Livin' la Vida Floja

Banking with Bureaucrats

2012-01-22T13:39:00.007-06:00

I was so upset Friday that I am just now able to write about it! The bank closed my account. With a lot of ceremony.
I was called the evening before by Elvia, the desk person at Banamex, who opened the account, saying I did not have valid migratory documents.
Yes, I told her, I am in tramit. That is the Mexican way of saying your documents have been accepted for a visa renewal, but it is still in the system. It is acceptable here to be in tramit.
I have a taxpayer number and a CURP, the permanent ID like a social security number. I can buy a cell phone without being suspected of being a drug dealer.
I collect taxes for the government on my rentals and pay the government for Pete's sake! The bank account would make this much easier for the accountant.
So my lawyer emailed me the link the the history of the current renewal. I printed it all for the bank. Last year's visa was issued in March although the previous one expired in late October and a timely application was made. Same story this time. I showed them the copy of the expired visa. See?
Phone calls were made and no, no good. They took the dollars I had come with, deposited them to exchange then for pesos, and cashed me out.
The car insurance I bought is good until March 28, when the next debit payment cannot be made to the insurer, the bank.
It gives me plenty of time to shop around for insurance and another bank. But jeez, what a system! And by then, I'll have my visa and who cares.
On my way out, after "gifting." (the manager's expression every time he asked me to sign) them with my signature numerous times to close the account, the branch manager asked if he could see my passport. You didn't make a copy with my application? No. Oh, too bad. It's at my house. Bye!

Old Mexican Wives Tales

2012-01-16T09:24:00.003-06:00

My mother had a whole set of wives tales of what would make you sick. Sitting on the lawn is something guaranteed to make you sick, was one. Here in Mexico, I have learned to listen to the old wives tales, but didn't dig deeper. It might have helped if I had.
I have a cold from being caught in the rain two consecutive days. My logical mind says that's not so. The mind of the retired doctor staying here also says that's not so.
So, as this cold was festering, I took my house guests to Chuuk Kay Restaurante for happy hour yesterday with the Band Without a Name.
Marla, the place's internet consultant and occasional vocalist, was recovering from bronchitis. And so we started, with the band and audience, recounting how you get sick according to Mexican wives. You get colds from drinking water with ice in it, offered Tosso, Javier's dad.
If you get caught in the rain, you will get sick. Unless you take a shower afterward, said Javier Martinez. Makes sense to me since tropical clouds are warm and incubators of diseases from afar. We know that from hurricanes. Or more correctly, I do.
Hot tea with lime and honey will cure a cold. And years ago, Julie Fraga told me to add crushed garlic. I must not want to get well because as of yet, I have had no tea.
Men say you must add rum or tequila to the tea. Again, I must not want to be well! And you should not get your hair cut if you have a cold. It won't lay right if you do that. So we learn from grandmothers and old wives here in Mexico.
Now, I am going to go and take this like an American man. Which means I will sit and moan that the end that is near. It's curtains for me with this cold, which I refuse to call gripa, as the Mexicans do. No, I just have a fatal cold. Jose has walked Punta. Carmen may come and fuss around me. And the rest of you can just leave me alone. I'm dying, I tell you!

An inkeeper's life

2012-01-14T12:29:00.005-06:00

I am sitting here in wet clothes, waiting for my hot water heater to make the water hot enough to warm me up. I am a landlord and I turn my own hot water off when not using it.
Anyway, It all started in a downpour last night, when my house guest Marte and I toughed it out to go to happy hour at Villa la Bella. We had thought the weather broke, but alas, it didn't. Once there, we had hurricane-style fun, the locals amongst us telling the guests that it's like this in hurricane season.
When the weather did break, we took Anastasia home and Marte and I made a break for home. This morning looked iffy, but rather that go into town, I talked Marte into having a nice French breakfast at LoLo's, where I had coffee macaroons were reserved for later.
The breakfast was fantastic, with a natural yoghurt with fresh berries, nuts and dates, followed by an egg casserole with a French bread stick accompanied by juice and coffee to our liking.
LoLo broke a $100 bill for me so I could top off my cell phone at Chedraui, and off we went. While we were inside, the downpour began.
After much debate in which I took a break to go back inside to use the restroom, and nailed a sales associate for no answer on the issue of motorized shopping carts, I returned to find Julianne, ready to nail the same sales associate with the same question.
We lingered, debating whether to make a break or not because we were in the golf cart, not the trusty VW.
After a while, we did and it wasn't to bad until the BIG PUDDLE that literally flooded the engine. Rule of thumb is never take your foot off the ignition to matter how it sputters. That failed to work this time.
Suddenly, a group of people in ponchos appeared and pushed us into the beer drive-thru, Modelorama. They were French, so in gratitude, I started offering the macaroons. No no. But then a woman tried one and learned from me they were make by a French chef. LoLoLorena. The 10 macaroons disappeared just like that. The rain stopped and the French were off with their leader, a man from Cancun Sailing, who gave me his number for renting a pirate boat for next December. It's in my cell phone!
So, that is the life of an inn keeper. Marte bought a bottle of wine in Chedraui, my shower water is ready, and my next check in, Richard, landed 10 minutes early at 11:59. We'll be on our second glass of wine when he enters as the rain continues. That is the life of an inn keeper on Isla Mujeres. Not so bad!

Dealing on the wheels

2011-12-25T20:47:00.010-06:00

I thought I'd give the issue of my Christmas present to myself a rest over the holiday since it was on the back burner anyway. I couldn't complete the insurance purchase on Christmas Eve day, so it's just sitting there.
For a 10 a.m. appointment to sign the "Vocho" title over and collect 19,00o pesos, Andres aka Luis May, a postal letter carrier, showed up at 10:45. What's the hurry, eh? I had the VW Beetle for nearly a week. I took it for short rides around the block, where I learned it had a fuel thrust problem and called in the electro mechanical pooh ba. Jorge Leon took it for a ride and said, too, that there was a thrust problem and no one on the island with a computer to change the fuel injection chip and tune it properly. He also showed me a CD player/tuner he had that fits a VW Beetle, since this one had a hole where there once was such a thing.
He went to Cancun to a VW shop he trusts and returned without the car. The fuel thrust repeated after the chip was replaced and the computer guy was gone for the day when he returned. So, next day, he went. He came back with a car that purs and a note that there are other minor problems in the computer. And since the VW shop he deals with guarantees its work, he has extracted a promise for them to drop in a rebuilt computer free of charge that would correct those minor problems. Well worth the $40 I paid Leon!
So. Andres May shows up, still a little baffled that I was going to pay less than the 20,000 pesos he wanted. "It's a 150 peso chip," he started. So you knew? But really the chip is nothing without a shop computer to tune it and there isn't one on the island, I start.
OK, OK, he says.
Now, during those days I had the car, I'd been picking up information on May. Knowledge is power, right?
Carmen told me he lives a couple doors away from her and is always selling a VW. Miguel Moreno, when I told him I was getting a VW from May, asked, "The white one?"
So I asked May where he gets those VWs in such good shape. Surprised that I knew so much about him, he blurted out "near or in Merida."
This one came from his village in Campeche. Previous owners were all brothers who transferred it around the family until it went to the woman cousin who sold it to him. He drove it back and his wife drove it around the island.
"This is not some stolen car," he suddenly offered. Well, I see from the title! I was just wondering about all these similar names, I replied.
Anyway, could you give me your number in case one of the foreigners who've been asking want one?
He gave me home and cell and then offered his life story. His father has held the same job for 22 years and was recently released from the hospital after pneumonia that threw him into a coma for two weeks.
His father taught him the only way to succeed in life was to work. day in and day out. Here on the island, most people don't want to work daily. Easy tip money, he offered, has created the mindset. And big money that gringos are willing to pay for small things.
There are people, a lot of them he said, that charge gringos triple and beyond. It's not right, he said.
I know, it winds up costing everyone more in the end. "Exactamente!" he exclaimed. He's got 10 years with the postal service here. That will get him a pension and lifetime health care eventually. He also drives afternoon shift cab for my friend Jose Flores, who took me to his village with his wife Marta several times. He bought the car from Mario Cicero, the owner of Ciro's Golf Cart Rental, but pays him monthly for the license. His Sacalum is the next village over from where Andres is from. Small community, those Maya villages. It's also on the other side of Carmen's village.
Well, he was heartened I'd been to both places. So, who works for you now? he suddenly asked. "Jose Misvalazques, an isleno, and the mechanical consultant was Jorge Leon. My friend Carmen cleans to help support her father in Halacho." He nodded. "So, if you ever need a man to work around here, remember, I was raised to work!" Carmen's daughter at this point yells into the house looking for her mom. "No esta. Trabajando lunes!" Andres smiled.
He hold me now he learned the art of making hats in a cave where the ambient moisture is correct for keeping the reeds pliable until done. His wife has a breakfast shop near the juice joint I go to daily, which is where I spotted the car.
"She is available to clean after closing," he said. We're workers that way."
That said, we signed the title and no sooner was the ink dry than I went to Centro thinking I could immediately insure it at Banamex, the new kid in town, a Citicorp affiliate. "Not here if it's over 10 years old. Open an account, and you can do it on line," said Elvia, my personal banker. "Elvia like Elvis." she said. Elvia como Elvis the pelvico, I said. She snorted.
So, my investment account with a debit card required a ton of paper to be filed in the US for Off Shore investments and three perfectly matching signatures. Don't ask how my sets of paper I went through. I lost count. Insurance can't be bought with an American credit or debit card. So you have to do it and having a visa, a Mexican taxpayer ID and proof of residence (a utility bill in your name) is required. And to see you US Social Security Card and Passport.
And then it took 24 hours for the account to be activated and I still have to wait for a PIN numvber to be mailed.
And when I went to the bank site to buy the liability insurance 24 hourse later, it was so close to closing time Christmas Eve, that I'll just have to wait in line on line for my appoint Monday.But it will be done. Dr. Salas even warned me not to drive without insurance!
Now that I have the papers, I see the 1994 Beetle is Cherry Red. My fist car, a 1964 VW Beetle, was tomato red. A nice distinction. It is really a classy color!
And that's my story of dealing the wheels. Somehow, I think it will lead to other chapters in my life.
It has been said many times that doing business is very personal in Mexico. That the small talk is everything. I now totally agree! It's the deal maker or the deal breaker.

40 years and 40 pounds later

2011-12-22T00:49:00.005-06:00

This is the car I bought from my guidance counselor my junior year in high school And below is the car I am about to buy from the letter carrier on Isla Mujeres.
I believe there are no coincidences in life! And this VW Beetle, affectionately called a Vocho, is in much better shape. Having the ceiling re-draped is all that's necessary at a cost of $100. Sometime next month! And a better spare tire if I'm to go on the car ferry into Cancun and beyond.
Jorge brought it back from the shop in Cancun yesterday and it purs like a kitten. Santa Pirata and Punta immediately went for a ride.
If I get the plates transferred and buy insurance at the bank in time tomorrow, Santa will be making his rounds Christmas Eve in this red sleigh!

Isla's village ruin

2011-12-18T10:21:00.008-06:00

It's thanks to my iPhone, where I learned of El Meco and could sent my house guests, Bently, Deborah and Sydnee and my Russian friend Anastasia there on Thursday. It was only uncovered 10 years ago, so I didn't know anything about it as a tourist. I learned about it from Julie Fraga's Isla Apps via iPhone.. And Isla Mujeres's Office of Tourism doesn't seem to be promoting it. But there is a nice write up on Trip Adviser.
Anastasia took these pictures before her camera battery failed. It took the group about an hour to read the self-guiding signs and explore the site. There were three other visitors the time they were there.
Anastasia, who has visited the Old City in Jerusalem and not any of the other Mayan ruins yet, said she could feel the power of the people as she sat with Sydnee, contemplating the life of the Maya who used this as their port to Isla Mujeres, with it's salt mine now known as Salina Chica and Salina Grande on Isla Mujeres, the island. This is on the mainland part of our municipality. I'm going to be recommending that my guest this high season go! I know, it's hard to leave the island. But you'll be back in three hours and have had a taste of history!

All new designs!

2011-12-14T13:16:00.008-06:00

The Women's Beading Co-Op on Isla Mujeres has all new designs. They are striking! Bellaruth Naperstak made mention of this in her blog recently. That was posted on Karen Rosenberg's Facebook page recently.
Today, I took Deborah Klausner, who teaches social work at Georgia State University, to the co-op after dropping off her 12 year old daughter Sydnee to volunteer at Isla Animals.
I was struck by the designs!

In addition to being all new, the prices have moderated. I got a set of earrings with matching necklace and bracelet for 200 pesos, about $15US at today's exchange rate.
The co-op is sponsored by social workers from Cleveland who hold pre-holiday sales among their friends and co-workers and University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic. They do a lot more as well to help the women educate their children. There are currently 47 members but not all are grown women. On Saturdays, the girls in the co-op also come to the shop and bead along side the adults.
The co-op is across the street from the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in La Gloria on is marked on the Isla Mujeres Can-Do map made by Laura McFarlin, also known as the Map Chick. Buy a Map Chick Map by clicking here.

It's the season!

2011-12-13T07:39:00.003-06:00

Several friends who blog from paradise are getting nudges (along with me) from friends and family members about our blogs. Like we are lazy or something!
Look it. It is December and while Christmas is coming, that's the least of our worries. We have been dealing with the Virgin Holidays. Feast of the Immaculate Conception and yesterday the Virgin of Guadalupe Feast Day, which really was celebrated the day and night before. We are coming up on Posadas, sort of block parties to show there is room at the inn in Advent.
Now, we aren't all partying all the time. But a lot of Mexicans are! And they are our workers. So more falls on us and the reservation inquiries are something else! A lot of time to answer that email while checking and filling the calendars, etc.
Hey, landlords aren't the only ones with problems. The Quinata Roo Education Secretary did not declare yesterday at day off for schools, although it was a banking holiday. Absentee rates were 40-50 percent at Isla Mujeres schools, just days before Christmas break of nearly a month.
So forgive our tardiness in blogging. It's just that we are stymied by the spirit of the holidays!

