Christmas in Patzcuaro

Today, after almost 3 weeks of being sick, both of us are feeling well again. Yipee.
Despite the flu or whatever it was, Bob has tiled our service patio since we returned from Maz.
What a nice change. Easy to keep clean.
It has been unseasonably cold here which means 0C at night. The other day I bought a gas heater, and we have been basking in its warmth the past few evenings. We had a small electric heater, but the cost of electricity is high here so we hesitated (cheap/frugal) to run it for hours.
The Christmas season here is a very festive time. The posadas start about Dec 17 and go until Dec 24. Almost every street has a party at this time of year. Different homes serve food and punch (ponche). The punch maybe fruit, with or without alcohol. There is always LOUD music. Our street party was this past Sunday, but we were not feeling up to the night of partying, so we stayed at home and listened to the music. The posadas are reinactment of Joseph and Mary trying to find a place to stay. On Dec 24 they are finally taken in to a home...time for many fireworks and more loud music. The fireworks often start at 4 am. That jars me, but Bob and Patches sleep right through the church bells and the rockets. The church is around the corner from our house so sometimes the rockets land on our roof...fizzled out of course.
There has been quite a lot of violence in our area...the head of the local drug cartel was killed and 2 other head honchos were arrested at a restaurant in Patzcuaro. That lead to the drug cartel ..La Familia...closing the main highways near us and burning a few buses. That was a week ago, and it has quietened down since then. This morning when we drove into Morelia (apparently La Familia has its headquarters there) the police were everywhere..state and federal. They seemed to be screening vehicles. They had pulled over a few pickup trucks. Our old gray van does not stand out in a crowd...in other words no self-respecting drug dealer would drive such a beater!
Do we feel threatened? No, but we do travel during the day....and that is for a few reasons, such as donkeys, etc on the road, or people dressed in black walking on the road.
On Thursday we are having 12 people for a sit down dinner. We started with 2 people coming over 5 years ago. Now we are up to 12, and unless we buy a bigger house (which we may) 12 is the limit for a sit down meal.
We will spend Christmas Day at a friend's house. She has invited 55 people, and yes she does have a rather large house. At this dinner, we will see all of our friends and lots of people that we do not know. Jean always entertains on a large scale. She has the most interesting acquaintances, and sometimes they even become friends!
On Dec 27, we will head for Mazatlan. New Year's eve will be spent with 4 friends from Manitoba. One couple were our neighbours until we sold our house last summer. The other couple lived about 3 km from us. Both couples are renting condos that overlook the marina where we have our boat moored. Very convenient ..no driving involved. A safe way to go on New Years Eve.
Have a festive holiday.

Life in Mazatlan aboard the boat

We arrived in Mazatlan on Nov 7..almost 3 weeks ago. The days have been very busy. We have accomplished alot.
Susan and Brent (my nephew) arrived on Monday. They stayed a week, and from their comments I can recommend the 'Inn at Mazatlan' as a place to stay. They kept busy while they were here. We enjoyed the time we spent with them...and it made us leave the boat and have some down time.
While they were here we took them out sailing. The sail went well insofar as Bob handled the boat well and we didn't hit anything coming in or leaving the dock.
Unfortunately I didn't take any meds for sea sickness. That was complicated by having to spend time below. That is not a good place to be when you suffer from seasickness. Why was I below...Patches' nose bled profusely while on the boat and it wouldn't stop. There I was below deck trying to get his nose to stop bleeding and trying not to vomit. Lovely combination and not one I would recommend.
We cut short the sail and took Patches to a vet. They gave him a sedative which knocked him out, and his nose quit bleeding...and hasn't bled since. At the vet's office, they checked his blood for problems but everything was normal. Who knows what caused the problem but he is fine now.
Our time in Maz has been busy but we have had lots of fun as well. There is a 'dock happy hour' every day. This has meant that we have met many people from our dock. Most of them are seasoned sailers so they are a rich source of information, and such nice people.
Everyday we do something else to the boat. Bob has done wonders. Our boat now looks very nice. I have been working on the interior. Finally we have some storage room. The former owner was a pack rat and we have dealt with most of his 'refuse'. What a good feeling to have some order.
One of my Manitoba friends asked if I would help a Mexican artist friend of hers with a website. Tikio (http://www.tikiomexicanart.net) turns out to be such a nice man. I am enjoying working with him. We have struck a deal. I will build him another website and he will pay me in art. I am looking forward to working with him.
The weather in Mazatlan is much cooler than usual (apparently). I find the weather perfect..sunny days and cool nights (15C). What more can you ask?
So far I am enjoying the sailing experience. Last week we went out and took our friends, Judy and Cal, with us. The sail went well and all of us learned a bit more about sailing. I took Dramamine so I did not feel sick. The dog is very comfortable on the boat...so no worries about his freaking out.
This coming Sunday we will return to Patzcuaro. It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. December in Patzcuaro is a fun time with many holidays other than Christmas. The festivities start in early Dec and continue until early January.
Please check out Tikio's site...he does interesting work.

