When It Rains It Pours

And then it pours some more.

Oh my, am I ever unprepared for the tropical storms that are on their way. Someone needs to buy a flashlight, candles and some rain boots!

Last night was brutal. The thunder pounded, my heart pounded, my pool overflowed, the street looked like a river and then the river started to flow into the house under the front door. Oh what fun.

There was a tropical storm warning in effect last night. Thankfully Elida decided to mellow out by the morning.

Here's a video I took yesterday after about an hour of rain. An hour later the water from the street reached my front door.

I admire how people here just deal with things. Life just goes on. You drive through flooded roads, ride your bike in it, carry your baby home in it and if you're a child you skip through it like you don't have a care in the world. Kids are awesome. :)

The dogs have found me...

There must some sort of a free food notification system among the stray dogs here. I fed one stray dog a few days ago and now they all stop by my door to see if I have any food.

How can you say no to a face like this?

Looks like I'd better go stock up on dog food. :)

Manzanillo

There is only so much sand, surf and sun a girl can handle. Sometimes you need a change of scenery and a shopping mall!

The closest city near me with a mall is in Manzanillo, about 40 minutes away. Ahhh an air conditioned mall, what a welcome relief from the heat. 

I've been to Manzanillo twice in the past week. Once to buy groceries (although I also ended up on the private beach at the Las Hadas resort) and again on a shopping trip with my new Canadian lady friends. The ladies live here full time, they're all married and in their 60's. Lots of fun and laughter with this group. I'm happy I met them. They're a riot. We went to Walmart, Sam's Club and out for lunch at Godzilla's. Best fish & chips I've had in a long time. Made with Tilapia, very yummy!

Here are some pics I took while I was in Manzanillo. The view of the ocean from Las Hadas reminded me of Vancouver Island. 

Las Hadas 

Just me hangin out on the beach with my pole. ;)

This view reminded of home.

I asked why this was in the parking garage and I was told it's so
Mary can bless the employees as they go to and from work.
The employee entrance door is in front of it.

Road Trip With The Ladies
(The sky really was that blue, I didn't edit the colour.)

Getting ready to go over another tope (speed bump).

Cipro or no Cipro?

I've been sick for the past few days with some sort of gut issue. I've just been hiding at home hoping that whatever lovely bacteria has invaded my system will work itself out (literally lol). I've been debating whether I need to take the Ciprofloxacin my doctor gave me in case of Montezuma's Revenge or not. Here's a little info on Ciprofloxacin - Click here. This is a heavy duty antibiotic. The website says Cipro can be used as a treatment in a bioterror attack of Anthrax! Not to mention it has the risk of severe muscle weakness. Funny how my doctor forgot to give me all this information when she sent me off with a bottle of this stuff. Needless to say I haven't taken it yet. I have a hunch this isn't the dreaded Motezuma's Revenge because from what I've heard it's hellish and I would be much sicker. So for now I will continue my regime of taking my grapefruit seed extract, ginger tablets, peppermint tea and probiotics. I also have my Pepto Bismol and Imodium on hand because you can't be in Mexico without those.

When I was here for 6 months in the past, I took two chewable Pepto's with every restaurant meal and I never got sick. The idea is that Bismuth subsalicylate is an acid and the acid kills any unwanted bacteria before it has a chance to wreak havoc on your system. Maybe I have to start taking them again when I eat in restaurants. Although I don't think it was restaurant food that made me sick this time. I actually think it was me being careless at home. I knew coming here that I had to be careful in restaurants with the water, the ice, not eating lettuce because it's washed in the bad water, not eating from street vendors, only eating fruit and vegetables that have been peeled and so on and so on. But what I forgot was at home I have to be careful too. I've got a feeling I got sick because I didn't soak all my fruits and vegetables in Microdyn. It's an iodine solution that kills any microorganisms hanging out on the produce. But silly me, I was so hungry the other night that I rinsed a carrot and a cucumber (with bottled water) then ate them. Oh no I didn't peel them, I just threw some water on them and then ate them. Duh. No wonder I'm sick!

I guess I'll just keeping doing what I'm doing and hope it improves.

The verdict is - I'm not taking the Cipro unless I feel like I want to die or if an Anthrax attack hits. So far so good. ;)

Lesson learned - use Mircodyn!!

