I had a little trouble at the airport in Salt Lake City because they couldn't find my ticket. I had to pull out my lap top, try to get connected (you would have thought it was easy, but it took quite awhile), and then pull up the information on the email. Once I was able to do that and show the airline rep, he realized that my ticket was booked under my old last name... my new passport had my new name. When I applied for my new passport (because I couldn't find my old one) I applied at the Davis County Courthouse who originally did my name change from Ramonas to Ortiz. Needless to say, and of course, my name is legally Ortiz, therefore my new passport came back that way... I had forgotten that when I got my plane ticket way back when I used Ramonas. Aye Dios mio.
So I made my flight, landed and met Susana who was standing behind the glass with a giant sign that said: "LESLIE". I was off and running. People here who I met were surprised that all I had was a backpack and a laptop. Six months? Heck yeah!
So now I am here, Lance has gone to New York, and I am taking care of his beautiful Casa Arriba...
Yesterday was my first real excursion anywhere... I went back to Puerto Vallarta (PV) for some supplies. I needed a few things that I can't really get here (Nicotine gum, decent sponges, a 3-pronged extension cord, a good pocket knife, etc).
Luis told me I could meet the PV water taxi at 1030 at the Puebla pier, so I took off around 9:45 yesterday morning. I finally got to the pier around 1010 and waited only a few minutes before the water taxi pulled up. I got on, and we rode over to the beach where a handsome young Mexican man lifted a pretty young blond girl, about 23, into the boat to help prevent her feet from getting wet. She sat next to me and I asked her where she got such a nice guy. She immediately smiled and said he was her boyfriend. We struck up a conversation, her name is Kristina, and I think she is from Washington State. She lives in PV with her boyfriend's mom. We eventually exchanged email addresses. I found it odd that the boat was hugging the shore line as we made our way north. It stopped at a couple of beaches, and eventually ended at Boca T. Hmmm... everyone except me got off the boat. A guy asked me if I was planning on going to "Vallarta" and I said yes, and asked if the boat was going there. He told me no, that the next boat wasn't going to PV until 3PM. Crap. So I caught up with Kristina , we hiked up a really steep hill, and I was huffing and puffing the whole way. We caught the bus for seven pesos (about sixty-seven cents), and drove north. The bus stopped along the way at various stops for several additional passengers. One older guy got on about ten minutes out of PV. I thought it was odd. He was carrying a small boom box and was holding it to his chest with the speakers facing out. He was about seven or eight feet away from me. He cranked on the boom box and this delightful Mexican music came on... It was instrumental. I thought the guy was just on the bus and was kind of quirky, and was just listening to his music for entertainment while he rode into PV. Haha! The guy starts belting out a song... like Karaoke, only he sang pretty darn good. After the song was finished he went around asking for tips. I didn't give him anything. Maybe next time. There's always someone to tip.
So I got into PV and made my way to the restaurant where I was to meet Susana. Kristina walked with me and showed me how to get there, and I introduced the two. Susana was very gracious and gave Kristina a ride home. Susana and I had plans to shop for my supplies, and I wanted to buy her lunch. We went to Costco, Walmart, and Pharmacia Guadelajara... By the way, the stores are almost identical to those in the states, so if you ever come here you'll be able to find what you need, and what you know. Oh, and by the way, it is appropriate to tip the baggers... I think that's all they get paid. Ten pesos is plenty. Thanks to Susana for telling me that.
Our next thing on the agenda was lunch... OH MY Goodness! What an extraordinary taco stand! (By the way this is not in the tourist area... it's deeper into town). A woman was literally making the corn tortillas for the tacos one by one... I had camarones (shrimp) tacos... The most exquisite shrimp tacos I've ever had! The place was clean, the women were nice, and the food was to die for. I am going to have to find that place again!
After lunch Susana dropped me off near the boat landing, and low and behold there stood my new friend, Claudia, a large bag of dog food, and another bag in tow. We made our way to the little restaurant by the landing (I call it a landing because there is no more pier... they are building a new one, and you must board the boat from the beach). We sat down in the restaurant and I ordered a cold Modelo, and Claudia ordered guacamole... the best ever, and a lemonade. Then up walked Judith, a woman I have heard about, my neighbor actually, but whom I've never met. Both were very happy-go-lucky, lovely women. Judith's place is the Sky Temple... a yoga studio up on the hill just south of me... I will learn more about that as time goes on.
