Visitors In Town

Yesterday I was in the middle of cooking our lunch when the phone rang.  On the other end of the line was a lady, originally from Guaymas; but now living in California.  I knew that she and her husband were supposed to be in town this week.  Doug had commented on the blog several years ago and we had met them when they were visiting that year.  Last year we missed seeing them as we were in Canada when they were here.  We set up a time to meet and then sat down to eat our lunch.
Lunch yesterday was a green mixed salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, garlic toast and spaghetti with homemade tomato and mushroom sauce, along with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese to top it.
It was good.

After lunch we were off to centro to meet them at the Malecon.  We sat and chatted by the water while their daughter and grandson skate boarded on the malecon.  At this time of the day there are no places to buy a drink there so we wandered over to another park in front of the church and got a drink and some fresh fruit from my usual vendor on the corner.  Sat in the shade and chatted some more.  A nice afternoon.  They are only here for a few days more so I doubt that we will see them again this trip.  We were glad to have a few hours to visit with them in between their family visits.  Until next time guys.

Home again, we relaxed for a couple of hours before I went to my art class at the Casa de la Cultura.

Just Hanging Out

Nothing new or exciting to report, just the same old, same old routine.  Spanish class, Art class, running errands, groceries, laundry, the usual life stuff.
I finished my oil painting at class, it is posted on the Art Blog if you want to see it just click on the link on the right hand side.  I also finished a Pastel painting at home that is for the landlords grandsons birthday.  I forgot to take a picture of it before I took it to be framed; but will when I get it back.  I have started another pastel at home and another oil painting in class.
Class for this semester is done pretty much, we go on Monday to have snacks and put up all the work from the semester and then there will be an exhibition at the Casa de la Cultura on Tuesday evening at around 6:30 PM..  Come on down and see all the students work.
Our artwork is also supposed to be on exhibit at the new gallery in centro during the Mar Bermejo Festival,  which is I think around the 8 th and 9 th of July.  The gallery is located close to the Palacio Municipal, basically only 1 building in between them.  Very easy to find.
Summer class begins on the 4th of July and runs all month with a bit different format.  The class I am taking will be on Mon., Tues., Wed., and Thurs. from 4 PM to 7 PM so that should keep me busy.  Then a month off before the classes resume in September.
Lots of different classes offered so if you are in the area, head on down to the Casa de la Cultura and sign up for something.  I am sure you will enjoy both the classes and the language practice.

Summer is here so stay cool and don't get sun burnt.

Online Photo Albums

Some of you might have noticed that I have some online photo albums on Webshots.  The first and second ones I haven't uploaded photos to in quite a long time; but still people look at the photos every week. ( I usually just stick them all in the third one now).
In fact it completely amazes me how many people look at them.  Every week I get an email telling me how many views there were of the photos that week, how many downloads there were and also the total views and downloads.
To me the numbers are surprising.  This last week alone there were 7,140 views of the photos!
Total photo views are 371,857  with 1,924 downloads.  Wow!!  There must be a lot of people out there that are interested in Mexico.
Not too much going on here, it is warming up.  I think it got to around 34 or 35 C. today, not sure didn't really look this afternoon.
This morning I went shopping for a baby shower gift, yes I am invited to another baby shower this Saturday evening.  This time it is for our landladies brothers daughter,  She is due at the end of the month and will be having a boy apparently.
Picked up a gift, got it wrapped and did some other shopping at the same time.
This afternoon I went to the Casa de la Cultura and signed up for their July art classes.  They start the 5 th of July and go to the end of the month.  Four weeks, twice a week for an hour and a half each time.  Total cost 250 pesos, ( that would be about $20.43 CAD).  Very reasonable.  I am interested in seeing if any of the people who were there the last time I went will be there.

Dances Of Chihuahua

Dances Of Chihuahua

Last evening we went to our painting class and brought home our first painting. Before we left the teacher told us to remember to sign them, as she is wanting to have a show when the classes end, possibly in June. We just laughed at her and told her that ours were likely to end up "en la basura"--in the garbage. She laughed with us; but insisted that we sign them at home anyway. Funny.

