexico (Mexican or gringo) has similar experiences: only about half of the workforce shows up on Monday (San Lunes) and some days, the workers don't show up at all (algo paso, or "something happened", i.e. their truck broke down; there is illness in the family; a sister is getting married). The casual pace of life here is part of what attracted us to Mexico; it takes some getting used to, and you must park your sense of time urgency at the border.

When we moved in, we were getting our electricity from a spurious underground "extension cord" that ran from our neighbor around the corner, through the field next door and under the yard to our back door, where there was a breaker box with ONE 10 amp circuit. In two more days, it will have been a year since we moved in....and this week, we finally got our new electricity hooked up! Yes, it has taken that long. We had the house rewired for 220v electricity last year, but the new wiring required a new meter and new account with CFE (the federally-run power company). Getting the new account approved took weeks, but that was just the beginning. The first problem was that we were too far from the nearest connection on our street. After we hired a lawyer, they came to the house twice and measured (over several weeks' time) , and decided that it was within their guidelines after all. Then the CFE installer decided that the standard to hold our line was not strong enough. We had to rebuild it. We did. More months passed. They came and looked. Adjustments were needed; it should be taller. OK. We made it taller. Months passed again. They came back and looked. Some tree limbs would have to be cut. OK. We would cut them immediately. They said they would be back in una hora (one hour). Weeks passed, and they didn't come back. Finally, Jerry flagged down a passing CFE truck and begged them to come and hook us up. It took 35 minutes and a $200 peso propina. ($20 USD tip). Hooray! I can finally use my wonderful Ron Popeil chicken rotisserie!

Why we love Mexico #283

2007-08-17T09:52:00.000-06:00

Our cat Puff traveled with us here to Mexico and has made the adjustment wonderfully well. Puff is a geriatric kitty, having migrated across the street from her noisy dysfunctional home to live with Jerry about 10 years ago. He estimates that she was 3-5 years old then. Because she looked just like the kitty in Fun with Dick and Jane, he renamed her Puff.

She is a bit aloof and dislikes being held, although she loves to be petted. Last year about this time, we took her to the vet in Vallarta and had her fur trimmed back because of her thick and fluffy coat and the hot and humid summer weather. She didn’t care much for the process, but she was happy with the result.

This year, we took her to one of our most cherished Bucerias resources, Dr. Wencesla Lopez, the veterinarian who practices just down the street and around the corner from us. Uncharacteristically, Puff LOVES him.

Earlier this week, we took her in about 10 in the morning. She hopped willingly into her cat carrier, anticipating a visit to Wencesla (used to take two of us to get her in, and she always drew blood.) When we arrived, she started to purr, and he was happy to see her as well. He took her to the grooming table to begin (yes, he does the grooming himself), and we knew that she was in good hands.

When we returned to pick her up a few hours later, he said, “No, she is sleeping. When she wakes up, I’ll give her a bath.” We could see her snoozing on the grooming table behind him. She lifted her head, gave us a disdainful look, and went back to sleep. We were sure that we would return to find poor Wencesla’s arms cut to ribbons. A bath? You must be kidding!

When we returned later in the day, he crooned to her as he picked her up “C’mon Baby.” She looked and smelled wonderful and there was a spring in her step that was not there earlier in the day. “She loved her bath,” he reported.

The cost for this full day at the Wencesla spa? All that personal attention, schmoozing and nurturing? $150 pesos – less than $15 US dollars.

Is there a Wencesla ANYWHERE in the US? I don’t think so. Another reason to love Mexico.

Arriba! Vista del Mar – and how I ended up cooking tacos for 8 hungry Mexicans

2007-08-13T11:54:00.000-06:00

(1) We invited the goats in to mow the lawn for us, but they were more interested in the plumeria and the bamboo! From left, May, Noel, June and Virginia. The handsome old billy goat behind Virginia is Jerry, of course.

(2) The first columns go up for our arriba!

(3) The vista from the roof of our new addition.

(4) A beautful Bucerias sunset viewed from the roof.

We have finally begun working on our upstairs addition, and it should be completed within the next month or so. We’ll have a big bedroom (12’ X 19’), a bathroom with a BATHTUB (hooray!) and a small extra room we’ll use as a little kitchenette (so that we don’t have to go downstairs to make our morning coffee). There will also be a large patio in the front and a stairway to the NEXT level that will hold a private little terraza. From there, we can see actually see the bay, all the way from Yelapa at the south to Punta de Mita at the north. We are very excited!

Yesterday (Sunday) started out cool and quiet after a very dramatic thunderstorm the night before. Lightning crossed the sky from one horizon to the next most of the night, and we lost electricity about nine o’clock in the evening. Gets a little stuffy with no ceiling fans, but the rain cooled things off a bit and we slept fine. Got up the next morning (still no electricity) and cooked a package of our hard-to-find breakfast sausages from the freezer because they were thawing...our friends Cheto and Beto came by and promised to return in the afternoon with our friend German to mix up some cement and get the ceiling poured for the bedroom addition on the main floor. German arrived about five with his three sons and three more friends to help...only took about two hours to haul all that sand, gravel and cement (four BIG bags) to the roof, mix it on the spot and pour it. By that time (still no electricity), more meat from the freezer had thawed and we had LOTS of carne asada tacos for everyone. Almost had to cook by candlelight (thank goodness for the gas stove), but the electricity finally came back on about 7:30 pm. Another beautiful day in Paradise, made perfect by good friends and good food.

I've posted some new pictures on Flickr if you want to see more - three new paintings from a new series I am calling The Faces of Mexico. You can find them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/casabucerias/.

Finally, some pictures from my trip to China!

2007-07-13T08:23:00.000-06:00

I've been home for two months today, and I'm finally getting some pictures from my trip to China posted. Long story...my camera chip was damaged, and so far, I have recovered some, but not all, of the hundreds of pictures I took. I wil keep trying, but I have posted about 300 pictures on our flickr site at

http://flickr.com/photos/casabucerias/sets/72157600772229111/

If you take a look, you will see LOTS of pictures of the terra cotta warriors from Xian. Aside from seeing my family, this was without doubt the high point of the journey. Two farmers outside Xian, digging for a well in 1974, had no idea they were beginning excavation of the most astonishing tomb in the world's history. There are more than 6,000 warriors (all of them different) guarding the tomb of China's first emporer. It is an astonishing sight.

And of course, there is a Wal-Mart in Xian.

