Cancun in No Danger from Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav has strengthened to a major category 3 storm as it approaches the western end of Cuba and the Cayman Islands. The Gulf Coast of the United States continues to monitor the storm and reports indicate that New Orleans will start evacuations today.

The Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico is out of the danger zone of Gustav, I suspect we will see some rain this weekend but nothing of a storm force. It's currently breezy with some fast moving clouds, but the sun is still peeking out and it's hot outside. We were woken by a loud crack of thunder early this morning, but I didn't see any evidence of rain.

Remember to check out HurricaneCancun for coverage of the storm.

Fear of Fall

Growing up in Canada I hated knowing that fall was coming. Labour Day weekend was a seriously depressing time, it was the beginning of the end for me. No more tank tops or cottage weekends, just dull, dreary, cold, snowy, dark days. People would say "Oh, don't you just love fall, all the pretty coloured leaves on the trees?" and I would say "Are you nuts? That means they are dying!". Pretty leaves never last very long and then it's just a big bare tree waiting to be weighed down by piles of horrible, awful, nasty snow. No sunshine (or very little and gone by 5 o'clock), just slush and sludge and freezing rain and dirty acid rain icicles. Nothing in the world is so horrible as winter and fall was its pushy cousin inviting it in.

Here in Cancun I no longer dread the snow or the cold, but autumn brings its own fears. It's low season so no one has any money. It rains more. And it's hurricane season. Big, bad hurricane season.

Even still, with all the wind and rain that might come this way, my mood is still lighter than it ever was this time of year in Canada. I'd rather live through three monster hurricanes than one snow flurry. I'd rather suffer through five monster hurricanes than to ever experience a blizzard again. If I never see another icicle, I will die a happy woman. I hope to never purchase another pair of winter boots or a scarf or a pair of earmuffs or long underwear or turtleneck. I hope that Max never has to suffer the indignity of the dreaded snowsuit.

So with Labour Day upon us (well, YOU really, it's not Labour Day here in Mexico), I want to wish you all the best of luck with this horrible season that is upon us. May you never sink your feet into a freezing cold puddle of snowy muck, may your eyelashes not freeze together, may your glasses never fog when walking in from outside, may the leaves not clog your gutters nor pile up in your yard killing your beautiful summer flowers.

And for those of you who like fall, are you stinking nuts? Get your heads examined, lol. Just kidding of course, whatever floats yer boat, fill yer boots, enjoy yourselves. Well partially kidding, I still think you're loca!

Tropical Storm Gustav

Just a reminder that we've got a special blog going for all your hurricane and tropical storm needs. This is a group blogging effort and the site will remain active as long as there are active storms in the Atlantic that may affect Cancun and the Riviera Maya. Please check us out at HurricaneCancun. I am contributing with my good friends Rivergirl and Steve in Cancun and we will be joined by friends from Akumal, Tulum, Playa del Carmen and other points south of us if the need arises. Hopefully this blog will not be very active, we don't need too many storms or brushes with hurricanes! We are currently watching Gustav as he progresses through the Caribbean, doesn't look like we are in immediate danger, but we are fully aware that hurricanes and storms are very unpredictable. At the very least, it looks like we should be seeing some rain this weekend.

Here's the latest post on Tropical Storm Gustav.

Not As Prepared As I Thought

I like to think that we are well prepared for a hurricane, we certainly have enough experience with them in our almost five years here. But alas, the internet has shown me that I am not nearly prepared enough. I don't have the CATastrophe Kit or a Dog Gone It Kit as part of my stock of supplies. I thought having a safe place, fresh water, a store of food, clean litter and newspapers was enough, but apparently kitties and doggies need a fifty foot rope and light sticks. Light sticks? Are they going to some kitty/doggie rave after the hurricane strikes? Blankets? Sorry, but any blankets in the house will be used for soaking up water, kittehs and pooch prefer the cool tiles anyway. I laughed out loud when I saw "leash" in the cat kit, but it makes the "bloodstopper" make sense to me anyway, I'd certainly have some gushing wounds if I tried to put a leash on my babies.

