Crafts, Construction and Fungus

We have started the new year excited to get some news about the paperwork for the house, but now, almost halfway into January, nothing is firmed up yet. The months of waiting, have given us a sense of calm that neither one of us would have considered possible, but we are certain that things happen for a reason.

February brings around our renewal date for our residency and we are looking forward to get that done for the next three years.

Herman received the quote for the additions to the house and once the house is in our name, we can start construction. That is so exciting. After several reiterations, I think we have a final picture in our minds of what we'd like to see. The casita is no longer part of the plan for the addition, as we realized that we do not need that just in case someone visits us one week in a year. Excess does not fit in with living simply.

I am over the moon about the engagements and future weddings, and I am planning on buying the "mother of the bride" (I love saying that!) -dress in Mérida and am looking forward to going shopping for it. I will also spend some time in Canada this year, to be close to Dominique and the excitement of planning for her big day. It is one of the reasons we decided to live in Mexico - so that we are close enough to go home when we need to.

We had a lovely dinner at Santiago's house last week and his mom made panuchos, which is a dish consisting of refried beans, chicken, tomato, onion and egg on small fried tortillas. It is a Yucatecan traditional meal. It was so good that I made it again for us on the weekend. With all the food I have been learning to make here, I have decided that I will start writing down the recipes and posting them on my blog. Santiago's dad gave me a flower from one of the trees in his garden, called the false bird of paradise. I wanted to find this flower since we came here, so it was a lovely surprise. He also gave me a book about Mérida, which will be the first Spanish book I am reading, and Herman was the lucky recipient of a beautiful hand made clay coffee mug. Such lovely people!

We went to Mérida last week to check out a large craft store in Centro, called Fantasia Miguel, where a friend of ours, Nikki joined us. Dominique and Natara would have loved all the supplies for dream catchers you can get there, especially the many colours of thin and soft leather strips. It has the most amazing glass beads and a lot of other natural materials for crafts. Afterwards we went to some textile stores and then on to Lucas de Galvez market for some fresh veggies. It was a very enjoyable morning.

I bought a few small clay pots that I decided to decorate and use to plant some succulents in. I am testing the local paint to see if they will be durable in the sun, before I do some larger projects. I hope to start doing some paintings again soon too and am thoroughly enjoying the creativity.

One of the neighbour's dogs, who we call Bella, has literally moved in here and we have a hard time getting her to leave. We don't want to be accused of stealing some kid's pet, so I think it will be necessary for us to temporarily close off the front wall to stop her from coming over the fence, until the construction of that part of the property can be completed. She is the sweetest dog and reminds me of Konstanz's Belle in South Africa. Xena likes her, but dominates the poor creature and looks at her as if she is not worthy of her attention. Dogs are super entertaining sometimes.

Herman and I are enjoying the cooler weather, but it is also really cold some nights, and we decide on a nightly basis whether we are making up the sleeper couch or if we are sleeping in the hammocks. It makes for an interesting non-routine-routine. Today was hammock wash day and with the breeze and the sunshine they were dry in about three hours. It still warms up nicely during the day.

So far 2018 promises to be full of new adventures with the planned wedding, visits to Canada, and upcoming construction. (I'm sure there will be some interesting construction tales to tell.) So far, what we have noticed is that the biggest challenge will probably be the quantities of some of the supplies. As an example,  when I decided to make a blanket, it was almost impossible to get the quantity of the yarn in the colours I originally wanted, so I just ended up making a multi-coloured blanket instead. It is not life altering, but when you're talking floor tiles, it could get interesting. From what we have read, patience solves all problems, and as long as you don't mind waiting, you can get it done.

Mexico is a place of contrasts and a country that at first may be overwhelmingly different, but it grows on you (like a fungus haha). Now that I have been here for almost a year, I truly love the country and the people. I am no longer intimidated by the traffic and have no problem driving here, which gave me back some freedom and a lot of confidence. It is becoming a part of me in a way that I would not have thought possible a few months ago and even though I still miss Canada and my friends and family, I am starting to feel more like I belong here. My Spanish is improving - not as fast as I'd like - so we are talking to people whenever we can. We should make more of an effort to mingle! I know that Herman and I have made a good decision to retire here, and it is no longer just because it is affordable.

Goodbye Old Year!

It has been quite the year for us. We left behind our adopted home of 21 years and moved to Mexico. We drove through a country known for its violence, not speaking the language, with heightened awareness, feeling invincible and vulnerable with intermittent frequency. Both our children got engaged and have chosen their life partners. Such a giant decision in one's life. We are lucky that they have picked two people that we both have come to love over the past few years.

