Camelia goes to La K'Melia

After Alex's visit here to Manzanillo and his adventures at La K'Melia, the first thing Camelia told me when she was coming to visit was "you better NOT take me there". Never one to back away from a challenge, I sought out to convince her that this was a fun place and I would never volunteer her for the interactive stage show which involves lots of tequila shots, dancing and spinning (note: my fingers were crossed behind my back when I said this). So, on her second last day here, after much convincing, lo and behold, we ended up going to La K'Melia (I can be very persuasive). We went with Stan and MJ as well as my good friend Marta.



They had a great band and the food was great. Basically, they bring out plates and plates of food at no cost as long as you are purchasing drinks. It is a great way to try a number of different local dishes. We tried all sortso of things including ceviche, refried beans, many different kinds of tacos and pig skin. The only thing I was not too fond of was the pickled pig skin. Otherwise, everything else was very good.



We were enjoying the food and the band when it came time for the stage show. They were looking for female volunteers and yes, I just had to point them in Camelia's direction. Trust me, I realize I will pay for this with some sort of retribution in the future. But until then, I still giggle to this day when I think of her up on that stage shooting daggers at me with her eyes!

They gathered all the girls and they went up on the stage. First, they lined up the girls sitting on chairs and had the cute boy waiters do a little dance (including a semi lap dance). I have never laughed so hard in my life - Camelia was absolutely mortified. Then, the boys took the seat and the girls had to dance in front of each one. After this, each girl had to do some tequila shots - Camelia ended up doing 3 (I think?) and immediately after the shots, one of the men picked her up across their shoulders and proceeded to spin her around at full speed for at least 10 rotations. I know what you are all thinking. Where are the photos? Well, I have many but as I always do before publishing them on my blog, I asked for her permission. Alas, I did not get such permission. And she is a lawyer and frankly, I am scared of the consequences. So, I can only show you the "after" picture which is right after the spinning.

This is before the stage show - check out all the food!



Here are the boys doing a little dance in front of the girls. Camelia is sitting on a chair behind the boy on the right side of the frame


After getting off the stage - make the spinning stop!


When it came time for the guys, Camelia immediately pointed out Stan and he went up there. Here he is after several tequila shots. They did at lease 20 rotations for the boys - no mercy!



All in all, I think everyone had a great time and the best part was how inexpensive it was. I think we spent 3 hours there and for all that beer, food and entertainment, the total bill for all 5 of us was about $600 pesos (approx $60 USD).

After her stage debut, I asked Camelia if she still loves me. She said yes, although payback will be sweet. I guess the good news for me is that she has to come visit me again to get her retribution! teehee

Sushi, sun and fun

While Camelia was here, we went to many of my favorite local restaurants. One thing I had been craving since I arrived in Mexico and had not yet had was sushi. Back in Canada, Camelia, her husband and I would eat sushi on a regular basis. Manzanillo has grown over the last several years and now has a few sushi restaurants to choose from.

Camelia loved the name of this restaurant and had to take a photo!


I was contemplating trying this restauarant while Camelia was here visiting, but then Debi and Ron invited us over to their house for sushi. Ron had taken some sushi classes in the past and makes it on occasion. What a feast we had! Ron definitely has missed his calling and must have been a sushi chef in a formal life. Here is a photo of some of his beautiful creations.



After stuffing ourselves with sushi, we went up and sat under the palapa while the dogs played and Jackson swam in their pool. Yes, that is right, none of the humans swam in the pool, but my dog wasn't about to miss out on that! Debi and Ron love to have dogs swim in their pool.

Jackson playing fetch and enjoying their beautiful pool.


The next few days were very hot and my dear friend Christina had invited us to hang out at the pool in the condo complex where I would stay when I came to Manzanillo on vacation. There was no one staying in the condo complex so we had the pool all to ourselves. It was so nice to be able to hang out there during the day as it was smoking hot.

The ocean was like bath water, it was so warm. While watching the waves rolling in, I noticed a large school of something in the water. I was not sure what it was initially but there were literally hundreds of them. I cannot be sure what they were but they looked like small brown sting rays. I had never seen them so close to shore and there were so many of them. Does anyone know what they could be and why there would be so many?



Not a bad view from my lounge chair!


Deep thoughts...


Camelia enjoying a cold one


I love the colors in this hibiscus


Camelia wanted me to show her where my mom's final resting place is. As it was just down the beach from the condo, I brought her down there where we placed some flowers.

Mom's final resting place.

Touring around town

Over the course of last week, I tried to show Camelia my favorite places to eat, the markets where I do my daily shopping, etc to she could get a sense of the community that I live in. Here are some photos.

