Monday November 29 2010
Saturday we went to the Saturday Market, it was bigger than last week. Larry bought a pair of sunglasses, 50 pesos. I bought a box of Q-tips, 500 for 12 pesos. I also bought a small bowl to put under the cactus pot, 5 pesos.

Then at 1:00pm Larry said let’s go get something to eat. We went to the plaza and saw that Cocodrilo was closed. So we walked down to the next café that we like, but it was closed too.
We made our way back to the plaza and I am thinking “didn’t we do this last year too”. We ended up at Walla Walla’s. We split a hamburger and fries. Larry had coffee and I had limeade, all for 100 pesos.

Sunday we went to the plaza to check what the Cocadrilo had for the morning special, it was something we had not had before so we decided not to get it.

We sat on the plaza and watched the goings on at the free pet clink. They were giving shots to pets for mange.

Larry went to the fish market and bought a small serria and a papaya. A lady came to the door selling avocadoes, a bag of 8 for 10 pesos.

A one man band came marching by.
Monday morning we went to the plaza, we went to the bank to exchange large bills for smaller ones but the bank was full of people and would take an hour or more to get to the teller. We had decided to eat at the Cocadrilo but I started to feel stomach cramps and decided to go back home. Larry did stop to get another papaya.

We stayed close to home the rest of the day. In the evening just after dark the people across the street started signing. They have done this almost every night. Last year they sang but it was once or twice a month. They are a nice change from the loud music we hear on the plaza.
The street a block away has had all the cobble stones removed. We are not sure what they are going to put down, if they put new stone or asphalt. This is one of the main streets that go through San Blas.

Thursday November 25 2010
We hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

I had power for a little while this morning. I guess Tony was waiting for me to tell him “no power” and I was waiting for him to ask. It was just before noon that we told Tony and he sent for the Man to fix it again. This time they went on the roof and found some wire that was corroded. He cleaned it and the power came back on.

We decided to find a place that was serving Thanksgiving Dinner. There is a new place called Billy Bob’s that serves American food we decided the check it out. There were a lot of people in there. It is also a bar and there was a lot of loud noise from inside. There was no sign and neither one of us wanted to go in to ask. Walla Walla’s had a sign out but nothing about turkey dinner. Our next stop was San Blas Social Club. I knew they were having a dinner but they want you to make reservations. We went in and I found the owner, he said he still had room for us to come, dinner was at 7.

We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, string beans, carrots and ice cream with pineapple, all for 100 pesos each. We are still spending the pesos that we got for $1 = 12 pesos.

Yesterday when we went to Cocodrilo for breakfast the street was there, today they had tore the cobble stones up in front of the bank and social club. Tonight when we returned to the club for dinner they had tore out the cobble stones on the next block. They are replacing them as they go. It seems like this goes on all the time, we just don’t know which street they will be working on next.

In the plaza this evening they had set up a stage for some performers to entertain the children. They turned off the lights on the plaza and the kids went wild. It looked and sounded like they were having a great time.

Friday November 26 2010

We had power all day today.
Larry bought another fish at the market, 15 pesos. We also bought 2 grapefruit and 3 tangerines for 13 pesos.

Tony asked us to come and see another bungalow he has for rent. It’s bigger than our place. It has 2 bedrooms. I would rent it if it was on this street but it’s next door to Tony’s home. The outside patio is smaller and doesn’t get the sun ours dose.

The plaza was not so busy tonight; we could set and talk with our friends. I bought a chicken taco to eat on the plaza, 12 pesos. Larry stopped at the hamburger stand on the way home and bought a hot dog for 13 pesos. We also bought some juice to drink, we spent less than 100 pesos for the day.

Wednesday November 24 2010
We went for an early morning bike ride to the beach. Larry stopped to talk with a man named John but we call him sox as we know quite a few Johns. While Larry was talking with him I went down to where I could see how many yachts were in the harbor. I counted 4 but there could be more that are out of sight. Then the little bugs started biting. So I headed back to Larry and told him I need to leave.

We went to the Cocodrilo for their breakfast special. We had 3 pancakes for 25 pesos.
We stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand and bought some strawberries, bananas, and a papaya, all for 24.50 pesos.

Look close at the picture there is more than fruit. The parrot bite the lady next to Larry 3 times and Larry once.

All this week the lights have been flickering on and off. We assumed it was a power problem caused by the bands playing on the plaza and the vendors booths all using more power than normal. I was really surprised when I went outside and saw that everyone else had lights, when we didn’t. Tony came and got the power back on. This was Tuesday night.

This morning power was gone again. Tony called someone to come and work on it. He borrowed my bike and went to get some new fuses. Lights came back on and the man left. A couple of hours later they went back off. Tony called the man again, borrowed my bike and went to get a new fuse box.

This time it lasted until 5:00pm. Then they came back on but I don’t know if we had power all night.

Here I am trying to relax!

Monday November 22, 2010

This morning I was awaken by the sound of bottle rockets going off before it was light outside. This is a normal happening for any occasion, but I thought the big celebration ended.

We made our way to the plaza to see what goodies we could get for the day, at the market. We did get an onion for Larry’s avocado sandwich. He mashes an avocado with lime juice, adds diced onion and tomato, if he has one. Toasts the little French roll, then adds cheese. He has added other vegetables it just depends on what we have.

The cheese he used he had bought off a vendor that came to the door. The man had two kinds of cheese. Larry was so happy with himself with the cheese he bought because it wasn’t the feta kind. The cheese was very fresh, after it had sat a while he decided it was indeed the feta kind and wished he had bought the other kind the man had.

We decided to go to the plaza around 7:15 so we could get seats for the performance tonight. They never start on time, right, wrong. We left late 7:45. All the seats were taken and the last song was being sung. It was a group of school kids; Helen told us it was really nice.

Sunday November 21, 2010
We walked to the market this morning so Larry could buy some fish. He found a fresh small serria, about 2 pounds for 20 pesos. We also bought a head of garlic for 6 pesos.

We wanted to see what the new place, Billy Bob’s had for the lunch special but it was not posted when we walked by. The sign may have been put out just before lunch time but we didn’t walk back to check it out.
There was a lot less noise on the plaza as no one was performing. We visited with John and Lupe before starting back to our casa. We made one more stop at a hamburger stand to get hamburgers for dinner. We paid 43 pesos for both hamburgers.

A lot of Americans are afraid to get food from a stand like this. We have learned that the safe ones are the ones that are cooking a lot of food. This vendor seems to be busy from the time they open in the evening until they closed.

Thursday November, 18 2010
We were glad we had asked for the blanket as it was cold during the night. It did get warmer during the day. I put on my shorts and a light shirt.

We went for a bike ride around town to see how many changes we could find. One building that was a store on a corner is completely gone. It looked like one of the places that we like to eat in is no longer serving food. There were no tables set out as there had been before.

We went to the market and bought some grapefruit and a papaya. A man came by our casa (home) with bananas in some buckets, we bought several (8 at least) for 5 pesos. Then he came back with some little red bananas. I bought some for 5 pesos.

Last November Mexico started a yearlong celebration for the centennial of the revolution of 1910. November 20 is like our July 4. The dancing and music for the last weekend for this celebration started on the plaza tonight. The music was loud and they were setting up a big band so it was going to get louder. We didn’t spend much time on the Plaza.

Friday November 19 2010

I have been worried about a friend’s Mother back home, received word today that she is much better. I have Skype and am able to call friends when there is a need or I am just a little home sick.

I walked to the Minisuper Kane to buy some things we need, Mayonnaise, mostaza (mustard) French’s, salsa catsup and hot sauce. Some things we didn’t need 3 bags of candy and nuts. Total for all of this was 116 pesos, $1 = 12 pesos.

I also bought half a rotisserie chicken for 40 pesos and a bag of limes for 10 pesos, there were 20+ limes in the bag.

During the day it seemed to get hotter than it was yesterday, which is what we were expecting. We are still happy to have the extra blanket at night.

