Sargasso on the beach

I was drinking coffee on the porch and saw 9 Mexican ladies walking along the beach collecting some seaweed and putting it in large burlap bags. They were being picky about which seaweed they picked, which made me very curious. I went down on the beach to ask them and find out.

First, I guess they were surprised that a gringa spoke Spanish, so after their initial shock, they answered my questions.  :)  They were only collecting the sargasso seaweed that washed up last night. The sargasso is a special seaweed that has small round seed looking pieces that act like bladders to keep the seaweed afloat. I had heard of the Sargasso Sea, in the Bermuda Triange, but had not really seen any.
The biggest answer I got to why they were picking it up was that several were going to eat it, like a salad, some were going to cook it, like a soup, and some were going to give to their fishermen husbands to put in the packing with the octopus they are catching to send to Japan. Sargasso is a delicacy in Japan, along with the octopus. I read that Mexico is supplying all the octopus for Japan now because the fishing in Africa was off. There are record prices for a kilo of Octopus now- $108 pesos a kilo. (around $10 a kilo US)
I guess there will be happy people in Mexico, AND Japan now. Bon Appetit Japan!

Thanksgiving in Mexico

We awoke to a very different tradition for Thanksgiving this year- a walk on the beach, since it was 85 degrees. Then I worked in the kitchen, while streaming the Macy's Parade on my laptop, making 10 pounds of honey glazed carrots to take to a friends house for Thanksgiving dinner. The honey glazed was smelling so good, the honey bees started to gather on the kitchen window screen to try to get inside! I guess they thought they found the mother-lode. There were 43 of us Americans and Canadians for dinner to celebrate the holiday. The Canadians said they loved being a part of our tradition.
We missed our family back in the US, but were glad to have some friends here in Mexico to celebrate with.

Mexican Revolution Day!

These boys dressed in native Mayan costumes are looking a bit bored in the parade...

love the twirly skirts!



these kids have practiced their dancing a lot to be in the parade today




happy ladies in native dress



Progreso town hall with everyone watching the parade from the balconies

Today is Mexican Revolution Day and there were parades in all the towns across Mexico to celebrate! This is the parade that was in Progreso today, there was also one in Chelem, and Merida. All the school children practice their steps, and dances for weeks for this parade. We saw the high schoolers practicing in the Chelem square this morning as we went into Progreso. It is a happy festival time for the families. There was food and a carnaval set up in the Progreso town square today too.

Web Publishing your manuscript class....

Today Hubby taught a class about Web Publishing to 22 folks that came out to the English Library. He did a great job with it, he has two books published now. There was a lot of interest in the topic, and he may do a follow up class on Marketing your book.
Google his books if you want to find one:
Holiday in Havana
The Lost Ark of the Incas

Yoga at the Beach..

Friday, I went to my first Yoga class. It was given by a friend I met here at the beach. There were 11 of us on her patio stretching and trying to get into the pretzel twists that she was talking about. It was an interesting and fun time with friends, I think I will go again. Not sure yoga is my friend though, my body was protesting that I was trying to knot it up :)
Next week I am taking my camera to get a picture of what I was looking up at while I was on the mat- beautiful blue sky, white puffy clouds and a palm branch over my head. :)

Norte at the Beach...

Nov. 10th we had a huge storm here in Yucatan. They are called Nortes. They come to us from the North, hence the name. I saw this one coming across the water from New Orleans (today is first son's birthday and he lives in New Orleans- must have been partying too much there! Caused quite a storm).
The clouds were very dark and rolling across the Gulf fast. We had time to put things away and close the windows just before the storm hit us. The gale force winds hit and the palm trees started swaying, some broke off in town here. The rain was coming straight at us from the Gulf, and came under the door towards the beach, windows on the beach side and side of the house were leaking water and flooding the rooms. We got cloths and put under every window, got a bucket and wrung out cloths for an hour and a half. Lucky for us it didn't rain that hard all night, or we might have had a flood here. The beach was underwater as the tide rose high. We did not have waves hitting the house, but our neighbor did. There is a sand bar just off the front of the house, which saved us, the waves broke further out.
In the morning, we cleaned up palm branches and flowers out of the pool and off the patio area. Everything else was fine. whew, made it through our FIRST norte, only 48 to go..... wow!

Latin America Bloggers Conference

Nov. 5th I will be going to the Latin America Bloggers Conference, based this year in Merida. I have been following several other Merida and Mexico blogs and will finally get to meet some of the folks I have read stories about. Should be a fact filled, fun filled day. Will post more about it later....

