This morning I realized that I was not on the tennis schedule so I took the opportunity to hike my favourite hike.....the photos you see below are all a 35 minute hike from the main big grocery store and perhaps one hour from the down town core...so not only is there this amazing culture and history and a wealth of beautiful old buildings there is also beauty of a different kind.
I love to do this hike...enjoy!!!
Going up to the cross
Have to cross the stream
The bottom of the canyon
The hike up to the cross
The bridge
The view from the bridge
Into the canyon
Looking back
This area is an adventure playground
Fabulous!!
Yashi Kochi!!!
Have a great weekend!!!
YASHI Kochi!!!
Well here I am in my casita 2.30 pm Friday afternoon awaiting bathe cable guy who was supposed to have shown between 9am and 12 noon and this after already waiting a week....and people ask me if I would ever build a house in Mexico??
When the appointment was made I said to myself bet he does not show up and really going down to the company and raised a ruckus is not my way and certainly not in a different country although Gracie has gone down to their office for me to find out what is happening her Spanish is quite good and I await her telephone call.
Update...Gracie just called and she tells me they will be here between 5.30pm and 6pm!!!!
Better update he arrived at 4.30pm and I am BACK CONNECTED!!!
So being at the casita all morning gave me a chance to do some reading and going through all my stuff and sorting and doing some re arranging....
It also gave me a chance to some letter writing which I can do without internet and then copy and paste at a later date when I need it.
I have three projects that I need to work on...the first one of my tennis buddies is leaving SMA in two months he and his wife are relocating to the USA....he has been a big part of the tennis community and I thought we should have a nice farewell dinner for him and his wife.....so I have contacted a local restaurant and set a tentative date and menu and price and then have to e mail all his friends to see who can attend...not a big task but one that takes some organization.
The next event is to organize a tennis slam for my tennis friends....I usually do three of these a year and they are well liked a fun event.....so going to set up a date and get that going.
My last project is a big one!!!!
I am going to set in motion the Three Kings Day event again this year......for those who are not familiar with this I will explain...
In Mexico Christmas is not so important as the 6th January called Three Kings Day this is when the families exchange small gifts.
There are so many small communities in and around SMA where the families are very poor and those children do not receive a gift......
A local Canadian couple took it upon themselves to change that and for several years worked very hard in raising funds and collecting gifts and then distributing them before the 6th of January.
Last year due to other commitments they could not do this collection so I decided to take over and with many helpers and many more generous people we were able to go out into the campos and get a gift to over 400 children.
This year my goal is to reach 800 children!!!!!!!!!!
The work is long and involves many aspects of communication with schools and the community......
I would like to do this in a slightly different way this year.....in past experience I know that all the boys from kindergarten to middle school all they want is a soccer ball.....I have a contact who can put me in touch directly with a factory where the balls are made and I can get balls at a really good price.
For the girls between 6 and 13 years last year we found a lady in the local market that would make up a lovely snatch purse with some nail polish, hair stuff, gloves and other small things the girls would like and again at a good price and she can supply as many as we need!
So lots of work ahead but something I enjoy and the rewards are fantastic!!!
YASHI KOCHI!!!!
I must not grumble but it would be nice to have internet in my casita but Friday will soon be here....
Ok so Wednesday morning and Gracie tells me there is this small restaurant where there is a parrot in a cage and that the cage is way too small for him he can hardly turn around.....Gracie has a quite large lovely cage in her garden that she bought two years ago but never got a parrot and she suggests that we give the cage to the owners of the restaurant for the parrot.
So this morning whilst Gracie was having her Spanish lesson I loaded up the cage in her car and drove to the restaurant and even though my Spanish is extremely limited I did ask if they wanted the cage and the owner was thrilled and said yes.......so I brought it in and set it up for her...she thanked me and said Pancho would be happy...and I left.
Afterwards I did some errands and then went to pick up Gracie and I took her to the restaurant and the photos tell the rest of the story!!!
Gracie thinks that Pancho needs some toys so she is going to get him some!!!
I then went to poker and met up with my buddies and we exchanged stories and played poker for three and a half hours..a lot of fun and I have lost my winning touch losing a whopping 50 pesos!!!
It was a short walk and a short wait before I went to the gym and had my lesson with Aaron...he worked me hard again and I admit I do have a few aches and pains especially in my arms.....
This is the gym and the outside handball court!!
Again a short wait and a short walk to my English class....these times are working out well for me!!
The class was awesome...we started out by telling the rest of the class what we had done to pay or pass it forward and I started out by telling the parrot story and showing them the photos they laughed but got the message..
Then they took turns to come to the front of the class and tell their stories....it was great for me to hear them and see how happy they were.
I then had printed out an article about the famous Canadian Terry Fox and his amazing story......if you do not know him please Google him you will be utterly flabbergasted!!!
Again they really liked the story...and we finished off playing charades for chocolates....it was a fabulous time for me to see how they have taken to me and how they enjoy and are getting more confidence already in their spoken English!!
Will post this tomorrow!!
Hope you get to see many more of these photos....Gracie paying for my dinner yesterday!!
Yashi Kochi!!!!!
Now Monday evening and still no cable guy!!!!
This morning I drove my friend Karen to the Costco store in Celaya on the way there I was stopped at a traffic check point pulled over and I showed the officer the laminated copy of my drivers licence and passport...he was not happy with that and he wanted to see my original licence which I had with me and showed him...I really do not like to hand over my original documents but had no choice he checked it out and gave it back to me and waved me on!!
