atole

i am thankful for atole.

"The drink typically includes masa (corn hominy flour), water, piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar), cinnamon, vanilla and optional chocolate or fruit. The mixture is blended and heated before serving. Atole is made by toasting masa on a comal (griddle), then deleting water which was boiled with cinnamon sticks. The resulting blends vary in texture, ranging from a porridge to a very thin liquid consistency."

(it's like eggnog without the alcohol.)

mexican women

when i first visited here and then moved, i realized that not many white women are friends with mexican women. for three plus months this has proven to be the case. yes, i know some mexican women but it is usually just a hello on the street. today, "trini", who works up the street, and i see most days, opened the door to mexican women. i was across town checking on a friends house and trini was there. (fyi - she speaks no english) she lives across the street from my friend. i was telling her what was going on with the house i was checking on and she was telling me about how she no longer is working. we kept chatting and she invited me to see her house. we talked about the bargins she got at 'sam's club', her 'skye' tv and how she has both a washer and a dryer. (it was the first dryer i have seen down here, except at the laundromat.) she then picked up her sleepy grandson and we went to get her some tortillas for dinner from the little shop a couple doors down. we were chatting more about where we both lived and how in april i will be looking for a new place. she walked me around the neighborhood and introduced me to two locals that have apartments that may be available then. (for less money than i am paying now and in a cozy mexican neighborhood)

my whole point to this story... i have a mexican woman friend that speaks no english and i adore her. (i knew it when i saw her the first time.) i am thankful that on my 3 month anniversary in mexico, i broke a stereotype and confirmed a friendship.

whales

i forgot to mention... i saw two whales yesterday!! they were kinda far out but i could see the one breech and i could see the spouts of water. really cool. those are whales 2 and 3. pretty sad, all times i have been to the ocean in alaska over the years and only saw one. i hope to see more down here... now that they are on my door step.

i am thankful for a mexican friend having me help negotiate a landscape job on my street. i actually knew more spanish than someone else. of course writing numbers on the neighbors truck helps with the dollar/peso conversion.

sleep in

i am grateful for our new schedule at work. joshua is doing the 8am - 1pm and i am doing the 1pm - 6pm. i get to sleep in and he has his afternoons to work on his painting. yeah!!

reminder

i am thankful for the reminder today... enjoy where you are, not where you think you should be. be amazed by what is around you, by the people that arrive in your life and leave your life. it is all a gift. grab it, hold it and let it go. all with a smile on your face.

god resides in you, as you.

christmas

i am thankful for rollies breakfast (paella), walk on the beach, naps, reading, dinner at taco's ivan and chocolate milk. merry christmas to me!

christmas eve

it seems that christmas eve is the bigger deal down here than christmas day. so many people out and about in town and i was able to wish many of my mexican friends, "feliz navidad". many of my friends will be feasting tonight with family; late, late tonight and then the kids get their gifts just after midnight. i am super excited for 2 local kids, especially. they will be getting new skateboards!!! (from our shop) both boys are wonderful kids and will probably freak out when they get them. it was fun to be a part of a 'kid christmas'. i can't wait to see them riding down the street with a big grin on their faces. i am thankful for my first christmas out of country. i think i can safely say... "i got to be a foreign exchange student!" (only better... i can drink legally and i don't have any parents to answer to and no school tomorrow!! hee hee)

thursday

what to say about thursday... i spoke with my grandma vi. (not sure if it was on thursday) but i am thankful for the ability to call her and hear her lovely voice, from so far away.

regalos

i am grateful for the gifts/regalos that my grandmothers funded for my christmas gifts. a beautiful girly shirt and a mexican painting. thanks grandmas!!!!

mama's house

i am thankful i found a cool place for my mom to stay during her visit to sayulita!! the people, price, location and atmosphere are awesome. a week with my mom is going to be so much fun. i can't wait to show her all the crazy/great things in mexico!!

http://www.casitastortugas.com/

gisela

had a lovely morning with gisela. i am thankful for gisela and how she spent part of her only day off with me. coffee, breakfast and good company. my other chilean sister.

not sure

... not sure what happened yesterday. but i am thankful for another day and all the lovely people that are in my life. either in front of my face or in my heart.

cori time

i am grateful for a lovely evening with cori and zoraya. it is great to have a lovely woman to chat with, for hours on end.

skype family

i am thankful for skype so i can see all of my brother's family!!! i love seeing the kids growing up, hearing the little one say, "auntie mare" and hearing mama say, "i love you, honey!". i love you all. my brother is in the best family...

kisses

i am grateful we all got some sleep last night and guera a minute or two of 'puppy-ness'. a couple of kisses, a tail wag and a little chomp on my finger. i think she is getting better... but it is a slow and sad process.

vets

i am thankful for 'gabi' the vet, who has been so kind everyday when i bring guera in for injections. (she has a lung/respiratory infection) it is so hard to watch someone else suffer. i am not sure how all you moms do it. (i am thankful for you, too)

forgetting

i am thankful i can forget what day it is now and then.