Later: The bloggers Conference was a hit! Great to meet folks from the US and all over Mexico that blog about things. The panel of experts told us how to get better photos on our blogs, how to keep rants calmer, and how to get more folks interested in the things we blog about. I will be posting along the side of my blog their blog sites- if I can figure out how to connect them all....
The Conference was held in the TTT University in Merida, a beautiful location. Next year there is talk of the Bloggers Conference being held in Cancun at an All Inclusive Resort. sounds interesting...

Day of the Dead- Hanal Pixan

Day of the Dead is a little different here than in some parts of Latin America. There are altars set up in each village, and the best one is selected to go to Merida to be set up on Oct 29 in the main square. On the altars to those that have died in the family, will be food they liked, momentoes for them (toys for children that passed away, and beer and cigarettes for the adults) there will be pictures of the deceased and flowers.
Nov. 1 is the day they celebrate the children that died. Nov. 2 is All Saints day, then the altars have offering and flowers for the saints the family worships. In Mayan this ceremony is called Hanal Pixan.

Hubby decorated for an adult Halloween party in Chelem, he made this Catrina skeleton out of palm branches.

They do not practice Halloween as we do in the US, and there are no 'trick or treaters' coming to the door to ask for candy.

Shells today

 It is amazing the beautiful shells that are just laying on the sand as you wander down the shore, the waves lapping at your toes. wonder if I can find all the names of these?

Birds- flamingos, spoonbills and storks

A lone male flamingo searching for food in Telchac



Flamingos and babies in Sisal




Heron in Telchac




Roseate Spoonbills in the Marsh in Progreso




Two wood storks roaming the marsh in Chelem

There are birds everywhere in Yucatan. It is hard to catch the smaller ones, like the hummingbirds, the cardinals and the sandpipers, but the bigger ones are still for a longer time and easier to photograph.
These are just a few I found while I have been roaming around Yucatan.

Sunsets at the Beach...beautiful

Thinks I like in Summer....

Without internet it is impossible to update blogs and check on things.... wow. Not sure how we used to make it without all this technology at our fingertips.
that said, I will try to update now that we have moved and have internet up and running again....

Summer in Yucatan is hot, not just hot but sticky hot. But, the way to bear it is a cool dip in a friends pool, or having a KFreeze frozen cappucino from OXXO. :)

Don't you love these woven deck chairs? I see them all over at people's houses, but haven't found one to buy yet.
They are from Campeche and I am not sure I can convince hubby to drive all the way over to Campeche for a chair.... if I tell him there were Pirates there.... maybe.

Earthquake in VA!

oh my, I got a message from home about a 5.9 Earthquake in Va. That is very unusual to say the least.
Folks are posting on Facebook all about it, and some say they felt it up in Canada! the Center was in Virginia, close to Charlottesville. Buildings in Norfolk Va were evacuated and people sent home. Things were moving all over. My son posted his brick apartment building was moving.
Here's the details from the US Geological : http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/se082311a.php

Not sure about why that happened, but there was also one in Colorado about the same time. hmm.
Strange.
Well, this makes me glad that I live in Yucatan Mexico! There have never been any earthquakes here!!

Death in my family.....

It is hard being in another country when you find out a loved one is doing poorly and in Hospice. There are a lot of things that go through your mind, do I drop everything and rush there?, can I do anything there if I do?, will people think I am insensitive if I stay here?, can I even get a ticket out of here that quickly?
My father was in an Assisted Living Home since he had Dementia (possibly Alzheimers) and needed more assistance than my sister could give. She has been his primary caregiver since my mother passed away about four years ago.
When we decided to move to Mexico, I knew that I would miss my family, but also knew that this would be a better place for me to live. I visited my dad just before we left the US and told him I was moving and he said goodbye to me (not knowing who I was, or where I was going, or what I was talking about). It is very hard for loved ones to go through caring for a parent who doesn't remember you or even their spouse of 50 years.
When I got the call about my dad in Hospice, I was very conflicted about what to do. I then heard he had passed away quickly after that.
My two sisters in VA are dealing with all the final details. His cremation had been prepaid and was in place.
There will be a memorial for him Sunday. My heart is there even if my body can't be there this time. <3

Ladies Day Out!