Punta explains a lot

2011-12-07T08:45:00.005-06:00

Mom went to the new super store - Chedraui - yesterday and didn't buy me anything. So excuse me if I choose a baby picture from June for my blog entry. I think it's attractive, which I was not at all yesterday. But I was stressed. Let me explain.
Mom took me for my morning run and before I got any real energy released, we got stuck in school and new store traffic. We were in front of a school and traffic was rerouted from near the new Chedraui store and there were kids on motor cycles with their parents and trucks and noise, I couldn't take it.
Then I ran along the salina and Mom stopped to visit her future car. I saw this dog, an old dog but I knew he had been a bad dog in his life by the way his balls clanked. So I got mad and started to growl and chase him. Once. Then again. And the second time he ran in front of a moto. I ran to Mom.
He howled and howled for about 10 minutes, maybe more. And Mom just made me sit and watch. He kept being petted by the old lady he was with and then they slowly walked away. The moto driver also had a sore thigh.
I hurt for that dog. I was ashamed. I went under the bed and stayed the whole day. Well, I did come out for lunch. But I was sorry and so scared.
Street noises scared me, ceiling fans scared me. They reminded me of the traffic for some reason.
Then Judy, Ticker and Baby's mom, took my pet carrier away.
Hey, I hadn't been inside of it for a month, but it was mine. I don't care if it bothered Mom so near the dining table. And I am an adult. But that was mine!
I was afraid Mom was going to give me away for being bad and making that big dog get hurt. I just didn't know what to do.
Then she left. She said she'd be back and she always brings me something when she goes like that, right? Well, she didn't come back with anything for me.
But she had stuff that made her happy and quick got me a treat from near where my kennel used to be,
She put things away, fed me, and then insisted I go to my bed in her room. Yes, the one in the closet. Then, she called me to her bed and held my paw while petting me and telling me how beautiful and good I am and that none of it was my fault.
This morning, she waited until after rush hour to take me out. I ran by the sea and the salina and stopped near where the big dog lives to buy juice. I feel myself again, chewing rawhide and wagging my tail.
But change is hard for me. And yesterday was a day that changed everything here on the island.

All's well!

2011-12-06T11:30:00.005-06:00

Folks have been asking me how the kitchen turned out, why I have disappeared. Well, the team effort and all the dust took a lot out of me. I am about done coughing it up.
But in addition, there is the getting ready for high season business and busy-ness of inquiries, bookings, and remodeling other parts of the property. And enjoying my new kitchen!
There is also a Russian woman staying on the island until her fiance visa clears in the US. She speaks very little English and virtually no Spanish. I am teaching her both languagues. We hang out together a lot and wait for her commuting fiances to return. He'll be back Friday for four days or so.
So, yesterday, I opened a can of small smoked fish, sprats, and we cooked potatoes, ate sugarless yoghurt, and Russified our food as much as possible the whole day!
It is a beautiful day and I hope to get to the rooftop and show you the new design there. And you may have heard, our new super market/department store, Chedraui, opens today. It is a big deal! I'll go there after some of the hubbub dies down. So many things. Hardly any time! I promise to do better!
I am also looking to sell the golf cart and looking at a Mexico VW Beetle, nicknamed the Vocho, for my high traffic needs. So much stuff going on!

The order of things

2011-11-07T08:11:00.003-06:00

This photo was the last one of the day that I sent to my brother yesterday. The kitchen remodeling project was in full swing in Mexico, here on Isla Mujeres.
He wryly observed, "I would call these photos concrete examples of progress." The kitchen remodeling is a job of concrete. Before the counter and its hole for the sink were framed and poured yesterday, there was nothing, except the vestiges of the old sink.
So, yes, the kitchen modeling is showing signs of concrete progress, my brother! Now, once the concrete is poured and covered with ceramic tile, there is the matter of dropping in the sink and hanging the cabinets, called gabinetes in Spanish. The are currently resting in my office. Don't even go there!
You know I'll be glad when this is over!

Thank you, from all us dogs!

2011-10-31T12:33:00.004-05:00

The day after Hurricane Rina, we were making the rounds with Punta and stopped to see Alison Sawyer Current, aka The Dog Lady of Mexico. She was Punta's savior and guardian until she got a forever home with me. And I believe her when she says she loves each rescue dog forever. Look here!
Alison, who is working yet another spay and neuter clinic starting today, was talking about the continuous need for funding. She is planning a program for ongoing friends, something whereby you would pledge to give $10 or whatever a month and courage your friends to do so as we. Right then and there, I pledged $20.
It's such good work she does for the poor dogs here and over time I have seen a change in attitude in the kind of people who needed one.
So when this clinic is done, look for word from Alison about the sustaining program. Details will show up on IslaAnimals.org.
Oops, I'm slow. Here's a link to Alison's explanation and donation page!

Look at slow Mexican construction!

2011-10-28T15:25:00.004-05:00

I'm gone a week, we have a hurricane when I get back, and what pops out at me while making the rounds today? The progress made on the new superstore!

Paved paradise?

2011-10-15T09:31:00.005-05:00

This will be a shocker to those who've been away from the island since last high season. Watching it develop over the last weeks has me wishing I'd taken photos daily, because it has moved along so quickly that a slide show would be like watching a movie. Workers 24/7.
Chedraui is building what zoning commissions in the US call a big box store. This one boxy and a couple stories plus under roof parking.
It will make most of the trips to shop in Cancun unnecessary. It also threatens to force many of the mom and pop tiendas into closure with its lower pricing to Mexican liking and variety and imported food labels from the US.
It will inevitably bring amazing traffic jams to the middle of the island, right across from the baseball and soccer fields, so busy on weekends as it is. A traffic light or a 24 hour transit cop is inevitable.
Chedraui will open its superstore on Isla Mujeres in December. Conventional wisdom has it happening in time to buy Christmas and New Years turkeys and hams and yams and sparkling cider.
In addition to the neighborhood mini supers, it is questionable that the island would be willing to support two SuperXpresses owned by the San Francisco supermarket chain. And the one nearest to me, that doesn't have an ATM and a good assortment of vegetables, can just go away. No one will mind after the Chedraui opens. I am sure.

Fixed!

2011-10-07T20:04:00.006-05:00

Sometimes in Mexico, things just slide and never get fixed. I was feeling that way when I picked up the phone and called my former electrician and plumber, Mundo. What's wrong, he asked.
"I hurt because I am sleeping on a child's bed in the office because my own AC is broken, a new one," I said. "Ricardo is still recovering from his accident, so..."
Oh you poor thing, I'll be over 8am tomorrow, he said.
Kathryn just looked a me and said, yeh, right. Well, he was 4 minutes late!
So he checked it out and one great thing about Mundo is knowing when a job is beyond him. He left and came back with two helpers. One of them, Julio, is an electonics wizard and a factory authorized technician for many brands.
Julio quickly determined that bad bundling of wires in the motor on the roof had worn a hole in the freon tube. Mundo went to get freon and the third guy soldered while I ask Julio to take a look at the oven because since I have owned it would not heat up to more than a warm 200 degrees. A couple men friends suspected it didn't have insulation and so did Julio at first, inspecting the door but finding it filled.
So the problem was electronic, the equivalent of a thermostat that he fixed while the third assistant was filling the freon tube that he had soldered and that Mundo had bought freon for.
"Your oven now heats to at least 400 degress Fahrenheit," Mundo said on their way out while the AC was pumping 21 degrees Celsius. Heaven.
The price of calling in Mundo and the fix-it squad was 500 pesos when I was all done. About $40US. Priceless!

Rainbow diet

2011-09-27T07:51:00.004-05:00

In her final years, my mother would say it's best to eat something of each color every day. Some green, yellow, orange, purple, red. That was before the breakthroughs on phytonutrients. And my friend Kathryn from Iowa thinks the same way.
So there we were, a couple days into no purple foods: no red cabbage, eggplant, red onions or even wine. We went to Vivian's Qubano for lunch and that solved everything.
We split a Vivivian's salad, which had beets, just a hint, shaved into it with a peeler. And we split at vegetarian sandwich, which had eggplant slices.
We immediately felt better! I had been drinking iced tea the past few days, so there were other phytonutrients I was getting-specifically catechins. Beta carotins were plentiful in spinach egg scrambles, salads with radishes and peppers. And athocyanins from our fruits. But purple! It made a difference.
We were quickly able to muster the energy to go shopping! Bought dresses, paint and a trash barrel. Eat purple!

The White Light

2011-09-21T09:25:00.005-05:00

Carmen, head of housekeeping, returned to work Monday, eager to work hard. In the time she had been gone, she had gone to her village to take her mother to Merida and then taken her mother to the village to die. Or so it seemed. She was called back on a Tuesday, after working a bit here, and helped transport her mother back to Merida.
There, she was placed in a family style suite. Carmen bathed her, powdered her and applied cream to her rough spots. She hugged her a lot and doused her neck with vanilla perfume.
She said her mother's pain was taken care of and she drifted in and out of consciousness for several days. She would always wake up alert and talk about seeing a very bright white light and her mother and father. Her mother and father! At age 84, she said they looked the same in that bright white light.
Carmen thought she was asleep when she went to dab the corners of her mouth, but she was not breathing. Two nurses came in and said a doctor would have to say if she was gone. He did.
It was a peaceful passing from the pain of ovarian cancer.
Carmen returned to her daughter's re-hospitalization after a c-section birth. My gift in desperation for the child who had everything turned out to be perfect. Karina didn't get to buying Huggies, baby powder, zinc oxide and a baby bottle. Which Carmen quickly put into service while Karina was being patched up.
Talk about the circle of life!

The Shit Show

2011-09-14T08:01:00.003-05:00

A recent visitor at Zina's Guest House has a habit of using the phrase "The Shit Show." Where did he get that? "Think about it," he said. "We all have one."
Yep, obsessive-compulsive or the perfect opposite, we all go through our motions to get it on the road. Is the bed made? Where are the keys? Can I print a boarding pass now? Same show, different shit. It's the shit show.
Just like college in the '70s, getting one's shit together is our ongoing, life-long goal.
So. the lab results were published yesterday for the food poisoning case for 27 tourists at Playa Sol. E. coli was the culprit, general demerits for food handling. The rectums of the entire staff were swabbed by the health department. I imagine we are awaiting that shit show before the future of Playa Sol and its owner Sergio Contreras is decided.
For today, the shit show at the Municipal Palace has started. New head of health, some money in the coffers from the fines levied after state inspections done in the aftermath after the poisoning cases.
Sit back, ladies and germs. This is one helluva shit show!

Going back in time

2011-09-13T08:27:00.007-05:00

I had three hours to kill between the dentist and the doctor, so I parked myself at Casa Rolandi and ordered a personal pizza - pepperoni and cheese - and iced tea and contemplated what the dentist had said.
Inexplicably, my organism had absorbed the equine bone implant in my jaw. We would have to do something again. Soon.
I dragged out the pizza for nearly three hours, reading from my Kindke. That is a welcome thing in low season: bodies attract bodies to restaurants. At one point, the waiters gave me a quarter because there's no use for them here. A tip to me.
I moved on to Don Chepo's Restaurant, for OJ, where I was joined by Samantha of Knoxville, Robby Lavia's girlfriend, also waiting for Dr. Salas. A great waiting room, we concluded.
The morning newspaper had featured Salas explaining the load of chronic illness cases ISSTE and other government clinics see. Illnesses caused by obesity.
Salas was running late and Samantha called. Another half hour. An hour after our time, he took Samantha, then me.
"I thought of your father," Salas said, "And I talked about World War II to my patients today."
My father was a Britsh Red Cross doctor in post-war Germany in the British Zone, tending to liberated POWs, refugees and former concentation camp internees.
He used to talk about how the chronically underfed would outlive most of us. And in the US, he would point to his waiting room and tell me, "80 percent of the people have no business here." They should take their colds home and quit eating and drinking so much. I shared that with Dr. Salas over the years.
"I felt like your father today." Salas said. Mexico is finding it costly to put people on lifetime cholesterol and diabetes control for acquired diabetes. "There was none during World War II," Salas said. "People had to make do."
So he was running late because he was making out the paper work for nutritionist referrals. "It will be better for the patients," he said. "Really, we don't know the liver toxicity from being on statins for 30 years to control cholesterol. But we do know we can make a great impact with diet. Type II diabetes, virtually curable with 15 kilos weight loss."
My diet is back to normal now. The violent bile vomiting caused by the anti inflammatories is over, tended to by myself and a coupe friends while Salas and the ISSTE doctors were working on the new treatment strategy.
"You did a remarkable job, did all the right things and stayed in touch with me while I was in Chetumal. I wish I had more patients like you," he said.
Dr. Salas, I wish more doctors were like YOU!

Soy confundida!

2011-09-02T11:43:00.002-05:00

Confused is the least of my problems. I am also in pain. Every time I take a pain pill, I get confused. So, since it's been a week since oral surgery and the dressing has been removed, you'd think it would be better. It's just like a fresh surgical wound!
Yesterday morning, I tried a banana and milk smoothie at La Bruja. It burned like hell. I felt little crystals of sugar entering the wounds. Did you put sugar in this? Well, yes, it's presumed, Roberto answered. I sent it back and asked for one with ONLY bananas, milk and ice, blended.
I'm sorry. I am someone who always orders water melon water without sugar. I presumed they knew me well enough. Still, stinging as I tried to eat it. But I ate a lot before commenting that it burned like sugar. Claro, hay azucar.
I'm sorry. What part of sugar hurts me after dental surgery did they not understand? This morning, I made mocha with stevia and ice and milk. No burn. Much better.
But now, without a cold beverage, it's time to take a pain pill and apply and ice bandage. Excused me. I'm confused. It's also time to take a Cipro. I'll wait on Robert and Katey to get back from scubaing with Enrique Avila before deciding how to proceed.
They did bring me an Android I bought on eBay. I am confused and cannot consistently call up the touch key pad. I guess a lie down is in order.
Carmen is washing out some clothes and wants to iron a couple blouses. Me, I'll just be still in my pain and confusion.

