Nuthin' new......

A couple of mornings ago, I was sipping my tea and enjoying the quiet when i glanced out my front window and caught a glimpse of color. I went to the door and saw this woman standing across the street by the lagoon (thats a mound of freshly harvested salt to her left) looking at the flamingos. In the small villages, this is what the older women ( Ok...so some of them are my age...) traditionally wear. usually there is a shawl/scarf sort of thing that goes along with it. i love the colors... Well, the summer vacation season is winding down. The hordes are beginning to disembark from our peaceful little village. Its been nice to have a milk guy in town...he drives a motorcyycle that pulls a little trailer behind...his horn moos..he has cheese, milk and eggs. The "milk" you commonly find elsewhere comes in a small rectangular carton and sits on a shelf-not refrigerated. It leaves a feeling in your mouth like you've been guzzling vegetable oil...oh! thats because evidently it has quite a bit in it....the "moo" guy has actual milk. There is also a guy who drives around selling periodicals..they are all in spanish of course, but its good practice. One day as a gift he had an insert from a New York Times he gave me...also, one of the tiendas in town has been selling fresh tortillas. Normally, none of these things exist in Santa Clara but since all the city people ( this includes the Dzidzantun folks...city! hahaha...if you've been there, you'll know why im laughing...)anyway, this has already stopped. the temporary little snack shacks have folded up and by the end of the week there will be nothing left but the trash. I intend on being a one woman litter patrol. Each day i'll target a small area and clean up.....Maybe by the time the next vacation rolls around i'll have it done!
I know i've sent you sunset pictures before but...what can i say. When i one day ride off into one, i want a vast selection to choose from......

Before we came down, i had long since given up eating beef and actually, kind of struggled with all meat products. Here, i am even more motivated. Here is a photo of a local meat vendor. What exactly is that hanging from the hook you may wonder/ i can't tell you...i avert my eyes, frankly, as we drive by these. how do people not get sick from this? Remeber that it is VERY HOT HERE too...do you see a screen of some sort to keep flies away? No, you don't, because there isn't one....I'm not saying it's wrong or bad. it just is. It's how it's been done for who knows how long and it works for them. I, however, will not be partaking....Speaking of flies,

I'll leave you with one last bit of weird info....I can't remember where i was, but a few years back i was sitting in some country and saw small plastic bags of water hanging from various locations. i asked someone what they were for. " they keep the flies away"....? Really, are the flies frightened by the site of plastic ? The water makes them afraid they will drown if they come to close? maybe they are afraid the bag will fall on them and crush them (this will seem like they are drowning due to the water but actually they are smothered..) Made no sense to me. Recently we were on a little side trip and i passed a little store that seemed to have nothing but a singular bunch of plantains for sale. mysteriously, there was a clear bottle filled with water suspended from the ceiling by a string. I took a photo of this shop and showed it to someone pointing out the bottle of water. "I dont know what that was for". " Probably to keep the flies away" was their response.?..This conversation took place in spanish so i couldnt get any clarification on why a bottle of water would scare a fly. you know how they have ..what is it....Im trying to think back on my reference material on flies that i obtained by watching the movie "The Fly" ( both the Vincent Price and Jeff goldblum versions)...isnt there something about them having multiple eyes or eye lenses? maybe the refraction in the water causes them to see sooo many versions of their reflection they are totally freaked out by it. Thinking they are having some sort of acid flashback they buzz away and find somewhere to curl up in a fetal position (what does a fly fetal position look like?) until it passes...i don't know but i'll tell you what, ill try just about anything so i filled up a couple of ziplock bags with water and hung them on the back porch where those little rascals like to hang out because its cool. Guess what? Virtually no flies! What? what kind of crazy phenom is this? i need to google 'flies and plastic bags" to see if this can be explained...Yes, thats right, i have a lot of free time on my hands........So the next time someone tells you so and so couldnt scare a fly, you can respond " well, he could if he dressed up like a plastic bag full of water!" so what if they think you've lost it. it'll make you more mysterious.....

various subjects...

Hello, hello! well, i gave you so many pictures last week, that I'm only giving you one this week. Actually, its one i hijacked off Ron's camera......

so, lets see, I actually made notes of what i wanted to talk to you about but...left the list in the room. sorry, I'm too lazy to go get it. lucky is lounging about on the bed soaking in the airconditioning. i told him this morning " Lucky" I said " you really hit the big time with us didn't you?" " village dog makes good. Stayin in hotels, a collection of chew toys, get to go for rides and you have food every day." He's the slumdog millionaire of Mexican dump dogs.....

