Man....have we been busy!

It's been a month since my last post!  We haven't been kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel, haven't been bitten by a rattlesnake, or sent off to a nursing home.  We've just been busy.

Javier's turn to sing

After nearly a year in Mexico, we finally were invited to a real Mexican fiesta.  Our neighbor Javier was having a party to celebrate his brothers 30th anniversary and he asked several of the gringos in the neighborhood to join.  I learned several things.  First, authentic Mexican home cooking (prepared by Javier's sister) is amazing.  We had carnitas, pozole and barbecued ribs.  Second, at a Mexican fiesta, the tequila flows.  I guess I already knew that, but was fun to find it out first hand.  No way I could keep up, although Matt will say I tried!  Third, Mexicans love to sing...loudly.  Fairly early in the evening the karaoke machine came out and there was always someone anxious to pick up the mic.

Syd & Kate... back up singers

The gringos took the mic, along with Javier's handsome son

Matt was looking forward to following March madness, and since we had great cable t.v. at our casita on the beach, he was able to catch all the games.  We did go into La Paz to Tailhunters to watch his Jayhawks play.  We found out that Matt was the ONLY Jayhawk fan in La Paz, but we got there early enough to ensure that the big screen was tuned to his game.

These Baja dogs tend to draw me in more and more.  My schedule in the Baja was to go to yoga every weekday at 7:30, then on my way home I'd stop at the little refuge to get some face time with the Comitan pups (the litter of pups that had been dumped in our neighborhood).  These babies are adorable, but after 30 minutes with them I'm reminded why I prefer old dogs!  There's always one crawling up my back to pull my hair, one biting my cheek, one tugging at my ankle bracelet and one stealing my sunglasses.  Oh, and they all want some loving....for about 30 seconds before they get into trouble again.  It was fun to go up there and tire them out....and leave them like this.

We had been enjoying the new La Paz bowling alley and bowling every Wednesday afternoon with two other couples.  Matt is never one to bowl for fun....he'd much rather be in a league.....but we both found this to be a lot of fun.  Here's a pic of our last bowling day.

Chuck, Diane, Matt, Syd, Claude & Shawn

Our friends from Kansas City, Candy and Steve, came to visit us from April 5th to 10th.  Matt and I drove down to San Jose del Cabo to pick them up at the airport.  Originally we had planned to stay in La Paz until April 15th, and then head to Ajijic.  However, we realized that would have us traveling in the middle of the week of Semana Santa.  That Mexican families would start arriving on "our" beach Saturday April 12th for a week of camping.  This means loud music and parties until nearly sunrise.  Since we would be taking the ferry to the mainland, there would also be a lot of Mexican families traveling so the ferry would be more crowded than usual.  And we would be driving about 700 miles during the holiday week when there would be a lot of others out there who had consumed more than their share of tequila.  Because of all this, we decided that we would take off the day after Candy and Steve left.  Having them visit us right before we were leaving, turned out to be a blessing because we really focused on having fun and enjoying the beautiful Baja, and not obsessing about getting ready to leave.  We re-visited many of our favorite spots and explored some new ones.  Matt was able to get in one last Baja game with Steve, while Candy and I enjoyed a great beach day.  We went to Todos Santos for a last margarita at Hotel California, and then drove to Cerrito's Beach to check out the surfers.  We explored a beautiful B&B on the bluff above Cerrito's and had a drink on their patio with the most amazing views.  Candy, Steve and I (no Matt) had an amazingly beautiful day at Isla Espiritu Santos!  Was a great visit!

Candy & Steve

Candy at our Beach Day

Espiritu Santos

Exploring the Canyon

Up Close with a Humpback

One of Herm's last beach days

I had started taking food and water to a stray dog that had been hanging around our neighborhood.  From time to time I ran into a Mexican woman who was also feeding this dog.  It became more an more obvious that this dog was pregnant and babies were coming soon.  I had a "conversation" one day with this woman (in her bad English and my bad Spanish) that this futura mamacita needed to get off the street.  So I talked with Joaquin who runs the shelter in La Paz and he said if I got her up to the little shelter in El Centenario to have her pups, he'd take them into his shelter when they were old enough.  So I lured mamma into my car, took her to the vet for immunizations and de-worming and then took her to the El Centenario shelter.  I would check on her twice a day, she was as big as a barn; I knew those babies had to come out soon.  Nine days after we got to the shelter, Candy, Steve and I checked on her this is what we found.

