Happy Birthday to Me and....a happy end to 2010 for one and all

It's already Friday  December 31st and I woke up today thinking 2 thoughts...I can't believe I'm 59,....and I've been neglecting to write about life here. 

First of all, having a birthday immediately following Xmas and on New Year's Eve is a double-edged sword.  When I was a child, I used to finish unwrapping my Xmas presents and then look to Alex, my twin brother, and say...."don't worry -  we have our birthday presents still."  Nowadays, presents aren't a concern, but celebrating occasions with family and friends and enjoying new experiences are what makes my life meaningful.  So today,...I'm up early to get ready for Gene's planned snorkelling trip to the best coral reef around here on our friends boat...a nice gift from Mike and Dee,  and tonight (after a siesta) we are off to Casa Bahia to dance away the night with Jimi Mamou and to watch the fabulous fireworks that happen around Zihua Bay each "Fin del Ano".  I hope Cori will cope with being home alone while we party away.  

So this morning I got up to read my horoscope and feel inspired.... Your dreams cannot be contained by traditional rituals or rational thinking now. You have a free ticket to ride your magic carpet as the Moon visits your 12th House of Spirituality. Make a serious commitment to honor your ambitions and turn them into positive intentions. This kind of resolution can add meaning to your holiday festivities, while enabling you to also keep yourself on solid ground.

Here's some photos of our Xmas day....a Mexican version of a fireplace with stockings at our friends beautiful Casa...Cori under the Xmas Tree with our new original art painted by our neighbour Lily and my Xmas Turkey's....bobble headed "earthquake alarms"  that caught my eye down Calle Adelita.

 

We've been having fun this holiday season.  My friend Caroline and her partner Dalj have been staying at our apartment and they are the kind of people who make our winter here so special.  They are experienced travellers who can see the beauty in everything and are open to the new experiences of a trip to Mexico.  We have been going to a lot of yoga and have had some incredible classes, including a special class taught on Boxing Day by Sara Ivanhoe "one of the 25 Totems of Yoga" according to Paty's flyer.  She was wonderful, and has given me inspiration to keep active in my practise.  

Oh, and if I needed any more motivation to stay active and healthy,  we've been living with our triathlete son Eric for the past 2 1/2 weeks.  He uses his time here to do a major training camp for another season of triathlons ahead.  Each day we've supported, watched, or simply sat by and waited while he's swam, biked and run his routes around every bay, beach and trail in our area.  He is an inspiration for us to set goals for ano nuevo! 

Oh, and the town has come alive.  In my last blog I wrote that we were worried about the lack of tourists...would they come?  The tourists started to arrive on Dec. 24th and the arrival has been building to a state of high density tourism since.  La Ropa, La Madera and Ixtapa beaches are packed with Mexicans who make the most of every moment on the beach...every family is a multigenerational grouping and every day is lived to the fullest.  We are hoping that the businesses will benefit from this much needed injection of tourism and that this marks the start of a 'good year" here for our friends and neighbours .   The town continues to build while the party is happening as you can see in my photos of Sunday night in the Zocalo...we are awaiting the waterpark that seems to be emerging, complete with carved animals and jungle scenes .....what's next in our Disneyland of Mexico??

 Que tenga un prospero ano nuevo a todos! 

Celebrating Xmas Zihuatanejo Style - or if we build it...will they come?

This year, we've been fortunate that 2 of our 3 children were able to come for a visit in December.  Kristen and a workplace amiga squeezed into the one week we have a vacancy in our rental apartment and Eric, who is in another year of training for Ironman Canada arrived together on December 14th. 


Yesterday we said a rushed but teary goodbye to Kristen who was enroute to PV to visit friends in Sayulita before flying back to Vancouver on Xmas Day....best prices ever!  Eric is staying on with us in our guest room until January 4th and using this as a training camp focusing on improving running and swimming, but still managing to squeeze in a few bike rides like along the beachside dirt road between Playa Larga and Barra de Potosi yesterday...

