Finding Delight

They say....if you look for it, you will find it.  

On the whole, I think I'm a happy person.  But like pretty much everyone else, I can be less happy sometimes.  Even here in this beautiful warm sunny place.  

One of my sources of wisdom, to combat my personal poop, are podcasts.  A thing I learned recently, and am trying out a little, is this.  When you see something that is delightful. Anything.  Put your finger in the air and proclaim, out loud, delight!  Even better, have a delight partner.  Call, text, message them however, to share the delight.  Delight shared is delight amplified!  

I don't always remember to say delight.  Or to even think it.  When I do, I usually say it in my head and picture my finger in the air.  But I'm working on it.   

I think too, that this delight habit fits well with the thought, if you look for it, you will find it.  

I've been on this island for 7 seasons now.  So there aren't as many new things for me to discover.  Which is partly why I'm not blogging as much as in the first years.  But, my goal is to continue to look for the beauty here, and be delighted by it.  Thank you to everyone who reads my blogs for sharing, and making it more delightful!!  These pictures are random delightful things :)

1) I watched a man bring these figures to the garbage.  I imagine they were from a Carnaval past.  They were a little damaged and dirty.  But still cute.  I was so happy to see the man in the picture pick one up, on his scooter!!  I think he said for a niece.  When I passed by again later that day, they were all gone.  I was delighted by the figures.  Even more delighted that they would get a new life!

2) More stuff from Carnaval past.  It would've been a big fun float!  I just thought they were so fun, delightful!  I hope they reuse some of the materials when Carnaval finally gets to happen again.  It's been cancelled for the second time in a row.  TheCovid...

3) It never gets old for me.  A pretty drink with a cherry!!

4) On the waterfront, there's a restaurant called Hemingway.  I think the name is a bit pretentious, and the dance music is soooo not for me!  But they do have this pretty archway and wedding thingy.  I was delighted enough to by it to take a picture :)

5) I love these pink washing machines!!!  I love how so many household items here are fun colours.   But they seem expensive.  About 6,500 pesos or $360 CDN.  That's a lot for the average Mexican

6) In the tourist zone, there's a main square and pedestrian mall, like Sparks St at home.  They have these pretty lights and flags.  It delighted me enough to stop for a drink!  

Jorge and Flor make Chicharron

I'm biking home and see a man with a big pot on a fire.  May I ask what this is?  I say.  Yes, he says. With pride and joy!!

The man is Jorge.  He was making chicharron. Which I thought was "just" rendered pork fat.  But I had so much to learn!  

First.  What is rendering anyway???  I'd heard of it.  Didn't know exactly what it meant.  Google says it's cooking fat to evaporate all the water in it, to make it keep / not rot.  Soooo....basically, put chunks of (pork) fat in a big pot.  Cook.  Until lots of the fat is melted & all the water is evaporated.  To make chicharron, cook until the remaining / not melted chunks of fat are golden brown and crispy.  The crispy bits are the chicharron.  Which means "crackling" in Spanish. 

Jorge offered me a piece of his chicharron to try.  I'd had it before.  It's very keto (lo carb, hi fat diet) And can be really tasty. But Jorge's fresh chicharron was the best ever!!!  I'm not eating keto these days, so I didn't want to eat too much of it.  Sad :(

Jorge was so pleasant, I asked if I could take his picture.  He was so keen!  He posed! With his mixing stick! And smiled so proudly!  

It was such a fun encounter, and such an awesome picture of Jorge, I printed it.  And went back to his house to offer him a print.  

Jorge wasn't home.  But his sister Flor was.  She was super pleasant too!  And offered some tastes of the chicharron she was making. That's when I learned chicharron is NOT always just pork fat.  To my delight, and less delight, I tasted chicharron made from....beef skin/fat - very good!  Beef tripe- pretty good!  And beef lung - ouch!!  A little too real for me :(

 Pictures

1) Jorge posing with his giant pot of pork chicharron.  So delicious!!!

2) Flor posing with her pot of beef chicharron, and a piece of beef tripe chicharron in her hand.  She had a very good laugh, at my expense, when I said beef lung (the dark chunks in the bin that look like dried poop) is not for me.  I thought her laughing at me was very funny! 

3) This is Sebastian. He guards bicycles and scooters that park in "his area" at the Mega grocery store.  The service is pay what you want like  5, 10, 20 pesos (30 cents to $1.20) He's been there since I've been coming to Cozumel.  He's always so cheery.  I gave him a print of this picture.

4) A cute little dog hanging out at Jorge and Flor's house.  Their dog?  Maybe.  I'll ask next time I go there.

5-6) This hippo has a kinda surprised look on its face.  Maybe cause it has that weird thing coming outta his back end???  Ohhhh....it's a slide! :)  The little girl in the picture was cute.  The woman, a grandmother? (Abuela), was patient.  The little girl had a deformed arm.  Not much there after the elbow.  It took her a little time to get up the ladder.  But she seemed to enjoy her slide!   

