Flashback!

I've had a lot of ex-pat friends traveling "home" lately, going back to the States or Canada or England for a vacation or a visit and it got me thinking. I have only been back to Canada once since arriving in Mexico in 2003. I don't feel the urge, I don't get homesick, there's not much that I miss. My family comes here, for them it's a treat to come to the beach and to visit/spoil Max so I actually see them almost as much as I did when I lived in Toronto and they were in Windsor. Sooo, why go back??

In pondering my lack of return visits, it got me thinking about the one visit I did make in December 2004. I was six months pregnant and really wanted to show my folks my expanding belly. Hubby wasn't able to get time off work so I was traveling by myself. Well, I guess I wasn't really alone, Max was kicking up a storm inside but he was no help at all with the luggage. The flights were booked and off I went to the airport for a quick five day trip, coming back in time to spend Christmas with Hubby. I had a connecting flight in Miami, then to Detroit then driving over the border to Windsor. I was excited to see the family but sad that Hubby couldn't come with me.

I knew that my connection was tight, but the airline insisted that I would have enough time to get through immigration then board the flight to Detroit. Well, I should have had enough time, but leaving Cancun was delayed (big surprise). Flying while six months pregnant was no joy, I had to get up to pee a million times, irritating the heck out of everyone, myself included. We landed in Miami and I hoofed it to the immigration line. And encountered a sea of humanity, there must have been a thousand people there from every country in the world. I waited and waited and waited and waited and crossed and uncrossed my legs in my desperate need to pee again but I was NOT going to give up my spot in that line to find a bathroom. I finally made it to the immigration agent, put on a happy face and hoped he wouldn't give me a hard time. I got through immigration ten minutes before my next plane was scheduled to depart and took off running.

Yes, running with a big ass belly and my carry-on and my purse, flying through the airport like a pregnant OJ Simpson. Huffing and puffing and really needing to pee, suddenly my stomach clenched and cramped and I realized I was having contractions. But I kept on running. I got to the gate, only to see the plane pulling away. I collapsed on the floor and started to cry. A kind airline employee came over and helped me up and asked if I was ok. When I said I was pregnant and having contractions, they got me a wheelchair and a bottle of water and helped me to calm down. I was so upset at missing the flight, it was the last one of the day and there was no chance I was going to make it home. The airline set me up in a hotel room for the night, with complimentary dinner and breakfast and rescheduled my ticket for the next day. I managed to contact my family and let them know what happened, thank goodness they hadn't left for the airport already. They told me that my cousin had been going to surprise me at the airport, but alas, I didn't get to see him that trip as he was traveling himself the next day.

I managed to get off early the next morning with no troubles and no more contractions and an aisle seat close to the bathrooms on the plane. (Normally not an ideal seat, but for a woman with a child sitting on her bladder, it was a gift). I remember quite clearly the SHOCKING SLAP IN THE FACE of winter when I walked out of the Detroit airport, it literally took my breath away. The time in Windsor with the family went too fast but it was lovely to get to see them and to show off my belly bump and ultrasound photos and to shop for some decent maternity clothes.

So you would think that coming back would be easy? Ummmm, NOPE. But that's a story for another time.....

Puerto Morelos Beach- Familias Bien Preparadas

Sunday was a busy day at the beach in Puerto Morelos. Even though the beach was packed, it was great to see there was no trash and no drunks causing trouble, just lots of lovely families enjoying the ocean and sand. I wonder how many of them are itching like I am today? Pinches aguas malas!

I'm always amazed at just how much STUFF people bring to the beach! There were families with multiple tents, dining room chairs, banquet tables, full garrafons of water, you name it, they brought it! So, the theme of today's beach photos is "Familias Bien Preparadas" ("Well Prepared Families"). I've posted a short video at the end of a 360 view from "our" spot. Enjoy!

Suffering Sea Lice!