Summer pleasures

2007-07-04T12:49:00.000-06:00

Summer in the tropics - very warm and very humid. Having spent one summer here already, we know what to expect: it is hot now, but it will get hotter. Soon, we'll cut our activities back during the heat of the day and take a daily siesta. Because we have chosen not to live with air conditioning, we rely on fans to keep us comfortable. We have ceiling fans in every room, and they run 24 hours a day. We also have fans placed strategically to draw in cool air and flush out warm air. All in all, not too bad.

Even though it is very warm, there are summer pleasures to be had: mangoes are in season, sweet and delicious. Limes are also in season - only 5 pesos (50 cents) a kilo! Melons, papayas, pineapples as sweet as honey. New critters are showing up, like the lizard above, showing off for us. Look carefully at the picture and you'll see another lizard on the opposite side of the pole! And the bottom picture? Another summer refreshment - cool and creamy iced coffee, made with wonderful Compostela coffee beans in our espresso machine. Mmmmmm.

As we get ready to celebrate this Fourth of July with fried chicken, spare ribs, watermelon, carrot cake and potato salad, we are grateful to have new friends to share the day with us. Sue, Harold, Alejandro, Susan, Barry and Jeanne will be joining us...much better than last year!

Happy Independence Day to everyone!

Jerry the Goatherd!

2007-06-20T18:58:00.000-06:00

Those of you who have visited know that we have four goats (chivos) living next door to our house among the palm trees in the vivero (nursery). Even if you haven't visited, you can probably guess that we've grown very attached to the chivos and hope daily that they will not end up in a stew pot as birria. They actually belong to a neighbor of ours named Raoul, but he has apparently figured out that we will take care of them, so we don't see much of him. Jerry makes sure they have water, and once a week, goes to the feed store to buy them alfalfa hay. They love it. You can see their reaction in the pictures above...

BTW, we have a new look - I was getting tired of the old layout, weren't you? And if you want to see what I have been up to (drawing and painting), I've posted some of my pictures on flickr, http://flickr.com/photos/casabucerias/ .

Our Daily Life in Bucerias....

2007-06-13T14:35:00.000-06:00

Pictures include two ambitious geckos doing their jobs: one in the living room

with a moth and one in the bathroom with a very big palmetto bug.

The bottom picture shows the fruit growing on our lychee tree in the patio.

Friends and family have asked us what our life is like here, i.e., "what do you do all day?" As our friend Patricia says, "I don't know, but it takes all day to do it!" Actually, we do stay pretty busy.

So, I'll give you a rundown on the last 24 hours: yesterday afternoon, Jerry worked on the addition to the bedroom and I worked on a picture I am drawing of the terra cotta warriors. In the evening, we met our friend Harold (his wife Sue is visiting Patzcuaro and Guanajuato with another friend) at a little restaurant we call "Tacos under the Trees". The real name is Tacoz Itzel, and it is really just a few plastic tables in someone's backyard. Chickens, dogs and half-naked children run underfoot. There are tarps strung from the trees overhead to protect us from the sun and the rain. The food is delicious - muy rico. Big fat enchiladas and burritos and tacos filled with carne asada (grilled beef cut into bits), puerca (seasoned pork) or pollo (chicken). Wonderful salsas come with your meal - avocado, ranchero (hot) or verde (green tomatillos and chiles). They also have tasty agua frescas, juice drinks. Sometimes pineapple, sometimes horchata ( a rice drink with spices), and last night they had jamaica, which is an iced tea brewed from hibiscus flowers. It is deep red and tastes like cranberry juice. We all had huge enchiladas and drinks, and the bill came to $120 pesos - less than $4 a piece. Yummy.

We came home and had coffee with Harold on the patio. Jerry spent some time on the computer and I did a little painting before we went to bed. This morning - a repeat of the coffee on the patio as we enjoyed the coolest part of the day...it is getter hotter each day and is 93F right now as I write this. Then we went to a meeting of the Amigos de Bucerias, a nonprofit organization of Mexican and foreign community members that works to make our town a good place. The Amigos have distributed trash cans all over town, and have also started a very successful recycling program that Jerry volunteers for every Thursday. I am the secretary of this little group, so I was there to take minutes. If you want to know more about the group, go to Amigosdebucerias.org. There is a good newsletter to read....

Then we paid bills - to Telmex to pay the phone bill ($640 pesos - about $60 for phone and DSL) and to CFE to pay the electric bill ($604 pesos for three months' service). You don't mail your bills here - just pay them in person, in cash. We came home and I made a chicken pasta salad for our dinner tonight and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Then we had some lunch: toasted bagels with ham and cheese, delicious watermelon and limonada (limeade). Now, it is time for a little siesta.....Jerry is already snoozing away behind me.

Our life is calm, peaceful, productive and good. We have made some fine friends and feel very lucky. We are beginning to feel like a part of our community. The only thing missing is YOU - whoever you are, reading this. Come and visit!!! We miss you!!!

The Rainy Season has Begun!

2007-06-10T18:29:00.000-06:00

Jerry ties rebar for the bedroom addition!

Who ever thought, having come from the land of perpetual gray skies and rain, that we would long for precipitation? Well, we haven't had any real rain here since early October, so we are ready. Everything is dry and dusty, and we welcome the rainy season to turn our world fresh and lush and green again. I am hearing a "pitter-patter" as I write this...soon it will be a "gush". We had a mini-storm last night, with a bit of thunder and lightning - just a small taste of what is to come. Also a very short power outage...that will likely become more frequent. The temps go up, and the humidity too, so we power down into S-L-O-W M-O-T-I-O-N. Jerry is working on a small (80 sq. ft.) addition to our bedroom and our friends Cheto and Xenon have been helping him on their only day off. The walls are up; the arched door and window are roughed in and the cement slab has been poured. Geting a roof on it is an important next step...I'll keep you posted.

I finally figured it out....

2007-06-05T23:46:00.000-06:00

I finally figured out what I was doing wrong and have successfully loaded a picture at last! Here is a picture of Amelia, Josie, Kim, me and son Jeffrey at the Yellow Crane Tower gardens in Wuhan, Jeff and Kim's home town in China....more to come.

Karen goes to China!