I'm not mocking the necessity of taking care of the fur-babies during a disaster, but I don't think buying a $50 USD kit makes me a better pet parent. Just makes me a sucker for marketing.

In case you didn't open the links (and no, I am not selling these kits or getting commission), here's a list of the "essentials" found in these overpriced products:

Dog Gone It Kit

• 2 - Dog food (5 year shelf life)
• 2 - Blankets
• 2 - Lightsticks
• 2 - Dog bowls
• 1 - Tennis ball
• 1 - Leash
• 1 - 58 piece first aid kit
• 12 - Water packs
• 1 - Rope 50'
• 1 - Collar
• 6 - Poop bags
• 3 - Chew sticks
• 1 - Can opener
• 1 - Bloodstopper
• 1 - Pet disaster information

CATastrophy Kit

• 2 - Cat food (5 year shelf life)
• 2 - Blankets
• 2 - Lightsticks
• 2 - Cat bowls
• 1 - Cat toy
• 1 - Leash
• 1 - 58 piece first aid kit
• 12 - Water packs
• 1 - Rope 50'
• 1 - Collar
• 6 - Poop bags
• 3 - Chew sticks
• 1 - Can opener
• 1 - Bloodstopper
• 1 - Pet disaster information

So yes, please take care of your animals in an emergency, but don't let them go more than 50 feet away from you and just say no to kitty/poochy raves, cat nip kills! Think water, food, shelter and a place to do their business and all will be well.

Beef of the Day

This blog is not usually a "beef blog", I don't like to complain, but yesterday I got a bee in my bonnet and can't let it go so I guess I have to write about it to set it free.

Dear drivers of Cancun,
If you hear a siren or see the flashing red lights of an ambulance or fire truck, PULL OVER. Do not drive faster, do not continue as if nothing is happening, do not stop in the middle of the freaking road, PULL OVER. It could be your mother dying in that ambulance, get out of the freaking way.

If you are going to make a turn, please use your signal. If you are not turning, please turn the bloody thing off. If you want to make a left turn, GET IN THE LEFT LANE AND STOP CUTTING ME OFF FROM THE RIGHT. Bus and taxi drivers, this means you too, you are the worst offenders, three times yesterday a big stupid bus almost hit me from the right lane and then proceeded to scream and honk at me. Stop it!

If you need to run into a store or a business, find a parking spot. Do not just stop your car in the middle of the street and put on your hazard lights. Parking is free in Cancun (unlike the $20 an hour in Toronto), take the extra minute and find a spot. Myself and fifty other cars sat still on Nader yesterday because of you stupid water truck, no one could get by you and there was a perfectly good parking lot only a few meters ahead of where you stopped in the middle of the street.

And the biggest, the worst, the most horrifying beef, parents, THINK think think about the safety of your children. I see you driving with your children climbing around inside the car or with your baby on your lap or an unbelted child with their face pressed up against the front windshield or all 17 of your kids thrown in the back of an open pick up truck or your family of 5 on a moped. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING????? Ok sure, I see some of you actually went to the trouble of buying a car seat, but why the heck is it in the front seat facing forward and not strapped in? Kids act as projectiles in an accident, strap'em in and keep'em safe. The lack of safety measures for kids on the roads astounds me, this is the year 2008 right? You do understand the dangers of your practices right? Or has your head been in the sand for the last 25 years? This is a no brainer, get a car seat, put it in the back, install it properly and keep your kids there until they are big enough to use a real seat belt. Even then, kids MUST stay in the back seat AND belted in, do you really want to see them flying through the windshield or having their necks broken by the air bag? Especially if you consider my first few paragraphs, it's not like you are driving safely to begin with.

With all due respect, get your driving act together!

Regards,
Canucka


(breathing in......breathing out.....)

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled Happy Place, sorry for the rant.....

Please note: Nowhere did I say "Mexicans are blank" or "Mexicans don't blah blah blah" , bad driving is universal, these are only observations of my particular experiences driving in Cancun, not a condemnation of a nation or its people. I just want to be clear, I was raised to never make generalizations and I am not going to start now, for me to say "Mexicans are" I would have to have met all 100 million of them. So no getting on my case please, these are just complaints about Cancun drivers, not about a race of people! I know there are many Mexican drivers who feel the same as I do and kudos to those who are careful and respect the laws and tend to their children's safety.

