Friday 30th April 2021.. a special day for the last day of the month!!

The food hamper/ despensas  project is going amazingly well because of so many caring and generous individuals....I do believe we are making a difference to residents and children of two very poor campos.

 

This afternoon Lynne, Joanne, Reyes and myself went out to Colonia Morelos with the food hampers and many more items of clothing and books and toys for the children.

We have decided to get to the food to the families ourselves rather than load up the shelves in the bodega like we have been doing for three months.

So we drove around the village and met the families and children and passed out the food, this is a much better way to get the food to them.

Everyone was so appreciative and humble, you can see from the photos some of their dire living conditions!

Afterwards we went to the community bodega where we left hot dogs, buns, marsh mellows, juice and cookies for all the children of the village  as today is a special day!

The smiles on the kids faces as they started in inflate the balloons was priceless!!

In Mexico, Children's Day ("Día Del Niño") is celebrated on April 30th. On this day teachers organize the day for their children. In some schools, lessons are suspended for the day. They organize games, music, and the children bring in their favorite foods to share with others. Some families also have a day out with their children. There are special activities for children in parks and sports centers. Sometimes, also, the children will be given presents by their families.

As it is spring, children wear many bright colors to celebrate their youth and the coming of Spring.

Children's Day in Mexico started in 1925. This celebration had its origins during Álvaro Obregón's presidential period after the country joined the Geneva Conventions and looking after the wellness of the vulnerable children affected by World War I. The United Nations suggested in 1959 countries adopt a National Children's Day in honor of the Children's Rights Declaration of 1959.

For a donation of 200 pesos we can buy important food staples that will feed a family of four for a week!

If you would like to donate to this worthy caring cause be assured that all the money will go towards buying food.

I have a scooter and am more than happy to pick up your donation.

Three ways to give:

*a one time donation of 200 pesos

*a one time donation of 800 pesos to feed a family for a month

*an ongoing donation every week or month (I can collect it from you)

If you have any questions I can be contacted at mexicokid77@yahoo.com

Cell phone 415-178-3540 (I cannot retrieve messages)

If you do not live in San Miguel and want to donate, please contact me for arrangements.

It was a great satisfying afternoon to be able to be a part of this.

This afternoon I went over to Gracie’s and took Negrita, Scout and Einstein out for a nice walk in the neighbourhood.....I have not seen them for over six weeks and it was great being with them especially as I am not seeing Frida till I come back from my trip.

This was the view from my window this afternoon!!

At 6.00pm tonight I met for the second time my very special student, Vane, she is in University here in San Miguel and I have an agreement to be her English Tutor......we met in an out door cafe and talked for over an hour.

She really is amazing, she completed all the little assignments I gave her last week, her writing and reading is excellent .

I could see a marked difference in her confidence in only one week.

We are going to keep in touch by Zoom whilst I am away......I love to teach!!

Thanks and stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Thursday 29 th April 2021...long ago...

My blog for this day nine years ago!!!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sunday 29th April 2012…..a bit of everything!!!

Woke up to grey skies again getting used to this …took Boomer up to the dog leash free park for a run then back home for breakfast then it was shopping for runners…..my favorite runners had to be abandoned after my last hike in Oregon they were just done!!!!

Went to a couple of places and will continue my search tomorrow.

I passed by my old condo building today!!

My unit was on the third floor by the tree…I bought the unit in 2000 for $65000 and sold it 6 years later for $165000…not bad eh??  I also enjoyed living there but feel I did sell at the right time!!

I then went to the sports complex building where there was a huge seminar being put on for seniors….I know I know….I am not there yet!!  It was OK but really didn’t learn anything unless I win a couple of the door entry prizes I signed!!

Then went shopping and bought a few things including a nice crock pot that I will need for San Miguel!!

Home by 5pm and in time for yet another hockey game and my other favorite team the Coyotes won…so all is well in the hockey world.

Heather cooked a lovely meal and a quiet evening… sorted out my travel brochures!!!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Wednesday 28th April 2021....blink and the day is gone!!

Yes it is sunny and warm  again before you ask😁😁😁🌞

Spent most of the morning doing paperwork that I have to send to the transport company for Blaze and then did some trip planning.

