Funky Monkey Market

         

A  local cafe Taco Maya, in the fishing village of Chelem which we are only 5 minutes from, held their annual Octoberfest Funky Monkey Market. 

The cafe operates Thurs. Fri and Sat. from 10:00 - 2:00 by  Englishman Paul and his partner, Carol from Quebec. They serve regular and mexican breakfasts and the best coffee... so if very popular with the expats.         Def'n of expat is someone who is living in a country not of their citizenship...or who hates snow!


Every year they hold this Market, serving Mexican food and German beer! 
 The fish you see above are made from the part of the coconut tree called the inflorescence from which comes the branches the coconuts grow on... .with shells glued on for the gills and mouths..  and painted..


This hombre makes 

Bamboo screens, garage doors, deck furniture.  He will make some bamboo screens for us  to close in some openings in our wall facing the beach access so the air can move through but we have more privacy.  

Local artisans..some Mexican; some not.. 

The local plant guy.... expert in Bromeliads and landscaping ... He will be taking out some of our coconut trees in another few weeks..

 Green gourds are very heavy compared to when they are dried and painted.













Which gourd did we buy? 

Our next experience is the Day of the Dead (" Día de los Muertos) or as our Mayan community calls it, Hanal Pixán.  Originating with the Aztecs it has been celebrated for 3,000 years.


It is  a holy day celebrated on November 1, when the spirits that traverse on the earth are welcomed and remembered fondly. Family members and friends  pray for and speak of all the funny and trivial things. 


Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds  and the favorite foods such as Pan de Muerto ( see below) and Mukbil chicken or Pib  and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.


It is believed that the souls of the dead will visit the altar and consume the offerings. Of course, the food is not really eaten, but its soul or essence is consumed by the spirits. The same food is then consumed by all the family members. 

When the spirits come down and are not happy with the offerings made to them, they return unhappily, without blessing the family. Therefore, many people take the rituals followed in this festival very seriously. A lot of time and money is spent on the decoration and the offerings made, to please the souls of the dead.


más por venir más tarde ( more to come later)

Coconut Harvest

``Monkey Man``` arrives with two others to harvest our coconuts. They drive up the beach road, honking their horn to announce their arrival at the beach.. We go out and wave them in... 

The deal is they get to keep the ``cocos`` which they sell and in return they limpia (clean) the tops of the arbols (trees,) take down dead fronds and rake the ground.

 

Using hands and soles of his feet, he scampers up the tree taking a rope along with his machete... 




















He chooses a bunch, makes the cut with machete swinging, ties them off and lowers the very heavy bunch down to the ground. 

 There are 4 kinds of coconuts at the beach..
verte (green), amarillo (yellow), naranja (orange) and
rojo (red )


 

I was treated to a taste of the coco milk.. the papa used his machete to cut off the top; add a straw and mmmm good..   There are many road side stands where the coco milk is sold as is the pulp..


They will be back every 3 months to harvest again... 


Hasta luego ( See you later) is what we said when they left


Watch for our next blog on the upcoming Funky Market......and some photos of our beach dog... Yes, he has found us and he is a very ..bueno perro...(good dog.)  


Buenas noches
Dorothy and Gord 

Settling Down in Mexico

Hello everyone... thought I would get to this current post sooner but we have been very busy cleaning, repairing, and sorting out the house after 10 years of renters; and the  beach beckons all too often.  And yes, there is laundry to do too!.. My washing machine is tucked into a sheltered corner outside the back door;  and there is sunny windy spot to hang the clothes. A little CLORO and the hot sun results in whiter than white!!! The breeze and humidity take care of the wrinkles.  Any bedding we are not going to use is being taken by a wonderful woman in Progreso  for the local senior`s home there.  

Settling in means buying all that stuff in the pantry you take for granted. We've made our trip to Cosco and Home Depot in Merida for the staples.  Otherwise it is the local market for the fruit and vegetables. The Bodega ( very small Walmart) in Progreso is perfect for the occasional trip to the store and only a 15 minute drive.  We`ve just learned today that there is a `pollo` 
(pronounced poyo) chicken store in Progreso that we just have to try. 

