The Other Side of the Bay

The Other Side of the Bay

Photos are here: http://community.webshots.com/album/428525575CSkjfY

As there was no NFL on TV yesterday we took a drive to the other side of the bay. We had taken the bus over there one other day; but found that it did not go to all the places that we wanted to see. It is not far; but the only transport are the personal buses that take the people to work. We took 2 different roads, one ended in a dead end at a Marine (naval) installation and the other ended at a fish processing plant. The fish plant was very malodorous to say the least, can't imagine the stench in the summer when it gets really hot. It was an interesting drive. We gave a couple of fellows a lift as the distance from those places to the regular bus stops is a long way.

A nice way to spend part of the day.

When we arrived home Ciro and Irene were just getting back from visiting somewhere in the country. Irene came over with some fresh made tortillas, which were absolutely huge. Ciro was just shaking his head and laughing over how much filling each one would take and saying that you would only eat one of those. A little later she was at the door again with some type of crab filling to go with them! I'm sure the woman thinks we don't eat properly, she is always bringing us something. It is nice of her to bring us things to try that we probably wouldn't get otherwise though.

The other night I was wishing that I had something sweet to eat; but was too lazy to go looking for something. Suddenly there was a new sound blasting through the neighborhood. We didn't know what this new truck was selling so I had to go out and check it out. Ah, bliss-- fresh churros. These are wonderful, straight out of the hot oil. They are round strips of doughnut batter, fried in oil, dusted with sugar and given to you in a little brown paper bag. Wonderful stuff! The 1/2 ton truck is set up with lights on the back, a propane tank for the burner to heat the oil, the machine that the fellow turns to turn out the strips of dough and of course the vat of hot oil. The machine that makes the strips of churros is interesting. It has a handle that the fellow turns and this pushes the dough through a shaped hole in a long strip that he cuts off in the appropriate length as he is turning the wheel, as he cuts it it plops into the oil vat. The truck looks like it could be dangerous as it drives down the bumpy streets with the oil vat, the propane burner, etc.. The taste can't be described as anything but yummy with a capitol Y.

Street Scenes

Street Scenes

Yesterday we decided to take a walk along some of the streets higher up on the mountain in a 4 or 5 block radius of our apartment. Guaymas is surrounded by mountains, this doesn't affect the home builders. Homes are built halfway up the mountains in every direction, giving you lots of interesting things to see.

The photos are here: http://community.webshots.com/album/546730742wafTXz

A cloudy day as you can see. Today the sun is back out and we are off to the weekly tianguis.

Canadian Election

Canadian Election

Well the election in Canada is over and it sounds like it went the way everyone expected it to. The Liberal party lost and the Conservative party won; although not with a majority, which is probably a good thing.

It's pretty quiet here, we are just doing the usual things. Baked cinnamon buns this morning, just after I took the first panful out of the oven the landlady came over with some food for us to sample, so I gave her some cinnamon buns. An even trade this morning for a change.

It is chillier here today and surprisingly cloudy. We get very few really cloudy days here. The weather forecast says "mucho frio", very cold--well that depends on what you think is cold!! To us from Canada it is like a cool summer day, for the people here it is cold. I do have to admit that I am wearing a sweater and wished that I would have put on my jacket. Roy laughs at me as I am feeling chilly. He thinks that I have acclimatised too well and will definately freeze to death back in the Canadian spring. The high for today by the way is 75 degrees Farenheit.

I find myself thinking of our short trip last week. Wondering if any of the young men on our bus, with the final destination of Tijuana, were thinking of crossing the border on the wrong side of the law. If they were, we hope they are alright. Thinking of the men we saw gathering firewood with their horses and carts and hoping that they gathered enough to stay warm, as some of the houses are far from what we think of as being warm. Houses built with wooden pallets, cardboard, tin, tarps and anything else available. Thinking of the small brick making place beside the side of the road right beside their home, which was not made of brick. I guess if you use the bricks yourself you cut into the profit margin. Thinking about how the people here have accepted us and enriched our lives. Thinking about how lucky we all are and most of the time don't realise it, thinking about how much we love being in this country and how much we will miss it here when we have to return to Canada in April.

A Short Trip

A Short Trip

PHOTOS HERE: http://community.webshots.com/album/546541160yJGTYE

Monday, January 16, 2006.

