School/Batman

I haven't been too great at posting these last few weeks and I apologize for it.  I have been finishing my thesis as the very last assignment for my Master's degree and I'm very proud to say the thesis was accepted and I am d-o-n-e with school for EVER! Now what will I do with my days? Hmmm, I can think of about a million things.  I have a visit to the States coming up in just about a week and want to make the most of the rest of the summer here in Baja.  Although, one thing for certain, I will NOT miss this scorching heat!
We are big Batman fans and spent last night reviewing Christopher Nolan's first Batman movie from 2005.  We've seen his second from 2008 lots of times, so we're skipping that.  But tonight we're headed to the Cinemex Platino that opened last year in La Paz to see the new Batman!! We were thrilled when Cinemex opened because well, we love the movies but also it's giving Cinepolis some competition.  For a decade Cinepolis was the only movie theater in town and didn't offer much in the way of discounts, festivals, etc.  But Cinemex's competition has changed that, with 2X1 nights, midnight showings and more.  Platino is like Cinepolis' VIP and I love going to be pampered.  I'll report back tomorrow!

Transito Office

E and I got pulled over for the first time since owning our truck - about 1 year! We had a headlight out, and we knew it.  No "mordida" or bribe asked for by the officer - who was very courteous and polite.  He even answered 2 traffic questions E and I had been arguing over the last few weeks (and I was right, ahem!).
I went to pay the "multa" or fine at the Transito office and had to go alone, since E was working. It wasn't bad at all! I found it on the map, guided myself there. Had to park a few blocks away, that place is busy! Got there 10 minutes before the office opened (thinking it was like the DMV in the States). Walked in, asked where to go at the information desk, walked to the counter, 2nd in line! $125 pesos ($10) later, bam! out the door. and everyone was so nice. I asked the man behind the counter the office hours, since he served me at 8:55am and I thought for sure it opened at 9:00am. When he told me, "Yes senorita, 9:00-3:00pm", I said, "oh but it's just 5 til 9am now" and he smiled and said, "yes but that's ok, senorita. Have a good day." I walked out smiling - love when government actually extends a favor to the public. :)

Cheerful flowers for bureaucracy that works!

Culture Shock

Just when you think you're past culture shock in another country - something happens that reminds you that you truly have A LOT more to learn:
We went camping this past weekend with 2 local families that have acquaintance-like relationships with my boyfriend and his parents.  (Although in Mexico, is anyone just an acquaintance?) We go camping pretty regularly and have our packing and planning down to a science.  We like to go bare minimum in gear, medium on the alcoholic beverages and heavy on the snacks (good excuse to cheat on our diets)!  When we met up with the 2 families on our way out of town, I was shocked to find they had vans FULL of stuff and FULL of people.  I guess we had no idea how many people would be coming on this trip, but as we made our way out to the East Cape, we were a party of 22!

The vans opened up once we got to the sand and out poured the families like clowns from a circus car.  All I could do was laugh.  and E said, "Welcome to the real La Paz!"  That night the families set up a gazebo (though the sun was already down), 3 buffet tables, kitchen-ware, a gasoline-powered overhead lamp (like a workbench-style) which ran on a motor (forget listening to the waves), kitchen chairs and even a television!! They were stocked! and very gracious with their food, as they had told us before we left they were paying for all the food, no discussion. 

I feel like I'm pretty adaptable; certainly moreso after having lived in Mexico for 4 years. I pride myself on not being the "snotty american". But even this took some patience. It wasn't at all what I was used to "camping on the beach". Instead of quiet drinks by the fire, there was ranchero music, the lamp's motor buzzing away, children shrieking playing soccer (with a full size goal by the way) and loud shouting/discussion. In the morning, even though no one had been asleep before 2am, everyone was up with the sun! I admit I felt a little out of place, uncomfortable even. I tried to relax and see that everyone was having fun, relaxing together. And in that I saw the goodness of the 2 families being so close that they could do these things together. No one was bickering or fighting, everyone was genuinely having a good time together. After I realized that I felt the virtue of the Mexican family and how special it can be. And how special I feel to be welcomed into it.

