Big Storm! Maybe a hurricane?

On Sunday there was a big storm.  Scary and fun!

The weather forecasts for Cozumel are more or less reliable.  Often, predicted rain happens elsewhere on the island or over the ocean, or only lasts a few minutes.  So why get excited about it? But the forecast for Sunday was very right!  It said there'd be a storm at 5pm.  There was. Definitely. 

But I didn't really pay attention to the forecast. At 5 pm, I was about 4 km from home on my bike.  The sky over the mainland was dark, and the darkness was moving towards the island.  What to do?  Seek shelter?  Or get moving?  I made the decision to get moving!

Happily, the wind was mostly in my back, so my ride home was relatively quick.  And I didn't get hit by any flying stuff.  The fun parts were the deep puddle, and waving at folks who were maybe smarter than me, huddled in doorways and under roof overhangs, mostly staying dry....

Some folks said that the storm actually ranked as a class 1 hurricane.  I couldn't find any new stories to confirm that.  So I don't know.  But it was pretty impressive anyhow

Photos (I didn't take any cause I was trying to get home, these are from other folks)
1- The storm over Playa del Carmen.  Taken by a friend there.
2 & 3 - Panorama shots taken from Money Bar.  I think there "wave" is cause the photographer moved while taking the panorama.
4 - Random photo - me in Celestun
5 - The view from my chair on a beautiful day!

Road Trip to the Yucatan - Queso de cabra

On Day 3 in the Yucatan, I rented a car to visit the countryside.  One of my favourite unexpected finds was queso de cabra.  A delicious and fun experience!

While on a small road in the countryside, I spotted a sign at a house that said "Quese y leche de cabra".  Goat cheese and milk. Whoah!  Stop!  Back up!  Let's go!

When we parked the car, a man came out.  Invited us into the house.  Brought us fresh goat cheese to taste - plain and mixed with chipotle pepper.  Yum!  We bought some.  Then expressed concern about keeping it cold.  Tadah!  The man "just happened to have" a perfect sized styrofoam cooler he could spare for 50 pesos - about $3 Canadian.  The cheese in itself was great.

But it was the atmosphere and what came next made the whole thing fun!  We were in their house. Mom was at the kitchen sink washing dishes.  Grandma was at the table just watching, existing.  The two boys, about 10 and 12 years old had a million questions. Where are you from?  Did you fly to get here?  Were you scared?  Have you been to Paris?!  Then, we visited the goats.  And got to pick up the new borns.  One day old!  Amazing!

Pictures
1- The sign!
2- Me and Toby holding kid goats that are about 5 days old
3- Toby and a newborn kid goat.  With one of the boys looking.  The boys were so adorable!  They were very curious about Toby.  He looks kinda Mexican, but definitely not.  He could be a tourist attraction.
4 - We ate at a roadside bbq stand.  It was delicious.  And we had such cute company.

Road Trip to the Yucatan - Celestun

While in Merida, I stayed with some Mexican friends I had met in Canada.  On my second day in the Yucatan, I went with them to Celestun.

My Mexican friends are a lovely young family.  They had been in Canada for about 3 years and were hoping to stay.  But their application was denied.  It's a long and unfortunate story.  When they left Canada, they forgot 3 items, kids toys.  Since I'd been curious about visiting Merida, and that's where they moved to, I promised to hand deliver the toys.  Mission accomplished!

On my second day in the Yucatan, I decided to spend the day with the family.  They suggested going to Celestun, a beach town about 1 hour from their home in Merida.  Initially, I wasn't super excited about spending the day at the beach.  I figured I'd have lots of beach time in Cozumel.  But I'm so glad we went!  We took a boat tour.  Along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and down a river to see.....PINK FLAMINGOS!   I'd never seen pink flamingos before.  Super cool! 

Then the boat went through a neat mangrove, dropped us off at a fresh water spring for a short visit, then back to our start point via a tuk tuk.  How much fun!

