Monday 30 th September 2019...where did this month go??

Here we are the last day of September and it was an unusual fall type day, quite cloudy and a tad on the cool side.

I had to go back to the bank to complete my account opening and passed by this lovely sight and sounds!!!!

Brings back lots of memories for me as I used to play a trumpet as a kid in the Salvation Army Band!!

Came home and did some cooking chicken breasts with sweet potatoes and carrots and mushrooms!!!!

Then it was time to go to my afternoon gym session and it was a really good hard workout.

I had time to get cleaned up and go the few years to my English class.....eight students showed up which was good as a heavy rain storm passed through just before class.

Their homework for tonight was to be the teacher for three minutes!!!

I did not tell them what to do and it was just amazing to see how much effort they had put into this project and they all I am sure enjoyed this part of the class.

Two of my students Adriana and Carlos both play the guitar and I asked them to bring them to class today and play for us......

Carlos went first and he had printed out the words to Stand by Me and he played and we all sang.....it was wonderful!!

Adriana has a problem with her 🎸and did not bring it but she borrowed the guitar from Carlos and and she played and sang hey Jude..again so much fun for the class!!

The are really fabulous students always eager to learn and to ask questions!!!

The chicken I cooked was really good...now time for a shower and then a cuppa and my show!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

Sunday 29 th September 2019.....champion!!!!!

Went down to the main garden square and saw these performers, the square was packed and it was an amazing experience!!!

The ceremony of the Voladores de Papantla is a cultural tradition of the Totonac people of Veracruz state. The tradition dates back to ancient times and has been passed down through the generations. The voladores, "fliers," sometimes called hombres pajaro, "birdmen," launch themselves from the top of a pole of up to 150 feet in height, and slowly descend circling the pole. It is a breathtaking spectacle performed at a great height.

The ritual begins with five men circling a tall pole. One of the men plays music with a flute and a small drum. They then climb the pole and position themselves on a small wooden rotating platform at the top. The man playing the music is called the caporal. He stands in the center, playing his flute and drum, and does a dance, facing each of the four cardinal directions in turn. This is one of the tensest moments for the audience, as he performs his dance standing at the top of a pole without a harness or any protection.

The platform begins to spin and the four voladores launch themselves off and begin rotating the pole upside down. They are attached by a rope around the waist, but they twist a leg in the rope to maintain an upside down position. The caporal remains at the top of the pole as the others descend. In their descent, each volador circles the pole 13 times—thirteen times for each of the four voladores, for a total of 52 rotations, representing the number of years in the Mesoamerican calendar cycle.

According to tradition, there was a severe drought in the Totonacapan area of Veracruz, and food and water became scarce, so a group of elders met to find a solution. They decided that a ceremony should be performed to ask the gods to return the rain and fertility to the soil.

They instructed some young men of the community to locate the tallest and straightest tree in the forest and bring it back to the village. So the young men set out to find the tallest tree. When they found it, they prayed and performed a ritual to the tree and then they cut it down and brought it back to the village. They stripped the tree of its leaves and branches, dug a hole to stand it upright, and blessed the site with ritual offerings.

Then they performed a ritual to the god Xipe Totec, god of agriculture and springtime, so that the rains would return and nurture the soil and their crops would flourish. The men adorned their bodies with feathers so that they would appear like birds, thereby attracting the god's attention to their request. They climbed to the top of the trunk, and with vines wrapped around their waists, they secured themselves to the trunk and launched themselves off of it, spinning in circles around the trunk.

The Symbolism of the Voladores

The four voladores who descend to the ground represent the cardinal directions, and the caporal at the top of the pole represents the fifth direction (vertical), the center of the universe. The voladores perform in honor of the elements: sun, wind, earth, and water—thus honoring the earth, the passage of time and their place in the universe.

The original performers of the Voladores ceremony would have worn costumes made of real feathers, representing eagles, owls, crows, parrots, and quetzal birds, but nowadays the voladores wear bright colored costumes that recall the brightly colored birds, and the rays of the sun.