Sunset in Las Cruces

Looking towards the beach, from my twilight desert walk

What is up with "Ahorita"?

I have to write today about a spanish word that reeeally bugs me: "ahorita".  For those of you that don't speak spanish, it comes from "ahora" meaning now, with an "-ita" ending, which changes any word to mean a smaller version of that word.  Example: Casa = House, but Casita = little house. ok? ok.

But when one uses "ahorita" I've found that it doesn't anyways mean, "in a little bit" or "in a short time" like one would think.  Well, at least not when E uses it.  Consider these common exchanges:

Me: When do you want to paint the new wall?
E: Ahorita.
Me: Oh wow, ok so should we go get paint? Will we have time before my yoga class?
E <looks confused>: No, we're going to do it ahorita.
Me <returning confused look>: So....should I....um....when exactly?
E: Ahorita is ahorita, Lisa. Like maybe in a few months.

next day

E: Jose (our Mason) called. He'll be over ahorita.
Me: Ok, cool. Let me know and I'll put some clothes on. (Don't judge, it's like 100* now)
LITERALLY 2 MINUTES GO BY, KNOCKING ON GATE, DOG BARKING, WHISTLING, E OPENING DOOR as I run to the bedroom to dress myself

Now after Jose leaves
Me: What the hell?? You gave me no notice! You said he'd be coming by ahorita!!
E: Yes, Lisa, well that was ahorita. You never know...
Me <way confused>: How can "you never know"?!?

Grrr.  The flexibility of this word! It morphs from situation to situation.  Just one more delightful quirk of living in Mexico :)

Busy Beachin'

Wow! You step away for a few days and BOOM a week has gone by! Been very busy laying on the beach! This past weekend we camped for 2 nights at a beach with no name.  But because it's on the old dirt road from Los Planes to Los Barriles (one that was, you know, originally a horse-riding road) and you must spend about 2 hours go over rocks the size of your tires, curves that spiral upward and cliff-hugging "where-would-the-oncoming-car-go?" type terrain, most people call it "Desviado" Beach - or Detour Beach.

Here are some shots of the drive in:

Climbing the mountain-side. This is Los Planes valley in the background. 
La Paz is back over the mountains in the distance.

1992 Landcruiser. mountain = not an issue.

road continues...

Then it appeared from the cliff road, like a sparkling jewel!!!



  

Getting there was such a battle, that all we wanted to do was get.in.water.NOW!! Spent 2 days snorkelling, wading, exploring the rocks, sharing company with the pelicans, playing fetch and battling the night winds with the tarp. Made fried chicken quesadillas with the cast iron skillet over a small campfire and slept out under the stars.

My snorkelling partner - I swear he followed me!

Sorry it's blurry. Taken with the GoPro and it gives a "fish-eye" viewpoint,
plus I didn't get the water drops off the lens, oops!

Saw NO other humans the whole time. Some cars passed up high above us on the cliff-road but no one came down, we were alone! Awesome trip! I've seen a part of Baja that not many people have seen. It is amazing to me that in this insane world of technology, communication, societal pressures and agendas that it is possible to completely disconnect and just....be.



Garden Update

Well well well, things are moving along much faster on the garden project than I anticipated (you know how everything moves at snail-speed down here?).  We got some cacti and put them in the ground 2 nights ago.  Lots of spines so the dog won't dig near them.  Pain makes an excellent deterrant, haha!  As predicted we got a short, stubby cactus (guess it might be time to learn cactus names, huh?):

And another spiny one about a foot and a half tall:

These are our two existing cacti - they continue to grow!

Mezcal (E just told me the name) was a tiny baby when E brought her home from the desert



Aloe Cactus (I knew that one) with M next to him for comparison. 

As you can see we have LOTS of work left to do.  But with the high sun and heat, outdoor work (and pretty much ALL work) is impossible between 11am and 8pm. We'll see what else we think of! How are your gardens?

