Our son, Eric who is visiting us for 3 weeks is using this as a training venue for Ironman Canada Triathlon which he is registered to compete in August, 2010. On Saturday he decided to swim to Los Gatos beach from Playa La Madera, our local beach. It would be a 2.5 km swim for him and would be perfect for training. I decided to join him, meeting him at the west end of Playa La Ropa, wearing flippers and my mask and snorkel, and being quite positive I could manage a reduced distance. Things started off well, I saw a giant sea turtle slowly floating along on the rocks beneath me and marvelled in it's beauty. I remembered my friend Lillia telling me that seeing a tortuga is good luck. Little did I know how much I would need that.
It was a long swim for me and Eric had to wait for me a few times but we happily swam into Los Gatos beach and walked to our friend Franco's restaurant, Otillia's, with the plan arranged to meet Gene who was walking over accompanied by Cori. He was carrying our bag of shoes, money, cell phone, clothes etc. for a day at the beach. We waited, and we waited....and we knew something was wrong. It is a powerless feeling to be without communication and without a plan....so eventually Eric and I swam back to the East end of La Ropa, where we couldn't find Gene's car and we flagged down a taxi who was willing to take us in our wet swimsuits, without money back home. We used our administrators phone and found out that indeed, Gene had fallen and injured himself while walking along the rocky path to Los Gatos. He had managed to connect with our friend Roger (Rogelio) and being the good guy Roger is, he quickly responded and jumped onto the water taxi with our backpack and my phone to find us and rescue us....a white knight on his cruising bike here in our La ceiba/Casa Ceiba group of ex-pats. Gene had endured pain and suffering and had driven back to La Ropa to find us.....we were gone and back home.....a comedy of errors, but with a good enough ending that no one was dead, no one was in hospital, and the day could continue..
So at 6 p.m. we headed to the 3rd annual La Madera Posada. This event, which we all support both monetarily and in person, is the locals chance to put on a Xmas concert/food and drink event and sell handcrafts, meet local politicians and all in all have a grand time in the "hood". Calle Adelita is closed off to vehicles and the street turns into a grand party for everyone. We timed our arrival to coincide with 3 parrots on the top of a taxi cab! Our friends and neighbours in La Madera do know how to have fun and celebrate the season.
And as our son observed, we are living where the emphasis is on "life"...this place is just so alive be it animal (humans and otherwise) or vegetable...life in all it's pain, glory and beauty surrounds us! Vive Mexico and Vive Zihuatanejo!
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