One thing I do remember i wanted to tell you is that last week we met a lovely young woman named jazmine and her father at the hotel. he made her come introduce herself to us so that she could practice her English. She is a Latina version of emily- petite, cute, sweet. She's 19 and doesn't know a soul who speaks english. her father is also a very nice man and by the time we were all done with introductions and conversations they were inviting us to come visit them and stay in their home in Ciudad del Carmen.Its about a 4 hr drive from here and i do believe we will be taking them up on it. John and i are going to launch into taking bus trips. Its great, you sit back, read a book , nap and you dont have to worry. There are still occasional checkpoints to pass through but whatever. She and i have been emailing each other: she writes to me in English (which i must say, is MUCH better then my spanish!) and i write back in spanish. Writing it is even more difficult then speaking it but i think this will be a beneficial practice for both of us. She corrects my errors and vice versa...
Topic #2- last night i decided i was hungry for some bar-b-que. We brought a small grill down years ago..its quite rusted out now but i am resourceful. its one of those tiny, short, 3 legged kind ( this one happens to be missing one of its legs so i propped it against the base of a tree). The charcoal here is like an actual piece of coal like from a bon fire. it still looks like wood but burnt. you see people riding along the road on bicycles through the countryside with bundles of it strapped onto the back of the bike. they use the wood to cook with ( much cheaper then using up the propane) and they also make "carbon" which you can buy from them. So I had my carbon but no fluid..as i said, i am resourceful. I picked up some old coconut husks left laying around by my husband when he cut a couple open. sometimes his lack of clean up is a good thing....I layed them in the bottom- did i mention there is a saucer size hole in the center of the bottom? So, i layed them off to the side. this wasnt too difficult as it was sitting caddywhampus (sp?) due to the fact its leg is missing and its leaning against a tree...i lit them and put the charcoal on. About 20 min later the chicken was cooking. Along with some rice and canned peaches( all the fresh fruit around and all I had was canned peaches...tomorrow is shopping day- I was reaching...) and voila! dinner...i quite often feel like a contestant on survivor. in fact, i was just telling john today ' id be GREAT on survivor....except Id probably get kicked off for being bitchy and controlling. you know those lazy people who are on there who just lay around or the prissy ones who don't want to touch anything? Yeah, id have a hard time with those...and the next thing you know? 'Jill, you have been voted off. the tribe has spoken...'
While I was out there getting the grill ready (and i use the term loosely)...i was surrounded by butterflies. they could be moths but they are always out in the day so i dont know, anyway, their wings look like water. Like puddles of rainwater, and they were busily eating pears. Not pears like at home, but similar. we have a tree in the backyard and when one gets overripe, the butterflies eat them. i was thinking how special is a food that is eaten by butterflies? Does it perhaps have some magical qualities? Should i be fermenting it and....no...definately not. i can just see John and i running around the back yard naked chasing fireflies shouting " we're communing with fairies!"and telling people how we almost captured tinkerbell (dont worry lynda...)
One last bit of info some of you may find useful....when i was up in June, I bought toenail clippers for Lucky. Now, if you clip too much, it hurts (think cutting your nail past the quick...) and it bleeds. i was soooo afraid of hurting him. hw was very trusting to so I was extra careful in shortening his scabbard like nails. but alas..somehow there was a small nip. nothing major and no blood but enough that now when i bring out the clippers he dashes away and will have no part of it. Ahhh but remember what i am? yes, r-e-s-o-u-r-c-e-f-u-l. So i devised a plan to hypnotize him! I had to enlist john because its at least a three handed project and, much like the grill, i only have two...wait, that was legs...anyway, you get the picture..So, johns job was to massage luckys back and neck. now who hasnt had a massage? You know how its like the Vulcan grip- you are immobilized with pleasure. his little doggy brain said "run!" but it was over rided by the pleasure center that said " no, dude, its all copacetic. Stay, relax, enjoy..."And so he did. i carefully, VERY carefully clipped each nail as delicately as if they belonged to ms tink herself and before you know it, not only was the task complete, but Lucky now has a very positive connection with the clippers. he'll probably run to me next time he sees me pull them out!
well, there you have it. Another week in paradise. Met new people, learned new tricks and isnt that what life is supposed to be about? How many can say they spent their week cooking over coconut husks, being invited to stay with some lovely new people, being surrounded by butterflies and massaging dogs?! And all that was in between painting, reading, playing gin, doing yardwork and floating around the pool ( on the BEST air mattresses EVER i might add that Ron brought down).
Next week who knows what tricks and tips i may have come up with...acupuncture with cactus needles...?

serenity now!