7) Cupcakes in the bakery section at Mega.  Too cute! About $0.60 each!  Nope.  I didn't buy one.  I'm not eating keto.  But I am trying to be reasonable...

 

Buccanos History

February 17, 2018 was the last time I wrote about Buccanos.  Since then, I've learned a little more.

Buccanos is a beautiful beach club. It's most notable feature is an amazing entrance/lobby and restaurant.  All with super thick walls made of stone.  It feels like a Mexican version of our Canadian railway era hotels, like the Chateau Montebello, Chateau Laurier, and Banff Springs.    

Connected to the beach club building, is an old hotel.  It looks like it was never finished and like it might be abandoned.  Turns out neither of these is true!!

The hotel looks unfinished on the outside because it was built in 1964 of  stone from the island in the "Old Mexico" style.  And was intended to have a natural look.  At the time it was called Hotel Cozumel Caribe, and was a luxurious 5 star hotel that hosted the rich and famous, including Jacqueline Kennedy in 1968.  

It is, indeed, largely mostly empty though.  Google says that after the hurricanes (Gilbert then Wilma in 2005?) "they began removing the debris, rocks etc that had lodged underneath the hotel...which made the hotel unstable and they had to stop. It is slightly leaning towards the sea"  Debris under the hotel???  I don't quite get that. And I did NOT notice a tilt.  But it is mostly unoccupied, except for about 6 rooms on the first 2 floors.  Where members of the original owners family live.  The Barbachanos family.

Apparently, there are huge lobbies on each floor, wide hallways, and  magnificent archways. 

Pictures 

1) This is the hotel.  This view definitely does not show a tilt! But you can see the stone construction and archway in this photo.

2) It always impresses me when a place puts effort to make their bathrooms interesting.  I love these pig sculptures on the bathroom counter!

3) It rained pretty hard the day I was there.  These clouds make the place feel a little ominous.  It''s not always like that of course!

4) There's a very nice garden area for quiet time. 

5) The is the covered link/passage between the restaurant and hotel. It's shaded and breezy.  Delightful!

6) The restaurant is so grand and cavernous!

7) I snooped a little.  I found this impressive cocktail bar on the second floor.  

8) They were setting up for a wedding. Very pretty!  

This is the link to the article about Jackie Kennedie's visit to Buccanos in 1968.  It's largely about her clothes.  But it's still kinda interesting.  https://historicalmx.org/items/show/156

Laundry

Laundry.  It’s a funny word when you type it all alone.  But I digress…..

There are lots of laundromats here in Cozumel.  So in theory, I do not have to wash my clothes.  I admit, it is kinda nice to drop off dirty clothes, and pick up clean nicely folded clothes the next day.  But I prefer to wash my own.  For a few reasons.

The laundromats can get expensive.  About $5-7 USD for a plastic grocery bag of clothes.  It’s not a fortune.  But it adds up, and I’d much rather spend that on other things.  The laundromats use really smelly soap.  Kinda nice.  But tooooo strong!  And shlepping my clothes around town. Not my favourite thing to do.

More importantly!  I like washing my clothes by hand here.  Especially in my lovely outdoor sink!  With my bar or Zote Laundry Soap.  For some reason, I have a thing for Zote!  I think it’s the simplicity of it. There is a zen to hand washing clothes with Zote.  When one has few clothes to wash, and not many other responsibilities. 

I like drying my clothes outside too.  This place has so much great outdoor space for it!  

Pictures

1) My awesome outdoor sink!  I love that I can do laundry while looking at tree branches, and enjoy the breeze!  Notice my bar of Zote in the bowl. 

2) From google.  A picture of Zote in its packaging.  It comes in pink too.  Not for me!  Zote means “all”.  Makes sense I guess.  I kinda preferred when I thought it was just a fun word. 

3) I think my drying setup is clever.  I put the wet clothes on plastic hangers so they don’t pick up rust from the railing.  

4) Not really laundry related….But I was so excited!  I made a finger!  For my new gloves!  I’ve never knit gloves before.  So I’m doing lotsa learning.

5) My view from my knitting bench in the park.  I like that they’re using rakes instead of leaf blowers.

6) This statue is a Monument to Mothers.  The text says: “No ames lo que eres.  Sino lo que puedes llegar a ser” “Don’t love what you are, but what you can become.” A quote from The Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote. 

El barrio Cuzamil

Cozumel is the Island.  Cuzamil is my neighbourhood.  They sound similar right?  They should.

Cuzamil is a Mayan word.  The phrase “Ah Cuzamil Peten” means “the island of swallows”.  That’s what the Mayans called Cozumel.  In Spanish it’s “Isla de las Golondrinas”.    The word, Cozumel, comes from Cuzamil, of course! (Check out my blog post from February 14, 2017 for more about this topic)

When I chose this apartment, I knew it wa s much further away from the tourist zone & waterfront than my accommodation in previous years in Cozumel.  I felt the price, awesome patio, swimming pool, and bicycles, which came with the apartment, were worth the distance.  I also thought it would force me to explore and appreciate a different part of the town.  