This afternoon was spent sorting my stuff out and I think the casita is the way I want it.....
At 4.30pm I went to the gym and met Aaron my young Mexican trainer..I really like him and the way he is with me....it was a good one hour work out.
I know I have put on about nine pounds since I was last at the gym in April but since I have returned to SMA I have been really good about my eating habits..having mainly salads and fruit and I know I have lost three pounds in a week...still some more to go...let me say I am not on a diet just watching what I eat and the quantity.
I have thirty minutes after the gym before my English class starts and it is just across the street so I just relaxed till time for class.
Had five students tonight and I met one of my new level five students and I would like to tell you a little about her that I learned tonight.
Her name is Diane and she is one of seven children and is 41 years of age.. she is not married and lives with her parents....she is a qualified dentist but because of health reasons in her family she chooses to work for her father at his garage....her English is very good and she seems like a really great young woman.....what got to me when I asked her to come to the front of the class and talk about her family is that she lives in Delores Hildalgo which is 40 km away from SMA ..she then told me she does drive but does not like the traffic so she comes on the local bus..leaves at 4.30pm and gets home at 10pm....three days a weeks she does that...I ask you is that not total dedication???
Class was really great they are such engaging eager and fabulous students or friends as I tell them they are!!!
It is now Tuesday evening and Gracie and I have just come back from a movie and dinner!!
There is a small theatre seats about 14 and they offer a movie with a bag of popcorn and a drink for a 150 pesos...a good deal and the movie was a documentary about a sailor’s effort to circumnavigate the world solo..very enjoyable BUT not as enjoyable as the dinner..country fried chicken and mashed potatoes what made this meal all that special is that Gracie paid for it.....yes it finally happened after over a year I beat her at cards.....lets hope it is the start of a long time of dinners not paid for by me!!!
I did go to the cable company this afternoon to see if they had forgotten about me...they assured me that the men would be at my casita between 9 am and noon on Friday!!!!
Yashi Kochi!!!
It already feels like I never left amazing how I just fit right back into that great lifestyle I have created here.
I had a lazy morning just catching up on things around the casita and later on in the morning I went out for a walk stopping first to see one of my tennis friends Steve who lives around the corner....we had a good visit and catch up and I will see Steve again on the tennis courts on Tuesday.
Next stop was to the market to buy some flowers and chocolates and go visit my lovely friend Margarita who works for my friends Karen and Gregg....Margarita used to come and clean the casita for me here.....it was her Birthday and I wanted to see her and say hello and give her the gifts!!!
Then onto the nursery where I bought these four plants and pots..total cost for pots and plants and the man putting them in the pots....110 pesos!!!
On the way home I stopped into this tiny little store and bought these ribbons.....6 pesos!!! Tell you why in a minute...
Walked home and the weather is just great nice and sunny........
I tied the ribbon on the mirror of LB...why you may ask??
Well I like the looks of it plus those are the Mexican colours and you never know if you get stopped by the police or military if it might make a difference!!
Arranged the new flower pots...
and then went upstairs on the roof top and read.
The cable company is supposed to call and let me know before they come but I really do not expect them today after all this is how things work in Mexico!!
Walked over to Gracie’s in the late afternoon and we had a great salad for lunch and had our first game of cards....if you remember from before we used to play quite often and I could never win and I always wanted to bet a dinner on the games thinking that one day I must win..well me winning did not happen tonight!! BUT I did not loose the game we play is best of three and I did win the first game so that is progress!!
I want to tell you want happened a couple of weeks ago...Gracie wrote me and told me she had left me a message on Face Book.....I do have a FB account but I do not remember opening it or when I did it but I do look at it everyday but I never post anything on it..anyone Gracie told me how to look at the message and I did and to my surprise they was two other messages for me one from over two years ago from Mia who was the youngest daughter of me ex wife...Mia and I were close when she was a teenager but after the divorce and time we lost contact...anyway she wrote me saying that she thinks of me quite a lot and she wanted to tell me she was married with two children and doing really well...I wrote back a message to her on FB but I did not hear back from her.
The other message also from two years ago was one of my police man friends from Bermuda..we actually met on the plane in April of 1970 when we were on our way to Bermuda we became good friends and even roomed together but when I left Bermuda we lost touch.....long story short Alan and I have been in touch my email for the last two weeks catching up and small world that it is he now lives about 30 minutes away from my friends Paula and Jerry in Nova Scotia...
One thing Alan did was tell me about a website run by an ex policeman who still lives in Bermuda and it is for ex policemen...so I went on the site and it is truly an amazing site and I contacted the editor and he asked me to submit a story about my life then and now and he also told me he had lots of enquirers about me over the years...I sent him and article and he published on the site and in the last two days I have received two emails from two men I was very close to back in those days....so we will also communicate by e mail....soon I publish the article here!!
SATURDAY...
No cable guy yesterday...
This morning I was on the tennis courts at 9am for two hours ..lots of fun and good competitive games...I always go the Saturday organic market just around the corner it is a good meeting place and they of lots of food stuffs and nick backs and music ..a fun place....
This afternoon Gracie picked me up with the dogs and we went for a great walk with them....
I imagine the cable guy may come on Monday who knows......
Will post this when I get the internet...
Yashi Kochi!!!
This was my first ever blog post back in November of 2006!!! With just a couple of days off I have written a blog every day since and I hav...