We are now the proud owners of the perfect ex-pats Xmas gift...a new Kindle.  Thanks kids for thinking of us and how we arent' going to be techno-dinosaurs now that we are retired and living here in bookless Mexico.  Seriously, the access to English literature once we have read the books we arrive with is limited to discarded and often grungy trade paperbacks which I refuse to waste my time reading....now reading Facebook...that's never a waste of time!

So, we've been getting ready for Xmas, which mainly means food stock ups, planning exotic desserts like Vodka-chocolate chiles and baking Polvorones, the delightfully tissue paper wrapped Xmas cookies that I plan to give to friends this year.  We've been to one beautiful holiday party and have plans for Xmas Eve listening to Jimi Mamou playing at La Ceiba and Xmas Day with friends, old and new, feeling blessed to be spending another holiday season in the warm air in good health and without the stresses of Xmas at home.  A long beachside walk and some swims before Xmas dinner seems just a little too good to be true.  We miss our family and friends but we realize these are the years that we can do this, because perhaps if the stars align, someday we may have grandchildren who we could not imagine not being with at Xmas....many of our friends are at that stage, and we have heard that sentiment often. 

We've also been choosing tasteful and appropriate gifts for the numerous Mexican children and adults who are part of our life here.  There is little we need, so it's fun to think of others who aren't able to buy for themselves.  Our Nino's Adelante student, Doraliz grew taller this year, and when we noticed that she wasn't wearing the swimsuit we had purchased for her last year, but her younger sister seemed to fit it nicely, we offered to take her shopping...well, not to be left out, her 2 sisters giggled with glee when they also said they didn't fit their suits, so a shopping trip for 3 was in order.  Gringos get preferential treatment in the local department store Coppel which is Mexico's Sears.  I was escorted to the front of the line to pay cash for my purchase,...unlike the locals who are stuck in long lines to arrange credit. 

But this Xmas we are experiencing a creeping realization that the tourists who normally flock here each Xmas may not be coming..... Zihuatanejo is a major Xmas destination for Mexicans and Gringos, but this year the cafes, streets, beaches, stores are quiet  Oh, there are a few new faces in our condo. complex - lucky ones who ask us " do you really live here?"....but the shopkeepers, restaurauters and vendors look anxious when we walk by.  And this is in the midst of the biggest infrastructure rebuilding that we can imagine here.  The Zocalo, the beachside square/basketball court where we have spent many Sunday nights with the locals has been under reconstruction since October.  The new palm trees and plants are alight at night but the workmen are putting in 20 hour days attempting to finish the square before Navidad, working by full moonlight these days. 

The streets of El Centro and La Boquita have been repaved with center dividers planted with palm trees and grass and the shop fronts have all been given the same tile/wood facade with uniform name signs hanging out front.  The town is being rebuilt....but if no one comes, can it survive?  

I hate that people are afraid to come here but I know that little of what I say can change the perception of Mexico that CNN/Fox/ABC has focused on and the distrust of Mexican officials is sadly founded in reality..  But all I can say is that we are so happy to be here living our life with kind and good people who care that we have a safe and happy holiday season in their country, their state and their town.  We are the guests in a warm and colorful place where music, laughter and families will hopefully fill our town for the next 2 weeks and the people here in Zihua will get the rewards for the hardwork they have endured and done this year.   Feliz Navidad a todos!!

The Mexico we will never understand and how lucky we are to live in Zihua

We have a favorite trip that we take at least annually.  With friends visiting who wanted a reprieve from the hot, humid but relaxed days here in Zihua, the 4 of us eagerly began our journey to Patzcuaro Michoacan, one of Mexico's "Pueblo Magicos", a small colonial city at approx. 2000m elevation in the heart of the artesans pueblos and a shopping destination for those of us who love the art of Mexico. 

