For the next couple of weeks we took turns doing our stint at the Sailfest sales and tickets desk in centro in front of the Barracruda Bar. We sold hats, t-shirts, tickets to various events and provided information to the passers-by.
Thursday: One of the weekly visits to one of the schools supported by last year's Sailfest. The pictures show the three rooms of the current school built by parents out of salvaged materials and the new three room concrete and brick building almost ready for occupancy. The bathroom building was built a couple of years ago. Hopefully next year the old buildings will be torn down and replaced with a modern, safe and clean structure. Please read the link to the Por Los Niños site.
Thursday evening we also managed to take in the SailFest Benefit Concert at El Pueblo restaurant. We volunteered to man the ticket sales table here too as it would guarantee us a non smoking seat! Art arrived first (Gillian stayed back to walk and feed the dogs) and walked up to the bar to order a beer and asked the bartender if he could run a tab for the evening, including our dinner. The response was “Claro Arturo!” Art gave him a second look and recognised Chucho (Jesus) a former waiter from El Manglar!
The music was terrific, possibly the best SailFest benefit concert ever. The locale is good too; much of the restaurant is in a central courtyard with a nice backdrop for the stage. The photos are of Juanito Zihua and friends and Michelle Lavalle
There were the sail boat pursuit race, a grand sail past, auctions, a Chili Cook Off, Artisans' displays etc etc etc. We had a great time throughout.
One day we returned to the motorhome to find the bread box on the floor, lid off to one side and two torn paper bags that had once been intact and had previously contained bolillos. The box had been left on the dinette. Trekker is the prime suspect in the Break and Enter but Tia was likely an accomplice in disposing of the goods after the fact!
And in the Small World Department:
One day mid week we went to Lety's restaurant just south of centro and across a canal that runs into the bay near the pier. After an excellent meal we began chatting with two couples at the next table. As usual, in part the conversation (after commenting on the wonderful meals) led to “Where are you from?”. To our response of Victoria they said that they too were from the Island and lived in Ladysmith. Gillian's response to that was a short laugh as Art responded with “How long have you lived there? I grew up there, had all my schooling there". One of the men asked our last name and when he replied “Jackson” He looked Art in the eye and said “Art Jackson!” put his hand out and said “David Savard”! His wife said that Art looks just like his brother! It must have been the better part of 40 or 50 years since we had last met.
David's older brother was one of Art's child hood friends, he knew his mother quite well as she was the local dentist's assistant. There was also later a family connection through marriage and David and his wife knew his brother and niece quite well. Art also had probably met David's wife many decades ago as her parents ran a small corner store that he had visited. We later met them again at El Manglar Restaurant a couple of times, Art having recommended it to them--they seemed to like it. Further investigation indicates that they live just a few houses from one that Art used to own.
Next Saturday we joined our friend Nancy and Steve first at Daniel's for dinner to Jimi Mamou playing and singing, then to Barracruda for drinks and Colin Austin's old time rock and roll.
Monday, February 20 Laundry day again. So you can get an idea of what it costs to live down here, here is Art's morning spending:
Laundry, (2 washers one dryer) 76 pesos. Breakfast 50 pesos plus 10 peso tip. Double espresso 30 pesos plus 10 peso tip. Hair cut 20 pesos plus 10 pesos for the hairdresser's 5 year old. Shoeshine 30 pesos (overcharged 10 pesos so no tip!). Total 241 pesos, about 20.00 dollars.
Later in the day Art spent some time in the restaurant and around the estuary with the camera and found some good subjects.
This baby crocodile is about 18 inches long.
He was pleased to finally get photos comparing the estuary from full to empty in just over 3 hours apart. It will stay low until the tide and waves rebuild the sand bar then it will slowly fill over a few days.
And the view from the other direction:
Tuesday we had diner at El Manglar with Nancy and Steve, they leave tomorrow, we leave in two weeks! Art brought along a bottle of Laphroaig for sipping after dinner.
Wednesday we attended a show of old photographs of Zihuatanejo in the local volunteer Art Gallery. Very impressive. There were many excellent exhibits, many by a local (American) photographer Gene Lysaker, who has been taking wonderful pictures here for decades. He is known to the locals as "Cri Cri" from the noise of the old time shutter snapping. This is also a sound attributed to crickets.
We finished the month making sure we visited a few new to us restaurants, notably “La Papa Loca” (The Crazy Potato) famous for stuffed potatoes . Delicious and inexpensive.
Sunday night many the campers in the RV Park got together for Pizza, delivered by Jungle Pizza, just down the road from us. This was the Buen Viaje party for our friends Keith and Yvonne and Brian and Arlene who were leaving in the morning.
We all got up to see them off. Sure is quiet around here now!
February 29th we finally made reservations at Zi Restaurant for the three course dinner we had the winning bid for at the charity auction. Our starter courses were excellent to good, a cuitlacoche soup (a black mushroom or fungus that grows on corn—tasted like an earthy cream of mushroom soup) pronounced excellent by Art, a salad with dried fruit described by Gillian as “tasty but different”.
For the main courses the food was very good and nicely cooked (Art had rack of lamb, Gillian had Tuna) the choices of accompaniment seemed a bit odd. Full marks for using traditional foods but we each thought that the items didn't suit the meat. We could almost have traded.
Deserts were excellent. Art's Coffee Soufle with Cream of Kahlah was rich yet melt-in-your-mouth light and frothy. Gillian's Chocolate Blackberry cake got the same response. Drinks were good, wine list better than most in Mexico. One of the more expensive places to eat, but we probably won't go back.
We've paid for another week, we'll be leaving one week today.
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