We left Guaymas on a bus headed for Huatabampo, Sonora. Bus fare $80.00 pesos or about $8.00. Travelling down highway 15 past Empalme, Bacum, Navajoa to Huatabampo. We arrived around 1 PM and wandered around the town, gawking and walking as is usual for us. We checked into a hotel and resumed our sightseeing. The weather was cool and windy, probably the nastiest day we have had here in Mexico. It is greener past Obregon, with lots of fields and greenhouses (irrigated of course). At Huatabampo it is much flatter country, as we have left the mountains. We spent the afternoon and early evening wandering around the town. We found the plaza and the church, of course, the first things we look for. We sat in the plaza for awhile, beautiful stained glass windows in the church. It seems like a nice town, fairly clean with wide streets. For some reason we both decided that we wouldn't want to live there. We are not really sure why, it just didn't feel like the place for us. It just didn't have that at home feeling.

Tuesday January 17, 2006

We caught a local bus to Yavarus, which is on the shore. We walked around the shore viewing the sights. Laughed as we saw a pig tied to a tree, asleep on his feet. Lots of small fishing boats, pelicans and other birds. It is a very small pueblo, with not even a good sized store, and since it is 21 kilometers from Huatabampo we decided that this place was also not an option for us. We caught the bus again and returned to Huatabampo. This morning was very cool and windy again, we realised how much we appreciate the lack of wind in Guaymas! We caught a highway bus to Navajoa and then another one to Los Mochis, Sinaloa which is the next state south from Sonora. We arrived in Los Mochis in the early afternoon and after finding a hotel, we began walking around the city. Los Mochis is a large city, with wide streets and sidewalks in good repair and lots and lots of trees. A very pretty city, with less garbage on the streets than Guaymas; but still without that feeling of home. We again found the plaza, which was beautiful. A large fountain in each of the four corners of the square, lots of large trees and very well kept. Across from the plaza is a church of course.

Wednesday January 18, 2006

We spent some more time walking and checking out the sights, finding another beautiful church. We decided to head back home to Guaymas, I, for one was feeling homesick. The return busfare from Los Mochis, Sinaloa to Guaymas, Sonora (approximately 440 kms.) was 150 pesos each or around $15.00. During the trip north (which takes a lot longer than going south because of the checks for drugs), we watched 3 movies and saw lots of the country. Men with their horses and carts cutting firewood, people harvesting, planting, and working the fields and just going about their daily lives.

It was a good trip; but we were glad to get home to Guaymas. We stopped at one of our local places (a home with a patio that serves food and drinks) for supper and then walked back to our place. After unpacking and chatting with the landlord about our trip, we relaxed glad to be back in our own little place.

We spent Thursday and Friday doing housey things and are getting ready to go to our "hidden cove" after finishing at the computer.

As Dorothy said, "there's no place like home."

Being Lazy

Being Lazy

I know it's been awhile since I last posted, the only reason I have is laziness!

This week we went to the seashore a couple of times, did the usual everyday things and just plain old relaxed and enjoyed the weather. Yesterday and today Roy is glued to the TV for his NFL playoff games.

We intend to take a road trip starting tomorrow. We intend to go a bit further south to Huatabampo, Huatabampito and Yavorus. We will be away for 3 or 4 days, maybe more. So there won't be any entries for awhile.

Everything is going great and I am sorry to say that our time in Mexico is more than 1/2 over. The thought of returning to Canada at the beginning of April is not a pretty thought. We are hoping that there will not be a pile of snow left there when we get back. The weather will be a shock as the coldest it has gotten here (at night) is 9 or 10 degrees Celcius. We will freeze when we return to Alberta in April. UGH!!!!!

Sea Creatures

Sea Creatures

We returned to the cove again yesterday. It was warmer yesterday than it has been, maybe only by a couple of degrees; but when climbing that steep hill (small mountain) you sure notice the difference. When we got halfway down the hill and stopped at a look out point, we could see something in the water. At first we weren't sure exactly what it was; but then realised that it was a man snorkling. When he came out of the water he was holding a net bag holding his catch, so we wandered over to him to investigate . He emptied his bag onto the beach, showing us what he had caught. Sea cucumbers and octopus! Not the most attractive catch of the day. He had 2 big 5 gallon pails on shore and separated the beasties, throwing them into the pails full of water. He took off his wetsuit and chatted with us for a few minutes. He said that what he had caught would get him 50 pesos (about $5.00). We said that it was a lot of work for that amount of money and he shrugged and said, "it's work". I wonder how you prepare sea cucumbers to eat? They were not that appetizing to look at, so I am not going to look too hard for a recipe for them! Roy allowed one of the octopus tentacles to attach to his finger, lots of suction. The fellow told us that he can't just pull them off of the rocks, he has to use his hook tool, as they stick so tightly. He had to carry the two pails, his wetsuit, flippers, and the rest of his gear all up the big hill, making several trips.

The tide was low, so we wandered all over the flat rocks containing tide pools and checked out the inhabitants. Today for the first time we saw Sea Slugs and also 1 Sea Cucumber, along with the usual urchins, etc.. The sea slugs are interesting to watch, they look like giant snails wandering around in the water. All the little shells with their dwellers crawling along and everyone contributing their bit to the cycle of life. I couldn't resist walking along the beach with my feet in the water, well up to my knees actually, to cool off. Great way to spend a January afternoon.

