We made our decision to return to Zihuatanejo a couple of weeks earlier than usual this year. We wanted to be here for a some special people we care a lot about. Our sponsored student in "Nino's Adelante" has a special birthday on October 29th and we are invited to be part of her quinceanara - you may have read about that last Spring when I wrote about saying "Yes to the dress". And we also had news that my dear friend Monica's daughter Jimena would be married in October. If we could by chance by here for both...well that would be so much fun!
So with seat prices at an all time low, we purchased our tix, arranged our home rental in Victoria and then found out that both the quinceanara and the wedding were delayed. But in the meantime, the dull rains of Fall on Vancouver Island moved in and we felt very smug about our decision to be away early.
As always I will miss my friends and family, so our final week was spent seeing all the people who are special to us in Canada.
Our last night was spent in Vancouver and we had the good fortune of being able to see our 3 adult children and their partners for a final dinner.
Because our second home and our life takes us away from Canada at Xmas time, I was very happy to hear that each of our kids is hoping to come to Zihua for a visit this winter and we will be happy to see them, and above all else, it takes the guesswork out of what to buy them for Xmas! I have felt a little guilty escaping Xmas for the past 3 years, but during my last few weeks in Victoria whenever I headed into a store for yet one more thing to bring here, I cringed inwardly when I saw the growing stocks of merchandise all designed to help people celebrate Xmas with some new "Made in China' decorations that are so beautifully displayed everywhere. I felt so happy to be going to a place where people don't have the same capacity for purchasing and the huge pressures of commercialization are a little more remote. Today when I took my first stroll along Calle Cocos, the street of the food merchants, I was surprised to see the 2 women from the Montanas of Guerrero were already set up selling their cornhusk wreaths and decorations...In Canada I would think..."it's not even Hallowe'en"...and today I found myself thinking "it's not even Dia de los Muertos".
We are gradually reconnecting with our Mexico amigos. The streets, beaches and shops are quiet and many of the previous businesses have closed. Only a few restaurants are open...the town is only just recovering from the heavy rains that drenched the streets no less than a week or two ago. Together with a summer of threats and some actual violent altercations between two opposing drug cartels vying for turf here, the locals seem a bit embarrassed by the quietness of our chosen home, but with that they greet us with warm "bienvenidos" - welcoming back our familiar faces. Our first days are spent trying to remember all the details of how to do the things that make our life here so easy. Cell phones, bank cards, food storage, flea/tick medications for Cori, groceries...I can honestly say this is no laying in the sun Mexican vacation...this is life! The damp days of summer take a toll on all things electrical so we are mired in a bunch of repair problems, but as always, the people here make it all seem like "no problemo". Trades people appear after only just mentioning the problem to our fabulous Vanessa...
But it can never be all work and no play with a dog like Cori, so late Monday afternoon, with dark clouds threatening yet another tropical rain, we headed to Playa Madera to play a little ball and see the water. 
We were not disappointed as Cori worked his magic with the children, and the frigates and pelicans glided overhead skimming down to try to snatch the fish from the waves. We all came home a little sandy, but ever so glad to be back on "hometurf" in Mexico! 
Postscript Tuesday p.m. : Today the sun is shining brightly. I ventured back to Yoga class with Paty at La Ropa Beach. There are only a few people walking along that magical strip of sand - everywhere you look is blue, blue sky and blue, blue ocean. The colors of Mexico are bright and I hope today we'll chip away a little bit more on our long list of "to do's". I'm finding my reasonably newly made resolution of being a "non drinker" a lot more challenging here than in Victoria - this is the place of Corona commercial dreams
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