Tag Archives: Laguna Bacalar

Not My Fault

27 Oct

It’s so easy to blame myself for the last two months’ trauma. “If onlies” run through my head. If only I had paid more attention passing through security in Vancouver. If only I hadn’t been so careless playing with the dog. Sigh, an accident is an accident, is an accident.

Surgery scar is healing nicely.

About two weeks after my fall, I got a message from my youngest brother emphatically telling me to pick up the phone. My brother William who is 16 months younger than me had an accident and broke his left leg! (same as me). He lives in Asheville North Carolina and was preparing for Hurricane Helene that swept through in September. My 71 year old brother climbed onto the roof to clean out the gutters, caught his leg and had to be lifted off the roof by the Fire Department.

We have matching walkers.

He spent a week in the hospital after surgery with no electricity, riding out the hurricane. Food and supplies were being delivered by helicopter. At home there was no damage to his house, only the loss of a freezer full of food. He is very grateful.

We talk frequently commiserating over our bad luck. There’s nothing like someone living the same experience, at the same time, to make you feel seen, even if they are a couple of thousand miles away. Maybe we have stupid genes running in our family but I doubt it. I spoke to another friend this week who reminded me that she broke her arm this time last year.

I don’t think we will stop making mistakes because we are older. We may think twice, or three times, but an accident, is an accident, is an accident.

DOS TORTAS

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Telenovela Part Dos

20 Oct

I left the hospital the end of September after a 24 hour stay. I went home with a bag full of inhalers, breathing treatments and pills galore. We had taken rapid Covid tests with us on the cruise and all three of us, my wife and I and my MIL tested negative multiple times. I wore my mask at all times because my sister had come down with Covid on her Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago. Little did I know that I had already acquired it. My symptom was a persistent dry cough which could be heard echoing among other passengers as well, up and down the ship’s hallways. Who knew?

A small 14 bed private hospital.

In the hospital in Mexico, doctors performed an antigen test which showed that I had indeed had Covid. The inflammation had settled in my lungs which caused an asthmatic crisis. I went home after 24 hours with a prescription for R & R.

On the evening of September 14, only a week out of the hospital, I was playing with Luna and tripped over my own feet. I went down hard on the concrete floor. Lisa says she heard the crack. I never felt such pain nor screamed so loud in my life. Poor Lisa was freaked out. We both were at a loss as to what to do and I was in no position to make a decision.

Living in the jungles of Mexico one does not just dial 911. No one speaks English and explaining your location and situation takes skills. So Lisa called David.

David built our house in 2015 and is like a son. He has a Mexican wife and has lived here many years. His Spanish is top notch. He dropped everything to arrive at our house in 30 minutes, a new world record.

The rest is blah, blah, blah, emergency room, X-rays, tests and more tests. On the 30th anniversary of the day we met, I had surgery to set my leg. Not the plans we had for our special day.

Staples have now been removed leaving a kick-ass scar.

Life continues. I am to be 6-8 weeks off my feet. I’ve gotten access to my electronic accounts through no small miracle. Thanks to everyone who has commented and contacted me. It means the world to me.

DOS TORTAS

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Living In A Telenovela (Mexican Soap Opera)

13 Oct

You might have noticed SILENCE from the Tortas since our trip to Alaska in August. Life took such an unexpected turn at the end of our trip that I cannot even begin to explain in one blog. It started in the Vancouver Airport with a moment of inattentiveness. We were catching a red-eye to return to Mexico after disembarking at 8 am. It had been a long day. I didn’t know at the time that I had Covid doing its tap dance in my lungs. I wish that were an excuse. Anyway, someone snatched my cell phone and iPad while I tied up my shoes not three steps away after coming through security.

Home Sweet Home

Not wanting to miss my flight, I returned to Bacalar getting sicker and sicker while some very poor choices on my part became evident. Online security and rampant identity theft have Apple, Google, and Samsung making it harder and harder to get into locked accounts. Google will not even talk to you. No live person to plead your case to. There are “procedures” and I made all the mistakes one can possibly make.

