Yucatan Rebirth

The Local Funky Market!!!

2010-11-16T08:23:00.001-06:00

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to head over to Chelem to attend the Local Funky Market. A brainchild of Carol Trumble and Paul Lawrence, it was held at their eatery, Tacomaya (or "Tacky" as it's known to the expat locals).

Notice the clever use of the restaurant chairs to block-off the street. Vendors were set-up both inside the restaurant and outside on the street. The variety of goods, mostly hand-crafted by expats and local residents was amazing.

This fellow came from Muna to sell bamboo furniture, walking sticks (I bought one) and even bamboo charcoal which he claimed was very superior to the stuff you find in stores.

Local artists were well represented operating in a variety of media.

Note the flip-flops. Just about says it all, attitude-wise...

The event was well attended and I think the vendors and buyers were very pleased.

Indra made the most fascinating purchases from a guy who was raising money to move to Acapulco. He was selling his movie props from the film "Apocalypto" and they were impossible to resist.

Large and small, hand-carved drums which are now residing on the stair landing in her house.

And this great shaman's rattle featuring mule deer hooves and intricate bead work.

You just can't find treasures like this at Walmart these days.

Good job Carol and Paul and many thanks to those who took the time to bring their wares to the show,

More later,

Larry

Bodegita

2010-09-13T10:09:00.001-05:00

The time had come for an expansion of the back patio and the addition of a "bodegita" (small storage room) to the house. We have yard equipment, tools, boxes of stuff, Christmas ornaments, luggage, etc. stored in and around the house taking up valuable space. And the larger items, such as bicycles and a car top carrier, have been stored in the original bodegita which was constructed out of heavy paper and wooden poles to house the workers who were building the house over two years ago. It had seen better days...

So, last week our next door neighbor and trusted construction guru, Luis, arranged to have his crew come over and tackle the first order of business: the patio. The extension of the patio would double its current size. The usual suspects cement, blocks, sand and gravel were ordered and delivered.

The foundation for the patio had been built a couple of months ago, so that saved some time so this part of the job was competed in one day.

This is the final finishing on the cement which is given a texture to prevent slipping on it when it's wet.

It was dry and ready for use the next morning! This will also serve as the beginning of the deck for the swimming pool we plan to have built next year....
Then it was on to the bodegita. We had this planned for quite a while. The extension is off our kitchen so we had to give up looking out the kitchen window into the back yard. But the pluses outweighed the minuses.

Luis sent over a man by the name of Vicente who is handling the plumbing and electric on the project. This will include provisions for a washing machine, an outdoor shower, and a pressurized water system. I'll update you on those as the project moves along.

More later,
Larry

Aqua At A Discount

2010-08-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

The water here is safe to drink. It, like most other treated water, just doesn't taste good. So we buy the large bottles. Once you pay the 50 peso deposit on a 20 liter bottle, it's just a matter of exchanging for a full one at the cost of about 22 pesos, or $2.00 USD.
But there is another option we found just a few blocks from our house.

It's open 24/7 and that 22 peso, 20 liter bottle is all of a sudden just 8 pesos. Just bring that empty bottle.
Here's how it works:

Easy peasy. Just insert the empty, close the little door, insert coins, and out she comes!

Forget or lose the cap? No problem as they have free replacements to match most major brands.

Just another little discovery to save some money. Quite popular too as I had to wait for one other person to finish before I tanked-up, and there were two people behind me. All probably wondering what the crazy Gringo was doing taking all those pictures.

More later,
Larry

A Little India In Merida

2010-02-27T15:45:00.000-06:00

I don't get many invitations to gallery openings. In fact none that I can remember until this past week when I got an invitation to attend the opening of Puerta al Este, which roughly translates to East Gate.

Located on Calle 60 between 45 and 47 in Merida, Puerta al Este is owned by Canadians Kerry and Lou, who relocated from Vancouver, British Columbia about three months ago to set-up shop.

(l to r: Lou, Kerry)

I was warmly greeting by their sales associate Maru, a former co-worker of mine from the travel business, and introduced to this wonderful couple. Kerry told me that they have been in the business of importing antiques from India for about six years. Let's have a look.

Kerry and Lou travel the northern part of India working through a network of dealers they have developed. The dealers aquire some of their stock through salvage work. Take a look at this magnificent door frame and door...

Other treasures...

Located across the street from Santa Ana park, you really owe it to yourself to stop by and peruse the eclectic and fascinating item on display. You just may fall in love with something perfect for your home or office. At the very least you will meet a charming couple who has brought a taste of the Far East to Mexico.

Puerta al Este

Calle 60 #415A x 45 y 47 Centro

Merida, Yucatan

Telephone: 999 9-23-24-23

At the IMSS Progreso Clinic

2010-02-03T11:42:00.000-06:00

This is just a brief update on our foray into the Mexican public health system. As reported, we received our paperwork and were told to report to the IMSS clinic in our town of Progreso.

Here we checked in and presented our paperwork fully expecting to get our primary physicals and assignment to a primary physician. It was not to be.
What we did get was our permanent medical record books. They are color coded, the brown ones indicating that we are over 60 years old.

On the inside, they make use of another one of the extremely flattering photos they require on everything official here....

So if you're keeping track, we have now utilized 4 of pictures that came in the packet from the photographer's place. The first page also contains, among other things, our social security number, our address, and the fact that our first visit will be at Consultorio #1.

The rest of the booklet has pages dedicated to various reasons for any visits and is a record of your health that you bring each time. You also hang onto all other patient records including x-rays, lab results, etc. that may occur. IMSS does not store them for you.

Here's a look at the inside..

As I looked through the booklet, I couldn't help sensing something oddly familiar about this whole thing. And then it hit me:

It's the same system our veterinarian uses!!!

So all of us in the family now has a health booklet. We just have to make sure we bring the correct one when we return tomorrow morning for our physicals.

More later,

Larry

IMSS - The "Public Option" in Mexico (Days 3,4,&5)

2010-01-15T19:50:00.001-06:00

Day 3 - Back to the German Consulate (and a gamble)

Tuesday saw us returning to the German Consulate to pick up Indra's translated and certified birth certificate. When we had visited before, Magdalena, who helped Indra, also offered to translate and certify my birth certificate as well. Not being German, I politely declined. Instead I contacted several of the translators from the list provided by the U.S. Consulate, and attempted a few phone calls, but no one seemed too anxious to assist me. So Tuesday, I decided to take Magdalena up on her offer.

Of course the "gamble" was going to be submitting a birth certificate from the U.S. bearing the official seal of Germany. It was Magdalena who suggested that as long as it had a seal and looked official, that would suffice. She did the translation on the spot, the consul certified it, and I left with this:

Singing, Deutschland My Deutschland, we headed home, fairly confident that the next day we'd be welcomed with open arms at the IMSS office.

Day 4 -IMSS North Office and an unpleasant surprise.

On Wednesday morning we headed back to the IMSS North intake office to present our credentials. Alejandro, whom we had met on our first trip, recognized us and told us he hoped we weren't upset with him for making us go back and get the translated birth certificates. Of course we weren't, we assured him. We understand the difference between rules and those who have to enforce them.

We got our number and sat down to wait:

So we waited, eyes cast up at the flat panel screens, waiting for our number to be called. About 45 minutes later, it was. Window #7. We told the man at the window what we were up to and he was confused over the fact that although we share the same address, we are not married. He was blunting attempts by us to present our hard-earned paperwork and then his eyes brightened. At the IMSS North office, they handle only applicants who live in Merida. Residents of other cities in the state need to go to the IMSS South intake office. See ya, folks.

This is another example of not relying on everything you read on the web. In this case the information was posted, very recently, by a company in Merida which charges expatriates to assist them with such things, that either IMSS North or IMSS South office would process anyone. Before we left, we were each given a form to list our medical histories which is also required.

A few words about T.I.M.

If you are moving to, or planning on moving to Mexico, be prepared to roll with the punches. By example: Last week I took a couple of our outdoor chairs to a local carpenter for some repair work. He assured me that they would be ready the next day. The next day came, I went back, and the chairs had not been touched. "Tomorrow at 6 p.m.", he told me. So the next day I went back and still the chairs were not ready. "Tomorrow for sure", he assured me. We went back today and they were done. Now, in the States, such customer service would be met by red-faced, screaming anger at the least by many; at the most, it would be a trip to Judge Judy for a sarcastic tongue lashing.

But here, you learn to just look at each other and say, "T.I.M". Translation, "This Is Mexico." Much better for the blood pressure.

So it was at IMSS North.

DAY 5 - IMSS South and Success!!

IMSS South was a fair distance from Progreso and, according to the map, the easiest way to get there was via the Periferico, a freeway that more or less circles the city.

If you're going, take the Calle 42 exit. IMSS South is directly across from a very large military base. As you approach it, there is a side street on the south side and this is where we found the office.

"Sur" meaning south.

We checked in at the reception desk, told them what we were up to, and were promptly handed another one of these:

So far, so good. We took our seats, (which are quite comfortable, by the way) and let our gaze drift to the trusty flat panel...

Please note that the notification is in English. Believe me when I tell you, this is the only thing you will see in English here. Or at most government offices for that matter. Mexico's attitude is, "You live here, learn the language!" No coddling. bilingual nonsense here. Difficult? You bet. That's why Indra and I are attending Spanish classes twice a week.

The place was crowded, just like the other office, but the efficiency is remarkable and the seating was seldom half-full.

Our number was called in about 20 minutes and we were again directed to Window 7. Fortunately last night Indra took the time to carefully arrange all of our copied documents into two folders to facilitate things with a minimum of clutter on the counter. At the window, the woman in charge proceeded to fire off a string of questions in Spanish and began to look at our folders. Noticing our slack-jawed looks of confusion, she called down a young man named Israel Cantos who became our angel. He spoke pretty good English and it turned out the same confusion over our living arrangement was causing a problem here. He explained to the woman the situation, and in a few minutes he told me that we would each need to write a letter explaining our sharing the same address without God and the Church's blessing. Or something to that effect.

At this point I sarcastically blurted out, "Do they have to be notarized at the Embassy?", briefly abandoning the T.I.M. credo. Sensing our frustration, Israel said, "I'll write them for you." Can you believe it? He did, the woman in charge approved them, we signed them (and a lot of other papers). And a new form was presented. Because Indra is listed on all the utilities, and it's her house, we had to complete a form that listed me (I'm not making this ups) as Indra's "concubino". Yes, I am Indra's concubine, or Mexico's way of saying, "Larry is Indra's bitch." Then Israel asked us to take a seat for about 20 minutes and we'd be good to go. It was more like an hour and a half. T.I.M.

During this break, Indra decided to use the restrooms and came back insisting I include the following report which is deference to any women who may be reading this: At IMSS North, there were no seats on the toilets (common here), no toilet paper and no way to dry your hands after washing them. At IMSS South, all three were available. Much better.

So, we people watched...

Notice the man yawning. That sums up the waiting.

Eventually, Israel called us up to sign a few more papers and presented us with our bills for our annual fee. My German certified, U.S. birth certificate passed the test. T.I.M. This fee had to be paid today by closing time at 2:00 p.m. That gave us about 2 hours to get to the bank and return. When dealing with government agencies you soon learn that they do not handle money. You take their bill and pay it at any bank, they give you a receipt, and that's what you present to the agency. Cuts down on light fingers in the till, I suppose. Also we were told to get two copies of everything we were given.

One amazing thing was, contrary to most government offices (like immigration) copies of visas, passports, etc. are always compared to the originals. We were not asked to show originals of anything. Strange.

Being we were in a totally unknown (to us) part of town, finding a bank was difficult but we eventually did. Back at the IMSS office there are copy stores across the street so we beat the deadline with 45 minutes left to spare. Israel was glad to see us and upon getting our payment receipts, we were issued these:

This is a temporary insurance card (featuring yet another flattering photo) that we will present, along with a stack of other papers, to the clinic in Progreso on February 1. At that time we will get our physicals and be assigned a primary physician just like an HMO. That doctor would, if needed, refer us to any specialist we might need.

This is the IMSS clinic in Progreso on Calle 27...

So there you have it. Like most expats here, the IMSS insurance would not be used for the everyday stuff like a case of the sniffles or a case of "Hustle and Flow" one might get from eating bad tacos. For that stuff we go to the private clinic. But for more serious and expensive problems, we'll go to the IMSS clinic.

More later,

Larry

IMSS - The "Public Option" in Mexico (Day 2)

2010-01-07T16:00:00.004-06:00

"A Tale of Two Consulates"

If you'll recall, day one of our journey to obtain Mexican public health insurance (IMSS) revealed among other things that we needed to get copies of our birth certificates, translated into Spanish and notarized and they had to be done by our respective consulates.

In my case, this would entail a trip to the U.S. Consulate in Merida, a trip I made before and chronicled in this blog post. If you haven't read it yet, you should as it will prepare you for today's report and although it wasn't nominated for a Peabody Award, it damn well should have been.

