Just returned from a whirlwind trip to San Antonio, where we got to play catch up with reams of paperwork, paid our annual homage to the IRS, shopped till we dropped from our "bring back to Mexico" list, and actually managed to squeeze in some quality time with friends. It was GREAT to see them all; just wish we would have had more time to play! Our return flight was another edition of the Clampetts. We acquired some very-used luggage thanks to friends having a garage sale and the local Goodwill store, which we proceeded to stuff full of items from the aforementioned Mexico list. We then hauled all four mismatched, different colored bags to the airport and prayed they would survive the flight...they did! The only bump we encountered was when the Mexican customs agent watched our bags being x-rayed and determined we had several household items in tow (Barb's bad...she didn't take all the items out of their packaging and we guess that showed up in the x-rays). But when he asked what was in the bags, did we have cortinas (curtains), what else were we carrying, and how much did it all cost (whew!), she sweetly answered that we only had linens/other household items (TRUE) and that they came from our home in the U.S. (NOT QUITE TRUE-THEY ACTUALLY WERE IN THE HOUSE FOR A FEW DAYS...ok, LIE). For some reason, he decided not to challenge us. Maybe it had something to do with how funky those suitcases looked, like how much could the owners of such suitcases really afford to smuggle in? Anyway, it was smooth sailing after that and the shuttle bus service once again delivered us on time to our new hometown, happy but tired (and Bill's arms might have stretched a little from all that hauling ~ 250lbs).
Our trip home got us thinking about what we like in each place, so we've come up with a little Letterman list of top tens (sorry about the layout..just couldn't get it to line up...but you'll get the drift):
San Antonio vs La Paz
10. Tex-Mex meals 10. Mex-Mex meals
9. TV 9. No TV (we're reading alot)
8. No wondering about toilet seat availability in cafes 8. No wondering about tip (10%) in cafes
7. Great Chinese, mediocre seafood 7. Great seafood, mediocre Chinese
6. Lower gas prices 6. No shopping for gas-all the same price
5. Ice cold Shiner 5. Ice cold Pacifico micheladas
4. Breakfast tacos 4. Baja fish tacos
3. Spurs basketball 3. Lucha libre midget wrestling
2. Biz attitude-very efficient,impersonal 2. Biz attitude-inefficient,very personal
1. Old friends 1. New friends
So there you have it, friends old and new. Until next time, we send all of you our heartfelt thanks for hanging in with us. Adios!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
WHALES & SAILS
Well, here is an update you can all relate to (or to which you can all relate if you are grammatical freaks).
Our 1st road trip from La Paz took place on Miercoles, 12 de Marzo del 2010 (that language training is really paying off), when we decided to go to Puerto San Carlos to take a whale watching excursion. Well, we went to see the whales and didn’t because: A) it was a little too late in the season, and B) the wind was so strong we wouldn’t have been able to stay in the boat. Swimming with the whales was not the objective. We did, however, have an experience we won’t soon forget; we lived through our first-ever desert sandstorm. The wind was blowing the sand so hard you would have thought you were in the Great Lakes region during a white out. You could see the sand blowing/snaking down the road the same way snow does (for you Texans, this has no connection in your synapses). We stopped in a town called Ciudad Constitution for lunch at a Birrieria. Pretending to know everything, Barb ordered the juicy Birria and Bill ordered the Birria el Horno. Wouldn’t you know it! The juicy birria was dry with a side of juice and the birria el horno was a soup (we think the switched up the orders, but as long as we got some of each tipo, no problema). In any event, it was roasted lamb and it was delicioso! Once again (and we keep re-living this), it’s all about the food!
Speaking of food, we also had a neat neighborhood encounter that we called “the Pied Piper of Sweet Potato”. One day a couple of weeks ago Barb kept hearing a high-pitched whistle and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Bill, being hearing-challenged, thought she was hallucinating. However, last week she heard the same sound again (kind of a combination factory whistle and Zamphyr-like flute). So we jumped in the car and tracked down the noise. It turned out to be a man with a fancy push cart who was selling both sweet potatoes and plantains (bananas) roasted over charcoal, which he served with honey and condensed milk drizzle…$2 per large serving. YUMMY!!! That covered dinner for that night.
