Adventures in dogsitting - 4th of July- and Other Stuff

Well as always we stay busy in our state of liesure!

We try to take pictures of much that we see and do to give friends and family somewhat of a feel for where we are. This is a challenging task because to try to explain all that is Merida and the Yucatan is complex and at times contradictory. We can describe a booming, artistic and modern metropolis. We can describe new modern homes. Streets where the typical vehicle is a mercedes, BMW or Jaguar.

 We can describe old city streets paved with bricks. Buildings that have seen hundreds of years of people passing through. Streets that are so cramped with people, cars, taxis and buses that it at times is maddening. We can show streets lined with old colonial homes where white carriages are still pulled by horses.

Or pueblos where there are few cars and the modern transportation is a young man pedaling a bike taxi. Pueblos where sheep, cattle and horses graze on the side of the road. Old women still where traditional hand stiched dresses and carry baskets of goods on their heads.

It is a city where people take their shnauzers to the groomers, other dogs are ferrel and iguanas the size of cats line the walls getting sun.

How do you really show all this???

We do our best:

So old spanish Casas:

These are spectacular. There are many that are falling to ruins. Ed and I could not understand why someone wouldn't snatch one of these old beautiful giants and restore them. Come to find out, much like in Phoenix's historical homes, the government has a policy that if you restore an old colonial home you must restore it to it's original form. So actually many of the old mansions falling down are owned and the owners are purposely letting them decay to nothing. Once the original building has fallen due to "natural" causes, the owners may build what ever they wish. It is sad to think the old Colonial mansions will be replaced with something new.

Ok adventures in dogsitting:

We have met an older couple who are lovely. They are in their late 70's and early 80's. They have lived here 22 years. He originally from the states and she originally from Spain. They have been married 55 years. They are fun to talk to and a wealth of information about Merida.

Dwight was going to the US for a trip and Mari was not fond of his dog, Lincoln.

Meet Lincoln:

 

Cute huh? and he is as big as maybe a soccer ball.

We say "Well heck! we will take Lincoln for 2 weeks. Rosie would love a dog to play with since Max has no desire to play."

A little background on Lincoln. He is an un-nuetered 2 year old dog who came off the streets.

 Think Snoop-Dog meets Odie and Snoopy.

The 2 weeks turned into 2 hours. He promptly came in and peed on our bed. When Ed went to tell him no, he bit Ed (just a graze) and then tried to bite me.
Max as most of you know is scared of his own shadow, but he is terribly loyal. Once he saw Lincoln bite Ed and try to bite me, he had enough of the little gangster. Before we knew it he had Lincoln's neck in a death grip.

On the trip to return him, apparently Dwight lets him ride in the passenger side, so he promptly jumped in my lap. I normally wouldn't mind but he was all over the place. He even tried jumping down where Ed's feet were on the gas pedal and brake. I then tried to put him in the back seat. He didn't agree with this idea and tried to bite me again. So the ride to his house was terrifying. I thought for sure any moment he was going to turn around and rip my nose off. Wierd thing was when he wasn't thirsting for our blood, he was cute as could be wagging his tail and giving kisses. The dog definately needed therapy.

The Playa:

We love to get to the beach. We try to get there at least a few times a week. It is such a funny thing to re-tune your brain to things here. Progreso is the local beach here and only 30 mins from our house. It rarely has tourists, only once in a while. It is mostly enjoyed by locals. Here the work week is predominantly Monday through Saturday so the locals are nowhere to be seen those days and we literally have the beach to ourselves. On Sunday the locals usually sleep in so if we get to the beach before 2pm we still have the beach to ourselves. Which we usually do anyhow because the sun gets so intense after noon that us gringos (ok Deb the really pale gringo) will fry.

So we got in the habit of going to our same spot everytime.

One day we ventured down the beach further. We realized you can literally pull your vehicle right up to the ocean.

Here we found a few young guys Kitesailing. It looked very fun!

We enjoyed it but the one downfall of going off the beaten trail is that you go to areas where the city does not drag the beach so it isn't as condusive for just laying out and relaxing. What it will be great for is taking you all for a Bar-B-Q on the beach when you come to visit us.

Eduardo got wrangled into doing a bodybuilding show here before he had prepared. A trainer at Gold's told him he was ready for here and would win a ticket to compete in Mexico City. For the most part she was right. The majority of the kids could not hold a stick to Ed in his worst condition...buttttt..... of course, the one ringer who flew in to get qualified to go to Mexico City was Ed's only competitor in his weight division. See the sterioded animule below:

So, dang it, Ed got 2nd place. He is now preparing for another show in August.

On an offbeat note.. Just because it still makes me laugh.. look at this sign:

How hysterically horrid!! LOL

This pig can't wait to be on your dinner plate! We drive by this restaurant almost daily and I die laughing everytime!

Here are two new friends:

I call them Fred and Ethel. They perch on our protectores on the front window all the time for shade. I think they are adorable even if they don't necessarily share their best sides with us :)

Rosie is missing having the big yard to play in. She has become a "Momma's Girl" and hates when I don't give her the attention when she wants it:

Fourth of July... The Yucatan Way!

What way is that? Well at the beach of course!

And Finally:

Words of Wisdom, or maybe they are just words....

Don't wait for "Happy" to just happen. Happy comes from making conscientious decisions to be healthy.

Spend less time making yourself happy through stuff and obtaining.. make decisions to be happy NOW!

When I held my mother's hand and she was days away from death she said "I should have done things I wanted when I had the chance, I thought I had more time"

Be Happy People We Love!