“Es la Hoon-glah!”

3 Nov

“Es la jungla Alex!” (It’s the jungle) says Violeta, the housekeeper here in Bacalar, when I tell her about the bites that I have acquired and the itchy rash covering my body as a result. Es la jungla!

Very Itchy Rash

Very Itchy Rash

So I trot myself off to a doctor who looks at the rash and tells me essentially the same thing. When people are new to “paradise” they don’t have the antibodies to the mosquitos and various insects that creep, crawl and sting.  So I leave the office with crema and allergy pills and the promise that it will get better and I will acclimate.

Living in the jungle is definitely a new way of life. There are the beautiful lush flowers and plants growing everywhere. Most of them we see in little pots as house plants, but en la jungla are growing wild and huge.

Another thing about living in la jungla is that it gets very dark VERY early. I can be talking on skype to the U.S. in the same time zone and it is quite light there. Here, it is completely dark, pitch black. It’s like someone throws a switch and the lights go out.

This week we were invited to a pizza party at the home of a friend who lives back in the jungle three miles off the main road. To us newbies it seems odd to start a party at 3pm, but when you consider the ride home in the dark it makes sense.  So on Wednesday, we enjoyed our pizza and left the party for home and promptly got lost. I do not recommend back-tracking in the jungle, in the dark, and trying to find your way out.  It took four of us keeping our wits to figure out the right route and reach the highway for home.

One thing for sure, life en la jungla (hoon-glah) is never dull and we are quite glad to be here. And my rash is much better and I will live.

The Jungle

A Restaurant in Bacalar

All the things you want to do

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Xcalak – Mexican Frontier

27 Oct

This week the Tortas headed out for a two-night visit to the Caribbean coast. We have been living in Bacalar, Mexico almost two months and not done any, “sight seeing” choosing to spend our time acclimating to our new home.

Xcalak is a frontier town wedged between Laguna Xcalak and the Caribbean, at the end of the line on the Mexico/Belize boarder.  It is small (300 habitants) and has a distinct frontier feel. People come here to snorkel, dive, fish, bird watch or just kick back. There is a nudist hotel, Playa Sonrisa (Smile Beach) with day passes available for those who hate those pesky tan lines.

Fourteen Cuban refugees managed to find their way here a number of years ago, and their escape boat sits on the beach paying testament to desperation.

Cuban Refugee Boat

Cuban Refugee Boat

In this jungle town you would not expect to find a restaurant the likes of The Leaky Palapa. It is world class dining and folks drive hours to eat here. We were lucky enough to spend an evening with the owners Marla and Linda. They exchanged Canadian winters for life on the beach in sunny Mexico. We enjoyed a lovely dinner sitting on the roof trading travel stories, laughing and learning about life off the grid.  Their reservations for New Year’s Eve are filling up fast. Better get your name on the list.

We stayed at the Flying Cloud Hotel, not very relaxing during off-season renovations. We did get a chance to check out the dive shop next door and will return in the spring to check “learning to dive” off our bucket list. The wild weather made for a night of intense storms and no electricity in the morning.

Stormy Skies

Beautiful Stormy Skies

Lisa did manage to get in some snorkeling while an ear infection kept me beached.

Lisa Snorkeling

Lisa Heading Out To Snorkel

The coastal road proved to be a challenging choice for our trip north toward home. I volunteered to check the depth of the washed out road.

How Deep Is It?

How Deep Is It?

A Slippery Step

A Slippery Step

After a good laugh, we continued our way to Mahahual for lunch and then home. We will definitely be back to enjoy the friendship and beautiful reef in this out-of-the way town that was worth the trip.

What Could Go Right

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Lessons in Sadness and Inspiration

20 Oct

My visionary voice for this week’s blog is clearly on vacation. The first topic I have considered sharing is the sadness I’ve been experiencing.  I have committed to honesty in this life-changing process of moving to Mexico, the good, the bad and the ugly. I clearly have a lot of judgement about being THAT honest. I posted a selfie on Facebook and was admonished to “smile” and look happy. After all, I’m retired and living in paradise, what’s the problemo?

My first inclination has been to push the feelings away, not tell anyone and pretend they don’t exist. I don’t want people to try to fix, analyze or criticize, as if  I could control the world. I can understand why people who are depressed go for years without telling anyone. But I am not depressed, just sad, and I’m not sure why, nor do I care to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out.  I have faith that I am loved and that sadness is a normal part of life and that the answer will come to me. It usually does.