My companion, Indra, being born in Germany, has a German birth certificate which meant we also had to locate the German Consulate in Merida. This was done with very little effort on the internet and with a check of our handy-dandy Merida street map, we were relatively certain we could find it.

So off we went this morning, first to the German Consulate. Ladies first, you know.

When we arrived near the pinpointed spot on our map we were detoured off the main street due CFE (power company) crews replacing a bad transformer. Nonetheless we parked near where we believed the consulate to be and walked to it. Here it is:

Not quite the over-the-top architecture we are accustomed to in our taxpayer funded public buildings, but we have learned to roll with the punches in the past couple of years here, so we strolled up and knocked on the door.

We were let into a small outer office/reception area where we met the very helpful Magdalena. She spoke English, Spanish and German and for all we knew, other languages as well. She registered us in her book and then Indra showed her the birth documents from 1946 Germany. Magdalena looked them over, translated them on the fly for us in English to confirm that they were indeed birth documents and apologized that she could do nothing today due to the power outage going on from the soon to be replaced broken transformer. She noted the fragility of the documents which bear a close resemblance in consistency to the Dead Sea Scrolls and provided Indra with a web address where she can obtain new, updated versions. By the way the new versions from Germany already come translated into five languages including Spanish. Here's Magdalena explaining all of this to Indra...

She called the Consul out from the rear office (I think these were the only offices in the building) and he confirmed he could do the notarization from Xerox copies so Indra could keep the originals. She even offered to translate mine, but I decided that since IMSS wanted it from my country's consulate I'd stick to the rules. We will go back next Monday or Tuesday to pick Indra's up.

At this time we were less than an hour away from my appointment at the U.S. Consulate per my appointed time. Yes, you need to have an appointment which is done online here.

I had popped on to make my appointment Tuesday and the next available time was for today (Thursday) at 12:00 noon. In fact it was the only time available today.

We parked across the street and as we approached I thought it was a good time to get what we in the news media are trained to get: an Establishing Shot.

Unlike the German Consulate, ours comes with anti-crash barriers. As soon as I took this picture, the two armed Yucatan State Police standing in front started yelling and gesticulating wildly something about picture taking of this hallowed edifice not being allowed.

I briefly figured since I was on a public street, I could do what I damn well wanted. But on second thought I realized that I could be arrested for spying and I doubted that Bill Clinton would commandeer a plane to fly down and save my ass like he did for those two young women in North Korea. So I pocketed my camera and as we passed by my cheerful "Buenos Dias" was met with icy stares.

Up we went to the bulletproof booth to announce ourselves and our purpose for being there. Of course the jack-booted, beret-wearing rent-a-cop that U.S. taxpayers employ to check everyone in, spoke no English. This is at the U.S. Consulate! He had to make a call to get another rent-a-cop to come out who spoke a little English. Back in the day, before our armed forces were sent out to fight a couple of wars in the Middle East, these duties were performed by U.S. Marines (Semper-Fi) who, no doubt, enjoyed a little break in the action.

After checking our passports, we were admitted to the screening area. Here we were relieved of the following items before going through the metal detector:

A pack of cigarettes

A lighter

My camera (no photos allowed inside either - State secrets)

Both our sets of car keys

All loose change

A bottle of hand sanitizer (I guess the swine flu media panic had not permeated security either)

A bottle of mosquito repellent
Fortunately we were not asked to remove our underwear.

Then our bags were put through the scanner, our passports checked one more time, and then we were passed through the metal detector. Since I could not take a photo of this, you'll have to use your imagination. I imagine that if given the chance, they may resort to body imaging like this:

This was the first of three checkpoints needed to pass before entering the hallowed area for my "appointment". We cleared the other two without any problems and when we entered the main area we were given a number: 2004. We didn't have to wait as there were, no kidding, in a room with at least 50 chairs and 8 help windows, no other people waiting. I mean it was, except for one of the rent-a-cops and Indra and me, deserted. Said rent-a-cop directed us to the two windows reserved for Americans and we rang the buzzer. Soon a gentleman appeared behind the double-paned bulletproof glass and, through a microphone that continuously shorted out, asked us what we needed. I needed an "appointment" for this?

I explained that the folks over at IMSS told we needed my birth certificate translated and notarized by the U.S. Consulate in order to apply for benefits. The nice man then informed us that, yes, they could notarize such a document for $30.00 USD, but the translation was not done there. For that, I would have to hire a government certified Mexican translator to do the job. Then he/she would bring it over to the consulate, have it notarized, and then return it to me.

He then provided me with a list of certified translators in Merida. This list carries the following proviso:

"The U.S. Consulate Merida assumes no responsibility of liability for the professional ability or reputation of, or the quality of service provided by, the following persons or firms. Inclusion on this list is in no way an endorsement by the Department of State or the U.S. Consulate."

Well, that's a confidence booster.

I told him about what Alejandro at IMSS had said about having it translated by the consulate and the man behind the bulletproof glass replied that they had probably just seen the official consulate seal on the translated document and assumed the translation was done there. "We're going to have to straighten them out on this the next time we see them", came the dubious promise from the man behind the bulletproof glass.

We exited with the list, collected our contraband and headed home.

Indra and the Germans definitely came out on top today. I'll let you know what happens next.

More later,

Larry

Insurance: IMSS - The "Public Option" in Mexico (Day 1)

2010-01-05T16:00:00.142-06:00

While the prospect of government involvement in the matter of health insurance continues to pit a lot of Americans against each other over the inclusion of a so-called "Public Option", here in Mexico it's a matter of public policy.
Known as IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) or the institute of Mexican Social Security, it's available to everyone. That includes those of us who have established residency here from another country.
Here is part of the IMSS charter:
"In its extent, the Article 2 of the Social Security Act (SSA) states that the purpose of the social security is to guarantee the right to health, medical assistance, protection of the means of subsistence, and the necessary social services for the individual and collective wellbeing, as well as the granting of an allowance that, in its case and previous fulfillment of legal requirements, will be guaranteed by the State."(my italics)
Anyone in the States thinking of coming to Mexico (or any other foreign country for that matter) needs to know that Medicare does not apply outside the U.S. So that leaves private insurance companies or, in this case, the Mexican government's health care system.
With this in mind we decided to enroll. Now, health care here is inexpensive in comparison to the States for the minor everyday things. But should something more catastrophic happen, it could still put quite a dent in someone's retirement budget even here.
IMSS does not offer full coverage the first year and for certain pre-existing conditions, the insurance benefits do not kick in until year two or even year three. However, in the first year many basic medical problems are covered and drugs from the IMSS pharmacy are free.
An in-depth investigation by me on various websites turned up a few inaccurate bits of information which I will clarify as we go. Keep in mind I'm operating in the State of Yucatan, but I believe that since this is a Federal program, the rules would be the same everywhere.
As I found when we got our senior discount cards, rules here change either at the start of the new year or a change in political parties.
We decided to start with obtaining photos. All the websites I checked stipulated we needed to bring 2 or 3 (depending on the site) passport sized photos. We actually asked the guy at one of our local photography joints (and they are everywhere!) and he told us that what we need were 2 infantil sized photos. Here's the difference:

That's infantil on the left and if we had taken passport sized photos, that would have been a deal breaker. By the way, the photos come in a set of 6 and cost 50 pesos (less than $5.00). So we have extras if anybody wants one (and who wouldn't?).
Next step was to find the location of the IMSS intake center. In Merida there are actually two of them; one south and one north of the centro. We opted for the closer one in the north. The rest of this will probably just be of interest to those living here or planning on moving here, but what the hell. Stories of governmental red-tape are the stuff of good party chatter no matter where you are, right?
Here is the address of IMSS north:
Calle 7 No. 432 X 32 y 34
Col. Residencial Pensiones C.P. 97217
This is actually easy to find. We came south into Merida on the main drag, Calle 62. At the Mega store we hung a right (west) onto Circuito Colonias. Drive west until the street curves to the left and get ready to turn right just past the Chevrolet dealership. That street is also Circuito Colonias. Just a little trick they like to play on us gringos. Drive down the street a few blocks and on the right you'll see a tall hospital building. Then the street name changes again to Av. Alfretta Barerra. Keep going about 3 more blocks and on the right you'll see this:

This is actually the clinic. We parked around the corner and walked back and to the north (or the left as you're looking at the building) we stumbled upon the intake center. Easy-peasy!

We knew, of course, this was not going to be a one stop deal. It seldom is here which adds to the "Amazing Race" quality of it all. If you watch that program, think of this as a Roadblock.

Let's take a look inside.

This is the line to get a number. When we got our number (which was from a security guard) we were directed to the person just to the left who's name was Alejandro. And Alejandro spoke English!!! This was going swimmingly!

So Alejandro, after finding out what we were up to, asked if we had all the required documentation. He even gave us a checklist to be sure. In Spanish, of course, but you get these when getting or renewing a visa, so we were prepared.

Taking it point-by-point:

"Comprobate de domicillio" That's an original and copy of a utility bill, either Telmex (phone) or CFE (electricity) will do. "Check"

"Identificacion oficial" Think passport for us, and FM2 or FM3 visas and copies of each. "Check"

"Acta de matrimonio" Marriage certificate. "That ain't gonna happen"

"2 fotografias tamano infantil. "Check"

"Acta de nacimiento" Birth certificate. "We've never been asked for that before and none of the websites I checked mentioned that"

CURP si ya cuenta con el. Yep. Got the CURP when we got our senior cards. "Check"

Documento que contenga su Numero de Seguiridad Social. Does not apply to us.

And that long last one is a completed questionnaire concerning our medical history which is done at this center.

Also note the annual cost for the insurance for 60+ years of age, $3211 pesos or $251.00 USD at today's exchange rate. Again, that's per year. This is luring a LOT of retirees to move here. And regardless of any horror stories that people who have never received treatment here like to carelessly spread, I can tell you first hand the treatment is top-notch. And you actually see a doctor, not a physician's assistant.

But I digress.

We explained to Alejandro that we did not have birth certificates with us and that the mere possession of a passport proved that we were indeed born because the U.S. government requires a birth certificate to get a passport. He was very nice and took the time to instant message two superiors to plead our passport argument but both were adamant that we had to have them. And then Alejandro upped the ante: The birth certificate had to be translated into Spanish. "Not a problem", I thought, "We have plenty of friends who would do that for us." Alejandro, seemingly reading my thoughts, kicked it up another notch: These translations had to be from our Consulate. And notarized by them.

Anyone who read about my trip to the U.S. consulate could well understand the feeling of dread I was experiencing at this point. The other shoe had dropped. We would not be joining these happy people today...

To add yet another dimension to the mix, my partner Indra will not be utilizing the service of the U.S. consulate office. She was born in Germany. So we will also be visiting the German consulate. And we're not even sure if her baptismal certificate will count.

This is going to get interesting.

More later,

Larry

Christmas At The Mall

2009-12-18T08:42:00.005-06:00

Some last minute shopping dictated we go to the Galleria Mall in Merida yesterday. I thought it would be fun to share some shots with you.
This is the "anchor" store, Liverpool. Something like Nordstrom's or Macy's. In other words an expensive but necessary store for finding things totally unavailable elsewhere.

You get the idea...

In the actual mall, the decorations are very tasteful and plentiful...

The mall tree...

From the upper concourse...

Looking down on a well-known, seasonal celebrity...

And even though it was 88 degrees outside, winter recreation was available on the ice rink...

And they even had their version of "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"....

One of the many Christmas displays dotted all over the mall...
The "kicker" to this story is that I was having a great time with the camera while Indra was busy looting the Liverpool store. That is until I was approached by the State Police and was humorlessly told in no uncertain terms that photography was not allowed and I was to cease and desist at once. Too late, muchachos, the damage was done. Enjoy the illegal spoils!

More later,
Larry

Happy Holidays Eveyone!

2009-12-11T06:08:00.000-06:00

Here's to a great 2010!

Let's Go To The Fair!

2009-11-09T21:03:00.001-06:00

November means many things in the state of Yucatan. It's the end of hurricane season which saw Category 1 Ida slip between us and Cuba, heading north to the States as a rather benign tropical storm. It also means the end of oppressive heat and humidity and the start of Norte (storms from the north) season and cooler weather. And it means the nearly month-long state fair at Xmatkuil (pronounced Eesh-ma-quill) is here.
In honor of Indra's birthday, we headed down there this morning to see what was new and to do some Christmas shopping for our unsuspecting relatives.
This is the front entrance....

The admission price went from 10 pesos last year ( about 85 cents) to 12 pesos this year (about 97 cents) but we sucked it up and didn't give the ticket agent any sob stories about being Senior Citizens living on a fixed income, etc.

Once inside we were introduced to the fair's theme, sort of a winter wonderland thing...

"o.k" we thought, "It's 82 degrees out, but we can roll with that. We soon found out that this winter theme was being promoted throughout the fair grounds and imagine our surprise when we ran across this...

