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Published: December 5th 2008
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Home on Wheels
Just outside the door not a good spot Habla Espanol?
Bill is very good at exploring the neighbourhood. He enjoys walking around and noticing which services are offered and where. We do spend a lot of time walking. Our other most common form of transportation is local bus. Once you know the basic routes of the various buses it is much preferable to driving. The taxis and pulmonias ( small jeep like open air vehicles unique to Mazatlan) are reasonably priced and we use them at night. We were given a set of Learn Spanish in your car on CD and we faithfully listened and repeated all of Lesson 1 on the journey here. Now we are continuing to play and advance through the lessons, at a very slow pace, but it is helpful. We are hoping to find affordable Spanish lessons here - more to get how expressions are used locally versus the formal Spanish taught on the CDs.
Our neighbours speak no English so it is up to us to communicate and understand them. One of the parking spots on the street that was suitable for the motorhome was not good for one of the neighbours. He patiently explained, slowly (despacio), that when his
Dining Room
Private but outdoors children backed the cars out of the driveway the motorhome did not allow them to see what was coming and he was concerned about an accident. His concerns were valid since some people drive up this quiet residential street very quickly with little regard for cars pulling out. He was quick to point out that this was not a problem for him and that he understood that the street was free and we were entitled to park there, but it was cause for concern about his children. We quickly assured him that we would park in the other available spot and try not to use that one. He was very thankful. All of this conversation was conducted in Spanish and sign language. We were quite pleased with ourselves. This is one example of how Mexico in so many ways allows freedoms not available in Canada. All summer we were hassled in our own town about where the motorhome was parked. If we parked it next to a park, someone called the police and they came by to make sure we weren't camping in it. If we parked it in front of someone's house, they would leave notes citing the city
Coconut Water at Sunset
Palapa restaurants have all the basics by law that provides home owners the opportunity to not allow strangers to park in front of their house. In Mexico, the streets are free to all. It is a case of who "wins" the spot.
Our morning routine has quickly developed into grab a quick Limon water (small green lime, hot water and honey), put on bathing suits, grab the dogs and walk to the beach 4 blocks away. The locals find our walk interesting and many are outside sweeping off their front walks as we go by. Most smile and say Buenos dias and if they don't we do. Quickly a smile and greeting is forthcoming. The local dogs also find us interesting. Many are kept on the roof and as we pass bark a noisy warning to our dogs. We have had to change our route slightly because one dog that is loose has taken an exception to us invading her territory. She has come after Lola a few times so we have found it easier to just stay out of her area.
Once we reach the beach Carol walks the dogs for 20 - 30 minutes where they run freely with Rio bounding into the water and Lola avoiding the surf at all costs. Bill heads into the ocean and proceeds to go through his water exercises. (We do get strange looks when we actually pick up our doggy poop, but why should we contribute to the beach pollution. Who knows perhaps it will start a new trend. ) Bill comes out of the water and Carol goes in. It is very refreshing after the walk to take the plunge. The water is very warm right now. Last winter it was not. We are hoping it stays swimmable because we are both enjoying this part of the ritual. Both dogs are bothered by the fact that we go into the water. Rio paces and barks when we come out as if he is giving us hell for doing something as risky as swimming. Lola just sits at the high water line and stares out waiting while Carol is in the water and bounces around overjoyed when she returns. There are many people out early on the Malecon ( 17 mile ocean side walkway) running, walking, biking and roller blading. There are also many people swimming and walking the beach. We are impressed with the numbers of people exercising so early, but as the day heats up it becomes less comfortable to be too active.
We all knock as much sand off as possible as we stroll home and proceed to part two of the morning exercise routine. We both do some Tibetan exercises, some stretch and strength and finally by 8:30 or 9 we can begin the process of building our breakfast. Put the coffee on.
Shopping in Mazatlan
There is nothing that we need or want that we cannot find here. There is a local market with lovely fresh vegetables and fruit. The meat and chickens are really fresh also if you can get past the carcasses lying around. If you need processed foods like peanut butter there are many Wal Mart like establishments that sell everything from food to furniture. We use these stores for yogurt, soy milk, wine, cheese and crackers. We make daily trips for the food for that night. It gives us a chance to practice our Spanish and we are finding new things everyday. A few days ago at the tortilleria next to the market we found whole wheat tortillas made fresh everyday. 12 tortillas cost 8 pesos or about 80 cents. Our stove in the house has 6 gas burners. 4 are used for cooking in pots and two are covered by a tortilla grill. It takes about 3 minutes to lightly toast a couple of tortillas and you are eating a lot less flour than in a piece of bread. We are really getting into it. Suddenly many things would just go better with a tortilla. Breakfast, chorizo ( sausage with light spices) and eggs throw in a tortilla and you have a breakfast burrito. We also found chorizo made from chicken, turkey or soy which is much better than pork as far as calories go anyway. There also is a bakery close by that produces a nice multi grain bread. It wasn't that many years ago when you could not find whole wheat anything in Mexico. And it is obviously not the tourists driving this production since these establishments are in Mexican neighbourhoods with few visitors as clients.
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Sherman
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Thanks for your detailed blog. Very interesting to read. Please upload more photos along with your text. We are enjoying our vicarious trip to Mazatlan.......with you.