Six beautiful, brand new pups!  We marveled how she could have carried all of these.  I gave her fresh bedding and she ate and drank a bit.  The next morning when I checked on her, this is what I found.

She'd had three more!  A total of nine babies!  No wonder stray dogs are a problem in the Baja.  These mamas have BIG litters.

Well, Candy and Steve left on Thursday morning, Matt and I started packing up.  We've gone through this process three other times, so we're definitely getting better.  Some of our great neighbors in Comitan (Kate, Pablo, Jim, Linda, Robin, Miriam, Chuck & Diane) held a bon voyage party for us that evening, and it was a great opportunity to say farewell to a group of wonderful people.

So Friday morning we packed up and left.  We caught the 2:30 pm ferry from La Paz to Topolobampo.  It's about an 8 hour ride but we still got a cabin and glad we did.  The ferry was pretty much packed so nice to have a quiet place to hang.  The entire ferry trip went very well

All packed up....again

Kate walking her "girls" on our last day

except for a little instance with Mexican customs.  They felt our import permit for our car was expired and we'd have to drive to Tijuana to get this problem resolved - that's about a 1,200 mile drive!  Luckily, we kept insisting that they check the status of our permit on line...and they did...and they found that we were good until November 2014.  After that, when Matt nearly had a melt down, everything was a piece of cake.  The loading process in La Paz went very smooth, knowing a little Spanish definitely helps.  The process to disembark in Topo was also very quick.  When we arrived in La Paz every vehicle had a thorough search by Mexican customs; however in Topo none are searched.  I guess that the drugs tend to flow into the Baja, not out of it.  We were at our hotel room in Topo  before midnight and on the road by 6:15 am on Saturday.

We made the drive from Topo to Ajijic in one looooong day.  Stopped at Vern and Kathleen's house on the way in and Kathleen had a bottle of wine waiting for me....and an incredible dinner.  We met the property manager Saturday night to get our keys,  but now way we could stay in the house.  It desperately needed a good cleaning.  We stayed in Vern and Kathleen's beautiful casita.  Sunday morning we did a basic cleaning and unloaded our things.  Monday the housekeeper was here to do a thorough cleaning and now we LOVE our new home.  Oh Monday we also went to pick up our new addition, Ms. Lola.  I fell in love with Lola last summer at the rescue and she had some health issues.  I intended to adopt her this spring when we returned but I knew she needed m

Herm does not look too happy

ore attention than she would receive at the ranch.  Luckily, two or our wonderful lake friends, Ron and Jan, offered to foster her until we arrived.  Ms. Lola was very fortunate and she thrived in their care.  I can't ever thank them enough.  Now, she's home with us and his immediately claimed Matt as "her person".  Matt has found his comfortable place.  He loves our new terrace.

Enough for now!  Pictures of our new home very soon!

Huellitas del Corazon and the Beautiful La Paz Malecon

When we first arrived in La Paz in December, I immediately knew I wanted to help with the dog rescue in our little pueblo of El Centenario.  Life in the dessert is horribly miserable for an abandoned or homeless dog.  Fresh water sources are rare and in the summer the heat is unrelenting - 110 degree days are common.  Fleas can be a problem, but ticks here can be awful for the dogs and many of them carry disease.  In the areas close to the water, like our little neighborhood of Comitan, mosquitoes are a real problem in the summer and heart worm is prevalent in untreated dogs.  In La Paz, the street dog problem doesn't appear to be too bad, but in El Centenario you see dogs wandering every where.  Some have collars so probably do have a home; their owners just allow them to wander the  busy streets.  But some are obviously homeless.  It's heart breaking.