A crowd of school children witnessing their classmates engaged in a....SNOW BALL FIGHT!!!

Much tamer than I remembered from my childhood. I mean we didn't have protective headgear and goggles or a net to prevent ice missiles from hitting us smack in the face, but these kids were having the time of their lives. And it's probably one of the only times they will see snow in their lifetimes.

And next door....

A snow hill where one can ride down on these tubes...

It was early in the day (shortly after noon) by Mexican standards, so the big crowds would not arrive for several hours yet. Good for wandering around, but bad for photo ops. We did, however, find Santa! And we had a kid to sit in his lap!

I don't know how Santa could come all the way from the North Pole and wear that heavy suit, but I had the feeling that the snow wasn't the only thing melting.

Even the landscaping had the winter/Christmas thing going on...

Like most state fairs, this one also featured the farming and agriculture aspect including these really fine tractors which appealed to me, I being raised on an orchard in Washington State....

Among the tractors was a small pen holding what looked to be a wild pig. What he was doing there, we don't know, but he was so cute we took a picture...

Speaking of livestock, they always have a good selection over in the beef barn.

Here is a very nice looking Brahma Bull...

And even though she was trying to sleep, I cowed this one into letting me take her picture too...wait a minute...that's a bull.

For three years now we have been unsuccessful in locating the poultry barn. We asked these chicks, but they didn't seem to know anything either...

We concluded that perhaps the poultry barn does not exists.

We did, however come across some adorable little piglets snoozing in their pen..

The area schools bring busloads of children to the fair, all dressed in their uniforms, being overseen by harried-looking adults whom we did not envy...

As the day wound down, so did we. But before we left I took these pictures of some very interesting hand-made furniture that was for sale. Quite unlike stuff you see at Levitz...

So that was our day at the fair and we'll go back next year as we never know what we will see then.

More later,

Larry

Hurricane Ida

2009-11-07T15:43:00.000-06:00

We were feeling pretty smug that with the end of November in sight we would escape the effects of any hurricanes this year. Well, we just ended four days straight of downpours that we can attribute to the outer system of hurricane Ida. According to recent reports from the National Hurricane Center U.S., the tropical storm will gradually increase its speed in the coming days, which alerted the population of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Campeche which are now under Yellow Alert. That means to basically be on alert for the Red Alert (how many times can I use "alert" in a sentence?) and to expect high winds and rain.

Ida moved to 15 miles per hour north and is expected to turn toward the northwest "with a gradual increase your speed in the coming days", the statement of the U.S. agency, based in Miami.

Its winds have accelerated and now reach 95 mph, with gusts up faster. It is expected to gain more strength and could become a hurricane on Sunday when Ida reaches the Yucatan Peninsula.

Here's how she looks today:

Here is a shot of Cancun today and the ADO luxury buses that we take when we go there:

We'll keep you posted.

More later,

Larry

A Small Beauty

2009-10-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the beauty here comes in small packages...like this little butterfly Indra spotted this afternoon. I grabbed him and he was nice enough to pose for some close-ups....

A "stop and smell the roses" moment.

More later,

Larry

Cruise Ships and Tourists

2009-10-05T15:47:00.006-05:00

When we go out onto the upper deck of our house, we can always see when the cruise ship has arrived. This happens roughly twice a week and I wondered what they actually see when they visit Progreso. As I have mentioned before, this is not a resort town in the model of Cancun or Mazatlan, but a fishing town which just happens to have a stretch of beach that caters to the tourists when they arrive on the cruise ships. So off I went to see first hand what the tourists see.
First of all, the pier where the ships dock is also the port for shipping of goods to and from the Yucatan. The next major port on the east side of Mexico is in Veracruz. Due to the wide, limestone shelf, the Progreso pier had to be built five miles into the Gulf to get to a water depth that would accommodate cruise ships and freighters. Here's a shot from outer space:

I went out to the Progreso cruise terminal located at the end of the pier via Auto Progreso, the same bus company on which I used to commute when working in Merida.

By the way, this is the only way we locals can sneak out onto the pier. It is pretty heavily guarded..

I wandered through the shopping plaza that is also in the arrival area, and there she was: The Carnival Line's pride and joy, the "Behemoth of the Seven Seas"...

O.k., I know it says "Fantasy" on it, but it is big.

Now a look at the shopping plaza at the cruise terminal...

By the way, everything here is sold in dollars, not pesos.

I'm not sure what the "Summer Clearance" thing is all about as it is pretty much summer all the time here.

I imagine this is as far as some of these folks go, buying a souvenir and then back on to the safety of the boat.

So, onto the bus and into town where the shopping is more interesting.

The main plaza in town converts to a bazaar selling the usual trash and trinkets when the ship is in....like pipes for your smoking pleasure...

And jewelry...

There's even a clown selling balloon animals...or hats...or something....I wonder what this discussion is all about...also, he should watch his placement of the lower balloon...

One thing you're sure to run into is the Cuban cigar salesmen hawking very nice wood and glass boxes of Cuban cigars. However, these are fakes, made in Honduras. The Cubans are very selective about who they let sell their cigars.

For us locals, the people watching is great sport. Here's a good looking group...

I pray she just sat in something wet. Nice sombrero, though...

One thing I've always wanted to do was ride the touribus that scoots through town while a guide gives valuable information such as who founded the town, when the lighthouse was built and so forth. So for a mere 20 pesos I decided to take a ride. The funny part was when the tour guide, Julio, looked at me and said. "But you live here. Why do you want to go on the bus?" I explained that I was freelancing for National Geographic, blah, blah. He just laughed. I just told him it was for this dog and pony show called my blog, so he wrote down the website so he could see it later.

This is Julio..

The bus...

Julio was right. There wasn't much new to learn on this trip. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day. Here we are on the malecon or main beach boardwalk..

Passing the "wedding cake" house...

Cool ride.
So, what did I learn? Not much except that this commerce is necessary to supplement the economy here. Fishing and tourism each by themselves cannot sustain this town. Together, they can, but it's still economically touch and go most of the time.

I had a nice conversation with a young man from Atlanta who, when asked what he thought of Progreso replied, "Not much going on here." "Exactly", I smiled.

More later,

Larry

The Birthday Party

2009-10-03T20:09:00.001-05:00

This has a small back-story. Our friend, neighbor and cleaning woman, Debora, always brings her daughter Kimberly with her when she cleans the house. Indra has grown quite fond of Kimberly and last year she was invited to the little girl's birthday party. It was held in a tiny house and it was very crowded. This year, Indra volunteered this house for the festivities.

Thursday night was set as the date, and that day Debra started delivering the party supplies first thing in the morning.

Including Snow White, the pinata...

Later, Kimberly arrived to help decorate and set things up. Indra swung into action.

Let the decorating begin!

We didn't really know how many to expect, but when a pickup truck arrived and dropped off 50 folding chairs and two gigantic steel tables, we had an idea that this fiesta was going to be big.

It's not like in the U.S. where you drop off your child and come back later to pick them up. These children arrived with their moms, dads, siblings, aunts, grandmas, babies, everyone turns out.

We had everything set up in the back, but as it got darker the consensus was to move everything into the front yard where we have better outdoor lighting.

We figured there had to be 40 kids and about as many adults.

Of course there was food. The main dish was a huge pot of spaghetti and a lot of small sandwiches. And a cake!

The last official act of the evening was the Snow White pinata....Here she is posing with the birthday girl, 11 years old.

I was under the impression that the kids would be blindfolded, given a big stick, and start taking whacks at it. Instead, each was given a turn to pummel poor Snow with their fists. This proved to be ineffective and eventually Snow was ripped open and, to the shouts of "Aqui! Aqui!", the candy was thrown to the little ones.

As you can imagine, there was quite a bit of wreckage left over after people headed home. No problem as Debra and her crew took over and picked up everything. And the next day she came over and cleaned the downstairs. A fun and interesting evening.

More later,

Larry

The Morning Walk

2009-10-03T18:42:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it's fun to take a camera along on one of our morning walks just to see what pops up. That's what I did today. We walked to where the marina opens into the Gulf...

We sat down to watch the fish jumping out of the water, and the fishermen heading out to make a living. We enjoyed the fact that these boats carried two smaller boats on them...

And all the while we were observing, we were being observed....

These are the dreaded Giant Brain Sucking Lizards of the Yucatan and are quite harmless during the day. In fact, when approached, they disappear into the rocks. But at night, if one should find you sleeping, they silently creep up and....o.k., I'm making this part up. They're harmless.

As are the pelicans. We found this handsome fellow taking in the sun....

At the end of the road we were offered this nice look at the new Progreso-Chelem bridge which was built to cut the drive time between the two towns by about 30 minutes.

A nice way to spend a Saturday morning.

More later,

Larry

It's The Cops!

2009-09-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

"Larry, the police are outside and their guns are drawn." Thus, Indra ended what was starting to be a pleasant afternoon siesta yesterday. After performing a mental checklist of my past transgressions, I ruled out the possibility of said guns being aimed at me, and we went out on the upper deck to check it out.
What we found was a common site here, although not on our street: the drug and guns checkpoint.

These stops can be quite unnerving at first until you get used to them, even when you know you don't have any guns or drugs even though you might want some.

As you can see, even the people on the lowly mopeds are not immune from searches. I used to be searched when on the bus from Progreso to Merida going or coming home from work. In fact, I was usually the only person on the bus being searched as I was the only Norte Americano. I just smiled and went along with it because...

...well, you get the idea. After 2 1/2 years here, they don't even bother to stop our car anymore as it is well known as the only Subaru in Progreso.

So, we watched the action for about five minutes with Indra cautioning that if the lead started flying, we were to duck for cover. When we checked about five minutes after that, they had vanished. We don't know if they set up this roadblock for anyone in particular or what the deal was. Just part of life south of the border.

More later,

Larry

The Bank Token

2009-09-03T18:11:00.000-05:00

This is one of those things that sort of grabs you as another, "this is so different" moment. When you open a bank account in Mexico, at least at Banorte, and you want internet access to your account, one of the things you are given is a "token". Take a look:

Cute, huh? What you are seeing is a personal electronic device that is getting a signal from a satellite. Every 60 seconds that 6-digit code automatically and randomly changes. If you look carefully on the left hand side of the display you can see a series of lines that act as a countdown to the numbers changing again. Each token has a serial number and when you go on line to set-up your internet banking, the system wants that serial number, your user name and your password. Once activated, this is what you need to log on with the most current "token" number being displayed, so it's different every time. They say that this will operate for 5 years before the battery runs out and there is no extra charge for it. Unless you lose it.

I tell ya, these third world countries...!

More later,

Larry

Mice and Mousetraps

2009-08-13T10:29:00.000-05:00

We've had a mouse in the house. This is our second one (that we know of) and the first time we had to go hunting for mousetraps. Here, they do not have the spring-loaded, killer version of my youth instead opting for a more humane (think PETA), small plastic pad coated in a sticky substance that I suppose the little rodents find attractive. And for our first mouse visitor it worked.
This new guy is apparently smarter than that and we see him occasionally darting about out of the corners of our eyes. The dogs have tried to sniff him out, but to no avail. We can't use a cat because the dogs don't want to share the space in the house
So it was back to the sticky traps. Unfortunately, they trap indiscriminately.

Sure hope this wasn't Lenny...

More later,

Larry

El Pulpo

2009-08-09T07:49:00.000-05:00

Progreso for all it's efforts to be a tourist destination for cruise ships, is a fishing town. And the main harvest here is pulpo or octopus. When we first arrived we were told the harvest was robust and the pulpo was a major export to Spain and Japan. When we would walk our beach we passed scores of pulpo boats that had had arrived from fishing and lined the beach. Last year, they disappeared. Over fishing and poor management pretty much wiped out last year's harvest and this year, while supposedly improved, it still expected to be light. Here are some shots of the boats that have come back this year.

Only about a half dozen could be found. I asked one of the fishermen if they were catching much and he replied "very little".

These small skiffs are rigged with long bamboo poles fore and aft. From these hang fishing lines and the fishermen use crab as bait to lure the octopus onto the line.

Word on the street has it that there are many poachers fishing the pulpo illegally this season and they are being hunted by the authorities. We hope they get nailed because this town is poor enough without these hard-working souls being robbed of their livelihood.

More later,

Larry

Let's Talk About Hammocks

2009-07-30T16:23:00.002-05:00

If you are thinking about moving here, or are moving here, you are going to want a hammock. And there will be plenty of places willing to take your money. The places that are most obvious and accessible are in the tourist areas such at the main plaza in Merida or the malecon in Progreso. We got our first hammock on the drive down here from the States at a toll booth waiting in line. At $200 pesos (less than $20.00) it seemed like a great bargain and it did the job for a while. Then, we became more educated on the ins-and-outs of hammocks made in the Yucatan.
These are sold at more out of the way stores specializing on the locally made product. My hammock came from Hamacas WMS (With Mexican Style), a socially responsible, local industry promoting Yucatan goods. Visit their website here. And forget the $200 peso price tag. Yucatan hammocks go from $650 pesos on up.

