Milestones and Mexicans!

Dear Friends and Family,

Life continues to slide along here in the land of the sun. There have been some events this week. The big one was our trip to Walmart. We had decided that with these nice courtyards and the morning sun, that we might pursue some lounge chairs for the back. There was not thing included with the house, so we decided to make our contribution to a place that provides nearly everything else. Walmart is always an adventure. Despite that endless Gringos, both from in town and fresh off the cruise ships, stop in there, there is no staff that seems to speak English. Of course, I always enjoy a challenge, but in this case it became a bit more complex than my "taxi/hotel/restaurant" Spanish as capable of. We found the lounge chairs, but as they are molded plastic and unwilling to conform to a cab, getting them delivered was the rub.

 

Not the most elegant of chairs, but they will do the job. And yes, by learning a new verb, "entregar - to deliver," I managed to get the chair to our place, free! Yes, Walmart does deliver and deliver they did about 2 pm yesterday (Sunday even). So now we anxiously await a few annoying clouds to clear and try them out.

Sunday evening we took our friend and waiter from La Fuente, José Flores and his wife Esperanza, to dinner at our favorite, fancier restaurant, Vitea. Each year we try to treat themn to a dinner at some place they might not ordinarily go. Vitea is a good choice because they have an excellent wait-staff and since José is a very good waiter, you don't want to take him some place where the help is sloppy. We have done that before. It was a lovely evening, although as always a bit of a chore, as Esperanza has not English. But we always manage to have a good time. Then yesterday, with our new accommodations, we invited them, after José got off work, to join us at our place for a beer. They brought along their daughter and her very new (4 months) granddaughter.

This time I was sharp enough to remember to take a photo. A lovely family and very devoted grandparents.

They enjoyed the house and I finally was able to get the cat off the bed so we could take a picture of the other major room in our new place: the bedroom

It is huge, nearly as big as other place was in total

Boy, are we becoming spoiled. Polley and I continue to pinch ourselves at the good luck in finding such a place, in an ideal location, at a price we can afford. What can be better.

So, as we begin the 3rd week of our stay, we are truly settled in and plan to spend a good deal of time in those chairs, in the sun. We have dinner with John and Mollie, friends from Beaverton tonight. They leave for home on Thursday and from there on out we will be on our own. The last of the people we know will be gone. Even now, the town is very quiet. Very few Gringos wander the Malécon, restaurants are beginning to close down. The "Season" is definitely over. THE PLACE IS OURS!

One last note. It was exactly 3 years ago today that the University honored myself along with colleagues from the College of Arts and Sciences, Judith Montgomery, Jill Hoddick and Richard Rutherford in a retirement ceremony. That day my brother gave me a Nike sports band, to officially record my walks. I am an avid walker. Today, on the anniversary of retirement, I recorded my 1000th walk. I captured it on the phone.

Thanks Dave, for keeping me young(er). More later

 

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