Oh!  And we had the most delicious picnic on the beach.  With fresh swordfish steaks.  Amazing!

Pictures
1 - The view from the boat on the ocean then the river
2 - Toby looking out towards the flamingos.  We were soooo excited to get closer!
3- The flamingos look so funny when taking off! 
4- Just as we were about to exit the mangrove.  Like a fairy tale
5-There were so many variations on the tuk tuk theme in Celestun.  This is the one we rode in.
6 - The bottle to the left of the tuk tuk driver is the "gas tank".  They are all so home made!

Road Trip to the Yucatan - Day 1 Shopping

Merida is a tourist destination.  So there are many beautiful shops and restaurants.  But, it's also a real city.  With lots of real life things.  I enjoyed a bit of both!

My favourite shopping space was the local mercado.  It was about one big city block in size.  With stalls, organized in theme areas, that sold everything from fruits and veggies, shoes (so many!), clothes, knick knacks, and even small animals, like ducks, chickens, and rabbits.  There, I learned about guinea fowl, a chicken type bird that comes from Africa.  Google says....their meat is drier, leaner, and gamier than chicken, and their eggs are much richer.  Who knew?!

My dinner in Merida was awesome!  Kinda accidental. I was mostly just looking at one of the food stalls to see what they had.  The vendor offered samples of three different types of porc - pastor (on a vertical grill, like shawarma), cochinito pibil (marinated in spices and cooked wrapped in banana leaves), and what seemed like super juicy roast porc.   They were all yummy, so I asked if I could get a sampler plate with a bit of each.  Oooops! Something got lost in translation.  Instead, I got three plates, each piled with a bunch of each meat!  Luckily, I had company for dinner.  We managed to eat pretty much all of it!

Pictures
1- The very real world mercado!
2- Toby (my guy's preferred internet name) enjoying his first Mexico meal, and a rum.  Happy!
3 - Pastor porc on a vertical grill.  It's huge!!!
4 - Some of the livestock for sale in the mercado XXX
5 - Some super cool pipe cleaner art!
6 - Cute art in a hotel lobby!

 

Road Trip to the Yucatan - Day 1 The Grand Plaza

My list of potential things to see in Merida was pretty long.  I could have rushed around to see them all.  But I chose to go slow and more fully enjoy the bits I did get to see. One of the highlights was the Grand Plaza.

The Grand Plaza is a public garden/square with vendors, trees, and park benches.  I visited two buildings around the plaza.  The first was the Catedral de San Ildefonso.  Built in 1598, it is the first cathedral built in North America.  Wikipedia says it was built on the site of a former Mayan temple, with some stones from the temple.  Some folks said.... the Spanish destroyed the Mayan temple to build the church. The inside of the cathedral is mostly plain because angry peasants stripped the rich decorations that were once there, during the Mexican Revolution.

The second building I visited was the Palacio de Gobierno,  the Yucatan State Government building. It was built in 1892.  On the second floor, there was a beautiful big hall with huge paintings that portrayed the history of the Maya and their interaction with the Spaniards.  There was once a lot of conflict, but it seems like now there is mostly reconciliation.  About 200,000 people in Merida still speak Maya. When we visited the Palacio, about 30 people were banging pots and pans outside to demonstrate against some government policies.  Good on them!  But the poor security guards out front of the Palacio.....I think they said the demonstration had been going on for some time.  Maybe years????

At night, there was a lovely sound and light show in the plaza/projected on the cathedral.  They had also hauled out a grand piano for evening entertainment!