My hammock is strung between the back porch and a very large and strong tree. Most people have hammock hangers in the house but we haven't done that yet. Yucatan hammocks come in cotton or nylon, but the cotton are the most comfortable. This one is cotton with nylon end threads. They are hand woven locally.

It's all very delicate work, but don't let that fool you. Indra and I have gotten into this hammock together and it held us with no problems. We've seen hammocks that will hold a family of four!
This is how they attach to the tree. The rope (provided) is fitted with a steel "S" hook. Simple.

Now, let's look at a store. We found this place quite by accident while we were lost in Merida looking for Hamacas WMS. No matter, we went on in because we were getting ready to head north to the States and Indra wanted to get one for her son for his birthday.

Note that they advertise sales, repairs and cleaning. Full service.
There is no end of sizes and colors......

And you can get hammock chairs.....

The saleswoman was very helpful, unwrapping and showing the sizes and colors.

So, if you're approached by someone selling hammocks on the street, think twice. Spend a little more money and get the real deal. They are comfortable and, with the proper care, will last a very long time.

Now, for a very detailed look at the Yucatan hammock, I'm going to steer you to a site called Hammocks of Yucatan. This guy makes my effort look puny, but I figure why plagiarize or reinvent the wheel.

Happy relaxing.

More later,

Larry

Retirement

2009-06-30T07:09:00.004-05:00

It doesn't seem real. Retirement seemed so abstract through the years...something "old people" did. And yet...
Those of you who read this regularly may have noticed I don't use this blog to air my deep personal thoughts or musings. No one would care to read them, nor should they. Instead, falling back on my years as a news reporter, I try to convey the experience of day-to-day living here in the Yucatan, throwing in some humor to spice it up a little bit.
That said, I do want to share some things on a personal note today. The other day one of my co-workers remarked on my retirement and told me I was "lucky". "Not so fast", I thought and informed him that putting in 44 years of labor did not constitute "luck".
But further reflection caused me to concur that there has been some luck involved in me being here. First of all, I've lived long enough. I have friends who didn't, due to war, accident or illness, so even though the odds are stacked against all of us, here I am.
Secondly, I would not have made it to this wonderful life-style had I not met my partner Indra. She and I shared this dream together and without her, it would have remained just a dream for me.

Now. I have been asked many times in the past few weeks just what it is I plan to do with myself. We've all seen the stories about those poor souls who retire only to find their lives meaningless without their workaday routine. That is not me. What do I plan to do? Well, you're looking at one of the big ones. I will be spending more time submitting articles to this blog and for that, I need your help.
Do me a favor: down at the bottom of this, click on "Comments". Then, please, let me know what kind of stories you'd like to see. Day-to-day living? Navigating the beauracracy? Mayan ruins? Let me know. And further, let me know where you are. I'm always curious who reads this thing and were you are living. Are you planning a vacation here? Are you planning a permanent move here?
And finally (and this goes under the heading of Long Term Plans), let me know if you think a book detaling retiring in the Yucatan specifically, would be useful.
That's your assignment, friends.

More later,
Larry

Merida Then...and Now

2009-06-15T20:27:00.004-05:00

Sometimes good fortune falls in your lap and you just have to share it. This good fortune came from a co-worker of mine, Armando, who was sent a series of old photographs of Merida by his sister. And he shared them with me. Another co-worker, Tony Pacheco, suggested that I give him my camera and he would take pictures showing what these areas of Merida look like today for contrast. And that's how I'm going to share them with you. The time of the old photos is in question. Some came from the early 20's I'm sure. Others, by historical dates, are earlier. But rather than try to pin that aspect down, I think it's just fun to look at the city and what is gone...and still here. If you double-click on these to enlarge them, you'll see more detail.

This is a favorite of mine because it utilizes two then-emerging technologies: Powered flight and aerial photography. An amazing picture when you consider all that.

Of course the most predominate feature is the cathedral and Plaza Grande.

This is a shot of Calle 65 and 56 which at the time was known as "la paseo de las bonitas" or the beautiful ladies walk.

And how it looks today...

If you've been in el Centro, it's a good bet you've ventured into the Mercado Lucas de Galvez. If you haven't, you should because it's an all out assault on most human senses: sound, sight, smell. As it looked in the 20's...

This entrance is long gone, but if you look in the background, you'll see los Portales. They are still there...

Here is a look at the army which was stationed at what is now the San Benito market. If you look in the distance you can see what is now the mercado pictured above. The lower part of the tall, black water tower is still there. Since this is a shot of Benito Juarez with the troops it has to date pre-twentieth century.

See that building in the background center? The first floor is still standing and in use...

On the west side of the main plaza, across from the cathedral, is the municipal building known as El Olimpo. This is how it looked in the 20's..

And it's still there today, or so I thought. It turns out this building was torn down to make a parking lot. And the version we see today is a replica. Here it is..

The main cathedral is arguably the most historic building in el Centro. This is a look at the interior and alter at the turn of the last century. Very ornate, lots of gold.

Today, much more subdued....

There are probably many reasons for the transformation, not the least of which occurred during the Mexican revolution in 1915 when a Communist general by the name of Salvador Alverez set fire to the cathedral. And all the gold went missing. Here is a picture of the aftermath...

The church remained closed for 15 years as repairs were being made.

Here is a look at the north side covered in vines back then...

And today...

Directly south of the church is an alley that is the home of artisans selling crafts to the tourists. And to the south of that, the Macay Museum. But it wasn't always so. A look at pasaje a la revolucion and the roof, now gone, cristales y hierro (crystal and iron):

And today...

The army use to be headquartered next to this alley...This is probably the best contrasting shot of this whole exercise..

Now the Macay museum...

The Hotel Madrid...Calle 63 y 64..

Today....

Calle 65 y 60....

Today, the Del Sol...

The Bank of Mexico...Calle 59 y 56..

It was torn down and replaced with this unattractive, utilitarian, Banamex building..

Finally, a look at Santiago Park and the Nicolas Bravo Elementary School..

These days, people gather in the park on Tuesday nights to dance under the stars to a big band orchestra. And the school is still there. And it's still the Nicolas Bravo Elementary School, proving that some things in this world remain the same even as the inevitable changes go on all around them.

Thanks to my friends Tony and Armando for their help with this.

More later,

Larry

Sometimes living nearer the Equator has its drawbacks....

2009-06-11T18:23:00.000-05:00

Lenny the Lizard

2009-06-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

Just a picture of our resident lizard, Lenny. He hides behind pictures on the wall during the day and comes out in the evening to eat any bugs he might find around the house. He can walk on glass blocks. He chirps like a bird. If you live here, you must learn to love these guys.

A Night At The Opera

2009-06-03T20:29:00.003-05:00

Ask anyone who has known me a few years and they will tell you. When it comes to my preference in music, it's primarily good time, get-off-your-butts and dance, rock and roll. By example, from about 1979....

But that's not to say I've not been open to other kinds of music. Jazz, blues, country, Latin, as long as it's played well, I'll listen.

So last weekend I surprised Indra with two tickets to the opera being presented at the local classical theater of choice in Merida, Teatro Peon Contreras. The opera: the well-known (by those in the know) Barber of Seville.

It's an Opera Bufa, which means "musical comedy". The tickets were available for Sunday evening and wouldn't you know it: the the handy-dandy senior discount card got us 1/2 off.

Dressed in our opera finery, we composed ourselves and drove into the big city, not knowing what to expect except an interesting evening.

Before we get to the music, let's take a look at the hall.

This is the theater on Calle 60, between 57 and 59. Built 102 years ago, it is the showplace for the Yucatan Symphony, opera, ballet, and many other performing arts.

The seating layout shows the arrangement of the almost 700 seats...

Our seats were located on the first balcony, section six on the right of the diagram. Each of these had a separate entrance from the hallway in back and contained 6 chairs which could be arranged as we needed. For my 6'7" frame, this meant I could make my own leg room which was a treat.

I made this panorama shot from here. Double-click on it to get the full effect...

Looking across at the little cherubs that separated the first from the second balcony, we noticed one was wearing a derby! This shot is a little grainy...

So we all settled in and listened to the orchestra in the pit tuning up. There wasn't much else to do but people watch and leaf through the program to get a sense of who was singing and what they were going to be singing about...

A glance upward to the ceiling brought on certain "Phantom of the Opera" vibes....how appropriate...

Then, the lights dimmed and we were underway.

This is the star of the show singing the part of Figaro, Jose Adan Perez, a Mexican native who is now with the Los Angeles Opera. His story is a fascinating one, and my friends over at Yucatan Living have a great interview with him you can read here.

The bad news was, being written by a guy named Rossini, the whole thing was sung in Italian. The good news was that subtitles were projected above the stage. The bad news was they were in Spanish. No matter, we got the gist of the story and it didn't affect the full-throttle sound of the Yucatan Symphony blending with the wonderful voices entertaining us.

I'll leave it to the experts to comment on the musical and technical aspects of the performance. I would encourage anyone who is interested to periodically check into what performances are on tap and take in a night at the theater.

More later,

Larry

Celestun

2009-05-10T14:24:00.002-05:00

Or, road trip part 2.
Once we finished "El Camino de Diablo", we hit the main highway and headed west for 20 kms to Celestun, home to the 147,000 acre Parque Natural del Flamenco Mexicano or the Celestun Biosphere Reserve as it's also called.
We headed into town and to the beach to enjoy a picnic lunch before looking for the flamingos.
The beach...

Then we worked our way back to the ecological park which is easy to spot from the highway..

There, we were greeting by a nice guy who spoke English. He took us into an area that had a topographical map of the ecopreserve and he offered us the choice of a two hour or one hour tour. At this stage of the game, we opted for the one hour.
He then led us to the dock where there were many boats, no waiting.

The Skipper Gilligan

We headed up the estuary for about 20 minutes and then they came into view.....(note: click on pictures to enlarge for best viewing)

Hundreds of flamingos feeding on the special plankton that are nourished in this area by the unique combination of salt and fresh water. The Skipper cut the engine and then the breeze caused the boat to silently drift towards the birds.

After about 20 minutes of observing, we continued on our way and into a passage that led us through the thick mangrove jungle surrounding the estuary.

I mean thick...

Where termites build their nests in the trees....

After a short cruise through here, we headed on to a fresh water spring area where we docked and walked through admiring the crystal clear, fish rich sweet water.

As we were leaving, this beautiful bird came walking by us. The skipper told us it was a "Mangrove Chicken" although since we weren't allowed to eat it, we cannot confirm this name. We'll have to take the skipper's word for it.

A fabulous trip, and highly recomended for fellow expats and visitors alike. Just make sure to stay on the main highway.

More later,

Larry

Road Trip! (Part 1)

2009-05-09T10:21:00.003-05:00

So, the brakes on the car checked out fine and it seemed time for a road trip. For this particular road trip we decided to take the road less traveled. And, eventually, we would find out that it was less traveled for a reason. More on that later.
We headed out westerly in the mid-morning towards the border of our neighbor state Campeche, armed only with a map, a picnic lunch and a full tank of gas. According to the map we were headed into hacienda country which we felt should afford us some good photo ops as well as a look into a very important part of the Yucatan's past.

Haciendas

The haciendas, or ranches or plantations, were basically land grants given by the Spanish monarchy to wealthy patrons. These huge plantations were worked by native Mexicans under a feudal system (basically slavery) whereby the workers, or peones were born, worked and died serving the owner's interests. The plantations in the Yucatan were processing one thing: henequen.

The fibers of this cactus were (and still are) extracted through a process of shredding, drying and weaving to make rope which, for the better part of a century and a half, was a very lucrative business. The plantation owners in the Yucatan were, at the time, some of the wealthiest people on earth and their henequen plants were called "green gold".

These haciendas were small cities unto themselves with churches, living quarters for the owner and his family and for the workers and their families. Of course, the workers bought all their food and goods from the plantation-owned store using plantation printed money.

Hacienda Santa Rosa

It was the Peon family that owned most of the land we were traveling through and they owned it for several generations until 1937 when the newly formed democratic government redistributed all the land to the peasants.

This is Hacienda Santa Rosa outside of Chunchucmil. Once abandoned and in a state of decay, a group of investors spent the better part of three years reconstructing and restoring the main plantation mansion. It's now part of the Starwood Hotel group of "luxury resorts". The work was done by the local descendants of the original peones, and when the work was done they were also trained to work as staff members in the resort.

The old church...

We're not sure about this building. It was huge and looked like there were many concrete cubicles inside.

Although the rope is no longer produced, the henequen fibers are still processed on a small scale in the area and we were fortunate to run across some local artisans using their skills to make wonderful items.

The bundled fibers look something like sheep's wool...

Articles are woven by hand in a process handed down from each generation to the next...