We have met wonderful new people and have learnt a lot about the local traditions, food and unending generosity of its people. We are struggling through our broken Spanish, but improve daily. To say we have changed is an understatement. We have grown, each in their own way and we have found ourselves in constant upheaval in the process that we know from experience, takes years to finally reach that feeling of belonging.

Mexico is the kind of place that grows on you. You may instantly love the people, which is not difficult to do, but the country has so many contrasts and raises feelings in yourself that you didn't know you had, and sometimes didn't want to have. You get to know yourself.

We continue to strive to live in the moment, make the most of each day, and leaving the old year and any negativity behind. Luckily the Mexicans have a tradition to burn away the old year by stuffing a home made mannequin (or an old man piñata) with straw and fireworks and at midnight set it alight; thus burning away the old and leaving any bad events in the past. Last night, we were privileged to have been invited outside by our neighbours, where everyone came outside, burning their old year mannequins and wishing each other (and us) Happy New Year. It was an awesome experience, and one I look forward to for many years to come.

Right now, at the beginning of a new year, we have many more decisions to make, and many more lessons to learn. We are excited about it, and also apprehensive. Sometimes you want to peak at what the future holds. We are blessed with good friends (old and new). We have things to look forward to (did I mention weddings) and so much to live for every day.

Feliz Años Nuevo. Happy New Year. Love and Peace to one and all.

Guest Blog

My Blog is the guest post at Surviving Mexico today. Please have a look!

Celebrations

Last Sunday evening we walked down to Centro in Seyé and were pleasantly surprised by being in time for the Christmas Lights countdown, followed by a play put together by the local community. The story was about a young boy who was very sad because his dad worked so hard he was never home and that this Christmas he was also going to be alone, but in the end Mickey and Minnie Mouse showed up and saved the day. Clearly there was a lot lost in translation, but my point is that we loved the play and we were blown away by the display put together by such a small town. It warmed our hearts and made us feel that it was almost Christmas.

We had some fries as a snack (deep fried on the spot and served with cream, cheese and ketchup). It sounds weird, but it is great!

Herman and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary this past week on December 13th. When we first met, we were sharing rooms in a commune and were friends for a year. Then we went on a couple of dates and decided we should get married. And it was all said and done within six months. Needless to say, many people were sceptical about the success of such a hasty decision. When I think of the past 31 years, I cannot believe how the time has flown.

We had a lovely dinner in Progreso, right on the beach. Of course I finally had a Margarita and man what a Margarita! Luckily I was not the designated driver so we got home in one piece.

I am very busy right now with work and Herman is starting to get busy as well. Finally the weather has started to get warm again. No socks anymore! Hopefully the past couple of winter weeks are all we're going to see. I know, it's not minus 20, but hey, it is cold for here.

Making Friends and Fitting In

This week I have been a little at odds with what to write and could not come up with anything exciting, until Herman said that I should write about what it is like to try to fit in, and it suddenly came to me.

I have often referred to our experience here as flopping around on dry land like a fish out of water. You know nothing, can understand very little and have constant conflicting thoughts about where you find yourself. Fitting in is a daunting experience that only hits you after the first few months of excitement. You start going about your daily routines and come down to earth and realize that you have to pay the bills and pull the weeds and do the laundry and it's back to living. That's when you start to feel the need for connections, people to visit on a weeknight or invite over for a drink. You start to feel extremely lonely. When you meet someone you like, it dwindles into insignificance, because of the language barrier. But you try to talk and start getting better and start understanding more, but it is work. When you are done, you are literally exhausted with the effort of translation in your brain. I actually switched to German while speaking to someone the other day, even though I haven't spoken German since I left University. Your brain just bounces around trying to find the right phrase to use and I guess mine short-circuited.

So when you find someone that you can talk to in English, it is such a relief that you can relax, that you just talk and talk. But you don't always end up being friends, it is a very nice feeling. Then when you meet someone and you really connect, it is the best feeling you can possible have in a new country.

So, when Herman read a message on Facebook about a man who was born in South Africa and just arrived in Mérida from Canada, he felt compelled to connect. One thing led to another and suddenly we were going to a brunch at Jackie's house for a super awesome brunch with three other couples who have at least one South African-born spouse. Weird how we came all the way to Mexico to find so many other South Africans. When you come from Africa, there is a bond that no one else gets. You have similar tastes in food, music and a very bendy sense of humour. Not something you can explain or teach, but definitely there.

In the mish-mash of Canadian/South African/American cultures, despite our differences in age, we found common ground and just had a wonderful time. We could talk about what we missed about our past homes, what brought us to Mexico, what it's like to start over in a new country, and why we were drawn to travel and new adventures. We talked about our new adopted home that we are starting to love, each in our own way and on our own time. We swapped recipes and some lessons-learned in surviving immigration, and where to find our favourite spices. We also decided that our next get together will be a proper "bring-en-braai". (Directly translated this is a "bring and barbecue", which in Canadian would be something like: bbq potluck & byob.)