Granjas de Perlas- Pearl Farm

Granjas de Perlas- Pearl Farm

3 posts today, so I hope you scroll down and keep reading.

Photos from yesterday are here: http://community.webshots.com/album/535565618Rguimn/1

Website for the Pearl Farm is here: http://www.perlas.com.mx/

Guaymas is home to a black pearl farm which we visited yesterday. We drove to San Carlos, where I replenished my supply of reading material. One of the "english speaking" areas has a small library that is open every Friday morning. Usually I just hop the bus and get enough for a week; but today we wanted to look around at couple of places that the bus doesn't travel to. San Carlos is very spread out and of course, not signed very well road wise. Somewhere out there, one of the smaller nountains has a road which winds around it all the way to the top, ending in a very scenic view. Even with Ciros directions- which took us to the golf course and a housing developement and our small tourist map, we did not find it. Oh well. We then took a newer road which connects San Carlos to Miramar, which is a part of Guaymas. We have taken the bus to Miramar several times to walk on the beautiful beach. The road passed the estuary and also the spot where they are building a huge aquarium. When we got to Miramar we asked someone for directions to the Pearl Farm. We had never seen it along the water on our other trips there. It is at ITESM better known as Tec de Monterrey. You can see the floats in the water holding the specialised nets on which the oysters grow. Apparently one of the first pearl farms was on the Baja years ago, pre-dating the Japanese ones; but it was destroyed during the 1914 revolution. Tec de Monterrey is an educational institution, large, modern buildings in a beautiful setting.

They use a different method than other farms do to implant the oysters. It is less invasive and has a lower mortality rate. It is a time consuming, intricate operation taking 4 years or so from start to finished pearl. Most pearl farms use Japanese specialists to implant the pearls, this farm does not. They grow both the round pearls and the "mabe" pearls which are flat on one side. Black pearl seems like a bit of a misnomer as the pearls are beautiful and multicolored, shimmering in the light. Of course, they also have a showroom/salesroom where you can buy the pearls, either loose or already in settings. The price of the finished product reflects the long, arduous processes involved in their production.

A Chat With Grandma

A Chat With Grandma

Yesterday morning, Ciro and Irene left early and the oldest son went off to work. Things are getting back to a more normal schedule. Roy and I were sitting outside when grandma came back from the store on the corner. Grandma speaks zero english so our exchanges with her had previously been limited to smiles and the usual daily pleasantries. After she took her purchase into the house we were surprised to see her come back out with a framed photo in her hand. The photo, she explained was of the fishing boat that they owned before her husband passed away. The boat is still in the harbor here somewhere. She also had her husbands card showing that he was a licensed captain and all of his information , a laminated card with his photo as a fairly young man. You could see the pride on her face as she showed us her memories. When I told her that her husband had been a very handsome man, she got the most beautiful smile and look on her face and agreed. She told us how much the waterfront has been cleaned up the last few years and gave the credit to Presidente Fox for this. She then went back into the house and came out with a plaque that had been given to her husband for his work in the fishing community. She also spoke abit about her children- five- 3 boys and 2 girls and her grandchildren. One of her grandsons is the fellow who helped us rent the apartment. She is very proud of him as he went to school and got a degree in english. Higher education is a valued thing here as it is anywhere else. My spanish is very poor yet so I missed a lot of the finer details of the conversation, unfortunately; but it was still an informative, interesting time. I felt good that she would show us her memories and share some of her life with us. A special time.

Christmas Continues

Christmas Continues

The celebrating of Christmas began around the 16 th of December with the pasados which continued until the 24 th. Yesterday was Reyes de Magos day (Three Wise Men). In a nutshell, it is believed that it is the day when the 3 wise men arrived bearing gifts for the baby Jesus, in other parts of the world it is better known as Epiphany. The bakeries and grocery stores and of course some street venders, were filled with a special bread called "rosca de reyes". Baked inside of this bread is a tiny figure of Jesus and when eating the bread whoever gets the "baby Jesus" is the person who pays to put on the party on Feb. 2, Candlemas Day. No, this is not a typo- the Christmas season extends to Feb. 2 nd. With the commercialisation of Christmas, some children recieve gifts on Dec. 25, others recieve their gifts on Jan. 6 and the really lucky ones recieve some gifts on both days. It reminds me of the changes in the Christmas traditions in the Ukrainian communities that I have lived in over the years. If you would like to read more about Reyes de Magos here is a site: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/3569116.html

Perceptions

Perceptions

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning we had a gusty wind. Temperature was around 11 C.. Looking out the window I said to Roy that I felt sorry for the children walking to school. After thinking about it I realised that at home it would have been a fairly nice day in early summer, and we had a good laugh. It's funny how your perceptions change.