A well deserved cervasa on the terrace. 

Gord has been fixing, fixing, ( thank goodness he is so handy) getting the plumbing, electrical and pool in order, setting up the satellite TV ( Shaw direct ) with a little help from 2 neighbours.  SKY TV serves the local population, is mainly in Spanish with some English stations, but does not cover CFL or NFL so of course we need those stations as well as one for movies when the winter Nortes keep us inside.

I am going to learn how to fish from the shore like this man.... many do it  on  the beach . 

I just about have everything unpacked and every room in the house spotless. We hired a local fellow, Rene,  to clean up the yard...lots of coconuts and palms had fallen in the weeks since our last renters left. El patio se ve maravilloso. ( the yard looks wonderful ) 

                   We are waiting for the coco guys to come to help themselves to the coconuts. 


Last night the panaderia (bakery) van drove up and down the sandy beach road selling baked goods..  They honk a funny horn as they drive along. You meet them at the gate (yes, that gate in the photo above). They open the back door of the van and there is an array of choice.... MMMM  hot dog buns, cookies, donuts to die for...and for such a few pesos...  Of course it would be rude to say no gracias...so one must buy!.

I close this post with two photos taken today.. We have mucho mucho to be agradecido (thankful) for on this eve before Thanksgiving.  Good friends near and far plus the chance to live and learn here.  

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

s.

A Pineapple of a Day

Hola:  Got up early this am; walked the boardwalk by the hotel in Veracruz, took some photos and then hit the road for Villahermosa, the capital city of Tabasco MX..   

                                     The Veracruz version of the Winnipeg Polar Bears 

We traveled  through the jungle and the largest pineapple producing area in Mexico.

. 

 MMMMM  freshly made cold jugos de pina (pineapple juice) for only 20 pesos.... Just what we needed for the rest of our trip. The locals set up their stands under each overpass on the autopista ( Toll highway)...

A quiet day today.. no banditos or policia ...just very friendly hotel staff, vendors and military soldiers at the various check-stops curious about where we were from and where we were going.  Most did not speak English but when we said Canada they smiled, repeated and waved us on. 


I know we will be back in the area as tourists when we speak more Spanish...travelling in a car, when we have the time to stop more often especially at the small towns and cities along the way.  There is so much to see and learn about. 


Tomorrow we head for home...  10 hours and we will be in Chuburna at the beach house. ... More blogging from there .


Buenos noches .... ( Good night)
Dorothy and Gord

Mexico Day 2

Hello everyone... We had a wonderful day becoming re-aquainted with all the reasons we want to move here.                                                                                                                                        
         
We are at the Holiday Inn in Veracruz tonight after travelling from Altamira/Tampico.   The best part of the drive was the many small pueblos we passed through, seeing familiar neighbourhood activity.   The drive took us through lush, green jungle growth, mango, orange, sugar cane, lime and banana orchards. 
         
Midway through today's trip in Tuxpam, A Good Samaritan came to our car when a police officer pulled us over after we made a U-turn.  He spoke enough English to ask us what was happening in case the officer was trying to get money from us.  The officer listened to what the fellow was telling us, then gave us a warning and left.  It was incredible that this stranger saw what was happening, found a parking spot on a busy street, and came over to ensure we were going to be treated well.   Certainly made up for yesterday. 
While the photos below don't do justice to the beauty of the scenery we hope they give you an idea of our day .

    

     

      

                   

                         Banana orchard...
                       the bunches of bananas are enclosed in net bags to protect from birds while the                 
  Mountainous...hazy with humidity 

Our lunch spot in Costa Esmeralda.
We could see the Gulf of Mexico  from where we sat ... the fish was fresh and wonderful

One of the venders who appear at our car windows to visit, sell their wares while we are stopped at red lights or slowly travelling over the many topes in the pueblos... "speed bumps with attitude"
I didn't get a photo of the vender who sold us  frozen maracya ( marakooya) made from the local passion fruit.  MMM perfect on a hot 35 degree day as we took a break from the drive. 
Tomorrow we spend some time in Veracruz as we have a short 5 hr drive to Villahermosa.   Then the long day to Chuburna on Thursday!... 