Eggs-cellent prices here

I went grocery shopping yesterday at a little market near my house. Here's a photo of everything I bought for a whopping 187 pesos - about $15 Canadian.

What a great deal. Just the cereal alone would of been 6 bucks in Canada. I think I overestimated what my grocery bill is going to cost every month. (It's the electricity bill I'm hoping isn't super expensive because I'm running the air conditioner all night. I can't sleep without it!)

Now see those eggs? I have to say I was a little nervous about buying them. Not only because they come in plastic bags and I wondered how I was going to get them home without breaking them, but also because I was worried about buying unrefrigerated eggs. This is unheard of in Canada and the US but here in Mexico it's just the way it is. Even Wal-mart in Mexico sells them unrefrigerated. It scares me but everyone eats them and survives. I'm sure I will too. But if I die of Salmonella poisoning it was the killer eggs!!

Update: After doing some research I found out they don't wash their eggs here and that's why they can be kept out of the fridge. Once you wash an egg it loses its protective coating and needs to be refrigerated. They would never sell eggs in Canada covered in chicken poop or feathers but here in Mexico they do. You're suppose to wash them just before you use them. Well I'm going to wash them when I get them home and then refrigerate them. I can get use to some of the customs here but not all of them. You can shoot fireworks at me but you can't make me keep my eggs on the counter in this heat! ;)

Sunscreen what a concept

Well I was sadly mistaken when I first got here and thought I could handle the Mexican sun without sunscreen. I said "Ohhhh no I won't burn. I'm half Maltese. I've got skin that'll tan nicely." Wrong! Turns out maybe my skin is from the other half of my heritage - Irish skin that burns like hell in the sun. So now I'm burnt and peeling, a very unattractive sight I must say. But it serves me right. I'm staying indoors for a few days. Hiding under the ceiling fan in the living room and escaping to the air conditioning in the bedroom when I can't take the heat any longer. I've only been going out at night once the sun goes down. Sounds like I'm turning into a vampire haha. ;)

Lesson learned - wear sunscreen!

Watch out for el torito!

Last night was Savannah's last night here in Mexico with me. We ventured out at night to the town square where a celebration was happening for the feast of St. Anthony. They had a little fair set up in the square with some rides the kids, food vendors and entertainment on stage. I really enjoyed watching the dancing. Some of the dancers danced to English hip hop songs. One of the songs had explicit lyrics with a lot of F-words, but everyone spoke Spanish so they didn't have a clue. Sav and I just looked at each other and laughed.

Earlier in the day I took video of a procession of people walking with a priest and a band. I had no idea what I was seeing until we got to the celebration in the evening. Ah ha, the procession was for St. Anthony.

St. Anthony is the patron saint of animals. People were bringing their horses and even a huge bull to the priest to be blessed with holy water. Now they have a holy bull rather than a holy cow hahaha. Get it, holy cow? Hehe

Speaking of bulls, at the end of the night the festivities ended with el torito making an appearance. Torito is a handmade bull that has fireworks attached to it. They light the fireworks and then someone runs with it over their head through the crowd like a raging bull shooting fireworks at everyone. In the video you can hear Savannah say 'loco!' It sure was. You can see how close the fireworks got to me. Sav was smart, she screamed and ran away. I stuck around to shoot the video and got hit in the foot with a firework. It melted the toe of my shoe! Thankfully I wasn't wearing flip flops. :)

I love how Mexicans love to celebrate. But next time I'm staying away from el torito!

Puerto Vallarta fun

We made it to Barra de Navidad a few days ago. This is where I'll be house sitting until the end of November. It's a sleepy little town. I've only seen a handful of gringos around. No one wants to be here in the summer. I've never been very conventional. I guess this is another example of unpredictable Adina in action. Haha I'm ok with it. It's quiet here but I'll make the best of it. It's been really hot here the past few days. I haven't had a chance to update my blog because it's been too hot to think. My brain doesn't function well when I'm roasting. But today is an overcast day and it's almost bearable, so I thought I'd sit down and post about some the fun Savannah and I had while we were in Puerto Vallarta.

We went to the beach, the zoo, we went clubbing, ate yummy Mexican food, walked on the malecon and attended a Catholic mass (by mistake lol). We thought we would just peek in and have a look, instead we ended up staying for a while. I'd post the video but its too long and the service is in Spanish. All I understood was the priest saying God, Jesus and Mary every once in a while. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Savannah thought all she had to do was bring a flower up to the front of the church.
What a surprise when she got stuck up there on her knees for the entire mass! Too funny. 