This and That

It appears as though we have weathered the virus storm on the computer, sneaky little bugger that it was! Hubby (resident geek) said that we were only without protection for about two hours, the license had expired and the spyware got in in that short window of time. Thank goodness we didn't lose much, mostly I'm upset about losing my bookmarks, will take me some time to restore them.

I feel like a few days without blogging has blurred my focus, I have too many things to write about, so I am just going to share a little of this and a little of that, nothing of any great import really.

We're in full on "Back to School" mode around here, it's amazing how many things need to be done for a tiny little person in kindergarten. We had to get him his diphtheria vaccination, the school requires documentation that all vaccines are up to date. The school also requires what we call "The Poo Test", so three days last week I had to collect Max's poo to be tested for all the creepy crawlies that can invade. I think I came up with a pretty ingenious way to do it (if I can pat myself on the back). I took a piece of plastic wrap and covered the toilet with it to catch the sample, no having Max hover over a little cup or tupperware or anything, he just did his business y voila! Take the little Baskin Robbins spoon, scoop out the tasty tidbit and we're in business. We also had to have a separate medical certificate from his doctor saying that he was ok to attend school. So, one trip to IMSS for vaccine, three bathroom trips, one doctor visit and two trips to the lab. And that just covered the medical requirements. (You'd think he was going into basic training!) Don't even ask me how much it all cost (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). The lab tests showed that Max has some E. Histo, but I called the pediatrician and he said it was "normal". Ooook, normal to have critters? Well, he's the man with the degree, I guess if Max were exhibiting any kind of sicky symptoms it would be different, but Doc said we've all got a little E. Histo in us. Mmmm, E. Histo....

On top of the med stuff, we had to get books, lots and lots of books. The books then had to be covered with special color coded paper, labels and then plastic wrapped. Holy books Batman, he's got English, Spanish, Math and "Morales" or "morals", a book that aids in the development of "emotional intelligence". Plus all his notebooks and work books and tracing books, oy vay, once again, thanks Grandma and Grandpa! Add in his new uniforms, painting bib, hairbrush/toothbrush, pen jar, story books, he registration fees and the monthly fees and you've got one expensive little three year old. They also require I.D. photos, this is a serious little kinder!

Yes yes, there is more to life than Max. There are also cats! Kitties are doing great, I've fallen madly in love with them. We've also got a "guest kitty". The next door neighbours rescued a little bitty thing who keeps finding her way over to our house. I let her in during the day to play with my boys (and nibble their kibble), she is really cute but a bit vicious! When I finally have to put her out for getting too rough, she starts going at Lola (our pooch), they have a grand time romping all over and play fighting, though it scares Max, he thinks Lola is going to hurt Guest Kitty. More likely the other way around though!

Work is same old, same old, I am loving my job. It would be nice to have a few more hours of it ($$), but that will come in a few weeks when I start working Saturdays again.

The heat, oh the heat, it's hot hot hot in Cancun! End of August, beginning of September are probably the most miserably hot months around here, thank the goddess for air conditioning! I swear you could fry an egg on the sidewalk (and I just might try). We are watching Hurricane Gustav as he makes his way over the Dominican Republic (hope Anelys is faring ok) and Haiti. I really hope we don't have anything to worry about here with Gustav, only one computer model brings him this way, looks like we might get some rain on the weekend though even if it just heads over Cuba. and some models are showing us in a teeny bit of danger. Please watch my blog and Hurricane Cancun for details. I will be contributing to the hurricane blog along with some other ex-pats down here. Right now a little rain would be alright, a relief from the heat, but the full force of the hurricane can just stay at sea please, keep your fingers crossed!

And there you are, mostly caught up in a longer post than I intended. Hopefully I'll get back to my regular (almost) daily posting! Hope life is treating y'all alright, peace out!

Gack, Virus!

Having some technical difficulties, the computer got infected by a big virus on Saturday and Hubby is working his way to getting us back to normal. Still having some problems here so this is not going to be a big post (as I keep getting pop ups and errors and other evil techy things). More like a "Hi, howaya, how's your Monday and don't open anything that pops up through my messenger or mail" kind of post.

