New beginnings in Manzanillo

Moving Forward

2009-11-07T12:42:00.006-06:00

Many things have happened during my absence from the blogging world and I am going to update you on everything. As you know from previous posts, I went through a tough time this summer. The main reason for this was emotional....I think there were many things that I had not dealt with or processed and I needed to do this. I was stuck in a rut of depression and sadness. In addition, two good friends here in Manzanillo left and moved to other countries and as always, it was hard to see them go as they were really supportive friends. During this time, a few people suggested that maybe I should move back to Canada and I seriously considered it. But, I realized, at the end of the day, it has always been a dream of mine to be here and I really want to stay. Also, I realized that my emotional issues would follow me wherever I go - whether I am dealing with things in this country or another country is just geography. Overall, I am doing much better and have learned many things about myself, about other people and feel like I am moving forward now. I want to send big hugs to my friends D and Chelsea who left- I miss you guys so much and wanted to thank you for all your love and support. I also want to thank all my friends from back home who have been a huge support to me this summer - I could not have made it through without you guys.

As for moving forward......

I FINALLY received my FM-3 visa - this allows me to stay in Mexico longer than the regular 6 month stay for a tourist. The process took 3 months from start (when the government received my application) to finish and so it feels great to finally have it in my hands. Now, my work permit is in process so I have been busy sending out resumes and even have gone for a few interviews. I have two more interviews scheduled for this week so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will find work soon.

I also went to Guadalajara and Tonola a few times to search for furniture for the house and I am HAPPY to say that I finally have all the major furniture I need. I found some great items in Tonola, which is near Guadalajara. Tonola is an amazing, eclectic place full of local artisans with wonderful and VERY economic items to fill a household. I found lamps and coffee tables, end tables, glassware, mirrors, etc and now my house has pretty much everything I need. I am still looking for a few small items, mostly for storage, but finally feel like my place feels like a HOME.

As for the first trip to Guadalajara, I went with my friend Shelley and her son Dylan. We took Shelley's vehicle as we wanted to have room to bring back everything. Driving and navigating to find our hotel in centro Guadalajara proved to be quite the challenge and definitely made us realize that on the next trip we will take the bus! We eventually found our hotel but driving in a city with millions of people and crazy traffic was very stressful! We stopped several times and asked a few strangers for confirmation/directions and everyone we asked were very helpful and we finally found our hotel. We stayed in the Hotel Morales, a beautiful historic & colonial hotel in the historic centro of Guadalajara. It is considered an artistic and architectural jewel of the city. It is a stunning hotel with amazing service and was very economical. It was only $90 a night for a large 2 bed room. I would highly recommend this hotel to people who wish to be in the historic downtown of Guadalajara. The staff there were very helpful and also had great restaurant recommendations.

On the way back from this trip, we ended up getting a flat tire. Unfortunately, neither Shelley nor I could change it but we were fairly close to a PEMEX gas station and one of the men there graciously changed it for us in no time.

As of the end of October, I also have a room-mate! Her name is Cinthia and she has been a friend of mine for over a year now. We have talked about living together forever, but this new place I am in is perfect since I have a 2nd bedroom and it is much bigger than my other place. Over the summer, we became much closer friends and she has been a real rock for me during the tough times. She is originally from Mexico City and has been living in Manzanillo for almost 2 years now.

My new roomie

She speaks very good English but we try to speak only in Spanish so I can try to improve my language skills little by little every day. She is a great room-mate and she prefers to clean rather than cook and I love to cook and hate cleaning so we are a really good match!

As for the animals, Jade and Jackson are doing good and have adjusted to the two kitties that I adopted, Leo and Kenya. Cinthia also has a cat which is going to take some time for all of them to adjust. Her cat is very timid and does not like dogs so she prefers to hide out in Cinthia's room and the dogs and my cats just sit and wait outside her door!

Leo with a choke hold on Kenya

Jade loves to play with the kitties. Here is Leo and Jade in the midst of a play session

I have also been spending alot of time with my neighbors and they have been wonderful. They are always offering to help and often invite me over for ceviche or drinks.

Here is Jasmin and Paola who I talk to on a daily basis. They come by my place every night to see the kitties and show me some new dances and songs they learned in school. Aren't they adorable?

One of my good friends and neighbor Maroco. He makes a killer home-made ceviche almost every week on his day off

Hmmmmm, yummy ceviche. He makes it with shrimp and fresh fish and it is the best I have ever tasted

As my previous post mentioned, a few weeks ago would have been my late mother's birthday. I had a little celebration here at the house with some good friends and I also went to her final resting place on the beach. When I went there, I discovered this beautiful bird which stayed there the entire time I was there.

Again, a big thanks to everyone for their phone calls and e-mails. I really appreciate the support.

Today, I remember

2009-10-21T12:10:00.012-05:00

First, I want to thank you all for the e-mails, phone calls, texts, etc. I truly appreciate all of your support and it really helped lift me up. I am doing better thanks to all of you.

Today would have been my mom's birthday. I am going to go to her final resting place on the beach this afternoon. I will remember all of our good times, the special moments and all the many things that made her special. There are SO many wonderful memories.

Here she is in Manzanillo with myself and many of her girlfriends. That was a crazy trip girls! Remember that crazy earthquake?

Here we are cheering on the Calgary Flames during play-off time

The infamous surprise trip to San Francisco for her 50th birthday

And of course, she is the one hamming it up in the glasses at our family reunion

At the Calgary zoo

Friendships and family were of the utmost importance to Mom. She had this amazing ability to bring out the best in everyone. She was able to bring people out of their shells and help them realize who they truly are. There are so many people that had special connections or bonds with Mom. She had this amazing ability to reach people and make them feel as though they had always known her.
We are all better people because of her. And I know that each of our special memories with her will always be in our hearts.

Here she is on the beach with myself and a number of our friends. This is one of my favorite photos.

Today, I remember my mom, my best friend.

Maybe not

2009-10-13T01:54:00.008-05:00

Yes, you are right. I DO suck. I have not blogged in a ridiculously long time and have no excuse. Life has been rough, nada mas............and then throw in some computer issues to boot. But just when I felt life had dealt me a little more than I could handle, I went to the beach.........my therapy.........and what do I see? These are the kind of days that make me realize why I am here in Mexico. Life is pretty good, no??

