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the wheels on the bus....


There is a small, rather rural community between Merida and Progreso.  Closer to the Merida side than the Progreso side.  This community is known for, among other things, its stonemasons and woodcarvers.  The stonemasons excavate and craft the local stone known as macedonia, or at least that's what I think it's called.

There is an annual Fair, or Feria in Dzitya, it's called the Tunich.   We go every year.  And every year it is nearly the same stuff.  And still we go every year.  This year was no exception.

This year when we left the Tunich, instead of heading straight out the way we had come, we took a different road, a road less traveled, at least by us.

This road took us past a storage yard of what appeared to be old parade floats, pieces and parts, that were/are for sale.  Was very cool to see, wish I had thought to take a photo. This road connected us over on the Western ring of the Periferico, which is a highway that by-passes the City.  In the USofA we called it a By-Pass.

It was quite interesting, I think it's been probably 3 years since we've been out there??  I told Tom, we should, on a clear day, and soon, drive the Periferico completely just to see what's going on out there.

So much has changed and happened in and around Merida since we go here in January 2006.  We have and had to learn so much.  And now we've become a bit insulated.  We know where to go when we need, this, that, or the other thing;  And that is pretty much where we always now go for the this, that, or the other thing.  There maybe a better place for the that, but we sort of stick with what we know.  We've stopped going to some of the 'things' that were so vital to our understanding of things here, the Merida Men's Club for Tom, the International Women's Club of Merida for me  -  heck we've even stopped going to the monthly gringo cocktail gatherings since they've switched up the location..  We stopped  going to each for a variety of reasons, and for different reasons.  These also happen to be where we met met many of our friends.  It's probably where allot of  the 'new' people are also going to make acquaintances, learn how to, where to, when to, etc.;  Just as we did!

We have our friends, some that we see regularly, some not so regularly.  There are LOTS of new people here.  We used to know everyone that was mentioned in conversations, now I'm hearing more and more new names, seeing more and more unrecognized faces.  It's overwhelming, knowing so many people, trying to keep up with the acquaintances, but how do you not meet people.  Especially when so many fun and interesting people come in to your circle of life.  Some of my friends have incredible memories, and can remember how they met a person, and when...I am constantly apologizing to people I've only seen a few times, for not remembering their name.

When we were working stiffs we had a small circle that we saw all the time.  Now,  ouf, just to plan a meal, we usually invite 6, making it a total of 8.  And even then it's hard to keep up.

Coming through Dzitya today, I asked Tom if he would enjoy living in a rural area.  His response was quite similar to my thoughts; Yes, I could enjoy living in a rural area - But I can't, it's already too difficult keeping up with the social life, How in the world could we do it from that distance.

Gosh, just where the heck am I going with this anyway,  just random concentric thoughts without a conclusion.  How do you handle retirement, are you active, always on the go, moving about, looking for more? - or are you content where and with what you have?

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
round and round,
round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
all through the town.

The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish;
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish,
all through the town.

The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep;
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes Beep, beep, beep,
all through the town..

The money on the bus goes, Clink, clink, clink;
Clink, clink, clink;
Clink, clink, clink.
The money on the bus goes, Clink, clink, clink,
all through the town.

The Driver on the bus says "Move on back,
move on back, move on back;"
The Driver on the bus says "Move on back",
all through the town.

The baby on the bus says "Wah, wah, wah;
Wah, wah, wah;
Wah, wah, wah".
The baby on the bus says "Wah, wah, wah",
all through the town.

Restaurant Review - La Casa del Fondue

Tom and I had the pleasure to accompany Nancy and Barry to La Casa del Fondue last night! 

 

It was a first visit for all of us; and for me a first ever Fondue restaurant visit. 
What with being lactose intolerant and all...
However, I was assured there were non-dairy selections!  And oh were there!

The restaurant sits at the corner of Circuito Colonias and calle 22 (on the 22 side) in Colonia Mexico Oriente, it is small but packed!    Only 5 tables inside, with another 5 or 6 outside.  In typical gringo fashion we were there quite early for cena (which is the lighter evening meal), arriving about 7:30pm.  By the time we left, about 10, the place was full, and on a Monday night!

Our waitress, Elsa, was a marvel, she was fast, efficient, pleasant, and observant.


 
The inside is loaded with stuff to see;  posters, pictures, chatckis, and funny signs; the owner has a terrific sense of humor. 

The ceiling is in movement with the suspended wine bottles and there are several very funny things written about the bottles, how they get there,  and what may happen should one fall. You will have to go find out for yourself...




This is the cheese fondue, but with bacon and ajillo (guajillo) chiles.  Really good, and just the right spiciness.

This is the traditional cheese fondue, but with bacon!
 The fondues are served with bread cubes, plain and seasoned with fines herbs.  However, there are optional other things you can order; brocolli, mushrooms, potatos, etc.