Mommie's writer's block

2011-08-19T07:43:00.006-05:00

Mommie's got writer's block and I have a new bed in the closet. I was in and out of my old bed, on the floor, all night. Now I think I'm used to something that doesn't have the faint smell of things I've rolled in. Mommie calls it olor putreficado. I call it cologne.
She was gone yesterday for four hours and came back with it. And the stupid stuffed puppy dog on the closet shelf. I don't know why she gets me stuffed sisters if I'm not allowed to pull out the stuffing, Which I did do first thing! Well, it had a tag that attracted my attention. Mommie is going to re-stuff her and I'll get to try again, to use her as my pillow. Imagine.
So, she was gone so long because the tax agency made her wait for nothing and she'll have to go back. She took her frustrations out on Costco, which is where she got the bed. And doggie chews. I'm happy. She also got nice food for her and to help make my food. And a new cell phone, a Nokia smartphone, which is where she says the stuffed sister came from. She was a freebie.
When she came home, she said she saw Pepe Vega, the vet, on the ferry. He's coming next week to take my blood again. He thinks I may have had erhlichia canis since I was a puppy, because I'm doing so well on the tetracycline and chicken livers, that I have some body weight now. Good that I have great legs, eh?
I overheard that when Sue Mallett came over in the evening to see the apartments She's going to help Mommie by being a rental agent, making sure I have nice people all the time. Sue and Miguel run Capi's Apartments and Miguel's Island Escapes and manage property. We manage ourselves but are not good at paper work, so mix ups could happen. And Mommie always wants to give price breaks, which isn't fair to anyone. including me. I have needs.
So Sue will take care of that. And she likes dogs, I can tell. Even though I could smell cats. And we all know how I feel about gatos!
Mommie asked me to write this because she hasn't blogged in a long time and she just got a note from Robert saying he loves it when I blog. She says that he and Katey will be back September 1. I love that. He treats me like I deserve to be treated: hugs on his laps.
Since I got sick, Mommie lets me on her own bed for like 5 minutes a night for hugs. Carmen says the Maya word is loch. Quiro loch? she asks when she comes in.
So, I have to go now. I'll talk to Mommie about writing something on her own. She's reading a book she likes a lot called The Help. She's had great people here who played with me. And it's hot. Oh, she has stories to tell. But it all falls on me!

The Mexican Washcloth

2011-08-09T12:38:00.005-05:00

It puzzled me when I first started traveling to Mexico. How is it that the hotels did not have wash cloths for their guests? Now, after owning lodging for several years, I have some insight.
If you are here in the heat, you will see part of the answer: Workers outside wear them on their heads to break the sun and keep the perspiration close, so as not to get heat stroke. And those washcloths get a workout, day in and day it. A yucky thought.
Demure ladies carrying parasols dab at themselves with washcloths. Hardly a lady leaves home without one! Sometimes, a handkerchief will be clutched instead. But really, in this heat, it's a washcloth's job.
Because of those sweaty reasons, it is unfathomable to Mexicans that we would want one of those things in the shower while we are trying to get clean! Yuck!
Then, because they aren't so aesthetically appealing, cleaners and maids latch onto them and clean! Corners of counter tops, inside the shower where green things grow. Same for refrigerator spaces. Apply some bleach and rub hard. Oh, the acrylic glasses you don't want scratched with a fiber sponge? A washcloth! Cotton! Those wash clothes don't stand a chance. They are rags before you know it and have never made it into the shower!
So that dozen I pack in my suitcase. the 24 pack from Sam's Club, the occasional larger individual ones at the SuperXpress, they are all gone. They found other uses! Actually other uses and users found them.
Here, sisal and heartier fibers rule. You want to get clean in the shower? Grab something that will exfoliate you! And hang on to it so no one reappropriates it!

Talking trash in Mexico

2011-08-09T11:53:00.004-05:00

So we were talking trash at Vivian Reynaldo's Qubano restaurant yesterday afternoon, having gotten there just before closing with my new check-in Jonny, and I looked across the aisle and gasped when I saw a Sprite can honoring LeBron James. In Mexico. After the Miami fiasco In Spanish. Maybe they were intended for Miami at one time. Who knows.
And Vivian, being a former Miami resident, was shocked. She hadn't noticed when she served it. "He did the same thing in Miami as he did in Cleveland. He stopped playing. The other two weren't doing what they were supposed to either," she said, eyebrows arching up, Cuban blood ready to boil.
"So do you suppose they're dumping his cans in Mexico?" I asked. mentally kicking sand in his face. No response. Change subject.
So, yeah, we were talking trash in Mexico. LeBron James. 'Nuff said.

Nicolas Found!

2011-08-08T09:59:00.005-05:00

Sometimes, a waiter is so good, you really miss him when he is gone. One of 10 or so at his old place, but now, he is one of very few at Bally Hoo. Nicolas, good to know where you are and proud you took the time between jobs to be with your family! Mwah! He was working the breakfast shift at Bally Hoo last week.

Pray for Fran!

2011-08-07T08:48:00.002-05:00

Every March, my friends pack up to leave Mar y Sol. Here, Fran White, left, and Shirley Israel, are packing their toys.
I got word this weekend from Shirley that Fran is in intensive care, intubated and sedated. She had surgery for infected diverticulosis with a reversible colostomy. The sedation is to keep her heart calm while she fights the infections. Please pray for her so we can all have fun in the sun again this winter.

Nobody puts Punta in a corner

2011-08-01T10:55:00.004-05:00

Punta's new best friend, in sickness and in health, is Baby. Close to her is Ticker, not so playful. It was nice to watch them last night, After five days of tetracycline and chicken livers, she no longer acts like she's on death's door. But she does rest a lot after playing. Her erhlichia blood profile results mimic leukemia.
This morning, the serene Maruka is here and their just hanging out. Maruka knows Punta is sick and is glad it's taken some of her energy away!

Inflation blooms

2011-07-31T15:33:00.005-05:00

It was a bad sign a ouple months ago when torillas jumped to 15 pesos a kilo. It went hand in hand with other price increases and now you can hardly go to a restaurant without seeing new prices on stickers covering up the old ones.
This weekend, I got a double shock. Torillas have decreased in size! I took the owner of an organic restaurant in Guatemela and her party to Monchi's, which I had heard so much good about. We were all disappointed and it was all based on the tortillas. Tiny, like appetizers. 15 pesos for a very plain, small taco.
The worst was we had to ask for utensils because they wouldn't hold the filling. Should have used two! Really, most places have done that all along.
Then this morning, I stopped for pulled pork tacos at Helena's near me, a street stall. She was out of tortillas and a woman from Yucatan working there was designated to go get. She'd heard they were expesnive here. 10 pesos? Helena and I both laughed at the rube. 15! The shocked look was priceless. They are adding a peso if you don't go with your own basket or towel just for the paper. 16!
It really is inexplicable why they would be some 60 percent more here. Our corn is from the same basket, the same agricultural zone, although in Yucatan there is more mom and pop corn being taken as needed to the mills. Nevertheless...
And so, also, the price of gasoline. And now were are on summer gasoline that costs more and gets less mileage, a corn ethanol added to it.
So, the price of bringing everything to the city, and then ferrying it to the island, is up. Tourist expenditures are down, so who makes up the shortfalls? Local consumers, of course. So the guy down the street has to charge more for his work and why not? The waiters and others who get tip money can afford to pay it. It's a never ending circle. Inflation.

My dog, she is sick

2011-07-27T06:08:00.006-05:00

Despite what tested out as serious illness yesterday, Punta enjoyed her weekend in Playa del Carmen. She loved the back seat of a car, mobile sofa we called it, and loved meeting India, who was nearly recovered after three weeks of treatment for a kidney infection.
Three months ago, India lost Shorty, her dog of 14 and a half years, when he no longer wanted to go on with her supporting his hips with a pareo, a wrap.
Punta and India bonded while Inga and I shopped or Inga gardened. But, although she did all her tricks for India, Punta would not take treats from a virtual stranger!

Punta liked it at India's. She could come and go into the garden with real grass in the lawn. It was plush. She also respected Shorty's spirit. It's hard to explain. She sensed he was gone. She ate out of his bowl and looked around for him.
She spent quality time walking with Inga and she and I talked about having her tested when we got back. Punta should have shaken the fumigation poisoning by now. Ehrliciosis was the most likely cause of her listlessness.

So, the day after we came home, Pepe Vega was here to draw blood and make it to the animal laboratory in Cancun before it closed Monday.
Yesterday, he came with the results. Positive for ehrliciosis, blood work confirming active disease with low platelet counts, high liver enzymes, anemia, low albumin and high globulin, etc. She starts treatment today. My job is to cook high iron dog food based on chicken livers and hearts.
Her principle treatment will be 5 weeks or more of tetracycline and schmoozing.

Sweet Liberty School

2011-07-20T14:31:00.005-05:00

Two more days in this camp session and maybe not all the kids will be floaters. But we sure are trying!
I was out two days of the 10 day session that ends Friday, summer virus. Two more sessions to go.
But there are other swimming instructors and volunteers and today we rocked! And there were kids there for the first time. Next session starts Monday. It's 1500 pesos for the 10 days and Isla Mujeres visitors here with their kids are in for a break. They can come for 150 pesos for the day and get some cultural socialization. Write Marla@marlabainbridge.com for details. Also a fundraising note: This Sunday at 10pm, there will be a fundraiser with auction items at Fayne's Bar and Grill in Centro.

A home for Gypsy. Anyone?

2011-07-17T20:40:00.003-05:00

The newsman

2011-07-10T08:36:00.004-05:00

Carlos Baeza, aka El Baloz, is my newsman on the island. No, not just a newspaper seller. Like he was when he walked the island selling El Correcto, El Por Esto!, he provides an oral update to the top story. Today, he says it will rain many more days, but the ferries are good to go.
When Pope John Paul II was dying, my best friend the Polish Princess and I were glued to the TV and shedding tears. We decided to pick ourselves up and get going to the beach. She didn't want to report a Papal death watch for her activities.
Not a half hour later, after we had turned the TV off, as we left, Sr. Baeza was at the door with the update. The pope is dead. "No," we said. "We were just watching." The response, "He just died."
So there you have it. Many little shops in the neighborhood sell the paper. Few provide service.
I also like Baeza because he's so friendly to Punta. Well, today I saw why. His Chihuahua mix, Lauriano, was making a rare outdoor appearance. Both parents agree, he and Punta look like distant kin!
So go to Plaza Los Americas with your friend. It's nice and dry in there!

Flora folio

2011-07-08T16:50:00.003-05:00

My friend, Carolina, who has grown this plant from a recent cutting, says its name is flora folio. Well, I can't find it on line anywhere to confirm that. It is a beautiful flower with a short bloom life, gently scented.
Carolina says the root is a known poison locally. It does well in poor soil. And that's about all I can tell you. Anyone here know more?

No money laundering here!

2011-07-06T14:38:00.004-05:00

Businesses that charge more than $100 for a trip, a night, a silk dress, theoretically can accept $100US notes. But not my radiology group in Cancun. But of course, the ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder only cost 550 pesos with interpretation. Wonder what might...

Drinking for dollars

2011-07-05T11:24:00.009-05:00

OK, OK. For pesos! And I don't drink from all the cans I recycle! But the notion of collecting cans for recycling has become an obsession of sorts with me. I don't just so it for my carbon foot print that I want to be smaller, although one of the scrap aluminum websites says why you should:
"

Recycling is the perfect use for aluminum because it can be reprocessed and   used again and again. It does not lose its structural qualities when   reprocessed, and will not decompose for about 400 years. Also, it is   exceedingly cost effective: it takes only 5 percent of the energy required   to make new aluminum from mined bauxite, and needs only about 10 percent of   the capital equipment for producing primary aluminum."

When I leave the house, I don't like to return with fewer than 3 cans a day. Punta helps me find them. Friends on vacation donate them. My guests aren't permitted to have glass bottles on the roof because of the pool and subsequent guests.
I tell then to either bag the aluminum and set it aside or put it along the side of the trash barrel, which in effect becomes a tip. At the end of the day, a trash collector can double his pay!
I invested in a can crusher, made in Mexico, bought on eBay, sent to Jen, muled by Leah! So, they are stake holders too!
Personally, I like Modelo family cans. They weigh more and take crushing well. Sol cans splinter, don't fold right and don't weigh much. CocaCola products are just fine!
Yes, Mexico teaches you to be thrifty. I am not alone here. I watched my neighbors, the family of a teacher and many working adults, built three apartments onto the main house with cans. All members of the family would collect them, the grandmother would crush them, and when she sold a couple trash bags full to the recycler.
There are people without jobs here who walk the streets before the trash trucks some, digging in foreigners trash cans to glean aluminum. The trash men also open some bags on the trucks to see what's easy.
At the dump, before the trash is moved to transfer, the process is repeated. We are all so into recycling aluminum here! I even wad up carry-out foil and throw it into my can bag!
Hey, it's a dollar or so a pound in the world spot market! And so good for the environment.

Friday: Yucca Pie!

2011-06-29T09:44:00.007-05:00

If you're vacationing on Isla Mujeres, may I suggest your save Friday for yucca pie at Qubano Restaurant. Vivian Reynaldo was born in Cuba and raised in New York City and later lived in Miami, where she was an interior decorator.
In the Caribbean, almost every country has it's own yucca root recipes. The Mayas used to use it like potatoes before potatoes were revealed to them.
In those days, it is said, few people got fat because of this high fiber vegetable with complex carbs. Now, the Maya prefer to cook and soak the yucca root in honey and eat it like candy. Hondurans make a yucca pie that is also based on sweets.
Vivian's is a real Cuban deal! She cooks the peeled roots for three hours and the piccadillo for a similar time. That is ground beef with an assortment of spices, sweet peppers, garlic and onion. I don't know the recipe! But the pie is then baked with those two main mixtures.
The result is similar to sheppherd's pie. The portion is HUGE. Since at $150 pesos this is likely to be your spendiest lunch on the island, that's a good thing!
But what a treat! I immediately telegraphed this to my Puerto Rican friend Felipe in Cleveland. He was smitten with her tostones (fried plantain) sandwiches last year. I could hear him smacking his lips when he replied to me!
Steve Broin from Casa Sirena returned from Merida in time to make this lunch last week and also thought it was divine! It's served with several toston on the side and mojo: onions in oil to spoon over the top.
This lunch calls for a light dinner and if you're going diving or whale sharking in the morning, that is just what you'll want to have. Provecho!
So, today is Wednesday. Start planning! You and your other half could split this and a Vivian's salad and walk away without loosening your belt! Oh, the possibilities!