Hopefully we'll have this straightened out and doubly hopeful that none of you have been infected by something from our end. Luckily we back up regularly so we haven't lost much, but rebuilding and clearing this bugger is proving to be an ordeal.

And there is your public service announcement for Monday "Back Up Your Computers Today!"

With some good luck, I'll have a decent post for you later today. "Disculpe las molestias", "Sorry for the Inconvenience". :)

Marcha Contra La Inseguridad

Saturday August 30th at 6:00 pm, cities across Mexico will be joining together in the "Marcha Contra La Inseguridad" (March Against Insecurity), alternatively titled "Illuminemos Mexico": (Illuminate Mexico). With crime and violence rising dramatically across the country, it's vital that the citizens of Mexico unite and show the government that the people demand something be done to make their homes and businesses safer. This week the local news released a report that Quintana Roo is now one of the most dangerous states in all of Mexico, it's time to take a stand against crime and use the power of the citizen to make changes.

The people of Cancun are asked to meet at 6:00 pm in the lot near Teatro Forito, at the corner of Chichen Itza and Bonampak. Everyone is to wear white and bring a candle or flashlight. The march will be conducted in silence. People are asked to refrain from bringing banners or signs and to keep this a non-partisan event (i.e., no signs for or against any of the political parties or politicians). The march will end at 8:30 at the Plaza de la Reforma.

Please, if you are living in Mexico, make an effort to get out and support your fellow citizens. Check your local papers for locations and details, let's unite against crime and make our beloved Mexico a safer place for our children!

Aaaaaaah

I just had a tremendous treat. One of my students is a massage therapist at a 5 diamond hotel/spa here in Cancun. Today was her day off and she offered to come to school prepared to give massages to the teachers at an amazing rate (much much less than her usual 1100 pesos). This woman was FABULOUS. I mean truly incredible. I have had hundreds of massages in my life and this was one of the best, I feel like I am weightless. My arms could take off in flight, my legs are lighter than air, I haven't been this relaxed since my fling with Demerol after Max's birth. I'm floating on lightly scented air, with soft creamy skin and a smile on my face. Thank you thank you Miss Deysi, what a spectacular way to start my weekend.

I think I am even having trouble speaking, I feel like a big drooling Homer Simpson.....Mmmmmmm, massage......

Happy Birthday LisaLoca!

My good friend, cool cool cool club member, blogger extraordinaire and overall really nice person LisaLoca is celebrating her birthday today! Please join me in wishing her a fabulously super day, she is truly one of the best people I know and I am glad to call her my friend.

And for that, she gets a super duper tacky Feliz Cumpleaños video! (Really, this is a horrible video, like a train wreck but oh so fun!) The sentiment is real though, I promise!

Happy birthday, Feliz Cumpleaños amiga!

7 Facts About Max

I've been tagged by Momto3Flowers in a meme about Max! So, here's Seven Facts About Max that you may or may not know.

1. Max is an Aries child, his birthday is on April 12th. Before he was born I checked out some baby horoscopes and was terrified to read that he would be "the Rambo of the play group". Well, so far no steroids or machine guns, but he is rambunctious and definitely a leader!

2. Max is obsessed with superheroes. Superman, Spiderman, Sportacus, you name a hero and he will pretend to be that hero. Our pretend games and made up story times are all about saving someone who is in trouble. He flies around in his Superman cape calling me "Lois", rescuing kitties stuck in trees or kids who fell down holes. He can go full days without calling me "Mommy", I am "Lois", "Lady in trouble" or "Stephanie" (from Lazytown), but not "Mommy". Superhoroes are closely followed by policemen and firemen, his tricycle doubles as his fire truck.

3. He's a real softie. If he sees or hears another child crying, he wants to help them. He'll approach a crying child and stroke their head saying "No llores bebe, no llores" ("Don't cry baby, don't cry"). If he can't see the child or get close to them he'll say "Why's he crying? He wants his mommy, where's his mommy? Can you find her?" I love my little sentimental fool. I wish he would stop asking for a little brother though.