There was a long time where I just felt like throwing in the towel with this whole blogging world.... the hell with it, why I am doing this?? Does anyone really care? Apparently Jackson does with his constant perfect poses - all the other moments, he is so mischievious, he is on borrowed time- lol

Sorry internet world...and family and friends......aarrrrghhhhhh I am not sure I have a story to tell. And the bottom line is I am not really sure of anything? I am really sorry to have worried some of you. Thanks for your e-mails. I am soul searching at the moment - I hope you can bear with me. I have alot to tell you about and REALLY hope to find the way to tell you. Here I am with a new friend in Barra de Navidad...Until then....................

C

2009-10-13T01:14:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to my favorite girl!

2009-09-23T17:13:00.007-05:00

My niece Raquel

Today is the 12th birthday of my one and only niece Raquel. She is the love of my life and always makes me laugh and brings a smile to my face when I hear her voice or am around her. I just got off the phone with her and just talking to her made my day.

Here she is in Manzanillo a few years ago getting her hair braided

End result! Que bonita!

Here is the "princess" at the hospice in Calgary when we had a Mexican fiesta for my mom. She is holding my friend Camelia's puppy Miko

Happy Birthday Raquel. I love you so much and I think of you every single day. You are a very special girl and I am so proud of you. You are a very wise girl for your age and always inspire me. In some of the things you say (and the way you say them), you remind me alot of mom. She would be very proud of the young woman you have become.

I hope to see you at Christmas sweetie. I miss you so much.
Besos y abrazos
Aunty

Flying Possums

2009-09-07T16:53:00.003-05:00

Yes, that is right. I had an up close and personal encounter with a very scary looking possum (proper name is opposum, I believe). My friend had come over for a visit and we were sitting in the living room chatting when out of the corners of our eyes, we both saw something black and furry flying though the air right outside my front door. When I went out to investigate, I saw a large furry unknown animal being held hostage in Jade’s mouth. I was stunned and had no idea what to do. First of all, I had never seen anything like it and secondly, it was sort of hissing and baring really SHARP teeth. So, there I am yelling the command “drop it” at the top of my lungs. Of course, she did NOT obey and proceeded to fling it around in the air like it was a rag doll. Try to imagine me running around my front yard after Jade with a broom (all I could think of) trying to get her to drop the animal. Well, it is not like my neighbors think I am a little peculiar to begin with!

Eventually she drops it and I bring her in the house. Sure enough, when I looked outside a few moments later, the thing was gone. It was lying there “playing possum”. I thought it was dead! I think my friend was relieved that he did not have to help “dispose” of the animal.

Later on that evening, after my friend had left, I heard Jade and Jackson barking like mad. When I went outside, I discovered that the possum had returned and the dogs had him/her cornered in my front yard. It was hissing ferociously and baring its teeth again. So out I run again trying to round up the dogs and get them in the house before they get tore up by this animal. I was not very successful and it took forever to get them away from the possum and in the house. Before I managed to do that, Jade somehow managed to grab the possum in her mouth and ran INSIDE the house…..WITH the possum. I eventually got her to bring it back outside where I finally managed to wrestle her away. And there it was lying there after the whole ordeal, bloody and either dying or "playing dead" again . I was not sure what to do as it was 1am and all my neighbors were sound asleep. I watched it for a while - it was still breathing but was staying put. After some time, I decided to go to bed, assuming it would be gone by morning. Unfortunately, this was not the case and it was still in the front yard. My neighbor happened to be walking by as I was standing there trying to figure out what to do with it. He explained that the name of the animal in Spanish is "tlacuache" and he picked it up by it's tail and brought it to a nearby garbage pile for me.

After this experience, I found this photo on-line courtesy of www.aaanimalcontrol.com. Apparently, they have 50 sharp teeth! Luckily, the dogs managed to make it through the experience without any puncture wounds.

Any guesses as to what critter the dogs will find next?

MIA and general update

2009-09-05T10:18:00.009-05:00

The reason for my absence is that I have been really ill. After several days of not being able to keep anything down and being violently sick, and after several trips to the doctor and one visit to the hospital, they discovered I had an aggressive bacteria infection in my stomach and that my blood pressure was extremely low. I am now on some antiobiotics to kill the bacteria and other medication to elevate my blood pressure. After several days of taking the medicine, I am finally starting to feel better and regain some strength. The senora that comes by to collect the rent has been dropping by daily to check on me and last night she said I finally have a bit of color in my face. Apparently, I could have contracted this infection from eating "on the street", ie. eating food from a taco stand or something. This infection wreaked havoc on my body and was definitely an unintentional weight loss plan.

A little progress has been made on the back yard. The fumigation guys came to do their thing and told me that the crazy jungle (my yard) had to be cut down and the moutain of rocks removed BEFORE they could properly fumigate the yard. They offered to do that as part of their service for an extra charge. Well, the extra charge was VERY reasonable and since I was not having any luck getting a hold of the gardener that had been recommended to me, I decided to go ahead and have them do it. They have been here 4 times already and still are not finished but they have made some significant headway in the yard. They managed to get all the grass and weeds cut (100 pesos or $8 dollars) and remove a portion of the large rock pile. They also cut some of the trees back for me. I have decided to get rid of all the rocks and they will remove and dispose of them for 150 pesos (approx $12 dollars). Here are some photos showing the progress. It looks like a different yard! They spent several hours working on the rock pile, but have to return a few times more to complete the mammoth task.

What a difference!

Check out the sheer number of rocks to remove

As for the kittens, we have found a home for another one so I am down to two kittens and have decided to adopt them both. I was only going to adopt one but then after talking to others that have cats and seeing the bond the remaining two have, I feel as though they are part of the family and I could not possibly see another one go. Who knew I would end up being a cat lover?

The iguanas that my dogs like to terrorize continue to live in the trees in and around my yard. I guess they must be territorial and are not too traumitized by Jade using them as a chew toy. Here are a few shots I managed to get of them.

I love the colors on this one

A few of you have asked for photos of my new furniture and improvements I have made in the house. Here are a few shots. I am still trying to figure out a paint color. Any suggestions? I am definitely getting rid of the current light orange/peach color.

One of many ceiling fans I had installed. Check out the orange stripe on the ceiling. Do you see why I want to paint?

The new super comfy furniture

I have talked many times about my Mexican mom here on this blog. Here are some photos from my "Mexican Dad" Humberto's birthday party a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful celebration and they are like family to me.

