Sacbe

What is a Sacbe?  You ask....It's a little store, a distributor for stuff sold on the Island.  Mostly costume jewelry, but also hats, bags, and of course, wrestling masks!

Brindle, a talent agent from Halifax, who I met the other day told me about Sacbe.  So I checked it out.  On the ground floor, individually sold items are displayed on every inch of wall and in bins.  The display is similar upstairs, except you have to buy bulk quantities there.

I was kinda inspired by Brindle, and got a little outta control.  I bought 2 pendants and 4 rings. All for about $25. The pendants are made from coconut shells.  The rings are opal like stones and stainless steel.  Hopefully, they won't crack or tarnish, too much!

 Pictures
Top - The second floor at Sacbe's.  So much stuff!!
Middle - Small purses made from "recycled" packaging.  Hmmmm....I'm starting to wonder if it's really recycled?
Bottom - a fun painting I saw at a nice hotel I checked out.  $400 per night, buys nice art!

Cafe del Mar Beach Club

Susan and Chris introduced me to a new beach club today.  It's called "Café de Mar".  I like it!

It's a small place, just north of downtown.  One of three in a row that have been open, then not, through the years.  But this particular reincarnation is very nice!

The location is great!  Only a 10 minute bike ride from home.  There's lots of water space for a big swim or snorkelling, and very few boats.  Except for around 4:30 when the small fishing boats were coming back to shore.  I can live with that.  The staff were really nice and friendly.  The food was yummy!  I had a great salad with mango and pineapple and coconut and a balsamic dressing.  And they have these great bean bag type chairs.  Very comfortable! And mobile.  I was able to bring my blue bean bag chair right up to the water's edge.  Nothing between me and the beautiful vista!

Photos
Top - The fun and colourful umbrellas at Café del Mar
Middle - My yummy salad.  I was hungry again 1 hour later, but it counterbalanced the eggs and cheese I had at breakfast!
Bottom - My view from the blue bean bag chair.  Yes, I was studying my Spanish verbs.  It's not all about lounging!

Lunch with Carl and the Hot Water Issue

Today, I had lunch with Carl and ran out of hot water.  Just to clarify, these events are unrelated!

I've mentioned Carl before.  The friendly grumpy guy who first introduced me to Cozumel. He's done many nice things for me.  So I invited him to lunch, my treat.  It felt nice to say thank you this way.  He suggested a lobster 2for1 special at a place past the airport.  I'm not a big seafood person, but I was excited to try somewhere new.  In my mind, the airport is near/off the waterfront.  So I thought great, a nice place, on the water!  I even dressed up a bit.

Turns out, it was a place I had been to before.  La Perlita.  Deep in the neighbourhood, I guess near the airport itself, not the entrance.  It has a great 2for1 lion fish special on Thursday nights.  Yum!  So I was disappointed that it wasn't a new place.  But I like the restaurant so I was still happy to be there. The food presentation was great!  The rice yummy!  But sadly, the lobster was a bit chewy.  And though I was nervous about having to disassemble a whole lobster, I was excited about the new experience.  It was "only" a tail.  Already mostly disassembled.  Oh well.  It was maybe for the best....

For 3 days now, I've no hot water for my shower.  On day-1, I didn't say anything to Dennis, the landlord.  I assumed other guests might have used it all up.  On Day-2, I told Dennis, who said we needed gas, and got some.  On Day-3, still no hot water, Dennis said there was likely air in the gas line and said it's fixed.  I'll be kinda sad/mad if there's no hot water tomorrow.  But Chris and Susan said I could shower in their unit if I want/need to.  How nice!

 Photos:
Top - Carl at lunch with the pretty plate.  Check out how the cucumber, orange, and radish are cut!
Middle - The guy filling the propane tank
Bottom - a public area recycling bin.  They are giving it a good try.

A small fun park and pre-carnaval stuff

Carnaval is coming to Cozumel in February, so the preparations have begun!

This week, a small midway / family fun park came to town.  Complete with kiddy rides, games, and lots of junk food!  So I went last night to check it out. I love all the colour, the smells, and how so many families come out to enjoy themselves.

Last night, right beside the midway, the town introduced this year's potential grown up and kiddy Carnaval Kings and Queens at a big show.  There is a whole voting process that goes on for several weeks, on Sunday evenings, prior to Carnaval itself. 

One thing that really stood out for me was that there seemed to be a Queen candidate with Down Syndrome.  She was beautiful in her orange sparkly dress.  And she seemed very comfortable with all the parading and dancing.  Until.  All the candidates were on stage for a big photo opportunity.  Fun!  But suddenly, out from the stage floor, in front of all the candidates, came sparkler type sparklies! Taller than the potential Kings and Queens!  I don't know if the Kings and Queens knew the sparklies were coming, or not.  But it certainly seemed like the young woman with Down's was very scared.  It was so sad.  Lots of the others candidates went to her aid.  But what an unfortunate way to end the big event!