2007-06-01T14:46:00.000-06:00

Last month, I had the opportunity of a lifetime: to travel to China and visit my son and his family, who live in Wuhan, Hubei Province, a huge city of almost 10 million people. China is unlike any place I have ever seen. Some of the highlights of this amazing journey:

Seeing my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren! I haven't seen them for nearly a year, and Amelia (10 years old) and Josie (8 years old) have changed so much. They are a lovely family, and they are having a grand adventure.
The 2,000 year-old terra cotta warriors at Xi'an. Any traveler to China should not miss this amazing sight. My first glimpse brought tears to my eyes. There are nearly 12,000 warriors and EACH IS UNIQUE. They are guarding the tomb of the first Emporer of China, along with their horses and chariots, and were excavated serendipitously by two farmers digging a well in 1974. Xi'an itself is a beautiful city of 3.2 million people, and is the only city in China with intact city walls. There is a very picturesque Muslim market (did you know that there is a substantial Muslim population in China? I didn't.)
The Great Wall of China. Wow. What can I say? I could hardly believe I was there. I will never forget the sensation. What a privilege.
The city of Wuhan, with its impressive Yellow Crane Tower and East Lake Gardens.
Riding on a sleeper train from Xi'an to Wuhan...so many people!
The ultra-modern city of Beijing, with its towering buildings and stylishly dressed people. They are busy preparing for the 2008 Olympics. Jeff and I had Peking duck at a historic restaurant there - it was SO delicious. Which brings me to.....
the food! I ate spectacularly tasty food everywhere I went. (I had to learn to use chopsticks very quickly, and I was powerfully motivated to do it efficiently.) We ate Mongolian hotpot, wonderful noodles, dumplings, potstickers, lots of yummy chicken, rice, unusual vegetables....sometimes, I was not sure what I was eating, but it was ALL good.

This trip has provided me with so much material for drawing and painting; I am already at work on it. There are spots of breathtaking beauty and color, in the midst of enormously crowded and busy streets. The traffic is even worse than Mexico's - I would never attempt to drive there! Despite the setbacks under Mao, the country is lively and bustling. It was a wonderful adventure and I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Almost a year!

2007-04-06T15:22:00.000-06:00

As we near the end of our first year here in Mexico, we are naturally reflecting on all the things we have learned. Despite the fact that we thought we were well-prepared (we planned our move for almost two years!), we realize that the difference between visiting Mexico and living in Mexico are is more different than we could possibly imagine.

We have had both challenges and delights that we could not have anticipated...the Mexican bureaucracy is difficult to navigate for native Spanish speakers. For those of us with rudimentary Spanish, just getting your utilities connected can be very daunting. We chose to live in a Mexican neighborhood, away from the tourists, and find that none of our neighbors speak English and none of the storekeepers we deal with daily speak English. So learning Spanish is not only good manners, it is essential.

But one of our most pleasant surprises has been our wonderful Mexican neighbors, who have made us feel welcome here and included us in their family celebrations. And it is wonderful to live in a small town again, where you meet people you know every time you walk down the street. We have begun to feel that we are really at home here.

As we prepare to celebrate our first anniversary here, we will make a more definitive list of pluses and minuses to publish. But the conclusion we have reached is no secret. We have no regrets. We look forward to living out our years in the warmth and beauty of Mexico.

Come and visit!

2007-02-12T13:46:00.000-06:00

One of the genuine pleasures of living here is having visitors from home and sharing with them the many pleasures of our lives here in Bucerias, Mexico. Since November, we’ve had visits from some former neighbors Peter and Nancy, my daughter Justine and her friend Megan, Justine again (for Christmas) this time with her dear husband Mark, then my best friend Jo and adopted brother Dave.

Seeing our home and our community through the eyes of a visitor is great fun, and we also have the opportunity to act as tour guides. It is difficult to determine the most important things to show our visitors – always a tour of the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta with its stunning and accessible public art, then a walk on the Isla Cuale – an island in the middle of the Rio Cuale that divides Puerto Vallarta north and south. This is a great place to shop in the public markets and have a wonderful lunch at the Bistro Jazz Café or the River Café. Sitting along the river dining on chicken and squash blossom crepes and sneaking a peek at the iguanas that live in the large trees along the river is awesome (I know the word is over-used, but it is true. )

Right now, the weather is perfect – around 82F during the day and 58F at night. THIS is why we moved to Mexico! Humidity is very low and the mosquitoes are at a minimum. Jerry is working on several house projects and I am spending my time painting and drawing for the most part. Just lovely.

I haqve posted a new set of pictures on http://flickr.com/photos/casabucerias.

First of December?

2006-12-01T14:04:00.000-06:00

As December begins, it is hard to believe that Christmas is near. I suppose I will get used to it eventually, but I have always associated Christmas with cold, miserable weather. The weather here is absolutely perfect now, and will be for the next several months. Nice warm days, about mid-80s, and a little coolness at night, maybe 65-70. The humidity is much lower and I notice the difference in the kitchen, where the salt and sugar no longer clump together, and it is possible to keep potato chips crisp after opening them.

The stores here have been full of Christmas items since September, and I was SO disappointed to see that most of the merchandise is exactly like something we would buy in the US, and all of it is made in China. It is disorienting, when the temperature outside is 85F, to walk into a store with palm trees in the parking lot and find 8 foot plastic snowglobes with snowmen and fake white stuff swirling around inside. Do they actually sell this stuff to somebody? I guess they must....but not to me. To get something uniquely Mexican to decorate our house this year, I'll try going to the Sunday tianguis (open air market) in Bucerias.

Now that we are finished remodeling and redecorating the inside of the house, we are beinning to focus on landscaping. Jerry has been busy with outside projects - he built a small "fence" along the patio to make sure that the dogs don't root up the roses I plan to plant there this afternoon. He has been experimenting with plaster molds and concrete to make some beautiful art objects to adorn our stairway and gardens. As soon as we have some progress to show, I'll post pictures to our flickr site. This site is STILL unable to process picture uploading.

Hasta luego for now.

Thanksgiving Day, 2006

2006-11-23T18:20:00.000-06:00

Ah, winter is here! The humidity disappeared overnight a few days ago, and the days are lovely and sunny; the nights are a bit cool (65-70F). We started a new Thanksgiving tradition and made tamales today. Jerry and I sat down at the kitchen table with home-made Chile Colorado sauce laced with moist and succulent chicken, spread the home-made masa on the corn shucks and tied them up into neat little bundles. Steamed them for two hours and they were delicious. A wonderful and new type of Thanksgiving feast for our new life together in Mexico.

Yesterday, we were honored by a brief visit from some good friends from Portland, who were on a cruise ship that made a stop in Puerto Vallarta. It was so wonderful to see Lesley and Candy. They were full of questions about our life in Mexico, and in telling them about our experiences so far, I realized how contented I am to live here. I am particularly happy to be living in this small Mexican town of Bucerias.