The birthday boy with the delicious "Tres Leche" cake

His grandaughter made the celebratory sign

Grandson Vicente playing in the pool

Four generations here. My Mexican Mom Christina with her mother, her two daughters and her grandaughter.

A few of you have also asked how my Spanish is coming along. It is going well.....every day I learn something new and my speaking is slowly improving. I have started to read my first full book in Spanish - Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. I have read it a few times in English so I thought I would attempt it in Spanish. I have a feeling I will be using my dictionary ALOT.

As for my FM-3 Visa, it is STILL not ready. Apparently, some of the banking information which I had printed off the internet will not suffice and I need to get them originals or scanned copies of the originals. Hopefully, I will have this all taken care of next week and they will not need anything more. Crossing my fingers.....

Neighborhood Initiation

2009-08-21T13:43:00.002-05:00

Required:
-ability to drink copious amounts of chelas (beers) and/or tequila until last man standing/sun comes up/need to go to work.
-ability to participate in the discussion (ENTIRELY in Spanish).
-ability to play AND understand jokes (ENTIRELY in Spanish).
-ability to dance to local music without making an ass of one’s self (ok, I do not think I passed this test).

Result: many laughs with my new neighbors, the learning of new Spanish vocabulary (including slang and typical local expressions), a massive tequila hangover, sore feet (and not just my dance partner) AND………………insert drum roll here………………………a sense of community and BELONGING.

Here is how the intitiation came to be. I arrive home from a dinner party at my friend’s house around midnight. A full party is in effect on the street in front of my house with tables, booming stereo, tequila and the works. When I get out of the car, they ask me politely if we would like to join them and if not, is the music and festivities too loud???? They explain that it is the birthday of the senora that runs the shop across from my house. Again, they say that they would really like me to come and they hope we can join them.

My girlfriends politely decline as they need to leave and wake up early for their work. I also need to do some work in the morning but realize this is an important opportunity to get to know my neighbors. I think and analyze and think some more when finally I decide that I HAVE TO go. Unlike my other neighborhood, I feel like an outsider, perhaps because I am one of the only foreigners in the neighborhood. Or perhaps it is because I am a single woman living alone with a bunch of animals. Here, this is NOT typical and I get asked almost on a daily basis where my husband or boyfriend is and why I have so many animals. To add to my “strangeness” factor, I walk with BOTH my dogs daily AND with them both on a leash. Again, not typical in this or most neighborhoods. Admittedly, in my neighborhood, I will see a few locals walking their pets on a leash but this is certainly not the norm. Or perhaps I am seriously overanalyzing this and I do not feel accepted solely because they have not had the chance to get to KNOW ME!!! After 20 minutes or so of internal debate, I decide to go.

I show up to immediate warmth and generosity and eventually find myself dancing in the middle of the street and learning slang, jokes and the idiosyncrasies of the extended family/neighbors in the fiesta. After many cervezas and tequilas, I manage to extract myself from the fiesta at 5:30am! The party continues without me (even though the senora who is the center of the party has to open her store at 7am) but they have left me with an invitation to join them the next afternoon for homemade ceviche. And I must tell you that the ceviche was DELICIOUS and the best I have ever had here. For those of you unfamiliar with ceviche, it is a citrus-marinated seafood dish. Both regular fish and shellfish are used (raw) and they use fresh lime juice to "cook" or pickle the fish and seafood without any heat.

I am so happy that I had this opportunity. It was wonderful to get to know some of these people a little more and I discovered they are LOVELY, real people who are simply wary of newcomers to begin with.

All in all, a FANTASTIC night. I finally feel more connected to this neighborhood and the people that live here.

A year older....wiser?

2009-08-18T11:36:00.007-05:00

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for their birthday wishes over the weekend. They definitely brought a smile to my face. I have been having a really tough time lately so reading all your messages and talking to you guys really helped lift my spirits. Also, sorry if I have not responded promptly to your e-mail messages as I have been having MAJOR computer issues and my laptop has been gone with the repair guy more than it has been with me the last few weeks.

My friend D and I had a joint birthday party at a local hostel here on the weekend. She knows the owner (and he is a fellow Canadian from Alberta) and he said we could have the party there. It is a great spot - there is a pool, a palapa and a kitchen area that we could use. My friend D made one of my favorite comfort foods - perogies. She and Cynthia were up until 4am one night making dozens and dozens of perogies. They were sooooooooo good. A big thanks to D and Cynthia.

Listening to some tunes from one of the musician's from Bora's pub.

Many countries were represented at the party - Mexico, Canada, US, France, England and Holland

The other birthday girl with friend Paco

Cynthia and Diego cooking up some perogies. Hmmmmmmm....

Talia and Derek dancing

Thanks to everyone for coming!

Party end time - this is AM Camelia!

We had ordered pizza earlier in the night from Sam's Pizzeria. The owners are friends of ours and they make the most amazing pizza - Derek is another Albertan and Talia is from here. For those of you from Manzanillo, try their pizza, it is fantastic! They are located in Santiago next to the cemetary if you want to eat there or alternatively, they deliver!

Quick cat update. I dropped off the one kitten to it's new owner last week. It was surprisingly emotional........YES, I actually cried. It is hard to believe how attached I am to the little munchkins. And to think I was not a cat person! Also, one of the kittens ended up at the veteranarian for 3 days as she was vomiting and not eating after the spay surgery. I picked her up the other day and she is doing much better. She is just on some antibiotic medication and I have to clean her incision every day. For those of you who know me, this is NOT an easy task for me.

More good news.......we have found another home for one of the kittens. My friend Sandra told me that that she has convinced one of our friends to take one and he will take it by the end of next week.

There have been some amazing sunsets lately. Here is one from my friend Michelle's house in La Punta

And then there were five....

2009-08-11T15:11:00.006-05:00

I found a home for one of the kittens! So, my extended family of animals will be reduced to 5 after tonight. I definitely have mixed emotions....I am relieved to have found one of them a home but at the same time am sad as I have become quite attached to the little ones (and I am not even a cat person). The longer I have the kittens, the harder it will be to say goodbye. They have a way of finding a way into your heart.

Yesterday, I brought them all in to be spayed/neutered. I promised the family that was adopting the kitten, that I would have it fixed beforehand. I decided to bring all of them in at the same time as the veteranarian, Dr Gaby, assured me it was fine for them to have the surgery this young. I picked them up last night and here are a few of them recovering.

