Thursday Dec 1st Laundry day. Art is up early and out the door before Gillian is out of bed! He needs to get there early in order to be sure of a machine or two being available.
Laundry day is Art's regular chore (which he enjoys). Clothes go into the washer then Art heads down the street and around the corner to La Tertulia for breakfast. Back to the laundromat to transfer the loads to the dryer then he's off to the Zihua Pancake House or some other nearby place for an espresso and to read the paper for a while as the clothes go round and round.
Clothes (mostly) folded and stuffed back into the laundry bag, Art returns to the motorhome by about 10:00 AM, a few more Brownie Points climbing back again up towards the distant Zero he had started the relationship with so many years ago.
Just before noon the restaurant staff arrived, all but the chef of previous years who had decided not to come back this year. The chef's helper Orelio, or Niño as he is fondly called, was now the chef, with Memo, the owner pitching in as well.
Mundi, the RV Park owner ( and Memo's brother) showed up of course, it was good to see everyone again.
The balance of the day was taken up with getting the chairs out and just generally relaxing. We wouldn't get everything set up until we had the motorhome washed and waxed in a few days. We have to check with Mundi to ensure that there is enough water, and to arrange for our “Auto Lavado” crew to come to the park. Too big a job in this heat to do it ourselves!
That evening we joined friends at in the restaurant, our habitual First Day Dinner to celebrate our arrival in Zihuatanejo in general and El Manglar in particular. There will be a Last Night dinner following in three months or so.
Later we returned to the motorhome, having left the dogs inside, to find a large hole in Trekker's new bag of dog food!
Friday morning Art took a stroll through the restaurant to check out the estuary and was welcomed back by the appearance of this little fellow near the remains of the bridge to the beach. Hope this bridge gets repaired soon. It took most of last year just to get the permission to do the work!
Later in the day Art went to the Auto Lavado to arrange a wash crew. They decided that they would be able to come Monday morning at 7:30! Art said no, too early, make it 8:00. Since that was several days we decided to put out the "carpet" and the rest of the chairs--they could be easily moved.
Saturday, December 3 was laundry day again for Art—sheets and towels this time; 172 pesos! Including Thursday's bill which he had forgotten to pay!
In the evening we went into town for a Callejoneada, a parade of musicians playing and singing as they walk, accompanied by locals and visitors. (A callejon is a small alley) Gillian walked the route with the musicians while Art took the jeep into centro to find a place to park and met Gillian at the basketball court, a local gathering place, where the parade would end and the collection box passed around.
Here we chatted with some of the musicians. Art was particularly interested in a 12 string instrument which one of the young ladies was playing. It resembled and sounded much like a mandolin which he had once begun to learn to play. A mandolin though has 8 strings, or more properly 4 sets of double strings. The young lady explained that yes it was a mandolin, with 4 sets of triple strings!
From the basketball court we went on for drinks at Hija del Capitan, above La Playa Bar, and meet again owner Tanya, her brother Kenny and Didi, one of the cooks, all of whom we have known for years. Then home for some TV then to bed.
In the wee small hours we woke to munching sounds—Tia eating dog food kibble-- the hole in the bag much larger now! We suspect that Trekker had had his big nose in the bag, and being a messy eater had scattered some on the floor that Tia was cleaning up! Tia is the dominant one, and Trekker would have backed off.
Monday morning the wash/wax crew arrive at about 8:30 and quickly got to work. A complete wash and wax took them six hours, temperature about 30 degrees C. at mid day. 1,000 pesos--about $80.00. Probably over paid, but it is what we have paid each year!
The rest of the month progressed much like previous Decembers, described in previous posts, so we wont bore you repeating all with details. (Besides which, this post wasn't finished until March!)
Gillian signed up for a month at Curves, we wandered the markets, visited hairdressers, barbers, the Dia de Guadelupe parade, a couple of Pasadas, and restaurants; Hija del Capitan, Don Memo's, La Chuleta, Nardo's (Christmas Eve with friends—turkey dinner with all the fixin's) and countless lunches and dinners at Restaurant El Mangler.
We also attended a book signing and reading by Linda Leonard, ( a long time Zihua friend) of excerpts of her book “Living the Dream in Mexico”.
Here are a few photos take during December.
Crocodiles, with Martin the waiter taking a break!
These Christmas decorations are for sale along the road side on the way into centro.
Christmas Eve we went with friends to Nardo's, which involved a stroll along Calle Adelita, where there are many great restaurants. Unfortunately the City Fathers decided that December would be a good time to dig up the street, replace all water and sewer lines and repave--estimated to be a three month job!
Shortly after we arrived friend presented us with two cherry tomato seedlings which we finally got around to potting up. Hope they ripen before we leave! The herbs seem to be doing OK, though the mint is struggling and we are a bit concerned about the oregano, marjoram and thyme. The two types of basil and the tarragon are thriving. Looks like a bumper crop. (Sorry!)
Christmas Day was quiet, though Art finally got around to hanging a couple of pictures that Gillian had purchased in Victoria before we left. One in particular is to remind us of home while we are away so is displayed near the dinette.
New Year's Eve was spent quietly at home in the RV Park. There are lots of fireworks this night and the dogs, particularly Tia, is quite nervous of the loud noises so we don't like to leave her alone, though we did walk to the beach at midnight to watch the main displays around town.
Our dinner tonight was Art's famous home made pasta—lasagne! Not even too much flour on the dinette seat, table or floor—he is getting the hang of it!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment