lets see...

You'll have to bear with me today. I've been up since 5 am (it's 8:30) so i'm a little scattered. I've been waking up periodically obsessing about some aspect of my daughters' wedding. Strangely enough, about the same time I started experiencing this, I developed a rash on the ring finger of my left hand. I actually had to remove my wedding band. It has now spread to the finger next to it and some nights I wake myself up digging crazily at my own flesh. Enough on that topic....
Before I go any further, let me update you on a couple of things. First, the trash. As you recall, ( at least my regular followers..) the president, Alvaro, promised garbage barrels for Semana santa. I'm happy to report that he followed through on that. And it's a good thing because that 2 weeks, we were FLOODED with people. I was in Portland for the first week (luckily) but on the second, I was having tea one morning and staring out the window at my lovely view. Before my tea was half empty...(or, half full..) I had counted 8 bus loads of people. thats busloads of people coming IN to town...and that was in 10 min or so. That gives you some idea of the volume of people that come in. Think spring break. Thats what semana santa is. So, the barrels were delivered then taken away. Too bad because there is still the problem of local trash. ( speaking of local trash- i see Sam Adams is trying to push light rail down the throats of lake oswego-ites who don't want it...and how much will that cost?) There is nothing new happening at the dump either. Same old swarm of vultures, fish carcasses and plastics strewn around and flying in the ever present ocean breezes. One thing at a time I guess. Alvaro tried to blame the garbage situation on the "culture" of the local people saying they needed to be educated about littering ( he lives 10 miles away..) politician talk for "I'm probably not really going to do much of anything.."
I will say though, judging by my neighbors ( it's the first time we've ever seen anyone there), i'd have to say he's right. They just opened the back door and let it fly. well, in all fairness , it WAS in a vague pile and they burned it before they left. Well, most of it...what hadn't blown out into the yard...
Second update...i think I mentioned the circus being in Cabsahcab? It has now arrived in Dzidzantun. We went in to get some groceries and saw a yak tied up at the corner of the vacant lot ( where rodeos, bullfights, lariet competitions and apparently circuses are held). There are several garbage barrells there....
Before i forget, I want to share with you a pondering of mine. As the guys were slugging around buckets of cement the other day and doing finish work on the pool in the blazing sun, I was thinking about ...how shall I put it nicely....misinformed people who throw around phrases like "lazy mexicans". Now, since i only live in a small (but safe )corner of mexico i can't speak about an entire population. What i CAN tell you is they are extremely hardworking when they work. They sweat so much and do such backbreaking work, i don't know what keeps them from dropping . They seldom eat much during the day and seldom have tools that could make the job easier. They are willing to dive for octopus or walk through the mud flats for hours digging up little shelled creatures then spend hours shucking for a thimbleful of meat. After a day of that, they may make the equivilant of $7.00. The difference that i see, is they work for what they need not for the sake of working. they may work a few days or weeks then take a break. I think I've touched on this before. i'm not saying they don't have ambition, they are easily satisfied. I'm curious about how many people have ulcers.... Sorry, this is becoming one of those lack of sleep tangents.....
On to flamingos- they are coming back. Now, we haven't had rain here in months so the manglar- the shallows where the birds feed- are bone dry. I hear the flamingos flying over every morning, honking as they go like Canadian geese. When the rains come back, the swamp will fill and they'll land. May 1st is the official start of the hurricane season so the rains can't be too far behind. we were discussing hurricanes with the guys the other day. Isadore was the last one that hit here about 8 years ago. It flooded everything all the way into Dzidzantun. The houses, all the houses actually, withstood the winds but 5 ft of sea ( with shells, crabs, fish, seaweed, sand) washed through all of the Santa Clara dwellings. What kind of a clean up will that be?! Good thing we got our hurricane insurance. It cost us about $173.00. You have to get it by May 1st or you can't get it.
Lastly, a number of folks we've gotten to know have left or are leaving. They will return in Sept. or Oct. They find it too hot here in the summer. We can feel left behind or more like we are holding down the fort. We stick to our routine of coming in on Thur., doing city things like going to the library, shopping, going to Home Depot, out for pizza. on fri. we go back to our peaceful home at the beach with the birds in the yard and a little pool out back. Thanks to home depot, that yard will include a fabulously fragrant magnolia. Should Mr. Iguana decide it's his new favorite, he may find himself on a one way trip to the realm of fish carcasses and burning plastics.....