The costume of the voladores consists a white shirt and red pants trimmed in bright colors with a yellow fringe. On their heads, the voladores wear a handkerchief, over which they place a round hat with a multicolored tuft representing the head of a bird. They wear a colorful sash shaped as two semi-circles over the right shoulder, over the chest and the back, which represent the wings of the birds. The voladores wear black leather boots with a heel.

There was this dance group in the square as well....

Tired and on the way home...

Also want to tell you about this fantastic young woman!!!

I can proudly say I hit balls with her when she was 12 years old and yes she was way better than me!!

Way to go Ashley!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

Saturday 28th September 2019.......Tennis!!

Today was the best morning of tennis in all the years in SMA..we have this great player, Andy, in town for two months and today was his last day playing and he is excellent and improves all our games and it was hard competitive and so much fun!

This would would a good one for my English students!!!

Spent the afternoon at home relaxing and then tonight Gracie and I met Andy and his wife Lori and another tennis friend Mathew and his wife Kim at a down town restaurant ....it was a lovely evening the food was really good and the company so nice..we will miss Andy on the courts!!

Have a great weekend!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

Friday 27th September 2019........I like Fridays!!!!!

Friday is my time to re group day and to lay low which I did most of the day....

I did go into Centro and open an account at a local Mexican bank which is the first step to try to appease my banking issue.

I saw this posted on the civil list here in town...

400789Children's soccer team sponsorship

• C L
  Today at 8:47 AM
  
  
  
  I am posting this for a friend.
  
• 
  Looking for a business or people to help sponsor a local childrens soccer team.
  The team needs uniforms for 16 players. 14 players and 2 additional uniforms for the goalies.
  The team needs shirts, shorts and socks, the cost of the uniforms are
  250 pesos per player and the goalie uniforms are 300 pesos each.
  If anyone is interested in chipping please give Sobrina Hania a call at ....
  
• Of course those that know me well know that soccer/football has been a huge part of my life since I could barely walk..so I could not pass up this pay forward opportunity.....I called the lady and met with her this afternoon and gave her 500 pesos with the stipulation that she calls me when the team plays so I can go out and watch them!!!
  
  

In the afternoon I took Gracie’s dogs for a nice long walk they are very good on the leash and they love going with me.

The rest of the day puttering around .....

Definition!!!

putter1[ puht-er ]SHOW IPA

EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGIN

verb (used without object)

to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner:

to putter in the garden.

to move or go in a specified manner with ineffective action or little energy or purpose:

to putter about the house on a rainy day.

to move or go slowly or aimlessly; loiter.

noun

puttering or ineffective action; dawdling.

Verb Phrases

putter away, to spend or fill in a random, inconsequential, or unproductive way; fritter away; waste:

We puttered the morning away.

and just being lazy!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

Thursday 26th September 2019....excitement in the hood!!!!!

Well here I was sitting on my couch checking emails and I saw this sight through my kitchen window!!!

I went on to my roof top patio and it seems this balloon was in a spot of bother and coming down to land in the field across from my house..

There was no wind so I don’t really know if there was a problem but this is not a place where they usually put down...

It was a cool sight to see it all going on!!!

Remember I wrote about this crazy tennis player a couple of weeks ago..this is the latest news!!

Nick Kyrgios given suspended 16-week ban and fine for 'aggravated behaviour'

Nick Kyrgios lost to Andreas Seppi in the first round of the Zhuhai Open on Wednesday

Nick Kyrgios has received a suspended 16-week ban and $25,000 (£20,300) fine for "aggravated behaviour", subject to a six-month probationary period.

The Australian smashed two racquets in a bad-tempered Cincinnati Masters defeat by Karen Khachanov in August.

He was later fined $113,000 (£93,254) for five separate offences.

However an ATP investigation determined Kyrgios' "pattern of behaviour" over the past 12 months to be in violation of the governing body's code.

Both fine and suspension will be triggered if the 24-year-old does not comply with certain conditions - including avoiding any further code violations incurring a fine.

At the end of August Kyrgios was warned by umpire James Keothavong for his conduct during his US Open first-round match, and later, when asked about his fine in Cincinnati, claimed the ATP was corrupt .

He then clarified those comments, adding it was "not the correct choice of words" - although he believed the ATP was guilty of "double standards".

