I have a cold.  I didn’t sleep worth rice and beans last night and my head feels like it’s three times its normal size… not a bad thing, I suppose, as I am known for having a freakishly small head…

Anyhoo.  We got school done despite my best efforts, nodding off at the table… body completely devoid of caffiene- I hate coffee when I’m sick… urging young ones to ‘go play on Mummy’s computer…. We’d have bagged it altogether, but, ummmmmm… we, like, did that yesterday.

Because… we took off early for breakfast in nearby Progreso, where we could enjoy highspeed wireless with our huevos.  And stroll The Malecon- essentially a boardwalk, minus the rides and Thrasher’s Fries- with the endless stream of visiting Gringo’s from the two cruiselines docked at the local port.  OhmiGod.  By 10:30 in the morning our sleepy little Puerto had turned into Decreptitude, Inc.  Honestly, an incredible transformation.  Town was suddenly abuzz with activity:  markets, beer, endless tables lined up on the beach selling $20 massages, beer, Margaritas, music, more shit to sell, beer…  10:30 in the morning?!?!  It was crazy.

Granted, I’ve never been on a cruise, so I’m unfamiliar with what goes on at the various ports of call, but galldurnit, I was fearing a “me so hawwwwny…” moment there in the middle of this nearby normally tranquilo beach, as I dragged kids away from the rows of Margarita laden massage victims and their eager and so very friendly ‘masseuses’….

However, Hubby is heading back next week.  Cruise Ship Monday… his last chance for a $20, one hour rub-down…. Erk. Men.

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites

our pool… and shack, originally uploaded by tlcphotos.

For the one of you who asked those of you who’ve been waiting, here’s our casita. Our little piece of the Yucatan. Our tiny sliver of paradise… Our slice of the dream… Our… well, you get my drift.
It was two years ago this month that we bought this crusty shack on a spit of sand little bit of tropical heaven.
We put in the pool the winter after we bought it knowing that the miscreants can sleep just about anywhere, but a pool would really make this a place they loved to be. The house could wait.
And it has waited. This is our second visit.

It has two rooms:  a large bedroom, where we all crash- three of us in a queen bed, one on a sofa and the other (daring Zip, middle child) likes the hammock- and a kitchen, where we eat, do school work and just hang out.
It works for a few weeks at a time and then, well… I can see how overcrowded rodents begin killing and eating their young….
We are discussing more seriously now what changes, expansion, renovation we need and want to make to the shack to make it a place that 1. We can stay in for extended periods of time, living, schooling, working comfortably; and 2. Family and friends can come and enjoy for vacations of their own. There’s also the possibility we might want to make it a rental when we or family and friends are not in it. Currently, in its present condition, none of these things are really possible.  We have begun making contact with the people who can help us make this happen.  The men who make magic with concrete!!
But for now, we enjoy… we plan… and I threaten the children with their imminent and dramatic demise every time they leave food ANYWHERE for the immediate and aggravating accumulation of bloody ants!!

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites

What do you get when you combine a leftover club sandwich and two tortillas filled with queso fundito, 8 hours forgotten in a steam bath of a car, and three days? Husband with a nasty, NASTY case of the runs!!!

Now, I know many of you out there are echoing my own sentiments when you exclaim “No shit, Sherlock!” But in his defense, 1) he is a man; 2) he was hungry; and 3) ohmigod…! I honestly can’t think of a number 3, because for crying out loud, who actually eats food that was forgotten in the tropical heat of the car- here in the tropics!- for many, many hours only to then have let it sit, albeit in the cool of the fridge, for yet, another three days?!?! Who eats that?!?! Who?!?! So… there really is no defense.

Oh, yes. It was bound to happen. This is a guy, who for our past two years spent in this part of the world thought it was “no problem” to drink from the tap… anywhere. Only to end up with his crazy American ass perched on the ceramic throne for the remainder of our trip, truly recovering only once returned home.

And while this time around he’s capitulated, drinking only from the big ol’ jug sitting in the middle of our kitchen, it seems his faith in the iron of his stomach has come between us and a really enjoyable holiday once again.

Anyhow… this will be the backdrop as we head to Merida today for the weekend. We’ll get a room in a cool, old hotel down in Centro and sightsee, eat and shop down in the thick of things. For someone who hates crowds, I do love the activity of Merida on the weekends. There’s always something going on, events, festivals, just leisurely milling in the old Centro. Oh, and a big band on Sunday afternoons, where one of the surrounding streets of the square is closed for couples dancing. Husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends of all ages, dancing to the oldies. These are real dances, ballroom style and the steps, by now, are instinct. It’s as though they’ve been dancing them forever. With each other. It’s really wonderful to watch.

We’ll dance along with them, too. We just don’t know any of the steps….

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites

threesome

Originally uploaded by tlcphotos

I’m just testing my flickr posting…. last week on our Caribbean. Oh, yes, it’s ours alright!!!

I loves my little tow-heads by the sea.

This was our annual week in Cancun.  Our place(yes, Auntie M., pics of ‘hacienda’ to follow shortly) is a few hours away on the Gulf coast.  Culture, ruins, Merida, the sea… oh yes and Costco and Walmart to boot… and did I mention there’s a Starbucks closer to our home here than back in Canada?  WTF?!?!

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites

Husband is treated differently here speaking Spanish. No matter where he travels, or has traveled, throughout Latin America, his being a Gringo that speaks Spanish like a local opens a lot of doors.

