Wednesday Roberto and Tuso, the two handyman construction guys for Croc Condos knocked down the wall between our studio and the one next door to give us more space and turn the two into a 1 bedroom suite.

Tuso Preparing To Hammer The Wall

Tuso Hammers The Wall To Make A Doorway

Roberto Hammering The Wall

Roberto Having Fun With The Hammer

Afterwards Melissa put on a really nice spread of burgers, arrachera, tacos and a chorizo/cheese fondue for the workers as well as all the Crocodillians that live in the complex. I see Chorizo with melted cheese becoming a major food group in my future – yum!

This Is The Yummiest Stuff! Melissa And Jaissel Make Chorizo And Oaxaca Fondue

Roberto And Tuso Relax On the Roof

It was a nice evening and as well as good food gave us a chance to meet our neighbours who all seemed very friendly. Ruth and I spent a fair amount of time chatting with Melissa’s brother Alex who is quite well travelled, loves Vancouver and seems to be a pretty cool guy.

Thursday they built the door which is black.. it made me feel like the Rolling Stones song in reverse; not that I want a red door either.. Red or Black, it will resemble the back area of a video store…yknow.. where they put the ‘bad’ movies…haha Oh well, it’s nothing a poster can’t fix one day.

As I write this it is my last day as a 42 year old and it feels as though so much has happened in this one year.

If someone told me exactly one year ago that before the year was up I would have moved to Belize, settle in Mexico and the zillion events in between, I would have thought they were seriously mentally deranged. I guess it goes to show that no matter how sure you may be about what will and will not happen or what your plans may be that life itself is a great randomizer and bottom line is anything can happen. Que sera sera…

I do really enjoy Mexico so far though; Ruth feels the same and I could contentedly hang my hat (or sombrero as the case may be) here until the rest of my hairs go gray

No…not the commie that should’ve spent his youth throwing fast-balls for the Yankees instead of becoming a fascist dictator;

I mean our own pig…Shmoo.

Ruth travelled down last night to Corozal where Mark’s parents (a super nice couple of people) met her with a cab driver they know and by 1pm she and Shmoo were here. (Special thanks to Coby for relaying the message) Ruth had very little problems or delays at customs going into Belize and back across here to Mexico with Shmoo. She also gained herself a fresh 180 days on her passport in doing so. She does advise that anyone riding the buses here at night should take a jacket as the on-board air conditioner can get very cold, even by our standards.

I found it very cool last night that my vocabulary was good enough for me to approach the ticket counter at the bus station and say, “Hello I want to buy a bus ticket to Chetumal for the 1:50 bus.” My grammar was probably skewed but it worked.

There is a little white dog next door that was very fascinated with Shmoo and wanted to say hello, perhaps make friends…but got ignored by Shmoo since there were sooo many new scents and probably some thoughts in her head of, “Ah geez…now where the hell am I…?” (The worlds most travelled blind albino St Bernard, haha)

Anyways, Shmoo was happy to be reunited with us, as of course we are with her, and she also got a new treat called Chicharron, which is basically a huge plank (somewhat eerily shaped like the side of a pig) of what is basically pork rind. Amazingly it was only 3.6 pesos for a BIG piece. I tried a bite and all I have to say on that is if you ever have a real craving for bacon flavoured styrofoam, then this is the treat for you!

So all in all it was an eventful yet quiet day here in Playa, and we are glad as well as grateful to have our slobbery loveable pig home.  If only Aeriel were here too, then it would be like Christmas in October.

Next week it will be time to get Shmoo fitted for a big floppy sombrero that she can wear to keep the sun off her during her adventures here.

M in M (mmmmm MnM’s) diez diaz esta aqui and I’ve gotta say that I really enjoy the general vibe here in Mexico. While San Pedro and Belize (in many ways two entities sharing the same body) have their own very special charm and beauty, a phrase I have found myself saying to people often is “Mexico es mejor” (sorry Belizean buddies but es verdad para mi).

So instead of viewing leaving Belize as 10 months and many plans shot as well as the ordeal of getting a St. Bernard from the interior of BC Canada to San Pedro Belize and the many quirky little sacrifices that every expat comes to know and accept; all having been for nothing, I can instead view those 10 months as a training ground for being here and being accustomed to not having some of the things people take for granted in Canada and the USA (many of these things that we were unable to get in SP are actually plentiful in Mexico, but I still cannot find Bakers Chocolate Squares)

The Biggest Problem so far is one of communication since until 10 days ago we spoke next to no Spanish. Thanks to a very nice doctor we visited with in Cancun, combined with necessity, we can now communicate as well as any Mexican (the age of two or less )

Since arriving I have picked up issue #1 of DC Comics “52″ in Spanish as well as a plaza sesamo episode (Sesame Street). My theory being learn Spanish the same way I learned English 43 years ago… buena suerte para mi) The way I figure it, by Christmas I should be equal to a 6 year old but less gramatically correct.

The Biggest thrills and fun so far here have simply come from:

a) enjoying the energy of the many people that I see wandering and doing their shopping along 5th Avenue and the beaches;

b) the surf I got to play in and ride with my Boogie Board when we stayed in Cancun during our place searching phase. The waves are only 5-10ft on a good wave (if lucky) but still a lot of fun. The killjoy security did try telling me that I could not go in the waves at night on our first night so the following morning I was at the desk explaining to the manager that what they call dangerous is not dangerous, and wrote out a waiver in return for her telling security that I can swim at night if I want to. Security wasn’t too happy but I was.

This Friday night we head down to Corozal to pick up Shmoo. I’m sure she will like it here since she is such a people lover and people are definitely in abundance here for her. Here are some pictures of where we stayed in Cancun, the beach and me behind it, and the view off the roof at Croc Condos where we moved to in Playa Del Carmen.