Dias de los Muertos

So here we are on Hallowe’en and the whole town’s focused on All Hallows Eve.  Who’d a thunk?

Mexico has traditionally celebrated the two days of Dias de los Muertos rather than the American Hallowe’en with visits to their families’ gravesites, decorating them with flowers and pictures, and sharing a meal with them.  It is one of the largest religious and cultural events celebrated nationwide in Mexico.

In the far past, the dates were not November 1^st and 2nd, but with the coming of the Spanish and the Catholic church, the celebrations were moved to more ‘appropriate’ days in the church calendar.  It takes two days of celebration: the first day is for infants; the second day is for adults.

Both yesterday and today even expats are visiting our local cemetery and spiffing up the graves of past expats of whom we have only heard tell.  Since many expats have no family in Mexico, the responsibilities fall upon the current expats, and some gladly accept them.

Hallowe’en, however, is overtaking the traditional celebration as youngsters find running around with their friends getting candy is more fun than sitting in a cemetery with your family.  We’ve been warned that if we go to the Jardin Monday night, to have plenty of hard candies (dulces) on hand to distribute to kids in costumes trick-or-treating.

We were supposed to join a group cleaning the headstones on Saturday morning at the currently used cemetery, but grocery shopping got in the way.  We’ve recently gone to a nutritionist who is setting up a plan for living that will result in effective athletic activities and eating right.  We began the plan today, so yesterday was shopping for the good stuff we’re to eat, as opposed to going out all the time, eating (and drinking) the wrong types of foods (witness our slow weight loss since moving SoB).

And, of course, last night was a pizza party at two friends’ house with wonderful homemade pizzas: traditional (the Works), roasted veggie, arrachera and chimichurri sauce, and Moroccan chicken with a ginger-honey glaze.  All followed by homemade ice cream, including a Mexican chocolate with espresso and cinnamon.  

What a way to start a new way of eating, right?  There were several new folks we met and we ran into one of them this afternoon on our way back from the Jardin where we’d been checking out the big Dias de los Muertos altars being set up.  We had shared a shuttle to the airport with another.  It’s a small world here in SMA.

For those planning on visiting us over the holidays, don’t worry:  we’re eating out every meal and having more than the one-drink-a-day that we’re allowed.  Wouldn’t want to feel deprived, would we?  High times all around!

And Yet We Walk

Relatives  and friends continue to mention that they would love to visit us here in SMA.  And we would love to have them visit.  There is a lot to see and do in this writers’, artists’, actors’ historical colony and we would love to show it off.

However, although one blogger refers to SMA as a Disneyland, it ain’t.  Disney would never let the sidewalks and streets exist in the conditions we ‘enjoy’ here in SMA.  They have people who design walkways, studying the possible layouts, colors, and textures needed to create a walkway that contributes to the ambiance of the location while still mindful of moving people along efficiently and safely.

The streets and cobblestone streets of SMA are much as they were hundreds of years ago when pedestrian safety was not at the top of the list.

Another fellow blogger* described them thus:

These sidewalks are very narrow, made of limestone slabs that are very old and, thus, polished and slippery from centuries of footsteps.  They are  pock-marked due to erosion.  There are holes, broken slabs, meters sticking up at odd angles, steps up and down, light poles in the center. Every day each business is swept and mopped; then the mop water is poured on the sidewalk and swept, making them even more dangerous. In any given block there are hundreds–nay, thousands–of opportunities to inflict serious bodily harm upon oneself.

I’m not sure it would be appropriate for everyone who has expressed a wish to visit, but you don’t pick up the flavor of the place when you’re constantly being ferried about by taxi or car.  It’s sort of a sterilized version of SMA.

And yet we walk.  Today we took a bus into Centro (busses are another story) then walked across downtown and out on Ancho, turned up Cardo past St Paul’s and along the new Rosewood development, then turned right, walking up and along Aldama, following the crest of the hill for some distance until we came to the 5^th of May and thence downhill to Ancha de San Antonio again.  [We never found Parque Juarez, but the way, our announced goal.]  From there we walked back into Centro – stopping at the little tin shop – until we reached Canal and caught another bus for the short ride to the base of our Colonia, then walked up the hill to home.

With a stop for a bite of lunch, it took about 2 hours and I had a touch of heat prostration or something – but I did pretty much keep up the pace.  Altitude and a sedentary lifestyle has presented its challenges.  We did decide that we needn’t go to the gym today!

