Blog #4

This has been a week of "incidents" in San Blas. We are keeping a close eye on events and may move on but not to the gated community in Florida with all the other blue hairs driving golf carts!!!!

You can see Ray here trying to fix one of our minor problems, being the Home Depot plumbing and electrical guy!!! Ok, so a plumber was called next and our minor problem became a major deal and we are now constantly mopping the floor now waiting for the plumber to return but we have learnt this year that, "Manana" really means any day in the future!!!!


Here I am delivering medical supplies donated by a friend at home. They were very pleased to get them. There are two hospitals in San Blas. One for the rich and this one that I was taken to last year after I was chewed by a dog. Oh, the dog is still there and any day now.......I intend to drive past it with my "weapon" and get my revenge. Instead of,"Dog attacks woman" the news will be,"Woman attacks dog"!!!! Do I need to tell you that I'm kidding? I will probably never go down that street again on my bike. I even hold my breath going past in a car!!!

On Saturday we were invited to two birthday parties. These are pictures of the first one. It was right across the street. The kids smashed a pinata and the adults talked and ate. I was given a seat at the head of the table and food started to appear infront of me. first this bowl of pozole. An interesting dish. It has huge kernels of corn, broth and all parts of the chicken. I think there are probably feet in there somewhere but luckily I just got skin and a neck!!! I have had this dish twice and I think I'm done. I have done with this small piece of Mexican cullinary culture. I do not care to ever eat it again. It was followed with yummy chocolate cake and a custardy thing that Ray would have loved if he had of been there!!!!! Ray came with me and then vanished into thin air. I finally found him back at home!!!! He missed the pozole!!!

Yesterday we had a happening on our street right outside our house, actually where the party had been the night before but this time oh my!!! First they put up this huge tarp across the road. They blocked the road off with cars and then set up chairs and tables. It took me some time to find out that this was a christening party. They had a juke box with which they shared music with the neighbourhood until almost 11 last night. So next time you have a special event in your life why not block off the road, crank up the tunes, bring out the tequilla and party all day and night? Can you imagine how long it would last? Five, maybe ten minutes???

Yesterday afternoon I went to deliver vitamins. I borrowed a friends truck and her Mexican husband. It was really fun. At a couple of houses when the kids saw me they ran into the house yelling,"Vitamins!!!" but of course in Spanish!!! There were many hand shakes and good wishes. For the first time we asked if they would like to have them for another year and they all said yes. We got ourselves into a bit of a pickle at one spot as a father came over and asked for vitamins for his two kids and then a mother came and wanted vitamins for her 3 kids and at that point I said to my helper, "Tell the next one NO!!!" It worked out so well and I'm not sure how. It was kind of like the story of the bread and the fishes. Thank you to everyone who donated!!!

Last night was the opening of the bird festival and like always it started with a troup of folk dancers. They were supposed to start at 8. Organization took until 8:35. Speaches took another hour and then finally the show. Wonderful. You may find this hard to believe but it was really cold and damp by 11:00 p.m. but we survived yet again!!!

Did you know that if you lay under a ceiling fan and squint your eyes you can count the blades even if the fan is on high? Now, how interesting is that!!!