I allowed my iPad to store my secure passwords without writing them down. My two-step verification was to my phone and vice versa. I had NO passwords, No access to any of my accounts. No FB, Instagram, Apple ID, Google, banking accounts. Need I say more?

Then I ended up in the hospital with complications from Covid. And believe it or not, this is only half of the story.

DOS TORTAS

Forgive the stripped down blog. I’m still not back 100%.



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Lost In Mexico City

21 Jul

Flying during a worldwide tech glitch, causing one of the worst travel days in history, after 9/11, of course, left much of the world with cancelled flights, ruined plans and much confusion. I must say, Mexico City was pretty chill if you’re going to be stranded with a cancelled flight to San Francisco. I never heard anyone raise their voice, cause a scene or mention a Biden conspiracy. The counter attendants were fabulous. Kudos to United Airline. Their folks worked tirelessly to make lemons into lemonade, all with a smile.

There are some nice restaurants in the airport. I ate well.

After two days of roaming the airport, I remembered it was blog day! No, there was no partying in the City. While I love Mexico City, the uncertainty of my flying future kept me mostly chill-laxing in my hotel room.

Not bad digs for an airport hotel. Compliments of United Airlines.

I finally got a confirmed flight, to Cancun then on to San Francisco. Fingers crossed all goes well. I will be glad to unpack and love on my grandchildren.

DOS TORTAS

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Time To Pack Again!

14 Jul

While “unpacking” from Hurricane Beryl we’ve simultaneously been packing for a jaunt to the US and Canada.

This year we celebrated the milestones of Lisa’s sixtieth and her mother’s eightieth birthdays. We have been trying for months to plan a trip that would get us out of the tropical heat and not break the bank.

Alice’s 80th birthday party.

Our house sitter arrives Monday to watch the dogs and manage the house. Lisa and Alice are off to Southern California for a mini family reunion while I head North to visit daughter and family. We meet up in Vancouver for a quick tour before catching a cruise to Alaska.

The twins turned six this week!

When traveling with a frail eighty year old, a moving hotel sounds doable. Escaping the steamy jungle of Southern Mexico for the land of glaciers and whale watching sounds divine.

I may be offline for a while. Remember to stay out of the heat, hydrate and be kind.

DOS TORTAS

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Hurricanes Are Exhausting

7 Jul

By the end of the week Lisa and I were spent. Preparing for a hurricane is a lot of damn work, both physical and emotional. We had help from our two workers who dug drainage ditches and filled sandbags. Driving through Bacalar, stores were closed, doorways boarded up and a long line of boats were waiting to be hauled out of the Laguna. Everyone was taking Beryl’s threat very seriously.

“X” marks the spot. Beryl turned North.

In August of 2007 Hurricane Dean made landfall near Bacalar as a category five. Many locals lived through and remember well the damage and months of cleanup. Lisa and I moved to Bacalar in 2013, six years post Dean. The devastation was still a frequent topic of conversation round the ol tequila bottle.

Dean over Bacalar

In 2007 people did not have the predictive technology that we have today. The downside of monitoring the hourly progress of a monster is the tension and stress it brings. Beryl ended up making landfall hours north of us. We got cooler temperatures (yeah) and almost no other storm results.

I’m glad we were as prepared as we could be, but no distraction provided peace of mind while we waited. The day after the “storm” found both of us prostrate with fatigue. We didn’t expect that!

DOS TORTAS

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The Storm Before The Storm

1 Jul

Dos Tortas usually makes its appearance early Sunday, but not this week. I had the blog ready to post when I accidentally deleted it. Argh. Today is the first day we’ve had electricity since the weekend and if you haven’t seen the news, we have hurricane Beryl barreling down on us. Too much stress and my mood is less than stellar. So here is a bit of our week in pictures.

Looks scarier than it is. Critters coming in out of the rain.
The storm before the BIG storm.
A waterfall outside the back door.

Needless to say I’m not in the best frame of mind. We will be fine, our house is a concrete bunker and we’ll see you next week. Send good thoughts.