A second investigation into those comments, allowing for Kyrgios' clarification, found no violation had occurred.

In May, he was fined after he kicked a bottle, threw down his racquet and hurled a chair before defaulting in the final set of a match at the Italian Open.

A month later, he was fined £13,766 for unsportsmanlike behaviour at Queen's.

He previously received an eight-week ban for his behaviour at the Shanghai Masters when his level of effort during a defeat by Mischa Zverev was questioned.

With Thursday's decision, any further verbal or physical abuse, unsportsmanlike conduct or any visible obscenity directed towards an official at an ATP Tour or ATP Challenger Tour event will result in a ban.

He has been given five working days to lodge an appeal.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Any suspension served immediately was likely to have had little effect.

Kyrgios has just withdrawn from the remainder of his scheduled events in Asia, and is heading back to Australia for treatment on a collarbone injury, so may barely feature before the end of the season.

That, in turn, will help him to keep his nose clean, as the conditions imposed on him are stringent.

The way Kyrgios treats people, and the lack of respect he shows them, has become a dominant theme.

And so any verbal or physical abuse of umpires, line judges or spectators will see the punishment enforced in full.

Kyrgios will also be banned for 16 weeks if he makes a visible obscenity, or shows unsportsmanlike conduct like spitting towards an official.

The six-month probationary period will not end before 30 March.

Finally a photo of me on my scooter!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Wednesday 25th September 2019....just a lovely day!!!

Regarding my blog post rant yesterday I have started to make plans to change banks of course this is a tad difficult being out of the country but my wonderful friend Heather does have my power of attorney and I have a conference call tomorrow morning with a great financial advisor I went to see  when I was in Nanaimo...so I am hoping for some solutions to this issue.

I just wonder how difficult it is to move all my money, savings, investments from the TD bank as all my pensions and dividends go into this bank??

Again this morning my gym session was moved up to 9.30am and again another hard and demanding 🏋️‍♀️workout!!

Did some errands in town and then went to the regular poker afternoon .. came away in the win column again this time 75 pesos!!

I got to shower and change before I went to class.....I really do enjoy these students they are as amazing...they each came to the front of the class and told of their pay forwards so very proud of them especially Carlos a 23 Year old young man who lives with his girlfriend and they have a four year old daughter and he works at the most prestigious hotel in town as a waiter......he told us about an American couple who came in the bar yesterday and their bill was over 2000 pesos!!!

When he presented them with their bill the man said he was so sorry he had left his wallet at home and neither of them had any cards or cash on them.....Carlos said he should really have informed his manager about the incident but he had a good feeling about the couple and told them they could go and that they could return later with the money!!

Three hours later the man showed up and paid his bill and left Carlos a really great tip!!!

Then I had them come to the front and tell of one thing that makes them happy and one thing that makes them sad...I can see already the change in their confidence level....

The class goes by really fast and we finished by playing 20 questions for chocolate!!

I was so humbled when they left they all told me how much they enjoy the classes!!!!!

Great interview with my tennis star young friend....

https://twitter.com/WavesTennis/status/1176970898886123522/video/1

Time for tea, a piece of carrot cake and my show!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Tuesday 24 th September 2019...Ranting!!!!!

Not very often I have a good rant..but here goes!!

Yesterday afternoon I went to an ATM and withdrew 7000 pesos..the ATM Machine told me there would be an ATM Fee of 58 pesos which I accepted.

When I got home I checked my bank account and saw this..

The charge for the withdrawal was a total of 499.75 cents..

I then went onto the Internet and found this rate of exchange..

The 58 pesos comes to this in Canadian dollars.

Somewhere I have been charged over 20 dollars for this one transaction!!!

This morning I called my bank and found out that of the five major banks in Canada mine the TD Canada trust is the only one to charge 3.5% the rest charge 2.5%......

On top of this there is a 3.00 transaction fee which is waived by my bank because I am a long standing member, over 30 years and also because I keep a minimum of 5000 dollars in my cheque get account .

So yesterday I actually made two withdrawals of 7000 pesos each time and my total charges was almost fifty dollars more than the rate quoted on the Internet....I know I have to pay a fee but this is crazy.