I speak little… OK. Almost NO Spanish. It is a fact upon which I can beat myself up for days. And I do, when I’m down here. Yes, I know… how ‘bout rather than beat yourself up for days, you put that energy to better use and say… like… learn some bloody Spanish.

Right. And you know what? After all these years with Husband and traveling throughout Central America and now owning a little piece of Mexico, where few of our local neighbours speak English, I may probably know more than I give myself credit for. And thankfully, I have learned better than just to keep speaking English… only louder.

As with many Gringos with limited Spanish, the biggest hindrance is that I have zip for confidence in using it. And using it is the key… regardless the quality. That is what we both try to impart to the miscreants- and believe me, they get it better than yours truly. Practice. Practice. Practice. Most people will appreciate your effort and do their best to help you out.

The kids, thankfully, regardless how little they know, are pretty eager to put what they do have to use. I am too, certainly. Eager. Yes. So very eager. But so very chicken-shit! Lack of confidence, inhibitions and being afraid to look dopey always take precedence. Therefore, I say nothing… looking helplessly to my husband like some mindless, voiceless, appendage.

And believe me, I HATE feeling like a mindless, voiceless, appendage!! Aaaaaaaaarggghhhhhhhhhhh!

Will speak Spanish. Will speak Spanish. Will speak Spanish.

Tienelo?!! Gracias, Amigos!

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites

I love this place. Sure it’s a shack…. but it’s a shack one and a half blocks from the beach!

A clean, tidy concrete box with two rooms and a small, only but barely functional bathroom. One room is where we sleep. Eldest miscreant on the sofa. Middle miscreant in a hammock. And the smallest miscreant with us- nothing new here, as this is where she sleeps all the time. The other room inhabits a concrete slab attached to the wall containing the sink- cold water only- and some space for food prep, a microwave and a coffee maker. This room is also the dining room and living area, though there would never be room for a comfy chair, let alone a sofa. It’s bare bones, no question. It’s like camping except with some furniture… a toilet that flushes and some electricity. OK… so the lights dim when we use the microwave… However, as with camping, we have NO T.V. While the kids have no clue, this place, no matter what we do to it; how big, how fancy and first world it may become; regardless how much more time we spend here- more and more each year; it will likely NEVER HAVE T.V.

When we bought the place, we had enough money for the shack… and we had just enough to begin the construction to make it a real house OR make a tidy, little oasis out of the sand, palms and sticky burrs that was the backyard. We chose the yard because the fact of the matter is, these miscreants don’t care where they sleep, but in this heat and with NO T.V., the little buggers needed a pool. So, behind our little two room concrete box of a shack we harbour a sweet little sanctuary that you cannot see from our sandy street. Oh… sanctuary also contains a brand new second loo. Lifesaver….

We are currently struggling trying to stay connected.  Wouldn’t you know it but our Gringo’s shut down since last year… but we did.  Not. Panic.  At least not too badly.  Thanks to a chance meeting with an American ex-pat on the beach, we found a hotel close by that not only offers Internet at $5/day but it’s friggin’ HIGH SPEED WIRELESS!!! OMG!!!  So, we’ll spell one another to support our respective Internet dependencies….

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites

It’s 6 weeks, 5 extra bloody pounds(if I’m lucky) and we’ve finally arrived.  Our final destination, via one and a half weeks at home and a week on the West Coast.  Now we can truly relax… OK, as much as you can totally relax while husband- and me, to a lesser degree- are still working.   This is the cost in the WAH cost-benefit ratio:  work can go everywhere… and that includes vacation- real or otherwise.  By real I mean, here… in Mexico.  By otherwise, I mean the many weeks previous that included primarily visiting family.  Don’t get me wrong… visiting’s great, but vacation?  Really, no.

So, here we are.  Mexico.  Raining.  But I.  Do.  Not.  Care.  I love it here.  It’s become a second home- literally and figuratively, and I can only smile as I look out upon the misty, green Caribbean.  Despite being relegated to dial-up… and it’ll only get worse after we leave to our shack on the weekend.  Once we leave these fancy digs off to our own little corner of the Yucatan, we’ll be left to search out Internet, news, contact with other human beings at Gringo’s, a little restaurant-bar on the beach, the only wireless connection in town.  Unless we wanted to pay our nearby local Canadian/realtor/scheister $750 big ones to set us up with highspeed for the three weeks we’ll be there… someday it might be worth it, cuz we’ll be here for months.   Months, I say! But this time, no dice.  Gringo’s, here we come…. prep the deep-fryer, the family’s coming to work!

But for now, I will enjoy my dial-up with a view.  From my CALIFORNIA KING!!  Ahhhhhhh…. yes.

Oh.  Husband had to suck it up at the airport.  His initial dreams of trekking family and related baggage from airport to local public transportation to avoid being reamed the exorbitant cost for taxi from airport… dashed!!  No shit, Sherlock!  One, the only public transportation takes you downtown, in the opposite direction of hotels, ours specifically-  if one were interested in doing so, say they were travelling alone, with no kids and minimal bags, you would then make connection from downtown to bus heading to hotel zone… a total of about one and a half hours out of your way- two, there is a monopoly on transportation services from airport.  We are, after all, a completely captive market.  We all just want to get where we’re going with as little hassle and time as possible.  Again, no shit, Sherlock!  Husband, duly contrite, bent over and took it like a man.

We made it to the hotel, three tired kids, three over-packed bags and ourselves. Safe, sound and stressfree… in a mere 15 minutes!  $58 bucks well spent….

Bookmark Me!

Hide Sites