There was a refuge for street dogs in El Centenario, that was actually started about eight years ago by the owner of our casita.  A few years ago she handed over the leadership of this shelter to a Mexican woman.  Anger and resentment over the management of this shelter is rampant in our pueblo, and now it no longer accepts street dogs. There was no place for me to volunteer, so for the past three months I've merely watched these dogs suffer.   I'd feed and water a stray when possible, but there was nothing else I knew to do.  But there is good news.

A Mexican couple, Joaquin and Yolanda Perez, have spent the last 12 years dedicating their lives to caring for street dogs, educating Mexicans about the importance of spay and neutering, and adopting abandoned animals.  There rescue effort is named Huellitas del Corazon (little footprints of the heart).  Up util a few months ago, they have operated using their own funds, which are minimal.  Recently, a group of gringos who had provided to the now closed animal rescue in El Centenario, have organized and are helping provide some donations for this shelter.

I had heard about Joaquin's shelter, and I didn't think I'd be impressed.  He used any discarded rubbish he could find to build his enclosures:  old bed springs, a car door, a piece of tin roofing.  I thought how sad that seemed; but that was before I visited.  It's all true that all the enclosures are a hodge podge of discarded material.  It is a testament of one man's ingenuity for sure, and definitely not visually appealing.  But one thing is immediately apparent, these are some happy animals.  Every enclosure is roomy.  The dessert sand makes a much better flooring than hard cement.  Joaquin has rigged some type of shade for every enclosure, usually a tarp.  And in the shade, there's always something for the dogs to lounge on:  a discarded sofa, chair or mattress.  In one pen, there is a stripped down VW van for the dogs to nap in - Joaquin calls this the penthouse.  He also has two large enclosures for cats.  He's provided plenty of places for cats to climb; there's a tree with a mini-tree house, an ironing board for them to perch on, as well as beds and chairs. Of course, for the friendly ones, the best thing to climb on is a person.  We they immediately come up for some petting and then start climbing up on your shoulder.  Everything is so clean; Joaquin works tirelessly at picking up after these dogs and cats.  He'll accept dogs with mange, even though he knows they will need to be isolated and require additional meds and baths; but he loves to watch these dogs regain their health.  The website is just getting off the ground and not yet fully functional, but here's the link:  Huellitas del Corazon.  Two weeks ago, a litter of six puppies was dumped in our neighborhood.  The yellow pup found a home (lucky girl) and the other five are now being cared for by Joaquin (they're lucky as well).

On Friday, Matt and I took our bikes to ride the La Paz malecon.  We've been intending to make this ride since we first arrived, and finally we did it!  The malecon is really beautiful as it stretches about two miles and surrounds a harbor of about a hundred anchored sailboats.  This is a gathering point for Mexican families, especially on the weekends but this day it was very quiet.  The palapas that generally provide shade for the families enjoying a beach day were mostly unoccupied.  The panga boat captains that were offering whale watching trips were for the most part idle.  It seems that traditional pay days in Mexico fall on the 15th and the 30th of the month.  Since we made our ride on the 15th, everyone in Mexico were at the end of their last paycheck.  I'm sure the activity level on the malecon picked up after everyone had a chance to get to the bank with their checks.
We took our time and enjoyed the view and the many sculptures on the malecon.  When we reached the far side we stopped at a coco frio stand.  These stands definitely cater to locals, not gringos, and we didn't know what to expect.  I ordered a coco loco (thinking there was probably alcohol involved) and Matt ordered a coke.  First, the server delivered Matt's coke and a coconut to the table.  The coconut had the top lopped off and a straw.  I drank the coconut milk....and it was definitely without alcohol.  He came back in a bit and asked if I was finished.  I indicated I was and he took the coconut.  He poured the little bit of coconut milk that remained into a plastic bag, inserted the straw and tied the bag around the straw - the Mexican version of a to go cup - and brought that back to me.  The coconut was delivered to the fruit stand where a man hacked it in half with a machete and scraped out the coconut meat.  They then mixed the coconut with chopped cucumber and jicama and a couple splashes of chili sauce.  This concoction was then topped with Japonese peanuts and strips of dried mango that were rolled in chili powder.  OK, sounds strange but it was really pretty good.  And definitely a very Mexican experience.

