Today was a good day!

Today ended up being a really good day!

I like spontaneity. I like taking advantage of spur of the moment oportunities. I like having friends able/capable of doing the same.

Today Tom had a massage (actually a trigger-point therapy) appointment and I rode to Centro with him to go to the Library; I want to read more about Alma Reed and Felipe Carillo Puerto. We also needed to drop off the pickax at G y C's. They need to plant some plants, and if their yard is anything like ours you can only dig a hole with a pickax. Anyway, Tom headed to ms magic-fingers' and I headed to G y C's. I dropped off the pick and went to the Library, got my book, visited a bit, then walked down to the dentist office and made us both appointments for our checkups. Then back to visit with C a bit and wait for Tom. I also got to play with our goddaughter - Maya.

She is the cutest sweetest thing, just check her out for yourself.

Ok, moving on - While visiting, it became 1:30 and someone suggested lunch. So off we went. There is a great little place just under 7 blocks away. Along the way we were admiring some flowers in a yard and a guy comes out and starts talking about the plants, and then the abuelita comes out and we have quite a chat about where we all live, who has purchased houses in their neighborhood, and of course the plants. I ended up with a seed pod from a beautiful vine "Zapatos de Reina". On to Restaurant Reforma at the corner of 45 and 72 in Centro. Lunch was great - Mateo the mesero was there, we like him alot. Mateo is in school in our neighborhood taking Business Administration classes. Candy (real name Margarite) the duena was very attentive and wanted to ensure we enjoyed our visit - We did!

Now back to C y G's cuz we still haven't been to the grocery store which was on our original list this morning. Along the way we pass a house that G has been admiring as an investment, and then of course the lady listing the house is just a few blocks away and we have to have a chat with her. Then the Aquario store was open and since Tom and I always pass it in the car I've never been in before so another detour. And of course we peeked in every open door, window, hole we passed. What fun.

Finally, we made it to the grocery and home.

Then out in the back yard there is quite a lot going on. I knew there is a predator of some sort as the Tropical Mockingbirds were quite aggitated as were the Green Jays, even the hummingbirds were zipping in and out and fussing. And the Golden Fronted Woodpeckers were zipping between trees and making a lot of rcket as well. Finally, I spot a Hawk, it turns out to be a juvenile Gray Hawk and he was trying to catch birds as treats in the big Ramon tree. Quite a lot of excitement.

click on these links to see a representation of the birds mentioned.

Juvenile Gray Hawk

Green Jay

Tropical Mockingbird

Golden Fronted Woodpecker

Overall a very full very interesting day - Life is good! A lot of days are like this. Nothing really planned but by being open and enthusiastic fun things can happen.

Trying to get a handle on meals/meal times here

The eating schedule here in Merida is quite different that most places in the US. Probably even quite different than most other places in Mexico.

Here, breakfast is about 9am; you eat tacos, tortas, etc. Lunch (comida) is the BIG meal of the day starting between 1:30-3:30. With dinner (cena) quite late 9-11pm - light food; tamales, sopas, caldos, etc.

I haven't quite got the hang of this yet. I don't typically eat in the morning; I like my coffee as I tour the garden, bird watch, read the paper, check email, etc. Around 11 I am getting hungry, and as there is not typically anything worthwhile in the fridge unless there are leftovers I snack on fruit, nuts, chips, whatever is handy. I don't even think about cooking.

Today as I took a stroll around the neighborhood; I was checking the status of the work in the park by the church at La Ermita, I though about making lunch. Problem is by this time of day the stuff in the little neighborhood mercado is either old, or picked over, or fly covered. So unless you thought about lunch early and pulled something out of the freezer (congeleador) you are reduced to more fruit, nuts, chips, etc. OR and this is my favorite - you go down the street to the Pollo Asado guy and buy a grilled chicken, complete with cabbage salad, rice, soup, tortillas, and salsa for 35pesos. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Or even better yet, send husband for the pollo! Now this is living!

I'm Ruin'ed

We just got back from a 6-day whirlwind tour of 8 arqueological ruins, and visited the states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo.
We left early last Friday, February 1 and returned the evening of February 6. There were 29 of us, plus 2 guides and the bus driver when we left, along the way we also picked up a kitten, now named Maya and living happily here in Merida. We were mostly expats with years in residence in Mexico from 3 months to 30+ years, but there were also a few mexicanos thrown in.
It was a great trip, very busy, lots of scaling arqueological ruins, which for some reason like to include LOTS of steps. The ultimate stairmaster.

So which ruins did we visit; Edzna, Chicanna, Bezan, Xpujil, Calakmul, Kohunlich, Tulum, and Coba.

We were transported aboard a Turis Tetiz bus, with a professional driver, Eddie, who is quite competent, helpful, and knowledgable about the buses. He actually had to make a few repairs along the way. We had two guides, Sergio and Ricardo. Both very knowledgable about the Yucatan Peninsula and the Maya as well as the sites we visited. They also each made recommendations along the way with regards to restaurants, shopping, etc.

The trip Tom and I took last Spring through Chiapas included Eddie, and Sergio, plus another driver as on several occasions during that trip we traveled overnight. This trip our longest driving stretch was about 5 hours.

We have lots of photos and as soon as we have them pared down I will post them and add a link for you to see.

If any of you are thinking about a visit, annd would like to include a trip like this, Joanna at Technologia Turistica Total offers trips through her LifeLong Learning program, at http://tttac.com/lifelonglearning/index.htm I can't recommend these trips any higher than to say we've been on 2 so far, and look forward eagerly to our next.

I almost forgot - Carlos Rosado, who was also on the trip keeps a blog as well, AND, he brought his laptop and was able to keep up with posts along the way. Here is his blog with several posts about this trip http://www.carlosrosado.blogspot.com/