What we all wholeheartedly agree on, is that the reason we all fell in love with the Yucatán and Mexico, were the people. The hospitality, kindness and generosity of the people, grabbed us and kept on pulling us back here. It is also clear that the Mexican middle class is moving up and Mérida is a prime example of development and economic growth that attracts so many young professionals and their families to this area. This makes items that some of us have come to expect to be easily accessible in the stores, which just adds to the overall sense of finding a place where one can fit in.

I have my own thoughts about advancement and whether it is really good for the local culture, but it is undisputed that the influx of money does help the local economy and in turn, hopefully benefits the local communities as well. One of the most successful programs for local communities is the Yucatan Giving Outreach charitable organization that compels the expat community to help various local well deserved initiatives, including the youth orchestra that I wrote about a few blogs ago.

So it seems like we are finding our groove so to speak, not entirely as a result of making friends, but definitely boosted by it.

On the lighter side, I included a non-related video: Xena is getting very comfortable in hammocks. Herman and I still do some target shooting on warm afternoons - those poor beer cans! And Herman is becoming a swimsuit model and his six-pack is not too shabby, but it's his love of hats that make the man and I think I captured our lifestyle perfectly in the photo shoot at the pool...

Fall

Now that Herman and I both work online we value the flexibility that we have to still fit in some fun activities. Like an old friend, we look forward to weekends again. It took both of us a bit of time to settle into the routine of working for a living...

Fall means that even though some of the trees are losing their leaves, they do not really change colour before they fall off. The nights are downright cold, so much so that I have to sleep with winter PJs and sleep under a sheet to make sure I don't wake up shivering. The windows are closed and the fans are off. The days are still hot and go up to 31 degrees Celsius, so it is still amazing weather. More to my liking than the summer for sure! We can swim around midday but the afternoons are getting a little too chilly for my now-acclimatised sensibilities.

We decided to make a rocket stove experiment, before we actually built one. So Herman used his tetras skills using discarded blocks and then we gathered wood and started the fire. We managed to cook some hard boiled eggs on our invention. Definitely a success and we are ready for the actual project.

We decided to get some toys for the pool and a few plastic cups so that we can veg in the water after a hard day's work in the "office". After a couple of drinks, balancing was a little more fun than without.

On Saturday of the Mexican Revolution Day long weekend, the Mérida Youth Orchestra had a community concert to celebrate their 2nd anniversary. Herman and I attended this event and thoroughly enjoyed it. The parents, students and teachers worked together to set up the event. They invite their local community and try to raise some much needed funding to continue the program. We were once again blown away by the hospitality when the parents treated us to a free dinner to say thanks for the violin. I also got to meet Mayrin, the 1st violinist for the orchestra, who was given the violin. The youngest member is only 6 years old and the oldest is 17. These children have so much talent! One of the teachers, Winnie, explained that they not only teach them music, but they also teach them theory and music history. Their repertoire covers classical, traditional Mexican and popular music. All in all a well rounded program. Unfortunately our recording equipment and the acoustics of the venue did not really lend itself to a good recording, but I think you will enjoy the video nonetheless.

I also planted my first bougainvillea and and a few seeds for flowers. Once again our Moringa tree was stripped of all the new leaves it grew since the last time, but it seems to always come back. I am enjoying the gardening, even though the weeding is a serious drag. I hope to visit a local nursery in the next week or so to add a couple more flowers to the front yard. Our gardener cleaned the weeds along the outside of the property wall, and in Mayan tradition, once the grasses were dry, they were set on fire and after about 5 minutes, there was only ash left.

Feliz Cumpleaños Herman!

Herman and I are settling into life in Seyé and it is starting to feel like our town. We still walk to town to buy from the market, pay our CFE bill or our internet. We still struggle with our broken Spanish, but it all feels like it's our life now. We have regulars who supply services and goods and we recognize people and say hello. It is what makes a place feel like your home.

We had a meeting with our lawyer, the agent and the owner of the house and after a lengthy explanation of the issues that are delaying the closing of the house, we estimated that the property will finally be ours by February 2018. Both the neighbouring property owners have to agree to some site changes, and even though they have been difficult to locate by the state`s office of property assessment, there seems to be a sudden increase in activity on both sites with some vegetation clearing.

Herman asked for a few quotes for some of the renovations we are hoping to make to the property. At this stage it is to give us some guidelines for our financial  planning. I am working online now, which will help towards some of the expenses and Herman is in the process of learning new software to do some architectural work online as well. Things are falling into place for us from the work front and with our sustainable lifestyle, we should be able to make it.