The zoo was fun but the monkey sure was trouble. I should post this video in slow motion because my face is hilarious. The bad monkey scared me!

On our last night in PV we decided to go out dancing in spite of a crazy rainstorm. I would hate to know what was in the water we were trudging through as we walked down the hill from our hotel to the club. It didn't smell good I can tell you that much. Thankfully I was carrying my heels and wearing my flip flops. It was nuts.

The rain water was rushing down the street like a river!

It became clear as soon as we got outside that there was no point in doing my hair because after about 2 minutes I looked like a drowned rat! But even with the rain we had a really fun night. Hehe it's always a fun night when I bust out the red heels! ;)

Ahhh rain...

It's been so hot here, I welcomed the rain storm that arrived last night. It sure took the temperature down. I haven't seen a really good storm with booming thunder and lightning that lights up the sky since I lived in Ontario 20 years ago. When I was a kid I remember sitting out on the front porch loving all the action. Last night was no exception. I love a good storm. Between trying to watch my show Orange Is The New Black, I kept running outside to take pictures of the lightening. I wasn't fast enough to get any lighting photos but I loved being out there. Hmm maybe storm chasing will be my next adventure...haha.

Oops left my new book 1000 Places To See Before You Die out in the rain!! Bad me. I guess I'll have to make my own list now. :)

Froot Loop friends

Yesterday my 20 year old daughter Savannah arrived in Puerto Vallarta. She'll be hanging out with me until the 13th. I'm so happy she's here!

Last night we walked around downtown for a few hours. We popped into a few tourist shops, a homemade candy shop and then the grocery store. I had a craving for chips and Savannah bought a small box of Froot Loops to snack on while we walked back to the hotel. Wanna know how to meet people in Mexico? Froot Loops. I was amazed with how many Mexicans asked her for some as we walked down the street. It was really funny. The guys would come right up to her and ask for some, she'd pour some into their hands and the conversations would start. Who knew Froot Loops were a universal favorite?

So now you know, if you want to make friends in Mexico carry around a box of Froot Loops! ;)

P.S. I always thought they were Fruit Loops not Froot Loops. Hmm ya learn something new every day.

Flannel pajamas?

It's only day 3 and I already see that I brought way too much stuff. It's been a humid 30-34 degrees the past few days and over the summer it's only going to more humid. I'm pretty sure I won't be needing the 3 jackets, flannel pajamas, socks, 3 pairs of jeans or the 8 pairs of shoes I brought. I'll probably be living in my bathing suit, a few sundresses and my flip flops for the next 177 days.

Lesson learned - pack light!

Hello PV!

I landed safely in Puerto Vallarta yesterday. The flight was uneventful, all my luggage got here, customs was a breeze. Again I was nervous for nothing!

I was picked up at the airport by the manager of the hotel I'm staying at for the week. I wish I would of gotten a picture of him with the 'Adina' sign he was holding up for me. I was so excited when I saw it lol

After checking in at the hotel I couldn't wait to get out and take a walk on the malecon (boardwalk). So off I went. It's quite the hike to get to the malecon from the hotel. Well actually the hike down is easy, it's the hike up that sucks!

Once I got to the malecon, I stopped in a few shops, declined numerous timeshare sales pitches (is that ever annoying), had a quick look around the church, then had dinner at Pipi's restaurant. The food and music were great! I want to bring my daughter to Pipi's when she arrives in a few days.

Oh here's proof I'm in Mexico, I took this photo from the rooftop patio of my hotel...a trampoline on the roof of a four story building. Yes folks, I have arrived.

And the adventure begins...

This is my OMG I'm about to get on a plane face lol 

Mexico here I come!

Only 1 more sleep!

Time sure flies when you're busy getting ready to leave the country for 6 months. I can't believe my apartment is empty and tomorrow at this time I'll be on my way to the airport.

It's taken a lot a planning and a lot work to get ready for my trip. Family and friends have been wonderful. I'm so grateful for their help with moving, storing my stuff, storing my car, helping with my dog, my fish tank, letting me stay at their house until I leave town and driving me to the airport tomorrow at 4 am. Thank you! I'm so blessed to have good caring people around me. I'm going to miss all of you. Come visit me! xo

So long apartment. It's time to house sit in Mexico!