I leave here on 6 th May I have a 3.45pm direct flight from Mexico City to Seattle, I have never done this before so it will all be new to me....more details about my trip the next few days

This afternoon I watched a very entertaining soccer game from Paris..really good quality of play.

Tonight  I went down to the local park and met with one of my former students Martha, she is always keen to meet and practice her English which is very good.

I really miss my teaching so meeting one on one like this is great for me and Martha and we talked for 90 minutes!!

These are two photos from this day one year ago..

I miss this boy!!

I do not know who she is but a cutie pie!!!

I took this from the Internet and really liked it and wanted to share..

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' The answers they got were broader, deeper, and more profound than anyone could have ever imagined!

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore... So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca - age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.' Nikka - age 6

(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.' Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine - age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image!) Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross...' Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

And the final one: The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Tuesday 27 th April 2021...a good read!!

from the Internet!

10 THINGS TIME HAS TAUGHT ME

1. Most of our life is spent chasing false goals and worshipping false ideals. The day you realise that is the day you really start to live.

2. You really, truly cannot please all of the people all of the time. Please yourself first and your loved ones second, everyone else is busy pleasing themselves anyway, trust me.

3. Fighting the ageing process is like trying to catch the wind. Go with it, enjoy it. Your body is changing, but it always has been. Don’t waste time trying to reverse that, instead change your mindset to see the beauty in the new.

4. Nobody is perfect and nobody is truly happy with their lot. When that sinks in you are free of comparison and free of judgement. It’s truly liberating.

5. No one really sees what you do right, everyone sees what you do wrong. When that becomes clear to you, you will start doing things for the right reason and you will start having so much more fun.

6. You will regret the years you spent berating your looks, the sooner you can make peace with the vessel your soul lives in, the better. Your body is amazing and important but it does not define you.

7. Your health is obviously important but stress, fear and worry are far more damaging than any delicious food or drink you may deny yourself. Happiness and peace are the best medicine.

8. Who will remember you and for what, become important factors as you age. Your love and your wisdom will live on far longer than any material thing you can pass down. Tell your stories, they can travel farther than you can imagine.

9. We are not here for long but if you are living against the wind it can feel like a life-sentence. Life should not feel like a chore, it should feel like an adventure.

10. Always, always, drink the good champagne and use the things you keep for ‘best’. Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. Today is a gift that’s why we call it the present. Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Monday 26 th April 2021...look up!,

Today my good friend Sara is celebrating her birthday and the sale of her house on Vancouver Island...hope you have a great and special day!

By way of a change I played two hours of Pickle Ball this morning..it was a good change, the people are r3ally friendly and I am slowly getting better!

I really spent most of the afternoon filling out forms for importation of Blaze into the USA.......

Tonight is

By Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Tonight’s full moon is dubbed a “super pink full moon” because it is bright and pretty and comes with the spring. But it won’t be pink.

The moon will be its usual golden color, the Farmer’s Almanac says. But it’s a supermoon, which means it will appear bigger and brighter than usual because of its arrival at the closest point to Earth in the moon’s orbit. The term pink moon comes from the flowers found down on Earth.

“April’s full moon often corresponded with the early springtime blooms of a certain pink wildflower native to eastern North America: phlox subulata – commonly called creeping phlox or moss phlox – which also went by the name moss pink,” the almanac says.

The first of the supermoons of 2021 rises tonight and will be at its fullest at 11:32 p.m., according to NASA. It will start to rise in the east-northeastern sky at 7:24 p.m. and will remain visible until 7:13 a.m. Tuesday.

This is the first of three consecutive “supermoons” on the way in April, May and June. The next will be May 26, for what is dubbed the “flower moon.” And June 24 will have what is called a “strawberry moon.”

Have to find myself a new show on Netflix......

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Sunday 25 th April 2021...Lazy Sunday!!

I knew today was going to be a lazy day and it was...I did manage to do a load of laundry then settle back into my recliner, with a cuppa tea and a slice of delicious quiche and for three and a half hours watched this live tennis final from Barcelona .....I am just totally amazed at the power, athleticism of these players..it was an enthralling match....