We went and walked around the market and then caught a bus to the hidden cove. The tide was fairly high and because there was more wind than usual the water was rougher. Apparently a local sardine fishing boat sunk; but the 9 fishermen were saved, thank goodness. We spent a couple of hours just sitting on some big rocks watchng the waves crash onto the shore. I was sittting on a large, flat rock, just barely in the water and wished that I had a pillow, as between the warm sun and the sound of the sea, I could have had a nice siesta. When I got too warm I would get down and walk around in the water for awhile to cool off. The sights and sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks, the spray rising into the air, the bright sun sparkling on the water, fantastic. A beautiful, peaceful, serene place away from the sights and sounds of the city. A wonderful way to spend the afternoon of the 4 th of January.

A Road Trip

A Road Trip

There are 2 entries today to make up for being lazy.

There were some places that we wanted to visit that, either the buses don't run to or were inconvenient, so we went and bought insurance for the car last week. It cost us $152.00 dollars US. for 1 years coverage.

Ciro had given us a map he had from his days of working for the electric company. This map showed all the towns and villages in the Guaymas Valley, populations from 50 to 1000 people.

We left around 9 AM and travelled the 4 lande highway until a few kilometers past Empalme, then turned north. This road was 2 lande pavement for about 40 kms. then turned into roads? across the sand. We had a destination in mind (La Misa) but the roads defeated us. It was a rough, bumpy track in the sand, over cattle guards. Horses, cows and goats roamed at will, we laughed as they detoured around the cow guards in the road and walked through a break in the fence. The road got to be too much for our low car and we turned around.

We drove around in some of the towns before heading back to the last town on the paved road (Ortiz). We passed a lady and her daughter walking, so stopped and asked them if they were on their way to Ortiz, which was still a couple of miles away. Yes, they said, so we offered them a ride. We asked her if the other road to La Misa was better and she siad yes. Of course, I had to ask her about snakes and she said "yes, mucho vibros", many snakes. Aarriving back in Ortiz we dropped them off at a little store and headed off. We started down the road again, detouring off on all of the side roads.

Lots of big greenhouses with seedlings started and large fields of vegetables, some just planted and others (mainly peppers) being harvested. All grown with irrigations of course, the plants are on raised beds with water channels on each side.

Harvesting the peppers.

We passed a couple of camps for the workers that were sad and depressing to see, I can't imagine what it would be like to live there. All of the towns we passed through had electricity; although a few houses looked like they weren't connected. Beautiful gardens around the homes, filled with heavily laden orange and grapefruit trees, lots of flowering trees and roses of every color. According to Ciro this is the time of year that the roses bloom, in the summer it is too hot.

Back on the main highway again we tried to get to Playa del Sol. The sign said 2 kms., well, again we found ourselves driving on a sand track over cattle gates. Piles of sea shells on and beside the road. Driving extremely slowly over the rough and hole filled track it didn't seem that we were getting anywhere close to a beach. After bottoming the car out we decided to give up and turned around, defeated.

Back on the main highway again, we had 1 more destination to try- Playa El Cochorit. Sucess this time. A narrow paved 2 lane road lead us to a beach. Long stretch of beautiful sand, lots of palapa shade structures and some mexican families enjoying the lovely afternoon. We had a nice walk on the bech and returned home.

Roy washed the dust off the car. Ciro and Irene came out and company arrived, lots of hugs and "Feliz Anos" all around. The daughter of the company ( 3 or 4 yrs. old) had a new puppy. A tiny pug puppy, which she allowed me to hold. When she looked away Roy tucked the puppy inside his shirt and told me to call her and ask her where the puppy had gone. I told her the puppy was lost. Her face dropped and she started to look for him, when Roy pulled him out from inside his shirt she thought it was hilarious. She was still laughing as they went into the house. Roy then went to the store for some fresh peppers for our spaghetti sauce and after eating we had a relaxing evening.

The rest of the pictures are here: http://community.webshots.com/album/535565618Rguimn

New Years Eve

New Years Eve

The day started quietly but didn't stay that way. The children have been lighting their firecrackers, off and on since before Christmas; but today they outdid themselves. As dusk fell the noise level rose. At midnight the adults got into the act, lighting up the larger ones. Everywhere you looked rockets lit up the sky. One of the ships in the port got into the act by blowing the ships horn 12 times. The big fireworks were still going off at 1 AM when I finally went to bed. New Years Day was much quieter, other than the big grocery stores, everything was closed down. The streets were quiet and empty, a strange sight.