This is a place I walk by every single day. Camelia took this photo as she thought it was quite amusing. For those of you who cannot read the sign next to the tires, it is a tire shop that also sells cheese, cream, hot dogs, chorizo sausage, meat, chicken, etc. A likely combination right?


On our way back home one day, we ran into this little cutie. As you can probably see, this is definitely not a starving street dog but a 2 month old Bassett Hound named Daisy that is clearly well loved and cared for.




A few of you have been asking about the litter of 10 puppies from the street dog in my neighborhood. Unfortunately, two have since died. I took Camelia down there to see them. They are now about a month old and cuter than ever. My friend Debi who feeds their mom on a daily basis (along with many other street dogs in need) now has two of these pups in our home as they needed some additional medical care due to infections and other issues. She bottle feeds them at home and then takes them to the mother several times throughout the day so they can feed on their mom's milk. And they still need homes - I think there are only one or two spoken for.

Here I am again on my own

Can anyone name that tune and artist?

My friend Camelia left to go back to Canada yesterday. It was an emotional goodbye -the tears were definitely flowing. Surprisingly, there was no drama on the way to the airport this time! Shocking, I know. The week went by so fast and we both could not believe it when it was time to take her back to the airport. She had a great time here in Manzanillo and this was her first experience in "true" Mexico (her one trip to Mexico in the past was to an all-inclusive resort). She said she is definitely coming back and will bring her husband on the next trip. She is going to try and coincide her next trip so she can volunteer with the annual spay/neuter clinic for the local and street animals. This is organized by PATA, the local non-profit animal organization (more on this below).

Jackson and Jade were overjoyed to have Auntie Camelia here as she spoiled them rotten with a variety of dog treats from Canada, new toys, a dog bed for Jade, and lots and lots of loving! They were definitely a little blue today without her.

Auntie - where are you?


Today, I was also feeling sad and a little lost, but fortunately, I had many things to keep me busy. It was my first day of Spanish class. There are three of us taking the class and it will consist of 3 classes per week, 2 hours per class for a total of 6 hours per week (I did not even need my calculator for that one). In addition, there is homework and practice, practice, practice. Today was a great refresher class and it felt good to get back into the swing of things.

I also had a meeting with the head of the non-profit organization PATA Manzanillo today to discuss my future involvement as a volunteer along with a potential project I may become involved in. PATA Manzanillo is a non-profit, all volunteer group of local Mexicans and foreigners dedicated to the welfare of all dogs, cats and area wildlife in Manzanillo. This is an incredible organization that has made amazing progress with the street cats and dogs here in Manzanillo. I will definitely be blogging in detail on this topic in the near future. Stay tuned.

As promised, I will blog a little each day on Camelia and I's adventures last week while she was here in Manzanillo (along with photos).

When Camelia mentioned she was coming to Manzanillo, I warned her that this is the hottest time of the year and the humidity can be very overwhelming. Oh, and to top it all off, it is hurricane season. Alex, my first visitor from a few weeks ago had also warned her on several occasions, and I quote, "Be prepared to sweat". On Monday night, when she arrived, the weather was very pleasant and cooler than normal as it had recently rained and had been overcast most of the day. As we were sitting at the Posdata Cafe on her first evening here, she kept saying that she was not sure what Alex and I were talking about as it was not that hot at all! My reply was "Just wait for it, you will be sweating before you know it!" By day 3, she was sweating bullets like the rest of us not yet acclimatized! The first few days she was here, the weather was definitely not as scorching hot as normal so I decided to show her around the village and the markets where I do most of my shopping, errands and visit a few of my favorite local eateries.

One of our first stops was a local "Deposito" that I go to to purchase my beer and wine along with anything else one might need along the way. This is a convenience store that is very popular with locals and ex-pats alike and sells everything from beer, wine and liquor to the usual convenience items. One of my dear local friends, Marta, is the owner of this store and in addition to being well known in the local community, has become very popular with the tourists for her great service, wonderful smile and her eagerness to please. She also loves to practice her English with the tourists.




If she does not have what you are looking for, she can usually bring it in for you. I was looking for a specific wine the other day and she told me to come back that afternoon and she would have it. That she did.....I did not have to worry about searching all the other stores in the village. Another draw, especially with the ex-pat community that live here in Manzanillo, is that you can purchase a cold beer or two and sit right outside in the shade and take a break before or after your errands and/or trips to the market. My beer of choice costs me 8.5 pesos (roughly $0.85 USD) and she will even give you a beer "condom" to keep it cold.

