Playa Cuastecomates

Tucked away in a little cove 4 km West of Melaque is a beautiful beach called Playa Cuastecomates. I'm not sure why no one showed me this beach years ago. It's become one of my favorite places to go. I take a 10 minute cab ride over to Cuastecomates a few times a week. It's a great place. Tucker loves it too. He lounges around in the sunniest spot he can find, while I eat my usual lunch of freshly caught Red Snapper. So yummy! :)

Viva la Revolucion!

Here's a video with the photos I took of the Mexican Revolution Day parade in Melaque. Everyone looked so beautiful and the kids were so cute in their costumes!

Bano or bust

In Mexico a washroom is called a bano. I found this little gem at a restaurant in Cuastecomates. At first glance I thought I was going to have to use a bucket...

But nope, this was actually the washroom....

Unfortunately this is typically what a public bano in small town Mexico looks like. It's not often you'll find a toilet seat and the tank rarely has a lid. I've seen countless toilets without handles and without running water. Due to poor plumbing you can't flush any toilet paper. So in busy restaurants or at the beach, garbage cans are always overflowing with used toilet paper. Yes you're right, it's disgusting. I can't say I'll ever get use to it, but when you've gotta go, you've gotta go. Hey dónde está el baño? ;)

Run, run, run...

I woke up bright and early at 6 am this morning to catch the 5K run in Barra de Navidad. Kids were running, seniors were running, Americans, Canadians and Mexicans. People with all different skill levels and ages were there with one goal in mind, to do their best. The oldest participant was 78. I was impressed. I'm really glad I got my butt out of bed and went. :)

Gluten-free pizza?

I'm happy to report I found a store here in Melaque that sells gluten-free products. Today at Super Hawaii I bought gluten-free cereal, almond milk and gluten-free fruit bars. They weren't cheap but if it means I can eat something other than fruit and cans of tuna every day I'm okay with it.

I felt so sick after my chocolate cake and pastry over-indulgence the other day that I hid in my room for a few days. I missed out on a fun trip with the ladies to La Manzanilla for the day because of it too. So now I am hereby vowing to not eat any more crappy food for the rest of my time here in Mexico.

Okay I'm lying. I know I'll cheat again and eat something I shouldn't. Most likely pizza will be the next culprit because every day I walk past a pizza place and I feel it calling my name...Adina you really want pizza...Adina you love cheese...Adina don't worry about the consequences. Shit I can't give up all the good stuff! Maybe I'll go have some right now and get it over with. Mmm pizza. When will I learn? lol ;)

Fundraiser for single moms

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I went to the Remembrance Day ceremony in the morning and in the evening I went to a fundraising event to benefit single moms. I have a heart for young moms who are struggling to take care of their kids alone. At one point I was a single mom with five kids under the age of 7. I know what it's like to worry about how you're going to put food on the table or pay your rent. Thankfully I had some help along the way and now whenever I get the chance to give back I do. 

I was glad to see such a great turn-out and I was happy to see they raised some pretty good money from the auction. Some people won some really beautiful Huichol artwork. The bead work art was amazing, as well as the yarn paintings. Some of the other auction items were well...interesting. I particularly liked the ingenuity of the dial phone attached to the board, pretty high tech. I need to get me one of those. Hahaha. 

The music was a blast. The singer and her husband were from Salt Spring Island, BC. They were amazing, as were all the musicians. What a treat to see so many great musicians all playing together. Click here for a video of them doing Chain of Fools. They had everyone up on their feet dancing all night. The kids were having so much fun too. Loved seeing their big smiles. So sweet. 

Oh and I must say the chocolate cake that I shouldn't of been eating was delicious. Yes I ate cake knowing that I get sick from gluten and dairy. I ate two pieces actually and some turnovers too. Tisk tisk Adina. Now due to my gluttony I've been cooped up in my motel room all day belly aching. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and I had to do it because it was for charity. Yep it was for the kids. ;)

Remembrance Day

This morning I attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at Roosters Restaurant here in Melaque. We had a moment of silence to honor fallen soldiers, then someone read In Flanders Fields. I always cry thinking about all the brave souls who gave their lives. Today was no different.

After the ceremony we introduced ourselves and where we were from. There were a lot of people from Vancouver Island there. Who knew I'd ever get excited to hear someone say 'Hi I'm from Port Alberni' lol (hehe Jerry). It feels good to have people from back home here in Mexico with me. I've been feeling a little homesick the past few days. This helped.

Among all of us Canadians, we had one American in the crowd and a table of Mexican ladies who had gotten together for a school reunion. They got up and sang their school song in Spanish and then everyone sang the Canadian, American and Mexican national anthems together. It was unity at it's finest. :)