Be careful what you wish for! This was the last paragraph in last week's blog post ......
"We are all enjoying our time here together again this year and the time is going fast. So we will see if we can slow this week down some!" Certain parts of the week went faster than others!
Seems I had a parasite come to visit, it liked my body's environment so much it brought its whole family and a lot of friends! I hadn't been feeling that well for a couple of weeks. It started out with bowel gas, stomach bloating, cramps and mild diarrhea. Then it went from bad to worse! I can certainly sympathize with people who have celiac disease or other gastrointestinal disorders.
The first doctor diagnosed me with gastritis, however treatment for the required 4 - 5 days did not change things. I went to another doctor who diagnosed me as having parasites. The first day of the medication worked like magic, let's hope the next 4 days continue to show progress.
I took Dukeral before leaving home, I guess this was something other than the traveler's diarrhea prevented by Dukeral.
Now I can leave home without taking a change of underwear and handiwipes and planning my outings around bathroom locations! Travelling can be so much fun - and if you have no adventures or excitement there is nothing to talk about when you get home. I promise this post will be the last time I mention my parasites and their consequences.
These are the Chachalaca birds that hang out in our neighbourhood - this is their unpleasant sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9AkHleEMmU They are about the size of a laying hen.
We had giveaways this week - Maizie Laface made crocheted dish cloths to be given to the ladies in Puerto Morelos and Barney Deforge sent blankets to be handed out as well. The blankets are a true blessing this time of year. It is the winter season here now and the Mexican people feel the cold during the nights.
We met a group of seniors at the Seniors Centre here in the Colonia and gave out our collection of donations from back home. Everyone showed an obvious appreciated for their gifts. Those who could thanked us in English which they are learning at the centre, others thanked us in Spanish .
B
This is the group of seniors who take English classes for free four days a week from 8 am to 10 am.
The English teacher in the light blue beside Allan in the back has been here in Puerto Morelos teaching for a few years - she is from Toronto and had spent much of her summer vacations as a youth on the Manitoulin! Such a small world. The lady in the front beside me is the Director at the Senior's Centre.
Allan found a fellow in our village who could make a platform with wheels on it for our washing machine. At the present time we have no where else to store our washing machine when not in use other than in the house in a closet. The wheels make it easier to move around.
Theresa and Howard made brunch one morning of eggs cooked in avocado halves
and Mimosa!
Mimosa is Champagne and Orange Juice mixed in equal parts.
Doesn't that look delicious!
Also this week we made Hugh Corbett's Mexican version of his homemade baked beans! They turned out great - no disappointments.
Allan saw the Manitoulin Expositor post about the transport on La Cloche going off the road on its way to Barney's Bargan Barn so he couldn't refuse the opportunity to call Barney on Skype to say hello. Barney was certainly surprised and actually it took a while for him to realize it was Allan.
Howard makes the best Pina Coladas in the Colonia! And he will not give out the recipe :-(
Damn they are good!
Theresa was able to get some watermelon (yuk!)
from the travelling fruit salesman.
She is looking fierce with that knife, Howard
had better watch his fingers!
We are waiting for the taxi to pick us up to go into the Puerto for dinner. We travel by taxi quite a bit, the price is 25 - 30 pesos (1.25 - 1.50 Canadian) when you divide that between 2 couples it is very cheap transportation.
This couple we met a few years back - they do wood carvings and sell them on the street. Items they make are toys, dishes, ornaments, wall hangings, etc.
We had our pasta fix at My Little Italy!
Allan, Howard and Theresa ordered the Chicken Parmesan,
I had Shrimp Linguine
While we were having dinner a fellow came along and gave us a little show of his talents with fushigi balls.
I went over and had a short chat with him when he was finished and found out that he performed for Patch Adams in South America. Interesting - small world again!
We returned home on the collectivo - the price for this ride is 5 pesos per person - that is less than .50 Canadian
There are several cats on our street, I certainly am not feeding them this year - last year was a lesson for sure. If you remember they sat on our roof at night and did their mating ritual. Noisy!
Some people still have their Christmas lights up, these ones alternate between different colours.
Children are no different than anywhere else in the world, they love their toys at all hours.
It is so nice to see trees and shrubs in blossom.
We found the ticket office on this side (West) of the highway for the ADO buses travelling South. Not sure if this is something new or if we just have never noticed it before. We always walked under the overpass to the other side of the highway to purchase tickets for buses going both North and South. This makes so much more sense!
We are off to Playa Del Carmen for lunch and to spend the afternoon.
I bet this is one Christmas tree that will be difficult to dismantle. It is made of balls, each hanging on a thin plastic string at different levels to give the Christmas tree shape.
This is the restaurant we stopped at for lunch,
it has an interesting swing up bar
and is located on 5th Avenue.
They serve a great tasting Mexican Bulldog.
None of us had ever tasted one before so this was our big adventure for the day. Glad we tried it. Would we order one again? Some of us would. It is a Margarita with a bottle of Corona cerveza turned upside down in the Margarita glass. The cerveza mixes with the Margarita as you sip the drink. Actually it didn't taste that bad. I drink anything that is wet and it was wet, the plus side- it had beer in it. What more can I say.
After lunch we went looking for bookends. We didn't find any but we did find these. Allan always told me these things all came in one size - I see here he has not told me the truth in all these years!
More of 5th Avenue in Playa Del Carmen.
Theresa took a rest.
The flying dancers again.
There has been a circus in town this week,
we went the first night.
I was prepared to take photos but they would not allow any pictures to be taken. Darn! I didn't think they would mind if I took just one.
We bought ring side seats - for an extra fee.
The evening was quite enjoyable, it was
great to see the children's faces as the performers
did their antics and aerial acts.
Allan cleaned the filters in the air conditioners this week. Love his Mexican safety boots!
We stopped by the elementary school on the ocean in La Puerta to give them the items of school supplies that Liz brought with her at Christmas time. The Vice Principal and the English Teacher accepted the donation.
These little creatures were peeking out of ventilation holes in the wall between the street and the school yard.
Who'da thought - a johnny on the spot in down town Puerto Morelos - just for me?
The weather has not been the greatest these past 2 weeks - we have had a lot of rain and very strong winds. The local weatherman (bar tender at My Paradise Beach Bar) is promising better weather this week.
Hopefully he knows what he is talking about.
Until next week, stay safe and be happy!
