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Ah late lunch, then a long siesta!


Ah late lunch, then a long siesta!

That's an image most Americans have of life in Mexico, 



although some also envision it as the fat little Mexican eating beans on a tortilla then sitting on the ground under a tree with his knees drawn up and shoulders covered by a serape head tilted down and out of sight covered by a wide brimmed sombrero, but that's not the truth, and that's great fodder for a different story! And SO not the reality  


I understand the logic and good thinking to eating your large meal mid day, having a mid day rest, and then eating lighter in the evening. Here the large mid-day meal is la comida and usually occurs between 2 and 4, and the lighter evening nosh is la cena, and that happens about 9 or 10.

I want to embrace that habit, I just can't seem to do it.  I just can't seem to get my head around planning and assembling a large meal mid day, heck I can barely do it in the evening, but again, that's a different story.

Tom and I have a tendency to have coffee, and maybe split a bagel, then try to eat a little something early afternoon, if there are some leftovers from something, else it could be just a peanut butter sandwich. We then typically have a largish meal around 8pm.  This is so bad, all day we expend our energy and we have no fuel, then we load up and are more sedentary; hanging with friends, chatting, playing cards, listening to music, or watching a movie.

I also can't seem to embrace the siesta, I want to lay down and rest mid day, but there always seems to be something going on, or that needs to be done.  I do computer related work for friends and some charitable organizations and I tend to do these things in the heat of the afternoon because I can sit in front of the fan. Occasionally I'll lay in the pool and might doze off for a short while, but not typically.  

Gatherings with friends tend to start later here, and end later - so when I've been up since 6 or 7, and the clock is hitting midnight, I am yawning, my eyes are drooping...

So here's how I want my day to be  -  wake about 6, because it is so lovely and cool, take my coffee, book, and binoculars to the garden, toss the ball for the dogs, read a bit, watch the birds...  after an hour or two return to the house, check and reply to emails, check the news, read a few blogs...  Do a few things in the house, sweep, dust, wash floors, etc. Maybe read some more.
Mid-afternoon, have a lovely meal, obviously prepared by someone else, who will also do the dishes and tidy up afterwards so that I can go lie in the pool for an hour.  Come back in, shower, take a siesta for an hour, get up, check emails again, maybe read for a while, then get ready to go out - about 8 head out, catch up with some friends go to a show, music, dance, theater, something, then after the show stop for a little cena and some wine, then home and in bed by about 1.

yeah, that's my idea of a good day, totally oblivious to the world at large, no good deeds to do, no stress, no anxiety.

so how do i get there?