Daily life in Patzcuaro

October is flying by. This was about the time that we used to arrive here, and now we have been here for over a month.
This week I went to a yoga class...the last one that I went to was about 22 years ago. Yes I am stiff. I will be going to yoga 3 times a week and walking twice a week.
The yoga class is led by a women who is about 60. She was a yoga/ballet teacher in Mexico City. She has relocated to Patzcuaro. What an energetic person!!! I think she must do this for her own edification as we only pay about $1.00 per class.
The class is a wonderful mix: every age including a little Down's syndrome girl of about 8 to women of about 70. There are about 20 in all, and of those 3 are Canadian women. Today we did not do yoga...we worked on balance and dexterity with a finale of zumba.
Friday promises to be exciting. First a group of us are walking to a Yoga retreat (about an hr). Then there is an hour of yoga followed by 30 min of meditation. Then breakfast. Apparently the retreat is in a forest so we will probably go for a walk in the forest. After that I believe I will take a cab home.
Every Monday I go for a massage. The woman who does the massage has the tiniest hands but she gives a great massage. I also opt for a 'treatment' of some sort after the massage. Three weeks ago I had the 'hot rock' treatment. It was wonderful..little pebbles (hot of course) all over your body. My muscles were smiling.
Last week I had the honey, orange and lemon skin treatment. She applied this warm mixture to my whole body using a paint brush. What luxury! This past week she did an exfoliation (total body) with yogurt and rice. The rice acts as an abrasive and the acidity of the yogurt is great for the skin.
Who knows what next Monday will bring?
She also does Reiki. I had never experienced Reiki until last year. The first time she performed Reiki on me, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled, and I felt a tingling all over. Sometimes I feel nothing when she does the Reiki. Apparently it all depends on your state of mind as to what you feel.
What a wonderful life I have here.
Bob and Patches continue to walk up the mountain 3 times a week and we meet for breakfast about 10 am. On Tues and Thurs we walk but more on the flat. I have a walking companion this year. Her name is Gemma. She moved here from Quebec about 5 yr ago. I asked her to join me in my walks. She and I joined the yoga class ...we are planning to be fit!!
Bob and I will go to Mazatlan on Nov 7 and return on Nov 28. Now that I have a yoga and walking routine here I am really not looking forward to going to Mazatlan..I will enjoy it there I know. Bob was showing me how to coil a rope and throw it. My first lesson in sailing. He wants me to learn how to tie knots. I suggested that for every knot that I learned to tie, he should learn to cook something. This was met with a certain amount of resistance...those who know Bob will not be surprised at his response.
Our little garden is looking good except for the gardenia. When we arrived the gardenia looked great. In fact it was covered in buds. Now it is just a stick. After I fertilized the garden all the leaves and buds fell off the gardenia...I am leaving the stick to see what happens. The roses loved the fertilizer, but I suppose it was not right for the gardenia. I love gardenias but I have killed 2 in 5 years. If the stick does not produce in 2 weeks, I will be off to the flower market to find another gardenia, and we will see how long it takes for me to kill it.
About 2 weeks ago I started tutoring my neighbour's grandson..in English. I was going to do this 3 times a week. After meeting on Monday I decided that my life was too busy to tutor 3 times a week. Besides it reminded me too much of my former career.
That is our life at the moment, and I can think of nothing much to improve it.