Next door, the artists were busy making silver filigree jewelry working with torches, hammers, pliers and...rocks.

All items were for sale and we did purchase some of the henequen woven items which were surprisingly heavier than they looked.

Then it was off to Kochol where we found another hacienda. This one was not, nor will it most likely ever be, restored. But at one time, it was very impressive...

Kochol

I tried and could not find any information about this hacienda on the internet. But by looking at it, it had been an impressive operation in it's day.

These are the smoke stacks indicating the drying kilns with a work house behind them..

The main mansion. It appears that there were servant quarters under the main house. We had to be cautious walking around in this structure as there were collapsed floors testifying to its decaying condition.

And in the back courtyard of the mansion, a swimming pool. We could only imagine the parties that were held here...

Change of plans...

Our next stop was to be Chunchucmil, an archeological site we hadn't heard of, but wanted to check-out. When we got to the town of Chunchucmil, the road came to a "T" and we had no signage to indicate which direction to turn. So we went north. It soon became apparent that we were headed in the wrong direction, so we made one of those on-the-road decisions: Since we were headed in the direction of Celestun, why not go up and see the flamingos? Good idea! And, according to the map, it was a straight shot, 25 kilometer, piece-o-cake drive to get to the highway that would take us there.

O.K. Think of what most North Americans imagine all Mexican roads are like. This is what we were on.

One-lane. And this picture was one of the better stretches. I am not exaggerating when I report that we had to dodge hundreds of potholes, downed trees, road apples, you name it, rarely getting out of first gear. And I kid you not, we were being tracked by vultures in the trees above. And little indication of civilization anywhere within eyesight.

So this little 20 or 30 minute jaunt up to the main highway ended up taking about an hour and a half of some of the most nerve wracking driving I've ever done. Avoid this so-called road at all costs.

But we made it, and in Part 2 of Road Trip, we'll show you those flamingos. They were magnificent.

More later,

Larry

Gimme A Brake!

2009-05-07T20:24:00.003-05:00

We brought a new 2005 Subaru Outback with us from north of the border. It seemed like the perfect car to have in an area which may experience driving problems from time to time, say during a hurricane. With All Wheel Drive and a ground clearance of nine inches, it is a rugged vehicle and quite favored by drivers from the Great Pacific Northwest. Yes, it is a law that we from that region of the country have to say "Great" before we can say Pacific Northwest.
The problem is this: when taking this wonderful example of Japanese engineering into a local Yucatan auto shop, one might as well be pulling up in the Mars Lander. Subarus are rare in Mexico and seemingly even rarer on the peninsula. Fortunately at the local tire shop in Progreso Llantica, they do our oil changes with no problems having found a suitable oil filter replacement that isn't exactly Subaru genuine but seems to do the job just fine.
This week, however, a little bit bigger task was at hand.
The brakes started making that grinding sound that indicates new pads are in order so we took it into Llantica in Progreso to see what they could do. In short order, they said they could do nothing but no problem. If we went to the Llantica in Merida (the big city), they could help us there. Well.....yes and no.
The hombre in charge at the Merida Llantica sadly informed us that he could not do the job. However, he steered us to another place, Clutchs y Frenos Chuburna. They deal with clutches (clutchs) and brakes (frenos). This was not in Chuburna the little fishing village, but Colonia Chuburna in Merida. For the uninitiated, Merida is made up of many colonias or small neighborhoods and driving around town is very, very confusing as the street names and numbers change from colonia to colonia.
The hombre in charge obviously could see my confusion from the open-mouth stare I was giving him, i.e "this gringo will never find this place on his own", so he commanded one of his muchachos to get on his "moto" (motorbike) and lead us to Clutchs y Frenos!
All of this day so far, by the way, was being conducted in Spanish. Sort of makes it a little tougher, but not impossible.
So off we went.

...for about 4 blocks before he ran out of gas.

No problem, he informed us and went trotting down the road with his moto to get some gas.

One thing you quickly learn about Mexicans. Most things are "No problem" even when they are a problem. So we waited. And, about 10 minutes later, back he came and we were on our way again. We never saw the gas station where he refueled....

Eventually we came to Clutchs y Frenos.

We bid farewell to our guide, marveling at the helpfulness of the guys at Llantica. Before we headed out to the brake place we had asked the head hombre to quote us a price for a full tune-up which he did. Do you think he earned our business? Damn straight! We will have that work done there.
At Clutchs y Frenos we were warmly greeted by the Gerente de Servicios, Mario Can Cuevas. We told him we were possibly looking for a set of rear brakes as the front brakes appeared just fine. He assured us he would have a look and to give him a call bout 2 p.m. This was a 10:45 so we had some time to kill.
Let's look around Clutchs y Frenos.
It's a very basic and busy shop.

The machine shop complete with nudies on the wall...

And evidence of mucho clutchs replaced.....

So with over 3 hours to kill, we hot-footed it (literally it was a cooker in Merida today) to Avenue Technologico and caught a combi bus to the Gran Plaza Mall to have lunch and do some shopping. If you've never ridden in a combi, you're in for a treat. They have no shock absorbers. That task is performed by your spine.

Only 3 pesos for a ride on a senior rate (see senior card)
And when you hit a topes (speed bump)

...it's a lot of "pow for the peso".

After lunch and shopping we opted for a 40 peso cab ride back to the shop to spare our senior skeletal system further combi abuse and prepared for abuse of another kind: the dreaded "repair bill". Sr. Cuevas met us at the cashier's window and they presented the tab: $350 pesos (about $30.00 U.S.). Indra immediately sensed something was wrong and they didn't replace the brakes as we had requested. Sr. Cuevas calmly informed us that the car didn't need new brakes after all, just a cleaning and adjustment. And sure enough, there is no more grinding sound.

I don't know of your past experiences north of the border with this type of situation, but Indra and I agreed it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find a repair shop that would have just replaced the brakes, and probably would have given us a scary story about a soon-to-fail master cylinder to boot.

Two plus years into our Mexican adventure and we continue to be amazed on a nearly daily basis.

More later,

Larry

What Flu?

2009-05-01T10:26:00.000-05:00

A Trip to the U.S. Consulate

2009-04-15T19:40:00.005-05:00

It all started when I contacted the FBU, or Federal Benefits Unit, in Mexico City via email that I wanted to apply for Social Security benefits as retirement is looming.
They emailed back that they would be glad to take my application over the phone after I sent them (1) a certified copy of my birth certificate and (2) a certified copy of my passport. I had the birth certificate copy and asked them where to get the passport copy. At the U.S. Consulate office in Merida, came the reply.
Having passed it every working day for over a year, I knew it was located on Calle 60. I went to their website and found a form to fill out requesting an appointment which I made for 9:30 this morning.

By the way, this lovely courtyard is something you are not likely to see. I stole this picture off their website.

First of all, know that there is no parking here. One must cruise the streets looking for a place to park that won't block a driveway lest someone gets pissed-off and lets all the air out of your tires.

Then it's a walk back to the building. The building itself sits off the street protected by anti-crash barriers, a phalanx of rent-a-cops dressed in paramilitary combat boots and berets, and two state police officers sporting real live semi-automatic rifles. Obviously I was not going to fall victim to the dangers being trumpeted by the north-of-the-boarder news organizations.

So I checked in, presenting a printout of my appointment, as directed, to a guard inside a control room who was looking at me through double-paned, bullet proof glass. I slid the paper under a stainless steel slit and after writing some things on a clipboard, the guard directed me to wait as I was 10 minutes early. I observed many Mexicans being buzzed into the building armed with passports and stacks of documents.

Eventually another guard came out of the office and indicated that I was to come inside. The first stop was the security room which resembled nothing more than what you would find at the average airport. Two guards asked me to put all valuables and metal objects in a tray. Then my manpurse was put under the x-ray and one of the guards said please remove your lighter and your electronic device. I had forgotten that I carry an extra cigarette lighter. I removed it and the electronic device which was an MP3 player. As I did so, the guard noticed a book of matches I carry for backup in case the lighter goes bad and I was asked to remove it too. Then it was through the metal detector where my watch and ring made a buzz, but that didn't seem to concern the guards.

Next it was through a door and into a room where there were about 20 Mexicans waiting to be called to a service desk. A new guard led me past them to a security door manned by another guard who was sitting in a room with bullet-proof glass, security monitor screens and an array of buttons one of which she pushed to unlock the door. The guard ushered me into another small room and to another security door manned by another security guard behind his bullet-proof glass, looking at his monitors. This guard passed us through the door and I was handed-off to a new guard.

This room was the payload. About 50 or 60 Mexicans were seated and waiting for their number to be called to one of about 6 windows sporting the LED number signs above them. I would have loved to have taken some photos but, of course, cameras were not allowed.

My guard handed me a number:

I noticed a few things right away: First, the U.S. Consulate did not get the message to "spring forward" one hour. (2) At number 2,002 I was in for a long wait as a glance at the windows showed they were now serving #37 or so. And (3) the mere possession of this ticket indicating that I was an American Citizen should suffice for the folks over at Social Security.

The guard then led me over to a small, two window area that was just for American Citizens and they were serving #2001. #2001 was Steve Bell. More about him in a moment.

There was a doorbell looking thing on one of the support pillars indicating that I was to press it for service, but "DO NOT PRESS MORE THAN ONCE". At this point I wasn't about to break any rules. I took a seat and after about 5 minutes, a nice young woman motioned me up to her window which, in keeping with the decor de jour, was double-paned and bullet proof.

She asked me how she could assist me and I explained that Social Security up in Mexico City was requesting that I send them a certified copy of my passport. She said she would be glad to do that and asked for the passport. I slid the passport through the slit under the glass and then she informed me the fee for this service would be $30.00. I was a little stunned by this and then I recovered, rationalizing that someone had to pay for all this security. I informed her I only dealt in pesos these days and she replied that would be fine.

"That will be $510 pesos."

Now, I'm no math expert and I haven't checked the exchange rate in a few days, but by my reckoning, $510 pesos was going to work out to be nearly $39.00. Now I was starting to get a little steamed. It's one thing to charge the fee, but quite another to offer an exchange rate that would make the money changers at the Cancun airport blush. But, they had my gonads figuratively in a set of vise grips and if I was going to get my monthly retirement check I'd been paying into for 45 years, I'd have to go along.

"Have a seat and I'll be back in a few minutes", she smiled.

Which brings us back to Steve Bell. Steve was in a wheelchair being assisted by a Mexican fellow, and was obviously missing his right leg. Steve was wearing an Army Ranger First Brigade cap and I found out he was 74 years old. He was a Vietnam veteran and had been awarded 3 purple hearts in combat and was there on his third visit to renew his passport. He had a flight leaving for Miami in two days and was getting understandably nervous about not making his flight. I found out Steve was going to Miami as that was where the nearest veterans hospital was and where he was to receive a new prosthetic leg. He being a military guy, I said to him, "So, those Navy Seals did a hell of a job on those Somali pirates, huh?"

"They always do", Steve observed dryly.

Steve had been living in Merida for many years and regaled me with many stories of how much things had changed and prices for houses had gone up over the years and so forth.

I digress only to demonstrate how frigging long it takes to make a copy of a passport. Oh, and a letter saying they looked it over and all was Kosher.

Then a new young woman appeared and motioned me to the window. There was my letter, passport copy and a receipt for $510 pesos. The new woman said to me:

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you getting a certified copy of your passport?"

"Well", I replied, "As I told the other woman, it's to send to FBU in Mexico City so I can get Social Security checks when I retire."

"Do you have the letter they sent you?", she asked.

"They didn't send me a letter."

"Oooooooo. That's too bad because if you had the letter, there is no charge for this service as it involves another Federal agency", she advised.

"Well, they did send me an email telling me to come here, would that work", I asked.

"Let me check", she said walking away.

I turned around just in time to see Steve holding his newly minted passport which meant his new leg was just a short flight to Miami away.

We said our good-byes and I added, "Enjoy Miami!", to which Steve grumbled, "I hate Miami".

Woman #2 returned with the following information. "We can take a copy of the email, but it has to be today and it has to be before 1 p.m. We can't take it tomorrow."

"I'll do better than that",I shot back, "I'll be back in 20 minutes. And because you've been so nice, I'm going to give you a free puppy!"

"What??" She eyed me warily.

Thinking she could press the panic button at any time and send a squad of baton-swinging rent-a-cops down on me, I didn't press my offer. Instead I found my escort and we doubled back to the security room where I was given back all my possessions. I hoofed it back to my car and drove back to the office where I took a screen shot and printed the email from the FBU folks. Then, a brief drive back to the Consulate office.

Then I repeated the check-in process (minus all offending items which I left in the car) and made my way back to the window where woman #1 met me to take my email to the back room for inspection. This time I had no one to talk to, sitting next to a sea of Mexicans waiting to obtain and pay for visas to the States. It's easy to see what really generates the cash here and it's not my measly $30.00/$510 pesos, which was cheerfully refunded.