4. His current conversation game involves asking me what something is, then asking if he can eat it. He'll ask "What is it mommy?" even if he knows what it is, because he needs to get to his "Can I eat it?" punchline. For example, "What is it mommy?". "It's a garbage can Max, you know that". "Can I eat it?" he says with a gigantic smile. "Guacala Max! Yucky, no you can't eat it!". Followed by hysterical laughter rolling on the floor. Fun.

5. He is sooooooooooooo excited to be starting "Kinder Uno" (Kinder One) at his school. He knows that the Kinder kids are the big kids and he is really proud. When I ask him who is going to go to Kinder Uno, he says "ME!", with his chest puffed out and a huge smile, he's very proud of himself. He loves his school, getting him to leave is more of a challenge than dropping him off, he doesn't want to come home!

6. He has a great arm for baseball! Who knew? Neither Hubby nor I are very "sporty" and I really don't have any great expectations of an athlete in Max, but a few weeks ago we got a cheap plastic bat and ball set and the kid is whacking them out of the park! He's got a pretty good pitching arm too. As an "artsy fartsy" girl, I would prefer that he embrace dance or theater or visual arts, but if he's got some natural talent at sport, who am I to scoff?

7. The kid's got a temper. He's normally a nice, polite little boy, but when he's mad, boy is he mad! That's certainly something he got from his Daddy, Mommy is cool as a cucumber. When Max is mad, the first scream is "I'm not going to talk to YOU". Followed by "You're not my friend!" and "Don't look at me!". These simple phrases are the preamble to "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and a return to the cycle of "I'm not going to talk to you", but in a screaming, high pitched tone. It's never the highlight of the day, nevertheless, he's still cute as a button, even if it is a red-faced, loud-mouthed button.

So, there you are, seven random things about my crazy three year old. I'm not going to "officially" tag anyone, but if you are a parent and want to share, I'd love it if you would play!

Whistle Blowers

Regular readers know that we've been having problems with crime in our neighbourhood and that we have recently begun having meetings with our neighbours to see what we can do about it. Last week we had two meetings actually, and I am pleased to report that people are stepping up to the plate and taking initiative. One man has taken the lead, sort of a block captain I guess and there are several of us who have begun to communicate regularly. I think the most people we've had out was 25, more than I expected to be honest. It's nice to meet more of our neighbours, there are a lot of good folk around here.

One of the first things we've been talking about is lighting and illumination, there are a lot of dark areas around here at night and we are taking individual steps to brighten things up. We've also discussed just being more aware of who is in the hood and who SHOULD be in the hood. If we see a stranger, it's been suggested that simply asking them what they are doing or who they are looking for can be sufficient to get them out of our area and on to another block. If we don't feel confident approaching them but we think they are suspicious, we are to call another neighbour (phone lists are being created as I type) or call the police. Everyone is taking extra care with locks and trimming plants or trees that could provide cover for the bad guys.

The initiative that I like best is the Whistle Blowers. Those of us who have been at the meetings have all bought referee whistles and we know how to use them! If something is going down, we are to blow the whistle. If we hear a whistle, we are to come outside and start blowing our own and find out what is going on. We had a "drill" on Friday night at 6:00. Now, we knew it was coming and we went outside to see if we could hear the whistle. It was very very faint, but it was there so we started walking and blowing in the direction we heard the sound. It was a block away, not bad and about 15 of us came out. It was discussed that with the heat everyone has their air conditioners on and are at home watching TV and that it was difficult to hear, but in a real emergency, I feel confident that my closest neighbours would come running if they hear me blowing. I like the idea a lot, better than screaming "Help!" and a clear message to the crooks that we are banding together and we won't lie down and take it. Neighbours coming running blowing whistles will surely scare away the simple robbers (though if we were face to face with the mafia, they would laugh and shoot us, but that's not really the problem in this hood, at least not yet). We're going to have another simulation, this time not announcing the date and time and we shall see if we get a response.

We are officially taking part in Mexico's version of Neighbourhood Watch, a program called "Vecino Vigilante", translated "Vigilant Neighbour". We've ordered the signs that everyone will put in their windows, cost 50 pesos each. For those of you who live in Mexico, perhaps you can get your own neighbourhood on board with this and we can start to kick some criminals out of our hoods!

