Some Changes Some Of The Same

We are here on our little island. It always amazes us how things change from year to year.

For those that have been here in the last couple of years you remember that the beach has been eroding and not coming back like usual. Well this year the beach is very nice and perhaps larger than I have seen it in a long long time. This is due to sand being pumped in from the ocean, which I have not yet got a picture of as they were not pumping yesterday when I had my camera...pic to come. It is quite the process and the kids love it.

They are trying to keep the sand on the beach with huge rubber 'socks' that are filled with sand to keep them in place and they then make a retaining type wall. The socks are, in this picture, in the water and running up the beach covered with sand. The green hose that you see is what they use to pump sand up from the ocean.And the kids playing on one of the many socks that are scattered along the beach.The beach in front of Cabanas Maria Del Mar where we most always sit. Big huh? Apparently the socks do work.So...Maria del Mar is the place that makes you pay for beach chairs and umbrellas. They must have gotten tired of many of us bringing our own chairs to the beach because they have now roped off a section of beach in front of their hotel. Of course it is the section that has all of the shade on the beach so.....here is the sign that 'warns' us all.HOWEVER the beach is a public place and they cannot keep people off of any particular area and many of us are under the shade in the afternoon anyway. So far we have not been told to leave.

There are now two new condos side by side. It seems that when they fill their swimming pools we get no water until the pools are filled. The islanders say that the 'privileged' get taken care of first.
Bugs, I don't know when you were last down here but the swing bar has not changed...here it is.

And Wes, this one is for you. David sitting in front of our Isla home with a cup of coffeeAnother thing that has changed...or maybe not...is that the Internet connection to my laptop is damned slow. I am not able to load pictures to the blog from my room or using the Internet cafe closest to our little apartment. SO we have to go to a coffee shop that has free Internet and drink their yucky, Loi would like it, coffee (you need to tell her that Kelly W!) SO since we don't like the coffee here updates may be a few days apart.

We love this place. After our walk each morning we grab the chairs and a cup of coffee and sit on the stoop talking to whoever will talk to us. Of course we can't understand much of what is said to us except 'Hola" and Buenos Dias". Here is the sun coming up on our street looking towards the windy side of the island.

More to come.