We made our way onto the boat, and on to Yelapa. My pack weighed about fifty-five or sixty pounds, and of course I thought I was going to die hiking up the hills. And when I finally made it to the notorious steps at Casa Arriba... I stopped... breathed, listened to my heart try to pound its way out of my chest, and then trudged on. I stopped about four times coming up. I am hoping I can get to the point where I can charge up the steps without too much effort. I was soaking wet with sweat when I arrived home. Luis, Susana's husband, was here waiting for me; he was watching the place until I returned. I left a puddle of sweat droplets on the tile, and flung my backpack onto the table. I chatted with Luis, and then he left for the evening. After a shower, and some cold lemonade, I planted myself in the sala on the lounge chair.
It was a beautiful sunset, and almost dark. I was watching the cats come and go, and then Blue, one of the five, has something long and wiggling in his mouth and he comes within about ten feet of me with it, looking at me, and then at the thing in his mouth... it's a small snake, and Blue is putting it down, picking it up, batting it around, while the thing is trying to get away. But Blue didn't let it get away, he just kept playing with it. Me and the other four cats, from a safe distance of course, were all curious and we watched Blue and the snake. They made their way into the kitchen. I think the funniest part of this whole thing was the fact that I, and four other cats, stood watching as if we were an audience, and Blue was performing some risky act to entertain us. We watched for ten minutes or more, and the snake made its way underneath a ratan rug... But Blue was brave and lifted the rug and picked up the snake and brought it out for us to see again. He continued playing with it until he bit it and I could hear the bones crunching... ah, he was going to kill it. The snake wouldn't wiggle much anymore; he was moving in slow motion, so Blue lost interest. What really cracked me up was after Blue left, Max approached the snake with great caution... he reached out slowly at tapped the tail of the snake with his paw... the thing moved a little... and Max jumped back. I laughed outloud and Max looked up at me as if to say, "Hey, I don't see you doing this, ya big chicken!" So I praised Max for being very brave... and so the night went.
This morning the snake was in the place Max had left it, and strangely there was a dead geko near. One of its legs was torn off. I am assuming that some time in the night one of the cats, maybe Brave Max, brought in a geko to prove he could do it too.
So I made my flight, landed and met Susana who was standing behind the glass with a giant sign that said: "LESLIE". I was off and running. People here who I met were surprised that all I had was a backpack and a laptop. Six months? Heck yeah!
So now I am here, Lance has gone to New York, and I am taking care of his beautiful Casa Arriba...
Yesterday was my first real excursion anywhere... I went back to Puerto Vallarta (PV) for some supplies. I needed a few things that I can't really get here (Nicotine gum, decent sponges, a 3-pronged extension cord, a good pocket knife, etc).
Luis told me I could meet the PV water taxi at 1030 at the Puebla pier, so I took off around 9:45 yesterday morning. I finally got to the pier around 1010 and waited only a few minutes before the water taxi pulled up. I got on, and we rode over to the beach where a handsome young Mexican man lifted a pretty young blond girl, about 23, into the boat to help prevent her feet from getting wet. She sat next to me and I asked her where she got such a nice guy. She immediately smiled and said he was her boyfriend. We struck up a conversation, her name is Kristina, and I think she is from Washington State. She lives in PV with her boyfriend's mom. We eventually exchanged email addresses. I found it odd that the boat was hugging the shore line as we made our way north. It stopped at a couple of beaches, and eventually ended at Boca T. Hmmm... everyone except me got off the boat. A guy asked me if I was planning on going to "Vallarta" and I said yes, and asked if the boat was going there. He told me no, that the next boat wasn't going to PV until 3PM. Crap. So I caught up with Kristina , we hiked up a really steep hill, and I was huffing and puffing the whole way. We caught the bus for seven pesos (about sixty-seven cents), and drove north. The bus stopped along the way at various stops for several additional passengers. One older guy got on about ten minutes out of PV. I thought it was odd. He was carrying a small boom box and was holding it to his chest with the speakers facing out. He was about seven or eight feet away from me. He cranked on the boom box and this delightful Mexican music came on... It was instrumental. I thought the guy was just on the bus and was kind of quirky, and was just listening to his music for entertainment while he rode into PV. Haha! The guy starts belting out a song... like Karaoke, only he sang pretty darn good. After the song was finished he went around asking for tips. I didn't give him anything. Maybe next time. There's always someone to tip.