Here is Jade giving me a hug while Camelia and I sit outside Marta's store having a cold cerveza


There are some retired ex-pats that will spend a large part of their day sitting outside Marta's store drinking beer, watching the world go by and catching up on the latest daily gossip. This is definitely an institution here in Santiago village and you can find her located on the corner of "Hollywood and Vine". You do not believe me? Check out the sign outside her store!


As Marta is a dear friend of mine and she and her store are such a large part of our day to day lives, I had to take Camelia there for a few cervezas. There is nothing better than to sit down in the shade, take a break and have a cold beverage after you have been doing your daily shopping in the scorching heat. Over the course of the week, Camelia and I stopped by Marta's several times!

Camelia and the dogs all having a cold beverage outside of Marta's.

Off to a messy start

After Camelia and I's late night with the vino, we started off day one with some healthy breakfast - my typical morning smoothie. I started off by juicing the oranges and getting everything in the blender. So far so good. Camelia took these photos of the oranges - she liked the color contrast of the green skins with the orange flesh.



At one point, I took my hand off the top of the blender to grab the protein. Ok, ok, I know what you are thinking. Why would you do that? Let's just say I was not on my A-game after our late night vino session. The momentum from the blender unscrewed the blender from it's base and kaboom! Camelia heard me scream and came running.

The "before" picture - so far so good.


And "after" - I was wearing most of the smoothie!


After we managed to stop laughing, operation "clean-up" began. Was this a sign of things to come? And why was Camelia there at all times taking photos? It was like she knew something like this would happen and was camera ready at all times. Stay tuned for more adventures.....

Enjoying every minute with my visitor!

My good friend Camelia finally arrived on Monday night - one day late but thankfully arrived in one piece with all her luggage. Her luggage was a little lighter than normal as they would not allow her to bring the special dog kibble that I had asked her to bring. Most of the dog treats she brought were allowed in much to Jackson and Jade's delight.

So, in typical fashion, there was a little drama on my end getting to the airport on time. Friends, MJ and Stan generously offered to take me to the airport to pick her up. A few hours before we had to leave for the airport, they picked me up to head to the grocery store to get provisions, beer, wine, and all the necessary things so I would be prepared for Camelia. At our final stop, we had just picked up a case a beer and the van would not start! As Stan was figuring out the problem, my friend Debi called and I told her my predicament. She offered to come and get us and our groceries (that required refrigeration) and drop me off at my friend Winter's house who had offered to let me use her car to drive to the airport. They quickly dropped me off as we were running far behind and I was worried about Camelia waiting at the airport. While I drove at mach speed to the airport in Winter's car, Debi dropped off my groceries at my house, picked up the dogs and took them for a walk. Can you believe how lucky I am to have such great new friends?

I finally arrived at the airport 30 minutes late and in a complete panic. I knew Camelia did not speak a lick of Spanish and would be wondering at my lack of punctuality. As I arrived to the airport, I noticed they were closing everything down, staff were leaving and there was Camelia - the one lone tourist sitting outside with her bags. Poor Camelia! I guess the taxi drivers had all asked her if she needed a ride (one more than one occasion), especially the last taxi driver as the airport was closing up!

It was so great to see her! We made our way back home, changed and then immediately headed over to the Posdata Cafe. The owners of the cafe had offered to throw a welcome party for Camelia and her first time in Manzanillo. All of my friends were there and they welcomed her with a Mexican flag and pin. The cafe owners had made a bunch of appetizers for her to sample while we had our drinks.


A photo of Camelia and I at the Posdata Cafe with her new Mexican flag

We got home from the Posdata Cafe around 1am and then decided to open a bottle of wine while Camelia unpacked her suitcase. It was like Christmas! She had brought so many things for me and the dogs. The dogs got new toys, new dog collars and many different treats. One of the new collars was donated generously for my new street dog Jade by our favorite dog store in Calgary - Unleashed. Thanks guys! I got my favorite bottle of Italian wine -a belated birthday gift! We stayed up very late catching up, visiting and drinking wine. We could not beleive it when we looked at the time and it was 4:30am.

We have been having a great time since she arrived. I promise to post another blog soon with all our adventures and pictures along the way.

Second Visitor!

My good friend C is coming to visit from Canada and I am so excited! She was supposed to arrive last night but had some delays due to some "aircraft maintenance" issues and ended up missing one of her connections. She had to spend the night at a hotel in the US last night but the airline has assured her that they can get her to Manzanillo today, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The owners of the Posdata Cafe suggested that they would like to throw a party to welcome her to Mexico. I thought that was a great idea and the party is set for later tonight. All of my new friends will gather there tonight for some appetizers, drinks and meeting the guest of honor.

I feel like a little kid at Christmas waiting for Santa to arrive!