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"On behalf of all Canadians, SORRY world for being so awesome all of the time". 😉 Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians. I have our flags hanging off our condo balcony. So if they didn't know how awesome we were before, they will once they see our maple leaf blowing in the wind. Mexican folks love us Canadians and hellllooo? What's not to love...😊 I wish I could make up a big batch of poutine (Canada's national ooey gooey dish!) for the world to eat. I swear that would be enough to bring world peace once they all took a bite and oohed and awwed over it. Food is not only nourishment of the belly, it's nourishment of the soul and mind.
July 1st is not only Canada day, it's my dad's birthday. Happy birthday Dad!!! I wish I was home with you to bring out your cake & see you blow out the candles! On top of it being a special milestone, he and mom recently celebrated 60 years of marriage on June 23rd. And they are still so young & sprightly. I am so very proud of them as is the rest of our clan. We
are blessed to celebrate one anniversary after another with them! Can you imagine...60 years with the same person? Lord have mercy! I think Al's the cat's meow and I'm pretty sure he's really fond of me too, but 60 years? I once read, "Never laugh at your wife's choices, because you are one of them".
Well I raise my glass to my parents all the way from Mexico. What an amazing accomplishment and I am so proud to say that Joanie & Clemmie are my parents! 😊 Insert big hearts here.
To celebrate their anniversary, my brother's family flew in from Calgary to join in this milestone and we had such a great reunion. I hope you all know how much that meant to us to have you arrange your lives to do this. I wish we all lived closer but the next trip we discussed meeting up on the shores of Playa del Carmen. I can only imagine the hi-jinks we'd get up to! And to bring all our nieces together would be memorable. Ahem, I have THE best nieces ever. So proud of them all and also proud of my three beautiful daughters as well and
am pretty darn happy they have amazing role models to guide them.
EL 'SWAPO'
So back to the "3 amigos" part of my blog subject. Obama, Trudeau & Mexican president Nieto have just met up in Ottawa for the North American Summit. On behalf of all Mexican people, rest assured I am taking very good care of your country while your president is away in Canada. It's like we switched places; he's in Ottawa, and I'm here. Funny enough a number of local people that I've talked to about his visit to Canada, roll their eyes and say, "Dear God we hope he doesn't embarrass us". Nieto while being a handsome young-ish president, has been the fodder of many a comedian in Mexico for all the gaffes he's made in the past. (I see a connection with him and George Bush and all his Bush-isms from the past). Pena at times has mixed up the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, refers to some cities as states and mispronounces world leaders names and so forth. When asked to name a book that he read that influenced him, he came up with nothing.
From everything we are seeing here, Mexican
people are very disillusioned with their president and his approval rating is in a free fall. Part is the continued corruption scandals, lethargic economy and allegations of cronyism involving his TV soap opera wife and his finance minister. And let's not forget the fact that he sidesteps any issues that need attention and avoids journalists at all costs. It's interesting for me to get the real deal from people here, the working class and business owners who all seem to share the same feeling about Nieto. Having been here for a number of elections, I've got a bit of a finger on the political pulse here. As for Nieto, not sure he will be receiving much of a warm welcome home...
Despite all this, I hope for the best between our countries at this summit. Anything that helps the wonderful people of Mexico grow, prosper, and ensure their children receive a good education would be welcomed news. But in the meantime, I will hold the fort for the president. I will ensure the economy thrives by sipping a few beverages at various beach bars and in my own small way will help to grow the economy here 😊
Happy to say (as usual) the weather here has been stellar. The rare phenomenon of the sargassum (seaweed) that hit the Caribbean last year is a distant memory. Beaches are great, and the breeze is calm which makes the ocean reflect a myriad of colors of blues, turquoise, azure, greens. It's hard to turn your eyes away. There is some shade on our rooftop so I've been enjoying lounging up there feeling the soft breeze on my face while reading a new book. We are enjoying many drinks and lunches by the ocean with Al's parents Ray & Pat.
There are a whole host of reasons to enjoy a summer vacation here but a main one is our dollar is strong against the peso which really stretches out your dollar. Many people are avoiding a family trip to the States due to the wrung-out loonie. Take for example a beach bar steps away from our condo has a bucket of 6 beer on ice for approximately $8 Canadian which delights Al and his parents to no end. The staff there are fun & welcoming, and you can enjoy soaking up the sun on a lounger and the gorgeous ocean
views are free! Aye carumba it does not get better than this and if it does, it should be illegal.
We've had a great chance to meet up with some of my favorite people here, and have done some touring around taking photos etc. It is always changing around here; new bars/restaurants, new shops to venture into, always new adventures to enjoy. Al went scuba diving today, and had a great day. While he was gone, I got my speed walk in with Ava, and we stopped to buy some freshly squeezed orange juice. When my friend Manon visited with me last April, she was enthralled with the freshly squeezed o.j.. I think she drank about a gallon a day...or was that a gallon of beer Manon? 😊
We are looking to go to a new waterpark/adventure park that opened in Cancun this past year. It sounds like it has a bit of everything for everyone. You can ride a wild roller-coaster, go bungee-jumping into the unknown, hop on an 800-foot zip-line, walk across hanging bridges, relax on a lazy river, swim with friendly dolphins, slide down an insane 50-foot looping waterslide, drive a go-kart alongside the ocean,
engage in virtual reality or hop in the wave pool. There are also 8 bars/restaurants and beach clubs with personal service, loungers, hammocks etc. I have a funny feeling that the 8 bars might be more my cup of tequila if you catch my drift. The last time I wanted to get my 'Tarzan on' and go zip lining it did not end well with me hitting my knee on a tree. The whole family LOVED the zip lining business. Me not so much. I do my best to participate when possible to be a good sport, but frankly I'm over that now. I cannot find it in my heart to make friends again with zip lining.
Over the next two weeks we will be doing some day trips, especially back to Tulum. I've had a big crush on Tulum now for a number of years, and the adoration is not waning. Once you've dug your toes in the soft white sands of this seaside coastal town you'll find yourself unexpectedly gushing words such as "spectacular, "paradise", "heaven", "glorious"...Tulum calls to me, and I will venture forth.
Well to all of you celebrating Canada Day, raise your flag
proudly. We've got our hats and T-shirts ready to go for today. It's fun to walk 5th avenue and have the locals say "Go Canada Go"! (PS I have no personal assistant to edit these dang blogs for grammar or spelling, so read at your own risk. But 4 out of 5 dentists give me the thumbs up so let's go with that.) Oh & pictures below.
"Oh Canada our home and native land"... Sal & the Ronettes...
(If you don't know who the Ronettes are, look them up..."Be My Baby" is amazing
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Happy Canada Day
Yep...Happy Canada Day from Oz. And here's to your parent's 60 years and counting...a milestone so much rarer in this age of commitment not often for life. I rate myself Aussie through and through...but our family's connection to Canada is stronger than any foreign clime. My paternal grandmother was the first woman to graduate in medicine in Newfoundland. My maternal great uncle stowed away on a ship as a lad and spawned in Canada. And our son is very much a resident of Toronto. Yep...Happy Canada Day Sal...we even celebrate it Down Under!