HollyGo
Julie Behn Joined: January 14th 2008
Logged in: November 3rd 2011
Logged in: November 3rd 2011
After 9 months in San Miguel de Allende, the trio then moved to the coastal town of Bucerias, near Puerto Vallarta, for an additional 4 months.
Upon living back in the US for over a year since their time in Mexico, and after Julie and Ronnie got married, there isn't a day that goes by that something doesn't remind them of their year in another country.
Travel Blog Posts
Julie and Ronnie
Thank you everyone for such kind emails and responses to my last post...but I have an epilogue! Ronnie planned a quick trip for us to his home area back east before we both get locked down into 9-5 jobs here in California. We both have a passionate affair with New York. It is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. The tiny restaurants every few feet, the fashion that people show with pride and the absolute romance that drifts in the air whether it is 3:00pm or 4:00 in the morning. Ronnie really wanted to take me to a spot in Central Park our first day there that he used to often go, long before we met and before he moved to San Francisco. He started telling me this really romantic story about ... read more
San Francisco Sunset
It has now been one month since our return to the San Francisco Bay Area. Our homecoming was everything we hoped it would be: the soft chill of fog, delicious home cooked meals, warm blankets over huge (queen sized) beds, familiar faces, endless hugs and plans. Since our return, we have been living with my mom and step-father in the beautiful coastal town of Pacifica. It is about 20 minutes south of San Francisco, but you would never be able to tell. The rolling hills, the ocean views and the endless trees are far more amazing then I remembered them. It really is true what you hear about seeing things differently after returning from long-term travel. Our heads have also been spinning with plans. We sort of became big sissies when it comes to doing too ... read more
Mexican Colors
It must be the top of summer because it has been boiling hot here in Bucerias. That kind of heat where you get out of the shower and even though you use a towel, you just never dry off. The kind of heat where you walk around outside for about ten minutes and then you start to sweat. Not glisten...drip sweat all over. Ronnie and I have been hiding out in the sanctuary of our condo dodging the rays of sun. Even our pool is too hot to swim in. We thought perhaps Rigo, our gardener/pool guy, had the heater on still and when I asked him to turn it off, he smiled and said it was the sun. So much for a refreshing dip. Something that was very refreshing however, was a visit from my ... read more
Casa Hogar
The days here in Bucerias have become very very repetitive and so I was very happy to be invited to help paint a children's home in Bucerias. Some call it an orphanage, but all of the kids there have families, the families just can't afford to house them. Sue, a woman we have befriended, picked me up very early in the morning so we could get to work before the sun got too intense. We drove for a bit and then turned away from the ocean and headed into farmland. I hadn't realized how far off the highway the houses went! We finally made it to a large, newly constructed building that was partially painted white. The kids were running around and playing as walked inside and gathered painting materials. I met the other volunteers, Harold, ... read more
Breakfast with the family
It was time for another visit from the parents that call New Jersey home. Being from California myself, I love having them as guests. They always crack me up with their stories and competitiveness while playing any kind of game be it water volleyball, Mexican Train Dominoes or Up and Down the Ladder (a card game). This visit marked a first for us as well. We had Ron and Janice stay with us in our condo for five of the seven days. Usually when they visit, we don't have the room for them and so they find a hotel. I have to say it was really charming to wake up in the morning to find Ronnie's mom was making us coffee or that Ron and Ronnie were already out at the beach walking Byron. Our first ... read more
Our first meal at la casita in Mexico
Today, July first, was our first day in Mexico one year ago. I can't believe it has been a whole year and at the same time, it feels like we have been here for ages. I went back and read a lot of my first entries and it truly is amazing how far we've come. To think of all the people we have met and the adventures we have had makes me even more overjoyed that we decided to have this grand adventure together. Thank you to all of you who have followed our adventures this past year, and to all of those who have become a part of our lives.... read more
Crab in the pool
Time is a strange thing here in Bucerias. In the morning, I wake up and make breakfast for Ronnie and myself while the "boys" go for a walk on the beach. We have breakfast then take a dip in the pool and oh my gosh! It's only 11:00am. Then in the afternoon, we do freelance work, draw and read and then oh my gosh! It's only 2:00pm! Next we have lunch, watch a movie or work on art and oh my gosh it's only 4:00! So I start to think about what to make for dinner...make it and watch a show and oh my gosh! Conan is over and we are watching Jimmy Kimmel and it is 11:30pm! How did that happen? That pretty much describes every day for us here in Bucerias. We haven't been ... read more
Another great sunset
Well, Ronnie and I just said our good-byes to our latest set of guests. We had a wonderful week with my mom and my Auntie (Tia) Linda visiting. It was the most relaxed of all of our visitors in our time in Mexico. Most of our days were just spent chatting, swimming, reading and eating. There wasn't much touring around. Only one night was spent in the town of Puerto Vallarta. Of course in this heat, it is difficult to do much of anything except swim or seek out shade and air conditioning. "It will get worse," say the locals. "This is the dry heat. Wait until the rains come and it gets very muggy." You mean this is not muggy now? When I get out of the shower, I have about 5 minutes before I ... read more
Ronnie and Me
I think I am in culture shock. Okay maybe not shock, but like a stuck in the middle of two cultures, swimming around trying to hold on to those familiar things in two countries that I now call home. In Mexico, I miss the comforts of home. I miss sushi and Thai food, all Asian food actually. I miss cold foggy mornings that I need to wear a comfy warm sweater to keep warm and drink hot coffee while walking Byron. I miss sleeping under the weight of soft blankets and feeling cozy. But when I do make a return trip to the motherland, I find myself yearning for things in Mexico, refried beans with my scrambled eggs, the sound of church bells, the joyful giggles of children on the beach. I miss the simplicity of ... read more
A Bucerias Sunset
Our alarm clock rang at 4:00am. I sat up in terrible pain. For some reason, we had decided that our last dinner in SMA should be at a restaurant we had never been to and we ate really rich food. Mine made me ill, keeping me from sleeping all night. Hearing the alarm was a blessing as I was exhausted waiting for it. The car arrived at a quarter to five, and I was fighting to keep down anything that wanted to come up. We climbed in the van, said our good-byes to Ernesto, the night man at Casa Luna, and headed towards Mexico City. The road was empty and our driver was crazy, but he got us to the airport in three hours. We went to the desk to check in and see if we ... read more