The one on the right took forever to wake up

Jade decided she needed to keep an eye on them also

So, it turns out I have 3 females and one male. Ironically, the one I have become attached to and will likely adopt, is the male who I have been calling Princess (she or rather HE whines all the time). And the family that wishes to adopt prefer a male. I am not sure what to do - I am hoping to convince them to take a female, especially since they have been spayed.

My furniture arrived safe and sound and I am very happy with it. It certainly has been a challenge keeping the cats off of it.

I am also waiting for the gardener to come by to help me work on the yard. I have taken some "before" pictures so you can see the jungle itself. We have ALOT of work to do!

Not sure what is going on with this gigantic rock pile. Any ideas on what I can do with this? Or should we just junk it?

There is an iguana on the top of the wall - it is black and grey so is hard to make out

So, what do you think? It has huge potential, I think. There is a lime tree out there that I will definitely keep. As for the others, not sure. Any suggestions?

Hongos - part 2

2009-08-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

If you recall from a previous post, I mentioned all the animals ended up with hongos - aka ringworm (it is a common fungal infection especially in hot and humid climates). Apparently, the cats transmitted this to the dogs - Jade was covered in them and Jackson ended up with only 2 spots. Well, I guess it should not come as a surprise that I ended up with them also! Grrrr....I discovered this spot on my body last week that was perfectly round and looks like someone put out a cigar on my arm. My friend took one look at it and told me I had "hongos". She knew this because she recently contracted them from some puppies she adopted off the street. I later confirmed this with a doctor. So, I have about 10 spots all over my body and am currently undergoing treatment. Ha - just have to use topical medicine but the itching is driving me crazy. Living in a zoo with 6 animals has it's consequences! For those of you unfamiliar with ringworm, don't worry, there are no actual worms involved. The name comes from the fact that, originally, people believed that the infection came from a worm. Although it was later concluded that it did not, the name has stuck.

As for the cats, I still have all 4 of them. A few people have expressed interest but still have not done anything about it - even with my constant pestering. I really hope they will be adopted soon as they are very mischevious and love to climb on things and knock things over (like my friend's TV and my modem).

On a more positive note, my new furniture arrives on Saturday from Colima! I am very excited and will take photos.

Oh, and guess what I found in my backyard yesterday.....a TARANTULA. It was big and scary and you will just have to take my word for it as I was not sticking around to take a photo!

One year, can you believe it?

2009-07-31T16:23:00.006-05:00

Yesterday marked one year exactly from when I arrived in Mexico to live permanently with my ex-boyfriend. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I arrived in the Guadalajara airport full of hope and love, nervousness, apprehension and excitement for what was to come. I remember waiting for Jackson to arrive in the baggage area and cried tears of relief when he made his grand entrance and was safe and sound. I remember seeing my ex in the airport and the flood of emotions.

It is truly hard for me to believe I have been living here in Mexico one year. I never could have imagined all the things that have happened since I arrived. It certainly did not play out as I had planned. But I must say that I have learned so many things about myself. It has been a year of self discovery and I feel like I have emerged on the other end as a stronger and more resilient person.

I really believe that if it were not for my ex-boyfriend, I would not have had the courage to come down here and live on my own. Only now, can I look at that experience as a positive one - what I mean to say is that the end result was positive. I am here in this amazing country because of him. Naturally, it took me a long time to see the positive in that whole experience! After living in this country alone without a partner, I realize that I am capable of more than I imagined. Sometimes, I lose sight of this and have moments of crippling insecurity and lack of confidence. But thanks to all my dear friends and family here in Manzanillo and in Canada, US and Australia, I manage to pick myself up again with their help. So, a big thank you to all my friends and family for encouraging me, supporting me, listening to me and loving me. I am forever grateful and without you, I cannot imagine where I would be. Also, a big thanks to my friends and family that came down to visit and support me when I needed it the most. Camelia, Alex, Tara, Barb, John, David, along with my family. I also want to thank my new friends - readers of this blog from far and wide that I have not yet met who have written lovely words of support and encouragement. All of you have been a source of strength.

Taking stock of this year, I have gained many wonderful things in my life and for this, I am grateful. My friend Winter (the one I call "Mommy Dearest") and I had lunch yesterday afternoon and she gave me the most amazing gift. She gave me a beautiful ring that fit my finger perfectly. She told me that everytime I look at it, I am supposed to remind myself that I am good enough just as I am and am worthy of love. I was speechless when she gave it to me.....I was very touched and feel very fortunate to have her in my life. She is very much is like a mother to me - she is always supportive and will always tell me what I need to hear, regardless of whether I want to hear it! Isn't that what Mom's are for?

I went through a few of my archived photos from the year that I have not yet published. So many memories! I feel very grateful to be here and look forward to the next year of adventures.

What???? Do I have something on my nose?

The view from a meditation course I took here in La Audencia. It does not get much better than this!

Mom, I really love it here (even if I do have a new sister)

I love this view of the bay from my friend's Mike and Rob's condo

Finally some progress

2009-07-29T02:02:00.004-05:00

Ok, so many of you have been asking about my progress on the house....questions like - am I getting settled, do I have furniture, can I send more pics of the house and yard, etc. The answer is no, I am not even close to being settled as I only have furniture in my bedrooms and kitchen. And the reason I have not sent pictures of my back yard is because when I look at the yard, all I can here is the theme song to "Welcome to the Jungle". It is overgrown and needs some serious work as there are grass and weeds over a foot high. One of my friends went through the yard a few weeks ago with a machete and got it under control but it is now crazy once again with recent rain. The previous tenant did not really use the back yard nor look after it. As a result, there is alot of work to do. I have contacted a friend of mine here and am going to enlist the help of her gardener since I not only have the tools to work on it, I really have the opposite of a green thumb.

So what has been my problem on getting settled exactly? Apprehension, procrastination, feeling incredibly overwhelmed, where do I start, what is my vision, etc. Then, I envitably think to myself.....ok, look at your list where you have prioritized everything and start on just ONE thing. Simple right??? Ok, then, YOU come here and do it.

Do not lose hope on me yet - I accomplished an UNBELIEVABLE amount of things on my list today. Yes, it is true, I am not a complete lost cause. One of my girlfriends phoned me to let me know she was going to Colima (a city one hour away with many other shopping options). So off we went to places like Home Depot, Liverpool (large department store), Sam's Club (similar to Costco) among others. By the way, there was a huge sale EVERYWHERE we went...anywhere from 25% to 50% discount! Love it!