The second topic is inspiration. I have come across two people this week who inspired me greatly. One of them is Diana Nyad. You may recall that she recently completed a Cuba to Florida 110 mile swim at age 64, after three failed attempts. Watching her interview with Oprah on youtube was riveting. She did not let the haters deter her from big and bold failure. Against huge odds she didn’t give up. I am always interested in how to stay motivated and love hearing other people’s stories.

I came across more inspiration from a young man named Slim, who has the website The Next Forty Days . Slim weighed 600 pounds in 2012. He saw a video  by Arthur Booreman who used DDP Yoga to reclaim his life of obesity and disability. I had also seen Arthur’s video and as a result, purchased the CDs that have become favorites for Lisa and me. Slim was inspired by Arthur as well, and used DDP Yoga to springboard his life into something incredible. He not only lost 150 pounds in six months, he and his wife Laura began setting forty-day goals of all types. They’ve given up meat for 40 days, done a juice fast, volunteered, raised money and so much more.  He has devoted his time to helping other people while figuring out how to change his own life.  I am a geek for goal setting.

So maybe my sadness has been a rebound of setting the BIG goal of participating in a 46 mile kayaking marathon that I splashed all over last week’s blog, SMART or Estupida. My fear of failure, that I wasn’t even aware of, reared it’s head and roared. People have commented about how “inspirational” I am. My goal with this blog has been to leave bread crumbs for anyone who cares to make big changes in their life. I guess Diana, Arthur, and Slim have done the same and I am willing to follow their trail.

Laguna Bacalar, Mexico

Laguna Bacalar, Mexico

Let Go Of The Life You Planned

Let Go Of The Life You Planned

Selfie

Selfie

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SMART or Estupida?

13 Oct

I have always done better with a goal, a BIG goal. At age 40 I got through the coming-out process by discovering triathlons. Bike – Cycle – Run. I completed my first triathlon dead last of all participants. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across the finish line to a cheering crowd and heard my name called to receive an award (I still have it). I had finished third in my age group of three. I had fun and learned a lot, like the need to get all event details instead of assuming the run portion is a 5k (3.2 miles) instead of 5 miles.

Participating in a triathlon fueled my interest in cycling. My 40s were spent on a bicycle, on long rides with Team Roadkill and by myself. My longest event ride was over two days from Houston to Austin in the MS 150. I had fun and learned to really, really pay attention to the weather and not assume a beautiful Texas spring day.

For my 50th birthday I completed my one and only marathon. I joined a training group that met at Runtex in Austin. I logged weekday miles on a treadmill and weekends with the Runtex group that included an experienced leader. I had fun traversing the city on foot and learned not to blindly trust a trainer. Being inexperienced I could have done nothing else and ended up barely finishing the marathon.

And now, retired at age 61, having spent the last year in training for the monumental task of moving to Mexico, I wasn’t exactly looking for a new goal. My body isn’t so keen on running or spending long hours on a bicycle. I love to walk and have dreamed of a trip to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago. But nothing immediate, that is until this week.

Being a fan of the book, Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Harry Lodge, I am aware that as one ages, it is even more important to participate in strenuous physical activity, preferably with a goal in mind. That’s why when I saw the Paddle Marathon Laguna Bacalar, a race the length of Laguna Bacalar scheduled for May 1-3, 2014, my interest was piqued. I’ve already noticed the progress I have made with my kayaking since arriving in Bacalar six weeks ago. I go further every day with less effort. However, the idea of kayaking 46 miles over a two-day period seems daunting, outrageous, even insane. Which is exactly why I want to do it.

I have a sweet little kayak that is sleek and perfect for the race. Before leaving Austin, I invested in a carbon paddle which is lighter than aluminum, having already entertained the thought of a long paddle, perhaps with an overnight stay. Just maybe this half-brained scheme is attainable. At the least, I will have fun and learn stuff. No permanent damage done? Right?

SMART Objectives
S- Specific – Race (and I use that word lightly) the length of Laguna Bacalar
M- Measurable 46 miles over two days
A- Attainable – which remains to be seen
R- Reasonable – it is doable by others, young enough to be my grandchildren
T- Time framed – May 1-3, 2014

There’s plenty of time to train, so if you’re at all interested, please come join me. There will be a kayak film festival and a week of activities surrounding the event. At the very least, you can wave from the shore with your binoculars as I go whizzing by.