There are actually several vendors who traverse the neighborhood with wares for sale, and many of them have a distinctive sound. The water truck (selling large bottles of water) comes by several times a day with a very snazzy recording (and each neighborhood gets its own unique tune). The LP gas truck makes one daily circuit, with its own distinct musica. We’ve also had vendors stop by selling strawberries (now in season) and shrimp (always in season), very fresh and very reasonably priced. Que padre! (Cool!)
Last Sunday afternoon, in search of fun, we headed into the central part of town to the zocalo (main square). We had been told that there was an all-day bingo game held there each week, smack dab in front of the cathedral. Lo and behold, there it was. Instead of bingo, it’s called Loteria and instead of numbers, they call out…in Spanish… figures which are printed on the loteria cards. But just like at the VFW Bingo halls in the states, the game is the same, and so are the quirky characters playing it (including the little old ladies with their special charms and markers who play 4 cards at a pop). Luckily for us, a very nice Spanish couple insisted we sit down across from them and helped us through each round. We didn’t win a single time, but the event was, as they say in the commercials, priceless!
Much later...
YIKES!!! How time flies, whether or not you’re having fun! We have been remiss in our blogging, and some of you have noticed. No, we haven’t been kidnapped or swallowed up by an earthquake (that was WAY north of here, at the California border). Just equal parts busy and lazy. Our continuing battle with the architect/remodeler is currently going in our favor, but only because Bill has put in many hours building our case. We recently had our second meeting with the consumer agency we filed a complaint with and it seems like the architect has decided to settle with us. Of course, we haven’t seen our reimbursement yet (that is supposed to occur on or before our third, hopefully final, meeting) but he has suddenly become a lot more cooperative about providing documents we requested and proceeding with the filing of paperwork necessary to close out the project for government purposes. We won’t bore you with any of the ugly details, but suffice it to say we fell into the same trap that many/most long-distance owners do and assumed the renovation work would be completed without our constant vigilance. Shame on us! Fortunately, we have found several independent craftsmen (electrician, plumber, carpenters, pool guys) who will be working directly for us and we hope to have most of our unfinished work finished within a month.
On the having fun side, we’ve made a few beach trips, been to our first movie (English spoken/Spanish subtitles/bad popcorn), and hooked up with some new friends. Seems like most of the folks we’ve met have a few things in common: a good sense of humor, no qualms about speaking their minds, an adventurous streak, and appreciation for good cold cervezas! Right now the “boat community” in La Paz is having their annual Bay Fest and we’ll be attending some of their “hot” events, like the Bocce Ball Tournament, Blindfold Rowing Dingy Race, and the Oldies Dance (with tunes played by the Barking Dogs band, featuring lead singer Roberto…the Italian guy we bought the casa from). And the best part is, it’s all taking place within a mile or so of our house, so we can walk home if those cervezas start adding up! Guess it’s about time to batten down the hatches and head to the marina. Until next time, remember…
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
--William Arthur Ward
Our 1st road trip from La Paz took place on Miercoles, 12 de Marzo del 2010 (that language training is really paying off), when we decided to go to Puerto San Carlos to take a whale watching excursion. Well, we went to see the whales and didn’t because: A) it was a little too late in the season, and B) the wind was so strong we wouldn’t have been able to stay in the boat. Swimming with the whales was not the objective. We did, however, have an experience we won’t soon forget; we lived through our first-ever desert sandstorm. The wind was blowing the sand so hard you would have thought you were in the Great Lakes region during a white out. You could see the sand blowing/snaking down the road the same way snow does (for you Texans, this has no connection in your synapses). We stopped in a town called Ciudad Constitution for lunch at a Birrieria. Pretending to know everything, Barb ordered the juicy Birria and Bill ordered the Birria el Horno. Wouldn’t you know it! The juicy birria was dry with a side of juice and the birria el horno was a soup (we think the switched up the orders, but as long as we got some of each tipo, no problema). In any event, it was roasted lamb and it was delicioso! Once again (and we keep re-living this), it’s all about the food!