So, for a 2 hour investment, some misunderstandings, and an interesting look into the bowels of the U.S. Consulate, Merida, I am now ready to tackle Social Security. Wish me luck.

More later,

Larry

Homeland Security Merida Style

2009-04-13T19:22:00.000-05:00

While walking to my office this morning I was struck by the weird beauty of something so common and mundane around here that one hardly notices it...the broken bottles on the top of the wall. Set in cement, the inexhaustible supply of raw materials makes this an economical and effective deterrent against would-be nogoodnicks.

And further down the street, I came across this handsome couple. Obviously the owner of this house doesn't have dogs....

More later,

Larry

Attention Yolisto Dog Lovers!

2009-04-10T11:04:00.000-05:00

Well, while coming back from the beach today, we found these two beautiful female perritas abandoned in the bushes on the beach access road:

Since we have four dogs, including two beach rescues, we simply cannot keep them. And we couldn't leave them. So now we are looking for homes for them.

They were cute, friendly, hungry, and infested with fleas.
The fleas are gone...

And they are still cute and friendly...and need homes. Email me at larry.baker@gmail.com if you want to have one. We'll toss in the puppy breath for free!

Larry

We're Old (and we can prove it!)

2009-04-03T19:16:00.003-06:00

We've long been told, since coming here, that folks age 60 and over are entitled to a senior card that offers discounts at a wide variety of places in the Yucatan and all of Mexico. We decided to finally go and get one ourselves.
Of course the internet provides many of the answers we seek, so we looked and found information on this perk that is available to Mexicans and non-Mexicans alike.
It's called INAPAM which stands for El Instituto de las Personas Adultas Mayores, and we did find an article about how to obtain one at a Yucatan blog which was posted last October.
It listed the following requirements for non-Mexicans:

1. FM 2 or FM 3 (over 60 years old) plus a copy of the first page.
2. Recent photo (size infantile).
3. 15 pesos for card lamination and discount pamphlet.
4. Fill out application blanks and sign on back.
5. Clerk makes card. You check and sign. Forefinger print on card. He laminates.

I'm here to tell you, these directions are already outdated. There is more (and less) to it than this and it is an interesting story. So come along into the wonderful world of the Mexican bureaucracy which, it turns out, has a purpose and a method to its seeming madness.
This is the sign of the INAPAM office in Merida where you go to get the card, like we did using the directions listed above.

The nice people there said, "Not so fast. You need a CURP". This puzzled us and the nice man who was talking to us obviously read confusion in our expat faces and scribbled an address: "Calle 65 y 64 Registo Civil". "In Centro?", I queried already knowing the dreaded answer. " SI! Centro!"
We'll come back here later, after we've discussed the CURP.

The CURP comes from La Clave Unica de Registro de Poblacion and is a document that serves as a one-stop i.d. for all social services. When you think about it, it's a great idea. Instead of each government agency having it's own number attached to your name, there's just one number and it's base on several things like your age, gender, nationality, state you live in, birth date, etc. The CURP is used by the government health system, the military, you name it. It's also needed to get the INAPAM card.
So it was off the to CURP office which was surprisingly easy to find. It's on Calle 65 just west past the intersection of 64 on the south side of the street.

There are two public parking lots on the same block, so parking did not present a problem. Going in the door, the women behind the desk quickly sized us up and asked, "FM2, FM3?" "Si!", we cleverly retorted in our finest Spanish, and they directed us to the line at the far end of the courtyard.

As far as lines go, this one wasn't bad. And, once at the desk, all we had to do is fork over our FM3s and passports and after some quick computer typing on the clerks part, a CURP was spit out of the laser printer and we were on our way. Cost: Nothing.

Here's what a CURP looks like:

So, with CURPs in our hot little hands it was back to the INAPAM office. This office is not easy to find. When they say it is on Calle 59 between Ave Itzaes and Calle 56, that's not entirely accurate. While driving west on Itzaes go PAST Calle 59 one more block. You'll see a creamy yellow building on your right and take the next right when at the end of the building onto a very wide street. Then you will see this impressive edifice:

It looks like it used to be a prison. Maybe it still is. The INAPAM office isn't here, it is behind us. But I liked this picture anyway so I wanted to include it. Beware that parking is at a premium and a walk of several blocks back to the office may await you as it did us.
THIS is the entrance to the INAPAM office:

And this is the entrance/waiting area:

There, you sit outside at a table with a couple of amiable hombres who have the forms. They ask you the questions, in Spanish of course, and fill out the forms for you. It's basically a big survey. They want to know pretty much everything about you. Are your parents still living? How many bedrooms in your house? What do you like to do for fun? How's your health? Do you have a gas oven? I'm not making these up. So anyway, when you are done with this, you put your address and phone number on the form, hand over your passport and FM3 (you don't need to bring a copy) and wait your turn to go into the office.
Once in the office, you take a seat in front of a camera (no need to bring a photo infantile size).
You all know my model, Indra, right?

And they don't take a finger print, they take all fingers and both thumbs...

While this is going on, the man behind the desk is also busy taking scans of your passport and FM3.

And then its sign here, and here, and here, he presses the magic button and out pops....

Another official i.d. card sporting yet another unflattering photograph that governmental agencies specialize in. Or maybe that's just the way I look.
Cost: Nothing.
Also, you do have to ask for the booklet containing a listing of all the discount goodies we can get as old people. It looks like this:

The discounts include doctors, pharmacies, pizza parlors, theaters, transportation such as buses, and on and on. The cost of the booklet: $10 pesos, and they ask to see your INAPAM card...the one they just handed you.
So there you have it. We've done all the leg work so all you have to do is make it to 60, and maybe by that time all of my directions will be outdated too.

More later,
Larry

Carnaval 2009

2009-02-22T13:26:00.001-06:00

Carnaval 2009 in Merida kicked-off this week and Indra and I decided to make a weekend of it. What better way to start than check into the Hyatt Regency, a mere one block away from the parade route.

From our room on the 14th floor, we had a good view north over the city and a look down at the swimming pool...

And, you could even swim with a dolphin...

One thing you can be sure of, this celebration runs on beer. Lot's of beer. Thousands of cases of beer...

And the event includes lots of food vendors. It seems the most prolific are proffering a local treat known as "Papas y Churros". What we north-of-the-border-types would readily identify as french fries and deep-fried weenies. They are sold everywhere!

They come with the condiments of your choice, ketchup, mustard, and the ubiquitous hot sauce.

The parade, like last year, was comprised of people in costume appropriate to the carnaval theme which this year was "The Movies".

We didn't have as good a vantage point this year as last, so I had to shoot from behind the crowd. Fortunately, my 6'7" height combined with the natural shortness of the local folks did help.

When the beer company floats come by, those sponsored by Corona and Sol specifically, all the guys, including yours truly, have cameras at the ready.

Indra counted 4 separate, very large floats from Sol, and I counted at least 2 from Corona. The theory is if you buy and drink a lot of this....

You can have one of these...

I had a couple of Sol's with dinner. I'm still waiting.

Great fun, loud music of all flavors coming from 5 huge stages along the parade route, big crowds, and we were thankful to have a room waiting just a short block away to rest our weary bones.

More later,

Larry

About that strange Yucatan spider....

2009-01-19T14:45:00.002-06:00

My good friend Mike Beal sent me this link that identifies Sooz's spider as Gastrocanthus cancriformis Spiny Orb Weaver. That was right on the tip of my tongue too. Read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasteracantha

Dogs On The Beach

2009-01-18T10:55:00.000-06:00

Today we finally had a break in the winter "Norte" we've been having for about a week, so it was time to walk over to the beach and let the dogs have some fun. Just some shots of our two younger pups, Chula and Itzi.

Running....

Playing.....

And of course, swimming...

And now they are all sleeping.

More later,

Larry

This is ONE weird spider....

2009-01-17T17:21:00.001-06:00

My buddy Sooz in Chelem to the west of us this posted this photo she took in her back yard of the weirdest spider I've ever seen. She posted it at Yolisto, which is a website us expats contribute to. Look at this....

Anyone out there know what this is called (besides "odd")?

More later,
Larry

Things work differently here.....

2009-01-11T08:11:00.005-06:00

This post is mainly for the folks back home and for those contemplating moving to the Yucatan lifestyle. Most of this has been written about on other blogs dealing with Mexican daily living and, most notably over at Yucatan Living, better.
But here's my take on a few things that take some getting used to.

Water:
There is no shortage of water in the Yucatan. We are sitting atop a huge aquifer that is easy to tap and city water service from Progreso is steady and to the best of our knowledge safe and clean. It's how it gets to your faucets that is different. Each house has it's own storage cistern. Ours is in the back of the house under the back patio.

It holds 5,000 liters or somewhat over 1,200 gallons of city supplied water and is accessible through this cover. Why such a big cistern? Because the city water tends to run low especially during the peak months of July and August when the owners of otherwise vacant beach homes bring the family to vacation and the population in the Progreso area virtually doubles.
To get to the house the water is pumped through a small but incredibly noisy little pump located in the bodega under our stairs...

From there, the water is pumped upward to the roof to a storage tank called a "tinaca". Tinacas are like cheap excuses; everyone has one (I cleaned that one up for mass consumption). They come in all shapes and sizes, some plastic, some cement. Ours is cement because our architect said that in a strong wind, say of hurricane force, the plastic ones turn into missiles and require expensive replacement. Here's what ours looks like...

From here, all water pressure is gravity. Some people have pressurized water systems added to their homes. We opted not to as our pressure is just fine and the added expense can be prohibitive. In order to get hot water we use a small, 40 liter, electric water heater which is located in the bodega.

We have one of the switches on the breaker box in the kitchen dedicated to the water heater and, when we want a bath or shower, we flip the switch and a green light Indra had installed shows us it's on and reminds up to turn it off when we are done. It takes about 20 minutes to heat the tank and it's good for one shower or one bath. The rest of the time it's off which of course saves us electricity costs and, who knows, maybe is good for the environment.

Gas:

Gas here is not natural gas delivered via pipeline. It's bottled propane such as one would use on an RV or gas barbecue. Trucks selling gas canisters troll our street on a daily basis honking their horns until you wave them in or wave them on. We have a two tank set-up so we don't run out during an important event (see Thanksgiving).

When a tank goes empty, we simply flip an A/B valve, open the new tank, and we're back in business.

Electricity:
This utility is supplied by the government owned and operated CFE. We all have a love-hate relationship with CFE, mostly hate. The power is on most of the time, goes off every once in a while for a few seconds, or a few minutes, or even a few hours. The important thing to remember is that when the power comes back on, it hits all electronics with a surge that, in our case, fried our stereo and also our satellite TV box. So, it is vital to have a reliable surge protector on all electronics.
There are no underground electric cables here. The sky is filled with a confusing, spaghetti-like assortment of wires and cables that appear to be held together with nothing more than black electrical tape.

The meter reader has no problem seeing the meter or for that matter knowing who the house belongs to...

Another difference is that the rules state CFE has to be able access a master breaker from the street to turn off your power if they are doing work in the area...ours is just inside the front gate...

One more thing. Your house will attract visitors from the neighborhood. This cat has lately decided it likes sunning on our back deck cover...

And get used to these guys. This is Harold who lives in the roof next door. He likes to watch the dogs eat their dinner. Probably glad he's not dinner.

More later,

Larry

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2008-12-20T06:57:00.002-06:00

Sending our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our loved ones in the States and to our new friends in Mexico and Canada. May 2009 bring you happiness in all that you do.

Larry and Indra

Thanksgiving And Some Interior Pictures

2008-11-28T09:46:00.001-06:00

Happy day after Thanksgiving to all our friends and we hope you are as stuffed as we are! Last year we spent Thanksgiving at the Yucatan state fair scarfing tacos. This was because our rental house had no oven in which to roast the bird. This year we were determined to put together an American Thanksgiving which proved to be a shade difficult. Here there is no cruising to Safeway or Albertson's for one-stop shopping. One has to search-out the detailed products such as cranberry sauce or stuffing mix...things that are not part of the Mexican diet. We found most of it.

The table was set, the turkey roasted, and our friends arrived.

This is Cari, who is from England. She actually has a farm in Spain, but has rented it out so she could spend some time at the beach. Sadly for us, she will be returning to Spain next February.

This is Cari's boyfriend Vidal. Vidal is a local and makes his living
creating jewelry he fashions from natural materials which he
sells in Merida at the public market. And, he is a huge fan
of blues music! He taught himself to play blues harmonica and after
dinner, entertained us much to our delight.

Our third dinner guest was Mario. Mario was our neighbor when we lived at the rental house and works for CFE which is the electric company. He came straight from work in Motul, and grabbed the maracas to get in on the music.

