Monday 30th November 2009…oh what a day!!!

At 1pm today Sara and I had an appointment at Casa Hogar where Paola and Daniela live with Robin who is the coordinator and lady extraordinaire….

Robin gave Sara and I a tour of the home and it truly is a place of love and all 43 girls that live here seem so happy and free.

As you know I sponsor Paola and Daniela and over the summer with help from some generous and loving friends who gave freely and also gave money as pledges when I did the Great Lake walk, this morning I was able to hand over to the Madre a cheque for 4000 US dollars.

I really want to thank everyone who has me with this and I want you all to know that the gifts were an act of love and the money will be used for a vital part of the home.  To do a make over of the kitchen, upgrade the equipment and this is not only a place where all the meals are made but it is also a place where the girls will use their skills.  So thank you all!!!!

Another big thanks to a special friend Mary who made the girls a wonderful cookie Angel with their names on Paola and Daniela loved them…

Also another special friend Heather who bought the tops the girls are wearing, notice how the cookies match the tops, thanks Heather!!

This is the senior girls dormitory..

This is Daniela’s sister Lupita who also lives at the home..

We had asked the Madre if we could take the girls out for the afternoon and we granted permission so we brought them over to the Mega store to buy groceries and then RV park where we had hotdogs and drinks.

Then it was off to the park.  The girls were very well behaved and took to Sara like they had known her for years always holding our hands and always saying thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paola has no fear!!!

and this one is just a cutie pie!!

Sara took these next two photos which I really like…

Pretty soon it was time to come back to Ramona get the girls cleaned up some last minute drinks and chips.  This is the wrapper of the chips packet, interesting!!!

One final pose for Daniela

before I walked them over to the school where they are taking English classes at 6pm.

What a delightful time we all had they are just the best girls ever!!!

When we got back I had to do laundry well pick it up from the truck that had taken it this morning!!!  Life is hard~!!!

At this juncture I feel I must stress that I am in my humble opinion a reasonably good scrabble player BUT…..

SHE DID IT AGAIN!!!!!!!

I think I shall study the dictionary tonight….

Sunday 29th November 2009….a full day

Had promised Sara a mystery tour today and about 10am we set off.  I ask you would you ride with this person????

The place I was going to was the Botanical Gardens and to get there required us going up a long, windy and steep hill and I am afraid that Bonita(the scooter) was just not powerful enough.  She is only 49cc and with two of us plus the gradient just not able to make it.  So we returned to the park and plan B took a taxi.

I have been here three times before but always like the peace and serenity of the area.

Hard to imagine anything growing here but the varied and many different cacti do survive.

We stopped for lunch and just enjoyed the sun and the quiet.

Not a very clear view of a spider’s web.

There is a small dam and a canyon and the water was used a 100 years ago for a textile mill.

I was still hungry after my lunch!!!

The mirador overlooking the city…

It was a lovely walk and an enjoyable afternoon.

After we got back to the park we went down to the RV park where Barb and Paco AKA Frank we staying we were invited for a game of Mexican Train and dinner.

Sara looking pensive as the big game is about to start and of course my usual luck continued, only one winner here…way to go Barb!!!!

Thanks for a great meal and a visit……back home we ended the evening watching a movie…..another wonderful day!!

Saturday 28th November 2009…forgot..

Forgot to mention we were trying to take Paola and Daniela to the hot springs today but found out they were both away this weekend.  So we will have to wait till Monday to see them.

Saturday 28th November 2009…where does the time go??

It is now Saturday afternoon around 6pm and I am outside on the patio writing the blog and just wondering where the time goes by.

We seem to have a couple of very lazy days I guess relaxing after the long journey down.

Let me catch you up on the happenings..yesterday morning Sara went to the School where I went last year for my Spanish lessons and where my girls go for their English classes.  She wanted to find out what level she was at and how comfortable she was with the teachers.  It all turned out well and she actually stayed three hours and enjoyed her time there and she is going back all next week for classes.

After lunch we went a different way into town and saw some very colourful and interesting sights.

We passed the small square where for many years local people have been coming down to do their laundry.

Our next stop was the local bull ring.

Some of the local streets…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the local and very colourful indoor market.

We stopped and had these great fruit drinks.

Sara had a combo of strawberries and pineapple, me too,  they  were so refreshing and only 1 dollar each!!

In the evening we took Barb and Frank out for a dinner and had a visit afterwards and I am so happy to tell you they seem to have recovered from their terrible experience and are finally able to relax and enjoy their time here.

Barb and Frank lent us the Mexican train dominoes games to practise as we will be having some games and Sara has not played before……NEED I SAY ANYMORE!!!!!

So if yesterday was a lazy day today was even more so.  The little bakery we have found a few blocks away we were told has fresh cinnamon rolls on Saturday so we walked there at 10am and picked up some treats and came back and sat outside.  The sun was shining and it was warm outside and we decided to have a day of games and wait for it…..ready……yes it happened……normality has returned…a PEARSON VICTORY AT LAST!!!!!!

We lounged around the rest of the day and I rode Bonita for the first time in Mexico and I was the only person on a scooter with a helmet.

BBQ’d for supper with Sara’s help..

Fresh flowers from the market.

Tonight we are going to watch a movie….so there caught up….hope the weekend is good one for everyone…best wishes Sara and Les

Thursday 26th November 2009…..Happy Thanksgiving Day.

On this special day celebrated in the USA I would like to share my thanks with you.

I really do have so much to be thankful for and I want to thank all those who take the time to read my blog and share my journeys.  Family is very important to me and although most of my adult life I have lived hundreds of miles away from them all they are still paramount in my life.  To be blessed with the multitude of great and dear friends is so special to me.  You know who you are and I treasure the times we spend together.  My girls here in San Miguel have changed my life and I thank them for that.  I am also thankful for the wonderful health I have had all my life most of my memories would have not been possible without good health.

Having Sara in my life now is the most incredible feeling of love and joy and I am thankful that our paths crossed when they did.

So the morning started for us yesterday by walking a few minutes to a small but lovely bakery where we picked up some fresh pastries for our morning coffee and tea.

We had company this morning, an oriole

Then it was time to show some Mexican spirit.

In the afternoon we were invited out for turkey Thanksgiving dinner at Linda and Guy’s beautiful casa.  This is the home where I stayed for a couple of months last year and I am doing the same this year.

It was so wonderful to see Linda and Guy again and the table setting was beautiful.

The meal was awesome and they were some very interesting couples there.

It was a great time and we really enjoyed ourselves thank you Linda and Guy.

So a great day was capped off by going to visit some other special friends of mine Barb and Paco.  You may remember last week I wrote about them having had their truck and camper side swiped by a semi trailer in a parking lot in Mexico city.

They are staying at the other RV for a few days whilst they get their truck fixed but the great news is that they got the camper fixed and what could have been a terrible disaster turned out so well as they became friends with the driver of the truck and his family again a testament to the beauty of these special Mexican people.

So great to have a visit and for Sara to meet some of my friends….so as you can see it was a day to be thankful…..