Hace Mucho and the Star

Earlier this month, Mike and I attended a sale of restored and rebuilt furniture and artifacts at a local business called Hace Mucho. The sale was held at the home of the owner, just around the block from our casita, at the corner of Belisario Dominques and 21 de Marzo. Casa Azul is one our favourite houses along Belisario Domingues - the old homes are magnificent, and so are the trees!




We were hoping to perhaps find something just a little different to bring back to Canada with us, something that would remind us of the beauty of Old Mazatlan. There were so many lovely things, especially some of the larger pieces of furniture. One in particular, an armoire, was beautiful, but there was no way that was going into the car for the trip home!



We were thrilled when we stumbled across the Star. A very very long time ago, the Star formed part of the ironwork in a window of a home somewhere in Centro. It is rusted, the paint is chipped, it weighs a ton, and it barely fits into the truck of the car. We have no idea what we will do with it when we get it home. And we love it!


Hace Mucho, by the way, is pronounced 'ah-say mucho' and means "way back when".

Time Flies

I realized this morning after receiving an email from a friend at home that it has been awhile since I have posted anything on mexicoatlast....

Well, what excuses can I come up with? None really, other than the fact that we have been busy, doing stuff. What sort of stuff, you might ask?

The days just seem to fill themselves. We get up, earlier than we would like to some days (dogs, roosters, mufflers - or the lack thereof, music...) but the mornings are lovely and who really needs to sleep anyway. We have breakfast (the yogurt is delicious by the way), walk the dog, check our email, make the bed, the usual stuff of day to day life. Sometimes it's a long walk, and then Abi just needs to rest.



And then it starts. We are trying to pace ourselves - if we know we are going out at night, we stay home more during the day. If we have a busy day, we just get comfy for the evening.

We shop at the Market several times a week for fresh produce. We do hit some of the bigger grocery stores every few weeks to stock up on the bulk items and were quite excited last week to stumble upon Heinz Relish. Real relish .... Mike was thrilled and we rushed home to barbeque hot dogs for lunch. If we had been thinking we would have bought several bottles - could probably have auctioned them off and made enough to pay for groceries for at least a week!

I have started volunteeting at the library Mondays from 11 til 3. We usually meet with friends afterwards, for drinks and an early dinner. Mike is also taking bridge lessons on Monday mornings. I was going to take lessons as well, but decided the library would be a lot more fun... just my opinion here! I think perhaps in the New Year I will try to fit in both, go for lessons and then leave and head for the library.

We attended a wine tasting party on the 6th which was a definite do-again. The hosts have recently moved into their new home on Lookout Hill, which is the other hill in Centro. Their view is amazing - should be the perfect spot to watch the fireworks during Carnival. We all brought wines from California and an appetizer. The next tasting will be early in January, Spanish wines this time. The January hosts live in the Golden Zone and they also have a view of the ocean. I have to tell you, it's a tough life!

We attended a baseball game a few weeks ago, with friends from San Francisco, and it was an adventure. We ate, and ate and ate - tostadas, ribs, wings, hotdogs, peanuts - the food was great and our team won! The Venados have made it to the playoffs. We would like to think it was because of our very enthusiastic support, so have another baseball evening planned, between Christmas and New Years. We don't want to let the boys down! Mike and Don were quite enchanted with the Pacifico girls ... wonder why?



We attended a party at the Old Mazatlan Inn, a combination Anniversary/Christmas celebration. I truly wish I had taken the camera as there were Pinatas everywhere, and the Christmas tree was huge. We also had the pleasure of meeting Amy Roloff, who is the Mum on TLC's Little People Big World. Amy really is an amazing person. It was a pleasure to meet her and we're hoping to get together again on one of her future visits.

We went to an early Christmas get together at Canucks, listened to some lovely Christmas music and ate the best chicken soup we have ever had. After that we wandered out to the Malecon to listen to a concert. The concert was presented by Cultura Mazatlan, the group, Radaid, was from Guadelahara. It is so hard to describe the music - a mix of Celtic, Indian, you name it, it was there. The lead singers had truly amazing voices and the light show against Icebox Hill was spectacular. We bought their CD, but I've found them on Youtube - worth a look up if you're so inclined. Once again, no camera. Oops!

Are you bored yet? We have dinner with friends several times a week and I had a great 5 hour lunch with a friend on Thursday. Mike was ready to send out a search party for us.

We've finished painting the inside of the Casita and I'll send some pictures along soon.

We are still working on our Salsa - this is a work in progress - but we have another class tonight so hopefully it will all start to come together. We are much better at Merengue, but Merengue is a lot easier!

And yes, it is starting to feel a little bit more like Christmas!