Blue Bliss

Blue Bliss

Kayak in Heaven

Paddle Heaven

Thought for the Day

Life Begins

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Meet the Neighbors

6 Oct

From the minute I hit “send” on Sunday my thoughts turn to what to write for the next week. I look for interesting patterns, new items to share, or ah-ha moments. This week is encounters with insect, reptile and bird neighbors. The photos are from the internet, not mine.

Lisa saw a very large snake crossing the driveway where we live. Upon research, we learned that the mangrove snake is one of the largest snakes in the tropics. What Lisa saw was at least 6′ long. They are harmless to humans who leave them alone.

Mangrove Snake

Mangrove Snake

We have a neighbor about twenty miles up the lake who has a young crocodile hanging out near her dock. With the swollen lake, the cocodrillos sometimes move into human habitats. There have been numerous postings to the expat Yahoo Group as to how to relocate the 3′ long youngster. The running request is that it goes FAR from Bacalar.

Young Cocodrillo

Young Cocodrillo

We frequently see snail kites, large black and white hawks that chow down on the juicy snails that abound in Laguna Bacalar. Locals harvest the snails for ceviche, a delicacy for humans and lunch for the hawks.

Snail Kite

Snail Kite

Last night Lisa called me to come quietly and bring the camera. I was not lucky enough to catch a photo of these camera shy moths that have been hanging around. Here is the internet version. They have large “eyes” on their wings to trick predators.

Large Moth

Large Moth

We watch dragon flies flutter in the evening air and geckos, small nocturnal lizards scurry across the ceiling both inside and out. Life in the tropics is certainly a chance to meet many new and interesting neighbors.

Another Amazing Sunrise

Another Amazing Sunrise

Have Faith

Have Faith

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Inicios Nuevos

29 Sep

New beginnings – We marked one month of living in Mexico this week. It still feels like one big vacation. We’re incredibly grateful to have a beautiful home to live in while waiting for our house to sell in Texas and eventually build our home here. Days begin with taking photos of the latest amazing sunrise, yoga, and meditation. Lisa has been working diligently on learning Spanish. She listens to a CD for thirty minutes and has conversations with anyone she comes into contact with. Local folks seemed pleased with her effort and are more than willing to enunciate and use simple language. I am all too familiar with the sensation of one’s head exploding in the effort to learn a second language. It is a necessary part of the process.

We made a new friend, Kathe who lives in Chetumal, about a half hour drive from us. Several years ago, Kathe and her partner traveled from Canada to Panama and back in an RV. She kept a blog which I include here. On her blog she shared a story, “Loose Chickens” by Nancy Vineski. The story was included in Chicken Soup for the RVer’s Soul and made me laugh and think about the choices we have made to live in Bacalar, MX. I include it here. As always, comments and suggestions for future blogs are appreciated. What do you do to rattle your cage? Please share.

Sep 8, 2007
Loose Chickens

By Nancy Vineski

It all started with a few loose chickens. . . .

I was a real estate agent and had gone to check out one of our listed
properties. It was an egg-laying operation, a commercial facility involving
thousands of caged chickens. The warehouse-like building held hundreds and
hundreds of small cages, each containing two hens. The cages were so small
that the chickens were unable to turn around. In front of the chickens, one
conveyor belt brought feed and behind them was another belt that carried
their eggs away. While the plant manager was briefing us, I noticed a dozen
loose chickens and an employee following them and scattering grain.

“Do you need help catching them?” I asked.

“I’m not trying to catch these birds” he replied. “Oh no, we let these
wander around. If the caged ones can’t see a few chickens living a free
life, they’ll lose hope and stop laying their eggs. Without these loose
chickens, the rest will just give up and die.”

Instantly, it struck me how similar our lifestyle was to these caged birds.
How many of us live our lives in cages, looking out and seeing others having
the adventures, living their dreams, being free? I realized that there are
two kinds of chickens: those who live in cages and those who roam freely. I
wanted to be one of those loose chickens!

Within a couple of months, we wangled a year’s unpaid leave of absence from
my husband Tom’s university employers, closed my small business, found
someone to house sit our home, took $10000 out of our retirement savings,
bought an old VW camper-van and set off to explore Mexico and Central
America.