I'm feeling good about the unity here and feel safer for having the whistle (I know, so silly that a little piece of plastic can give me peace of mind, but it does). Now, to keep the silbato (whistle) out of Max's little hands, I don't want him to be the boy who cried wolf!

Mega Fire!

Our trip to the beach today has been delayed and delayed. We were heading out when we realized we had a flat tire. We started off to get the tire fixed when we saw HUGE plumes of smoke so of course, being the roving reporter/chismosa that I am, we went to see what was burning. The Mega Comercial Mexicana (a large grocery store) had piles of black smoke pouring out. As we were driving past we saw more and more firemen, police and ambulances arriving. My heart goes out to the brave folks fighting this fire, it's a bad one. Hubby just said the radio announced a complete loss of the store and that people in the area should close their windows as the air is very toxic. Here's some photos, hot off the press.

Edited to add: More pics and the story in Spanish from Noticaribe here

No Manches Guey!

"No manches guey"
No manches! (No man-chez)- Used to express disbelief, positive or negative. "I didn't get paid again this week." "No manches!" or "I won the lottery!" "No manches!". This is a softer version of the much harsher "No mames" which I rarely use as it seems to cause shock and consternation when I do.

Guey (way)- "Dude". "Did you see that Miguel got a new car?" "No manches, guey!"

I'm ticked off. Pretty darned ticked off. If this wasn't a "family friendly" blog, you would be reading some fine cuss words from me. Regular readers may recall this post back from July 8th where we discovered that we had no gas, then this post from July 17th where we discovered we had a gas leak and needed to get a new tank. Well, July 18 or 19 we got quotes from two different companies and gave them to the "property manager" (aka next door neighbour) who told us she passed them on the owner. We've been waiting and waiting and asking and getting no reply since then. We were starting to get really annoyed thinking the owner was just dragging her heels about paying for the new tank, so Hubby called her directly yesterday instead of talking to the property manager. She knew nothing about it!!! The manager hadn't called her to tell her there was a problem nor had she passed on the written quotes. Over a month with a faulty leaky gas tank and no gas and the property manager did nothing?!?! She then had the gall to tell Hubby she was mad at him for calling the owner, saying that she was going to be angry with her for not passing on the info. Well GOOD, she should be mad, and so are we!

The owner said "Well yes, go ahead and get the tank, just deduct it from rent, don't wait!" We went this morning and paid for the new tank and installation (about 5000 pesos) and we are just waiting to find out when they are going to come.

Lesson learned? The property manager ain't managing NOTHIN', we'll go right to the owner from now on. Once we get the new tank in, we'll start harassing her about the new toilets, new taps, paint job, new fence, new gate, new door (and the list goes on.....)

A Conversation I Wish I Never Had

Acquaintance: I'm happy my son will be learning Spanish and English.


Me: I think it's great, it's such an advantage to be bilingual or multilingual, I want Max to have as many languages as can fit in his little head.


Acquaintance: Oh God, not me, it's ok if he learns Spanish cause his father is Spanish (she meant Mexican), but I don't want him learning those other stupid languages.


Me: Ummmmmm


Acquaintance: No way am I going to let him learn Guatemalanian or Honduranian or other stupid languages. And he better not talk to any Brazil people (er, Brazilians?), their Spanish sucks, I can't understand them at all!


Me: Gaaaaaaaa, huh what? (That's me dumbstruck by her ignorance)


Acquaintance: You know, I didn't even know that Guatemalania existed til I moved down here. And I really don't want my son to learn Mayan, that is the stupidest language "Och poch choc", can't they speak normal? I know his father speaks it, but it's dumb, sounds retarded.


Me: Oh, look at the time, I really must run....



Sigh. Now seriously, this is an American woman in her thirties who has lived here for about five years. She doesn't really speak Spanish herself. She claims that she has a university degree, but where is the evidence? Guatemalania? Hondurania? And how can you not know that they speak Portugese in Brazil and not Spanish? Just another reason why I call her "acquaintance" and not friend, not only is she ignorant, but the implied racism just blew me away. Why oh why has this woman decided that I am to be her new best friend??