From a beautiful hotel room overlooking the Gulf of Mexico ......Good Night!.... 

Mexico - Day 1

UP EARLY at 6:00 a.m.
Red Light at Customs.... this does not mean STOP but rather LET'S GO THRU THE KAYTOR's TRUCK!!!!!...  Yes, everything in the back of the truck, neatly packed just so,  was taken out, moved around, and opened...  45 minutes later, everything stuffed back into the truck by 3 friendly border crossing agents, a payment of $178.00 tax and we were on our way. 


Next Stop the OXXO store to purchase a phone to have in case of emergency.. With a little help from a Mexican customer who spoke English and  friendly helpful clerks we soon had a new phone complete with instructions about activating it one hour from the time of purchase... Of course the recorded instructions were in Spanish so it wasn`t until we reached the hotel at the end of the day that we got it activated with the assistance of a bright, young hotel clerk who spoke English.  As the young will do, she quickly activated the phone and we shared stories about Canada as she has been to and loves Victoria. 


Highway Robbery... We had been told it might happen and it did!.. Gord tells me we will be laughing about it in a week...but  this morning it was not funny and it could have been worse.   We cleared a second checkpoint several miles from the US-Mexican border.  Within a few miles a black car appeared from nowhere with police lights on top signalling us to pull over.  As the car drew closer we realized it was not the police.  We pulled over as they drew up beside us.  At first we feigned not being able to understand what they wanted.   I asked them in Spanish to give us the ticket. Their English improved as they clearly said they wanted $100.00 (about 1,000 mexican pesos)  They settled for $80.00 as we handed over a bit at a time stalling as we knew they would not be able to stop us for long as other traffic would be coming along. 
Needless to say, it put us on our guard the rest of the trip to Altamira where we again found helpful, kind Mexicans.  The rest of the trip is expected to be safer as we are a far distance from the border and travelling on Toll roads.   This is definitely one adventure we do not want to repeat. 


What a day of Contradictions!.. we have seen the best and the worst. 


The Scenery..... The rest of the drive was through beautiful green rolling hills, with grazing cattle, fields of sorghum and lots of green John Deer tractors. 

Mexican grain bin.

 

 We completed this adventurous day at a wonderful Holiday Inn... planning to stay at another on the ocean tomorrow night...
Will blog from there!

Hasta Luego.....Dorothy and Gord 

KAYTORS ARE HOT, HOT, HOT!!

HOT AND DRY...  33 degrees at THE ALAMO

THE ALAMO...VERY INFORMATIVE...  NEW RESPECT FOR  THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN  THE MEXICANS AND THOSE WHO  EVENTUALLY TOOK THEIR LAND 

140 YEAR OLD TREE AT THE ALAMO ..ORIGINAL STONE WALLS 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS...  we toured the USS Lexington and walked the beach... hot and beautiful! 

Over 3 football fields long; crossed the equator 33 times

Captain Gord on the Bridge  while Dorothy is peeling potatoes in the Galley

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS...   37 degrees and we are grateful for air conditioning..  

Monday we cross the border into Mexico, following the Gulf Coast Highway;                                                                           Driving to Tampico/Altamira (  Holiday Inn) , then to Veracruz,  Villahermosa and finally Merida/Chuburna..  Plan to be at our beach house sometime on Thursday, September 30th..  ( a month from the time we left Castlegar)

 

 We are both a little nervous about this part of the trip and glad to know we are taking you all along with us...  We will blog our experiences ( may they be few) as we cross Mexico (if we stay at places where there is internet)..  For sure you will hear from us once we have arrived.

D and G