After they returned to Vallarta, we went for a walk on the beach and watched the sunset. Then, we stopped by The Coffee Cup, a small coffee shop that we visit often. The manager greeted us cheerfully , as did her children who often keep her company while she works. People walked by with a friendly "Buenas tardes" as we sipped our lattes in the cooling evening air. I began to understand and appreciate that we are beginning to feel at home in this small community, where the clerks at the ferreteria (no, this is not a place where you buy ferrets, it is a hardware store) greet Jerry enthusiastically by name whenever he comes in, where our next door neighbors call "Buenos dias, Jerry and Karen" when they spot us on the roof having our morning coffee. We miss our friends and family back in Oregon, to be sure, but we have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and we are happy to be in Bucerias, Mexico.

New pictures - but not here

2006-11-19T17:58:00.000-06:00

Well, I am having no luck at all loading pictures on the blogspot - they have a new beta product, and it isn't working very well. After reading the "blog about the blog" I realize that others are having the same problem, so maybe they will fix it. In the meantime, I've loaded some pictures at the address below...should be easy to reach...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/casabucerias/

BEFORE AND AFTER

2006-11-15T10:56:00.000-06:00

Hola amigos! Here are "before and after" pictures of our little casa from the outside. Quite a difference! Note the wall and gate, driveway with improved elevations so the rain does not run into the yard, glorious new color, and the palm trees have been trimmed a bit. There is still lots of landscaping to be done along the wall, where we had flower beds built. That was before we realized that we would be visited by a small herd of Brahma cattle every few days - they are pastured down the road, but regularly roam to greener pastures. We'll have to find something to plant that cows won't eat and is also somewhat trample-proof. On the roof, you can see our little "gazebo" where we sit and have our morning coffee and watch the sun come up. (Being so close to the equator, we have about 11-12 hours of daylight regardless of the season. Right now, the sun comes up about 7:15 am and sets about 6:30 pm. In the summer, we have slightly more daylight.) With my next post, I'll add some interior shots...we are both well and happy, and SO glad to have internet access again.

BLONDIE and DAGWOOD and INTERNET!

2006-11-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

After my post from the internet cafe this morning, I returned home and guess what? The switch in Guadalajara had been turned on and we had access at last!

Here's a picture of our puppies, Blondie and Dagwood. We adopted them from our next door neighbors, a Mexican family, and they are quite a challenge, but bring lots of joy and laughter into our lives.

I'll get to work putting together some new pictures of the house and post again ASAP. Thanks to so many of you who have been asking about our blog and wondering why we haven't posted in awhile. Hasta luego!

Internet access getting closer!

2006-11-13T10:41:00.000-06:00

We finally gave up on the cable company and applied for a phone line, we were promised that it would be installed within seven days. Three and a half weeks later (last Wednesday), it was actually installed! Now, we are waiting for the DSL to be turned on by some mysterious and unreachable process in Guadalajara...we are almost there!

Much has happened since I posted last - the staircase is now built, we have had a wonderful visit from daughter Justine and we have a acquired two puppies, Blondie and Dagwood. Hopefully, I will soon be able to post many pictures of our remodeled casa and our menagerie as well.

Until then - hasta luego y buena suerte!

NO INTERNET ACCESS YET...

2006-09-30T10:22:00.000-06:00

We still don’t have an internet connection in our Bucerias casa – Telecable (pronounced tay-lay-COB-lay) does not have a line on our street and would have to run a cable from the nearest cross street to hook us up (only about 10 meters away). They haven’t decided yet if they want to do that, so we wait. Our other options are satellite dish (expensive and not very fast) and waiting about two months for a phone line. Hmmmm. But we have found a café not far from the house where we can take our laptop and use their wireless internet. That will have to do for now. Not a bad gig – the café is called “Pie in the Sky” and serves fresh mango pie and great coffee!

So much has happened since I was last able to post. We have lived in our house for four weeks today, and it is proving to be a lovely place to live. Very quiet and peaceful, especially at night, when we can hear the iguanas whistling “goodnight” in the trees, the ubiquitous geckos chirping away and many other (so far) unidentifiable jungle-type noises just outside our windows. We are the only gringos in a Mexican neighborhood and our neighbors have been very friendly and welcoming.

Today, the cement is being poured for the outside stairs to the second level, and our new gate will be installed. We have gone through so many bags of cement that we can’t count them, and we have inhaled enough cement dust to construct at least one pillar of the Fremont Bridge. We have accomplished a lot in the last four weeks:

the house has been completely rewired, with LOTS of electrical outlets;
the kitchen has been renovated, with new counters, shelves and beautiful tile, a new stove and refrigerator;;
the entire interior and exterior have been painted with bright and cheerful colors;
the wall has been completed on the north and west sides of the house;
a new elevation was created for the driveway and a cement driveway was built, with flower boxes along the outside wall;
new fans were installed;
beautiful new patio built in the backyard;
a "bodega" (storage space) was built in the backyard;
a staircase to the roof level has been built (almost);
new wrought iron gate (almost).

I know there is more, but can't think of it all right now! I wish I could post more pictures, but for some reason, this connection won't accommodate - perhaps it is not powerful or fast enough. I'll keep trying!

And our three Mexicano gatos are having a great time – climbing trees, chasing bugs and playing in the goat pasture next door. They are much happier – and safer- than they were in Vallarta, and so are we. More later – hoping for internet access soon!

Morning sky in Bucerias

2006-09-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Ahh, we have moved into our house! It is a mixed blessing, because it is also still a construction site...but it is lovely and quiet there at night, also much cooler and less humid than Vallarta. . The cats are having lots of adventures and progress continues more or less smoothly - the subject of another blog when I have more time.

Yesterday, the workers pointed excitedly up into the large mimosa tree and I got some great pictures of our resident iguanas, thanks to a 10X zoom lens. The big one is about 4 feet long and his esposa is about 3 feet long. They are magnificent. One word of caution if you come to visit - don't sit under the tree. S**t happens. And it is BIG.

I will post again soon - no internet access for awhile until Telecable hooks us up in Bucerias. Who knows when that will be!

Tiles!

2006-09-01T18:32:00.000-06:00

I was right - Manuel and the team have been hard at work and the tiling is done. And look at the pretty new gas range! Cesar is polishing the cement on the shelves and putting on a primer so they will be ready to paint. We bought the paint today, no mean feat when you consider we were ordering several different colors and we wanted to come back later to pick them up. Between the clerk's good humor, a Spanish-English dictionary he kept behind the counter and our own feeble efforts , e.g. "regressar esta tarde?" (What is the word for "mix"?) we managed to get all of our paint. Also, the refrigerator, bed, bookcase, washer/dryer were all delivered today and tomorrow we start to move! Hooray!