I called two other Canadian banks and they both told me their charges are 2.5% plus a 3.00 dollar withdrawal fee....

Any suggestions!!!!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!

Monday 23 rd September 2019.... a good day to end the summer!!!

Today is the last day of summer, boy it went by so fast for me!!

In 2019, the autumnal equinox—also called the September equinox or fall equinox—is Monday. On this day, fall begins in the Northern Hemisphere and spring begins in the Southern Hemisphere. Wondering why it’s called an equinox? Here’s all you need to know.

WHEN IS THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX?

In 2019, the autumnal equinox occurs on Monday, September 23 at 07:50 UTC. The equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide; your clock time depends on your time zone.

WHAT IS THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX?

Autumn days come quickly, like the running of a hound on the moor.

–Irish proverb

The autumnal equinox—also called the September or fall equinox—is the astronomical start of the fall season in the Northern Hemisphere and the spring season in the Southern Hemisphere.

WHAT IS AN EQUINOX?

The word “equinox” comes from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, “night.” On the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in terms of length. (See more about this below.)

During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension into space of Earth’s equator line. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line. When the Sun crosses the equator from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox.

After the autumnal equinox, the sun is rising later and nightfall comes sooner. This ends with the December solstice, when days start to grow longer and nights shorter.

FALL WEATHER

Another definition of fall is “nights of below-freezing temperatures combined with days of temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21°C)”. From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop.

Will fall bring crisp, cool weather—or, unseasonably warm weather? It depends on where you live! Find out the forecast for your area in The Old Farmer’s Almanac!

Fall Foliage

Note that fall foliage isn’t due to current weather conditions. This is a common misconception. Leaves change color because of the amount of daylight and photosynthesis. Learn more about autumn leaves.

FALL EQUINOX FAQS

Q: ARE DAY AND NIGHT PERFECTLY EQUAL ON THE EQUINOX?

A:  As say that during an equinox, day and night is equal. Well, not exactly. It depends where you live.

On the equinox, the center of the Sun is indeed above the horizon for 12 hours. However, “sunrise” is said to begin when the upper edge of the Sun’s disk becomes visible above the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises) and ends when the entire Sun has set. In this case, daylight is still a bit longer than nighttime. 

Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth’s atmosphere refracts the Sun’s rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon. Yes, you can see the Sun before the edge actually reaches the horizon! This causes daylight to be longer than 12 hours as well.

However, they are very close to equal (the lengths may be off by only a few minutes). 

Did you know our rise/set tool now provides day length? In Dublin, New Hampshire—home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac—our day length on the equinox is 12:08 hours.

Q: IS THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX REALLY THE FIRST DAY OF FALL?

A: Based on the astronomical definition of seasons, yes, the autumnal equinox does mark the first day of fall (in the Northern Hemisphere). However, according to the meteorological definition of seasons, which is based on temperature cycles and the Gregorian calendar, the first day of fall is September 1.

Q: CAN YOU BALANCE AN EGG ON THE EQUINOX?

A: There’s an old-wife’s tale that you can stand an egg on its end of the equinox. Well, yes, it’s true (and fun to try). But it’s not only on the equinox. 

Again good news for me Aaron was able to get a time slot of 10.30am this morning for my gym session which is so much better than 4.30pm as I have to dash to class right after.

So the morning session was good, the gym is a little busier at that time but it was another hard session which I am thankful for...afterwards!!!!!

Then went into town paid my rent, bought some groceries, went to my little hole in the wall barber and my lovely young lady gave me a great haircut and a shave..wait for it....for 40 pesos!!!!   Of course a really good tip and I was home for an enjoyable afternoon consisting of reading, working on the iPad, lounging upstairs on the roof , planning my lesson for tonight and having a light lunch!

All my students showed up and for homework assignment they had to come to the front of the class and tell about their weekend, some great stories and each time I see more confidence in them talking in front of the class.

Then I paired them up and gave them ten minutes and they had to interview their partner and find out three things about them that we did not already know.

Then each one took turns coming to the front and telling the rest of the class about their partner, this also went down really well.

The class goes by so quickly and I am really enjoying this class all so eager and talented!!!

Yashi Kochi!!!!