Normally this trip takes approximately 3 1/2 hours on a toll road that is a safe and scenic route that links the beautiful inland city of Morelia with the coast.  We were surprised when at the second of the 5 toll booths that cars normally proceed through after paying the appropriate peso amount, cones were laid out blocking our passage. 


A friendly and kind taxi driver wound his way over to us, probably sensing our confusion, and explained in his best "Ingles"  that there had been a problem with gasoline, bullets and that the road was closed because it was not safe due to the drug wars.  We were then directed to park off to the side in one of the well laid out rest areas with banos and food vendors.  Luckily, we had packed some drinks and together with Cori, we waited patiently in the shade and watched all of the other travellers, truck drivers, tourists and buses watching for a clue about what to do next.

We soon began to see the traffic begin to move through the tollbooth, so we jumped back in and were instructed by an official to proceed with caution and a quickly explained direction was given.  Tentatively we started out and soon realized we were the only vehicle proceeding onward...this couldn't be right.   Directly ahead, blocking the road was an ambulance, with a couple of vehicles behind it.  We had just passed an exit, so we did a quick u-turn and headed off on the side road which pointed to Ario de Rosales.  This was likely the directions we were given, so with mounting confidence we began a lovely drive through the countryside, climbing higher and higher into the pine forests and poinsettias growing wild along the roadside. 


In the town of Ario de Rosales, we witnessed one of the many displays of force the drug cartel "La Familia" had chosen to use as a message to the federales that day.  A not yet opened Pemex station was smoldering, with the truck which had been used to ram the gates sitting along the roadside, guarded by Federales in full combat gear.  At the next major intersection, we were directed by police to proceed with caution towards Parzcuaro.  We passed over a smoldering tarred road with a fully burned out delivery truck sitting on one side, the fire having spread across both sides of the road.   With these images in our minds, we were very grateful to arrive safely 6 1/2 hours later in our dog-friendly B&B Casa Encantada in Patzcuaro. 

Going to Patzcuaro for me is now like returning to a familiar place one where we have a favorite restaurant, a favorite furniture shop, and most of all some favorite vistas. 

The town is a photographers dream.  However, we had planned to add Quiroga and Tsintsuntsan to our 2 days of shopping and both places provided just the treasures we were all looking for.  Most of my shopping for our 2 apartments is done, but when we found ourselves in Capula the home of clay artists....


Gene and I couldn't pass up a treasure, my new Catrina found on the shelves of the mercado de artesanias of this small village close to Morelia. 

So on Saturday, after checking with our hotel staff and being assured the road was safe, we began our trip home.  We soon realized things weren't normal when we began passing the tollbooths and all were open with no staff collecting the fees.  Traffic was light and we watched truckloads of army personnel travelling back in the direction we were leaving.  We were enjoying the quiet roads but knew we were approaching the intersection for Apatzingan, the home of the druglord "the most crazy one" who was reportedly killed 2 days prior to this.  Sr. Moreno, a modern day Robin Hood with an AK47 had become a bit of a folk hero to the locals and since his death increasingly numbers of locals had expressed anger at the military for making this war in their state.  Todays article in the LA times explains more. 

We faced a shocking sight, no less than 8 large trucks, and other no longer recognizable vehicles lay burned out across the highway, still smoldering.  A civilian waved us down and Gene wisely exited across the highway and re-entered on the other side of the smoldering wreckage.  Our hearts hung heavy thinking of the people who may have been killed or at the very least totally traumatized by their vehicles being commandered for a show of force in retaliation for the druglords killing.  We silently proceeded with our eyes and ears vigilant for any signs of danger, and when an 18 wheeler did a slow pull out across the highway ahead of us, Gene later said he was planning one of the moves seen in a James Bond movie, in case the tanker was firebombed directly ahead of us.  But Gracias a Dios, we drove by and were soon back in our little resort which a friend later told me is the "disneyland" of Mexico...an oasis of peace where perhaps one of our states drug cartels and our local police have learned to live in harmony. 


