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!

Chicxulub and the Meteor

There is a town up the beach called Chicxulub (Chick- shoe- lube). There is a huge crater hole there that they say was created by a giant meteor that hit this area. Scientists are studying the impact zone (which is all of Yucatan).
If you want to know the details of the Meteor, just Google it. There are stories all over the internet about this area!

Husband has been picking up Meteor stones on the beach and has made some phone charms and I made some necklaces with them. want to have one? Just let us know. We'll see about getting one to you.

Lizards and Geckos

 Extreme close up of this little lizard (actually a gecko) on the outside screen. He loves to eat mosquitos! (do you have any more cousins to bring over to visit little one??)

This big guy likes to sunbathe on the outside wall. There are lizards bigger than this, but not really close to my house. They love to hang out at the Pyramids, so watch out for them when you go. They don't bite (they eat bugs!) but they sure scare me when they jump out of the cracks in the pyramid walls!! :)

Flowers and Mayan Honey

Cactus Flower

 There are Cactus here that are VERY tall- some over 20 feet! They have the most interesting flowers that come out on the sides of it. They only bloom one day and the blooms come out at night, I guess to attract the night flying pollinators, and the flowers only last one day. I think they are beautiful.

interesting red flowers

 I bought a bush of these interesting flowers. I still can't remember the name of them. I will have to look it up. They grow into bushes and are full of red flowers. I have seen them all over Merida.


Jasmine

  I bought two Jasmine plants from the plant guy in Chelem. He always has interesting plants (and they are pretty cheap). I got one climbing Jasmine and one bush Jasmine. They smell fabulous. Too bad we don't have scratch and smell pics! lol


Bee loaded with pollen

 I had to put this bee picture in here. I think this pic my friend took is fabulous. Check out the pollen on his legs!! We have the best Mayan honey around too because of this little guy.

FLAMINGOS!!!!!

I think I had seen a few flamingos in a zoo in the US. But nothing is like seeing them in the wild. wow.
There are thousands of bright pink flamingos here- feeding and flying all over. The first time I saw a flock fly over I was with some friends and I ran out on the beach with my camera. They fly in a loose V formation sort of like Canadian Geese. Their legs are sooooo long they trail along behind them.

flying flamingo flock



a group close to us, check out all the ones in the background!



We drove out to the town of Telchac, not far from Progreso up the beach road to see the best group of them around here. I think that we saw over a thousand in one day!
There is a Flamingo LookOut Tower in the town of Uymitun. We stopped there and went up to the top of the three story tower. You can see Flamingos everywhere. wow.

Rainbows!



Rainbow taken from our porch



Rainbow with pink clouds

I have seen more Rainbows here than I think I have seen in my whole life! They seem to be everywhere since the rains have come. May is Rainy Season in Yucatan, but we have only gotten a bit of rain so far. Most people are saying that this is the dryest season they have seen. I know that even with this little bit of rain, the grass has come out of the sand, and all the trees have bloomed. They are all beautiful and then there are the rainbows! wow!! I even saw two at one time, but didn't have my camera with me.

Beach sites

Siesta time under the truck in the shade

Beach road- some people make extra signs on their street!

Parasail seen over the house

There are different things to see here at the beach. Each day we are amazed at the sights! There are people that sell wares up and down the beach here, calling out what they sell( in spanish of course!): ice, pie, ice cream, etc.
Horses go up and down our street, some with carts carrying supplies for house building.  The siesta picture above is one of my favorites though- Yucatecans will rest anywhere there is shade, even under a truck! :)
The beach road is being worked on now, the Governor has added funds so that all the roads can be repaired. We think the roads here are fabulous, most are paved and in great condition. The roads here at the beach are mostly sand though, and some are deeper than others, so we have to be careful which roads we pick to drive down.

Our Beach Walk

Our Sandy Lane to the house



Our beach walk

 It is very peaceful out here at the beach. We walk over to the beach every morning after our coffee and see what the sea has brought for a treasure today. I love collecting shells and sea glass from the beach, each day it is something new. We have met quite a few new people here out at the beach and everyone is very nice.