Colima is a beautiful city full of lovely "jardins" like this one

We got an early start and at the end of the evening, managed to arrive back in Manzanillo with her large Ford Truck filled to the brim inside and out with our purchases. Note to all my friends - I put in a record shopping day........in fact, I think there has never been a longer day of shopping EVER in my life. My friend Kris and I started the day out at 10am and finished unloading all my stuff and opened a bottle of wine around 11pm. Good news.........I FINALLY purchased living room furniture! This is a huge step considering all that is in my living room at the moment are dog beds, dog and cat dishes and various toys for the animals.

I am very excited about the living room furniture - it will be delivered to my home in a few weeks (at no extra cost)! I cannot even imagine having something comfy to sit on...... well, other than a dog bed anyway. But a sofa, loveseat and oversized chair will definitely be a step up, don't you think?

In addition to my living room furniture purchase, I purchased many other items for my casa like:

-ceiling fans Note: I had already purchased 3 for the house but that is clearly not enough in this crazy heat and humidity. When I moved into this house, there were not any fans whatsover, just bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling
-sheets for the guest room (yes, you can now come visit and not have to "camp out" or sleep with me!)
-storage items and organizers

It feels really really good to finally have some major items crossed off my list.

And some more good news....I talked to my immigration lawyer today and my FM-3 visa application has been accepted for processing. I should have it in a few weeks just in time for my birthday!

Jade vs the iguana

2009-07-24T16:18:00.005-05:00

The battle continues between the large black iguana and Jade. The other day, I went into the yard and to my horror, discovered Jade had the large black/grey iguana in her mouth and was shaking it violently. This is one of the iguanas in my back yard that she loves to chase and torment - a few weeks ago, the poor thing dropped it's tail while Jade was in pursuit. Unfortunately for the iguana, it was not able to get away this time. I chased Jade around the yard shouting the "drop it" command. Eventually, she did just that and I quickly brought her into the house to give the iguana a chance to flee (if it was still alive).

Once I had Jade inside the house, I went over to inspect the poor thing. It had a large chunk out of it's back where Jade had it held in her mouth. It was still alive but was very still. Eventually, it slithered off and I have not seen it since.

Here is the poor thing after I managed to get Jade to drop it. You can see that it's tail is just a stump - before with it's full tail, it would have been over a foot and a half longer.

As for the cats, it appears as though I am turning into the crazy cat lady! I still have all 4 of them and have not been able to find homes yet for them. I have a few leads but nothing concrete has happened yet. What started out as a temporary situation has turned into much more than that. I am starting to get a little nervous.

They are now in the playful and mischievous stage and like to climb and jump on everything. Today, I noticed that one of them was playing with something green - it was another baby iguana in the house. I tried to get the iguana out of the cats mouth and it hissed at me and scratched me all over my hands. I finally managed to rescue the iguana and set it free outside. Poor iguanas, they are no match for the animals in my house!

Housewarming Party

2009-07-22T18:00:00.004-05:00

I decided to have a housewarming/Canada Day/Independence Day party on the weekend of July 4. It was a regular United Nations of people........my Mexican friends came, friends from Canada as well as friends from the United States. Since I still do not have any furniture in my living room, I thought it was the perfect time to have a party - there is no chance of things getting spilled on or wrecked! I received some awesome housewarming gifts....margarita glasses, cutlery, wine glasses, beer glasses and a really nice bottle of Reposada Tequila along with shot glasses. Hmmmm, I am sensing a theme - no plants as housewarming gifts here........I guess they must know how bad I am with plants!!

One of my Mexican friends Sandra decided to make jello shots in honor of the event and did them in festive colors of the Canadian flag (she is half Canadian/half Mexican. She also did some blue ones to include our American friends - so we had them in red, white and blue.

Friends Mike and Omar after one of the shots!

It was a great time and in true patriotic style, we had several Canadian flags throughout the house. Some of my Canadian friends even came dressed in red and white.

Friend Stan and my friend Winter aka "Mommy Dearest" representing the US dressed in red, white and blue.

We were also lucky to have some of my musician friends from one of the local bands that play at Bora's pub come and play a few tunes.

Jackson trying to use his puppy dog eyes to get some of the great food.

My good friend Marta with Antonio

A big thanks to everyone for coming and for the lovely housewarming gifts!

It's a bit of a zoo

2009-07-14T15:58:00.005-05:00

Yes, I still have 6 animals in the house along with a few other unexpected critters. I still have not had the fumigation done so I have a bit of an insect problem. A friend of mine offered to do the fumigation shortly after I moved in but I am still waiting. In the meantime, I have a serious ant problem......little ones and big ones of all different colors. Jade likes to chase them and eat them......maybe she does not have enough protein in her diet?? Also went into my kitchen one night to grab a drink and saw something crawling on the floor that was glowing bright green.

This was what I found - the picture does not do it justice as the two spots that you can see were glowing a very bright green.

I also have a baby iguana living in my bedroom. I just about had a heart attack one night - I went into my room and saw something scurry under the bed that was over a foot long. I finally discovered that it was an iguana...I could not capture it nor could the dogs - if they could fit under the bed, it would not be an issue. So, I thought I would leave my window open without the screen so that it could escape. Two days later, I saw it in the kitchen under the sink. I guess it does not want to go outside?

I also have several very large iguanas that live in the backyard. Jade loves to chase them and bark at them. One day, I went outside and discovered a very large iguana tail in my car port area.....but no sign of the body. I searched the back yard but did not find the body that belonged to the tail. The following morning, Jade was outside and was barking like crazy. When I went out to see what all the commotion was, I realized that she had cornered a very large iguana in the front yard and guess what? The iguana was missing it's tail! I managed to get Jade in the house so the iguana could escape and hopefully grow a new tail someday. Poor thing....

Did you know that some cockroaches fly? Yes, I discovered one of those in my house the other day. Something very large was flying around and when it finally landed long enough for me to see what it was, I saw a very large cockroach. Uggh....

Yes, Raid is a staple in my house at the moment and is used daily until my friend can come by and fumigate. So, if you ever want to see some of the local critters of Manzanillo, just come to the zoo otherwise known as my house!