More Crime in Our Hood

Noticaribe is reporting that an 18 year old man was abducted at the corner of Chichen Itza and Palenque (a big city block away from where we live, half a block from where Hubby works). There is only an eye witness report, someone saw three young men force a man into a blue Chevy. The witness tried to follow the car but there are no more details than that.

That scares the crap out of me. Hubby walks there everyday. "Levantons" are happening more and more in Cancun, it used to be something you really only heard about from Mexico City. I'm an idiot and searched "levantons" on youtube and saw some extremely disturbing videos, why do I do that to myself?? Don't do it, trust me.

Sunday evening I was "being vigilant" looking out the window and saw a strange sight. A man in white having a knock down, drag out fight with a concrete lamp post. He was punching it, kicking it and giving it a good tongue lashing. He would then dash into traffic and cause havoc. I was just about to tell Hubby to call the police when I saw two men walking down the street carrying "stuff". Hard to tell what it was, but it looked like a whole lot of metal and I just knew it wasn't right. I had Hubby call the cops and he went outside and found our other neighbours trying to chase these guys down, they had just robbed an apartment a couple of doors down. Drunk guy fighting with the lamp post was some sort of look-out or decoy I guess, they all took off running dropping all the "stuff" that they had (it was a pile of pipes and metal rods and what looked like a gate or a metal base for a bed). The police arrived about ten minutes later but these guys were long gone.

Word on the street is that there is another neighbourhood meeting tomorrow night, hopefully there will be more people out and we can all get together. It was nice to see several neighbours out after seeing these suspicious guys, at least four of us had called the police, so we are watching. The police were a bit slow, but I guess if you haven't been assassinated, it's not a priority. I say that with all sincerity, a report of guys stealing metal is a minor incident in this town right now, I know the police have much bigger fish to fry. Our eyes are wide open and the neighbours seem to be aware and alert too. I'm a lot calmer about everything now, we're just going to have to continue to be vigilant, stick together and cross our fingers, it's about all we can do.

Isla Blanca Pics

We had a seriously fabulous day at the beach yesterday. Isla Blanca was dreamy! Excellent weather, no crowds and repeated crazy jumps off the pier made it a perfect day. Max is always on his best behaviour at the beach too, I wish I could take him everyday! If another little kid arrives at the beach, Max picks up his toys, heads over and says "Hola, quieres jugar conmigo?" ("Hi, want to play with me?) and hands over the shovels and buckets. Whatta kid! It's hard to say which beach we like more right now, both Puerto Morelos and Isla Blanca have a lot of great things going for them, we're so fortunate to live in this area (and so fortunate to have a car to explore and get to these little places!)

Here's some photos from yesterday's adventure....

Argh, beware all ye who enter Captain Morgan's Retreat

Hubby calls this the "Baywatch" shot


Max pondering the universe
(Ok, he was looking at a boat, almost the same right?)

Sittin' on the dock with my boy

Lessons in fishies from papa

Ok, look closely, see the greenish thing on top of the brownish stuff?
It's a really groovy blue-ish crab!

Can anyone tell me what those funky green things are?

Hey, what, more than one pic of me?
(Thanks for picking up the camera for a change Papi!)

Max's Christmas wish list Item #347, Jet Ski, PWEASE Mami!

A lovely birdie
(Anyone know what it is? I'm no ornithologist!)

"I'll jump backwards this time and you get a picture"
I guess we all make silly faces as we are about to get water up the nose

I would post this picture everyday if I could. So, here it is again!
Proof that there is life left in this old bird!

And out of habit I took a quick 360 video of the beach....

Olympic Pier Jumping

Silver Medalist Cancun Canuck with her
patented "Sportacus de Lazytown" split jump

More Isla Blanca pics mañana! (Click on the pic and see if you can get a look at my face, lol).

Go Canada! Viva Mexico! We Miss You Ana!

