People and Critters

My cousin, Linda, left Cozumel today.  She's on her way to Chicago, then Miami to visit friends, and then probably off to the Galapagos Islands to volunteer and tour.  Nice!

I'm sad to see her go.  But, she has more "nightlife" in her than me, and it'll be good to get more sleep. 

A bit about the night life....On Saturday night, we went to a place called Woody's.  A nice outdoor patio with a really good singer/musician, Paco.  There I met Scott, from Vancouver Island, who wants to open a bar here and is Paco's buddy; Brian, a nice older American man who caved and bought a rose for Linda and me from the wandering merchants; and Louis a Mexican bartender who likes to play chess, has a degree in math, is applying for his masters, and reads poetry and the classics! (I don't think he was BS-ing me, he listed off a bunch of authors and math things)  An interesting group!

Yesterday, we went to Wet Wendy's, a popular bar with expats and where Louis works.  But where the music is too loud and a freaky guy named John hangs out.  John is a handsome older man who likes to monolologue about conspiracy theories.  It was funny.  A pretty younger lady sat one stool away from John, moved closer to speak to him, then moved right back to STOP talking to him!

Photos: 1) Linda and I at Wet Wendy's
2) Linda and Paco, the charming singer from Woody's (why do i think he was cougar hunting??!!)
3) my lunch pal, he was on the wall across the street from "Billy's", the BBQ place I raved about! It was a bit less amazing today, same order, less food, more expensive than before...
4) caterpillars outside of my apt-anyone know what kind of butterfly they turn into??

Street Meat!

It was a great day!

I went to this tiny bicycle shop here in the "hood" and bought a new bicycle seat, a longer seat post to raise the seat height, and a light for night driving, all for about $18, including installation!  Happiness is the freedom of cycling around in reasonable comfort!!

While on my way to the bike shop, I came upon a recycling event.  Very cool!  There is no formal recycling program on the island, but there is plenty of stuff for disposal.  So the local government / businesses hold this event every Saturday (I think).  People line up with their recyclable stuff.  The stuff is weighed. And the people get a voucher they can redeem for food.  It seemed quite popular.  They even had a spiffy recycling event jingle playing.

Then, off to find street meat!  I've been eating at" home" mostly.  That's fine.  It's cheap and it's been healthy.  But I was dying for a protein feast.  Zuri, the housekeeper here, has been wonderful.  She told me about this place called Billy's about 10 blocks from here, an easy bike ride aye!  Oh my god! It was soooo good!  One 1/4 lb of BBQed porc chop, some rice, and coleslaw for about $4.  Enough food for 2 meals.  There, I met Yan from Gatineau/the Alberta oil fields and Boris from Montreal.  It continues to be a small world.

Photos: 1) the line-up to recycle stuff, 2) the food distribution centre, and 3) Billy's Yum!!!

It's a very small world!

I had a crazy "small world" event today!

While I was downtown I bumped into my cousin Linda, from Victoria British Columbia! She was laid off from her job and has been travelling since August.

She's been to Ecuador,the Galapagos Islands, and she's been in Cozumel since November 2012. We' met last night at a place called "Wet Wendy's".  There was a band and lots of "non-tourist tourists", including a guy named Scott who, like me lives very frugally, walks a lot and swims a lot.  Carl, my buddy from day one, whom Linda knows of course, was not there.

Unfortunately, Linda is leaving on Tuesday.

Yesterday, I tried to rent a better bicycle; the seat on mine is very low and hard...All was going well in the transaction, I had a fun pink rust bucket with a basket all lined up. Until the guy took an impression of my credit card, asked me to sign a blank slip, and refused to give me a copy.

It was supposed to be as a "security". And he wanted about $100 cash for the 3 week rental. It no longer felt like a good deal. I took the credit card slip from him and walked away.

Today, I'll try buy a seat and a longer seat post for my bike.... Other than that, lots of school reading. Not much fun, but necessary.

Todays photos: 1) a roof cat!! 2) a camouflage version of a VW Beetle

Venturing Out

I successfully submitted my first school  Quiz this morning!  I was so pleased!  Because the technology worked and i got a good mark.

It made me feel so good that I took time to start really looking at my neighbourhood and to venture out in a new direction.

My apartment is about a 20 minute walk from the waterfront/main tourist zone.  That is West of here. So as you walk West, it becomes increasingly "touristy". In all the other directions, it is the real neighbourhoods of Cozumel, sometimes dotted with touristy places. 

Today, I ventured East.  My main mission was a grocery store, but that was mostly an excuse for getting out. 

So the focus of this blog is what i saw.  The 1st photo is my neighbours roof, laundry, and dog.  A lot of houses are built so you can go up on the roof, and they can easily add a second floor if/when needed.  "My" courtyard as seen from my little balcony.  I'm on the second floor.  My "bachelor"  apartment.  And even frypans at the store are colourful here!!

Work, work, work! and a bit of play

As many of you know, I came to Cozumel with a few missions.  One of the most important ones, besides staying warm, is to take an Algonquin college course on-line. 

Unfortunately, this has proven to be challenging and a lot of work in the last 2 days!  I've had to find a good Internet signal (must sit in the right place), connect to several school web pages (how many passwords can a person have?!), obtain a surge protector and extension cord with the right number of prongs, and find a plan B in case my frayed wire breaks.  Happily, I've overcome most of this!

But, I did have some fun too.  On Sunday night, I went to a `Carnival Show`, apparently the first of many related events.  The purpose of the show was to introduce the contenders for this year`s King and Queen. 

The costumes were amazing!!!  The colour, the materials, the showmanship!  Most of the competitors had a costume they wore and a `float`type thing that they could attache themselves to, so it became part of their costume.

PS - I know its been really really cold back home.  Sorry, kindof....You should feel for me; it rained all day and i had to wear a sweater....

Pictures: 1) and 2)  My new ride, and my tag-along friend. 3) and 4) Carnival shots

Settling into Cozumel!

Hola!
I am here, in Mexico again, on an adventure.
This time, in Cozumel, right across the country from my last Mexico adventure in Puerto Vallarta.

Sadly, this one started about as poorly as the last one, although very differently.  When I arrived at the end of my travel day, I was tired, hungry, and very sad.  My apartment wasn't quite what I excpected and a little far from "town".  I didn't handle it very well.  Thankfully, Lorraine was there!  We emailed back and forth for about an hour.  She helped me feel connected, and helped me clear my head.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you also to others who emailed and answered my emails and blackbery (BB) pins!  Knowing you're all there is sooooo important to me!

As expected, the next day was a lot better.  Something about a night's sleep and sunshine!

So much to say!  So far, I've met Carl, an American living here most of the year.  He told me about places to go and things to do.  Most importantly, he took me on his scooter and showed me a small beach where i can safely swim and do my exercises.  A priority for me!

Then i chatted with Sherri, my hostess.  She told me how to light up the lovely little courtyard at night, and lent me a bicycle for my whole stay!  These things are super important. My room is a little small and has limited windows, so being in the courtyard is very good.   And, everything is a little far to walk from here, especially a beach!  So the bicycle gives me the freedom to move around.

I also have lovely neighbours, Pam and Paul from Winnipeg.  I just went to dinner with them. Paul is a scuba diver, so I may go dive with him sometime.  Pam is not, so I might hang with her sometime when Paul is away.  They will be here for most of my stay here, yeah!

Pictures: A photo from a birthday card - it says "adventure!", Carl and me, feeding the raccoons in Cozumel (not really allowed...)

Hasta la proxima!

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