GREAT FRIENDS PROVIDE WARMTH

We have wonderful friends, Lourdes and Peteco, that live in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  We met Lourdes and Peteco at Puerto Morelos, Mexico (about 20 minutes south of Cancun) in April 2008.  We became friends immediately.  Lourdes' and Sam's birthdays are one day apart.

In April 2009 and April 2010 Lourdes and Peteco met us again at the same resort, Paradisus.  We have kept in touch with our great friends.  Sam and Lourdes email several times each week.  This past April, Lourdes and Peteco brought Sam a wonderful and thoughtful birthday present.  A beautiful warm red shawl from Buenos Aires.  Lourdes knew how cool the evenings can be in San Miguel de Allende and she wanted Sam to be warm.

Last evening we went to a Christmas Concert and to dinner.  Sam was warm thanks to great friends.

PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS

This year will be our first year that we have spent Christmas in San Miguel de Allende.  Last year we were in Oaxaca.  We are renting a house from our friends, Tom and Linda, for the month of December.  Linda told Sam that there was a collapsable Christmas tree in storage.  The other day Sam looked but couldn't find it.  She emailed Linda and Linda emailed back and said it looked like a hula hoop.  Sam thought it was a wreath.  Here's a look at our Christmas tree.  All we had to do was put the stand together and pull up the tree.  It was already decorated with lights and ornaments.  How cool is that?

The other day, we walked about 1 1/2 miles (could be further...who knows) to Plaza Civica and purchased three pointsettias and walked home with them.  The cost of the three pointsettias was 85 pesos or $7.08 or $2.36 each.  Only in Mexico!  And there was no tax.  Now we have our house decorated, it was time to make some Christmas cookies.

Sam really is not much of a baker.  She really doesn't bake a lot back in Michigan especially during the holidays because our sister-in-law, Sue, always takes care of the entire family with Christmas cookies.  We do miss them. 

However this year Sam thought she would give it a try.  She made a list of ingredients that she would need to make two different types of cookies.  Yesterday, we walked to the main grocery store, Mega.  Mega is a couple of miles.  Both of us had our backpacks with us.  With everything purchased and our backpacks full, we walked back.  Of course on the way home, Bob had to stop at El Maple bakery, his favorite, for a bolillo (roll) for lunch. 

Sam was up early this morning.  She was all excited to make the cookies.  When Bob got up, he saw Sam working away at the computer trying to figure out the conversion of liquid and solid measurements for US to metric.  Sam had a surprised look on her face when she figured out that she needed more butter and cream cheese.  You see...the package of Philadelphia cream cheese in Mexico is 190 grams and Sam needed 8 ounces.  Eight ounces is equivalent to 225 grams.  Also when you buy a pound of butter at home (4 sticks), it is 1/2 cup per stick.  Here in Mexico what looks like a pound of butter (4 sticks) is only 360 grams or a little over 12 ounces.  Are you confused yet?  So luckily there is a tienda about two blocks away.  Sam got dressed and headed to the tienda for another stick of butter (90 grams) and a small package of Philadelphia cream cheese (95 grams).

Sam was working away in the kitchen measuring all of her ingredients.  She was making two different types of cookies.  She has never made these before in her life and this is the first time ever that she has attempted to bake in Mexico. 

Besides the difference in the measurements, there is a difference in baking times due to the high altitude.  It took almost 50% more time to bake than the recipe states.  We'll save you from the calculus to convert baking tempuatures from farhenheit to celsius.  Sam was really worried.  The two types of cookies were Rugelach Cookies and Mexican Wedding Cookies.  It took Sam all day to make the cookies.  Here are the results:

RUGELACH COOKIES

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES

HOW LONG WILL THESE LAST?

The house manager, Javier, came over just as Sam was finishing the Rugelach Cookies.  Javier sampled the cookies and reached for another.  He said she could sell them on the calle (street) to make some money.  Sam told him she would have to charge way too much money!  We guess they were good (well we know they are good because we sampled them too).