I heart the Olympics. Really and truly, the opening ceremonies give me goosebumps, the constant checking of medal counts, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, I love it. Living in Mexico I now have the pleasure of rooting for two Olympic teams and waving two flags! Back in Canada I would be glued to the TV watching the gymnastics, the diving, and the rowing, man those Canucks can row. Ben Johnson really turned me off of the running events, though the finals are always a rush no matter who is running. Now I'll be happy with whatever TV Azteca wants to show me, I won't have the luxury of having CBC to walk me through the games. CBC has THE best Olympic coverage as far as I am concerned, far better than NBC's "USA USA USA" take on the event. CBC may be Canadian, but they show ALL aspects of the Olympics, not just Canadian athletes, whereas NBC seems to forget that there are other countries at the event.

I remember four years ago being at work and waiting for Ana Guevara to run her final race. No way was anyone going to pay attention in class so we all trooped out to the lobby to watch the fastest woman in Mexico. The excitement was palpable, people were on the edge of their seats waiting for the race to begin. Go Ana, go Ana, go Ana! Silver medal, YAHOOOOOO! I was jumping up and down, freaking out like a loon when I realized no one else was cheering. They all looked dejected, disappointed and some of them even angry. I asked them all what was wrong. "She lost" they all said. "Bu-bu-but noooo, she didn't lose, she got a silver medal, that's fantastic!" "Ech, she lost, just like always for Mexico" they said. I was flabbergasted! Here I was so thrilled that Mexico got a fabulous silver medal and they were all acting like she had sat down on the starting blocks and picked her nose. "Ni modo" they said "Let's get back to class". It was a very strange moment for me, one I still don't understand to this day.

In the spirit of the Olympics, I have added an Olympics widget on my side bar. I know most of my readers (er, all?) are English speakers so I used a Canadian widget (y'all will get enough of USA! USA! USA! where you are, right?). Let me know what you think of it, hopefully it's working and we'll see some Canuck and Mexican medals in there! (Well, some Canuck ones anyway, I don't think there are any serious contenders from Mexico this year now that Ana Guevara has retired citing corruption in Mexican athletics).

I just have to share Ana's Olympic race from 2004 as broadcast by TV Azteca, the announcer is just SO excited....until she gets the silver. I must admit, I just had a little cry watching it again, but out of pride for her, not disappointment. You rock on Miss Ana!

Kittehs!

It's been a while since I've done a kitty update so I thought I would share. I have to admit, these boys are two of the best cats I have ever had in my life (and I have always had kittehs). They are quiet and non-destructive and patient and tolerant, they don't shed, they don't scratch, they don't bite, they never ever "go" outside the litter box, they are dream kitties! They are both purr-heads, I love to hear that sound and feel their vibrations! Ziggy and Max are inseparable, it is toooo cute. I am afraid that Max might hurt him with his "love", Ziggy doesn't even meow when Max gives him a very squishy hug, pulls a tail or picks him up by his ears. Uhhh yes, I caught Max carrying Ziggy by the ears and he was SEVERELY punished, but Ziggy didn't make a peep and he spent the long time out sitting next to his abuser! (Ok, confession time, I am seriously anti-spanking but Max did get spanked for that one, my hand just flew out to his butt before I knew what was happening, I shocked him and myself, I still feel awful about doing it, it was a bad Mommy reaction that I hope to never have again). Buzz isn't quite so amenable to Max's aggressive form of love, but he just hides away while Ziggy goes back for more. I'm still amazed that Cat Hatin' Hubby even likes our boys, he'll talk baby talk to them and give them affection too (though he really doesn't like that they sleep on his head).

I'm still making their food and they get dry kitten food too. No more kitten milk, but lots of bottled water. Thank the goddess for the crock pot, we still don't have gas (yep, one month and counting!) so it's the only way to cook their food. Works out pretty well actually! Ground chicken, chicken livers, some shredded carrots, rice, cod liver oil, canola oil, a little Metamucil and finish it off with some all natural yogurt. Yum! Sometimes I mix it up and use ground beef with beef kidneys or heart, but they don't seem to like it as much as their pollo suprema.

Here's my giant eared big boys! I can't believe how big they've gotten, Buzz looks like a full grown cat!

Buzz aka Buzzard, aka Buzz Lightyear

Ziggy aka The Zigster aka Ziggyberto

My boys (Buzz in front Ziggy in the back)

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 u