Closer to home Ashley completed her final tennis match after five years at Pepperdine University and of course she finished with a win...

She is the lovely blonde in the middle....Congratulations!!

In the afternoon I took Frida out on our final walk for a few weeks as her owner leaves tomorrow and won’t come back till the day after I leave so I won’t see Frida till the end of May.....
I have so enjoyed the weeks I have been walking her she is such a great dog and companion!!

Just as I was getting home the heavens opened and it rained really hard for about twenty minutes...such a needed rain!!

When I was walking Frida I stopped in this store and bought this T shirt thought it would be good for travelling!!

Tonight I watched another final this time a soccer match from England and again another entertaining game!

Good news Heather was able to drive Blaze to the shipping company where she will be parked until she is transported across the Border on the 7 th May...it was a big hassle with the new Covid restrictions on travel in British Columbia and I am so thankful to Heather for doing this for me!!

Stay safe and healthy!,

Yashi Kochi!!

Saturday 24 th April 2021.....a regular day!,

very short post...

I love this!!!

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Friday 23 rd April 2021..this and that!!

Well a bit of a day!!

First the balloon photos from my roof top before 8 am this morning..

This I took off the Internet...

I really spent most of the morning on the phone and making email messages and doing some research.

The view through two of my windows...

Here is the story....Blaze my new car has been in a covered garage in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island since I flew here on 1 st October.....

The US border remains close to Canadians so I have been unable to get Blaze here.....so I have decided that I will fly to Seattle in two weeks and have her transported across the border by a moving company who are allowed to ship vehicles and then I will pick her up...but more on that trip in a few days.

Covid is so bad on Vancouver Island and the mainland that the government has made non essential travel restricted as and from today....

The problem would be for me to get the car on the ferry and over to the mainland.....

I had a lot of communication with Heather in Nanaimo and sadly her Mum, Ruth who lives on the mainland has been in and out of hospital this last week....so Heather decided today that she would go visit her Mum and she would go over in Blaze, which is what she did.

I am so grateful to Heather for getting the car insured, the plates put on and getting to the mainland..many many thanks🙏🙏🙏

So now Blaze is on the right side of the pond and we will arrange to get her to the office of the company who will transport her another day.

I had a great walk with Frida this afternoon and was amazed to see this workman.....

He must be so tired at night!!

Tonight was a first for me......a few weeks ago I applied to this organization to be an English Tutor..

Jóvenes Adelante 2021 Class Hopefuls Are at the Door...

If not lining up around the block! The application process opened early for this incoming class. Covid be damned – JA is in the early stages of its most exciting time of the year! 

Who are these 127 who completed their application entering round 2? San Miguel residents – regardless of where they go to school – coming fresh out of high school, or 1st year university students. They have high grades and economic need; they are young adults still in the formation stage; they are either the first in their family to strive for university, or are in the first generation within their family (parents did not go to university, perhaps a sibling has.) Whether ultimately admitted to JA or not, each of these students strives to reach a level of education that will forever change their and their families’ social mobility, and by extension their lives.

Whatever the field of chosen study and eventual career path, these young scholars choose higher education. They choose their goals and their path. JA is here to help them at every step of the journey if accepted into the program, and to dramatically improve their chances of success. With financial support, with a mentor, with a computer, with psychological support, with a student and graduate network, with an auxiliary skills program and network, with love, through final credentialing payments, and with a track record of 85% success.

I was accepted and was paired with Vane who I met for the first time tonight.....

What a delightful young woman with amazing English skills.....we sat and talked for about 80 minutes and I think we bonded very well and we will meet every week and when I go away can continue with Zoom meetings....it was the highlight of my day!!

Now going to watch a recorded tennis match from Barcelona!!

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Thursday 22 Nd April 2021..and another day done...

not a terribly exciting day but a good one nevertheless.....

tennis this morning and as always good fun and a great way to spend two hours.......

This afternoon  I took Frida on a nice walk and let her off leash for a little while I know I always say it but she is so lovely and I just hope she is not tired of me talking to her all the time.