The Non-Hurricane

2006-08-31T21:56:00.000-06:00

Today we readied ourselves for category Four Hurricane "John", which was predicted to skirt Puerto Vallarta around 1 pm with 78-157 MPH winds and up to 24 inches of rain. So we waited. And we waited. Finally, we got tired of waiting, and around 3 pm, we took a walk down to the beach. The top picture shows what we saw. No people. No big waves. No hurricane. The bay is usually full of "pangas" or small fishing boats. None were in the water. Just a light rain. So we got in the truck and drove downtown. PV's famed Malecon was also pretty deserted - the only other vehicle (to the left) was a "policia transito" or traffic police vehicle. Most of the businesses were boarded or taped. (Plywood is a rare commodity here - where did they get that plywood???)

CNN and MSNBC continued to report that Puerto Vallarta was being "ravaged" by Hurricane John. C'mon guys - get it right! Eventually, these stories disappeared from their web pages as they finally figured out that they were inaccurate.

We were lucky. We did not have to live through our first hurricane this day.

The Other Side of the Coin

2006-08-29T22:16:00.000-06:00

We had a really good day today. And, we had a really good day yesterday. And the day before. The house is progressing well, as you can see from the pictures. The top picture shows Beto (equivalent of "Bob" in Spanish) mixing cement for the wall - this is the way ALL cement is mixed here except for huge commercial jobs. There is no magic formula - they just add sand, powdered cement, gravel and water , then mix it with a shovel until it is just right. For finer jobs, like the kitchen shelves and counters, they mix it differently, of course (no gravel!) and even sift the sand and cement through a screen. It is pretty amazing.

The second picture is our palette for the inside of the house - gold, coral orange and blue for the kitchen, green and watermelon for the bedroom, aqua for the living room. Lots of beautiful color!

The third picture shows Bernardo putting some finishing touches on the cement countertops. Notice how nice the shelves look! The counters are polished tinted cement - they are really beautiful. When we left today, Herman was getting ready to start the tiling - oh boy!

The bottom picture is one of the plumeria bushes in the yard - aren't they lovely?

We spent the day at the house today, observing the amazing progress. Manuel was laying the tiles on the bathroom floor while we were there, Pedro and Alejandro were finishing the side wall, Herman was getting all the walls ready to paint. Jerry felt a little restless and prowled around, watching and learning about Mexican construction methods - he is not used to standing by and watching someone else work on his house. So he lent a hand here and there, steadying a board that needed to be cut and trimming trees.

I mostly sat in the shade of the big mimosa tree, watching the many birds and butterflies and hoping for a glimpse of the iguanas. It is very quiet here - much different from where we are living in Puerto Vallarta, where there is lots of noise all around us. We have only four houses on our whole street. I can hear children from the next street playing, distant traffic on the carretera a few blocks away, and birds singing. Pedro (just like Jerry) is whistling as he works and Herman likes to sing.

Tomorrow, we plan to paint the bedroom, but the weather may interfere. A Class 4 hurricane (John) is making its way up the western coast of Mexico and will reach the Vallarta area about 1 pm tomorrow. If it doesn't change course, it will be centered about 50 miles offshore, so is likely only to give us lots and lots of rain. But the airport is already closed and the Wednesday cruise ship did not appear today, so it is being taken seriously. We will likely stay put tomorrow until we see what is happening.

We have been doing some real power shopping - Monday we bought a new mattress and bed frame, washer and dryer, refrigerator, bookcase and a cabinet for the kitchen that holds the water bottles. Yesterday, we bought a great floor lamp that is actually a handcrafted tin mask, two beautiful tin mirrors for the bathrooms, a 300 liter propane tank and an equipal dining room table and chairs. To see what that looks like, go to http://www.southwestandbeyond.com/product.asp?productid=16153. Today, we got faucets for the kitchen and bathrooms, a microwave oven, pretty new dishes and nice trash receptacles for the kitchen and bathroom. Wow - that is some real power shopping, even for me. Jerry is holding up great.

I'll come back and report on the hurricane in a few days.

Living in Mexico - getting it right

2006-08-27T13:33:00.000-06:00

Before we began this adventure, we read everything we could get our hands and eyes on to prepare us. Probably the best book we read was “Head for Mexico” by Don Adams. You can buy it on Amazon, and if you have any desires at all to follow in our footsteps, you should get a copy and read it at least five times. Don’s message from the beginning is that “Mexico is not for everyone.” You need to have a sense of adventure. Obviously. You cannot be obsessive-compulsive about neatness, punctuality or living an orderly life. You must be patient. That one bears repeating – YOU MUST BE PATIENT. As he points out continually, there is a vast difference between being a tourist in Mexico and living here full time.

OK – we read it all and said to ourselves and each other, “Of course. We understand that.” But there is no way to understand it until you experience it. Primarily because of the language barrier and the cultural differences, conducting day-to-day business becomes a real challenge. Every day.

For example, we have learned that the previous owner of our house did not seek and receive any building permits to build the house. This means that when Manuel (our contractor) goes to the municipal office to seek permits to build the second story, the clerk will look at the file on our property and say “But there is no house there to build on to.” What would happen next is anyone’s guess. Perhaps we would have to pay the delinquent permit fees (at $120 MXP per square meter, that would be $10,800 MXP, or about a thousand dollars). But wait, there’s more! We might also have to pay fines and penalties of an as-yet-undetermined amount. It also could mean that the rather modest property tax of about $35 per year would be re-assessed for the past ten years and we (as the current owners of the house) would have to pay the difference.

Fortunately, we have a good lawyer (we think). His name is Sergio Santana, and for less than $500, he will prepare a packet for the municipal officials which shows that the house was already built when we bought the property (this requires lots of pictures). He will make several trips to Valle de Banderas, the equivalent of the county seat, and maybe one to the state capitol in Tepic to convince the officials that we do not owe the past penalties or the original fees. How he will do this is too complicated to explain here. Then he will assist in getting the appropriate permits to build the second story.

This is not a catastrophic or even an unusual situation. It happens all the time, and must be taken in stride. But it was unexpected. And it illustrates one of the other points Don Adams makes in his book – expect the unexpected. Always.

These unexpected events, in varying degrees of magnitude, occur just about every day. Jerry and I are both good problem-solvers, but we lack the necessary cultural tools and language skills to make the right choices in many cases. So we rely on new friends to help us. We have been very lucky in that regard.

