Volunteering and exploring

There were three Cozumel firsts today!
I went to Playa Azul, swam up to a hotel, and volunteered at an English as Second Language (ESL) school. 

Playa Azul is a well recommended beach club. A few people said it's closer than Money Bar, the beach club I went to all last year.  So I checked it out today.  It's nice.  But it's not significantly closer than Money Bar and it's not as friendly for a long swim.

But I'm glad I went because it's fairly close to El Cozumeleno, the hotel I'll be staying at with Lorraine in February, which I checked out while I was in the "hood".  The cool thing is that I swam up to the hotel, from Playa Azul!   I kinda felt like James Bond.  Coming out of "nowhere" to stake out a place incognito!  It looks nice and some friendly Canadian guests had mostly very good things to say.  Yay!

This evening, I volunteered for the first time at the ESL school that Linda works at.  Barbara had a very big class and asked me and Linda to help out.  It went well, especially considering that she didn't give us much guidance.  Afterwards, I participated in an advanced class.  It was fun, interesting, and rewarding.  It'll also be nice to get to know some locals on a whole different level.

My dresses weren't ready.  The shop floor had lots of pieces of material with sequins on them.  Carnaval....

Pictures
Top - Puddles the cat.  He was very antisocial last year. He's much nicer this year.  Doesn't he look sad cause I'm not in "my chair" doing homework?
Middle - my favourite bicycle shop.  They adjusted my fender so it wouldn't rub on my tire anymore.
Bottom - A monument in the market, I'm assuming to the virgin of Guadalupe. She's very popular here.

So much to say about yesterday!

Yesterday, I was too busy enjoying the day to blog.  It was such a nice day! Filled with little pleasant events.

My plan was to just walk around town. My only real goal was to find a seamstress who could finish sewing a dress I started to make last year at home, with fabric I bought in Mexico last winter.  A real long term, international project. 

Initially, I had no luck.  Carnaval is coming in February.  The seamstress in the market was closed, again.  Likely working her but off making sparkly costumes.  So I just wandered in and out of shops.  My first little happiness was chatting with Galo, a local artist. I really like his stuff.  So many styles.  We talked about art, his story, and some beaches I might like to check out.

Then, I found a really cute sun dress for about $5.  It was too small.  So I bought two, thinking I could cut one up to add some width to the other.  Or maybe a seamtress could do that here....

Then I bumped into Carl at Indio's.  He's the friendly grumpy old guy who helped me on day-one year-one in Cozumel.  I was so happy to catch up with him! 

Later, I met Linda and her man, Martin for dinner.  We ate at a cute little restaurant with a quiet courtyard and a fun cat.  On our way to dinner, we saw a tailor shop.  I happened to have all my dresses with me.   Guess what!  He can do it all!  For about $20.  He seemed very competent and filled me with confidence.  I'm looking forward to picking up my dresses tonight!

Photos:
Top - Carl and Indio, the owner of "Indio's" restaurant.  He's such a nice guy!
Middle - Me and Linda at the little restaurant.
Bottom - Martin, Linda's guy, with Felix the cat.

Lots of colour!

I really like how colourful things are here. 

For sure, the water is a beautiful turquoise, the sky is blue, and there are many nice flowers around.
But there is also some really neat street art and fun cookware and household items.  In some ways, these are my favourite colours.  Because some of it is kinda unexpected.  Like frypans with pictures and designs on the bottom!

Today, I bought a pink pot scrubber, and some colourful dish towels.  There was no scrubbing device in my kitchen here and the dish towels were drab and worn.  I said "There is no need for this!  Take action! "  And now, I have a happy kitchen!

Very domestic.  I know....

Pictures:
Top - The cover of a notebook.  There are soooo many with fun covers!
2 and 3rd - the coolest frypans ever!
4th - Old world meets new world street art

First swim!

I had my first swim today!  It was really nice!
And it definitely helped me feel more settled. 

I was feeling a bit restless yesterday and this morning.   I needed to walk or bike and get into the ocean. I hadn't yet partly because it's been raining, partly because I hung out with Pat and Linda yesterday, and partly because I've had some bookkeeping type work to do, and I was kinda tired.

But this afternoon, I got air in my bicycle tires and oil on my chain, and got going!  I went to one of my favourite swim places, the Blue Angel. It was great to swim again!  The water was warm and calm and I saw a small sting ray, about 10" in diameter. 

The only issue is that the Blue Angel has new signs that say "The pool is for hotel guests only".  Uhoh!  There is another small area where us non-hotel guests might be welcome to sit.  But the number of chairs there is very limited and the ground is very rocky and bumpy - not comfy for lying on at all.  And I really do enjoy a short nap on a comfy chair before or after my swims.  I might have to seek out another favourite place....

