Time To Connect

What did you hear outside yesterday? You may think my life is surrounded by nature sounds like frogs & birds, but I also hear trucks & planes & “city”. Also, there is no lack of microphones & loud (very loud) speakers around. Even the smallest of churches seem to have a sound system. But not only are they used inside church or the clubs, they are also common outdoors. Here's a few uses I've come across. Stores downtown play music & advertise - someone is hired to entice you into the store by telling of the offers - all day long. Or if you live in a community away from el centro, you will hear the vendors throughout the day as they pass by in truck, cars & tricycles selling water, gas, ice cream, tortillas, fruit... "Uvas, solo 10 pesos 1 kilo, uvas solo 10 pesos hoy!" Sometimes it's an announcer, sometimes it's a song. Or one vendor (water I think) reads the news headlines as they drive the streets. And it doesn't stop at night. It&

Here's my newest experience. I stopped at Nery's house on Fri PM & Paco came home from work (construction near the marina) with a bag of snails. Yes, with just a face mask, he had been diving for snails during his lunch break, I guess & probably had around 100 in this bag. So, we went to Panchita's house to cook them because they didn't have a pot big enough. The only "seafood" I cook is fish, so this was a learning thing for me. So, we boiled them in shell until cooked, took out of the water & pulled off the cap & pulled out the meat & all the rest of the insides. Only 1/2 of what's in the shell is actually edible. And what started as a large bag I could hardly lift became a bowl, 2 pounds, maybe, of actual meat. (Shells are saved for a craft project). My next lesson was how to eat these Mexican mariscos. Well, duh – with chopped tomato, onion, garlic, chile, lime & cilantro, of course. Add clamato & serve like a cold soup with

I found Rice Krispies! What does that have to do with chocolate, you may ask? Well, last time I lived in Mexico, I had to make Rice Krispies Squares with pink & white marshmallows & Choco Krispies (yes, chocolate). Now I have a couple recipes with chocolate chips - I’ve searched high & low around here for chocolate chips, but have only found them in Walmart in Hermosillo. So, in my search for chocolate chips or a reasonable substitute, I’ve discovered there’s no lack of chocolate, I just can’t limit my search to the usual sources. I’ve seen a few chocolate bars at the stores – few enough that it should be easy to choose. Peanuts & cajeta seem to be popular fillings. The store up the street keeps them in the cooler – I can imagine they would melt on the shelf most of the year in these little unair-conditioned stores. I even found a few imports like Peanut Butter Cups, Fererro Roche & Oreos. There’s Powdered Cocoa, Chokis (cookies), & the occasional cake mix and y

When I was young I attended Fisherton Bible Camp. While I could regale you with many a camp memory, what has recently come to mind is the trek to the beach from our original location when I was really young. We would all gather our suits & towels & meet at the north east corner of the camp to make our way to the beach together. We walked through this field & then a parking lot, picnic area & end up at an “only popular with the locals” public beach. I’m certain this process was a bit of a nightmare for the leaders who were responsible for us in this rather uncontrolled environment. Some kids would run toward the beach like bees to honey while others meandered through the field exploring. We would look for creatures & wild flowers & the experienced camper would look for wild strawberries. They were just tiny little strawberries but they tasted so pure! I tell you this because I tasted that taste here. You see, you can buy strawberries at Soriana – big, red, “perfe

There’s an iguana living in the wall next to my trailer. This one is about a foot & 1/2 long & apparently he has a friend in the yard that’s twice his length – haven’t seen him yet. He was out sun tanning yesterday. He must be shy - he disappeared the moment I made some noise. I think he’ll be a good neighbour – he's quiet & although he's genrally a vegetarian, I'm hoping he eats bugs! I had a humming bird outside my door today. I think they like the bugambilia bushes in the yard. There’s something about being out of the city, I guess because between here & Banamichi I’ve seen several kinds of birds – vultures, humming birds, cardinals, doves & a colorful unidentified bird. Makes me want to get a bird feeder! I think I’ve seen more horses in the last 3 weeks than I have in the last 30 years! There are 5 that hang out around here all the time (and I thought the gates were for security!) I’m not sure if they are wild or free range, and I’m

Some of you may remember that last time I was here, I had an unknown late night visitor “Amigo! Amigo!” Well, 11:15 Saturday night I again had a visitor . This one was quieter but rather persistent & stayed at my door looking in for about 15 minutes. I want to be hospitable but this cat showed up a bit late for niceties. Yes, it was a cat! He looked well fed & groomed so I assumed he had a home to return to & encouraged him to leave. Last weekend we went 4 hours northeast to a place called Banamichi . We flew there (well, Brian was driving) on Friday & returned Sunday. Sat afternoon was the side trip to the Aguas Calientes (hot springs) in Aconchi . Have you even driven in a riverbed? Let’s just say you don’t go to the hot springs in rainy season! We all laughed as we bounced along the “road”, passing 2 men sitting in a field, men on horseback with their dogs following along & cows fighting over who knows what through & in the dry riverbed. 14 pesos

I was reading how “Americanadians” tend to value efficiency in our work – thus bigger (or maybe smaller) & better machines & technology. We value efficiency so much we’ve automated ourselves out of jobs. On the other hand, other cultures value relationships & so efficiency isn’t always a big priority. Earning enough money for the week is important & so is working with those we like. I would like to think that we can take the good from both sides of the coin, but you know how hard it is to balance a coin on it's side. It’s interesting to watch the work being done on the property right now. I'm learning so much! Julio & Luis & Jose are putting in an underground watering system which has led to trenches being dug by hand all over the yard. These stay open until the pipe & I think some wiring get laid & then eventually get covered in. As I stepped over the trench by the casita day after day, I wondered why they don’t finish one section at a

This culture isn’t completely new to me, but I have so much to learn or get accustom to. Especially important are some of the relational things like greeting others. In Canada when I arrive at a gathering, I will greet everyone as a group “hello everyone!” or greet the first person I see & greet others as I see them or wave from across the room or maybe just slip in quietly. Here when someone arrives they greet everyone in the room personally with a handshake & a hug or pat on the arm or kiss on the cheek. While I like this custom,this Canadian tends to feel like I’m disrupting conversations & drawing attention to myself by doing this, especially in groups that I’m new to. One solution I've discovered is to arrive first, which isn’t usually too difficult! And I'm hoping it comes easier when I know more people & can speak the language better. Spanish has formal & informal words for addressing others. “You” & all the verbs that go with it can be for

Did I move here at a good time!! I’m rather spoiled with all the fruit trees in the yard – mandarins, grapefruit, lemons, limes, oranges, cumquats, pomegranate &, guava. The mandarins & grapefruit were ripe when I arrived, so daily I’ve been able to pick & eat! Oh & I’ve had limonada, fresh orange juice & homemade cumquat marmalade. I think my eating habits my need to change – for several reasons. First, what I eat. Food that was common for me in Canada is often hard to find here & when you do, it’s expensive! I paid $1.70 for a tin of mushroom soup – not going to do that very often! Second – when I eat. Meals at the school for example are at 8 AM, 1:30 PM & 7 PM & the big meal is in the middle of the day. And of course meal times also affect when one goes to shop or visit or where the workers are early afternoon. Going to the local taco or hotdog stand is rather common, especially on the weekend. Pascual, who is tiling the casita here, has a h