So here I am, fully recovered, working on my blog before dinner.  We’re planning on going to the Pocket Theater for the second showing of A Single Man (we seldom went to films in California so there are many to catch up), then off to La Azutea for our special pizza and a margarita or two.   

Because of the condition of the streets and sidewalks, we’ll be taking a taxi home tonight.

*Our fellow blogger is at Dorita Loca Blogs San Miguel and generously shares her posts.

Oh, We Couldn't Be Happier.....

Wish I had something pithy to say - or even just something to say.

Our lastest angst involves our computers. When we returned to SMA from the cruise/WDW vacation, we plugged everything back in (power surges and drops, etc are a fact of life here so one disconnects everything in one's absence) and the computers ran swell until we noticed that there were some websites we could no longer reach: aeromexico, volaris (both SOB airlines), bancomer (our bank), CFE (the electricity company), and a few on the NOB side, too.

Troubleshooting the system found nothing. Our internet provider, Cybermatsa.com, said everything was fine on their end and that we should contact the individual websites to resolve the problems - like we could do that without internet access?

We finally called in our computer geek who set up our network for us. When there was nothing he could do to help over the telephone, he came out to the house and checked things out. Conclusion: Router problems.

Went to Office Depot this morning and bought a new router. Tried to install it but got stuck. Telephone call to our geek failed to help. Arranged for him to make a house call.

At the end of the house call (the new router wasn't cooperating; lots of flashing lights), he hooked the old one back up so we could at least be on the internet and reach some websites.

When he hooked everything back up the way is was originally: lo, and behold, everything worked! All the websites we couldn't reach before - both Mexican and foreign - were coming in loud and clear. So tomorrow we return the new router.

I'm sure there's a moral here somewhere, but I'm not sure what it would be. Just happy that the system is working again!

Now if Volaris would post those nicely-priced flights from DF to SJD soon (as that nice man promised they would), we'd be even happier.

As Glenda sang, "Oh, we couldn't be happier....No, we couldn't be happier...."

Nippy weather we're having

I think we have to be having a taste of winter weather now that it's mid-October. The local temperature is 60F right now (10:45 am) and it got down to 42F overnight in town - 35F out in the campo. (It did warm up into the mid-70s yesterday and should again today.)

It's times like these that makes one pine for central heating! But, alas, most Mexican houses - including ours - has neither heating nor cooling. One usually doesn't need it: the construction of the homes retains the heat of the day to warm the house in the evening, and the coolness of the night is carried over to cool the house in the daytime. Most of the time we also enjoy a pleasant, mild climate here in SMA, but last night's temperature is causing us to dig out the heater for the bedroom.

Luckily, we have just found (duh!) that our duvet cover has ties sewn into the seams so that we are able to tie the corners of the duvet into place and prevent it from shifting. This made last night much more comfortable for both of us (I prefer to sleep with the terrace door open a bit for fresh air, but even the dogs moved from the bedroom into the office last night). Neither of us was too cold or too hot from the duvet migrating within the cover from one side of the bed to the other!

Our bedroom and the third-floor studio do have gas connections for heaters, but we may just go with the oil-filled electric radiator that we brought from Los Angeles, where we used it in the guest room when it was serving as a puppy nursery. A local store has them in stock if we need one more for the guest room/studio. Of course, we've placed furniture in both rooms without much regard for where gas heaters may need to be connected to the gas supply....

Late last January/early February SMA was unusually wet and cold. We're hoping that it doesn't repeat itself this coming year or we may need to upgrade to the gas versions!

We still love it here. At least it didn't get anywhere near the 119F of the San Fernando Valley last August nor is it snowing as it was when I arrived in Germany one October.

Walt Disney World at a relaxed paced

I was going to write yesterday, as promised, about WDW, but the sky was so cloudy (it looked like it should rain by afternoon) I decided to switch the subject to that old standby, the weather.

Then about mid-afternoon the sun came out and it was another beautiful day in San Miguel. So no post.

Instead, here's today's report on our 6 days at WDW following the 14-night TransAtlantic crossing.

