Going home

And homeward bound. 

After a sketchy, rather itchy night morning was welcome.  We finished packing and put on bathing suits for a final plunge after delivering our beach chairs and umbrella and unused good to Rudy's. 

Had the pool to ourselves. I have enjoyed swimming and though I'm nothing for form, I like moving through the water and see improvement in my stamina.  

I dressed and walked out to a farmacia to get some more retin A for a friend. The prices here for meds are astounding. And one can get most anything. 

  I love feeling safe wandering around solo.  

Taxi came and picked us up at the door. 

It's good. I hope I keep my happy.  

People are so courageous. The gentleman sitting next to me now on the plane is 5 years older than me. Speaks no English. No clue how to fill out the paperwork.  And he can't see well enough to write.  I am helping him. He is here to visit his daughter in Ellensburg where she has a restaurant.  What did he bring into the US? Just some dulces for his family.  

I simply hope he is treated kindly.

My heart is full of emotion. So grateful for these experiences that come to me. And so happy, especially now that I am not itchy!  Makes the everyday feel spectacular- which it is.

We've been away long enough that coming home feels like an adventure!

And Christina texted me to says she left Batdorf and Bronson coffee on the counter for me. It's the little things.

And I hear Mina's words. Since they can't count on their government for anything, they live with the belief that they create their own happiness....and they are a happy lot.  At least that's my spin.

Signing off now.

Following up

March 4th, 2015

Natalie's 7th birthday!!

I can only say that this is one horrible miserable day.   The mosquitos and no see-ems really attacked me yesterday and I am suffering today.  Have salve; have Benadryl.

We packed.  We spent the morning putting final slide show together for the REI presentation.

Then we had our final massage from Mina.  She ended mine with a folk lore treatment for what she thinks is my big tummy issue - not fat but air.  So she bought an ace bandage and then proceed to cut a white crusty bread in 1/2 and chop up an onion and some oregano and drizzle alcohol over it all and then slap it on my belly and secure with the ace bandage.  She said I should sleep with it tonight and take it off in the morning and bathe then.

I complied.  Mostly out of politeness because though I am a believer in native/natural medicines but this one stretched a bit too far.  Nothing natural is going to diminish this belly!  And besides, with my itching legs I could hardly stand to have some stinky bandage around me.  So off it is now.  Note:  there is no photo to go with this description.  You'll all be glad of that!

So tonight's our last night.  We're about to have dinner, using up what's left in the refrigerator.  Since we're both itching now, we probably won't stray too far from home.

That's ok.  This too shall pass.

This is the text I sent to Heather:

Talk later? I can't now. Packing and having a miserable time having Mosquitos bites all over my legs and wanting to jump off a cliff. I'm afraid my perspective on the meaning life would not be helpful. Going for a massage in an hour. Let's hope it calms down for that and afterwards. Later? Will you be around? An alcohol induced state post massage may help.  It was a great adventure but again, life humbles my glorified experience😡

And so it goes.

Los chiles estan cocinando en el comal.  The chilies are cooking in the flat frying pan.  Expression to say that one needs to leave. An excuse to get away.  

En el Campo con Mina

Tuesday, March 3, 2015Same old same old Tuesday.  Craig and Rudy played tennis and I went for a swim.  We had made arrangements to meet Mina in front of the Santander Bank in the Hotel Zone at Las Glorias at 2:00 PM so we hopped on a Camino and arrived there.   The plan was that we would all go to the countryside to meet her new sweetheart, José Enrico.  We took a cab and went past the Buenos Aires section and arrived at the Colonia Paso Ancho area of PV, on the outskirts, towards the mountains.   There, José met us.  He and Mina have been seeing one another for about a month and she is totally smitten with him as you will see from the photos.   He is a campesino, not a city kind of guy and this was the first time Mina had seen the land he has.  From our discussions (and remember that my Spanish is not great), I get that he would really like to build a house for her and her two sons for them all to live in.  They are cautious, however, moving poco a poco since both have been in relationships before and with Mina's children, two teenage boys, acceptance of a new relationship for their mother comes slowly.  

We felt honored to be included in this day trip and to have this window into Mexican life outside of the tourist zone.   José was very reserved; Mina says he doesn't talk a whole lot.  We could see that as time went on, he felt more comfortable around us and Mina shared with me today that he said that when we come back, he invites us to spend more time with him in the country.  Something like that.  And today, Mina said, as we were saying goodbye, "perhaps next year I will have a house made of wood."  We surely hope this all works out well for her; she deserve to live well and be treated well.  