When you are without family in a new place (which Herman and I have lots of experience with) celebrations like Christmas, Easter, New Year and birthdays become a little bit of a challenge. You don`t want to sit around moping about being alone, especially since you did this out of your own free will. Herman and I decided that it would be a good day to visit a cenote. We live in an area of the Yucatan where there are hundreds of cenotes around us. A cenote is an underground cave formed by underground rivers. The Mexicans have started to realize the attraction of these magnificent natural wonders and have built restaurants, trails and stairs into the holes and added lights. For a fee you can usually stop in most of the towns to visit one of these caves and go for a swim. The towns benefit from the extra income and tourists get exposed to a great experience. Herman  did some research and picked the Santa Barbara Cenote in the town of Homún.

We were treated to a wonderful day visiting three cenotes and ending with a lovely meal in the restaurant on site. When you arrive at the main building, which boasts a bar, restaurant and a small gift shop (featuring local artisan weave work and Yucatecan embroidered clothes) you can select from several packages: Package one is renting a bicycle to travel to the caves, Two includes being pulled on a carriage on a track by a horse to the caves, and Three also includes a meal at the end. We splurged and bought the complete package for $440 Pesos for two.

Riding the horse-drawn railway carriage was fun and the trail was pretty fast with the horse often galloping to stay ahead of us. The first cenote was the smallest one, named cascabel. One of the guides explained that it means rattle snake. Apparently the construction workers found a rattle snake while they were working on the stairs and named it rattlesnake, but the snake was never seen again... Needless to say, that didn`t stop anyone from going in and taking a swim! We brought our dive masks so we had a really good view of the bottom and even saw a few small black fish. The first cenote had some lights shining into the water without which you would not be able to see anything.

We walked from there to the second cave, not a long way away. This one was light inside with natural sunshine but there were still some lights. It was much larger than the first one. Quite a high staircase to enter and exit this one. This one was spectacular with the tree roots coming through the ceiling as a thin strand and then where it touches the bottom of the cenote, it forms a large root base.

The trails are immaculately manicured white stone trails framed by larger white stones from the area, and are very easy to follow and navigate, The cenote also employs many staff with walkie talkies to guide you along the way in case you don`t know where to go next. Everyone is helpful and some even speak English. We followed the trail to the third cenote, which featured a very impressive set of concrete stairs into an archway that was built with stone and concrete. This cenote also featured a large palapa for those who didn`t want to venture down the stairs and wanted to site and enjoy a bit of a rest. The last one is definitely spectacular as being the deepest of the three, and you cannot see the bottom. It is also pitch black with out the sunshine from above breaking the water with beads of light that was amazing to see underwater. Unfortunately we did not have a GoPro, so we didn`t take any pictures or video under water. One of the most impressive pictures at this one is of the tree`s roots reaching all the way down into the water.

Nature is stunning and impressive and I love spending time exploring the wonderful cenotes. According to the Planetary Science Institute geological evidence lead scientists to believe that an asteroid roughly 10 km (6 miles) across hit the Yucatan about 65 million years ago. This impact made a huge explosion and a crater about 180 km across. By all accounts this was the explosion that altered the atmosphere to such an extent that it wiped out 3/4 of the species including the dinosaurs.Of course this attracts many tourists to this area and also many cave divers come to explore the cenotes of the Yucatan.

We had an amazingly tasty dinner of Yucatecan food. I had pechuga empinazada, which is like a chicken schnitzel and Herman had a traditional poc chuc, which is slices of pork tenderloin. We were joined by two lovely people from the North of Mexico, who worked in the US and spoke English. Had a lovely time, and never got their names.

We went home for a nice nap after which we went to Seyé for dinner and tried out Willy`s pizza. It was really good! This place was hopping with customers coming to pick up pizza. OK so we had pineapple on our pizza, but it was freakin`awesome! `Willy`is again super attentive and the garlic bread was `to die for`. We ventured onto the Tilt-A-Whirl and this ride just goes on and on and one, and though it was super fun, my neck hurt from all the twirling our silver shell did. We also realized that it was the Halloween dance party and watched the young people start arriving in their best dance garb to dance the night away. And I really mean dance the night away, because when I was up at 3pm, the dance was just ending and I could hear the DJ all the way to my house in colonia San Antonio!

Yes, the big day came and it went. Herman's 54th Birthday. Old Man? No Way! He is in better shape than ever, despite surviving a cardiac event, and now anticipating the next 20+ years of his life.

Today is Sunday November 5th, the birds are singing, the sun is shining and we had a swim. It is an amazing life to live and I am happy to spend it with my best friend.

Happy Birthday Herman! Wish you all the best again, because I hang out with you all the time.