Speaking of food, we also had a neat neighborhood encounter that we called “the Pied Piper of Sweet Potato”. One day a couple of weeks ago Barb kept hearing a high-pitched whistle and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Bill, being hearing-challenged, thought she was hallucinating. However, last week she heard the same sound again (kind of a combination factory whistle and Zamphyr-like flute). So we jumped in the car and tracked down the noise. It turned out to be a man with a fancy push cart who was selling both sweet potatoes and plantains (bananas) roasted over charcoal, which he served with honey and condensed milk drizzle…$2 per large serving. YUMMY!!! That covered dinner for that night.
There are actually several vendors who traverse the neighborhood with wares for sale, and many of them have a distinctive sound. The water truck (selling large bottles of water) comes by several times a day with a very snazzy recording (and each neighborhood gets its own unique tune). The LP gas truck makes one daily circuit, with its own distinct musica. We’ve also had vendors stop by selling strawberries (now in season) and shrimp (always in season), very fresh and very reasonably priced. Que padre! (Cool!)
Last Sunday afternoon, in search of fun, we headed into the central part of town to the zocalo (main square). We had been told that there was an all-day bingo game held there each week, smack dab in front of the cathedral. Lo and behold, there it was. Instead of bingo, it’s called Loteria and instead of numbers, they call out…in Spanish… figures which are printed on the loteria cards. But just like at the VFW Bingo halls in the states, the game is the same, and so are the quirky characters playing it (including the little old ladies with their special charms and markers who play 4 cards at a pop). Luckily for us, a very nice Spanish couple insisted we sit down across from them and helped us through each round. We didn’t win a single time, but the event was, as they say in the commercials, priceless!
Much later...
YIKES!!! How time flies, whether or not you’re having fun! We have been remiss in our blogging, and some of you have noticed. No, we haven’t been kidnapped or swallowed up by an earthquake (that was WAY north of here, at the California border). Just equal parts busy and lazy. Our continuing battle with the architect/remodeler is currently going in our favor, but only because Bill has put in many hours building our case. We recently had our second meeting with the consumer agency we filed a complaint with and it seems like the architect has decided to settle with us. Of course, we haven’t seen our reimbursement yet (that is supposed to occur on or before our third, hopefully final, meeting) but he has suddenly become a lot more cooperative about providing documents we requested and proceeding with the filing of paperwork necessary to close out the project for government purposes. We won’t bore you with any of the ugly details, but suffice it to say we fell into the same trap that many/most long-distance owners do and assumed the renovation work would be completed without our constant vigilance. Shame on us! Fortunately, we have found several independent craftsmen (electrician, plumber, carpenters, pool guys) who will be working directly for us and we hope to have most of our unfinished work finished within a month.
On the having fun side, we’ve made a few beach trips, been to our first movie (English spoken/Spanish subtitles/bad popcorn), and hooked up with some new friends. Seems like most of the folks we’ve met have a few things in common: a good sense of humor, no qualms about speaking their minds, an adventurous streak, and appreciation for good cold cervezas! Right now the “boat community” in La Paz is having their annual Bay Fest and we’ll be attending some of their “hot” events, like the Bocce Ball Tournament, Blindfold Rowing Dingy Race, and the Oldies Dance (with tunes played by the Barking Dogs band, featuring lead singer Roberto…the Italian guy we bought the casa from). And the best part is, it’s all taking place within a mile or so of our house, so we can walk home if those cervezas start adding up! Guess it’s about time to batten down the hatches and head to the marina. Until next time, remember…
“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
--William Arthur Ward
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
