I Wouldn't Swim Here

Hasn't been much going on here lately. We have been hanging out at home and doing the usual things. Errands, spanish class, the orphanage and just normal day to day stuff. Not very blogworthy things anyway. No big events happening.

Young Diegos' tiny 6 mth. old hands fastened onto my gold chain one evening and it broke so I had to get that repaired. I had a hard time finding where it had been repaired, he did a good job and only charged 30 pesos (less than $3.00), good deal.

Saturday we took a bus to one of the colonias on the very edge of town and then walked down the big hill to a secluded cove. We had the place to ourselves until 4 young fellows came. They keep hopping from one rock to another in the water, at first trying to keep their shoes dry. After a few missteps, they gave up on that and by the time we left they had their shoes and socks off and were in the water in their pants and were soaking wet. Wonder what the moms thought of that when they returned home? Still too cold, water and air for me to get in the water; but they were having a ball.

Personally I would not swim here. It is very rocky and has I would imagine some weird currents. The water rushes in around the rocks and it would be easy to get smashed up against them. The beach here is also all rock; but is a nice place just to sit and contemplate things. Very quiet and relaxing and right in town. This is not a place that tourists frequent, probably because they would never find it. It is a rough and rugged place; but very beautiful in its own way.

Last Day Of Classes

Every Thursday I go with a group of ladies to an orphanage called Hogar Paz y Bien. There we split up into groups and try to teach the children some english. The morning class is for an hour, then we go for lunch while the children are eating. We go back in an hour and do an afternoon class with different children.
The majority of the ladies are "snowbirds" who come down for the winter. Last Thursday was our last class for the season as people are starting to leave. It is an enjoyable experience for both us and the children (or at least them seem to enjoy it). There are always lots of hugs.
I didn't take my camera with me at all this year; but one of the other ladies gave me a photo of our morning class. There are just under 20 children in this class and they range from 3 to 5 yrs. of age. A fun group.

I don't have a picture of our afternoon class. The group I was with had around 15- 17 children in it ranging in age from about 6 to 8 yrs. of age.
So, as of Thursday I am on summer vacation I guess.

Guaymas Has A New Mayor

In a ceremony yesterday our mayor Antonio Astiazarán Gutiérrez, (shown here with his wife, photo from Desde Cabina)

resigned his position. He will now be handling the political campaign of Alfonso Elías Serrano who is running for the position of governor of Sonora.
In a swearing in ceremony yesterday he handed over the mayorship to Susana Corella Platt, who will take over the position until September when a new mayor will be sworn in after the elections.

The old mayor Antonio Astiazarán Gutiérrez swearing in the new mayor Susana Corella Platt, photo from Desde Cabina.

Mayor hanging his picture on the wall beside the other past mayors of Guaymas. Photo from Desde Cabina.

Surprise Finds

There are some foodstuffs from NOB (north of the border), that you just don't find here. So when you do find something from your old life, it is a pleasant surprise.

Last week I found 2 places in town that carry Mozzarella cheese. We like the Mexican cheeses fine; but the ones that we get here just do not seem to melt that well. It is nice to have found mozzarella for when I make pizza.

Then a couple of days ago my landlady came up with some baking that used puff pastry. I have never seen puff pastry here so naturally asked her for the recipe. She laughed and said that she does have a recipe for it somewhere; but that she had bought this prepared. Even better. She told me where to get it and then later came up with hers and gave me some. What a nice lady!! So I now have some puff pastry in the freezer and know where to get more.

Yesterday we went out for a late breakfast with a friend and as the restaurant that we were going to go to was closed, we tried one that neither of us had been to before. They had an omelet on the menu with sun dried tomatoes in it, along with fresh mushrooms. All three of us opted for it and it was good. I have never seen sun dried tomatoes either in the stores here or on a menu in any of the restaurants; but then we don't frequent the fancier places over in San Carlos, so they might be available on menus there. Anyway the omelets were tasty.

I guess the lesson here is that you just never know when/where you will find something different or from your past, so always keep your eyes open.

Wiring The Patio

Things are progressing a bit with the patio roof. The other night the electrician came and put in some lights. We had one outside light already but he added 4 more. It is now bright enough to read out there at night with all the lights. Very nice. The landlord had already purchased 3 energy efficient light bulbs and we had one extra one here, so all lights are operational.

The electrician had marked where the plug ins would go, so yesterday a fellow came and cut out the channels for them. He put in the pipe to run the wires through and then cemented them in also. It will be nice when the plug ins are functional, it will mean no more running an extension cord from inside the house to the washing machine. It will be much easier.

Things are coming along.

Now we wait for the men to return to put the cover coat and smooth coat of cement on the roof, when that is done the tile can be put on the floor. It is coming poco a poco (little by little).

UPDATE: The electrician came back this morning and hooked up the plug ins, so all is working now. Yipee!!

Vegetables From The Mercado

People are always interested in how much things cost here. Well, today I needed fresh vegetables, I had to go uptown to pick up a shoe that was getting fixed so decided to get vegetables at the Mercado. The tianguis (open air market) was also on today and might have had cheaper prices; but I didn't feel like walking down there (read lazy).
The are many vegetable sellers in the mercado and after wandering past them all, I went back to the one that seemed to have everything that I wanted.
The picture below shows what I bought for $5.72 CAD or 68 pesos MX. A big bunch of beets which had the leaves on yet, which I will also cook like spinach. A bunch of green onions, a bunch of radishes, a head of lettuce, a cucumber, some carrots and some broccoli.
I had some cherry tomatoes off of the plants here, so for lunch we had a huge fresh salad with everything in it. Very tasty.
So now you know what veggies cost here, how does it compare to where you are?

Mangos And Tomatoes

I just realised that I haven't posted any updates on the tomato plants. I have been eating them for awhile now and they are so good. Really enjoying them.

The mangos are also in full bloom right now and the bugs are super busy pollinating them. Too bad they don't have much of a fragrance; but it looks like there should be a good crop of them this year.





This morning we are off to meet a fellow blogger from northern British Columbia, Canada . I am sure it will be interesting to hear how they are enjoying the warm weather and views in San Carlos. They are only staying for a month, makes me shiver just to think of going back to the cold there after being here for that long.