Tropical Waves 4 and 5 wind down for Punta

2011-06-28T12:56:00.009-05:00

It was a long three-day weekend for me. I am a dog and my name is Punta.
By Sunday, I was going crazy with the onda tropical, tropical wave. There actually two and now NOAA calls them Invest 95 in the Gulf of Mexico. It had rained since Saturday morning. I was peeing in the shower because I can't stand to go in the rain!
Mom's good about letting me go there and pours bleach on it and rinses. Whew! What a relief, because I was crying and didn't know what to do.
I thought it was over Monday when Mom told me to go out and make kaka. It was still raining and I don't do that in the rain. But I thought if I got in the golf cart, Mom would take me someplace where it was not raining. No luck. I toughed it out. Then this morning, the sun came out, if you can call it that.
And we went! At 6am! Woo hoo! First, to my spot, across the street from the church. I did it all. Then I saw the snake. It smelled so good, I had to roll in it. There was barely anything left. It had been about a week since the boa was killed by a vehicle. But there was enough to get it on both sides of my body! Woowee! Mom was mad.
But she took me to big water anyway, and that smelled even better as the waves broke over the rocks. Her friend is babysitting two dogs and taking care of a house. So I got to play. Baby is my favorite new best friend.
But you got to hand it to boys. They do appreciate what you do to be attractive, even if moms don't. Ticker was all over my body to get at the boa cologne.
Mom had some strawberries with her friend and shared her half an English muffin with me. Then we rode around Punta Sur (Yes, I am Punta) and I ran when the coast was clear. Mom watches that I don't run where big bad dogs live and she tells me which are the bad dogs. Then, she went to the SuperXpress and I stayed (on a leash) and she got some Ritz crackers. She said the tropical wave would have been nicer for her if she'd had something like that in the house.
Then we went to her breakfast place, the one she pays a week ahead. Well, they needed LP, gas. So we were just in time and the back-up tank was bought. Mom got a salbute and fed me most of the chicken on it!
There is a rip in the car upholstery (not my fault) so we went looking for sticky paper or emblems, something to patch with. Bruno didn't have any, the refraccionarios didn't either. Mom wound up getting contact paper at Federico's. And then guess what? We came home and she washed all that lovely cologne off my body! I hope Ticker still likes me next time.

Help Liberty School

2011-06-26T19:31:00.012-05:00

My friend Marla Bainbridge, an Isla Mujeres resident and international educational consultant, has been working with local parents who wanted another type of school for their elementary and pre-school children. Critical thinking skills are what the parents were after.
Marla started working with them and has produced this YouTube video explaining the philosophy. Click here. Liberty School Isla Mujeres ( www.libertyschoolmexico.org) is going to be a reality soon and a summer camp will be held for enrichment and school readiness.
This is going to take money, more money than the parents can invest in this low economy. The children are those of expats as well as Mexicans. It takes more than our village to educate our children.
Luckily, she has found two retailers who will donated a large percentage purchases this week the the school. You must specify Liberty School when you order.
"Children Inspire Design's and Fresh Words Market is offering 50% of the proceeds this week for our sales. This is way above the standard donation so we want to take full advantage of the opportunity." Marla stated.
She sent out messages to her Facebook friends over the weekend, a strenuous one that saw the funeral of her boyfriend's aunt. Elmy Martinez, Javier Martinez Cen's aunt was the sister of his father Tosito, and was an art teacher at the Secundaria School here on Isla Mujeres, the middle school.
After the funeral, Marla sent out the information to her Facebook friends so we could inform our friends of the benefit sales:
Liberty School's official opening is just around the corner and we've been working to get everything ready for our students. We've created a beautiful space where children are free to learn and teachers are free to support their learning styles and interests.
As a new school on a limited budget, there are still items we need thus an opportunity for you to be part of Liberty School. We are reaching out to our friends and family to help us raise $1,000 USD.We've partnered with two companies, Children Imspired Design and Fresh Words Market to host a virtual fundraiser on their web sites. Make sure you include the purchase is for LIBERTY SCHOOL. (Links below)

The way it works is simple. Order any product on either site this week, between June 26 and July 2, add Liberty School in the memo box, and they will donate 50% proceeds to Liberty School.

This is an amazing opportunity because not only do they offer products that are directly in line with the philosophy of Liberty School, it's a great way to stock up on gifts for yourself and others while raising much needed money.
Stock up on art prints for adults and children, journals, note cards, stationary, educational tools (in 11 different languages), PDF downloads AND women's cooperative products, made here in Isla Mujeres. These companies focus on global compassion, environmental education and inspiring individuals. So, put your spending power for a great cause. Stock up now for birthdays, anniversaries, holiday giving, thank you gifts and more!!

How it Works:
Visit one of the URL’s and shop between June 26 and July 2. www.childreninspiredesign.com and www.freshwordsmarket.com
At checkout, include the words Liberty School in the memo box. (IMPORTANT!!)

Both sites sell items great for your kids, your own crafting needs or art cravings. You'll really be helping our island's little ones get off to a good start in life!

Isla Snake!

2011-06-23T07:26:00.003-05:00

Lookie what Punta found on her morning walk. A dead snake! For as long as I remember, there was denial that Isla Mujeres has snakes. Then, a year or two ago, there was alarm when a boa constrictor "large enough to kill a child" was hunted down in the swamp that was next do the new hospital construction.
This morning, almost across the street, near Haciena Mundaca, Punta found this one, a victim of a vehicular accident. Not being up on my snakes, I asked some Maya workers if it was poisonous. No, it's a boa! Oh, OK.

Mais naturellement ! Je suis français !

2011-06-21T09:27:00.004-05:00

Can you tell LoLo is heading for Brussels today? Luchien looks so, well, FRENCH, instead of like a clean mop. Son Valerio had a couple days to get a healthy tan. And LoLo continued to walk with weights until the last day then cooked a feast for 20 last night. Ah yes, I was but one person. Steve from Casa Sirena and Vivian from Cubano and I were seated at the same table with a producer from "48 Hours" and her partner, a white collar crime federal investigator.
Excellent food, great company, fun stories. I'll miss that for the next three months while LoLo laps up the rays at her parents' villa in Portugal. But not until after she's hit the streets for some food and boogie in Brussels. See you when you get back, LoLo! Have a nice champagne and caviar for me. Squirt limon persa liberally in your water!

Hoarding vs Pantry

2011-06-20T11:04:00.003-05:00

Last week, I was explaining the concept of American pantries to my Mexican friends. A bodega for the kitchen. What Mexicans call despensas, food basket basics, with a few additions of sale, canned and long shelf life items are what we call pantry items.
Mostly because of space, and due to money, Mexicans generally don't keep great pantries, even in hurricane season. They tend to go to the store when the warnings are up and "compra en panico", panic buy, as Ricardo at Ronco calls it.
Six years ago, when the warnings were up for Hurricane Wilma, Ricardo made a trip to Walmart for the store for necessities. He saw locals with bags of candy. compras en panico, and laughed about it.
But you know, when we got our food baskets after the hurricane, and it was obligatory we take them because the docks were out, there were animal crackers for the sweet! So, it is a vital part of the diet.
Not me. I bought dried beans and American canned beans, which I find comforting out of the can when there weather is nasty. I got other canned stuff, veggies. Because after a food hurricane, the land is stripped of its crops, including our health green bush, chaya.
So I've got my pantry set. Now I feel I have to prove I am not a hoarder!

Bargain Breakfasts

2011-06-17T08:55:00.005-05:00

Many visitors to the island assume I'm not having a good time, since they don't see me in Centro much any more. I am here today to say it's a great life. Carolina's breakfast and supper nook in La Gloria is my daily breakfast joint. Above is the omelet (homelet because the H is always silent!) that I had Wednesday.
And today's huevos motulenos. 35 pesos a plate. At least 45 in town. Plus we get to gossip! No, it wouldn't mean anything to you because you don't know the same people. Really. Trust me.

Thrifty

2011-06-16T11:38:00.004-05:00

Joe Peters, of Fort Worth, and I have at least one thing in common. We are thrifty as in cheap. So, when he was on Isla Mujeres a couple weeks ago, we made a lunch date. The first plan was to go to Velasquez, the family fish house, for whole fishes.
Then I surveyed the scene at Posada del Mar, where Joe was staying, and decided to do what we could to stave off layoffs. No one can operate for long with a near empty house and not make deep cuts. So we ate there. Thrifty.
We each got a small 80 peso shrimp cocktail and split a club sandwich and fries (55 pesos). We had a fabulous lunch, a great time with Romy at the bar, and spent a wee bit more than we planned. But look at the table! We were stuffed!
Joe was happy because he was within budget, only to be blown later in a trip to Mango Cafe! Ahh, the life!

Got change?

2011-06-15T13:56:00.004-05:00

This morning, after Punta had finished her rounds and we picked up a couple mangos, we went to Carolina's for breakfast. At 30 pesos, it's a great deal. I got the huevos a la Mexicana, a scramble with tomatoes and chilis.
I offered all I had - 200 pesos. "No tiene cambio?" Dontchya have change? "No, gasto." No, I spent it. And so it goes every morning, every afternoon, every place you try to do business.
With Carolina, an old friend, I said. here's 200 pesos and open an account. "Puede comer todo semana. " You can eat all week. Exactly. And not fish for change!
Carolina is struggling. I saw her run to the corner for tomatoes after I had ordered and the Zeta gas guys paid for their breakfast. But in many cases, there is no excuse. Business owners feel a need to deposit their total at the end of the day, leave clerks without the ability to make change, and come back at night to gather more money for the bank.
I never understood why someone would risk a transaction by not having change! But they manage. Clerks go to neighbors, to their children, whatever, to make change.
At the guest house, I tell people to hoard their change. Before a week, they will see why this is good.
As an aside to this, when I got the hang of hoarding change, I was carrying it in a zip lock baggie. "The Mexican business woman's wallet" as it's referred to around here. It is all the rage to be so rich you need to carry your change in a baggie. If not rich, then smart. Because there will always be a customer like me who isn't completely truthful and might just have enough change for a 30 peso breakfast. Of course that would leave me broke with 200 pesos notes the rest of the day! No, not me. I've got change! And it's growing.

Taking stock

2011-06-12T16:16:00.016-05:00

I won't go into reasons it has taken me nearly three weeks to blog. Well, OK, at the top of the list is that I am feeling a good bit lazy and am at odds with my blog is supposed to be anyway. Foreigners are supposed to stay out of Mexican politics - we all agreed to that to stay here - so commenting on current events is something to be careful about. So...
Is it about living the dream in a tourist destination? Is it about managing that dream without melting down? I mean in the psychological as well as physical sense, because to me, it's hotter than paradise now and multiple sclerosis at that point defines me. My friends here know I say I am shorting out when I am too hot, and God only knows if they know what I mean. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system and I liken my wiring to that an old house. The frayed wires don't conduct electricity so well in the heat, but the natural vitamin D is soothing to my immune system, which controls the MS. I also supplement with prescribed Vitamin D3, more on that later. Oh, I see blog definition ahead.
Today I took my interferon shot, with is classified as an immumodulatory, and and am resting inside in the AC, which had been running more or less at full tilt for two days now. I know, you have it worse. But I'm pondering this question of what the blog is supposed to be. So...
The AC is running at full blast, the bill will be hard to pay, and eventually, the hurricanes will make it unnecessary. Eventually, the hurricane plan will take over. But first...
In checking the generator, it was determined it need a new spark plug. Very simple. A small motor plug, like for a riding lawn mower or...a generator. I bought my generator at Costco the spring after Hurricane Wilma nearly six years ago. And so did a lot of other people. Last week, said spark plug could not be found in Cancun by Carlos Telliz, my cabbie and man in Cancun, a Chilango who can find anything. We started at Costco. No hay! One to hardware stores in the small motor section of town. None. He has a friend who is an electrician who goes frequently to Merida and Carlos bets he can get one.
Enter Facebook. A woman from Brewster OH brought me one last week. Ex boyfriend is sending two to Johanna, who is arriving in a month. I'm covered. And neighbors are probably covered as well in that case!
So now I am on the issue of the cartridges that are filters in my Intex above the ground pool. A sweet little thing that is 10-feet wide in its circle resecting diameter. Cheap at Amazon. com.
For a pool I got at Sam's Club last year, no filters. I am on the last of the filters, which the handy man has been able to make last about to about a month or so through careful washing and care in rinsing these five buck filters. Oh, but in Mercado Libre, the Mexican equivalent of eBay, they want WHAT???
Not that I have a problem with that, but you have to wire, as in Moneygram to them, before they will ship. There is not PayPal for transactions totally within Mexico.
I hate feeling like this, needy. I have just shot an email to a mid summer renter arriving by car with her dog. Could she carry six in her car if I send them from Amazon? She'll be using the pool, after all.
So politics aside, what kind of marketing push pull system puts me in this situation?
I have lived with these pools since I hand carried the first 8-foot one in a storage bin in luggage (when luggage wasn't such an issue) nearly six years ago and have now bought my fourth version by buying at two of the four stores in Cancun that sell Intex pools, not filters. Chedraui used to sell the filters, not anymore.
Costco was the latest place I saw a hard side pool Intex with the same filter. They had no filter cartridges for sale either. Nor Soriana, where I bought the first 10-foot pool. Nor Cherdraui, where I bought filters the first two years. Everyone just came to know if you bought a pool at Soriana, you could get filters at Chedraui. Or from Oscar the pool tech and designer of real in-ground pools. He has some clients that have them for their kids, to keep them out of the adult pool, which is no deeper. a little under 40 inches. He hasn't a clue where to find the cartidges now.
I haven't seen this filter on sale in Isla Mujeres or Cancun for more than a year! See what a good stock-piler I have been?
We were down to two when Tanos arrived with three. Enter the woman from Boston and her dog. We shall see. Will she really understand?
People who want to move here wonder every day what lies ahead. Let me tell you a bit using Vitamin D3 as an example.
In research and university affiliated hospitals in the US, doctor are prescribing what seem to be mega doses of Vitamin D3. Family history of osteoporosis, colon cancer and auto immune disease and patients are reflagged for it. So, I take 5,000 to 8,000 IU, international units, a day.
I bought well in Ohio last October and Johanna brought me some. After months of looking, I found some Nature Made in Walmart. At a glance, I assumed they were 4000IU. So held them a month or so and I popped them open. And looked closer. They are 400IU, the current MDR, not withstanding all the hot shot doctors in teaching hospitals in the US, los Estados Unidos de America. Not to be confused with los Estados Unidos de Mexico.
I love the latter. I am confident that the forces of good will prevail in the drug war and have nothing to say about those waging the wars nor their foot soldiers. It's all in the marketing.
Which brings me back to how I've spent the last month. Conniving. Getting pool filters, spark plugs, maybe get some Vitamin D3 to me here in Mexico.
I guess this is a redefinition of the blog. Enough with the snapshots and light text about this or that repair or the dog's life. What is it like to live here? Even with a little money, you have to get used to being poorer here. Because there are some things you just can't get here with any amount of money and are therefore dependent on the kindness of strangers.
So, in the future, I'll be using less snapshots and more thought about what it's really like to live here. That's all I have to talk about with some authority now. First, let me see how I can get some high dose Vitamin D3. I'll check back later.

See you, in September!

2011-05-27T10:47:00.005-05:00

Robert Martinez and Katie Barrett have been here for a week of diving with Enrique's Unique Dives, watching turtles mate underwater, grooving on neighborhood life that's a bit like Robert's grandparents experienced.
This afternoon, they return to Austin and work on Tuesday. So, while we were enjoying the afterglow of our morning smoothies, Robert took an opportunity to tell Punta they'd be back for Labor Day weekend to dive again and spoil her.
She gobbbled it it. She's a slut puppy that way. Anything to get her feet off the floor!