There was a bigger crowd on the plaza tonight. I am surprised to see they are selling beer on the plaza, it was not allowed for a long time.

They had groups of singers on the stage tonight. All dressed up in revolution costume. We also watched a revolution skit. I wish I understood more Spanish.

Saturday November 20 2010

It was cool again this morning but warmed up faster.

We started to walk to the Saturday Market which has been just a block away but could see nothing was down there. Asked Ed if there still was a market, yes there is but it has moved to the airport. I use the term airport loosely as it’s just an airstrip.

We will have to ride our bikes to the Saturday Market which will limit what we buy. I have wanted to get a basket for my bike guess I will do it now.

We went to the plaza to watch the parade, most of it are dance teams, but didn’t stay long as it was getting really hot. Plus it was really crowded.

We went to the plaza a little latter than we normally do and had a hard time finding places to set. After the 5 year olds did their dance we were given chairs to set in. There was a lot of dancing and singing, we stayed as long as our ears could take it.

Tonight was the first time I had a bug bite, I was in hopes the bugs had given up.

Mexico 2010 – 2011
Tuesday November 16 2010
We were on the road to Portland by 1:30am. We had no problems at the Portland airport, our plane left on time at 5:30am.
Our tickets for the flight looked like we had a non-stop to Puerto Vallarta but the plane was scheduled to stop in Phoenix. We had to get off the plane so they could sweep it, and then back on, we had the same seats.
We could see San Blas from the widow of our plane. The pilot announced that we were 30 minutes from our landing in PV. We looked at each other and said but how long will it take us to get back to San Blas.
We arrived in PV at 1:45. We managed to get through customs with no problems. I get stressed at this point because we have to cross the walkway over the street, and then catch the right bus to the bus station. This is where I notice the heat. They have so many city busses going to places we don’t want to go. We really didn’t have much of a problem finding the right bus and the people on the bus helped me with my bags and made sure we didn’t get off at the wrong stop.
There were no busses going to San Blas from PV. So we had to catch a bus to Tepic. We were very lucky, when Larry bought the ticket at 2:20pm he was told the bus is leaving now. I think they told the driver we were coming as he was waiting for us. The tickets to Tepic were 160 pesos each, $1 = 12 pesos. We were the only passengers on the bus when we left the depot.
The bridge for the north bound traffic is out, so it is a real bottle neck for traffic on the bridge that was for south bound. It took a lot longer to get out of PV. The bus did pick up more passengers along the way.
We arrived in Tepic around 5:00pm. Larry walked to the bank to get pesos which seemed to take forever. We then went to get our tickets for San Blas. There was a line at the ticket counter ad only one person working. We got in line ad when some people pushed their way in fount of everyone Larry got aggressive and managed to get our tickets. Again we got the tickets and went right out to get on the bus, no waiting. It was the 5:45pm (last bus) from Tepic to San Blas.
It was after 7 when we arrived in San Blas, very tired, glad the journey was over.
All of our storage containers and our bicycles were in our little bungalow waiting for us. Tony had painted both inside and the patio so everything was “clean”. We rearranged the bedroom and made the bed. I noticed the wire for the internet network we use here and decided to hook it up and see if it was working. I was able to get on line to let friends know we made it down here ok.
Wednesday November 17, 2010
Now it seems that the work begins, taking things out of the containers, washing everything and putting it all away. While Tony had painted and he may have washed the counters I like to was the shelves down before I start to put things away. It is very dusty here I don’t know how the clothes that are hung out to dry stay clean. Everything in the containers needed to be cleaned. It was very wet down here this summer, the towels and sheets had a musky smell to them. It took most of the day to get things put away.
We went to the Crocadilo for lunch but had breakfast instead. Larry and I shared 3 pancakes and a thin slice of ham for 55 pesos, $1 = 12 pesos.
We walked down to the plaza at 6:30pm; there was not many people there. I think it will pick up in December.
On our way back to the bungalow we saw Tony ad asked for a blanket as it was really cooling off. Last year at this time we had the ceiling and a floor fan working all day. We have not turned one on so far.