After baking all day, Sam offered to go to the local markets to pick up groceries to make dinner tonight.  Bob said she had worked very hard today, and he would take her to dinner.  Now it is time to have a glass of wine, relax by the fire place, listen to Christmas music on our computer and admire our beautiful tree before going to dinner.  Sam is also emploring Bob to give her a foot rub!  Do you think it will happen?

WEAKI LEAKS IN SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE

Sooner or later Weaki Leaks had to surface in San Miguel de Allende. And so it did just last Monday. That’s the day our good friend Ron from Boston struck our neighbor Bill from Houston with his cane. Reports of women raising their voices and striking one another are also becoming more frequent.

You see, Weaki Leaks is a disease. What some might call a syndrome that effects an aging population. I first experienced Weaki Leaks when I turned fifty. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. But as more and more people experience Weaki Leaks tensions rise. Put yourself in a community highly prone to Weaki Leaks and prepare to defend yourself.

Weaki Leaks comes in two varieties. The first variety starts in the fifties and the symptoms include frequent Leaks particularly at night. Not so bad, but a lack of sleep does cause unwarranted outbursts. The second variety starts later in life and is characterized by a weak or incomplete purging. Either way you have Weaki Leaks.

Weaki Leaks is a hereditary condition and most prevalent in male jeans unless they are attorneys in which case it first appears in their briefs.  Weaki Leaks is also most prevalent in an aging population. With all the aging snowbirds flocking to San Miguel for the winter months it has become the Weaki Leaks capital of Mexico if not the world.

So many people experiencing Weaki Leaks in one place is not good and places an undue burden on the infrastructure. San Miguel is nearly five hundred years old. When it was built nobody lived long enough to experience Weaki Leaks. So, the disposal system is not prepared for the volume. As a result, the cost to use the public water closets in Centro has risen from three pesos to five and there is no end in sight. The police force is also over burdened with cranky Weaki Leakers in restaurants, bars and most notably, at Star Bucks, pushing and shoving their way to the water closets.

Things have gotten so bad that coffee and beer sales are prohibited for anybody over fifty without an appropriate doctor’s note or proof that you can hold your Leaker. Cheaters are pushing the price of Depends through the roof.

Worse yet, Weaki Leakers are no longer welcome at the local hot water spring, La Gruta. If they attempt to enter they receive a full body search that would make the TSA blush. The last Weaki Leaker to breach La Gruta’s security nearly walked away with it prized water in his Depends!

Teenagers have become the enablers of the Weaki Leakers. For them it’s profitable and entertaining. Weaki Leakers will pay just about anything to get their caffeine, wine and liquor.  Once satisfied they start scrambling and it’s nothing but asses, elbows and walkers headed to the water closets, which, of course, has been padlocked by the teenagers. Not to worry, the over-priced taxi’s for the aged are waiting outside and willing to take the highest biding Weaki Leaker anywhere.

I have plenty more to tell you but my Leaker calls. I thank God every day that our favorite wine store, Europea, has home delivery. No need to entertain the teenagers.

P.S. If you’re an American when you enter the bathroom and an American when you leave the bathroom, what are you when you are in the bathroom? Of course, Euro-pee'n.

BEACH LIFE IN SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE - DECEMBER 2010

We have returned to the beach life of San Miguel for the winter of 2010/2011. It’s good to be back walking the Atlantic beach in the Port of San Antonio.

This year we have rented a different beach house for the month of December. We are lucky that Tom and Linda won’t return to San Miguel until January. Until then, we will enjoy their beach home, commonly known as Casa Siesta, and its magnificent views of the Atlantic. We are even allowed to use their long tube snorkels. Thankfully, we are experienced long tube snorkelers. Sam will use Linda’s three foot long red snorkel and I will use Tom’s yellow four-footer. To understand this unique sport you should read our blog post “Going to the Beach” dated January 14, 2010. The reader is also invited to read the January 2010 post, “Global Warming and San Miguel de Allende” to have better understanding of the environment here.

Today we enjoyed French fries at Stubby’s beach French fry stand and chatted with our friend Mercado Ramirez. Both are experiencing a pick-up in business now that the northern snow birds are starting to return to the beaches of San Miguel and the most sought after Port of San Antonio.