So this week, I spent some time slowly walking around my new neighbourhood (barrio in Spanish).  I’m still adjusting to the extra distance from the waterfront, but I’m starting to appreciate the little joys of Cuzamil.   

Photos:

1 & 2:  The most interesting thing about Cuzamil, so far, are 2 blocks of houses, that are separated by narrow walking lanes, instead of streets.  Which gives the area a quiet cozy feel.  When I walked through this week, I saw these adorable baby socks drying on a line.  The woman who had hung them said I could take the picture. Charming! 

3) can you see the man, half way up the tree?  He was harvesting coconuts!  Across the street from my house!  Once he'd climbed up the tree, with only his bare feet and hands, he used a long rope around a branch to lower the coconuts which he cut off with his machete.  Amazing! 

4) There are several parks in Cuzamil.  I’m happy to say they seem well used by the locals.  

5) There are many very small home based businesses in Cuzamil. This house offers tamales and pozole, a traditional soup made with porc, corn, and chiles.

6) look carefully!  Buzon means doorbell.  So clever!   I think they mean “ rattle the lid” as a doorbell! 

7) This large park has exercise equipment.

8) A panoramic view from  my rooftop.  There’s a nice amount of vegetation around me.  It feels nice. 

  

Art on the waterfront

I found my zen!  
It made a lovely appearance on Friday, when I was walking on the waterfront.

I set out early on Friday, to go to the local immigration office.  I wanted to try get my visa extended.  Why??  My current visa said/ still says I can stay 66 days.  Which means I’d leave the island and country on March 14.  As planned.  But Toby was considering a flight that would leave March 16.  I wanted to stay with him until then.  Also, what if I test positive for Covid19 and can’t leave?  Or my flight is cancelled, like so many are these days?  

Lucky for me, I was second in line at the office when it opened.  It only took 45 minutes for my turn.  And the nice desk lady, and an immigration consultant who was there with a client, spoke English.  This conversation was definitely beyond my Spanish skills!   

The answer was no, they could not extend my visa.  If my departure is delayed, keep all proof of reason, keep your head down, hope for the best!  Not ideal.  But I might not be delayed.  And if I was, I
would not be the only one these days.  Try to not worry.

Since I was downtown early in the day, I stayed.  The air was just that right amount of warm and cool.  It was still quiet.  I walked from downtown to the north end of town.  To have breakfast, knit, and enjoy the waterfront.  Lucky me!!

Pictures

1) Huevos estrellados con salsa verde (Sunnyside eggs with green sauce).  One of my favourites!  With lemonade, knitting, and an ocean view.  Wonderful! (I could do without the kinda loud dance music tho…)

2) I think there’s a little more art on the island than before.  Can you see?  Scavenged items hanging in the tree.  And this sailboat that got grounded years ago is being used for murals.  Interesting.  It was much further from shore before.  I’m assuming the part that’s in the water is rotting, so the whole thing is being pushed closer to shore by waves and wind?

3) Cozumel is a big scuba diving destination. This sculpture is representative of the underwater world with coral and fish.

4-5) Some fun sculptures on the waterfront. 

 

Cozumel 2022 - Settling In

 It’s been 3 years since my last time here!   It feels like yesterday in some ways, and feels all new, kinda foreign, in others.

For many reasons, I chose to stay in a different place than before.  That's definitely partly why I'm having a relatively long, and a little tricky, adaptation period.  

My new accommodation is really really nice.  The patio is wonderful.  Big, shaded, with a breeze and nice furniture.  There’s a very nice pool and deck, which I share with only the owners who live below me,  on the ground floor.  The inside is more plain, but very clean and definitely good enough.

The most tricky part is being much further back in the neighbourhood and having difficulties with the bicycles that come with the apartment.  The bicycles, one for me, one for Toby when he joins me (I hope) were in the shop when I arrived.  Grrr…then, I got one, but the brakes were seized.  Then I got the other and its brakes were seized. Grrrrr….

I’m making progress though.  One of the bikes works well now.  I just need to get a front light and cushier seat.  My butt is sore! 

The bike thing is especially important because I’m too far from the ocean to walk, practically.  About 2 km+ And there are no other guests staying in my place.  So I’ve felt a little isolated, on and off.  

That’s already improved, cause I managed to bike to the beach yesterday, despite the seized brakes! And I had dinner with my friend Pat tonight.  Yay! 

Pictures:

1, 2, 3) My home for winter 2022!  The patio and pool are definitely the best parts! 

4) There are only ceiling lights on the patio and inside.  I was looking for some table lamps.  I found this battery operated neon like pink flamingo. It’s not a great reading light.  But it’s was fun!  I also have a long string of Christmas lights inside.  They’re great! But don’t show very well in pictures.

5) One of the 2 bicycles that came with the apartment.  It looks super trick!  But performs less trick.  The climate here is super hard on bikes! Everything rusts in no time at all. In many ways, it’s better to have one with no gears.  I’m still very glad to have it.  I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

6) On my second night, I ate at Jeanie’s on the waterfront.  It’s one of my favourite places.