Saturday
We rode to WDW via a private SUV which had been retained by two of the folks on the same cruise. A pleasant ride directly to our hotel, the Boardwalk Villas. Unfortunately, the bellhop put both of our sets of luggage on the same cart and when we needed to separate them [our villa was ready; our friends' villa was not], there were issues. Being the folks that we are, we sort of melted into the background, made our way to our villa, unpacked, and headed to the parks!

Food & Wine began the day before we arrived, so Epcot was packed. Still we made the circuit of the World Showcase and had a great time. Having Epcot within walking distance makes it a great temptation and we visited several times during our stay. After dinner at Chefs de France, where I spoke sharply to our waiter when he tried to upgrade the specific order I had placed in my high-school French, we again strolled around the World.

However, we were too pooped the first day off the ship and even left the park before IllumiNations! A first.

Sunday
Today was Mickey's Not So Scary Hallowe'en Party at the Magic Kingdom. Even though the whole park was to be open for the party, we managed to see most of it during the afternoon. We also managed to leave our Club 33 ball caps on the Thunder Mtn Mine Train ride, and it took a quick trip back to recover them - which we did, thanks to the helpful Cast Members.

The Party was crowded - about 10,000 folks even in a big park like Magic Kingdom is a lot. There was a special Villains show in front of Cinderella's Castle and the Hallowe'en fireworks [Hallo-Wishes] as well as a special MNSSHP parade (and lots of folks in rather imaginative costumes).

Disney had given free tickets to each of the participants in the Marathon earlier that day. Glad we did it; not sure we'd repeat it unless we were with folks who hadn't seen it. Dinner was a Thanksgiving meal (with all the refills you wanted) at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Surprisingly tasty (skipped the mac-and-cheese that was included on the menu for the kids). Missed meeting up with friends and table mates from the XAtlantic for the MNSSHP.

Oh, yeah - on Sunday morning we had breakfast at Kouzzina's with a friend from St Louis with whom we had sailed on Disney previously. She was at the World for a conference that began the next day and had emailed us about seeing Illuminations together on Saturday night. We were already at the party, so suggested breakfast Sunday instead. She was staying at either the Swan or Dolphin (both walking distance from the Boardwalk) so we caught up on everything happening in our families as well as enjoying a delicious breakfast.

Monday
Today we went to Epcot to visit with friends from Sunshine Rewards - a group that Michael was associated with and with whom we had sailed on a SR cruise. Before meeting up with them, we headed into the Future World section of Epcot and rode the boat ride in The Land and Spaceship Earth (love Judi Dench's narration).

Everyone goes to WDW at some time! We sat around with 6 SR friends in front of the French area and then moved to the British area, drinking Grey Goose slushes, martinis, and eventually ale from about noon to 4:00.

During this time Rick Howard, the owner of the travel agency we use for our Disney cruises, found us at Epcot on his way home to Vero Beach, so we had a quickie reunion in the midst of our SR reunion.

Dinner tonight was at Sanaa in the new Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Getting there on time was a bit tight, but we made it with a moment or two to spare. Of course, our table wasn't quite ready, so we headed into the bar where they did have Hendrick's gin (just no cucumber spears, for which the barkeep apologized).

The meal itself was fabuloso! A great wait person, super food, and a table next to a window onto the savannah so we could watch the animals (giraffes, antelopes, zebras) stroll around munching on the vegetation as we were munching on our dinner: our choice of 3 types of flat breads with our choice of toppings; three salads; Michael had chicken; I had two 'cooked-in-gravy' selections, with appropriate wines. Sorry - no room for desserts!

Getting around WDW resort-to-resort takes some doing. Transportation is set up for resort-to-park, so going from the Boardwalk to Animal Kingdom Lodge involved finding a park that was open late-ish on Sunday night - Hollywood Studios in this case, for which we took the boat from Boardwalk, then the bus to Kidani Village. We used Downtown Disney as our transfer point on the way home.

Tuesday
After walking over to the Hollywood Studios Park earlier in the day, riding the Hollywood Tower of Terror, and having a nosh at the Starring Rolls cafe, we decided to take the boat back to the Boardwalk.

The Flying Fish is hardly a cafe, and the service and food is impeccable. Imagine: me in a seafood restaurant - but the scallops in my appetizer were very, very fresh (courtesy of FedEx) and the rest of the meal was just as good. We even tried to finish a dessert between us, but it was tough!