The sun is back

This morning I woke up to a perfectly blue sky. After 2 weeks of cloudy weather and a lot of rain, this is my kind of weather. Yes it is the rainy season but enough.
Today I worked for several hours (no details too boring) and then Patches and I went out for lunch. Patches is such a great luncheon partner...he doesn't demand anything. I had a lovely lunch and 2 glasses of wine..the altitude makes me a very cheap drunk. here I am 2 hr later and still feeling the effects.
Bob is sweating his guts out in Mazatlan but is making headway. The old stove (diesel) is out and the new one in. Who knows what else he has to do??
He had dinner with Judy and Cal last night so today he may be slower than usual.
Friends and family ask me what I do here. Why have we chosen to live here full time..for now? One reason is the ease of enjoying my garden. This morning I had coffee on the patio...I walk out my front door in my 'whatever" and there is my little garden. Yesterday a gardenia bloomed...the fragrance is heady to say the least. We have a hot pink buganvillia which is in its glory now...the old scruffy brick wall makes a phenomenal backdrop for it. The camellia is promising flowers anyday as are the roses. And the Bird of Paradise literally pops out his incredible flower ..who could have dreamed up something like that? Gardening has never been my forte but I love flowers, and here things just grow despite me.
Next week I will join a tai chi class. It is offered 3 times/week in the main plaza. I will do that while Bob walks. How do I know about this class? The other day, as I was out walking, a man stopped and invited me to join the class...he is Mexican and recognized me as 'not Mexican' so invited me to the class. Am I incorrect in thinking that this kind of thing doesn't happen in Canada? I hope that it does.
You may wonder what I miss about my life in Canada...my friends and I include my family in the word "friends'. ..that is what I miss. I often think of people when I look at different things in the house..little reminders of events in my life. And I miss being able to hang a picture without having to get out the drill...concrete walls!!
I guess for me 'home is where I hang my hat'.
Next April, when we usually make our trip north, I will be interested in how I react. One never knows.

Back home in Patzcuaro

We have been back here a week and in some ways it seems as if we had never left. I call that a high comfort level. Everything is up and running which means that we can stop 'running'.
It is the rainy season now and it has rained every day since we have returned. Apparently it has rained more this year than it has in 20 years. Because of all the rain, our garden was a mess. We ended up cutting down a cedar tree (about 5 m) and trimming most of the bougainvillas right back. Our walls looked bare again but we remedied that by moving a camelia and an oleander from pots into the garden. Our lemon tree has finally started producing a real crop and now has many lemons on it. Mexicans prefer limes but I like lemons for cooking..hence our lemon tree.
Back to some chit chat about the move. I was amazed at what I put into our car. Patches was riding in the van with Bob so we had both back seats down. Bob had a van load of his boat stuff but we were able to put our big trunk into the van. It weighed a ton and thanks to our neighbour, Corinne, we were able to hoist it into the van. To unpack it we left it in the van. Not one item was broken during the move. I really did get to bring a lot of my 'treasures' with me, and those I couldn't take, I gave to friends. All of our excess stuff is packed into the second bedroom here. That will change as soon as we hang the paintings that we brought. We have already ordered 2 bookcases and another counter for the kitchen. That will accommodate everything that is sitting around now.
Friends have asked how I felt leaving Grindstone. I was sad but only because of the great friends that we made there. When we went to Grindstone, I was not a very willing party to the move. Five years later I am so happy that I had the experience of living in Grindstone ..because of the great friends that we made. Three couples from Grindstone spend time in Mazatlan, so we will still see them every year. That is so great. I am also looking forward to seeing family and friends here in Mexico. Promises have been made!!

The drive down was quite eneventful. It was my first long distance drive, as a driver, that I have made in about 30 years. Up until last year, I would not have considered the drive to Mexico. I was so fearful of driving in Mexico. This drive had me confront my fears and, it was a great experience for me. I would have liked a car with more power, especially in the mountains. Bob in the van breezed up the steep inclines but my car struggled to hit 80 km/hr. Bob was a very considerate leader and slowed his pace. In the entire drive Bob made 1 incorrect turn. The irony of that was, it was the turn that I worried about (new road not yet on GPS0, and Bob was not concerned about it!!

We had a bit of trouble with the van in Texas but that fixed (by Bob) quickly. Texas was hot. In Texas Patches started riding with me as the heat was bothering him alot. We had bought a laundry tub in Nebraska. It was occupying the front seat. We put Patches's bed in it, and he rode in the laundry tub for the next 3 days.

Bob was stopped by the Mexican customs because of all his boat stuff. The customs officials tried to change him duty on the stuff for the boat. After about a half hour of conversation (sailboat gear is tax free for foreign owned boats), we were able to convince them that we knew what we were talking about, and then for another hour or so they filled out all the papers and we were on our way. They were so interested in Bob that they left me along and never checked the car.