Tonight I am going to watch a live hockey game.

two birthdays to celebrate...first my lovely friend of many years, Caron, who is Ashley’s Auntie, celebrates her birthday and I hope you had a great day.

Also Alex, Heather and Kirby’s middle son is 27 today. Boy how the time flies I have so enjoyed watching all three of the boys grow up and turn into fine young men!

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Wednesday 21st April 2021.....feels good to be vaccinated!!

I did have some discomfort in  my arm last

night so I took two Tylenol before I went to bed and slept like a baby and no problems this morning.

I had a very easy day doing lots of paper work and planning for my up coming trip.

I have encountered what may be a small issue with the car but will try to resolve it over the next couple of days.

This afternoon I took Frida out and who did we bump into but Paola, she was on her lunch break and sitting doing some texting.

With a mask on I did not recognize her but as we passed she said hello Les....

Funny I have not seen her in almost two years and then I see her twice in a few days....we talked a little and it was good to see her again.

I reached out to my students from my last class last year and offered if any of them wanted to meet on the steps of San Antonio church at 6 pm tonight so we can just talk....it was great to see Martha and Patty and we are hoping to have more show up next week.

They sat and we just talked the hour went by so quickly and it was so good to see them both I sure have missed my students!!

This is an important day for us tea drinking British folks!!

HISTORY OF NATIONAL TEA DAY

National Tea Day is more than simply a holiday. It’s a movement providing opportunities for future generations of tea drinkers to understand and appreciate the world of tea. Founded in 2016, the date of April 21 was chosen because it is also Queen Elizabeth’s birthday! Could the day be any more British?

It’s relatively common knowledge that we have the Chinese to thank for tea, but it was actually a Portugese woman named Catherine of Braganza who popularized the beverage in England. In 1662, Catherine married King Charles II. Her dowry included several crates of loose leaf tea, which she continued drinking every day in the U.K. The royal court quickly adopted the tea-drinking process, including aristocrats.  

While the goal of National Tea Day is to inspire the world to drink more tea and to drink it throughout the year, we can’t help but immediately think of the famous British afternoon tea. “Tea” can be both a drink and a meal. The Duchess of Bedford, Anna Russell, introduced afternoon tea during the late 1840’s out of her hunger pains between the two daily meals at the time, which she shared with friends. 

Many forms of tea exist around the world. Green tea is popular in countries such as China and Japan, whereas South Asian countries often prepare ‘chai’ with spices, boiled in both milk and water. There is even a pink tea, commonly known as ‘Kashmiri tea,’ served in many parts of the Himaylan regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan during the winter months at weddings. In the UK, the perfect British cuppa is usually served as a variety of black tea with boiling water and a little milk.    

Henry James, author and nominee for a Nobel Prize in Literature, once said, “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” National Tea Day celebrates the world’s second favorite drink — only to water — so heavily stemmed in everyday culture so each of us can learn and revel in its drinking experience! 

I like these..

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!

Tuesday 20th April 2021...second shot!!

I would like to thank the Mexican government and all the medical teams and volunteers here in San Miguel for making the second vaccine shot available to me.

It was a bit of a long wait and the crowds and actual vaccinations did not go as smoothly as the first one but it was well worth the long wait!

I feel very lucky, blessed and happy!!

Stay safe and healthy!

Yashi Kochi!!

Monday 19th April 2021..a great day road trip!!

I rented the white stallion for the day..

 

And went on a great day out first to the Pressa here on the right of the map..

Just over a two hour drive through the Sierra Gorda and wonderful scenery...

just gorgeous..

Incredible Cliff formations ..

three tunnels 

Leading to these views...

This was my lunch view..

Next stop was the magical town of Bernal..

Home of the third largest monolith in the world!!

In past visits I have hiked up to the view point about two thirds up..

Wherever you are in the cute little square you see the rock!!

And finally an ice cream!!

received great news they are giving the second vaccine shots Tom and Wednesday so I have cancelled the tennis for the morning so the boys can get their shots!!,

It was a lovely day and I enjoyed being on a road trip!!

Stay safe and healthy!!

Yashi Kochi!!