Rudder

2011-05-25T20:28:00.002-05:00

Robert and Katie are right! Punta's tail is like a rudder when she swims!

Isla Fishing Families vs NOAA

2011-05-25T10:21:00.007-05:00

This photo of Joplin from the Associate Press captured, for me, the essence of what has been going on in the Midwest. As the blood hounds went out in Joplin MO looking for any survivors, another round of tornadoes hit the Midwest and surrounding area, in places like again, Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas, threatening Texas as well, pelting Austin with hail.
The l0cal papers are filled with it, just like those north of the border (NOB). And so is the local talk. So when I shopped in Cancun Saturday, I was mindful to pick up a few extra canned goods and bags of rice.
We haven't had any real hurricanes since the Category 5 Wilma in 2005, at the end of my first season here. Carmen, the wife of a local fisherman, says she is certain we are due. She is not alone.
It has been so hot here that as early as April folks were saying it's the kind of heat that brings on big hurricanes. My cabbie in Cancun, Carlos Telliz, was saying last month that we could have a hurricane then! Hurricanes exist to break up the heat building up and it has been building.
I studied the issue a little bit on NOAA websites. There is no statistical correlation between early and active tornadoes and Atlantic hurricanes, including the Caribbean. Dr. Jeff Master's Wunderblog notes than NOAA forecasts a 65 percent chance of a greater that normal hurricane season, but the curve is way off because of the five years WE haven't seen a real hurricane in this part of the Caribbean. Many of us are afraid that will all change this year.

Low blog season

2011-05-20T10:58:00.005-05:00

Becky of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, just left, so I thought I'd write a blog post. For our readers out there, I hope it breaks the dry spell that my area bloggers are experiencing!
Becky has been on the road for nearly a year and just recently joined the program at Couchsurfing.org.
I have had several couch surfers here on the property and thoroughly enjoyed them. Basically. you sign up for the program and CouchSurfers conducts a little background check. All your correspondence with prospective surfers is in secret on the CouchSurfers server, so a record is kept by the organization.
Couch surfers are not impoverished backpackers, but people who want to learn about where you live, about your neighbors and region.
They cook for you and themselves, they wash dishes, make their own beds and change sheets for themselves.
Why would I have these freeloaders around, you ask. Well, they are not freeloaders. Some have picked up all the tabs when I've shown them where the good eateries are. Becky bonded with Punta and walked her a good bit.
Becky took a bed instead of a couch because it had been made up a while and would need changing for paying guests. Dust, salt air and the humidity don't really keep the linens fresh. So it's not a loss. And amazingly, couch surfers don't run up you electric bill by using AC. They are considerate that way.
Becky took me out to eat at Bastos Grill yesterday after staying here a few days. A bad sore throat kept her here longer than planned. When she left, she changed her bed and cleaned up the room. It's ready to rent!
I know of one other person on Isla Mujeres accepting couch surfers. He takes them a few times a year. We're shared notes and you can have the Argentinian artistic dancers, I said to him!
One recent couch server brought me Stevia and quinoa, things we cannot get here. And were it not for another, a German, I wouldn't have had a Lindt chocolate bunnie and eggs for Easter!
I am about done for now since the summer tourists are arriving. Becky helped Carmen and me get the upstairs apartment outfitted for the coming week. And I might blog sooner now that I started moving my fingers across the keyboard!

Good dentistry

2011-05-09T14:04:00.007-05:00

Dr Francisco Javier Canales, or simply Javier, is my dentist on the island. He works in his private practice when he is not an oral surgeon for the Navy. Sometimes he takes a night shift at the Navy Hospital, so his hours do vary. And I see him the day after tomorrow in the morning after a week of antibiotics to recover from a complication of the oral surgery to implant bone powder into the site where a failed dental implant, gotten in Ohio nearly 20 years ago, failed.
It also infected the adjacent molar, which had to be pulled, meaning I had quite the hole to fill. Dr Canales put some bone powder in in last year, enough to get by with an acrylic bridge. Now I want a permanent bridge.
He is a meticulous man and honest. As he was implanting the powder, he said, Mexicans don't think to restore bone when a tooth is pulled or an appliance surgically removed. Had he had access to it a year ago, he would have grafted in piece of bone to do what the powder will hopefully get done. Instead he installed a little bone powder then also.
The post surgical infection occurred when the casting material disintegrated and I didn't notify him. The surgical site should have remained covered. Not his fault! My bad.
I know I Tweet ad nauseam about this. I'm on Cipro, I took some gifted Vicodin. That's all over now, but it struck me that the readers might think the care is bad here. It is not.
It is true, the equipment isn't the absolute latest, but it is good. He doesn't casually x-ray, believing it's bad for the body. And his x-ray isn't panoramic or digital. It is an old machine and he processes film in a dark sleeve set up. When he is done, he pulls his hand out of the sleeve and puts the x-ray to the light. "Ah, ha," he'll say. Just as he thought, the x-ray confirms.
At any rate, I will need two new crowns and two fake teeth in this bridge when we are ready. It a will cost in the neighborhood of $1,600US, not $20,000.
A friend is here getting a porcelain crown for $400, not $1,200. She's not crazy about his drill with the squirting water. But she liked the price and found his injection technique to be painless for the local anesthesia..
I highly recommend him and am coaching his English a bit. This has led to philosophical discussions about "rinse" versus "rinse and spit." In my opinion, rinse and spit is the way it's said in the US because that's what dentists say to kids who don't know to spit and they just keep saying it. "But who would swallow?" he asks. "It's redundant to say," he argues. Well, I am comforted to hear rinse and spit, so I think Javier has incorporated into his routine. If I am wrong, well, don't forget to spit! Ha, he's right, isn't he?

You never know

2011-04-26T15:21:00.004-05:00

Getting things done in Mexico is so challenging that it is often just easy to blame the worker. I have had several people ask me for a computer tech recommendation in the last couple months only to come back with, "He's never there. He doesn't answer his calls. His store looks closed."
He is the best, I would say. They are having problems with the baby, I would say.
Adrian Martinez of Adrian's Internet Cafe has been my computer tech for more than two years.
When I last saw him just over a month ago, asking him to reconfigure my wireless network, since a neighbor kid was riding the opening network. We had made a decision to open it because the routers otherwise were not allowing network access to Macs.
He hurriedly told me that day, that the baby was being born with problems.
So, time passed and Adrian Martinez showed up today and got to working. "How's the baby?" I asked about an hour into it.
"The baby died. It was born premature in a private hospital," he began. "They suggested we go to General Hospital because otherwise the incubator would cost 5000 pesos a day."
The baby developed sepsis, a blood infection, in the Neonatal Unit. " He was there 18 days; it was called a 'super infection.' No antibiotic worked at all."
Bernice is taking it hard. "She carried the baby. made a nice closet and wardrobe." She cries, he said.
It looked like Adrian has been crying, too. "Yes, we are going to write to the mayor of Cancun. While were were there, five babies died the same way with sepsis. There is something wrong in the baby section of that hospital," he said.
You just never know. It is so easy to blame the worker who doesn't show up.

Crusaders

2011-04-19T14:52:00.006-05:00

Gail Stewart was just leaving after a visit as Catholic Youth crusaders Martin, Jerrod and Omar arrived, bearing white rosaries. Misiletes and pictures of Jesus, urging us to go to church this week if we are Catholic (we are) and were in need of Misaletes in Spanish (we were). No no, no donations allowed. "You give during the collection at church," Martin said. And Holy Week's main services start right around the corner Thursday at 7pm at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church (El Sagrado Corazon de Jesus). I am so glad to be here.

Pinching pesos

2011-04-12T09:51:00.003-05:00

It's a minor crisis when a golf cart needs new seats every three or four years. Of course, the wood rot and upholstery break down doesn't occur when the cash is flowing. And after spending 4000 pesos plus 1400 in labor for new air conditioning and its installation, it's a little hard to envision spending 4000 pesos to fix up the machine.
On my last trip to Cancun, Carlos and I shopped alternatives. First, the Club Car store, where they wanted 780 pesos a seat cover, but had no backs. Plus your own plywood.
So I asked Carlos to take me to the fabric store Assis. I was looking for the equivalent of naugahide. They had several choices, but the only one thick and pliable enough was in pistachio green. A lovely Caribbean color, I might add.
My idea was to procure pre-cut plywood, thicker this time, and use a staple gun. Sergio took it on, even though he'd never done it.
The cloth was 280 pesos for three square meters. Staples 50 pesos, plywood 120 pesos and one donated sheet.

Punta, of course, enjoyed supervising the whole project. Sergio also tightened or replaced all the frame bolts and screws and cleaned off black paint applied to the aluminum a couple years ago by Gilligan. An annoyance as it always was chipping away.
So, for 1000 pesos labor and 500 pesos in parts, I have an upholstery job that would have cost me likely 4000 pesos this year, but without seams. Hey, I like it a lot!

An Aquired Taste

2011-04-08T18:16:00.007-05:00

I guess you could say I love Mexican life and all it has to offer, including cuisine. And when eating in Mexico, do as the Mexicans do. Comida Mexicana is a varied thing. From squash blossoms, fried or in soups, to the "Mexican truffle" called huitlacoche (pronounced weet la ko chee).
Huitlacoche is a corn fungus. Sounds gross, eh? It is a mold that grows between the husk and grains and then makes the grains larger and larger, until they are ready to burst.
When they do, or are helped along, they make an aromatic, mildly pungent black paste.
You've heard of food porn. This is real smut! Corn smut.
Here on Isla Mujeres, I know of three places that offer some. Casa Rollandi in Centro offers is as one of their pizza toppings. Bastso Grill has it in a quesadilla. And Rooster Cafe offers it in the sauce that accompanies the Island Omelette. If you haven't acquired the taste, try it. If you have the taste, know where to go! It's bound to be a popular food choice here during Semana Santa, the Easter vacation.

Mystery dog revealed

2011-04-06T07:46:00.006-05:00

Every morning, Punta has been in a rush to get out and smooch through the fence with this cute charcoal grey pooch. Who did it belong to, I wondered. Good looking dog, getting his shots, well cared for, but here every day and not "local."
Today, we learned. It was near the street sweeper, getting a pat when I asked Naomi if she knew. It's hers! Popi is a cared for Mexican dog, vaccinated, fed and loved. Dear to his mother. Punta and I just love it!

Living on Mexican Time

2011-04-04T07:36:00.008-05:00

Mexico begrudgingly joined the US yesterday in celebrating spring by springing forward an hour into Daylight Savings Time. And of course, a number of people were caught unaware and the "conchita" pulled pork vendors were left holding the pig!
Mexico did it on the first Sunday in April. Just like it did with the US until the US got smarty pants about it and changed the rules.
Mexico doesn't like that kind of change! No sir. Didn't like doing it in the first place so many years ago. Didn't like getting up an hour earlier this morning! Our body clocks say so. Don't they?
Well, the truth is, I thought about how wrong it would be to do it before the spring equinox. It would have meant our missing the last ferry getting back from Chichen Itza when we made our way to see the serpent!
So, for the next week, people will be late, not having heard word about the time change. Newspapers don't go crazy here promoting it in advance like they do in the US.
Those caught unawares will just be inconvenienced and snickered at in sympathy. And for the next week or two, when making business or dinner dates. the confirming question will be asked. Old or new time?
And for the record, the roosters seem to get along better with the rest of us on Daylight Savings time, crowing an hour later! Why are we saving daylight anyway? To get the crops harvested in the evening?

Black and Tan

2011-03-27T11:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday wasn't all about me after all. It was all about Punta, the black and tan dog in my life. As she hits 16 months, she is almost mature. And on the anniversary of her adult vaccines, time to get re-vaccinated.
We were visiting on the roof with Cheri and Jim Krull of Chatauqua NY when I decided to see if Pepe Vega was really back in town.
Pepe was the vet who replaced Delfino Guevara for a time as the non-profit vet on the island. Then, Delfino came back and Pepe started managing a bevy of models in Monterrey. Yes, fashion models.
He's been doing a lot of work for Isla Animals and Alison Sawyer Current lately, so I picked up the cell to see when he'd been in town. "I'm here and can come over," he said.
Since finding Delfino is a bit hard at times, I was pleased to know that Pepe will be back with some regularity. Punta seemed to like him and not remember that he spayed her at 2 months when Alison came upon her and her sisters, now in Minnesota.
Pepe threw a ball with her for a while before getting down to business. A 5-in-1 vaccine, a tick shot and an oral anti-parasite dosing.
All those meds made her restless and whiny last night. Yes, she got into my bed twice. She was so miserable.
Today, all is well and she frolicked in the sea on her morning escorted rounds which started with a golf cart ride direct to her favorite swimming hole. If islanders want to reach Pepe, you can get his phone number by emailing me via zina(at)zinahouse.com or through Alison(at)Islaanimals.org
Delfino is still doing good work on the island and is still available. This is just for those who wanted a choice.

Tomorrow, the world!

2011-03-20T20:50:00.003-05:00

Lindsay and Doug Milano seem to have mastered life in the slow lane on Isla Mujeres. On Monday, the hoardes at Chichen Itza and the sun shadow serpents of the equinox.

Let's sleep on it

2011-03-18T11:38:00.005-05:00

So now you know. Punta isn't always faithful to me. Maybe because Sergio is the only one who can get away with letting her legs on the couch. See how tricky those two are?

Gourmet Underground

2011-03-17T09:09:00.006-05:00

Sometimes, those of us accustomed to fine dining dine just fine at places like Kash Kechen Chuc near the Navy hospital and...LoLoLorena's. We stopped yesterday as she takes Evaristo tthe ferry dock this morning to go to Teluca, Veracruz, and she gets ready to go to Belgium.
Yum. Empanadas! For me, a good salbute is hard to resist!
We love that place. I call the owner catsun, the Maya word for handsome! Four of us ate, had horchata rice milk and bottled water. Paid about $15US and we were stuffed!

Religeous Order

2011-03-15T15:06:00.010-05:00

There's a lot more graffiti on the island these days. Most of it is religious. And allow me to suggest it is not Catholics doing it. The 2000 Census reported 76.5 percent of Mexicans are Catholic. Most of the rest are protestant. In the time I've been on Isla Mujeres, there has been a mushrooming of church constructions. I've only captured a few and couldn't get to others I know well and a few I've only seen once out of cabs.