We finally made it to IllumiNations tonight, another short walk to Epcot's World Showcase. A bit breezy and cool, but it brought me to tears as it always does. Even with those pesky folks trying to horn into our primo viewing space with their video camera. I hope Michael's jostlings made their tape annoying to watch!

Wednesday
Earlier we headed over to Animal Kingdom - one of our favorites. Like so many of our visits, we did not try to do everything commando-style. In fact, we only rode the Kilimanjaro Safari, had lunch at the Yak & Yeti restaurant (we may only eat the appetizers next time, they were soooo good), poked around a little (Michael found his T-Shirt: 'I rode Expedition Everest and screamed like a little girl!', then we headed home for a swim (Michael) and a nap (me).

Wednesday's dinner was at Shula's Steak House at the Dolphin Hotel. After a less-than-wonderful dinner at the Yacht Club Steak House on our last visit, we had heard that Shula's was the better of the two. And that $25-dollar coupon didn't hurt. They have no trouble charging for their food, but it was great - and the steak portions were huge. We should all be linebackers on Shula's Miami Dolphins!

We finally saw the scheduled fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom - Wishes - from the lounge at the top of Bay Lake Towers. [Don't ask how we got in without being registered guests.] And the margarita made with peppered tequila was great even if my throat continued to burn most of the night!

Thursday
Back to Epcot where we did Soarin' and Mission: Space, using the 'easy' ride - remember when the woman died after the extreme version? - and lunch at the new Villa Napoli restaurant in the Italian pavilion, would you believe? Real service, great food again, and wonderful sangria!

This was supposed to be dinner at the Brown Derby in the Hollywood Studios Park but turned out to be the Tequila Cave in the Mexico pavilion.

Friday
Today we tried breakfast at Kouzzina again. Same great food; not so wonderful service.

And then on to the airport. We had packed on Thursday when we needed to move from our 1-bedroom villa to a smaller studio - but at least they put us in a Boardwalk view for the same number of points as the garden view room we reserved - so getting ready to leave was a simple task.

At the airport we checked in for our non-stop flight to Mexico City and were on our way in a timely fashion with only about 30 - 35 people on the whole plane!

[Many thanks to Michael who helped me sort out our week's activities for this post.]

Back to Normal

Well, as all good things do, the vacation came to an end. The trip from Orlando to Mexico City (DF) went smoothly. When Mexicana went BK, we found tickets on Aeromexico and were able to book a non-stop flight between Orlando and DF. It may have been an extra flight Aeromexico scheduled when Mexicana found themselves in trouble, but there were maybe 30 people, total, on the plane. Plenty of room to stretch out and that nice couple with the three young children in the row ahead of us decided to move their family to the rear of the plane!

Aeromexico is one of those carriers that believes in feeding you and has complimentary bar service in addition to sodas. Even between normal lunch and dinner hours there was a hot snack served. Tasty!

The AM flight got to DF earlier than the Mexicana flight would have (Mexicana stopped somewhere in Texas, as I recall), but we had a hotel booked near the airport and so we took the free shuttle to the Ramada and checked in. Although the hotel was near the airport, it was well insulated and we couldn't hear a single plane taking off or landing. Breakfast was included in the room rate, so after a pretty good buffet, we again took the free shuttle back to the airport and caught the Primera Plus bus (first class) to Queretero. From there we usually take a taxi to SMA, but decided to take an economy bus (50 pesos each) instead of the taxi (about 400 pesos plus tip). And my new INAPAM card earned me a 50% discount on my fare, so $75 pesos for both of us. Booking those new cruises while on board the Magic has made us more budget-conscious than before....

The second bus wasn't quite as posh as the first and we had to stow our own luggage, but they did have a movie to distract us and the bus station in SMA is at the foot of our hill, so a quick taxi ride from there delivered us home. We had arranged for our housekeeper to clean house that morning, so everything was fresh and neat.

On Sunday we collected the dogs, who had been bathed and brushed for pick up on Saturday. They had a good time until we arrived Sunday afternoon, so still need a second brush out. They also took care of the fresh-and-neat house!

We've unpacked, read the mail (a lot accumulates during a month's absence; we had to take a taxi home from the mail service office because of the number of packages - my bad), and made a grocery run.

Today there was a question/answer period at the Biblioteca by the customs office staff. The recent changes in visas has produced several burning questions about car ownership. For a while it sounded as if we needed to go back to Texas and sell the van, then buy a Mexican vehicle. This would be costly for us. Towards the end of the session - which was largely in Spanish - they pointed out that a certain type of visa (Inmigrante Rentista - ours) still qualifies the holder to retain their US-plated car. Whew!