DOS TORTAS

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Mexican Driver’s License – Take Two

23 Jun

At the post vacation bus heist in April, Lisa and I got our US driver’s licenses stolen. I told the humorous tale of acquiring my shiny new Mexican license in the May 5 blog. https://theadventuresofdostortas.com/?s=Mexican+driver’s&submit=Search

This week we went to Bacalar to repeat the process for Lisa, only to find a sign posted on the door of the license office. Whenever we assume that we’ve got something, anything figured out in Mexico, we receive the expat slap upside the head. This was no exception.

The license issuance process is in Chetumal until further notice. Note, no location is provided.

Dang, now we had to drive to Chetumal, an hour away, for her to acquire said license. It’s been a stormy few days with flooding in low parts of Chetumal. We took advantage of a lull in the tropical storm to venture out. Prayers were said.

We went to two different government offices before being directed to the right location. With our list of required documents in hand we went to breakfast. After all this was going to be an all day adventure! Girls need pancakes!

Not our favorite place to eat but ok in a pinch.

The documents were the same as what had been required of me in Bacalar. However Lisa had to watch a video and take a written test IN SPANISH with no assistance from me.

Thank god for Google Translate.

Her language skills are not great, but with the help of Goggle Translate she managed to get through the video and written test. The only problem was, she failed the test, oops. Back to watch the video again.

With a smile and a good attitude, much can be accomplished.

Lisa has such a way of charming people. After the second go round the official didn’t even look at her test. With a wink and a hand shake, she passed and we were on to the driving test.

Park between the cones and don’t forgot to put on your directional.

When you’ve been driving for over forty years, it’s hard to have beginners mind. Also we had my car which Lisa had only driven twice before.

Smiling through failure.

Needless to say, she did not pass the driving test either! Truth be told, it was designed to trip her up. I couldn’t have done any better. This time the official wagged a finger at her before signing the form and sending us on our way back across town to pay the fee and print the license.

The face of exhaustion.

We were extremely grateful that the weather held, everyone was so nice and the mission was accomplished. We love Mexico but it is always a head scratch and a test of patience.

DOS TORTAS

Want to learn patience? Move to Mexico.

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It’s Got To Rain To Find The Leaks

16 Jun

Thursday night was the first rainfall in months. I woke to streaks of lightening and house-rattling claps of thunder. Poor little Stella was shaking so hard she almost fell off the bed. It’s how she started sleeping with us in the first place. She’s terrified of thunder, poor baby.

Our blind pug.

In Austin, after months of drought, we woke one morning to find an inch of water standing in our dining room. A drainage problem that we didn’t know we had, made its presence known after the first spring downpour.

Our rear yard in Austin sloped slightly towards the house.

Gracias a Dios there were no major leaks this week in our Bacalar jungle house nor water gushing down the wall. When building nine years ago, yes, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long, we did everything we could to channel water away from the house. We also built drains on the porch. If water came in the front door, we could help it out the back. Our house sits at the bottom of a steep slope.

Before we added French drains around the house. 2015
Much has changed in nine years.

We did find a leak from the palapa over our front door. Palapas only last about five years. Of course we’ve had our fingers crossed so as to avoid the replacement expense. It’s time to call the palapero.

DOS TORTAS

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That Time Of Year

9 Jun

Next Saturday is what we affectionately call the Swim Across, one of several athletic events held annually in Bacalar. There’s a kayak marathon in the fall and a new half marathon in September. I made the commitment to swim this year because, why not? This week it was time to kick training into high gear. I use the word “training” loosely.

I haven’t set an alarm to wake up since I worked for The State of Texas. Back in the day I would rise every day at five a.m. I walked our Austin neighborhood in the dark relishing the quiet and solitude, before heading home to pack my breakfast and lunch and catching the bus to work. It seems like a lifetime ago.

2015

This week I’ve been rising at six before the wind picks up causing a choppy laguna. I still love the quiet and solitude. The clouds look like wisps of cotton candy before the sun pops over the horizon.

I will never win this event, even as the field narrows. Perhaps if I’m 100 and still swimming but I doubt it. I did buy some new goggles to motivate. Maybe they’ll make me faster.

Team Bacalar 2016

DOS TORTAS

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