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...?
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