Punto Pelicano

 Went camping over the weekend with the boy and the dog and had a blast! We decided to drive to a beach we've been to several times (El Coyote) and then follow the dirt road we had always seen veering off to the right.  We drove through the cacti and brush, leaving the paved highway behind. I swear some of these "roads" were cattle-made first and then maintained by so many beach-goers plowing their cars through the desert.

Arrived to a gravel beach, in a nice arch-formation.  Settled on an area that had huge boulders in front of the waves, so many little pools were formed.  Nice to walk away out on, or jump off of, as our neighbors did for most of the afternoon.



taken in the morning light, but you can see the boulders a bit

In the morning, I woke up when the sky was just beginning to lighten and got up out of the tent to take some pics. 

Sunrise-lit sky, our tent in left center lookin' tiny!

Spent the afternoon lounging - something M does very well as you can see:

he didn't want to leave the shade - sand was too hot without flip flops!

Love finding sea stars like this one -
they're so camouflaged that spotting one is like winning a prize!

"Oh, QUESO!"

Contrary to what the title suggests, this post is not about cheese.  Although I am a HUGE fan of cheese and and in the future I may write a post on La Paz's best cheeses, haha.  No, I wanted to share a funny "spanglish" moment that E and I recently shared.  I was trying to clean the back porch and was trying to move a very heavy wooden door that we had recently replaced with a new steel one. It was leaning against the house.

Me <straining to move door, can't quite get a grip on it>: "JEEZ!"
E, not sure how he heard me from the front of the house, where he was watering the "lawn", arrives and without saying anything, moves the door for me.
Me <confused, in spansh>: "Como supiste que necesite ayuda?"
E <smirking, in spanish>: "Dijiste, 'QUESO'. Siempre cuando dices eso es por que necesitas ayuda con algo, Lisa."

every day is a surprise with him :)

Garden?

This pic above is basically what I'm working with in our yard. Baked, dry, scorched all come to mind.  Since E and the guys replaced the perimeter wall around the house (and ripped up the plants in the process) he has given me the green-light to be the "jardinera" and design a new garden/yard scheme. As if I have experience and knowledge in doing this, ha!

We have 1 aloe cactus that we bought at the supermarket, put in the ground and hoped it would grow.  4 years later it is full and has 9 (!) babies growing along side of it. This is not our aloe, but an idea of what it looks like:

So I definitely want to keep that and let it prosper.  We also have a leafy tree (seen below) and a nice full palm tree right next to the porch.  These i love because they cast green and blow in the breeze, etc.  The pic below is roughly what the yard looks like now:

Yeah.......so clearly I have a long way to go! Because of the sun and the fact that we're not home part of year for weeks at a time (kayak season), we need plants that LOVE the sunlight and don't need water. Shouldn't be too hard, right? This is Baja, afterall...I have a feeling I will end up with a yard full of these pretty babies:

I just have to get organized and put some money aside for the trip to the nursery. Or I could call a gardener with experience.  E would kill me! We'll see...

Big News!

Yesterday was Election Day and things went smoothly over here in Baja California.  Everyone we ran into was talking about the election and the numbers.  We listened on the radio last night to the broadcasts with the tallies and for now, it appears we have a winner.  Even E who normally does not get involved/excited in government was "sshing" me to hear the radio.  Politics does funny things to people.

For me, being an outsider to the whole spectacle has been interesting.  I've done some research on my own and even attended a short presentation on Mexican government so I could better understand the process, who's who, etc. But as my visa does not permit "participation in political activities of any kind" I am staying well on the edge.  Still is very exciting to watch though!

On another note, it RAINED in Baja this morning! First time in a year and a half!! Our dog, M, has never seen rain, so we celebrated his first time although he just looked confused.  Now from our kitchen I can hear the cars driving through puddles and the streets that have been transformed into small streams, I'm sure. Nowhere for it to go except down to the ocean.  I wonder what interesting things floated down from the city the beachcombers will find later today...Happy Monday!