And we arrived just in time to see the final festivities of the Virgen of Guadalupe one more time...the religious equivalent to a Calgary Stampede, the Saanich Fair and the Santa Claus parade all rolled into one...hard to believe that only hours before all of this peace and beauty seemed to have ceased to exist here.  

Mexico is a country with many layers and as an outsider, I will never understand how the peaceful, gentle people we see everyday can at the same time be subjected to the corruption and violence that lies beneath the surface, just inland from our safe home.   Perhaps what we witnessed this weekend  is the legacy resulting from the years of fighting that occured in gaining this country's independence and todays drug lord folk heroes are not much different than the heroes of the revolutions of the past.  So many questions and so few answers! 

But I can't let the thoughts of what we've witnessed preoccupy my mind,  I've got enough to worry about to try to get a Xmas together and entertain 2 of our 3 children who arrive today!  Vamonos!!

Saving Fish from Drowning and there are no "bad days" in Zihuatanejo

We've been busy the last week with playing "tourist in our own town".  We are happy to be showing our longtime friends Daryl and John around.  They`ve joined our other Canadian friends Sue and Paul and we are relishing having 4 of our friends here to play with.  We've been to beaches, shops, restaurants, and wildlife refuges where the sights, sounds, smells, music, colors and people have provided the much needed contrast to grey (or even white) cold, empty streets back in Canada.  John has summed it up with "there's life everywhere"...every home, every store, every car, every cafe is a virtual feast for the senses as our little town goes about the business of life in the tropics while preparing for Xmas.  The sharp contrast with our lives back in Canada can be overwhelming but to our friends it has provided for some wonderful experiences and memories.

So yesterday, we arranged a deep sea fishing trip with John, a keen fisherman, and Daryl on our friends Mike and Dee's boat,  The Huntress.  We met Mike and Dee when we first moved here 5 years ago and we`ve always felt good about our choice of their boat and their committment to `catch and release` in order to sustain the stocks in our ocean.  Captain Francisco is the friendly, smiling Mexican professional boathandler, fisherman who makes the experience so wonderful. 

This is our fourth time on the boat and I was a bit concerned that the day might be too long, too uncomfortable or even a bit boring if the fish weren't out there...cause as everyone who goes fishing knows, you can't always count on them biting just because you throw out a hook....or in this case, 6 of them with a huge variety of bait, lures, depths and equipment to attract the variety of gorgeous fish that live in the warm, blue depths offshore. 

But the fishing gods were with us and immediately we caught a beautiful Dorado, then 2 sailfish and the final strike was the largest fish of the day...Francisco told us it was a Marlin by the way that the fish wiggled back and forth at the end of the line 50 feet or so behind our boat, but on further examanation and after seeing it's amazing beautiful top fin that opened into a full fan 5-6 feet in length, we were told it was a very large and very old sailfish (Pez Vela). 

John had to use all of his strength to reel the magnificent fish close to the boat and we all waited hoping Francisco could successfully get the large hook out of the fish's gut in order to release it back into the ocean.  This wasn't easy and the fish seemed to be likely to not survive.   But after what amounted to fish CPR, a combination of holding it`s bill and speeding the boat up so it was forced to `swim`and Francisco gently moving it`s head in a swimming motion back and forth across the wake at the side of the boat, he picked the moment to release the fish, who sat with it`s fin sticking straight up in the air and then quickly emerged into the `blue water`with a look of thanks in it`s wise old eyes....saved from drowning and left to live as all things so beautiful should be. 

Gracias a dios for people like Francisco and all of the other people who seem to live in harmony with nature that is around us here in our beautiful home by the sea.  

  

But we are soon to take a little holiday from our holiday and head into the mountains to give Daryl and John a taste of Michoacan and our favorite shopping destinations of Patzcuaro and Quiroga and the chill of high altitude in Mexico.  Que vaya bien...may we travel safely and well!