Photos
1- The cathedral with some of the sound and light show images.  The butterflies moved around.  It was pretty.
2- The inside of the cathedral.  Everything was massive!  But definitely plain.
3- There were 3 of these "random" doors in the cathedral.  This one had a picture of a Pope on it.  It might be a Holy Door.  Google says....  a Holy Door is a door located within each Roman Catholic Diocese that is sealed except for designated days, when pilgrims can walk through them  to receive "indulgences". The Pope might be John Paul 2(?) who visited the cathedral in 1993.
4 - The security guards at the Palacio de Gobierno.  You can see the protestors outside and the Grand Plaza beyond.  It's very green and pretty.
5 - Inside the big hall in the Palacio de Gobierno.
6 - A man determined to move a lot of fruit with a small cart, near the Grand Plaza

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A Slight Blogging Pause and Misc Fun Pictures

It'll be a few days before my next blog post.  Because I'm going on a road trip! To Merida!


Google says...Mérida is the capital and largest city in the Yucatan State and Yucatan Peninsula. It's about 35 km from the Gulf of Mexico. With a population of about 900,000 it's the 14th largest city in Mexico.


I'm going to Merida for a few reasons.  Apparently, it's beautiful, historic, and artful.  A really nice Mexican family that I met in Ottawa now lives there, so I'm going to visit them.  And, I might be ready for an adventure.  Even though I am quite content to stay on the island, enjoy it's charms, and live gently.

The journey to Merida should go well.  The ADO buses (like Greyhound) are very reliable.  It's a well traveled route.  And Merida is considered to be one of the safest cities in Mexico.  But it will be a bit of a journey.  Taxi.  Ferry.  Bus to Cancun Airport to meet Damita, who'll be arriving from Canada.  Bus to Merida.  And finally, a ride to my host family's home!

I'm not going to blog during that time because I'm going to try travel light.  I'm going to leave my tablet in Cozumel.  But I will definitely take lots of pictures and gather stories to tell. So stay tuned!


PS - I will stay in touch with a few folks at home to reassure them/you that I'm alive and well.

Photos (kinda random...)
1- A cool picture of an egret and pelican.  It looked like the egret was hanging out close to the pelican, maybe there's a hunting advantage for it? A quick Google search revealed nothing...
2- It rained a lot a couple of days this last week. The water in this street was several inches deep before it drained away.
3 - The shop where I got the flat on my bike fixed is family owned and operated.  These are the teenage kids that work there. Very kind folk!
4 - Looks like the toddler and soldier are running away from some unseen thing.  They aren't.  It's just interesting timing.  This is the first year I see armed soldiers patrolling the beach.  Those poor men must be sooooo hot in all that gear!
5 - There's a lot of coral on the shores of this island. This is an interesting piece with a little bonhomme I found on the shore.  Just fun!

Keto in Cozumel

I started eating keto this fall.  So far, eating this way in Cozumel is going well!

Keto is short for ketosis. It's a very lo-carb, pretty hi-fat, mostly normal veggies diet.  According to the literature, it lowers blood sugar and insulin levels, changes the body’s metabolism to burn fat instead of glucose, helps with weight loss/management, and has many other potential health benefits.  So far, my experience with it is good. Yay!

The difficult part of the diet is avoiding carbs.  They're in so many yummy things!  Bread.  Fun beverages. And the wonderful pineapple and little bananas here that I love....  But.  On keto, its actually good/necessary to eat some things you wouldn't normally consider so much.  Whipping cream  is one of my personal favourites!!   Others are avocados, eggs, and cheese which are abundant and well priced here.  And real butter!  It tastes different here. But I like it!

Aside from weight management, the most notable benefit for me, is not being hungry all the time.  I was hungry almost all the time before.  Now, not so much. Yay!

So, although keto makes going to restaurants more complicated.  So far, I'm content to keep trying this out.

Photos
1- A great breakfast!  Eggs, guacamole, chayote, melted cheese, and spicy sausage.  OK....it's more like brunch...
2- So fun to buy eggs in cartons of 30.  Very happy to have found whipping cream here!
3 - A new love!  Iced tea with whipping cream!  The whipping cream is so thick, it creates a fun ribbon in the glass before mixing
4-5  I found the ingredients to make a keto bread.  I'm actually baking here in paradise

La Monina

I've discovered a new favourite place to hang out!