I did not inhale!!!

So I have to tell you going into this, that where i began writing is actually at the bottom. I am learning that I have to do this backwards........

So Johns not a real active guy, but he can sit in a leather chair and enjoy a good cigar. You can buy Cuban cigars here...

Heres the house.... as you can see, its still rough. you can make out the outline of the cinder blocks...paint will come next, more art, etc, but you get the general idea. And if this looks too rustic for you? It probably is....We live a really simple, basic existance here. Not a lot of luxurious extras. well, it depends on what you think of as a luxury item...we DO have toilet paper! just remember to put it in the waste basket, not the toilet...(its a Mexico thing...)

Lucky needs to make some last minute inspections.... Can you see the tabletop? I covered it with these little "fortuna" cards. They are sort of like bingo. I was in a gift shop the other day and theyve stolen my idea! they are puting them on everything now...im so ahead of the times...

Theres a large industrial ceiling fan above the bed ( almost powerfull enough to blast small geckoes off the wall)and you can just make out one of the corner lights. A friend in Merida has similar lights in her house but my guys bumped it up a notch by making them out of stone instead of cement. They are great. While providing ample lighting, you don't feel like you're being grilled by some hard boiled cop ( that seems to be a poplular lighting technique here...hmmmmmm...) Note the mosquito netting- thanks Maggi!

Ahhhh...the finished- or shall I say- semi finished project. At least complete enough for Ron to stay in. This requires getting used to sleeping in a humid box. I read a piece in a book recently that described it best- 'like being inside a freshly baked muffin.." (On a side note- the book was called "Born to Run" and was about a tribe of runners in northern Mexico...its actually about a lot more then that. A great book...I encourage folks to read it) Now, where was i....

The work begins.....

Lucky, of course, has to supervise and act as consultant......Note the MESS! It took quite a bit of work to make it look like a yard again....

herrrrrrreessss Ron! Yes, strolling about the front yard, soaking in the sun ( which turned into a terrible burn that blistered..had to buy some aloe. But Rons a tough guy...no complaints..)

OK, so I am being challenged by the blog gods....last week it took several attempts to get on and after typing and attaching, what i had written vanished. I was too tired to start over so...sorry, I know it has again been a while. This morning it has been a chore just to be able to get to the " new post" segment of the show. After trying every combination of possible passwords, it finally took one after I had tried it 3 times prior...at least im on, but I am a bit apprehensive about if your eyes will actually ever read this. I will proceed "as if".....

I want to also gripe about how I can't place the photos..I upload them and they just appear at the top of the blog...so they wont really follow the text....enough griping now. We'll work with what we've got right? The cigarette packs- hows about those pics huh? dead rats, spouses in hospital beds, parents with one leg and the ever popular blackened fetus surrounded by cigarette butts ( my personal favorite). Of course we all know scare tactics are productive right? Thats why nobody drinks too much, commits crimes, etc., etc.Right? And remember what we started this with? Smoking pictures! ( but let me also remind you, i did NOT inhale so its OK right?...) Oh! remember the high school anti drug propaganda films where the unsuspecting girl took LSD and stuck her hand in the flame because she thought it was a flower? John actually went to some music festival with a girl who did just that!! Put a real damper on the whole trip when he had to get her to the medical tent....

So its getting pretty hot. Time to wrap this up...when i realise that im sitting in a puddle and my dress is outlining every curve because its stuck to me, its a sign Im hot ( still not always real 'in touch" with myself)....I am learning to think backward when posting now (so much for being a forward thinker..)so hopefully it will flow a bit smoother from now on. Wrapping it up by saying we have had a great time with Ron here. Lots of fun and adventure. I will tell you more about that next week if the blog gods allow. Thanks for traveling along with me on this journey and remember, we're leavin' a light on down here in the Yucatan......

OK- onto other things...