We'll need to change vehicles when we become Immigrado in about 5 years, but by that time we should need a smaller car and our present van will be nearly 10 years old. We can budget for the changeover. And, with the IR visa, we will stop paying the annual fees once the 5 years is over and our status changes. If we were required to change to the old FM3 style visa to keep the car, the annual visa fee would be less but we would be required to pay it every year, forever.

So we're back to 'normal' whatever that is. Perhaps I'll write about our time in WDW tomorrow.

EPCOT again

Today we are off to Epcot for a turn around the world with what we hope is a lesser crowd. It got really busy on Saturday - Day Two of the Food & Wine Festival. We are meeting up with a group - some of whom we cruised with a few Disney cruises ago - in Epcot.

Dinner tonight is at Sanaai at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we'll need to calculate travel time into our reservation. Perhaps some downtime after Epcot to re-group? Looks like the owner of the travel agency which we use for our Disney voyages was in town to run the 5K Wine & Dine Marathon on Sunday. May be able to connect with him if he's still in town, though he lives in Vero Beach, so he may have already toddled off home by now.

LATER

Yes, we did see Rick briefly before he headed home to VB. Sorry we couldn't manage lunch or a drink, but next time?

Although concerned about making our reservation time for dinner (using the Disney free transportation network can be chancy at times), we arrived 1 minute early. The bar had Hendricks and the food was wonderful! Perhaps we can make it back there for another dinner or lunch? As an added bonus, our table was right at a window and we had a great view of ostriches, some sort of antelope, giraffes, and zebras meandering around munching on things as we munched on things.

Dinner consisted of three breads and three toppings (mango chutney, tamarind & roasted red pepper hummus); a trio of appetizer tastings (including pulled duck in a red curry sauce, potato & pea samosas, and roasted cauliflower with tomato chutney); three salads (watermelon, lime & mint; carrot, mint & lime; and my favorite: roasted beets); then our entrees of slow-simmered in gravy short ribs and coconut-curried lamb (mine) and a African-roasted chicken breast on a bed of turnips and cherries (Michael). Having eaten too much, we skipped desserts. The seasonings throughout dinner were interesting and multi-layered. We hope to get back soon.

The Cruise is Over, It's Time to Call It WDW!!!

So the cruise ended. After a final day at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island) with some of the new enhancements open - in particular Pelican Plunge, a water slide out in the bay - we all made our way aboard and sailed overnight to Port Canaveral. After breakfast a private car was waiting for us and whisked us and two other cruisers directly to The Boardwalk Villas at WDW.

It was the first weekend of the Food and Wine Festival and we headed for Epcot World Marketplace. What a zoo! Note to self - Don't do this opening weekend again! We're off to the Magic Kingdom today for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party [MNSSHP] this evening, so will avoid Epcot until during the week, when we hope it will be a bit more manageable. Some of those people yesterday were a bit much for Disney. Obviously not 'real' Disney people.

Serendipity - Michael received a Facebook note from a friend from St. Louis made on an earlier Disney cruise who happened to be in WDW prior to a conference beginning this evening. Just joined each other for breakfast at Cat Cora's Kouzzina (nee Spoodles). It was delicious (particularly the sweet potato hash although the artichoke tepenade was good, too) and I think we were earlier than most - the restaurant became busier by the time we left. A great time catching up on everything that had been going on in our families and lives.

Still hoping to meet up with our friend from Long Island who also just happens to be in WDW this weekend.

In a bit, Michael and I will be heading out to Magic Kingdom, but as it will be a long night, we're resting up before we leave. Actually, I'm resting up; Michael is down at the pool. We planned dinner at the Magic Kingdom since we'll be there already: Liberty Tree Tavern is one of the few restaurants that provide sit-down meals. The Holiday Feast was actually pretty good, though I would have gladly traded the mac-and-cheese dish for some cranberry sauce. Guess they need to cater to a child's taste in food. The rest of the meal was surprisingly tasty.

Upon returning from MNSSHP we found an email sent in the afternoon about meeting up with friends from the TransAtlantic cruise, received - alas - after we had left for the Magic Kingdom. Sorry to have missed them!