So I got into PV and made my way to the restaurant where I was to meet Susana. Kristina walked with me and showed me how to get there, and I introduced the two. Susana was very gracious and gave Kristina a ride home. Susana and I had plans to shop for my supplies, and I wanted to buy her lunch. We went to Costco, Walmart, and Pharmacia Guadelajara... By the way, the stores are almost identical to those in the states, so if you ever come here you'll be able to find what you need, and what you know. Oh, and by the way, it is appropriate to tip the baggers... I think that's all they get paid. Ten pesos is plenty. Thanks to Susana for telling me that.
Our next thing on the agenda was lunch... OH MY Goodness! What an extraordinary taco stand! (By the way this is not in the tourist area... it's deeper into town). A woman was literally making the corn tortillas for the tacos one by one... I had camarones (shrimp) tacos... The most exquisite shrimp tacos I've ever had! The place was clean, the women were nice, and the food was to die for. I am going to have to find that place again!
After lunch Susana dropped me off near the boat landing, and low and behold there stood my new friend, Claudia, a large bag of dog food, and another bag in tow. We made our way to the little restaurant by the landing (I call it a landing because there is no more pier... they are building a new one, and you must board the boat from the beach). We sat down in the restaurant and I ordered a cold Modelo, and Claudia ordered guacamole... the best ever, and a lemonade. Then up walked Judith, a woman I have heard about, my neighbor actually, but whom I've never met. Both were very happy-go-lucky, lovely women. Judith's place is the Sky Temple... a yoga studio up on the hill just south of me... I will learn more about that as time goes on.
We made our way onto the boat, and on to Yelapa. My pack weighed about fifty-five or sixty pounds, and of course I thought I was going to die hiking up the hills. And when I finally made it to the notorious steps at Casa Arriba... I stopped... breathed, listened to my heart try to pound its way out of my chest, and then trudged on. I stopped about four times coming up. I am hoping I can get to the point where I can charge up the steps without too much effort. I was soaking wet with sweat when I arrived home. Luis, Susana's husband, was here waiting for me; he was watching the place until I returned. I left a puddle of sweat droplets on the tile, and flung my backpack onto the table. I chatted with Luis, and then he left for the evening. After a shower, and some cold lemonade, I planted myself in the sala on the lounge chair.
It was a beautiful sunset, and almost dark. I was watching the cats come and go, and then Blue, one of the five, has something long and wiggling in his mouth and he comes within about ten feet of me with it, looking at me, and then at the thing in his mouth... it's a small snake, and Blue is putting it down, picking it up, batting it around, while the thing is trying to get away. But Blue didn't let it get away, he just kept playing with it. Me and the other four cats, from a safe distance of course, were all curious and we watched Blue and the snake. They made their way into the kitchen. I think the funniest part of this whole thing was the fact that I, and four other cats, stood watching as if we were an audience, and Blue was performing some risky act to entertain us. We watched for ten minutes or more, and the snake made its way underneath a ratan rug... But Blue was brave and lifted the rug and picked up the snake and brought it out for us to see again. He continued playing with it until he bit it and I could hear the bones crunching... ah, he was going to kill it. The snake wouldn't wiggle much anymore; he was moving in slow motion, so Blue lost interest. What really cracked me up was after Blue left, Max approached the snake with great caution... he reached out slowly at tapped the tail of the snake with his paw... the thing moved a little... and Max jumped back. I laughed outloud and Max looked up at me as if to say, "Hey, I don't see you doing this, ya big chicken!" So I praised Max for being very brave... and so the night went.
This morning the snake was in the place Max had left it, and strangely there was a dead geko near. One of its legs was torn off. I am assuming that some time in the night one of the cats, maybe Brave Max, brought in a geko to prove he could do it too.
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