Photos:
Top - old meets new in Sylvia's Cocina.
Middle - the drains in the bottom of the pool in the courtyard.  I think they look like tadpoles. My downstairs neighbour, Susan, says they look like sting rays.
Bottom - Sunset at the Blue Angel after my swim and a nap.  I lucked out and got a chair today.

Recovering from my travel day

Yesterday, my travel day had a few ups and downs.  Literally.  Today was much better!!

Remember the "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles" movie?  My trip to Cozumel yesterday was a bit like that.  It promised to go so well! The weather for flying was great!  Except for.... Toronto. Remember the snow storm in 1999?  This time the problem wasn't snow.  Just cold.  The water pipes on the plane were frozen.  Really?  Don't planes have block heaters?  It took 4 hours to thaw them so we could take off.

This ruined my great plan to take a commuter flight from Cancun to Cozumel.  I arrived in Cancun too late.  Then, I kinda fell for a kinda scam.  I was gonna take the ADO Bus (like a Greyhound bus) from Cancun to Cozumel.  But the "guy" said no!  Take this taxi it'll be faster.  It could have been. Except for I had to wait until he found 3 other people to fill the taxi.  And I got dropped off last.  So I missed the 8 pm ferry.  The next was at 10 pm.

That was OK enough.  I waited at a restaurant / bar, beside the ferry terminal and the beach. There are worse things to do!  But I was getting tired. I had been up for 21 hours.  And the big waves on the sea made the ferry bob up and down, a lot. And I got sea sick.  Let's just say, I was very happy to wash up and go to bed.....

Today was much better!  I picked-up my bicycle at Pat'splace  (a Canadian with a house near my apartment), and chatted with her and her mom for a while.  I had breakfast at a new "cocina" (small corner restaurant) that's in the same building as my apartment and is run by Sylvia, my landlord's mexican girlfriend.  Breakfast there could become a habit....  For about $5, you get fresh squuezed juice and fruit, tea, eggs and it seems whatever side stuff you want.

After my nap....I met my cousin Linda.  We had tea, made dinner together, and chatted. She`s staying at a school that offers English classes, where she`ll be working soon.  It`s very nice!  I offerred to volunteer there. We`ll see what happens....

Photos:
Top - I watched some curling on the plane. I was sooooo critiquing their technique, now that I`m a Novice Bonspiel `B Division`champion skip!
Middle - Part 1 of my breakfast today.  Turns out I like papaya.
Bottom - The boys shaking their booties at the bar near the ferry.  Notice the nice lady / cougar? on the swing seat on the right of the bar....

The day before departure

This is it!  One more sleep before I fly to Cozumel!

I'm all packed and ready to go. 
This is a "before" picture.  I thought it might be useful if I ever get lonely or sad while I'm away.  I can remind myself that sandals and sun dresses are more fun, to me, than boots and bulky coats.  Though, I am fond of mittens and scarves.  They're kinda cozy and fun!

A bientot mes amis!
I'll try to write everyday.  But every other day might work too.

Pictures:
Top: Me, with my fun scarf.
Middle: The "tire Ste Catherine" I made at the farm during the Winter Frolic.  It was beautiful - golden and shiny!!!! Even though it looks like poop in the picture.
Bottom (scroll down): My "Taffy Queen" certificate.  Thanks Wanda!!

Here kitty kitty!

We've done some pretty fun things these last two nights!

Most evenings, we walk down the pedestrian shopping/dining mall.  Although some parts are a bit repetitive, we seem to notice different things each night.  The last  two nights, we've also done some different things.

Last night, while in a cute artsy side street, we noticed a massage/spa place.  It was cute and had a Trip advisor poster that gave it a really good rating.  So we went in and asked about a foot/leg massage.  How nice!!!  The massage tables were set up outside in a back courtyard.  There was a fan over each table so we got a nice breeze.  It was 30 minutes of bliss!

Tonight, we had our pictures taken with a baby Mexican jaguar, a baby lion, and a baby tiger.  Wow!  What a treat!  Yes, it's a "tourist" thing.  And maybe a bit controversial.  But the keepers seemed to be taking good care of the animals and the animals are part of a breeding station for species preservation, at least that's what they say....And the animals seemed content. Until the baby lion "baby roared" while Lorraine held him, and the baby jaguar bit the handler.  It was play biting though!

Oh yes, and Lorraine got to hold the monkey too!

Photos (Top to Bottom)
1 - The baby lion seemed to be very content when Lorraine fed him.
2-  The four month old Mexican Jaguar was amazingly heavy and solid.
3 - The monkey was very curious. 
4- Me, sitting in a funny chair!