The Assemblies of God has a large church n the church row that runs down a center road of the island, past the woodworking shops and lumber stores. Presbyterians were the first I became aware of on that street, through my friend Baltazar at Amigos Restaurant. He and his sons attend this church.
My hairdresser and some other neighors are Jehovah's Witnesses. Their meeting hall is at the end of that center road, across from the baseball field. Many speak English, but she does not even though she goes door to door with the message. I have to carefully plan my hair emergencies around Saturday mornings and Tuesdays!

Another neighbor and family attended the Christian Community Church. Their motivation to change faiths was some general dissatisfaction with the Catholic church and a belief that it's better not to sin in the first place, rather than sin, confess and be absolved.
There are others. Pentecostals have two houses of worship. The Baptists have the building next door to Casa Sirena. There are a few I have seen only at night, when the doors of a house open and the sign inside the door and the pews inside reveal a service.
In this Catholic nation, there is room for a lot of religions!

It is what it is.

2011-03-12T00:54:00.004-06:00

Student: Why are you calling it a Mexican Powerpoint presentation? Teacher: Because we are in Mexico and don't have a projector.

Tiger blood and Isla Mujeres

2011-03-09T10:10:00.007-06:00

My bed also often serves as my desk, no secret. During Carnaval this year, it also became a safe haven for Punta. Against my wishes, when I went to the bathroom, she would jump up! She is such a scaredy dog.
Especially since this year's them was "Africa" and many of the sound systems created the impression that the dancers were seeking to drink tiger blood.
Yes, like Charlie Sheen's Queens, she is also a slut puppy and wanted to be petted...there. Winning! Then she was off as told until the next troop of dancers came strutting by.

Safety in Mexico

2011-03-02T23:29:00.003-06:00

This is the most reasonable piece I have seen on the subject. I ask that your read it and stop worrying and praying for my redemption. Click on the highlighted words in the previous sentence.

Water dog!

2011-02-24T04:57:00.005-06:00

Punta can swim laps around me! I tried to show her how to use the noddle first. You've gotta be kidding, right?
I can do this on my own, Mom. Just watch.
So she swam circles around me and went back to sun herself on shore.

Rest and repeat. Oh, wait. I think I'll sneak up on that heron!

Yeah. Right.

Rapid growth

2011-02-21T08:11:00.005-06:00

Chuuk Kay Restaurante has grown before my eyes in its 8 or 9 months. It is far beyond its wooden decks with palapa roofs and onto the Playa Norte type of sand that was hauled in. More chairs, more umbrellas, a couple more palapa "private" rooms. It is definately a venue with enough staff to wait on the crews of the yachts that pull up. On weekends, the Band Without a Name plays from 3-5 or 6. So those of us who can't wait up for them to play at Fayne's at 1o:30pm, get to hear them while we are still awake. And the food! Well, you'll just have to try it. And the bathrooms? Your wish is their command. Toilets and faucets do all the thinking for you. Hey, that is a big deal here!

We had joy, we had fun

2011-02-19T18:27:00.004-06:00

Punta and I visited our friends at Mar y Sol for a chili dog party with bubble gum music. We had joy, we had fun, we had moments in the sun. And little stud muffin Buddy liked Punta a lot. But he had to take a nap while his mommie Eva snorkeled.

So we focused on the Peg's french frying and Les's hot dog grilling. Sandee make the chili for the hot dogs.
Afterward, lots of naps happened. Punta frolicked in the sand bars and swimming holes and went far out alongside my raft as if we were heading for Cancun.
It was magic.

My Mexican Big Mac

2011-02-17T18:33:00.006-06:00

A sometime reward for a good, hard day in Cancun is a Big Mac to go from the Ultramar dock in Puerto Juarez. Blasphemy, you say. Ha!
Look at the box. The burger was made especially for me. It's not a joke. I watched the seniorita do it. See, in Mexico, fast food is not so fast. It is made to order. And taken to go to eat on the ferry.
It has never seen a heat lamp! It is luscious. And to kick the Special Sauce up a notch, envelopes of jalapeno relish are provided. It is a great reward at the end of four hard hours in Cancun. Delicious! Curiously, the box is made in Costa Rica

TP Patrol

2011-02-15T14:38:00.004-06:00

On the way to the market this morning, we saw the Aquacan Residuales/Agua Negra trucks. They are pumping what you flushed, provided it gets to the street. If you flush toilet paper on the island, their job becomes highly unpleasant and clogs their equipment. Know, too, they make stops pretty close to each other. What I'm saying, if you flush, they could flush you out! Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

Cheap storm luxury

2011-02-12T11:55:00.011-06:00

It wasn't quite legal, but it wasn't really wrong. A kid came to the side door while Sergio was fixing the pipe to the water storage tank with conch in a plastic bag. He had gotten it when the north wind washed it up on shore. 'The right thing to do is throw it back and pay tax on it through a fisherman's co-op," Carmen said. I didn't know this at the time. It was cleaned pretty well. And only 60 pesos.
No conch tax was paid, I am pretty sure. But I only learned of that from Carmen today, wife of a fisherman.
Want to split it? he asked. Want to make conch ceviche and split it? I asked. I've got limes, tomatoes, onions, cilantro. Yes? Done.

He put the conch with onion, lime and salt first. Some black pepper.
Then he had me taste it. It was tender, yummy. Perfect. Then he added the tomatoes, jalapenos and some habanero chilis.
So he added the other ingredients. Toss before serving.

Restaurant price: 140 pesos per person. Home price, 70 pesos for three. (Final version is the first picture.)

The Wringer

2011-02-05T06:54:00.009-06:00

INM. Migracion. It is the agency we deal with to stay here, to legally make money (or lose) off our property, get jobs, pay taxes. Every year, it involves paperwork and trips to Cancun to get our visas.
It is highly unpleasant. From Mexican nationals who want a passport, to us gringos. We are all there. The ones who can't take it hire lawyers.
And this week was my turn. My lawyer did all the work and I only set foot inside twice to sign papers. Carlos Telliz, my sainted cab driver, stayed busy outside.
And then after each visit, Carlos took me to see my surgeon. Yesterday, he waited outside the office as Dr. Jose Manuel Mendoza cut my belly button, pushed serous fluid, uninfected, out of my abdomen, and removed tissue that had died due to poor circulation in the middle and installed a drainage tube. Oh, I hope you weren't having breakfast!
Mendoza, it turns out, did a 10 year hitch on Isla Mujeres as the Navy gastroenterologist, before his surgical career. So we chitchatted about island life while he worked with the assistance of Julieta.
Anyway, I'm a wearing a tube and a self massaging belt to get fluids out. Tomorrow, 8am, Carlos takes me back to Dr. Mendoza to remove the dressing and then I begin my beach life. Woohooo!

Candelaria aka Groundhog Day

2011-02-01T16:27:00.005-06:00

February 2nd marks the mid-way point between the winter solstice and spring equinox! Yay! And it's also thought of as the day we predict how much longer winter will last, which is why so much attention is paid to how groundhogs act today, especially in " you know where" Pennsylvania.
But in Mexico and other places, it is traditionally a time start spring planting. Earlier today, inspired by these blooming aloes on the edge of Garrafon Park, I came home to ponder what to do with the yerba buena (think mint mojotos!) I had bought from the Maya Plant Lady and deal with the standing chilies I got from her earlier morning.
Luckily, Sergio came by to clean the deck and I put gave him extra work, getting ready for candelaria! Rather, getting a jump on it!

These feets are made for spa-ing!

2011-01-29T05:31:00.006-06:00

I've known Ursula for years. She was a manager at Color de Verano when they had the best cafe in town, now turned into more rental suites.
She works for Ana Marie Cote at The Spa at Rocomar now. And Wednesday was my
day to take these weary feet in for an overhaul.
After a once over and soaking, a wrap with the plastic film to get the calves ready for the later massage.

My mind drifted to the sea and occasionally my camera. These were my "Kodak moments."
Ursula was meticulous and gentle. I relaxed into the surroundings and drank herbal tea.

An hour and a half later, it was over. My feet were smooth and a long lasting finish was applied to the Opi color of my choice! The Spa is full service and Ana Marie has studied air brush make up in LA to complete a full look for bridal portraits. Her staff can handle the whole wedding party as well. Appointments at 877 0016.

Conflicted

2011-01-25T12:00:00.004-06:00

Meet the Poster Child of the Week. As high season approaches, I advise you to stay away from this man, the likely thief of Gringa1's camera. She wrote the story yesterday afternoon on the mysisla.com chat board.
He was also the named suspect in my police prosecutor reports a couple years ago over the taking of my debit card and invoking my overdraft protection to get money I didn't have before I saw it on line some 10 hours later.
Who is this guy? A cocaine addict who calls himself a marijuana addict. But he's been hooked on coke since his teens and now in his mid-40s.
Joshua, really Josue Galvan, was the cook at Hotel Caracol in my early years coming to Isla Mujeres. That was when I didn't speak Spanish and he does speak English. Very well.
I've watched him get fired from every good job he's had on the island due to his coke habit. I thought he had it beat when I hired him two years ago during a really bad MS attack that lasted nearly three months. He would cook and do light cleaning and shopping four hours a day and then he could do his jewelry in my vacant apartment. He lifted my debit card after the employer relationship had ended and he came back to borrow a fan. But he knew my PIN, or as it's called here, NIP.
I figured I wasn't giving him any money, so the chances of a relapse were less. Wrong.
I bring him up not so much for his crimes, but for the risks to people who buy and build here and never learn the language. We have the whisper-case about a property manager . None of her ex- clients have gone public with their stories, but all her clients are now with other property managers. She was married to a Mexican and spoke the language. No one believed they'd be ripped off by a small town American. One property owner alone lost $44,000.
And then we have my conflicted feelings about the rush to reach everyone around here English. Creating a cozy spot for more monolingual people to get ripped off.
My feeling is that if you are going to try to live here, you should learn the language as soon as possible and don't buy until you do know it well enough to hired your own tradesmen and file your own complaints.
I thought I was helping an old acquaintance when I hired Josh. But I also knew he had a history of sticky fingers. As young people say these days, "My bad."
And I really hate living here and seeing more and more people going to the nearly free English school. It's said they'll make more money. But I'm wondering what percent will choose to be con-men? Enough Americans have taken huge losses as it is on the island. Others are paying marked up prices that the bilinguals collect and the workers don't profit.
You want to live in paradise? Learn the language for your own sake. It is the polite thing to do!
Now Gringa, get yourself over to Hotel Bucanero, take the English speaking owner's hand, and go meet the Director of Police.
/////////////////
You can curse me for this blog or praise me. It doesn't matter. It is just my opinion. But I don't care to debate it.

Money loser

2011-01-21T07:54:00.005-06:00

Yep, that thunk, clunk and shimmy on the tour yesterday was from my money loser. The golf cart. Sure, it's a money loser...courtesy ride,gratis. And since I have a major repair twice a year that is less than scheduled car maintenance appointments in the US, I can't complain. You are looking at a bad brake drum, four bad shoes. The rotted cable wasn't brought in.
Wilberth will work on it today before work, at lunch and bring it home early evening. Go ahead, do the oil and filters!
So he smooched a bit with Punta and went off into the night. Me: money loser!

Wet and Raw

2011-01-13T09:53:00.005-06:00

Pulling away from the Ultramar ferry in Juerto Juarez yesterday, I knew it was going to be a different kind of Cancun day for me. It was. Wet and raw. And really, it's the same on this side of the bay, too.
Frente Frio 20. Day 2 of the Norte, the Nor'easter, which is the 20th cold front since hurricane season.
Maybe they should have gone ahead and built that wall. It might have kept the cold fronts up north where they belong!

Cutting edge

2011-01-07T07:06:00.010-06:00

Nine hours after admission for repair of an umbilical hernia, the staff of Clinica CAMA in Cancun sent me home. With flowers!

I haven't even paid my bill yet! Close to 3-thousand US dollars for doctors, nurse and facility. Julieta, a doctor and wife of the doctor who founded the clinic, took my information. The Mexican taxpayer receipt will be ready when I return for a check-up on Wednesday.
The surgeon, Jose Manuel Menendez, was terrific. My island doctor, Antonio Salas T. was there too. His UNAM medical college classmate, Dr. Guzman, was the anesthesiologist. He was the one responsible for the rock 'n roll playing in the OR suite when I was being rolled in. Hey, most OR suites at the Cleveland Clinic also rock 'n roll!

He had met with he shortly after admission to to discuss anesthesia options. After some further weighing of pros and cons, I agreed to go with the epidural, as long as I had happy drugs that made all enjoyable and highly forgettable.
The OR room banter was fascinating, with the docs asking Dr. Salas what caused the illness of 500 some people at a Christmas dinner hosted by the mayor, prepared by her brother-in-law.
The official story is salmonella, but Dr. Salas said some people got so violently ill so quickly, that e .Coli must also have been involved. The meal was prepared very early in the day and served in late evening. Pork loin, spaghetti...this is where the memory drug is showing its signs. I can't recall what else he said!
Dr. Jose Manuel was fast and steady. I only felt what seemed a weight on my belly as he worked on me.
So I leave the clinic after walking a bit with the nurses and eating yellow jello (pineapple) and drinking apple nectar.
Carlos came and took me to the UltraMar where I was seated in a wheel chair a by a baggage handler. On the other side, Marla Bainbridge and Tammi Lewis were waiting for me and took my prescrptions and filled them on the way home. Then they warmed up my soup, fed the dog, unpacked my suitcase, and yes, put the roses in water. Does your outpatient clinic give you flowers? Hmmm.

And at home, Sergio had walked the dog and cleaned the pool, promising to be back today, along with Carmen, head of housekeeping. I saw her daughter and son-in-law on the ferry and they said they'd tell her I am home already!
Around 9:30, as I awakened in breath taking pain, Dr. Mendoza called. Si? Take another tramadol with ketorolac. You'll be fine.
And I am. But I'm eyeballing the Demerol written by the Cleveland Clinic for me, since the next option here is morphine. I don't like it one bit. But hey, I certainly am not complaining!

The surgeon

2011-01-03T21:16:00.006-06:00

This is the man I am entrusting with my belly button and the fist-sized hernia surrounding it. Dr. Jose Manuel Mendozo Cabrera, aka Jose Manuel to radiology at Hospital Americano, has been a doctor since his mid-20s, but only recently accredited as a general surgeon.
Along the way, he was a gastroenterologist with endoscopy and is now a general surgeon certified to perform laproscoptic surgery. He is a year older than me (I like that in a doctor!) at age 57.
I met with him again today and I fessed up that the Z-Pack prescribed by Dr. Yupit did little to clear up my sinus issues. He said it's best to wait until it clears up.
But after thinking it over, he prescribed Cipro and agreed it best to move forward so I an recover my strength in time for the next wave of hostessing at Zina's Guest House.
So, I meet Carlos Telliz, my cabbie and friend, on "the other side" at 7am Thursday and check into CAMA, an anacronym that spells the word 'bed' but means Centro Ambulante etc., an outpatient surgical center with all the life support one might need.
I don't believe the doctor speaks English, but I could be wrong. Someone over the weekend was appalled that I would go to a Spanish speaking doctor. Why? I speak Spanish and there are excellent doctors here for the residents. So why discriminate?