Visit with Friends, Espiritu Santu and Carnaval!

aBeen a busy ten days for us!  Our friends Vern and Kathleen, from Lake Chapala, arrived for a visit on February 25th.  Love it when they visit!  Kathleen is my partner in crime, always ready to join me for a bloody mary, glass of wine or a margarita.  And Vern is always up for a game of golf.  So we were all happy.

We all four went on a boat trip to Isla Espiritu Santo, which is a large island just off the coast of our favorite beach, Tecolote.  I'd been on this trip while Matt was in Kansas City and knew what an incredible day it is, but this was the first for Matt, Vern and Kathleen.  We had a great time.  Before the trip, Kathleen and I got all glammed up with new ankle bracelets from one of the few beach vendors at

New Ankle Bracelets

Matt, Syd, Kathleen and Vern

Tecolote.  Then we boarded the boat! This island is a protected area and is pristine.  It's a sanctuary for blue footed boobies (which we didn't see) and home to a large sea lion colony.  In addition, it's not unusual to see whales, dolphins and mantas during the trip.  Most of you know that Matt is not a fan of being out on the open sea.  Boats are not his thing.  But he did great!  The highlight of the trip (at least for me) is visiting the sea lions and being able to get in the water and swim with them.  The adults generally ignore you, but the babies are curious and want to play.  They'll often swim right up to your mask and try to figure out who that is in there.  I actually had to push one little guy off of me because he kept coming up to play.  After swimming with the sea lions (los lobos as the Mexicans call them, which is "the wolves"), it's time for lunch.  At the point of your day, your hungry and thirsty and the cold beers and ceviche on the beach hit the spot!  Fun day!!!

Sea Lions

View From the Boat

Our Lunch Spot!

Vern and Ceasar

On the Beach!

On Thursday we took a trip down to San Jose for a little shopping and to catch the Thursday night Art Walk. Kathleen appreciates the art; I seem to most appreciate the free drinks they pass out at each of the gallery.  We spent the night at Hotel Collie, just a block from the square.  Then Friday morning we had breakfast at the Cabo marina and then headed for Todo Santos for lunch.  A drink at the famous Hotel California is always in order, so that's what we did!  New favorite beverage:  Jamaica Jalapeno Margarita!  This drink is OMG good; Kathleen and I asked for the recipe so we'll be working hard to perfect this beverage when Matt and I return to Chapala in April.

La Paz is one of the handful of cities in Mexico that has a Carnaval celebration.  We went to the carnival one evening with Vern and Kathleen (Kathleen and I even rode a carnival ride) and then Matt and I returned on Sunday for the last day of the celebration so we could watch the parade.  The theme of the parade was extraterrestials, so lots of aliens and little green men in the parade.   Seemed very typical of a carnival in the US, but possibly just a bit tackier.  We indulged in street food, Mexican breads, churros and banderillos (corn dogs). While we were there it was much more a family celebration than Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Families were out in force, no flashing your tatas for a string of beads and all ages participated in the parade.  My personal favorite was the troop of dancing grandmas!

A Concert Every Night but the Headliners started at Midnight!

Must be a shortage of sequins in Mexico after these costumes were assembled!

Everything you'll Never Need

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Lots of Cute Kids!

Kathleen got "egged"

Wigs were a big seller at the carnival

Matt and Vern also were able to get in a round of golf.  What happens when you send two guys and one camera off to play golf ?  One picture!

I've got a great Spanish tutor here in La Paz, and I also pick up Spanish phrases from friends and at yoga.  I have a couple new phrases I love.  Me doy la manita del gatto - which translates to "I give myself the hand of the cat".  This means you try and fix your face to go out.  As you get older there is another phrase:   Me doy el garro del tigre - which is "I give myself the claw of the tiger" meaning it's much harder to fix yourself up.  So true!  At my spanish class yesterday, we were talking about clothing.  I asked my tutor, Alexsa, what was the term for "grannie panties" in Spanish; she replied "matapaciones".  I thought, "oh, I'll never remember that" then I started to break it down.;  Mata is "to kill" and paciones is "passion".  Perfect!