Busy busy...

but not yet working..... How ironic is that? I have been busy getting ready for the move to the new house, trying to furnish the house and many other things. My friend Shelley and I took a road trip to Colima last week to try and knock off some of the purchases on my list. By the end of the trip, her car was literally packed to the roof with our purchases. I still have a long way to go but now have some of the basics. I found a second hand fridge from one of the PATA volunteers for a good price. She is graciously allowing me to keep the fridge at her house until I move. The current renter in the house is going to sell me the air conditioner in his bedroom. This will be a huge godsend this summer as I will be in a neighborhood that is very hot with little breeze. It will definitely be an adjustment from where I am living now. My move date is June 14 and many of my friends have offered to help.

I am also looking after my friend's 5 cats while she is in the United States for 2 weeks. I stop by the house daily and feed them, let them out, deal with the litter, etc. She also asked me to feed some of the street animals that hang around her house. Today, I noticed that one of the roosters really likes cat food and has been eating most of the food I leave out for the street cat. When I tried to shoo the rooster off, he was quite feisty with me and kept returning. Clearly, he does not see me as a threat. So now I am not sure that the street cat is getting any food. Suggestions anyone?

I am also taking on a larger role with PATA and taking on the Treasurer role in addition to my current volunteer activities.

There have been a few new restaurants that have opened in the last little while here in Manzanillo and so my friends and I have gone to check them out. There is a new sushi place in Las Brisas called Yakitori. We have several sushi places here already but since I am a huge sushi lover, I had to check this one out too. The food was delicious and the ambience and decor fantastic. It is right on the beach and the waiters take your orders with hand held digital devices. I really hope this restaurant makes it!

My friends and I checked it out another new restaurant a few weeks ago called Los Coyotes. It is an authentic Korean restaurant and the menu is in both Korean and Spanish. I spoke with the owner and he was explaining how the restaurant came to be. He was working with a large Korean company working on the regasification of the power plant here (official action is finally in place to make the switch to natural gas). It is scheduled to be finished in July 2011. As a result, there is a large Korean community here for a few years and he decided to take advantage of the market opportunity. He recommended several dishes for us to try and it was delicious.

Friends Michelle and Shelley trying the yummy food at Los Coyotes.



Sunday, on the recommendation of my friend Shelley, we rounded up the dogs and went out to El Rio de Mojo. This is a river outside of the city near a tiny town called Chandiablo near the entrance to the foot hills of the Sierra Manantlán.

This river is a place where locals gather on weekends to swim and have small fiestas. You are able to rent a small shanty style palapa for $60 pesos where you can get some shade, cook your food and spend your day relaxing. It is a beautiful spot and the water is great for swimming.



This was my first time here but Shelley said she had never seen it packed with so many families. I think it is a nice alternative than hanging out at the beach....especially since right now the ocean is not ideal for swimming because it is so rough.

Friend's Shelley and Teresa hanging out under our pseudo palapa


You are able to cook on the beach here. We saw other families who brought their own BBQ's or, like ourselves, made our own makeshift BBQ with rocks on the sand and briquettes. We had a delicious lunch of barbecued chicken, veggies and guacamole.

Jackson was in heaven as he loves to swim and immediately went for the water with Shelley's golden retriever Aisha.

Here they are swimming under the watchful eye of Jade.


And here Jade is actually swimming with the other two!


This is a moment where I almost cried out of pride and joy for her. When Jade first came into my life, she was absolutely terrified of water. She would not go near it. Since then, she has learned from Jackson and loves to get her feet wet in the ocean but that is about it. Right before the photo was taken above, Shelley, myself and the dogs were swimming and Jade could not stand being left alone so decided to come in and join us. After that, she swam over and over again. Watching her swim and get over her fear was such a wonderful moment for me!

Unfortunately, our swimming got cut short as one of the local women came up to me and told me that our dogs were not allowed in the water. She told me that is was un-hygienic, dangerous for the children, among many other things. She was so upset and would not allow me to get a word in edgewise. We removed the dogs from the water and went to speak to the owner of the land where we pay our rent for the palapas. He assured us that it was absolutely fine for the dogs to be in the water. They were clean, healthy dogs and he said if we had any further problems, to have them come talk to him. In addition, Shelley had been there on several occasions with her dog with no problems. At any rate, it was a wonderful Sunday spent swimming and relaxing. Thanks for a great day Shelley and Teresa!