From our beach house roof top you can see the Atlantic and hear the waves crashing. With the wind blowing just right you can even hear the laughter coming from Mercado’s restaurant. Surely, he is serving up some cool drinks to guests anxious for shelter from the tropical sun.

The town square is abuzz about the boat races scheduled for Saturday, December 11th and, Sunday the 12th. I have attached pictures of a couple of the boats being readied for the races and a copy of one of the posters plastered all over town. As you can see, the boats of the two favorite drivers are on display in front of the main church in San Miguel.

In colonial towns the matadors are superstars but not here at the beach. Here we are excited to see two hometown boat racers compete. The more experienced driver is Barco Jacinto. He will race in his usual #13, El Diablo Negro.

The less experienced new comer is Lancha Gomez. Lancha will pilot his new yellow # 5 speedster with the green alligator head on the front, El Gator Verde.

Both racing boats feature Mercury powered engines. This has caused somewhat of an uproar around town as everyone knows that Mercury is highly toxic and it pollutes both the ocean waters and the fish we eat. As occurred last year, I now expect Al Gore to be invited to town to speak about pollution and global warming.

Weather conditions call for warm Atlantic waters, windy conditions and somewhat high seas. All this and an altitude of 6,400 feet above sea level will surely result in an exciting race.

I can’t wait to stand on the shore of the Atlantic and watch the race. I know Stubby and Mercado are excited too because with the Atlantic races come more beach tourists, more free publicity and, of course, more sales. In fact, Stubby has added a new product line to his offerings. He now offers cigarettes. I expressed my displeasure with this move but Stubby said, “Don’t worry. They’re organic”.

THE PASTOR'S ASS

I got this from another blog...debi in merida...I really enjoyed it and thought you would too. 

The Pastor's Ass

The Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.  The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.  The local paper read:

PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.  The next day the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Pastor to get rid of the donkey.  The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.  The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN

The Bishop fainted.  He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farmer for $10.  The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.  The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE

The Bishop was buried the next day...

The moral of the story is...being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery and even shorten your life.

So be yourself and enjoy life.



A SUNDAY STROLL IN PARQUE JUAREZ

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  The sky was blue and not a cloud anywhere.  The temperature was in the low 70's.  We decided to take a walk and stroll through Parque Juarez.  It's about a 15 minute walk from our house.  It is a beautiful place for families to gather on a Sunday or any day. 

There was a Christmas Bazaar that was just being set up.  They had different tables with crafts that the children could enjoy.  Kids were riding their bikes.  Guys were playing basketball.  Parents with young children were playing on the play ground.  Food vendors were selling their goods.  All in all just a relaxing peaceful day.

As we were walking through the park, we noticed a tall tree without any bark.  Painted on the tree was a picture of the Virgin Mary.  Something one would not see in the US...a religious picture in a public park.  Life is simple.



MEXICO CITY

Last Wednesday afternoon, we landed in Mexico City.  The city is huge.  According to the Internet,  there are about 20 million people living in Mexico City.  When flying over the city and coming in to land it seems like it goes on forever and ever. 

This year was a breeze getting through immigration.  After immigration, we went to get our luggage.  There were a lot of people and not much room to maneuver.  We each had two large bags.  Now it was time to go through customs.  Bob put all of our luggage on the X-ray belt.  Sam pushed the green/red button and got a green light.  We were a little concerned because we brought all of our vitamins and supplements for the 4 1/2 months we will be Mexico.  Sam put most of them in big Ziploc baggies because it was easier to pack.  Before we left home, Bob made a chart of all of the supplements.  He listed each pill and stated if they were for Bob or Sam and how many of each pill per day, times the number of days (138).  He was ready!  Luckily we didn't need it.

After we got through immigration and customs, Francisco, our driver, was right there waiting for us.  It was wonderful to see a familiar face.  We walked to the parking garage and this was our view. 

We couldn't believe how close these homes were to the airport.  Every available space...up, down, and sideways is being used for housing.  It certainly makes us appreciate our home in Michigan.