Our Lady of Guadalupe

There are shrines everywhere you turn in Mexico, especially those celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1531, a “Lady from Heaven” appeared to a peasant at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of what is now Mexico City. Legend says she identified herself as the Virgin Mary and requested that a church be built on the site. The Virgin of Guadalupe has symbolized the Mexican nation since the Mexican War of Independence. The armies of Miquel Hidalgo, Emiliano Zapata and Subcomandante Marcos all marched beneath flags bearing the Guadalupan image, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is generally recognized to be a symbol of all Catholic Mexicans. The Basilica of our Lady of Guadaloupe in Mexico City was apparently the most visited Catholic Shrine in the world in 1999.

On the drive down we passed several images of Our Lady of Guadaloupe painted on the sides of mountains and there were dozens of small shrines along the sides of the road. This shrine was at a Pemex (gas) station.



We pass these shrines everyday.




This was discovered at the Old Mazatlan Inn, the little boutique hotel where our friends Jerry and Diane are staying.



The Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12, and the day is considered a Holy Day. This very large shrine is 2 blocks from the casita and has been decorated for the occasion.




And that's the end of today's lesson!

Is it starting to feel like Christmas?

Usually at this time of the year I'm rushing about, trying to find the perfect gift so that I can finally say the shopping is finished, while wrapping the gifts that have already been purchased. As we're decorating the house, I'm also mentally revising the menu for Christmas dinner and reworking the grocery shopping list. There are lists everywhere. I'm famous for my list making, a trait I inherited from my Dad! It`s the usual pre-Christmas panic and it happens every year. But no matter how stressful it is, I still really enjoy it and love everything about Christmas, crowded shopping centres and all.

Things are just different this year.

Mazatlan is filled with Christmas. Christmas trees have been available since mid-November and many of our neighbours have had their houses decorated for weeks now. We have seen some houses that have life sized nativity scenes, as well as Santa and the Reindeer, and several Nutcrackers standing guard at the front door. All the bases are covered. There are wreaths, coloured lights and garlands everywhere. The school down the hill has been playing Christmas carols every day while the children are on the playgound for recess. People are wandering around wearing reindeer ears. I've even seen a car with ears.

It should feel like Christmas, but it doesn't.

This is our first Christmas away from home, and I think perhaps I just can't get my head around the fact that it's warm here, and sunny. Christmas is supposed to be cold, right? It feels strange not to be shopping (I bought gifts for family at home before we left in October). Our son won't be with us this year, for the first time. It's been a few years since he spent the whole day with us, but I've never had a year that I didn't see him at all. I know he'll be fine, he even said he was putting up a tree, but I'll miss him. I hope he goes somewhere for dinner, even though he said he's given up meat - he could always eat the veggies. I wish he could come here. We don't have a tree this year, another first. I did bring a box of decorations (31 Santas!) which I put out on the weekend. But I miss the tree, and the shopping, and wrapping paper, ribbons and bows ....




However, that is just enough whining. We are spending winter in Mexico, something we have dreamed about for years and we are having a wonderful time. We have so much to do we have actually found ourselves with 2 or more things scheduled for the same evening. We had company for dinner last night, and then spent the day lounging by the pool with friends, soaking up the sun. We are going to the baseball game tonight, something we`ve wanted to do for ages. I've started volunteering at the library. We`ve finished painting the casita and it looks great. (The Santas are a nice touch!)

I need to stop feeling sorry for myself. Just because this is different, it is still Christmas!

Tomorrow Mike and I are going shopping to buy a gift for a little boy from one of the local orphanages. He`d really like a sports watch, a remote controlled car or a transformer. Then we`ll come home and wrap it all fancy! We`re going to the Christmas Open House at the lovely little boutique hotel over the hill on Saturday and are attending 2 Christmas `concerts` next week. We plan on spending an evening at the Plaza Machado admiring the sights and sounds of a Mexican Christmas evening. We have been invited out for dinner on Christmas Day which I am truly looking forward to. They are a lovely couple, their home is beautiful, and we will be sharing the day with friends, old and new.




Maybe it is starting to feel a little bit like Christmas.

The Ring

I really don't do a lot of shopping in Mexico anymore. Really, it's true, don't listen to Mike! We've been coming for years and for several years did the shop til you drop thing. It was so much fun. I don't care what anyone says, I love beach vendors. Over the years we've amassed a fairly sizable collection of Mexican 'favourites'. I loved the colourful pottery, Mike found the replicas of Mayan gods and goddesses of interest, we collected a wonderful series of photographs which we have framed and hung at home. When Jeff was young he always brought home one of the ironwood carvings. We bought paper mache parrots, glassware, beach blankets, the list goes on and on. The list also, of course, included silver, lots and lots of silver.