That year stretched into two and we decided not to return to our old jobs.

It’s been nine years now of full-time RVing full-time, exploring full-time
living. The house-sitter became a tenant who became the guy who bought our
house. The camper-van turned into a twenty-five-foot trailer, which turned
into a thirty-seven-foot motor home. And a few years ago our son Bill also
became a full-time RVer – a family of loose chickens roaming free.

Reprinted by permission of Nancy Vineski (c) 2000 from Chicken Soup for the
Traveler’s Soul by Jack Canfield Mark Victor Hansen and Steve Zikman.

Peace

Peaceful Beginning to the Day on Lake Bacalar

Some Days Just Amaze

Some Days Just Amaze

With a Good Book

With a Good Book

Loose Chickens

Loose Chickens

The Think You Think You Cannot Do

The Thing You Think You Cannot Do

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Rainy Season – Lessons in Going With the Flow

22 Sep

Having recently moved to the tropics of Southern Mexico from the desert-like climate of Central Texas, we initially loved the sweet little afternoon rain showers. But then the rain didn’t stop. For close to three weeks it rained, rained and rained some more. A tropical depression invaded the Yucatan in more ways than one. Hurricane Manuel pummeled Mexico from the Pacific and Ingrid from the Gulf. In Acapulco forty-thousand tourists were evacuated and mud slides swallowed a whole community. In Bacalar, the worst we had was mold, mosquitoes, a leaky roof and a few docks under water. It seems like all I had to do was think about my kayak to hear thunder. It’s creepy.

Many of the expats are on their summer jaunt to the US. The Tortas were spending way too much time on Facebook in this beautiful, strange land, so Thursday we decided to brave the elements and travel 2.5 hours to Tulum to visit our Austin friends Karen and Skip. It was a change of scenery and an excuse to ride in air conditioning. Living in the wilds of Tulum has its own challenges. Keeping the jungle from swallowing your house is a full-time job. We did head out to see if the beach had been washed away in the recent flooding, only to be blessed with a beautiful sunshiney walk. Nine months ago during our initial visit to Skip and Karen’s, we were exploring the possibility of making the move to Mexico. They took us to the same beautiful beach as a talisman for all the hard work ahead. Never could we have believed that in nine months our life would be completely different and we’d be living in Bacalar.

When rain flows, it can take everything in its path for a ride, even the Tortas. The opportunities to “let go” abound. We are continually letting go of an old way of life, as well as the expectations for this new one, and we are ever grateful for the occasional sunshine.

Finally the Sun!

Tulum Beach Nine Months Later

Tulum Beach Nine Months Later

Moon on Bacalar

Thought For the Day

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Off to Immigration We Go Hi Ho

15 Sep

Countries all over the world struggle with how to deal with migrating populations. Folks are looking for a better life, job, spouse, opportunity, cultural experience or like us, a slower, more relaxed life. We met Max and Aliza who hooked up in Africa and have been traveling for three years. They are from Canada and the Netherlands and make a living photographing, building websites, waiting tables and whatever it takes to barter their way around the world. They came to Bacalar from Cuba where they had been living for the past month.

In the US, the issue is citizenship. If people come to the States to work, should they be given the opportunity to become citizens? To be clear, Lisa and I have no intentions of becoming Mexican citizens. Relinquishing US citizenship is a movement that we are not part of.

For many retirees in Mexico, acquiring residency has been long and complicated. Up until last year, a multi-tiered process was in place that took many years to complete. In an effort to streamline the Mexican government completely overhauled their system. As a former state employee, I am intimately familiar with legislators who write law, provide no additional funding and expect well meaning, short staffed and underpaid workers to seamlessly implement it.

The new system provides temporary and permanent residency and must be initiated in one’s home country. For vacationers, a 180-day visa is supplied at the boarder. Temporary residents (retirees/jubilados) must prove adequate income from outside of MX. No working is allowed. Residentes temporales may drive a US-plated vehicle and keep temporary status for four years. After that time, they must sell or pay high fees to keep their US cars and apply for permanent status. The whole car thing is to protect the Mexican auto industry.