So why are we here? And why do we stay here? At the end of a long, hot and humid day, when we have made two trips back and forth between Vallarta and Bucerias (40 minutes each way) to get copies of documents or pick up an item that is needed right now, we do get a little weary. The feelings of helplessness or frustration in not being able to express needs or wants can be quite overwhelming, something we could not possibly have appreciated ahead of time. The internet chatter and forums make it look easy, seamless. Big shock for some, upon arrival and believe it or not, many folks move here and are quite indignant that English isn't widely spoken.

But where else can you fall asleep at night to the sound of geckos chirping? Wake up to the bluest sky you ever saw? Paint your house any color you want? Never worry about heating bills? Pick limes, bananas and orchids from your back yard? Experience a smile and a cheerful greeting from everyone you pass on the street? Eat fresh, ripe mangoes every day? Buy the most delicious taco you ever ate from a smiling vendor on the street corner for five pesos (45 cents)? Accompanied by a glass of cold watermelon juice? Experience thunder and lightning so intense that it sets off every car alarm in the neighborhood? Then feel the rush of coolness from the rain showers that make everything fresh again and turn the surrounding jungle (jungle!) an unimaginable variety of green hues? Feel completely safe from gangs, road rage and random gunfire? Receive excellent health care from a caring and compassionate doctor for about a tenth of the price US?

We’re staying right where we are.

More progress, more pictures

2006-08-24T17:09:00.000-06:00

Top picture - the wall is getting a coat of "cal" or whitewash.
Second picture - our talented contractor Manuel, who speaks very good English.
Third & fourth - open shelves being built in the kitchen of (what else?) cement.

Today, Jerry and I spent the day shopping for new ceiling fans (bought three - one for the living room, one for the kitchen and one for the bedroom) and a new kitchen sink. We looked at five places before we found fans that were (1) affordable and (2) that we liked. Choosing a new sink is difficult. Almost all of the sinks here are stainless steel - there are NONE in porcelain and only a few selections in fiberglas/PVC. Double sinks are very rare. The most expensive and attractive choice is copper - crafted by hand in the state of Michoacan. We went to three different places to look at copper sinks today. We found one we like (and can afford - barely), but need to measure to see if it will fit. You can see how beautiful they are at: http://www.mexicancopper.com/products.php?cat=2 Of course, we are attempting our fledgling Spanish, but can't communicate very well beyond "How much is that? (Cuanto cuesta?)" Then we have to listen very closely for the answer..."Tres mil y doscientos ochenta" ($3,280 MXP) goes by fast and takes some careful attention. "Does it come in white?" or "Are those lightbulbs easy to replace?" are way beyond us. Next is lighting....

Work has begun...

2006-08-16T18:11:00.000-06:00

Lots of activity at our new house! It's good to have plenty of "before"pictures, but bear in mind that things are changing fast. Our contractor Manuel has hired a full crew to completely re-wire the house (it had ONE circuit and got its electricity from a neighbor by extension cord!), build the wall and rebuild the kitchen...the pictures above also show Jerry with his new fifty peso ($4.45) Mexican haircut - that's upper left. Top right shows a portion of the new wall, along with a stack of bricks for building the rest of the wall. Right under Jerry is Alfredo building my new kitchen counter - everything is built of bricks and concrete, even the kitchen shelves. This kitchen will be beautiful - we have chosen a variety of colorful Talavera tiles. Next is another picture of the wall...note that the concrete bricks have been covered with cement. Then, the wall will be painted. A lovely arched blue iron gate will span the center. On the right is Pedro, the Maestro mason, covering the wall with cement. He uses a very skilled technique where he throws the cement on the wall with a trowel, hardly wasting a drop as he flicks his wrist. Bottom left shows the trench for the wall in the backyard being dug...unfortunately, they encountered the septic drain field, but they seem pretty cheerful. That must be why that lime tree grows such big limes!

We are very busy every day now, buying appliances, toilets and furniture, getting building supplies for Manuel and conferring with him about choices to be made. We actually plan to move in on the 31st of August. The house won't be done, but we will make the best of it...Manuel hopes to have the downstairs ready for us, but will start consturction of the second story after we move in. Some chaos for a month or so, but it will be worth it.

One of the best bonuses this week is our discovery of two beautiful giant green iguanas living in our large mimosa tree. They are about 3 feet long and we could hear their feet slapping on the limbs of the trees as they climbed. Fortunately, they are herbivorous and won't eat the cats. But the cats have certainly never seen anything like them and may be a bit surprised!

Necesitamos hablar espanol....

2006-08-04T22:28:00.000-06:00

We have been fortunate to find a Spanish school here in Vallarta that uses a method especially tailored for "mature" learners. Three hours a day, three days week for three weeks - and we just finished our second week. Let's see...I have learned to say "Do you want to play more tennis? (Quiere jugar mas tenis?)" That may not prove to be so useful, but I have also learned to say "I need to think about it a little more ("Necesito pensarlo un poco mas)" and "Can you understand me? (Puede entenderme?)" And especially, "We need to learn more Spanish, (Necesitamos aprender mas espanol)" And don't forget "necesito usar el bano."

The truth is, we are living in a country whose people speak a language that we do not understand - and simply conducting basic business from day to day is a real challenge. Things like opening a bank account, paying the cable bill, buying paint for our new house and getting our truck insured become projects that could be accomplished so much easier if we spoke the language.

Of course, there are some cautions involved here. If you start trying out your Spanish before you really know what you're doing, you could end up saying things like: "Es regalo de queso. (It is a gift of cheese.)" or "Alto! ¡Yo soy plomero! (Stop! I am a plumber!)" A waitress got quite a laugh when I explained that I would order for "mi esposa." (Esposa is "wife" and ESPOSO is "husband.") Oh well, the people we encounter have all been encouraging and patient with our attempts to speak their language, and we have to keep saying that we "hablamos espanol un poco." Hopefully, that will change soon.

Hard to say "goodbye."

2006-07-25T14:19:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful visit from my son Jeff and his family from the 13-18 of this month. Their two little girls (Josie - 7 and Amelia - 9) had a great time at the beach every day and especially enjoyed their dolphin encounter at Vallarta Adventures. Jeff and Kim are starting new teaching jobs in Wuhan, China soon - they have spent the last year there teaching English in a high school in Huangshi. We had a great time comparing our unique cultural experiences in China and Mexico. I think their cultural adjustment is a little steeper than ours, but the people of both countries are courteous and welcoming. It was such fun sharing some of our favorite places with them and it was so hard to say goodbye. They have made a two-year commitment, so I will be making a trip to China sometime in the next year.