Facebook neurologist

2010-12-31T07:19:00.008-06:00

Dr. Jose Yupit is a Facebook friend. He was my neurologist nearly three years ago when Dr. Salas admitted me to Galenia Hospital in Cancun for a suspected exacerbation of multiple sclerosis. He also is certified in Internal Medicine. So he was the man my surgeon, Dr. Jose Manuel Mendoza, wanted to do a work up on me. And he sure did! Best physical I've had in a decade!
I did not mention any of the aches and pains and annoyances I am having. He diagnosed a sinus infection and inflamed kidney the old fashioned way, without scans or specific X-rays. And I have had flank pain and an annoying post nasal drip which he discovered by poking and looking. So...
He has given the go ahead for the surgery, with the stipulation that the anesthesia be "regional" and not general. That translates to an epidural spinal block under sedation. He thinks this will be less of a shock to my nervous system, more kind to the dopamine receptors. So I will see the surgeon, Dr. Jose Manuel Mendoza, again on Monday and will will discuss the prices at the various facilities he uses. I talked to Mendoza a bit last nighton the phone, so I know what we will talk about.
From the 70 dollar x-rays and 100 dollar lab work, to the 35 dollar EKG, it has been a pleasure. I paid Dr. Yupit 90 dollars for his thorough work up and written report to Dr. Mendoza. I would have spend more on my Medicare co-pay in the US. It is reassuring to know my ticker is fine and what my dosing for Avonex (beta interfeon 1a) the MS drug should be before and after surgery. No one at the Cleveland Clinic paid attention to that detail for the last two procedures I had there.
It is also reassuring that Dr. Yupit has not entered the pages of Facebook for two months. Facebook friends know that kind of detail about each other. "I mean to, but I get too busy,
he says.
And another Facebook friend, Tammi Lewis, returns from Sandusky in time for the New Year with three months of that MS drug. Life is good here in Mexico.

Forgiven: Dance Partner

2010-12-26T07:16:00.003-06:00

It had been a while since Punta saw her dance partner. He begged her forgiveness.
And so they made up. Sergio, a native of Chile, had been moved to dance with Punta seeing the story of Carrie, a Chilean golden retriever on You Tube.
So Christmas was good to Punta and she once again had a dance partner. Feliz Navidad! Oh, they are still not ready for prime time!

Police presents

2010-12-24T06:31:00.008-06:00

Near the Christmas donkey ride in the park, next to the new mini-soccer stadium for the 4-8 year olds, next to the new gazebo, will be the new police mini station in La Gloria. I caught it on cell phone as workers topping were it off yesterday. Feliz Navidad, a la policia!

Running on Empty - cranberry sauce

2010-12-21T15:11:00.004-06:00

So you're about to do it again: Cook a bird and then, last minute, open a can of cranberry sauce. Of course, you could cook berries and making 'em poppin' good. But really, now, you know yourself! Or maybe you know me. And this is what I did today, even though I am picking up a turkey dinner At Vivian's Qubano on Saturday.
I saw kumquats, really sour ones, at what we shall call LoLo's Mestiza: A woman not of pure Maya extraction from a Maya village that sells fresh fruits and veggies on a corner near LoLo's place. My Mestizas didn't have them; they had kohlrabi, but that's another story.
So, I took about 8 of the kumquats, and cut them in half and removed the seeds, Then I quarter ed the halves and put them in a pan with a good bit of sugar and about 5 minced garlic cloves. And boiled! I had also put some celery tops in there, to soon be fished out.
When they seemed done, I added a can of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and cooked it all up. It's done when the colors blend.
THEN, add some deveined and diced celery. I added three stalks. And about a half a jicama, sliced, julienned and then finely diced. A teaspoon of nutmeg. Stir is all up and refrigerate.
Cranberry sauce never tastes as good as does a cranberry relish! Are you really just going to open a can of sauce now that you know?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-18T13:43:00.003-06:00

May all your Christmas Dreams come true!

A torment of noise

2010-12-14T08:04:00.005-06:00

What was all the brouhaha about in Centro yesterday? Here's a little back ground. The mayor (presidenta Alicia Ricalde) entered into an agreement with the bus company to put combi vans on the streets. Since the bus never got enough riders to fill a van, the cabbies see this as the mayor chasing after a way to put then out of business while rewarding an inefficient private operator.
They had just re elected their leader and the company had just put its combis on the street. Only one thing left to do. Turn it over. Then, the gendarmes were called in. The police batons were like the drum beat for what unfolded.
The issue is about the mouths that are fed by cab fares. Based on ridership habits, it is hard to imagine islanders herding toward the vans. They might feel different if their own drivers were behind the wheel. This excellent montage of the day's events: Click - Courtesy TV Isla Mujeres.

Ghetto furnace

2010-12-13T19:56:00.005-06:00

I have fired up the stove in an effort to bring some warmth into the house. It's going to get a degree or so below 50 degrees Fahrenheit tonight.
When I was a reporter, I covered too many tragic deaths - by carbon monoxide poisoning or fires caused by people whose heat had been shut off trying to keep warm . In the case of public housing projects, heating systems all too often are in shambles and not repaired.
And people in that situation tried to use stove tops and ovens to keep warm. Hence the term, ghetto furnace, for trying to get warm in a cold spell.
Since we don't have heating systems in paradise, this nor'easter is a long term job. So I can't just cook a little something and expect to get the place truly warm. No, this is a job for DOG FOOD!
In a dutch oven, cook black beans to start. They take a long time and in cold weather, soaking isn't needed. Just cook them in a lot of water to start. Put in several cloves of garlic. Dogs like garlic and it is a natural tick repellent. If this were mosquito season, I might make some human food with a lot of garlic!
I also cut up a six ounce pack of hot dogs, aka vienna sausages, sliced thin. Boy, it's really starting to smell good. I figure they can cook forever and maybe therefore will fall apart.
At this point, I add some more water and start looking for veggies. A vacuum box of mixed veggies is good.
And it cooks some more, providing some warmth and making Punta go antsy in anticipation. She knows one of her food batches when she smells it.
I had been a little preoccupied, so I hadn't make this in a couple weeks. There was the half can of pork dog food in pork and rice gravy from this morning. So I threw that in.
And now, when it looks about a half hour from done, add rice and water. Hmm, there's five-day old potato/chicken salad, too! Toward the end, a couple whole eggs, crushed in their shells. A protein rich stew!
What more? Oh, with all that flavor going on, a little sweet nutrition never hurts:
There's left over sweet potatoes from November still...Punta's gonna love this. And the air is warmer and more humid for creating a ghetto furnace with an actual supervised cooking pot on top of it.

Listo

2010-12-12T11:02:00.004-06:00

It's officially finished, but workers were polishing the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church "El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús" on Sunday, the Feast Day of the Virgen of Guadalupe. It's two short blocks from Zina's Guest House.

Backside of "Jesus"

2010-12-09T11:01:00.005-06:00

Workers are crawling all over the rear of "El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús" (Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church) to be dedicated Christmas Eve in La Gloria, just a couple blocks from my house. A couple blocks in another direction, a gazebo is being finished in the park. A sculpture of the Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus is already installed in the park. It's beginning to look a lot like December, here in La Gloria!
At the SuperXpress the other night, just before closing time, two cashiers in elves hats begged Diane and me to buy Hershey cookies in chocolate. Two bags for only 10 pesos. They went on and on! Well, I asked the fatal question, and yes it was true, they get a commission on each two they sell! It's Christmas on the island for sure! So, we bought. as my Tweets yesterday hinted.

Hearing aids trauma

2010-12-06T14:32:00.004-06:00

There is a liquidator in South Dakota that has one pair of Widex Senso Diva estate hearing aids that are identical to the pair of which I lost one. No, he's not budging from the $1500 asking price! His client's estate paid more than double that. Of course, that was three years ago!
So, I have been playing with others and truthfully, the ear piece variety is not so great here. The shape of my ears, "curvy" is how the audiologist described them, make the piece fit tight and gives me an earache after a time.
So I have been carefully looking at eBay sales. And researching. I like this approach, cheaper yet on eBay. The little ear bud, retractable by the wire, is the kind Bev Caldarelli had just gotten when I was in Malvern. So...stay tuned. Bidding ends tomorrow! Boomers, listen up. You are going to need them soon, too!
And the spare I'll have...goes to Blackie, my Mexican neighbor and sport fisherman guide. He was helped by the cheapie one I brought back in October, just to see if he could ever hear again after not hearing from the left ear for 20 years after a lobster dive near Contoy Island. We'll help him get it calibrated with a new ear mold in Cancun.

Taxi cab questions

2010-12-01T15:37:00.006-06:00

Tourists are planning their trips to the island and asking how much to pay a cab. Someone suggested yesterday that to go to the Villa Vera area from Centro, you should just give the cabbie 15 pesos when you get there and get out of the cab!
Let me suggest that if you cannot afford 20 pesos, the tourist rate, you might consider a stay-cation. I mean, that's $1.50 for a cab for you and your honey to get out of the chaotic reconstruction of the main drag in Centro!
The recession, a decline in tourism, the rise in gasoline prices and related cost of living increases, has made this a difficult time for the cab drivers.
Many have left the island. Owners of the cars and union licenses, have gone from 12 hour shifts in which they collected 200 pesos, to 16 hour shift in which they are charging the drivers 300 pesos. It is hard with the population being as it is, underemployed, to collect the rental and gasoline money!
So, the first $25US collected, goes to the cab owner. I, as a local, don't feel in the least put out, to pay 100 pesos to someone who takes me into town, gets me past the construction, waits while I hop into the Seven-11 for the ATM, and takes me home. That would be $7.50 in US terms.
Yes, I have a reputation of being thrifty amongst my friends and detractors as well. But I am a reasonable person. I don't know how or why these cabbies continue to drive. But some do and we are lucky to have them.
So, if you are going to, say, La Gloria, from Centro, consider 20 pesos to be a fare rate, and a more just one. You are arriving during a deep recession in Mexico, one with inflation like you have not seen oversees, with gasoline prices higher than in the US, and people with families to feed and electric bills, unlike anything seen virtually anywhere else in the world, facing the drivers. And yes, the rest of us here as well.

Construction on Isla Mujeres

2010-12-01T08:15:00.008-06:00

The bad news spread like wildfire yesterday. The reconstruction of our " front street," Avenida Medina, was out of money less than a quarter of the way through. Six weeks ago, I heard the same thing about the new hospital and church in La Gloria. That was the subject of another blogger, but as soon as I came back from my late October trip to Ohio, I took a picture of the church, intending to blog about it myself. Then I asked a couple locals if they thought the projects would be done by the end of the years, as officials had promised.
"No problema," they answered. Really?
It hardly seemed doable and since I was on a blog block, I didn't rush to blog about it. Then, Ric and Christina came for two weeks and watched from the rooftop. As they got ready to check out last weekend, they noted that the view from the top suggested the church was nearly finished.
Hey, so does the street view!
Located on the corner across from the Bead Ladies Taller, "El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús" church, The Sacred Heart of Jesús, is now getting finishing touches. It will seat more people than the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Centro, where the celebration of the feast days began last night.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus also has additional space for meetings and classes. Work has slowly been going on inside the hospital too, and outside, where and ambulance dock ramps have been added. Never underestimate the construction possible when the municipal president and president of the republic of Mexico are of the same party!

The traveling hearing aid

2010-11-29T10:26:00.007-06:00

I am short a hearing aid. It has gone on a journey without me.
When I spent five days in Ohio in October, I was showing off my ability to hear. Rick Moody's mom, Bev Caldarelli, even came over to Karen Gamber-Wackerly's place so show off her new pair. We both cooed, delighted with ours.
And then it was time to go. Emilio was picking me up at 3:30am and it was cold, so I wore the new, slightly stiff hooded sweat shirt layered on top of a T-shirt, layered on top of a camisole. Since I was the first person at Akron-Canton Regional Airport, I had time to kill. When the gift shop opened up, I opted for a neck pillow, all the better to sleep sitting up.
So I went to the gate and slept. I did well and woke up in time to board the plane and had a nice flight to Atlanta and another little nap before deplaning in Atlanta. There, at the ATA gate area, I notice my hearing aid was gone. They searched the plane and sent me to customer service. They gave me the number to Lost and Found at CAK Airport. I waited 24 hours or so and called from my home in Isla Mujeres. THEY HAD IT!
After an elaborate verification that it was my make and model, I was told to send an insured FedEx enevolope to them. Having heard that, Emilio rushed to the airport and picked up the hearing aid package.
He mailed it to Johanna after a bit and she opened it as soon as she got it, a couple days before coming to Isla Mujeres early in November.
Well, she emailed me. She had two in-the-ear hearing aids, clear in color. Not one behind-the-ear (BTE) with a taupe body.
I called Lost and Found at Akron-Canton Reginoal Airport. "That's the only hearing aids I had," Karen said. "But I'll call home to the five others who work here."
Time has passed. I talked to Karen again. "No one remembers your hearing aid and it's not here. It probably was donate to AmVets." Call them, I said. "Well, they just get a box of junk and I am sure they won't be able to find it."
Now, the asking price for that pair of hearing aids this week on eBay is $1500, a give away price, but still three times what I paid. I've submitted a bid, resigned to the hopelessness of getting the traveling one back from some lucky disabled veteran.
It's probably sleeping on a sidewalk somewhere near the Stark County Regula Federal Building, waiting for an appointment with the owner's case worker. Or, maybe it's flying to Florida for the winter with a thrifty shopper like me, feeling lucky to have a Widex Diva Senso hearing aid.
Me, I've learned to get along with the one and am careful where I wear it. And I keep looking at eBay to see if anyone else is interested in the pair, worn only one year until the owner died and they were placed in a box for safe keeping a year ago.
So here is a warning to you. The airport doesn't keep track of it's found items or a list of names of people looking for items. Need a gold watch? Try calling Canton-Akron Regional Airport.