remember vacation

i am thankful for remembering what it is like to be a vacationer in sayulita.
met up with morgan and his girlfriend, had dinner drinks and took myself to my favorite bar for a beer, dance and some tourist talk.

more banda

just when i thought it couldn't go on any longer... we had the final day of the 12 day festival. today's highlight was dancing horses. i am thankful for seeing so many crazy things. drunk/drinking mexican cowboys on dancing horses, LIVE banda music, what seemed like the whole town packed in the square, kids lighting fireworks, women in 4" heals on cobblestone and more cowboy hats than i've seen since college. i think the town will sleep in with out the 5 and 5:30am firework-call-to-church explosions tomorrow. not to mention the hang overs.

banda

almost everyday the neighbor guy next to the shop blasts 'banda' music. (mexican-country-accordion music) let's just say... it is not my favorite music to hear. especially first thing in the morning, which is common but not completely understood by me. today i happened to be talking to a new friend, "daniel" when neighbor guy started up his music. daniel was wondering if i liked banda and i had to admit that, i thought only real mexicans like it. and wouldn't you know, he is all mexican. he loves it. loves to sing it, hear it and dance to it. which brings me to my part of the day that left me laughing... like the time i saw blue man group, or heard the rocks on a random beach in oregon make the coolest sound, or when i get to dance... that spontaneous, taken by surprise, feel like a little kid discovering something new... kind of laugh. thank you daniel, for the dance in the dusty street, to the horribly-great banda music and having a GREAT laugh because it was one of those moments.

pan man

around 815 every night. (except when it doesn't happen) there is a truck that drives up our road selling bread. a lot of the trucks that sell stuff have speakers that project what they are selling. almost like commercials. "we have shrimp!" "we have pots and pans!" "we have beds!" "we have avacados!" the bread truck is a bit different. it has a beautiful song that sounds like it is coming from an old phonograph. static-y, old, catchy and kitchy. I LOVE IT! the song says something like, "the bread man makes the bread. the bread man makes the bread. come get your bread!" and then a woman starts singing about bread. i am thankful for my mexican tv... and my evening commercials.

mexico

I LIVE IN MEXICO!!!!!!!
i am thankful for living in a place that is equally beautiful and unpredictable.

paint

i am thankful for blue paint, a sleepy puppy and a slow day at work. took guera to the vet. she gained another kilo and got her vaccinations. she ran back to the shop and crashed for 5 hours. which gave me time to paint all the yellow on the shop blue!! woo hoo. it was also a good day to be slow at the shop. there are no waves right now... so time to do some clean up work and prepare for the next push of renters. oh... was walking home and a woman i have seen in town this week stopped me, to pet the puppy. we stood in the center of town, in the street chatting for almost 45 minutes. it was GREAT. at the end of it i said, "we've got to do this over or a couple bottles of wine!" she doesn't leave until the 19th, so we'll see.

ember

i took a horseback ride in the morning. so cool. we went up our beach. it was about 9am and still cool out so i asked my 'guide' if i can run the horse. (i've heard they don't let you sometimes. which is why i went by myself and early in the day when the horse won't get overheated) he said, "si!" so me and coco flew across the beach! woo hoo! then we went up through the jungle at the end of the beach (north side) and got to the top of a small vista that overlooked sayulita, the ocean and a neighboring beach. we came back down and to the beach again. this time it was the horse that was itching for a run. so off we went again. later in the day, after a short nap on the beach and picking up fresh laundry... ember came by with treats from portland. (bbq sauce, mustard and other groceries from new seasons. YUM!) i am thankful for ember and fast horses. (and a saddle sore) a great end to my weekend.

paddle boarding

i did my first trip out on a paddle board! so much fun. it was like canoeing, kayaking and surfing all in one. we paddled out past the point and turned around to see where we live. we (cori and me) layed on our bellies and just enjoyed the peace and quiet and the rocking of the waves. can't wait to go out again. thanks for the official day off!

puppy love

i am thankful for this little bundle with wild, cuddley craziness! even being all dirty... i love the way she smells and snuggles up at night. (and the little whimpers she makes.)

stars

when i walk home, there is a small patch of road with out much light, and i can see the stars!!! they are so beautiful. i am thankful for the space, time and darkness to see them. (note to self. go to the beach at night... they are even more amazing there. with sound effects. ((waves))

feeling famous

sitting at the shop and a man walks up and says... "are you red mare?" (aka my flickr name) "yes!" i said. quite confused. he began to explain that he has been seeing my photos on flickr for some time now and when he found out that he was coming to mexico on vacation from canada, he made a special 2 day stop over in sayulita to find me. he was so excited to meet me and genuinely a lovely sweet man, that introduced me to his wife and sister. it was such an honor to part of this man's adventure. AND i made a new friend. i am thankful for new friends.