Things We've Been Doing

This past week as usual has been busy. We came home one day from the laundry and found a note tucked in our door from John and Marilyn, who live down the beach in a very nice rental home. They came back to pick us up to take us to a little cocktail party they had in the late afternoon. Jim and Sharon were there, as well as another couple, John and his wife Alice, who drove us home later as they live only two doors away from us.

Nancy and Mike organized a huge bonfire on the beach Monday night. Gail and I dragged a lot of driftwood home to add to the fire. We bought a large package of wieners and buns and cooked hotdogs for most of the people in the complex. There were probably about thirty people there including Isidro and his wife Mercedes. They are the Mayan caretakers here. They speak no English but everyone had a great time communicating with them. They were really pleased to be invited and stayed until the very end. It was a great evening!

Wednesday we went back into Merida for one last visit. Pat and Paddy had to return their rental car so we went along with them. Afterwards, we took a double decker, open air, hop on hop off bus tour of the city. P & P’s grandson Avery was with us for the day so of course that made it a lot of fun for Gail. He is a sweet little boy and was amazingly well behaved. His parents are in Cancun for a week and Avery is staying with his two sets of grandparents. The other pair has a rental beach house about 2 kms away.

We had such a good time at John and Marilyn’s earlier in the week that we did the same thing Thursday afternoon from 3-6. We invited friends from along the beach and here in our condo complex. I made a few appetizers including fish cakes with real salt cod, which is sadly plentiful and cheap here, but the opposite in Newfoundland. They were a huge hit as no one but Gail and I had ever eaten them prior to our little party. Our large apartment shrank down quickly when almost twenty people filled it up! Nancy also brought a couple of yummy appetizers, which were quickly devoured. After the group from down the beach left, the party continued outside by the pool. Once again, just about everyone in the complex quickly threw together a wine and cheese and appy event. Of course the diehards, Karen, Gail, Pat, Paddy, Barb and Gerry carried on at Gail and Irv’s place (next door to us) until around midnight! Living in a place like this is so much fun because it is so small and intimate. Everyone knows everyone and because we are living in the sun and away from Canadian winters there is never an unhappy face! We constantly hear the weather reports from home, especially from Winnipeg, where at least half the people in our complex live. They gleefully tell us about the –30C temps there and in the next breath tell us that today it is +30C here!