As we were returning home, I had that sense of the importance of travel.  I know it changes me.  I am reminded of this quote I displayed in my World Languages classroom.  By Richard Bach:
Languages are fluffy big pillows stuffed between nations - what others say is muffled and nearly lost in them, and when we speak their grammar we get feathers in our mouth.  It's worth it.  What pleasure to phrase an idea, even in child's words, slowly, and sail it across the gulf in another language to a different-speaking human being!

We laughed a lot.  And I think it all worked well.  Mina had no idea if we would be ok with this adventure.  We surely had no idea what to expect.  And José...

A nurse cactus!

A ride in the back of a pick up truck!  Haven't done this in 45 years!!

What to see and do?

So just for the record, here are some activities that visitors might enjoy:

Whale watching
The Saturday market in el Centro
The Thursday afternoon/evening market at the Marina
The Artesan Market in the WallMart Parking lot for the month of February
Las marietas - islands for snorkeling, etc. 
Nuevo Vallarta including marina
Walk on trail and Fluvial
El Centro- Malecon
Liverpool Mall- Starbuck's and shops
Pedicures
Massages from Mina
Swimming pool here
Beach- Playa de Oro - toro with our umbrella + chairs
Day pass at hotel
Restaurants of course - listed in the Blog on Logistics page
Walk to Pitillial
Meals at home:
Smoothies galore
Arroz con pollo
Tacos
Camarones fresh
Tuna- fresh
See Pintest section: eating in Mexico

¿Qué pasa?

Monday, March 2, 2015

10 miles walking.

Picture this:  An air conditioned bus with comfortable padded seats!  What a luxury.  We were so content to sit on the bus in traffic, not caring how long it took to get back to the Walmart depot stop.   Comfort is all relative!!

We left early in the morning for the bus trip to Nuevo Vallarta.  This would be our destination for our walk.  Nuevo is on the other side of the airport, north of Puerto Vallarta.  It's a relatively newly developed area and has the look of a retirement development that could be ANYPLACE, USA.  Florida, Palm Springs, Arizona - easily pictured.  The accommodations range from hotels, even a Hard Rock Hotel, to condominiums galore to gated communities with grand estates.

The beaches are beautiful.  Smoothly raked white sand.  We started our walk on the beach, walked about 3 miles and then turned inland for some refreshments and our mission to find the Estudio Cafe, which turned out to be on the other side of the area, across a bridge at the Marina.  No one we asked seemed to know about this area.  We did find it.  It's lovely with many beautiful restaurants and many many yachts.  Easy to picture.

I was about ready to keel over from the heat when we found a place to have a "green" drink, very popular here.  Tropical fruits mixed with greens and celery.  I was revived.

After the luxurious bus ride, and the 10 mile walk, we stopped at our local market probably for the last time and stocked up on tortillas and vegetables to last us for the next couple of days.

As we entered Las Moras, our friendly attendant or guard, Benji, asked us how we were.  He's always teasing Craig about drinking cerveza and tequila.  I reported that we were tired and hot and gave him the statistics on how many kilometers we'd walked today.  I said, "cansada, caliente, y loco."  With a tilt of his head, he said, "un poco."

Dinner at home tonight of chicken stewed in cilantro pesto, ravioli and binge watching of House of Cards.

The beach at Nuevo Vallarta

We finally found this art gallery, restaurant that is very highly recommended in Trip Advisor.  We didn't eat here though as we had had breakfast recently. 

Vegetables from the mercado.  I always soak them in the Microdyn solution for 15 minutes.  Have never had a problem. 

These are delicious cookie/crackers made in Talpa, one of the mountain communities known as a pilgrimage site. 

Our last Friday

February 27, 2015

6 hours of work on our REI presentation.

Hair cut and color with Leslie at 4 at the same place as last year.  Note:  $80.00 total - 1/2 of what I pay at home!!

Dinner at their house and tv for first episode of House of Cards.

It was just another day.  This is not a vacation ; it's a life.  

Saturday

February 27

Craig played tennis; I swam

I'm getting too dark even though I wear sunscreen and clothing.

Mina came to give Leslie a massage and did her belly treatment for me.  She invited us to meet her on Tuesday and go out to the ranchito that her new boyfriend owns so we can meet him.  He's a bit older than her but she's excited about this relationship and he seems to be treating her very well.  We all hope it's the real deal.  She deserves it.

We took Leslie and Rudy out to La Vaca Argentina in Fluvial for a farewell dinner.  Leslie leaves for Boston on Monday.

Good place.  We enjoyed it.

2 episodes of House of Cards.