Photos (from top to bottom)
1-Some fun midway colours
2 - the big sparklies at the front of the stage
3 - that little kid was soooooo cute!
4  and 5 - families and friends seemed to be selling cake and other goodies to raise funds for the of the King/Queen candidates

 

Embracing my "propeller head" and "hippy" ways

Depending on who you talk to, I am a "propeller head" (ie smart nerd) or a hippy. I like to think they're both terms of endearment.  They both applied today.

During the last two Mexico Adventures, I spent most mornings doing school work by the pool.  I don't miss the school work or the time it took.  But I did miss sitting by the pool in the morning, and the learning. So today, I started sitting by the pool in the morning to study my Spanish.  It feels productive.  It provides a nice way to say good morning to people. I like it!

Then, I cycled to Money Bar to swim and hang out.  Although I'm not exactly working hard, in any traditional way, I haven't really just hung out for any amount of time since my arrival.  But it was pretty windy, the waves were pretty big, it was a little chilly, and the hanging out was pretty appealing.  Drool on your towel while you nap kindof appealing!

The nap was really nice.  But while cycling home I got warm and I kept looking at the ocean.  I needed to swim!  So I did.  At a local / Mexican swim place.  It wasn't fancy in any way. I was the only gringo in sight.  The waves were a bit big.  But it was great!  And, when I was done swimming, I used my Spanish to chat with two young women who are studying "Tourism" in the State of Hidalgo (near Mexico City) and who are doing a work placement in Cozumel.  Very pleasant!

Photos:
Top - Puddles, the cat, decided he likes me.  I like him too.  The only thing, is he has razor sharp claws and he was "kneading" (scratching / pawing) my chest.  Ouch!
Middle - Susan and Chris got pedicures before coming.  They have the pretty coloured toes.  My toes are plain and kinda hidden, by accident.  But it's not a big loss.
Bottom - More cool street art!

The Humane Society and Billy's

One of my goals for Cozumel this year is to volunteer at the Human Society. It's something that Susan and Chris want to do too.  So we checked it out today!

To prepare for this "event", Susan emailed the Humane Society to find out when we could come and where they are.  A good idea!  Once we knew that, we hopped on our bikes and made the pilgrimage.  I say that, cause it's located on the outside of town, on a road none of us had ever been on before.

When we first got there, we were invited to play / hang out with the cats.  There are about 20 of them.  We were in a cat house with about 10.  But it's hard to be sure how many there were because there were a lot of fun hiding places for them.

Then, we walked some dogs, twice.  Each time, an employee came with us to make sure we were all safe.  That was a good thing because there are a lot of "family pet /guard" dogs around the humane society.  Two of which were kind nasty looking and acting.  We'll likely got back to do more cat playing and dog walking.  We'll also likely go back on some Wednesdays to help "wake up" animals that have just been spayed / neutered.

On our way back home, we stopped for dinner at Billy's BBQ.  YUM!!!  We ordered a combo plate fit for any carnivore!  It had BBQed ribs, chicken and porc.  Enough for 2 or more meals each for about $27 total including tip and one pop each.

Photos:
Top - Chris in the cathouse
Middle - Billy's team making yummy BBQ happen!
Bottom - Susan and Chris with our carnivore's delight!

Snorkeling with the gang

Today, I went snorkeling with Susan, Jan and Bruce and Sondra and Randy, all guests at Casa Deja Blue.  Only Chris, Susan's partner, couldn't come because she didn't feel well.  It was fun and sometimes very zen.

Our first stop was El Cielo.  A shallow area known for it's starfish.  When I was there 3 years ago, I  wondered if the starfish were fake, put there for the benefit of tourists.  But nope.  Today, I saw that they were for real.  Our guide put his snorkel in the sand so we had a point of reference.  You could clearly see that the starfish was "walking" on the sandy bottom.  He explained that they are vegetarian.  They move to areas with weed and sponges to eat, then to sandy areas to hide and mate.  Very cool!

Then we went over Columbia reef.  I was cold and intent on warming up.  So I didn't snorkel again.  Instead I looked through the glass bottom on the boat.  We saw more fish and some coral.  But the highlight was definitely two sea turtles!  The shell of the biggest looked about 3 feet long!  Apparently they come up for air about every 6 hours.  Wow!

Then we anchored in a very shallow area where we could walk in the warm water while our crew made guacamole, ceviche, and pico de gallo for us.  Yum!

The boat ride back was very cool too.  The light was a bit dramatic because there was some sun and some storm clouds. Wonderful!  Especially combined with wind!

Photos:
Top the gang at the dinner table on the boat
Middle: Susan and me hanging in the shallow water
Bottom: Angel, our guide, blowing a very neat bubble, seen through the gass bottom of the boat