I realized the other day that there were a few areas of the house I hadn't shared. For those who are interested, here are some shots of our living room:

And here is why it helps to have a logical, analytical type when working with an architect. Of course I'm talking about Indra. We were struggling with the logistics of where to put the computer, printer, scanner, computer desk (which we didn't even have), etc. when Indra noticed a closet in the plan right behind the front door. We needed computer space more than a closet so....

Pretty clever of her,eh?
Outside, we have begun the landscaping which is going to take some time. We planted a couple of Bougainvillas, a fan palm (they grow wild all over our property), and for her birthday I got Indra what is called a Ponytail Palm. Just the beginning.

Again, we hope your Thanksgiving was fun and tasty.

More later,

Larry

¡Lalo!

2008-11-25T08:07:00.002-06:00

I have known Ned Neltner for 40 years. I worked for Ned in two bands in the late 60's: The Gas Company, and The Northwest Rock and Roll Band. We spent our time at some of the legendary rock palaces of the day such as the Burlington Roller Frolics, the Evergreen Ballroom, Parkers, the Oak Harbor Roller Barn, and a memorable New Year`s Eve at a hotel in Trail, B.C. entertaining the local lumberjacks. Then, in 1970, Ned formed Jr. Cadillac and this band has been rockin' the Pacific Northwest ever since. They play a variety of venues such as community celebrations, casinos, corporate events, private parties, and the like.

Nice looking group of lads, aren't they?

Here is the Jr. Cadillac website should you wish to book them or check out their performance schedule for next summer when it is released:

Jr. Cadillac

In the winter months, Ned heads south...way south...to his home in Barra de Navidad (Christmas Bay), on the Pacific coast of Mexico where he has lived part-time for many, many years. And it is here that he morphs into his alter-ego Lalo.

This is the cover the latest of 7 CD's Lalo has released. Produced by his son Richard and recorded in Mexico, the music almost defies categorization. It's a little bit of reggae, a little good-time rock and roll, a little blues, and the songs are a combination of Lalo's original compositions along with re workings of songs by the likes of Willie Nelson and Ron Holden. Now, I've listened to a lot of music in my day and I can vouch that Lalo's CD's merit many repeat playings. Let's call it Mexican Beach Music for now.

Not only that, but Lalo holds forth at live, solo performances at clubs such as Piper's Blues Bar and Grill' in Barra de Navidad entertaining the locals as well as tourists who arrive on cruise ships from around the world.

I would urge you to visit this site for some samples of Lalo and to order CD's. You'll be pleased, trust me:

Lalo

More later,

Larry

UXMAL

2008-11-02T15:29:00.002-06:00

Uxmal, meaning "Thrice built" is my favorite archeological site in the Yucatan. Indra and I visited this place before we moved here and recently I had a chance to revisit it during a corporate weekend with my company.
I thought I'd share a few photos with you.

The first thing one sees when entering is the Magician's Pyramid and it is unusual in several ways. The layers of the step pyramid are oval, rather than the usual rectangular or square shape. It was a common practice in Mesoamerica to build new temple pyramids atop older ones (three times here), but here a newer pyramid was built centered slightly to the east of the older pyramid, so that on the west side the temple atop the old pyramid is preserved, with the newer temple above it. That little doorway near the top was made by explorers entering the pyramid.
Here's another view from the west side showing the older temple steps and doorway and the newer alter on the top...

Of course, Chichen Itza is the place where most tourists go and it is impressive. But one of the things that makes Uxmal so nice that once inside there are no people trying to sell you souvenirs and it's way less crowded. Even peaceful.
This is the Nun's quadrangle, so named by the Spaniards when they showed up in the 1500's.

While much work has been done consolidate and restore buildings, little in the way of serious archeological excavation and research has been done here, therefore the city's dates of occupation are unknown and the estimated population (about 25,000 people) is at present only a very rough guess subject to change upon better data. Most of the architecture visible today was built between about 700 and 1100.

You can't climb the Wizard's pyramid at Uxmal, but you can climb a second called the Grand Pyramid which is where I took this shot...

This also gives an idea of how absolutely flat this area is.

If you are ever here, put Uxmal on your list of places to visit.

More later,

Larry

"En Memoria A Los Hombres Caidos En La Mar"

2008-09-14T12:57:00.011-05:00

"Memorial to the fallen men at sea"

Near the Yucalpeten Marina, about which I blogged a few months ago, sits a solemn reminder of the dangers faced by these brave fishermen each time they set out into the Gulf to earn their living.

The monument greets visitors to a large plaza and is flanked by symmetrical walls on each side.

On the walls, arranged by years, are the names of los pescadores lost at sea. Some years, the toll is greater than others.

Hurricanes and the Nortes, or winds from the north which hit us here in the winter months are the usual causes of the losses as the boats used by the locals are small; powered by low horse powered motors that can be no match for the wind.

And a look beyond the walls that are inhabited by the lists and years and names reveals more walls. Blank walls. Walls waiting for the new names that are, sadly, sure to come.

A Look Around Progreso

2008-08-23T12:43:00.006-05:00

You are here......

I decided it might be a good idea for the folks back home to have a look at our little town and also to introduce newcomers and newcomers-to-be to some of the more important places they will eventually need to know about.
This is by no means all-inclusive, but I tried to hit the highlights and counted on Indra's assistance to remind me of things I was forgetting.

We'll start downtown.

This is the town square on Calle 80, one of the main north/south drags. It was recently refurbished along with a general downtown sprucing up. They added new park benches, trash cans and lighting. This was a big deal for a community that has very little financial resources.

Several building just off the square include:

The municipal building or city hall. If you become a property owner, this is where you will pay your property taxes.

Banorte, probably the best and most friendly bank we've found. Dante Corona is one of the bankers there and he speaks English and is extremely friendly and helpful. Corner of Calles 80 and 31.

This is the post office and it's easy to miss. It's on Calle 31 just west of the park.

Here we have one of the clinics in case you get an ailment. Located across the street south from the municipal building, it's called Centro Medico Americano, which has nothing to do with any North American affiliations. They are open for emergencies 24 hours and the emergency entrance is on Calle 82 on the east side of the building. During normal hours, just go inside and register tell them you need to see a doctor. There is no clipboard with endless insurance forms or waivers of liability to read and sign and they do have doctors who speak English. Our one trip there last year cost us 250 pesos and a follow-up visit a week later was no charge. Enough said, no?

If you need a cab, they are located on the north side of the park.

This is S.M.A.P.A.P. or as we call it the water company and is where you go to transfer service into your name and you can pay your bill here as well. The water bill is standard for residences and runs 50 pesos a month. We think (but are not sure) the locals have a betting pool to guess when this water tower will collapse. Located on Calle 80 heading south out of town.

Place your bets....

This is the Telmex office where you will be going if you want a land line phone in your house. They also offer highspeed LAN internet through Prodigy and it is very good and reliable. I think this is a problem for the outlying beach areas, correct me if I'm wrong. Telmex is located at the corner of Calle 29 and Calle 74.

And while were on the subject of utilities you will eventually also visit CFE, or the power company. It's located on Calle 31 going east from downtown. Limited English is spoken there but they are cordial and so far visits there have proved successful.

Now, let's talk grocery shopping. When we first started visiting Progreso there was only one supermarket. The Super San Francisco De Asis. It's located downtown on Calle 80 near the town square. It was the only game in town other than the little tiendas that cater to the quick purchase. So when we moved here, that is where we shopped. Then we found out about.....

The Bodega Aurrera. The day we watched as 6 checkers at the San Francisco stood around chatting while we waited in a long line at the only register open to spend our hard earned pesos was the day we switched to the "bodega" as it's known here. What a joy! Bigger selection! Lower prices! Why, it was just like shopping at...shopping at...a....WALMART! Now. I don't know where you stand on the Walmart question, but we see them as one of the largest corporate greed pigs on the planet and detest everything they stand for. If you disagree, fine, start your own blog. But the bodega is indeed a Walmart company so we were torn between our principles and our need to be fed. That is a powerful need. We compromised by shopping at Costco and Chedraui and Mega when in Merida but I'm afraid we're stuck on this one.

Back to town:

This is Pemex and if you drive this is where you buy your gas. Period. There is no self serve and the attendants are supposed to get tipped if you feel you should. My rule is if they just pump the gas and take the money, "gracias, hasta luego." If they add a window wash, 5 pesos is theirs. There are two Pemex stations, this one on Calle 78 as you enter town from the south and another on Calle 80 as you head south out of town.

This is the local fire and rescue station. I read in the paper that lately they have been battling a blaze at the Chixilub dump. They also do water rescues.

I've suggested to people who are looking for used furniture to try Ruben's place on Calle 31 east of downtown (north side of the street). His inventory changes frequently, he speaks some English and is usually willing to bargain. Here is picture so you know what to look for.

This is our mall with plenty of free off-street parking. Really, there is not much in it of note other than an ADO bus office where you can buy tickets to ride their luxury (not fooling here) buses to Cancun and save a bundle on gas and tolls, and a movie theater. We went there last year to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and although it was in Espanol with no subtitles for us gringos, it only cost 25 pesos and the AC was cranked up so it was a nice break from the heat.

If you have bicycles that need to be tuned up, tightened up, oiled or serviced, this place on Calle 27 between 78 and 80 will fill the bill for very little money and they do quick and good work.

Now some places of note on Calle 29 bewteen Calles 78 and 80:

This is the El Paso which has food that tends to lean more to the exotic-imported variety. They are also expensive, but I cave in whenever I want some REAL butter as opposed to what is generally available out there. It comes in a can from New Zealand but trust me, it is the real deal.

Farmacias Similares are in a few locations and as the name implies they deal in generic drugs. They may not always have what the doctor prescribed but they are worth checking out. They even advertise they will give you a consultation for 25 pesos. So far I have resisted that urge.

You're going to want to visit this place if you haven't already. It's commonly called "The Plastic Store" by us gringos (Indra calls it "Plastics R Us") but it is much more than Tupperware-style stuff. You know those big oval plates they use at diners to deliver a chicken fried steak the size of Nebraska? They have 'em. Heck, they even have egg slicers now! We bought our Christmas tree lights there last year. Check it out.

Calle 80 looking north.

Calle 80 looking south towards the town square.

We're still trying to figure out what they do here.

And lastly, my favorite hamburger place in the Yucatan:

Benny's Burger located on Calle 31 heading east out of town. They don't open until 8 PM but I think it's worth the wait. All burgers come with fries, too.

Indra and I hope this has been informative and entertaining. It you're reading this from Yolisto, please add any information that will help our new and soon to be new neighbors get adjusted to this wonderful place.

More later,

Larry

A look Inside...

2008-08-09T09:13:00.002-05:00

Ok, we're in and have been for about 10 days now, still not enough time to decorate and put all the stuff away, but I wanted to share some pictures of some of the rooms. As we get more organized I'll show other rooms, but for now let's start with the downstairs bathroom. A second bathroom was desired and Victor the architect figured out a way to put it under the stairs by dropping its floor and making a step down. It is our "Mexican" bathroom and utilizes the cool hand painted tiles and hand painted sink I described a while back.

Here are some views of the dining room.

Looking in from the living room...

From the kitchen

And finally, for now, the main bathroom upstairs...

Indra hasn't had a bath in over a year. Let me rephrase that. Indra has not had access to a bathtub since we got here so that was a top priority in designing the master bath.

So what do you think so far? I'll post more pics as the place gets put together. We, of course, are thrilled and relieved to finally be in here and to see our visions of what the house should be become reality.

More later,

Larry

Paint

2008-07-15T20:20:00.011-05:00

Paint, windows, doors, electrical fixtures, plumbing, it's all starting to come together as the final push is underway.

Here is a picture from the old house we had torn down. If you've been reading these for very long you know we had these windows saved and they ended up at a carpenter who refurbished them. They are mahogany and he estimated them at 40 to 50 years old. They would be very expensive to replace today and he also said that these would nicely take the place of storm shutters. They have already survived a few good sized hurricanes.
Here is how they look now:

Around back....

Indra is the artist. This color scheme and layout is all her idea and we are thrilled with it. It is getting a lot of attention as there is nothing else like it in the neighborhood.

The interior is still getting worked on so I'll hold off for now on that and give you all a break.

More later,
Larry

Beach Find

2008-07-11T10:14:00.013-05:00

It's amazing what one finds on the beach here. Visit anyone who lives on or near the beach and one of the first thing you'll spot is their collection of shells. When one first starts beach combing, the variety and colors and shapes are seemingly endless. You can't pick up enough shells fast enough! Eventually it dawns on you: We just don't need anymore shells! Besides, we've got just about every variety there is to be had. Me, I personally like getting sunglasses from the beach. They are available, especially on Saturday or Sunday mornings as they are left behind from some party that was held the night before.
Indra likes to pick up puppies. Remember Itzi Winick? This is what he looked like when she brought him home. So the other day when taking the dogs for a walk, Indra happened upon this.......
Say "Hello" to Chula....
She's about 8 weeks old and in much better shape than Itzi was when he was found. And Chula is Itzi's new best friend. They play constantly and he is incredibly gentle with her. She takes no crap off of him and has chased him down the hallway more than once. Has sharp teeth, too.