A few days ago, Jade was quite sick and had barely touched her food for several days. When I examined her, I discovered she had several large red welts all over her body. I figured she might have gotten mixed up with some fire ants in the back yard. But the next day, I realized that she had many more welts - I counted more than 50. So, I immediately hopped on the bus with Jade as well as one of the kittens in my purse and went to see my vet, Dr. Gaby. I got alot of strange looks as large dogs are not a regular fixture on the local buses here nor meowing sounds coming out of one's purse. I decided to bring one of the kittens in just in case it was related somehow. Well, it turns out those welts were not ant bites but a fungus called Hongos. This is basically a mushroom type of fungus that was transmitted from the kittens to Jade. Jackson did not get any (yet) as he basically ignores the cats and does not interact with them. Jade, on the other hand, plays with them constantly and has taken a liking to eating out of their litter box. I know, very disgusting..... Also, it appears the cats have parasites which have likely been transferred to the dogs (and maybe me also). I ended up coming home with parasite meds for the dogs and cats along with medication and shampoo for the Jade and the cats to get rid of the fungus. I had to bath and shampoo all 6 of them with this special shampoo and have to do it 2 more times this week. Bathing the cats was quite the ordeal and the scratches on my arms and hands are evidence of that struggle.

Here are the "little darlings" after their bath while they are drying in the sun. In retrospect, a "before" photo would have been good while they were wet but I think the trauma for all of us resulted in a missed photo opp. And after feeding them a can of tuna, it appears that they have forgiven me.....

As for the abandoned kittens, they are ALL still here at the house. I have not found them homes as of yet. I am feeling a little overwhelmed....what if I cannot find homes for them? I certainly could not put them back on the street.

And then there were six....

2009-07-07T13:09:00.006-05:00

animals, that is. I currently have 6 animals in my house. It is a good thing I have no furniture yet - my house is becoming an animal shelter! My friend Sandra found 4 baby kittens abandoned in a puddle in front of her house on the day the hurricane passed through. She took them in to look after them until she could find a home for them. A week later, she had to go to Mexico City for work so she asked me to take them until a home can be found.

They like to play and sleep on my suitcases!

I was a little concerned at first as Jackson is terrible around cats. He basically goes into hunting mode and terrorizes the poor things. The first few days were definitely a challenge but since then, both Jackson and Jade have come to accept them. Jackson is now indifferent and aloof as he was with Jade in the beginning. Jade, on the other hand, is very curious and tries to play with them. Unfortunately, she is like a bull in a china shop and does not realize that her paws are almost bigger than the cats are! The cats were terrified of the dogs the first few days but since then have become very comfortable and love to play with Jade and her tail.

Hmmmmmm, what is this tiny thing?

Mom, can we keep him?

It has been a week so far but still no homes have been found. We have posted their photos on the animal adoption website here in Manzanillo along with a few other websites. For all my Manzanillo readers, please tell all your contacts so we can find these precious kitties a home. They are still pretty tiny but are growing like weeds. They still fit in the palm of your hand. They are fully potty trained and are full of energy.

What an experience!

2009-07-04T10:19:00.004-05:00

First of all, thanks to everyone for their well wishes and patience with my lack of communication over the last little while. The move, getting things fixed in the house, buying furniture, contractors, etc has been far more work than I every anticipated. Then being bed-ridden for several days did not help matters. I have discovered that getting simple jobs done always seem to take much longer than planned. My "to d"o list seems to get longer every day, not shorter! I have come to realize that if I knock off 2-3 things off my list, it has been a VERY successful day. I have learned alot through this experience and come to realize that if you sweat the small stuff, you will drive yourself crazy in no time.

In the midst of all this, I have also been working on my FM-3 visa. This visa will allow me to stay in the country past the 6 month period you are given as a tourist. Getting an FM-3 is not a complex or difficult process, it just seems that the simple jobs seem to turn into days of work. One of the requirements for an FM-3 visa is that you need to submit a utility bill at your current address in your name. This is not difficult stuff however, since I just moved, I do not have a utility bill in my name. As a result, I have to get a letter from the owner of the house along with a copy of his identification. Unfortunately, the owner lives in the US and has proved to be a little difficult to get a hold of.

Good news-I just got my telephone line and internet line installed a few days ago! What a good feeling to have internet again - I was feeling pretty out of touch and disconnected from my friends and family back home. From all the stories I had heard about getting a phone line installed, I figured it would be some time before this got completed. What a pleasant surprise!

Bad news - my friend Victor was here and had his truck parked in front of my house. When he went out to leave, he discovered that someone had crashed into his car and left the scene of the crime. He cannot even open his car door. I live directly across the street from a little convenience store so we went over there to ask if anyone saw or heard anything. Apparently, no one saw or heard a thing........Hmmmmmm

A few days after I moved in to the new house, I was leaving to take the dogs for a walk with Victor. As I was locking my front gate, two women came up and told me they were with the government and were performing a census. They had government ID and Victor told me they were with a branch of the government (cannot remember the name). They asked if they could ask me the census questions before I left on my walk and I said yes, no problem, thinking it would take under a minute and then we could be on our way. To my surprise, she pulled out a large booklet and 30 minutes later, we were finally done! Well, here is an excerpt of the many questions I was asked.........and YES, this is a true story.

1. How many people live here?
2. What is your marital status and age?
3. How many bedrooms do you have?
4. Do you sleep in your bedroom? - I had to clarify this question because I thought I misunderstood it.
5. Does anyone sleep in your kitchen? - again, I said that I think I heard wrong or did not understand and could they repeat the question.
6. What is your marital status? Again, I replied single. 30 something, single and living alone is pretty rare in this country. I was asked this question 3 times in total, I think
7. Have you ever been pregnant?
8. Do you want children?
9. If so, when would you like to have them? They also wanted specifics, in one year, two years, etc.
10. Have you ever had an abortion?
11. Are you sexually active and if so, do you use birth control? If so, what types do you use?
12. What age were you when you first had sexual relations? Did you use birth control? If so, what types did you use?
13. What is your religion?

Throughout this entire process, I kept saying in Spanish that I thought I misunderstood the question and could they repeat it. Victor kept reassuring me that I had heard correctly. When we finally finished the questionnaire, I was completely dumbfounded and speechless. Victor and I looked at each other and could do nothing but laugh. I asked him if he was sure that was a census questionnaire and not something else. He assured me that it was a census and I had understood everything correctly. He certainly got to learn a whole lot of personal information about me! I explained to him that the census in Canada is much different - basically 2 questions.

Has anyone else here in Manzanillo completed the census? I am curious to know your experience?

Getting settled....

2009-06-28T17:00:00.008-05:00

First of all, I am sorry to have been out of touch for so long. I have alot to blog about and I promise I will return all e-mails this week.

