Friday, March 27, 2009

Another Family Member's Special Day

Happy birthday to Jennie. Not only is Jen a new momBut she has recently started her own business. Jen has taken her love for yoga to another level and is sharing that love with others. I have put Jen's Facebook Yoga link below. Of course she does live in Corpus Christi so fly on down if you would like to attend one of her classes! Seriously, Jen will answer any questions you may have via email. David and I have used her expertise frequently.
Facebook | Jennie Woelpern's Notes

I don't think David and I will ever be able to do this no matter how much you tutor us Jen!Have a great day!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Grandma's Gotta Share

We have recently received updated photos of the grand kids. They grow way too fast and I so wish that we were all closer so that Grandpa and I could personally see each new spurt. However we are not close and are thankful that our kids keep us updated with photos.

Dezbah is growing like a week. They are currently living in Arizona with Melvin's mom on the rez. Here she is looking ready for Easter in her purple outfit

Abs was born a serious young lady but she has since begun to belly laugh and will be walking soon I am sure
Kelly reports that Julia loves her first pair of sunglasses and by golly it looks like she is quite pleased with them!

Sort of reminds me of her great grandma!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Back Home

And we have gone from our typical Isla fashion ofShorts, sleeveless tops and no shoes

To our typical northern MN fashion of
Coats (blaze orange being the favorite), camo hats and dorky muck luc boots for walking in the mud and water...ahhh Minnesota!

Although we miss our newly made Isla friends we are glad to be home. It is the simple pleasures that you forget about when you are in a place such as Isla....being able to flush toilet paper, finding a GOOD tasting cheeseburger, being able to drink water from a tap and sleeping in your own bed...to name but a few.

Bugs, is it any wonder why I don't often post pictures of me? And Len I can see you shaking your head thinking, 'Only my mom would post a dorky picture like that'.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Progession Of A Day

On Isla Mujeres Quinta Roo Mexico

The rising sun over the water beckoning a new day
A beautiful sunset, at the end of a wonderful day, from a friend's rooftop
The moon as it rises with the promise of another day
There is not much more that can be said as we spend our last full day on this magical island except for thank you to all that live here for sharing your little gem in Quinta Roo





Friday, March 13, 2009

Our 'Fill In' Animal Family

We miss our dogs but have found fill ins for the time being. Not only have we met the neighborhood locals that live on our street (and wonderful people they are) but we have 'adopted' their animals as well.

This is Petey. He lives down the road with Joy. Joy has lived here for 23 years and is the owner of Cielito Lindo Beach Studio Apartments. They are very nice by the way....if you are ever in need. Anyway her and Petey walk by our house every morning. He has an awful story that turned out quite good. Joy rescued Petey as a 10 week old pup that a local fisherman had on his boat ready to go out fishing and Petey was going to be bait for sharks. The culture as it regards to animals is interesting here to say the least. Dogs and cats are wild for the most part. In an effort to control the population the municipales capture the dogs that don't have collars, and electrocute them. Because they cannot catch the cats they poison them. Many folks are attempting to educate the islanders on how to care for animals and it seems to be working. However, their way of thinking seems to be skewed in my opinion. For instance, the vet here will nutter or spay for free. But the locals choose to not have this done in many cases especially with the male dogs as they feel that the male dogs can only be happy if they are able to have sex and reproduce. BUT they don't feel that their dogs need to be given water, 'They will find it if the need it' is the thought, and they are often kept on very short leashes tied to the houses. So Petey got very lucky!
Then there is Whiskey. He is a beautiful dog that all of the fishermen actually like. It could be because a fishermen owns him and he hangs out with them everyday as they are cleaning the fish. He too has quite a story. About a year ago he was hit on the main road by a taxi. He was drug for about a block 'screaming' the entire way. along with other injuries he broke his jaw which had to be wired in order to heal. You would think that he would have learned to stay off of the road....no. Sometime later he was hit again not suffering as many injuries. The taxi drivers here (some of them) actually veer to hit the dogs. As an animal lover you can bet that it is not only hard to see these animals treated so terribly but to hear the stories!
And this little lady(the one under David's chair, not the one on a chair!). We have no clue what her name is but she lives with a family down the street. She had never been to see us but one day we had our doors open and had our Isla friends over for breakfast. In came this little pup and sat right down by David. Of course she got her petting. She stayed for quite awhile and we haven't had her come by since!
Now the birds...the locals respect these animals for some reason or another. The taxis veer to miss them and all of the locals talk to them. Every morning when we open our doors we have at least three of them waiting to be fed their bread crumbs.Because we have a kitchenette we eat breakfast and lunch in our room. This is where we get our vegetables, fruit and wonderfully fresh squeezed orange juice.And in the very same building is the meat market. Just makes you want to become a vegetarian doesn't it?
And of course the tortilla factoryA bird dance on the beach?
No they are just waiting for scraps from the fishermen as they come in.The beach before the crowds come. The crowds have actually been less this year with the economy such as it is. The peso is at 14.20 to 1 for US dollars which is good for us but then of course they raise the prices of their goods.Well our beach time is coming to an end so I better get to it and soak up as much as I can.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Simple Words To Live By

Pay attention in class
Complete your tasks


Do not compete in the classroom

I couldn't get the online Spanish to English conversion to figure this one out for me but I am guessing it is something like-Help your classmates
On line conversion couldnt figure this one out either...and I have no clue!

Be kind to your friends
Do your grooming
Attend your classes on time
Complete your tasks
Respect your colleagues
These are painted on the walls that surround what is like our elementary school.
The spelling down here is interesting, and their sentence structure is way different than ours. When they convert a message to English for instance it will say- Do not parking, as opposed to No parking. So unless you are fluent in Spanish converting isnt so easy.

Happy Birthday To Another Great Daddy


Happy birthday Ry. Have a wonderful day with your special family. You are a great dad and we are proud of you.

Friday, March 06, 2009

A Ride Around The Island

The Caribbean side of the island is usually quite windy and dangerous which is why you don't often see boats on that side that are at all close to the island. However we had a calm day this week and Ariel-owner of Sea Hawk Dive Shop, took us for a ride around our little 6 mile long by 1 mile wide island. It was a treat to be sure. Not only was it a wonderful ride but Ariel is a great story teller. Fore instance the island used to be (and could still be) a place for human trafficking. Now I am not clear on if we were talking Cubans being illegally taken to the US or if we were talking women sold for not so good purposes....but they would bring the folks to Isla, give them clothing and cameras so that they looked like tourists, take them to Cancun and somehow or another they would get on a plane to the states. Now the fella on Isla that 'ran' the trafficking wanted out. Rather than let him out he was killed. Ariel was kind enough to show us the house that this took place in. Interesting huh?

This however is not the house but is on of the nicer houses on the Cancun side of the island



And Bugs, this is the Crystalmar....kids this is where we all stayed when you all came with us that year.On the windy side looking at the Avalon

An abandoned ship that has been sitting there forever it seems

This is the water side of our Cuban restaurant that I posted about the other day

Punta Sur with Cancun showing in the background
Ariel rigged up two fishing poles in hopes of snagging a couple of Barracuda. Well as is usual with David it was nada...no fish not even a bite! The other fella is our Isla friend Dick
And this is his wife Jean at the helm of the boat...while Ariel makes a hat!
'That way?' Jean wonders!
Ariel baiting the hooks

And back on land. These palapas were put up especially for the new hotel on the island. One for the rich folks!
The islanders call them the privileged and by golly that is the name of the hotel!

Is this Vegas?????
Pretty fancy digs huh?
Oh well the island is still a jewel even with the privileged. Its not like they hang out with the rest of us!