Just so you don't think I am pining away at the beach all by myself, I decided to write about one of my adventures with the expat ladies I have met down here. :)
There is a very large group of ladies from Canada and the US here and we get together frequenly without the spouses just to have a ladies day out.
This day there were 13 of us and we decided to make it an adventure and met at the main square in Progreso at 9am. Progreso is the central area of the beach, some of the ladies live east of Progreso and some live west. We met there and walked to the bus station to take the Auto Progreso bus to Merida. This is a very nice Air conditioned bus with reclining seats like an airplane. The round trip cost: 28 pesos or about $2.30 US, I don't think we could drive ONE car into Merida for that. :)
So the bus took us up the road a bit to Merida and we chatted along the way, leaving all the driving to the bus driver, and we got off at the bus station in Merida, two blocks from the main plaza.
 We went to several stores downtown, then walked up  a few blocks to the Tupperware store to see what was new in there. (They were so nice and gave us all catalogs, and a gift) Then we stopped at a jewelry/bead store having a 50% off sale. wow. Next we walked a few blocks up to the two story Air Conditioned store of Fantasias Miguel (our local Michael's craft store), and looke all over at the new things there.
Next up was lunch, too many Restaurants to choose from in Merida!!! This required a smal conference on the side of the sidewalk. lol. Finally decided on, we all headed to lunch at Las Vegas, owned by a man from Pittsburgh, PA. He has a clean place, nice bathrooms and most of all delicious food. oh, and AC! Can't forget the AC in the summer time, it sure gets hot here, and we walk around with our water bottles and cool off where we can. lol.
That all done, we decided to stop at the plastics store (everything you can imagine in plastic ware here).
Then back to the bus station for all us tired ladies. We rested our feet on the comfortable bus as it took us back to Progreso (about 30 minutes)
All the ladies try to get together at least once every two weeks to do something.

Whale Sharks

My friends visited Isla Holbox and snorkeled with the Whale Sharks. These are the pics they sent me. Isla Holbox is on the Yucatan Peninsula east of where we live. The Whale Sharks migrate there every year from June to September and tours are everywhere. You can also get a tour to see them from Isla Mujeres, which is closer to Cancun.
I am not sure I am brave enough to swim next to these giants of the sea. My friends said that they were swimming beside one and another came very close to them, they thought they might be a little too close, but all was well. (the rules say you are not to touch them, or get too close- but the Whale Sharks don't know this)
They are very docile creatures, even though they are the biggest sharks. They don't have teeth though! :)

Room at Las Tortugas Isla Holbox

I also posted a pic of their patio from their room at the hotel they stayed in, looks pretty nice to me. I think we might have to have to go a swimming with the Whale Sharks!

Fruit from the Market

We love to shop at the local Market in Progreso. There are always plenty of fruits and vegetables to choose from and they are very helpful. Things there are fresh and ripe, so the lady that we buy from asks us if we will us this today or tomorrow. Then she helps us pick the right ones that we should eat.
There are also other stands at the market in Progreso- a shoe stand, clothes, bathing suits, toys, ribbon and thread for sewing, and flour, seeds and meats. Oh, and flowers- I love the flower section of the market it smells wonderful! :) I always end up with a huge bunch of flowers from their stand. A huge bunch, arranged in a vase will be $15 US. I usually just get a handfull of cut flowers for my vase at home, this runs us $6 US.
(I'll have to take some pics there next time we go)
Here's one of the fruit stands:

Pitaya fruit

The last photo is a Pitaya fruit- also known as Dragon Fruit. I had to ask what it was in the market. It is bright pink on the outside with green leaves. I also had to ask how to eat it (you never know if you eat the seeds, don't eat the seeds, etc) I was told I could cut in half and scoop out the eat the pulp, or take it out and make a drink out of it like a smoothie. I did both. I have to say it was a little tart at first, sort of tasted like a kiwi. But I like it and made a smootie drink with that and some strawberry yogurt. Yum. pretty good stuff.

Sunsets in Mexico

The sunsets here have been beautiful.  They are full of colors. Here are just a few from August and you can judge for yourself if they are nice:

Petey and Buffy

Our Chihuahua, Petey, has found a special girlfriend. Her name is Buffy and she belongs to some friends here in Mexico. He loves to go visit her and she sometimes comes over here for a visit.
Here's some pics of her last visit to our house:

Funky Market in Chelem

Our favorite Restaurant in Chelem- TacoMaya- is having a Craft Fair and it's called Funky Market.
There are vendors from all over Mexico that will be showing goods.
I will be making some things and so is Husband (who wants to show off his newly found Meteor stones)


Handmade shell candles and banana bread




Jewelry and scarves



my friend Naomi with her homemade granola, cinnamon buns and cookies.

I made glasses holders

aprons, tablecloths and notecards made by Joan

Meteor stones

Diane's famous Almond Joy cake with lots of chocolate and coconut!