Secondly, about the hurricane/cyclone - I received many concerned e-mails last week about this and am sorry I was not able to respond. It passed through on June 23 and some businesses closed early that day. Basically, there were very heavy winds and major rain. I tried to go to Tel-Mex (telephone company) that day to arrange my telephone/internet line for the new house but when I arrived, they were closing their doors and boarding up their windows with wood. There was so much water on the streets in my neighborhood, it was difficult to drive or get anywhere. The water came up to my mid calf. I ended up with quite a bit of water in my new house. I do not believe there was much damage in the city - just some flooding and tree branches that had broken off. My yard is a big mess but nothing a day of work won't cure.

These pictures are not that great - but just to give you an idea of how much water there was in the neighborhood.

As for the move, it went fairly well. Fortunately, I had already had the bedroom furniture moved to the house about one month prior. My friend Jesus who was living in the house graciously allowed me to keep the furniture in the 2nd bedroom. I was able to move in on June 14, as Jesus was leaving that morning for Australia. Steve from the blog Same life, new location had generously offered to come into town and help with the move also. Another friend of mine, Victor, had offered to help with his truck. Steve and Victor both arrived early Sunday morning with their trucks. I had all the boxes packed and ready to go. Victor and I had brought a full truck load over the day before to the house so on the day of the move, we were able to get everything, including the two dogs, in Victor's and Steve's truck. Jesus had asked us to arrive by 9:30am and when we arrived, he was still in the process of moving his furniture out. Certainly not an ideal situation, but we made it work! It did not take too long to get everything in, and then we went to get the 2nd hand fridge that I had purchased from my friend's house. By mid afternoon, we pretty much had everything inside the house. A big thanks to Steve for all his help and coming in all the way from Melaque.

Here is a photo of the new place. It is in a great neighborhood and is super close to the main boulevard. It is also close to the beach - approximately 3 large blocks. I have met several of my neighbors who are all very nice. Also, there is a little store right across the street from my house where I can pretty much get anything I need - including fresh tortillas, chorizo, some resh veggies/fruit, etc. I am also very close to some great little road-side eateries. I sampled some pozole last night at a little place a few blocks from my house last night that was absolutely divine (and only 25 pesos!)

The color inside the house is about the same as the outside. As a result, I have had a few people come by to give quotes on painting inside. Labour is pretty cheap so I may go ahead and have it painted inside. I also have been busy organizing someone to install ceiling fans as it is super hot and we are heading into the hottest season of the year. From the day I moved in, it has rained almost every single day and so it appears that the rainy season is upon us.

The dogs have been doing fairly well - they were very nervous the first week but seem to have settled in quite well. They love all the space and have discovered the 2 large iguanas that are resident in the back yard. Every time they go back there, they eagerly search for them.

Several days after moving into the new house, I became quite sick. It started out with what I thought was a simple cold which later turned into a raging strep throat infection and an infection in both eyes. I ended up house ridden for several days as my eyes were practically swollen shut and I had a high fever. I seem to have recovered and am doing much better. Since then, I have managed to get my kitchen organized and both bedrooms. I still have many things to buy - for example, I have no furniture whatsover in my living room! Friends of mine have lent me a few things until I am able to buy them for myself - ie. table and chairs, a microwave, etc. This week, I am going to look at some 2nd hand living room furniture that my friends want to sell.

I still do not have an internet connection but am going to go to Starbucks and use their free wireless until the connection is set up in the house. I have gone to Tel-Mex and arranged for them to install a line which is supposed to happen in the next 8-10 days. It was a bit of a challenge as the renters prior to Jesus had a telephone/internet line but had not paid their bill. As a result, I had to either pay their bill to use the existing line OR arrange to have a new line installed. The previous renter's bill was quite significant so it ended up being cheaper to install a new line altogether.

I have only managed to get to the beach once in the last several weeks - but it certainly was good therapy for me and the dogs!

The dogs taking a break and watching the surfers

Check out this creature Jade found on the beach

The moon was absolutely incredible that night

I have so much more to write about but will save that for the next few days. Thanks again for your patience and sorry to have worried some of you.

Baby on board?

2009-06-08T13:52:00.006-05:00

Scared you, didn't I!! Saw this truck the other day with the baby stroller hanging on the back and was hoping this was not the case!

I have received many e-mails wondering where I am and if I am ok. I have been busy packing and getting organized for the upcoming move and have not had time to return e-mails or blog. My apologies......I will be back soon! I am going to try and get to the internet cafe this week sometime to write a more detailed blog post and return some e-mails.

As for the dogs, they are doing great and seem to be bonding more and more lately

Busy busy...

2009-05-26T17:17:00.006-05:00

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!

Cultural differences

2009-05-18T14:32:00.004-05:00

Many of you have been asking me about my love life - or more specifically, do I have one?? I will say that yes, I am back in the intrepid dating scene BUT have decided not to get into details on my blog at this point. Even though I have decided not to comment on these details, I have decided to share a few cultural differences that make dating here in Mexico (in my opinion) refreshing and always interesting!

1. Mexican guys LOVE to dance and are so incredibly good at it. In my dating experience so far, this is often on the list of potential date options. It is just so refreshing to meet guys that actually love and WANT to dance. Finding a guy that likes to dance back home is a rare thing indeed. For those of you that have such a treasure in your life, make sure and tell them, thank you! I seem to remember the typical scene in Canada with only girls on the dance floor (none of the guys could be coerced into dancing)!

2. Chivalry is not even close to dead here. When walking on the street or sidewalks, they will move you to the inside, away from traffic. They almost always open doors for you, they will stand up when you leave the table or room , they will insist on carrying ALL your groceries and bags, and they almost have cardiac arrest if you suggest splitting the bill, let alone paying for it. I must say that I particularly enjoy the chivalry part of the so-called machismo culture here.

3. When meeting men here, I have discovered they will promise the sun, moon and stars to try and please you. For example, the other night I met a young man and we were chatting for quite some time when he pulled out his package of cigarettes and asked me if I wanted one. I responded "no thank you, I do not smoke". At this point, he declared (quite dramatically) that that particular cigarette would be his LAST one…..EVER. I am certainly not naive enough to think that he will stick to this promise, but I found it quite amusing, nonetheless. To my single friends in Canada - can you even imagine a Cdn guy doing this?

Side note: practically EVERYONE smokes here. The majority of my group of friends smoke (both foreign and Mexican) and it is much more socially acceptable than back in Canada.