I am not denying it, I have managed to collect a fair amount of Mexican silver over the years, a lot of which I still wear, on a regular basis. One of my favourite bracelets was purchased in Puerto Vallarta about 15 years ago, and I still love the ring I bought in Manzanillo shortly after that. I even have, and wear several times a week, bracelets that I found in Taxco our first trip to Mexico which was somewhere around 1975. I do have to confess that some of the things that I have picked up on trips have been 'regifted' .... quite often after I have looked and looked for something unique to give as a gift and have finally turned to my own jewellery box.

We just don't shop that much anymore. We had a recent quick trip when we astounded the folks at customs when we told them we have nothing to declare - we even forgot to pick up a bottle of Kahlua. Usually, however, we will pick up something interesting for the house and I confess that I do pick up the odd personal thing here or there (read into that earrings, or silver ....)

Recently I dropped into a local jewellery store at the Plaza Machado (they're giving away free bracelets – we're all wearing them). They have lovely things. I just took a quick peek – and found 'the perfect ring'. Which I have to have, except that every time I go back, they are closed. I even made a special trip to the bank to get cash (up and down the hill). I have been there 3 times – they are always closed. Today the cruise ships were in. I was sure they would be there. I would never shop on cruise ship day, but they already know I live here. So I went twice. They were closed. That was twice, up and down that darned hill. They were closed. I managed to tie the trips into the market and the pharmacy but to be honest they were trips really made for 'the ring'. And they were closed. They often seem to open in the evenings. Guess where I'm going tonight? I admit it, I have become obsessed. I have worn out shoes, trekking up and down the hated hill. I don't care how much it costs (okay within reason). I want the ring. I will haunt this store until I get it.

And I promise, Mike, I won't buy another thing the whole time we are here.

Maybe. I think I need more shoes.



POSTSCRIPT




I wrote this awhile ago, but never did get around to posting it. I did get the ring, that evening, and for a darned good price I should add. I also managed to acquire several more 'free' bracelets, which I shared with a friend!

I'm still looking for the shoes.

Silencio, por favor

Oh, how I wanted to yell those words out of the bedroom windows at shortly before 6 a.m. this morning!

The neighbours were out in full force. After repeatedly gunning and revving their car engines, they proceeded to have a good old neighbourly chat while the cars warmed up. Now, its already close to 20 degrees outside so I'm really not sure why exactly they feel they need to idle for a good 10 minutes every morning. Both these vehicles need to have their mufflers replaced. Both are parked about 3 feet from said bedroom windows, which of course, are wide open, because, as I said, it's 20 degrees outside.

However, I am visitor to the 'hood, and customs are customs. So, instead of bellowing out the windows, I got up and shut them, hoping to minimize the sounds of the voices and revving motors (and to keep the exhaust fumes outside where they belong). I do have to confess that I shut them firmly, hoping perhaps they would take the hint. No luck there, so I gave up, got up again and made myself a cup of tea.

The early morning hasn't been a total waste. I decided to catch up on emails. We're having company for dinner so I got the marinade ready for the pork tenderloin and made the dressing for the salad. I've painted my nails. And, the sunrise was spectacular!

Salsa Saturdays

Shortly after we arrived I mentioned to a friend that I would love to learn how to dance the Salsa, and wouldn't it be fun if we could find an instructor and get a class going. Well, Cecilia loved the idea and next thing I knew she had the whole thing set up - she found the teachers and made the arrangements at Canucks (a local restaurant/North American Community Centre) for use of the facility on Saturday evenings. We e-mailed back and forth on a regular basis while arrangements were being made and met for lunch to discuss things, but really, she did absolutely everything and all I had to do was show up last night for our first class.

Mike and I are both just a wee bit stiff this morning and we both need to do a lot, and I mean, A LOT of practicing before next Saturday, but it was so much fun! Mary and Oskar, our instructors, taught about 20 or so of us how to do the basic Salsa step (out-in-out-in-move those hips-just the hips-out-in-out-in-keep those shoulders still-move those hips-keep your head up-feel the rythym-out-in-out-in...... by this point we're all laughing ourselves silly and the waiters and bartender are killing themselves! There were one or two people who were actually dancing the Salsa but they fessed up and admited they's had lessons before. There were also a few who looked they were doing the Salsa, but they were cheating - their heads and shoulders were moving and that's a no-no.

If we can manage to move enough today, we're going to strap imaginary broom sticks to our backs to keep them nice and straight, turn the music on really loud, and practice. Or maybe we'll just listen to the music, and practice tomorrow.