Ooook, so what was supposed to be a nice post about a terrific day at the beach has turned into a "I Got an Owie!" post. If you swim in the waters around here anytime between March and August you takes yer chances with having some little critters make themselves at home in your 'kini. Sea lice (thimble jellyfish, aguas malas, pulgas del mar, sea bather's eruption) are tiny "noseeum" jellyfish that cause itchy red rashes and can bring with them other symptoms such as nausea, headache, diarrhea and general malaise. Symptoms don't appear right away, usually (for me anyway) you start to feel the itch about 24 hours after swimming. The little buggers like to get in under your swimsuits and stay awhile, so the rash is pretty centralized to the bikini areas. Uh huh, nothing like walking around trying desperately not to scratch my boobs and er, other areas! Luckily this bout is really concentrated on my ahem, upper region. It looks like I've got a really localized case of the measles and it ITCHES like a mother#$!@#%#$%. Of course I am the only affected one, Max and Hubby walked away scot free, as did a couple of other people we saw at the beach yesterday. I must be delicious! I've got a cream to help relieve the symptoms, but nothing is 100% and I am still quite uncomfortable. Eh, ni modo, we'll be back out there again next week.

Hubby won't let me post the pictures of my spotted mammaries (of course I took pictures!), sorry! I'll have some photos and a video up tomorrow of our day at the beach in Puerto Morelos (no pics of the sea lice of course, they're camera shy.)

Off to slather on the crema, I'm starting to feel the burn!

A Quickie

Once again I've had a schedule change in my life, I've taken on another class at school which really bites into my blogging time but will help out the pocketbook. Working until 12 instead of 10:30 makes a bigger difference than I thought! Normally I would leave work at 10:30, come home, read and comment on blogs and with luck get a blog up of my own before picking Max up at 1 o'clock. Now I work til 12 and pick Max up at 1 so it doesn't make sense for me to come home at all, I just wait at work until he is finished then bring him home. Soooo, I feel like I've lost hours of "work" time (yes, I love blogging but it does take a certain amount of work!)

I have a couple of blogs planned out, but it's going to take me some time to put them together, hopefully I'll get to at least one of them tonight. Please forgive me for the brevity (and pointlessness) of this post. I guess it's just a post to apologize for not having a "real" post.

Ok, one quickie note about Max, he just made me laugh so hard (and feel so proud). We came in from work/school and I had to run straight to the loo (I know, too much information). When I came downstairs, Max had turned on the TV but he was covering his eyes. I said "What's wrong Max?" and he said "It's too violent Mommy, please change the TV." Awwww, my little guy knows what he can and cannot watch, I guess my hard core bitch Mommy attitude about violence in cartoons is paying off!

Ok, off to pick up, clean up and take a nap, hopefully will be back later with a new post with new pics!

Placido Domingo at Chichen Itza

Famed tenor Placido Domingo is set to perform a concert at Chichen Itza on October 4th of this year. He will be performing with the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra in a show entitled "The Concert of the Thousand Columns". Señor Domingo will be premiering a composition by Mexican composer Ramon Inclan, "Chichen, Chichen Itza" which was written after Chichen Itza was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

According to some reports, the concert received criticism as federal law prohibits activities that generate a profit on historical sites such as Chichen Itza. INAH, the government agency for the protection of historical areas expressed concerns to the federal government of Mexico about possible damages to the famed archeological site, asking that the concert be denied permission to move ahead. Their concerns were dismissed and the concert will proceed as planned. Ten thousand tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster, the cheapest being 500 pesos, most expensive 10 000 pesos.

I was really interested in checking this concert out, Hubby's birthday is September 29th and I thought it would be something special for a celebration. Unfortunately, those prices are waaaaaay out of our budget, I am not about to fork over 1000 pesos to sit in the back row that should probably be reserved for mosquitoes! If this were a concert for charity, I may not be quite as aghast at the prices, especially since it is supposed to be a celebration of Chichen Itza and its inclusion in the New Seven Wonders. It would be lovely to think that at least a portion of the proceeds would go to support further protection of the site or exploration of "new" ruins, but it looks like it is purely a for profit venture. Too bad, I think it would be an incredible event. If money was no object I would be there in a flash just for the experience (an ancient operatic Woodstock?).

Here's Placido Domingo singing "La Golondrina", a composition by Mexican Narciso Serradel Sevilla (1843-1910).