We came home and watched the lunar eclipse. The general concensus of the neighbors watching was, "muy bonito"--very pretty.

Here are some photos of the dances of Chihuahua State from the performance on last Saturday.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to everyone, hope you have a wonderful day filled with your loved ones.

We decided yesterday, after listening to some YouTube videos of The Platters, to go and buy tickets for the show after all. I headed uptown to the auditorium where the tickets are being sold and bought them. So we are all set to go, we will have to leave our painting class a little early to get to the show on time; but that should be fine.

I also stopped uptown and got a much needed haircut at the same time. We both usually go to a lady that is near here; but I happened to walk by a place while I was uptown that was just opening up for the day. I was the first customer, so no waiting. She was 10 pesos cheaper than our usual lady (40 pesos instead of 50 pesos, about $4.00 instead of $5.00), a double bonus.

We went to our painting class last night and it was fun. I finished my first painting, which was supposed to be a study of light and shadow. I will just say that it looks much better from afar, very far. LOL

Spanish Lessons

Spanish Lessons

I have been meaning to get busy and take some spanish lessons again; but have been being very lazy about it. The fellow that I went to last spring is unable to do it anymore because of work constraints, so I had to find someone else.

Bliss a fellow blogger in San Carlos has been coming into Guaymas and taking lessons from a lady here, so I got the ladies name and phoned her one day. We made arrangements for a friend and I to go for lessons on Tuesdays.
Yesterday S. and I arrived at the ladies home and spent an hour conversing with her mostly in spanish. We have some homework, we have to write something for her in spanish and she will correct our grammar. This is something that I had being doing in the spring with my other teacher and I found it very interesting and so did he at times.
Yesterday morning we went to do a load of laundry and get some groceries; but first I needed to get some cleaner for our paintbrushes before painting class tonight. There are 2 paint stores almost right beside the laundromat so I decided to start with them first before heading uptown. Sure enough the first one I asked had it. The fellow came and put a 1 litre coke bottle on the counter. He then proceeded to take off part of the coke label. 20 pesos, about $2.00, and I was out the door with my brush cleaner. Well that was easy.
Do you remember the group The Platters? Well, the group is coming to give a couple of concerts here in Guaymas. Unfortunately the concert is the same evening as our painting class, so we have decided that we won't go to it. I am sure it will be a good concert though.
Here is the concert information if anyone is close and interested.
The Platters will perform at the Civic Auditorium downtown in Guaymas on Monday Feb 18th, two times, one at 7Pm and the next at 9:30pm. Tickets at the Auditorium taquilla, they are for sale already, two prices; $200 and $180 pesos. For information call 224-2626, ask for Ana Maria Almada for English.

Painting Class

Painting Class

Everyone once in awhile I read the calendar of events on the Government of Guaymas website, sometimes there are events happening that we want to go and see and sometimes there is nothing of interest there. The other day when I went to look at it, I noticed that there were classes beginning at the Casa de la Cultura. One of the classes listed was an adult painting class. We both are interested in painting and have long wanted to take some classes. I printed the page off and took it downstairs to ask the landlord if I had translated it correctly. I had and there were classes that supposedly had already begun the Wednesday before, this was on Saturday. We went down to the Casa de la Cultura but the office was closed until Monday.

Yesterday morning we went down and were told that yes, we could still register and that no, it wasn't a problem that our spanish is not the greatest. The registration was 50 pesos, around $5.00 and the cost for one month of classes, 1½ hrs. per class, two classes a week is 100 pesos or around $10.00. Can't beat that. So we signed up.

We were told that we didn't need to bring anything but ourselves to the class, so at 5:30 PM we were there ready to begin. It turns out that the lady teaching the class speaks some english!! What a surprise! She had all the necessary supplies there, so we purchased what we needed and were ready to begin. The first project that we are doing is a study of light and shadow; although what mine looks like is questionable. It was fun and we both enjoyed it, we are glad that we signed up and will see how it goes.