How dogs schmoozle

2010-11-27T17:12:00.008-06:00

Punta and Pony pose for a portait after the 24 hour sleep over began. See how nice Pony sits?
The pipsqueak rat terrier came in here thinking she'd own Punta. So then Punta never let it rest.

A bad sign was her escape upon arrival, after I had locked down the compound and opened her pet carrier. Ric and Christina, guests from Canada, saw me trying to get her to come back as she did a couple fly-bys. So they worked with a brigade of neighbor children led by David, and ultimately carried her home.
This was a miracle because Pony isn't all that fond of children or males, being the second dog taken away from a Maya boy in San Cosme, where a pet sterilization clinic was recently held. The boy didn't mind giving up his abused dog because, hey, they're just toys.
OMG. That's when I realized the fence posts can't hold her, nor the bars in the steel door in the back patio entrance. She's that tiny, just slips right through even though she looks bigger.
Then Wrestlemania began. By about 3am, Pony played dead. Without a command to do so. I believe that in collegiate wrestling, this is called passivity. But it would pick back up and continued all night. Then the dog walker came at 7:30am, having not slept for other reasons, and took one look at me and said, "Oh no!" She knows rat terriers . "I'm scared of that dog. I was just bitten by a cat!"
I suggested she just take Pony just go to the corner for business and back, since she gets a lot of doggie play opportunities at Alison's Isla Animals and the "no can do" emergency call was already made. So just a short walk before Jeff and Alison come, please.
Pony had other ideas, slipped herself out of her collar after pooping during the walk and headed into a neighbor's house, hammock sleepers still asleep at 8am, into their sleeping room and up a flight to stairs onto the roof.
There the whole neighborhood looked out at them and laughed.
Inga Gross, the dog walker, says this kind of puppy play is called schmoozle in German. That's where we get the word schmooze. It also applies to rat terriers napping in the spoon position, which I am sure might have happened had they continued over days
But I have multiple sclerosis and am unsteady on my feet, having a 10 pound dynamo at my feet is far more dangerous than Punta alone, though she is a big dog. "Casi un pony," Alfredo the dog groomer said. Almost a pony.
Carmen calls her Barbie because of her long, slim legs. But she is learning not to jump. She doesn't pull on her leash. She will mature into the only dog I need and can have play dates at Alison's or with the beach dogs near Mar y Sol when she needs more socialization.
Now, Pony resumes waiting on a ride to Seattle or Portland. She needs a good person to schmoozle with and lots of space to run. And having some rats around to catch is perfect for a feisty rat terrier.

Birthday Dog

2010-11-22T03:24:00.002-06:00

Her adoption papers say she is one year old. So, Punta and I went for a golf cart ride so she could show me where Inga Gross takes her on walks. Full of energy, she requires a walk of about an hour a day to keep her focused.

Her favorite area is near the sea. She loves the smell. In the golf cart, she is a perfect passenger because she wants her nose to catch all the air and its smells.
She likes flowers, too. Bougainvilleas are OK with me because she doesn't dig those up!
For her official social outing later, we went to Chuuk Kay Restaurante near the laguna. It has sand on the campus and is pet friendly, unlike most locales here. There were four dogs there yesterday afternoon. One, her playmate. And two small dogs with airs. No problem. Any day mom gives her shrimp tails is a good day. That and a can of dog food there and it was a feast. Afterward, she went to the electric company to pay our bills with the scanner and money machine. Now, she is exhausted and I am up because we went to bed so early.
So today, she starts year two. That means a lot of studying for her so she can be helpful and not just pretty!

Charro Negro!

2010-11-20T07:47:00.002-06:00

The "Black Cowboy" is one of my favorite drinks since a couple from Northern California visited last spring. So easy too:

Basically, tequila and Coca-Cola

Quantities for one drink:

Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 oz white tequila
4 Cubes Ice
Fill With Coca-Cola
Salt

Instructions:

Rub rim of glass with lemon juice and dip rim in salt
Put 4 ice cubes into the glass, add Tequila and juice of half a lemon
Add some more salt if you like and fill the glass with Coca-Cola
Stir gently

It really lifts the spirit, so to speak!

Thanksgiving approaches!

2010-11-19T09:47:00.009-06:00

So here are some Halloween pics! Above, Anna Douglas, from PEACE. The party at the Garden Restaurant near Punta Sur was a fundraiser for scooter helmets for toddlers and children.

Roger hosted alone. Marilyn had to go back to Saskatchewan to be with her mother who has cancer.
In Marilyn's absence, Inga Gross cleaned the house, arranged the snacks and poured the drinks.

So all the usual ghouls were there!
Gunther is the steady date of Gladys, the fallen angel. Nice couple!
Katie Milton the pugilist scared off Mexican men who wanted to dance at the next party!
Javier Martinez came alone. But wow, it took no time for him to find Marilyn Monroe in the body of Mary Ann Burns.

I was a half baked pirate, so I'll save it for the Pirates of the Caribbean party January 2! Be there or be square.

Food thoughts...

2010-11-09T14:32:00.006-06:00

The cold, rainy snap has my mind swimming in thoughts of comfort food. Last night, as I was waiting for sleep to overcome me, I recalled my weekend's reading that included the November issue of Food! from the Food Network.
I paid particular attention to the pie recipes because it is the one thing I'd like to bake. And low and behold, each of the recipes called for making the crust in a Cuisinart processor. No cutting butter into flour, no needing. I am inspired.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I have a thought of making papaya pie. I made the filling last spring or so, dicing the papaya and cooking it lightly with brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. If you click the link, you'll get basically that for a recipe. It was awesome and Carmen and Sergio both loved it. So, papaya pie it is!
This morning, I was still cold after getting my hair cut, so I stopped at Carolina's loncheria, which will be named Carol's. Americanized is how she sees it. It was 11am and my stomach was empty.
I had a flouta and that held me over until...Carmen came by with a huge bowl of chicken mole and rice. Mole (mole-ay) is the dark salsa that has cocoa in it, but also about 50 spices. It is warming on a cold day.
After my siesta (it really is part of the neighborhood culture) I will have a huge green salad. I might break open the white balsamic vinegar I bought with Mio minutes after he picked me up at the airport.
He wanted to shop for Italian items for his family's table, so we went to an Italian deli-grocery. I also got a risotto mix that has diced sun dried tomatoes in it. All good for cold weather eating. But here, greens are always welcome because even the green grocers don't seem to place much stock in them.
Those are all pleasant dreams!

About time!

2010-11-08T15:53:00.004-06:00

I'll ease back into blogging the easy way, slowly! When I saw Jana at Casa Sirena at the end of summer, we talked about the things that kept me from contributing to her cookbook and why I sometimes can't get it together to blog.
She suggested I just write about what I cook and forgo the measures, which I can't say I use. So, today, I had someone working in my office with me and the handyman painting and cleaning the outside.
At the same time, I cooked. I made a potato salad with a little inspiration. I bought three potatoes from the Maya vendor on the corner. Literally on the corner. She puts he things out on a bench and works until she is sold out.
I also bought a a firm but ripe avocado. I had an onion and celery at home. So, potato salad!
First, I chopped the seasoning vegetables: onion, celery and a red pepper in a fine dice.
I cooked the potatoes, boiled a couple eggs. I cooked the potatoes already in the size chunks I wanted and as soon as they were drained, I put them on top of the diced veggies and topped it all with a couple table spoons of reduced fat Hellman's mayonnaise.
As I started tossing it all, I realized it needed a little more zip and moisture, so I added a couple tablespoons of white vinegar and a table spoon grape seed oil. Then I cut up the warm eggs and folded them in and added a tablespoon of sweet relish and a large pinch of salt.
I refrigerated until the potato mixture was sufficiently cool for the avocado. I cut it in half and took a sharp knife and scored each half, sort of a dice, and scooped it out with a table spoon into the potato salad. And folded it one more time and used the pepper mill to make it just right! Then I chilled it some more.
That fed me and two hungry workers around noon and at 4pm, I am still not hungry. So now that I am back to blogging, I will take a siesta before uploading pictures for my next blog.
Oh, I also cooked a dutch oven of dog food today! I'll give you the rice and beans and healthy stuff recipe later in the week. Doggie mommie is back!

Rural diversity

2010-10-25T10:20:00.008-05:00

What's a little diversity among friends? Having grown up with pre-school playmates who were almost all black, recovering tuberculosis patients at the hospital where my dad worked as medical director, and spent my teen years in Malvern OH, where the small percentage of blacks didn't seem all that different from anyone else, I wondered why the publisher was wasting his money on "diversity training" when I worked at the Plain Dealer.
Sure, my former copy editor Felipe Nieves, a Puerto Rican, was moved to ask "Where's the color?" when he visited me in Minerva and Malvern a couple years ago. I lamely pointed him to Clearview Golf Course just outside Minerva in East Canton, founded by a graduate of Minerva High School, frustrated by discrimination in golf. Most of my friends learned to golf there and take advantage of the PGA/LPGA professional instruction provided by the Powells. Certainly they helped educate the rural people with some money.
Facebook friend Bill Monroe Sr. used to caddy there himself, while is mother was the postmistress of Malvern, OH. People like my father, who was truly color blind, were proud of that and didn't like that Diane's parents moved her out of town when she took up with one of our basketball stars.
So I can't gloss over America's shortcomings in race relations by pointing to a golf course or a black postmistress. Malvern had some other integration problems, too, but to me, a white girl, they seemed not too great.
Let's just say we got along better than our counterparts in the big cities and leave it at that. So, that's the backdrop for our gathering at West End Inn a couple Saturday's ago. Some of us had not seen each other for nearly 40 years and were eager to be reunited with Dietra Monroe Turner and Faye Brown (Stokes-Gardner), whatever he last name is now! As aside, she announced, "I've been married and divorced three times!" Oh, two knee replacements, too!
Faye was a live wire when were growing up. She and I used to run together in my little red VW. Earlier, those who were allowed to go to the sock hops, were entertained by her rendition of the funky chicken.
My friend and colleague at the Plain Dealer, Philip Morris, a black columnist, used to quiz my about rural blacks, how they got there. I guess I could only say the same way as everyone else everywhere else. Anyway, for a dozen of us, it was a great reunion, that Saturday night in October.
Cheryle Burwell Clark was some years older than Dietra, but you couldn't tell, could you!
The Gamber girls, Karen on the left and Beth seated next to me, lived on a farm very close to the Eakin girls. And Faye spent a lot of time there. Kathy Eakin Shingleton is on the right below, with Donna Early Tope and Connie Lambert Crowl. Stan Gamber is the only guy in the group picture. at the top. He graduated with me.
It was a great evening among great friends. We vow to do it again!

Bittersweet

2010-10-22T06:15:00.011-05:00

"I thought I'd never see you again!" she said. Helen Decker, 91, moved away from Lake Mohawk while I was heading out to college. She lived two doors away when there was not yet such thing as next door neighbors; she and her family lived several lots away. We lived in a bay that had few year round residents. When I came home from school, I'd head there first and she would make grilled cheese and pickle sandwiches. Her daughters were friends and one, Zella, lived next door to her parents with her sons.
37 years is a lot of time. Before I saw Helen, I saw Zella and we talked. At first, I thought she was Helen! Zella, God bless, is a breast cancer survivor.
My best friend from the second half of eighth grade, when I moved to the lake and left behind Deb Page Novak in Louisville, was Debbie Decker. She and I used to comb each other's hair for hours and jabber away about our crushes. Helen recalled how I was crushed in eighth grade when my crush would not given me the time of day.
We met Saturday night, after a marathon shopping day - done in two shifts - at the Lake Mohawk Club House during a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for Dave Decker's son, Doug, who has small cell carcinoma of the lungs. Dave was the older brother with a boat who taught me to water ski.
He remembered how hard I was to teach. He did not remember how in subsequent years, I used to ski past his house and spray him with my hot little slalom ski. Selective memory I guess.
Karen Gamber-Wackerly, left, was my hostess on my trip home. The Gamber girls were cousins to Debbie, on her father and their mother's side. Karen is now the postmistress at Malvern. Her sister, Beth Shearer, has a cattle farm now. Both are widowed. Growing up, their father Dick was the cattleman and my school bus driver. My senior year, I served him breakfast at the Kopper Kettle before he went to the bus depot.
When we were growing up, Beth went on my first spring break to Florida with me. Yes. we were the hot chicks of North Miami Beach that year. And boys our age from our hometown stayed a hotel away and kept track of us, made sure no boy sharks got near. We were close that way, all of us from Malvern, Ohio.
The night was still young and the Gamber girls and I had a date at the West End Inn. Tomorrow, that story. And a little bit about the Funky Chicken.

Out of the office!

2010-10-14T06:09:00.002-05:00

I am, as an email reply might say, out of the office until October 20. My house and dog sitter is not authorized to negotiate on my behalf (!) but if you are patient, I will! Punta dog and Zina's Guest House are in good hands. I will be in rural Ohio, the land of little wifi. I'll write when I can.

Mission accomplished

2010-10-11T04:36:00.004-05:00

Ashley Dixon's fall vacation is down to the final hours. Friday, she met with Dr Antonio Salas, pictured here in front of La Vida Dulce Casitas, to pass along a wheel chair for a grandmother of an Isla Mujeres man. Armando is a maintenance worker/handyman who recently moved off island in search of work. His mother is a Mestiza now back in her Maya village between Merida and Campeche.
For the past six months, Armando has been trying to assemble money to get his grandmother a wheelchair so she can be amongst her great-grandkids. Things are so slow now, his family's needs so great, he could not assemble the 2500 pesos to buy her a wheel chair.
Dr Salas turn to me for help. I didn't have enough time in Ohio in June to pull it off. I turned it over to God and Facebook. Then, Gladys Galdamez got involved. She enlisted our mutual friend Kathleen Price, founder of Ohio's Mission of Love Foundation, a woman without limits, who had just finished a cleft pallet surgery brigade at the orphange founded by Gladys's mother, Casa Guatemala. Robin Mostachetti recently blogged bout her visit there.
Kathy called upon one of her donors, who made a donation in memory of his father, a long time Mission of Love volunteer. Kathy shipped the wheel chair to Ashley, who brought it down on her vacation. It didn't hurt that she has an aunt working as an airline nurse in case there were transportation issues.
Armando was leaving for the village where his grandmother now lives on Friday afternoon. Everything timed out great! The rendezvous was at 2pm and bam! the job was done.
Armando has a camera he got when times were better. He promised to take a picture of his grandmother in her new wheel chair, scooting amongst her great-grandchildren.
It doesn't take much to make a difference in lives. The motto of Mission of Love: You are not here to save the world, but to take the hand that reaches out for you.
Thank you Ashley Dixon. You made a difference.