Summer, here already?

2009-05-15T00:35:00.006-05:00

What? No, it can't be. But some random thoughts that tell me it is right around the corner:

• when running into friends, the first thing they ask is "wow, it is hot, right"? Formed as a question with the emphasis on "right"....secretly hoping that someone will tell them they are crazy and it is not yet time for 3 shower min days.

• you start sweating as soon as you wake up and the sun has not even risen yet. Showering seems to be of no use and the cold tap just never seems to produce water quite cool enough.

• you see frogs hopping across the road and other critters emerging from the bush

• people's hair appear to be getting bigger and more unruly each day. Ok, that is just my hair, but you know what I mean.

• you start planning your activities around the possibility of air conditioning.

• you sweep the floor and discover you have another pet in the house. Oh, wait, that is just a giant hair ball and yep, still only have the two dogs.

• you start to wonder if you are experiencing early-menopause and ask yourself if these are the hot flashes your mom was always telling you about.

But it can't be......RIGHT?

Courage wings

2009-05-12T13:47:00.009-05:00

I am set to move in to the new place in less than a month and I am feeling quite overwhelmed at the prospect of furnishing an entire house. I was doing fairly well until I sat down to work on the list of all the things I need to buy. My friend Shelley and I are heading to Colima this week for some serious shopping for the new place. Colima is the capital of our state and has a wider array of shopping than we can find here - Sam's Club, Home Depot, etc. It is about an hour's drive away and she offered to take me down this week to continue making headway on things for the house. When I sat down to finalize the list, I realized just how many things I need.....fridge, sofa, sheets, pillows, pots and utensils for cooking, plates, glasses, and the list goes on and on. I guess this is somewhat reminiscent of when I moved to the big city in Saskatoon to start university and moved into an apartment with my friend Tracey. However, I do not remember us being too stressed about it at the time. Mind you, I think we furnished our entire apartment with about $100 and mostly hand me downs from family and friends! And we were more excited about our new found freedom. Ahh, the care free days.....

On another note, I have been getting my resume out there and finally have it fully translated into Spanish. I had budgeted a year to focus on school, learning the language and immersing myself before looking for work. That year is fast approaching (2 1/2 months away) and is definitely contributing towards my stress level. On a positive note, my Spanish is really coming along and I have a few local friends who I only converse with in Spanish now. It is such a good feeling!

Soon, I will be saying good-bye to this apartment and the best thing about it - the amazing view. This view has inspired me and lifted me up on many occasions. I have written many a blog post on my balcony with this as my backdrop.

Bottom line is that I think the enormity of my decision to stay, and more importantly, doing it on my own, is really starting to hit me. My friend Lenise sent me this card back in September shortly after I moved here and left my ex. I still have it displayed on my fridge and have been referring to it alot lately for strength.

Update on several fronts

2009-05-08T10:23:00.005-05:00

I have a new place to live and will be moving to the unfurnished 2 bedroom house in mid June. I am very excited and nervous all at the same time! It will be good to finally have a larger space and the dogs will be in paradise with the huge yard. I even have a lime tree in the back yard along with some other trees and flowers. Unfortunately, I have anything BUT a green thumb so I may have to enlist some help on the gardening front! I am ashamed to admit this but once I was given a cactus and I could not even keep that alive. I guess gardening is just not in my skill set.

I also have already started to furnish the place. My friend Shelley let me know about a fellow Canadian who was moving and selling many things in his condo. Unfortunately, he had sold most things when I got there but he had two bedroom sets left complete with frames, headboards, matching night stands and VERY good quality mattresses (which are hard to find here). They are beautiful and very good quality and only a few months old. So, I purchased them at a bargain and then started to organize how to move them. The only catch was I had to move them out of his condo by this past Monday as the new owner of the condo was taking possession on Tuesday. Fortunately, the current renter in the house I am moving to was gracious enough to allow me to move the furniture into the spare bedroom.

One of my friends offered to help me move everything in his truck. I also enlisted the help of another friend since I was unable to be much help with the heavy lifting part due to my foot injury. Well, before the big moving day, he started asking all these questions - how big is the truck, how many truck loads will it take, is there enough clearance in the elevator or stairwells, etc. With some shame and embarrassment, I quickly realized I did not know the answer to many of his questions. As a result, he enlisted the help of another friend (now we have 3 guys for the heavy lifting), and I arranged another truck (just in case it did not fit in the one). Let's just say if it was not for him, there is no way we could have moved everything. We needed BOTH trucks and they were overflowing. The worst part of it was that most things would not fit in the small elevators and had to be carried down 6 flights of stairs!

3 hours later, along with a few trips by me to go get tools and other items from friends Stan and MJ, we had everything moved in to the new house. Well, almost everything. The one bed frame was too large to fit through the door. Yes, I had measured the rooms to make sure everything would fit but I had failed to measure the doors that they would go through! Oops! At any rate, the bed frame is in the car port until we can get back there with my friend's tools to take it apart so that it can fit through the door. It was a long night for my friends and we did not finish until midnight. After a few beers and some tacos, everyone was smiling again. A big thanks to everyone for all their help that night - I could not have done it without you!

I went to the monthly women's luncheon a few days ago and we had a local doctor as a guest speaker. One of the doctor's main topics was the current situation on the swine flu (or whatever I am supposed to be calling it now). She indicated that there have been 9 confirmed cases of swine flu here in Manzanillo to date with no fatalities. She also indicated that the face masks are not effective. As far as a timeline is concerned, she estimated another month or so before things calm down.

Yesterday, I finally met fellow blogger same life -- new location and his brother. He needed some help finding some specific/specialty items that he cannot get in Melaque and so I showed him where to find a few of those places here in Manzanillo.

It was great to finally meet him as I have been a regular reader of his blog for some time now. We spent several hours scoping out what the Manzanillo stores had to offer (or "reconnoiter" as Steve put it)! Clearly, if you have read his blog, it is clear who the good writer is - I use words like "scoping out" whereas he is much more articulate with words like reconnoiter. Strangely enough, I have heard the word reconnoiter used by two different people in the span of this week. It is not only my Spanish vocabulary that is expanding....

It was great to finally meet Steve along with his brother. We had a few harrowing experiences on the road but what would an adventure be in Mexico without a little excitement? We plan on getting together again in the near future with dogs in tow. He has an adorable golden retriever that I am looking foward to meeting.