New member of the family...

2006-07-05T10:55:00.000-06:00

Given the number of abandoned and stray animals in Mexico, I was sure it would only be a matter of time before we added to our gato family. I didn't think it would be quite this soon, however. Two nights ago, we were having dinner at our favorite beach restaurant, about a 1/2 block away, and Jerry spotted a little black kitten under a nearby table. Turns out that the chef had found three little kittens thrown away beside the road in a bag and rescued them. He has been taking very good care of them, but was happy to adopt one out. So after Jerry cuddled this little fellow for awhile, we brought him home. He has settled right in, and the other cats are tolerating him remarkably well. The chef had already named him "Negro", so that is what his name will remain, I guess. Very sweet and affectionate little kitty. And very happy to have a new home. Only in Mexico - in the US, kitties are not allowed to sleep under tables in restaurants. One more reason we are glad to be here!

A Good Day's Work!

2006-06-30T17:18:00.000-06:00

Buying a used vehicle in Mexico (or anywhere, for that matter) is a perilous business, and we would not have attempted it without the help of our friend Salvador. We started out by asking Salvador to look through the local equivalent of "Nickel Ads" called "Mano a Mano". He found the perfect vehicle for us: a 2003 Nissan double cab pickup. We wanted a vehicle that we could haul a few things in for our house, but that we could also use for transportation when people visit us from home. The man selling it (Jesus Gerrard Treviro Rodriguez) did not speak much English, so Salvador made the call for us and went to look at the truck on his way home from work - it happened to be in the same little village where he lives - about 20 miles from Vallarta - Valle de Banderas. He reported back the next day - it was perfect! Only 32K kilometers and amazingly well-maintained. We went to look at it and agreed - and it was a beautiful shade of azul/blue. Now - how to pay for it? Jesus did not have a bank account, so we could not write him a check. With Salvador interpreting, we agreed that we could do an international wire transfer to the Ford dealer where he is buying his new truck. We went to Banamex, the large Mexican bank where the Ford dealer has an account and had the money wired from our US credit union to Banamex. That took three days!

Then, we had to register it and transfer the title. That was the work plan for today and it took ALL day. We needed passports, FM3s and a current water bill (we used Salvador's - that was discussed at length with the officials and deemed OK, because we don't yet have one in our name). Because we want to register the truck in Nayarit (the state where Bucerias is located), we went to the government offices in Mezcales. Salvador and Jesus went with us (thank goodness) and we went one place to make copies (an open roadside stand with a long extension cord and a big Xerox machine - they also sold pastries and sodas.) Then we went another place two towns away in San Juan de Albeo to have the car inspected to make sure it wasn't stolen (the policia). Then we went to the registrar in San Juan and filed all the papers. They filled out the registration forms for us on an old manual typewriter (no computers). Then we went to yet another place to get the new license plates. In between, Jesus and Salvador went yet another place (across the street), but we never figured out what it was.

End result? WE GOT IT and we are legal. Thanks to some very patient and helpful people. Once again, we were treated with courtesy and respect at every turn.

So I have also included a picture of the truck parked outside our condo building in Vallarta. As a bonus, you get a pictorial example of the unique Mexican electrical system!

This Sunday, we will take both families out to dinner at Adriano's, a wonderful oceanfront seafood restaurant in Bucerias to thank them for all their help. We will hear about the Rodriguez family's upcoming trip to Colorado to visit their son - Jesus is a biology teacher and we have had great fun trying to communicate with each other. We are looking forward to it and will post some pictures to the blog.

Our "stuff" has arrived!

2006-06-17T22:09:00.000-06:00

Here are the three hardworking and friendly men who brought our shipment from Guadalajara to the storage unit north of Puerto Vallarta this afternoon. They did a great job and also have a fine sense of humor. It was a very HOT day (muy calor!). Every single item was accounted for, and we have unpacked the most fragile items with no evidence of damage. There was not room in the storage unit for one more box, so we figured it very closely. The driver gave me a copy of the customs documents that made little sense to me, but it made us very glad that we entrusted this complicated task to people who knew what they were doing. The company, UNIGROUP Worldwide, was represented by Mayflower in the US and Seymi in Mexico. They did a great job and stayed in touch with us frequently to let us know what was happening. (If anyone wants contact info, send me a private email.)

Jerry and I were REALLY glad to get some additional hot weather clothes that we couldn't fit in our suitcases. At this time of year in Vallarta, long pants (even capris) are out of the question. Am I ever glad to have several new pairs of shorts! Another example of the many kindnesses we continue to encounter - while we were waiting for the truck in the hot sun, the security guard brought us a big ice-cold bottle of water - oh, it tasted good. He also brought me a comnfortable chair to sit in the shade. All in all, a great day in Mexico.

Bucerias!

2006-06-13T08:31:00.000-06:00

We have been having a great time looking for property to buy, and have driven a rental car as far south as Mismaloya and as far north as San Pancho (about 20-30 miles either side of Puerto Vallarta). We have become smitten with the little town of Bucerias, which is only about 10 miles north of the Puerto Vallarta airport. Close to the city we love, but with the peaceful advantages of a small town of 6,000 population. Many foreigners live there, not just Americans and Canadians, but from all over the world. And they are not all retired - many work and live there and own small businesses. Like the German woman and her husband who own Carnes del Mundo - a wonderful butcher shop that sells all kinds of sausages and deli meats. We have found a house (a bit of a fixer-upper) that we like very much and we will probably make an offer this week. Here is a picture - we love the round front of the house with nine little windows!

FINALLY we have internet access!

2006-06-01T14:52:00.000-06:00

It took almost three weeks, but the cable company tech arrived today and installed our wireless internet. Hooray! The original appointment was for May 22, and we have waited (sometimes not so patiently) every day since. It was worth the wait.

Our little Casa Luna is very comfortable. Situated in Old Town Vallarta, we are only 75 yards from the beach, and even closer to our favorite restaurant, El Dorado, where we love to go drink a margarita, eat a HUGE shrimp cocktail and watch the sunset. (see picture).

The cats have settled in very well and stay close to home after a skirmish with a neighborhood alley cat the first week. They seem to be enjoying the warm weather and like sleeping on the cool tile floors.

We had an email from the moving company today (mostly in Spanish, so navigating it was a challenge) and our shipment of household goods has arrived at the border. We will hear from them again next week to see how successfully the shipment has cleared. We are crossing our fingers for a green light.