At the end of last year, I was sad because one of my favourite waterfront places, El Bungalow, was being closed by the government.  I don't know exactly why.  Rumours abounded.  But I feared it would be replaced with some slick expensive noisy place where I might or might not be welcome. (see February 11, 2018 post)


Happily, that has not come to pass.  Instead, they mostly just renovated the building/palapa that housed El Bungalow.  Mostly in a pleasant way.  It's still a chill and welcoming place, with decent not so loud music.  With tables and recliners in the sand, right beside the water. And the prices are still reasonable.  So yay!!!!!  I've already spent a few wonderful afternoons there.

Pictures
1- The sign for my new  favourite place - La Monina.  Google says Monina is a word used by couples in love to refer to each other with tenderness
2- The lime green chairs are a nice addition
3- Mostly I preferred the murals from El Bungalow.  But these are well done too.  And conceivably created work for an artist. 
4 - This mural is pretty fun.  And it looks like they rent kayak type things!
5 - I had a tasty, keto friendly, caldo - soup.  It was a chicken broth, with vegetables.  The unusual part was avocado and fresh cheese chunks in the soup.  Tasty!
6 - The cook saw me taking pictures.  He wanted me to take his picture too.  Fun!

Bicycles in Cozumel

A bicycle in Cozumel is an awesome thing!!

You can go a lot of places.  Feel the smooth breeze on your skin, as you get there. And get exercise, all at the same time!

As many of you know, I had a great little bike here.  That I brought from Canada.  It was originally from Czechoslovakia. I bought it used from a student who fixed old bikes. I loved its size, function, and colour, green.  And story!  It was kinda silly small for me.  But it was mine.  Sadly, it got stolen this winter.  Maybe it's ridiculous.  But I'm still mourning its loss....

But, I realize it's time to move on.  To embrace the new bike that I have.  And it's story.  It does have a pretty cool story...

About 5 years ago, during the 1st week of my 2nd visit to Cozumel,
I accidentally bumped into my cousin Linda.  At the time, she lived in Victoria BC and was on her last week of several in Cozumel. The next year, we met here again. On our separate journeys. She bought a bike.  Her "love bike".  She also introduced me to Barbara, the owner of the English school where I volunteer.

Linda eventually left her love bike at Barbara's.  Many people have used it.  When my green one was stolen, Barbara fixed it up the love bike, for me. A wonderful gesture of kindness.

I don't love the love bike yet.  I don't think I can until I fully say good bye to my green machine.  But I'm grateful to have it. And I know that, as we have adventures together, we'll become great friends.

Pictures
1-3 It's called the "love bike" because it's got groovy flowers and images on it. And! It actually has the words "love bike" painted on it!
4 - My old bike....
5- Yesterday, I bought a spiffy new bike for Damita, who will come visit me soon.  It's small and light.  I don't think it's crazy amazing quality.  But it was well priced.  There are very few good used bikes for sale on the island, and new ones are fairly expensive.
6 A groovy old bike in the bike shop.

Christmas Decorations, Disney Style

The Christmas decorations stay up long here, and are kinda "big"

You may recall....or go look at my January 9, 2017 post....
That January 6 is the 12th day of Christmas in Mexico. The feast of the Epiphany, the Day of Holy Kings (Día de los Santos Reyes). So it's normal for the Christmas decorations to stay up until then.

What amazes me though, is the grandeur of the decorations.  And the theme.  Very....Disney this year!
 
Pictures
1 Notice how big the plaza is.  There are decorations all around it's perimeter.  And a huge stage in the background!
2 Not all the decorations are Disney.  But some are very! 
3 Notice how the shepherd doesn't seem to happy with his Disney neighbours...
4 Hugging my penguin friend!
5 I love how there is such a variety of animals in /at the manger.  Elephant! Pig!
6 The reindeer are very enthusiastic!
7 More stuff to show scale.  The tree must be 50 feet high