Nancy and I shared a Fondue Oriental. 
This was a lovely savory broth already loaded with brocolli, cauliflor, and carrots.  We then ordered the Mar y Tierra option which gave us our choice of two each from the Mar, and two each from the Tierra options.  We went with beef, chicken, fish, and squid.  All came out in small cubes and ready to simmer.  Nancy and I agreed that next time we would stick with Mar; pescado y calamar. 
This was advertised as a 'for 2 persons' size.  We couldn't finish it!

These are our dipping sauces; cilantro cream (the best), xcatic cream (delicious but a bit spicy), sweet mustard, and a bbq sauce, although they called it a ciruela sauce. 


And then there is the aftermath, detritus.....


We finished the meal with a chocolate fondue, and 2 heaping plates of dippers; apple, strawberry, banana, marshmallows, gads, I can't remember it all. And of course completely forgot to take a picture.
In fact, everytime something arrived we would all be so mesmerized that it wasn't until too late that I would remember to take a photo.

 They have a large beverage selection - Barry, as those of you who know Barry would expect, went with coffe, which he pronounced 'Good'.  The rest of us went with the Clericot, which is a FABULOUS Sangria style wine infusion full of flavor and chopped fruit. 
 It really was a fabulous drink.  They offered us a choice of suave o fuerte, which indicated the amount of wine which will be included.  We went with fuerte, and it was terrific!

We all had a really good time - the service was fabulous, Elsa works Monday and Tuesday evenings by the way!. The food was all really good, and we were with friends and having a great time! 
And it wasn't just because of the Clericot, I swear it wasn't!!!!

We all said we'd go back!  For Sure!

OK details for the restaurant
Calle 22 #223 por Circuito Colonias, Col. Mexico Oriente, Merida, Yucatan, MX
J. Román Azueta is the owner, and I definitly want to meet this man, he has wicked sense of humor.
local phone 287-3421
Iusa 99-93-18-03-82
Telce 99-99-95-44-11
all of this is on the business card so I feel comfortable noting it here!

They also offer Cupones de Courtesia, which we call frequent buyer cards - so get a move on!  What'cha waitin for!

We were all thrilled, if not a bit overwhelmed by the selection palette.  

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Harry Potter

So this past Sunday found us standing in a queue outside a Cinemark theatre in Pearland Texas waiting for the ticket office to open so we could buy our tickets to see the final installment in the Harry Potter movie series.

I am a big fan of both the books AND the movies; having read each book several times and watched each movie several times as well. I find the stories to be full of fun, friendship, adventure, challenge, and choices, both good and bad. I also really enjoy how closely the movies stay true to the books. I hate going to see a movie based on a book I've read and finding very little similarity between the two.

So, there we were - waiting - when the background music caught my ear, Christian, Jesus loves me kind of music, catchy beat....

Once tickets were bought the crowd was directed to line up in a hallway rather than to let us enter the designated theatre. While waiting in this queue we overheard some discussion bout how/why movies there could'nt start before noon. Seems the start times are predicated on the end times for the churches there??? Additionally, it seems the theatre hosts a church service. Now this was all just overheard in a conversation standing in a queue.

The movie was fabulous, stayed true to the book, and tied up the story nicely.

I did comment to Tom that I recall early on in the Harry Potter series that the religious right was highly derogatory about the stories and were even advising their followers to not read or watch them. What with all that witchcraft and wizardry -

Seems the 'word' has changed and they now see the positive and uplifting qualities to the stories. Seems if you can't beat them you join them, and use them to your best advantage.

Or maybe I'm Just being critical and the change of heart was just a realization and acceptance of an error made??? I did/do still find it highly curious that they were always positive about the Narnia stories?? No sorcery or magic there...... Just me being negative and critical, probably from lack of sunlight, I need to get home!



Well, here we are in Houston. Our annual pilgrimage to attend to maintaining Tom's VA medical benefits.




While in Houston we stay with friends who also have a house in Merida, but need to work 2 more years before retiring so only visit their Merida home 2-3 times per year.




This time HIGH on my list of things to get was an ipad2. Not that I 'needed' it so much, as I just 'wanted' it. Now don't get me wrong, I can argue a strong case as to why I need the ipad2.










I'm having great fun with it. Quite novel this touch screen technology; in fact Tom held the netbook up to me last night to ask a question on how to do something and I kept touching the screen and couldn't figure out why it wasn't responding.




I haven't purchased any accesories yet not knowing just what I want to do with it! Well I did get a little quilted case with a strap to haul it around in. Tom, and our friends here keep admonishing me for not yet buying the screen protector; but geesh, 30USD for a screen protector!




Well, there's always tomorrow. There aer some cool fun things about ipad, and apple technology, but also some serious deficiencies. I will need more time to figure it all out.