Puerto Vallarta is a world away from Portland, Oregon. I'm not sure we anticipated how different it would be, but so far we have not regretted our move. Learning Spanish better is now our top priority - getting along from day to day requires it. More later.

WE ARE HERE!

2006-05-16T19:11:00.000-06:00

Wow, we are really here. We had a long day yesterday but everything went really well. The cats turned out to be very good travelers. They did not make a peep, and when we had to take them out of their carriers for security at both ends, they behaved very well and did not try to escape. We had dinner at our favorite restaurant last night - a few steps from our new home - right on the beach where we could watch the moon and the breakers hit the shore. Fabulously balmy and warm with a slight breeze stirring. Our dream. Hard to believe that it has happened.

We went grocery shopping today and bought Jerry some shoes because he didn't bring any sandals (don't even ask). Everything is certainly different - as we expected. We have lots of adventures ahead of us...

Our stuff is on its way!

2006-05-09T11:12:00.000-06:00

Two 200-cubic foot containers of our memories and everyday essentials were filled and sealed in this moving van yesterday. No furniture - we can buy new furniture in Mexico (and many homes are sold furnished). Jerry sent most of his tools (even his drill press) and I could not imagine parting with my Kitchenaid, Cuisinart, espresso machine, etc. We sent a few cool-weather clothes to wear when we come back to Oregon for a visit. We sent a few boxes of books, lots of DVDs, CDs, art supplies, artwork, computer, TV, stereo and lots of family memorabilia. It will arrive in 3-4 weeks following its very complicated journey through the border and customs processes. One of the huge advantages of hiring a company experienced in international moves is that they take care of all the paperwork. Fret-free. We hope and trust. The cost, for those who are interested? $5200, plus any customs charges and fees.

Our house is sold....

2006-05-06T12:45:00.000-06:00

One of our most stressful remaining "loose ends" was the house. We didn't put it on the market until two weeks before we were scheduled to leave. We had so many little finishing touches we wanted to complete - like Jerry's ambitious fence with four gates. It was on the market for five hours before we got a full asking price offer. It will close after we leave, but we have a friend who will act on our behalf to sign papers with a power of attorney. Whew.

The movers come in two days to pack us up. We are sending about 400 cubic feet of our belongings - about 10% of what we had when we started. This has been the most challenging part of our whople project...do you keep the birthday card Aunt Helen gave you in fourth grade? What about that first valentine you ever received? And this book that a boyfriend gave you in college - look, he even wrote a poem inside the front cover! Difficult decisions, but we got pretty ruthless before it was over. We scanned lots and lots of old documents and pictures, then recycled the originals. All of our important documents (passports, FM3s) are also scanned as a backup.

We find ourselves at loose ends. We are saying lots of goodbyes - many lunches and dinners. I said goodbye to my dear sister yesterday - she lives 300 miles away and we met halfway. That was the hardest thing yet, but I look forward to seeing her in Mexico when they visit (soon, I hope).

Eight more days.

We are making progress....

2006-04-25T20:15:00.000-06:00

This is our new home, on Amapas Street in Puerto Vallarta. We will rent here through August, when we will hopefully have a permanent home. The movers will be here to pack our "stuff" on May 8. LOTS of paperwork involved here, but fortunately, the movers will take care of that. We are not taking any furniture -just what will fit in an 8' by 8' by 4' container. Memories of two lifetimes - and neither of us is very good at throwing things away.

Our new official address, however, will be in Miami, FL, where the mail forwarding service run by Mailboxes, Etc. in PV operates. Once a week or so, they will courier the mail to PV and it will end up in our box. The Mexican postal service is apparently not very reliable, and most expats use a forwarding service.

Less than three weeks now!

A huge sense of accomplishment

2006-04-19T20:57:00.000-06:00

We have our FM3 visas and the process was relatively painless, in spite of the waiting - a day and a half at a very crowded Mexican consulate. For those seeking to do the same, the requirements vary from one consulate to another, but for those applying in Portland, OR they currently include a valid passport and at least $2000 monthy income for a couple. You need to be able to prove your income with pension statements, SS award letters, etc. I cannot say that the officials were overwhelmingly friendly; I got the idea that there is considerable tension surrounding US immigration policy, both real and proposed. On Monday, we will have the house listed. Almost everything is packed and we are taking loads to the Salvation Army daily. The cats have gone to the vet and have all their shots. We will go again 3 days before we leave and get the Certificate of Health that is required. 26 DAYS.

We have a departure date!

2006-04-09T08:27:00.000-06:00

The plans are now in motion - we have our tickets and are leaving the United States for our new home in Mexico on May 15. In order to make the cats more comfortable, we've purchased three seats. That way, we can take their carriers out from under the seats as soon as the plane achieves altitude and set them on the middle seat and comfort them a bit. We need to get an international health certificate for each cat within 5 days of our departure. And there are very strict requirements for the dimensions of their carriers, so we'll have to get new ones. We had one big yard sale, but the weather will not cooperate for another, so we are just giving things away right and left. We are packing and the house is almost ready to sell...

We are really retired!

2006-03-22T10:29:00.000-06:00

We are now in the middle of our first week of retirement and we haven't quite wrapped our minds around it yet. We both miss our coworkers and feel like we are going back to work any day now. There is lots of work to do (packing!) and we need to get the house ready to sell. The rain, rain, rain has returned, making it hard to get anything done outside. So we spend alot of time sitting at our computers, looking at PV property and dreaming of warm weather.....

Drowning in paperwork...

2006-03-13T19:07:00.000-06:00

The process of retiring takes LOTS of paperwork, most of which has to be notarized. Moving to Mexico is the same, and not only do all your documents have to be notarized, they also must have an apostille, an international type of document verification that can only be executed by the secretary of state. Since I was born in Oregon, Jerry was born in Idaho and we were married in Washington, we had to mail our documents to three different states for the apostille. In order to get our resident visas for Mexico, we also had to be fingerprinted to receive a "letter of good conduct" from our state police. Whew!
All the paperwork is now done, and we will go to the Mexican Consulate here in Portland next week to get our FM3 visas.

There is SO much information on the internet about moving to Mexico. If you are interested, start with Rollybrook.com. For lots of information about Puerto Vallarta, take a look at puertovallarta.net.

This is our last week of work...this time next week, we will be RETIRED. Lots of nice parties and get-togethers, so I approach this with mixed feelings. We plan to make our move around the middle of May. Lots of work to do.....

These two kitties are about to become "dos gatos Mexicanos"

2006-03-13T11:11:00.000-06:00

2006-03-13T08:34:00.000-06:00

2006-03-13T08:09:00.000-06:00