Some thoughts on our move: The move to Mexico was not a big change for us, as we have spent so much time here during the past years., but I believe our move has been a big change for our family and friends. In reality, the only change is, that we no longer have a residence in Manitoba. We will no longer spend 6 months in Manitoba. I can see myself visiting Manitoba every year, and will see everyone as much as when we were in Manitoba for 6 mo.
Yes our life has certainly taken a big turn, but having had a house here for 5 yr has made Patzcuaro home. We know the place and we have a great group of friends here.
Nothing here is new or different except for the sailboat. That will be the big change for both of us. Travelling by sailboat ..well who knows where that will lead us?

Patzcuaro, Mexico

We arrived in Patzcuaro on Wednesday, September 15. Mexico was enjoying a holiday..in fact a week of holidays to celebrate 200 yr of independence.
We left our house in Manitoba on Sept 2 and spent the next 8 days visiting friends and family. Right now I am very tired but within the week I will bring my blog up to date.

Only 3 weeks left in our house

It has been a busy time for us. All those phone calls and a little packing here and there and before you know it, another week has flashed by.
All those slides and photos are scanned and I will be making copies for members of my family. There really is quite an archive as I have photos of some great grandparents as well as the grandparents.
The weather has been hot and humid...not my kind of weather at all. We are still walking and Bob cycles everyday as well. We certainly feel fitter than we did 2 months ago, and we are looking pretty healthy.
Although we are not taking much with us to Mexico I look at what I want to take and wonder how it will all fit into the car and the van. What does not fit stays or is given to friends. We will be taking stuff to give to the family when we go to the family gathering.
I see signs of autumn already...leaves changing colour and falling off the trees. It has snowed every year before we have left for Mexico...that is when we used to leave in October. If it snows this year before we leave Manitoba, we may begin to believe that we are cursed.
Once we get to Mexico my blog should be more interesting ...but maybe not.

Scanning photos

This is pretty boring stuff but I have been scanning all of our slides and photos..I am now down to about 100 photos. When my parents died I took all of their photos and of course there are photos of great grandparents, etc whom I hope I have correctly identified..if not who will know.
Our house is getting a bit bare looking as I take painting off the walls. There are now even empty cupboards..yipee.
Bob and I have gone on a 'fitness kick' and we are now in week 4. Bob has lost about 10 lbs and looks very svelte...me not so much but then I have much flab to work on than he did. We are walking for over an hour a day and cycling as well. Bob has quit drinking whereas I have the occasional glass of wine ...this has turned our to be a real money saver!!
For once we have had 2 lovely days in a row. It is strange to see a cloudless sky..nothing beats that Manitoba blue sky.
We had a great evening with my nephew Dwayne and his wife Shirley..we celebrated our mutual anniversaries.
The family gathering is on for Aug 28..should be a ball...a great time to renew family tied.

Sold the house and boat

I have started this blog to keep in touch with family and friends. Although I do email sometimes I forget to whom I have sent what...old age I guess.
As most of you already know, we have sold our house and boat. Possession date is Sept 3 so we will leave here Sept 1 and start our trip south. We plan to leave Manitoba on Sept 10 and that should get into Patzcuaro (our Mexican hometown) on Sept. `5.
We are taking our car and van. Whatever does not fit into the car and van will have to find a new home in Manitoba. A friend of ours will drive down with us and has bought our van. That simplies our lives greatly as we do not need 2 vehicles in Mexico.
We sold our place furnished and that has cut down on what we have to sell/take with us. Still it is amazing what a person collects...and we have only been here 5 yr...we haven't accumulated much while living here but we did have 'stuff' from our last place at Richer.
Bob bought a 35 ft Spencer sailboat in Jan 2010. It is moored in Mazatlan. We plan to sail it as far south as Ixtapa in 2011. This will be my first long voyage so I am somewhat apprehensive. We will make some short trips around Maz in November so Bob can get more proficient in handing a bigger boat and I can ...hopefully..get my sea legs.
Apparently there is some great anti-nausea mediction now so I will be investing heavily in that.
Our plan is to anchor every night at a mooring close to shore so that Patches and I can get off the boat and go for a walk. If we can do this I think that I will be okay. If this doesn't work for me Bob will be a solo sailer or be looking for a sailing partner. I really like his new boat and would live on it happily..as long as it is moored somewhere as it is in Maz. The marina in Maz is lovely...close to restaurants, nice places to walk, lots to do..friends nearby. Of course Bob wants to sail. He spends hours on line looking for 'trinkets' for his darling boat....worse than a mistress.