Our trip to the Mexican Consulate in Austin provided visas which we presented at our local immigration office in Quitana Roo. The requirements to prove financial solvency are a vague formula and perusing the internet and talking to expats in Bacalar only contributed fear and confusion. We gathered what we thought were the supporting documents needed (bank statements, copies of our passports, and proof of domicile) and began our petition with a visit to INM (Instituto Nacional de Migración). The advice we had been given was to arrive 30 minutes early to get in line and go when it’s raining because there will be fewer people. The weather cooperated and after three trips, our application was completed and submitted. My Spanish ability certainly enhanced and hindered the process. The alternative was an immigration lawyer or Spanish-speaking paralegal. I am stubborn enough that I thought I could figure it out and I did. The three trips were due to my inability to locate and understand the instructions, nothing more.

We were told that we would have to wait a month to get our residency card. Friends here smile at our naivety. It is true that nothing is timely in Mexico. Agreements are flimsy.

Lisa and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity to live in Bacalar, MX. We decided to remain happy and peaceful no matter what happens. Actually, that is pretty much the formula for our lives. If more is required of us, we will provide it. For now, we will wait. Our motto remains, “No Complaining in Paradise.”

If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace. – Thich Nhat Hanh

Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise

Trumpet Vine Blooming

Bogavilla

Thought of the Day

Thought of the Day

Can We Go Home Now?

8 Sep

Can we go home now? TRANSLATION – I need something familiar because I’m feeling insane.

Whether we move across town, across the country or across the globe, I think it’s common to want, at some point to click your ruby slippers and wish for “home”. It is definitely an adjustment to change home, job and language in the course of one week. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore. The truth is, Bacalar is our home and there’s no going back, nor do we want to. We just want the floor to quit shifting.

Lisa and I have both had boo-hooing meltdowns with unexplainable feelings which come out as, what the hell have we done? I don’t think I can do this, and I wanna go home! The good thing is that we don’t have them at the same time.

On Friday, our friends Karen and Skip came through Bacalar. They’d been in Austin and were on their way home to Tulum, two hours north of us. They have watched us go from cautious inquiry to “ta-da!” They have been where we are and offered sage advice, “get out some of your things that provide familiarity.”

There is so much about being here that is absolutely wonderful and we are very grateful. We have been provided transitional digs that are beautiful, comfortable, accommodating and free. I walk down twenty steps and glide my kayak into the most beautiful water on the planet, whenever the mood strikes me. I sit on the balcony early in the morning, drink Lisa-made coffee, watch beautiful noisy birds that I’ve yet to identify and observe the rising sun change the colors on the lake by the minute. The feelings of insanity will strike again no doubt. I ride the waves kicked up by a tropical shower as well as the swirl of emotions triggered by a life of the new and yet to become familiar.

This week it’s off to immigration. Yahoo! Do we apply as a married couple or individuals? Decisions, decisions. Stay tuned as the Tortas continue the adventure. As always, comments are appreciated.

DOS TORTAS

Our bedroom in Pehaltun, Bacalar, MX

Our bedroom in Pehaltun, Bacalar, MX

Where to put stuff?

Where to put stuff?

Live the Life of Your Dreams

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Fear And Loathing in San Miguel

1 Sep

San Miguel de Allende is a destination vacation for USers and Mexicans alike. It is near the top of the “Retire to Mexico” list for just about everyone, certainly for our hairdresser in Austin. SMdA is a quaint little colonial town, narrow cobblestone streets winding around beautiful churches, antique shops and artisan markets, nestled in the mountains north of Mexico City. Something that you don’t know until you’ve accidentally found yourself lost in SMdA is that the quaint narrow streets were built for donkey carts, NOT the traffic that clogs due to all those damn turistas and retirees. There are automobiles parked nose to tail along every high walled street with taxis and buses passing slow-moving, truck drawn remulques at unbelievable speeds. Lisa quit breathing when we pulled into town.

We learned so much from this trip of 1800 miles and endless speed bumps (topes). When Google told us that point A to point B would take us five hours, it took more like 8.5 which is quite descriptive of the entire moving to Mexico process. Lisa’s Spanish grew by learning road signs, “No tire la basura” (don’t throw trash). I learned that we should NOT drive for eight hours in Mexican traffic and then look for a hotel where we can park securely and not have to back up a trailer.

Most of all we learned that this has been TOTALLY worth it. We arrived in Bacalar on Friday and have been taking it easy ever since. It feels like we’re on vacation, which of course we are, a permanent vacation.

Snow topped volcano in the rearview mirror.

Snow topped volcano in the rearview mirror.


Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

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