Archive | November, 2024

Ten Years Living In Mexico

24 Nov

When we moved to the small jungle town of Bacalar in 2014, there was of course much to learn and adjust to. We were looking for a slower pace and to stretch our retirement dollars. I had gone to college in Central Mexico in the 70’s, travelled the country extensively, loved the culture and spoke Spanish. We loved the pyramids, fiestas and people, what could go wrong?

Small groceries are the best.
  1. Travel – there’s a small “international” airport forty minutes from our house. In 2014 I imagined catching a flight to Austin to celebrate family events, birthdays and holidays. I should have done more research. All flights out of Chetumal pass through Mexico City’s enormous and confusing Benito Juarez airport. Connecting flights are often impossible to make requiring over night stays and $$$. Additional travel considerations were not thought out with the addition of Lisa’s mom and two dogs. Alice can no longer travel by herself and the dogs and house require house sitters, even for a long weekend in Merida. Not to mention that flying is not as much fun as it used to be.
  2. Friendship – While I have talked about the challenges of making friends with expats, I haven’t talked about friendships with locals. Bacalar is small enough that shop owners, fellow gym rats and Lisa’s students and parents from the school she volunteers at, greet us warmly. Sometimes we get side-eye over who these foreigners are. It helps that Lisa’s Spanish has greatly improved. After ten years it’s nice to feel like we belong.
  3. Transportation – For me, Mexico has always been an example of public transportation at its finest. Buses, colectivos and taxis were frequent and economical. As the Mexican economy improved, people bought cars. Individual transportation is far more common today than ever before.
View from our dock.
Bus from 1975.
Flying into Mexico City

For the most part life here has been a joy. We have zero regrets. A crystal ball to predict Covid would have been nice. We also don’t have to deal directly with the current political climate in the US. Hopefully in a few more weeks I will be on my feet and life will look a bit more “normal”, whatever that is.

DOS TORTAS

Dreaming Of Pickleball

17 Nov

I found myself lying awake at two a.m. last night. The room was bright due to the full moon shimmering on the Laguna outside the window. The silence was palpable except for an occasional snort from our little pug. I love the quiet of night here in the Mexican jungle. Drifting in and out of sleep, I began visualizing myself healed, walking, swimming, squats and leg presses. I was seeing complete recovery from this broken leg that has kept me immobile for the last two months.

Visualization can be a powerful tool.

Last summer on our cruise to Alaska, I noticed a pickleball beginners’ class being offered on the upper deck of the ship. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years you might not be familiar with this cross between tennis and badminton, played on a smallish court with a large paddle. It is very popular with the grey goat population.

I’d been wanting to give it a try, seeing myself with some level of skill. Boy was I wrong! My cruise partner had brought his own paddle! Who does that? I’m not sure what the problem was but I couldn’t connect with the ball to save my life. I zigged and zagged trying to keep my eye on the darn ball. Back in the day, I used to play a decent game of tennis. That day is long gone.

Pickleball rules are very different from tennis.

My two a.m. visualization included playing pickleball. My feeble cruise attempt was fun in spite of making a fool of myself. I hear there’s a court in Bacalar. While I’m at it, I think I’ll visualize playing pickleball well. Ha ha. Might as well ask for what I want.

DOS TORTAS

Open link to watch.

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Disabled Rights Are Human Rights

9 Nov

As another week creeps by in my healing journey, I am reminded of a friend, Nora. Nora and I worked together in Texas, traveled for work and for awhile shared an office. Nora had polio as a child and lives with no use of one of her legs. During the ten or so years we worked together, I was aware of her leg brace and watched her go from using a cane, to crutches, and after a fall, a wheelchair and walker. Since my accident and loss of use in my leg, she has been much on my mind.

My friend Nora.

Once we were traveling together and I got to see first hand her daily experience as a person with a disability. I had sprained my ankle at the time and was using a walking boot to hobble about. Nora insisted against my objection that I use a wheelchair to get through the airport. I remember feeling embarrassed. I saw how people with disabilities, even temporary ones are made to feel less than.

At the office, Nora worked a later shift and often arrived at work to find all the handicapped parking spaces occupied. She had to fight with administrators to get a designated parking space. Her car was her legs.

In front of our building there was a dip in the curb supposedly to act as access for anyone with difficulties climbing a step. The trouble was, there was a drain that always clogged after a rain, right where the curb opening was. This caused water to pool and made the ramp impossible to walk or roll through. Nora had been fighting for years to get the drain cleaned regularly or moved, to no avail. It seemed like she was always fighting for the smallest accommodation.

I have been out of the house once in the past seven weeks. It is impossible to get around as a disabled person in Mexico. The sidewalks are a death trap even for able bodied people. Accommodations are almost nonexistent. When our local hospital put in ramps, they had chains which blocked people from using them! I unhooked the chains every time I passed by. Finally the barriers were removed. We will all experience handicaps in one form or another in our lives. The US has The American With Disabilities Act, human rights that were fought for long and hard.

I highly recommend this movie on Netflix.

DOS TORTAS

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Discoveries Of The Bed Bound

3 Nov

Figuring out how to spend my time as I head into three additional weeks of R & R is a challenge. Thank God for Netflix where I have discovered Korean cinema. With a plethora of drama, romance and horror (I don’t do scary) I’m probably late to the game. Three programs have captured my interest or at least have kept me from loosing my mind.

  1. The Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Attorney Woo to the far right.

My favorite by a mile, Attorney Woo is a young woman entering her first professional job as a person with autism. The program captures attention with drama and sweet romance. It was almost binge worthy but I chose to stretch it out. I do hope they have a second season.

2. Culinary Class Wars

While I’m a sucker for cooking shows, this is my first foray into foreign reality cooking. Dubbed in English, both Michelin star chefs aka white spoons and lesser known black spoons compete in grueling cook-offs. The best one included a mound of tofu. While I didn’t know a lot of the ingredients, I’m ready to pack my bags for a taste-testing trip to Korea.

3) Physical 100

A reality show featuring world class athletes, body builders, martial artists and even actors who go up against each other to prove their physical prowess. I love how the show includes their internal dialogue which features a lot of trash talk and overly inflated self-confidence. As participants are winnowed from 100 to a final winner in both individual and team challenges, there are many exhausting twists and turns. Your ally becomes your enemy in a matter of minutes.

My surgeon has relegated me to bed rest for another three weeks before taking an additional diagnostic X-ray. Plenty of time to continue to explore the world of Korean cinema.

DOS TORTAS

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