I told Indra that sunglasses need fewer trips to the vet and less food on a daily basis. But, they are just not as cute and lovable as this.

More later,
Larry

House Update #6

2008-06-27T16:05:00.026-05:00

It's starting to look more like what we envisioned. As you can see the medieval block look has been replaced by the smooth walls and finished window and door jambs which, hopefully, will actually have windows and doors next week.

This is Luis who, besides being a very fine mason, is also our next-door-neighbor to be.

In the back, the patio is going in. Part of this patio is also a 1500 liter water cistern which is fed by the city water system. From here it will be automatically pumped to the roof where there is an 850 liter container and from there downward into the house. There is no water pressure here other than what is created by gravity and cleverly reduced diameter pipes that create all the pressure we will need. You can buy water pressure systems but they are expensive and notoriously unreliable. Anyway, Victor the architect says that 2350 liters, used wisely, should last us about 10 days in the event of loss of water......like after a hurricane.

We are having the glass blocks installed at both of the downstairs corners to enhance the curved style.

Here's how it looks from the kitchen looking into the dining room.

A shot of the tiles that are being used in the dining room and the kitchen.

A shot of the living room being tiled.

Let's go upstairs........

Here you see the guest room.

Here is Orlando...or is it Pedro...well, one of the muchachos prepping the upper deck for tiling later on.

Aforementioned tiles. The darkish brown tiles are going to be our kitchen counter and breakfast bar top. The light blue are for the upstairs bathroom walls and the light green for the downstairs bathroom walls.

Yesterday we spent 6 hours picking out toilets, sinks, bathroom accessories, faucets handles, etc. And we bought the new stove. Monday or Tuesday Indra gets to go out and choose paint colors. We are told about two week to finish this project.

Here are some final shots from today. You can tell from the sky we are in our rainy season this month and next. I really enjoy the many angles there are to photograph this structure. Enjoy!

More later,
Larry

Yucalpeten Marina

2008-05-22T10:34:00.015-05:00

This morning we decided to take the dogs for a different walk than our usual beach foray. About half-mile from our house is the Yucalpeten Marina, so we headed out to see what was happening.

The Yucalpeten harbor is about four miles west of Progreso and is shaped like a three leaf clover. In this harbor you will find the large local fishing fleet, fish packing companies (that export fish and octopus worldwide), the Navy base, two condo complexes and eight recreational boat marinas. The private boats you see at these marinas include powerboats and sailboats that range in size from dinghies to 70-foot yachts.

This is a major economic center for the area and the harbor was built in 1968 not only as a central point for the fishing business, but also as a safe haven for boats during a hurricane. Last year when hurricane Dean was working it's way up from the south we heard that about 400 extra boats had headed into Yucalpeten to wait it out.

The catch mainly consists of sea bass, grouper, red snapper and octopus. The octopus fishing was especially poor this year and many of the fishermen had to go on Mexico's version of unemployment. Here, that means about $300 pesos (about $30.00 U.S.) per week and in order to get it recipients have to perform civic work such as street cleaning and garbage pick-up.

Yes, we eat a lot more fish than we used to. Unfortunately, one cannot buy directly at the marina. The fish can only be sold to licensed brokers who then sell to the markets. However, we are frequently visited by an amigo on a scooter who sells us wonderful fillets for between $40 and $50 pesos a kilo (2.2 lbs) that we suspect come from the marina. That's less than $2.00 per pound U.S. and it is always flavorful and fresh.

We continued the walk into the private marinas and came upon a sight that will please our neighbors in Chelem and Chuburna: a long awaited bridge across the harbor that will eliminate a long drive into Progreso skirting the harbor. (Click to enlarge for best effect)

The trek took about 1 hour and 10 minutes and we were all overheated by the time we returned home. This next shot is entitled "Three Heads in a Bucket":
More later,
Larry

Something Strange at the Beach

2008-02-27T15:01:00.011-06:00

This is from loyal reader and former Expedia.com buddy Maren Williams-Melius:

Here's what my dad had to say about the sea creature. He's in Fish & Wildlife, so I figured He'd know-

It IS a crab. It doesn't look like the usual crabs these folk see because
it is from deeper in the water column as you can tell by the fact that the
body of the crab is fairly deep as opposed to rather flat near shore crabs.
This one has four walking legs per side, which is fairly common in crabs,
note that one side is missing some legs where it may have been attacked.
King crabs have three sets of walking legs.

While walking the beach yesterday, Indra spotted something unusual in the water and decided to investigate. We've seen sea turtles, manta rays, man-o-war jellyfish and other interesting specimens, but this was a first.

It looks like a crab, but not the usual blue and white numbers that our dogs like to harass and the fishermen use to catch octopus. This looked more like the creature that attached itself to people's faces in alien. After checking Indra's face, we looked at the underside and...

Hey! Little orange eggs...LOTS of them. Sort of Yucatan caviar I guess.

Anyway, if there are any crab experts out there, let us know what we grabbed.

Larry

Carnaval Merida 2008

2008-02-04T20:05:00.000-06:00

Listed as one of the five most important carnavals in Latin America, the Merida carnaval is five days of parades, music and food leading up to Lent.
We chose Saturday night to attend and thought that arriving 1 1/2 hours early would assure us a good viewing spot for the parade. Another lesson learned: one can't be too early for these parades. As we walked down Paseo Montejo (one of the main streets into downtown) there were spectators lined up 8 deep on one side of the street and in bleachers on the other. Indra spotted a blanket stretched along one bleacher seat with nobody sitting on it and asked the woman guarding it if there was any room for us. The woman graciously scooted the blanket down for us to squeeze in. Here's a picture of me and our new found friends...
The man in front of me was a very friendly guy and between my broken Spanish and his broken English I found out about a reportedly great grotto and cave system somewhere in Campeche. He also told me that this was the most family-friendly carnaval in Mexico. He noted that the one in Veracruz was particularly rowdy.

Isn't she cute?

Perhaps one reason we were all well behaved was the extremely large presence of Policia everywhere controlling the crowd. We never saw any drunks and there weren't any guys yelling, "Show us your naked chestal area!" Or whatever it is they yell at the women at Mardi Gras.

The parade kicked-off at 7:00 p.m. and lasted about two hours. And the floats were spectacular.....

And there were guys on stilts....

And more dancing groups of all ages than we could count......

In a few days I'll try load a film clip for you, but until then I hope these convey a little of what this was like.
Larry

Christmas Eve-Christmas Day

2007-12-27T10:03:00.000-06:00

This is mainly for family and friends in the States who may have wondered just what one does in Mexico on the first Christmas away from family and loved ones. On the left is "Buddy's" a local watering hole and grill that is run by a Dutchman by the name of Remko. It's located right on the malecon (beach walk) in Progreso and is a place where many gringos like to congregate. We found out that on Christmas eve there was going to be a buffet festival and we went.

A great feast awaited us consisting of prime rib, turkey, and salmon as well as veggies, salad, bread and such. They also had what the chef told me was "Yucatan Hamburger" which was like meatloaf but it had pineapple and raisins in it and was quite tasty.

The decor was festive and intricate.

Us.

On Christmas day we were invited to a friend's house in Progreso along with an assortment of other gringos both full-time residents and winter visitors. Carol set up the house, and we all brought something to eat pot-luck.

At the table you can see:

(clockwise) Abigail, Ivonne, Bonnie, Indra, David, Chuck, and Carol.

We exchanged some small gifts. Here is Indra with her new back scratcher.

Welcome Into the world.......

2007-12-21T09:40:00.000-06:00

My newest grandson, Jackson David Baker.
Born 9:58 am, December 19, 2007.
Weight - 7 lbs, 15.6 oz.

The proud parents, my youngest daughter Cheryl and her companion David.

My eldest daughter (now aunt) Mary and my other grandson in the background (now cousin) Kyle.

A handsome young fellow, isn't he? My warmest congratulations to the parents.

Larry

A New Visitor

2007-12-19T15:03:00.000-06:00

As we were leaving to go grocery shopping today Indra noticed a peculiar shaped critter climbing through the decorative blocks onto our patio. Upon further inspection it revealed itself to be a Yucatan Vine Snake. We'd seen a much smaller one before but this character was about 5 feet long.

Thelma the coon hound, as always, thought it was a "treat" and is staring at it longingly. Anyway, we turned it loose in the vacant but verdant lot next door. Later I found this on the internet about this beautiful creature:

"The species goes by a variety of names, including Neotropical Vine Snake, Whipsnake, Bejuquilla Parda and, in local Maya, Xtachoy. Xtachoy refers to the drawstring on a well bucket. It's OXYBELIS AENEUS.
One reason people know this species is that the snake really looks like a vine stem, and Mexicans are always grabbing such stems intending to hack them with their machetes. Grab this, and you'll remember it for a long time. The snake is not particularly aggressive but if grabbed it will bite, and this species is "semi- venomous." My Maya-speaking friend Don Elías, who has a long history of machete-swinging, says that if an Xtachoy bites you you won't die or lose an arm, but you'll get a serious sore that'll take a very long time to heal.
The snake eats small lizards, especially anoles, and part of its lizard-fooling camouflage is to remain rigid for hours, often extending like a vine from one tree to another."

I probably wouldn't have been so cavalier about handling it had I read this beforehand.

Larry

Yucatan Christmas Tree

2007-12-08T09:52:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!
Our first Christmas in Mexico is fast approaching and reminds us that the two main things we miss about the U.S.A. are our friends and families.
As we were packing for this trip we had to be very careful in selecting what were essentials and what were necessities and Christmas ornaments were left behind. While beach combing it occurred to us that maybe we could incorporate some of the flotsam and jetsam scattered about into yuletide cheer and that's what we have done.

Behold the spiny sea urchin:
We find these occasionally and sometimes the spines are still on as in this fine specimen collected by Indra, or the spines are worn off leaving behind a beautiful pattern.
We decided these looked enough like ornaments and they are certainly fragile enough to qualify but needed a measure of "brightening up" to bring them up to code.

Enter the silver spray paint. Look closely and you'll also see a long, bean-like object getting the paint treatment as well. We don't know what these are so we call them beans and they wash-up on shore along with the other former sea life.

We tried some red paint just for contrast but it didn't work. It was just a matter of some thread, a needle and some glue to get them ready for hanging.

Click on this one to enlarge it and marvel at nature's handiwork. It rivals a Fabrege' egg for delicacy.

The "beans" as icicles and the urchins along with some store bought goodies and lights and there you go!

And the finished product.....

And with that we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a great 2008.

(YVC Tee Shirt courtesy D.W. Clark, KOMO TV)

"Do the X'matkuil"

2007-11-22T17:31:00.001-06:00

It was a brisk (86 degrees) Thanksgiving Day today and since the only turkey we've seen lately is the one wandering around the neighbor's yard across the street, we decided the best thing to do was go to the Yucatan State Fair to see what was what.
It was about a 45 minute drive to the city of X'matkuil (pronounced Ish-mat-koo-eel) and very easy to find the fairgrounds as it's the biggest deal in town. The cost: $2.00 to park and $1.00 each to get in. "Ah-ha", I thought, "more cash for scones!" (more on this later).
At the front entrance there was this very nice facsimile of El Castillo of which we are all REAL proud .

Our first stop was, of course, Reptile Planet. It was a very nicely executed live display of some of the planet's most deadly and not so deadly snakes, lizards and even a crocodile. The fellow on the right is a Black Mamba. I'll leave it to you to Google it, but he's a nasty one.

Like any state fair, agriculture plays a big part.
Besides exhibits like this, there were also the latest example of farm equipment.

Did someone say "livestock"? You bet! We saw horses, bulls, sheep, goats...all kinds of things.

These are the sheep.

These are Brahmas.

This guy seemed VERY glad to see us.

And, like all state fairs, the carney games of chance were everywhere. But we never expected to see "this......."

"This" being an exhibit featuring "devices of torture, pain and death" as used in the Spanish Inquisition.
Fun for the whole family!
The line was WAY too long for us so, with our appetites aflame we set off to find a suitable fair lunch.

Since scones weren't available, good old Yucatecan Tacos were just what we needed. After four of these fully loaded beef numbers with cabbage, onions, tomatoes and avocado and some hot sauce....well, suffice it to say there was a reason Taco Bell folded up their tent and moved on from Merida long ago.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..........................

Just so we don't seem so smug about ethnic food here, we also ran across this food court:

Burger King?! Domino's Pizza?! Not today, friends!

Next stop: housewares. Again, a little different from what we are used to.

Did I say that 96% of the population here is Catholic?

Indra shopping for a new bedspread.

The rodeo is a popular sport here and there were also exhibitors showing some fancy saddles.

All good things must come to an end.....I was remarking to Indra that it's too bad we can't add the sounds and smells to these pictures. We plan on returning next year.