SolMate Santiago
Log #75, December 2008
Posted Wednesday, 31 December, 2008
Zihuatanejo, Cousins, In-laws and Out-laws
Cousin Larry had alerted us last month that the sailing vessel Merry Lee was on its way. Lewis and Mary Lee sailed the Merry Lee from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas with the Ha Ha cruisers, but after the rally was over, they shot across the Sea, headed toward a pre-Christmas rendezvous with CA and Costa Rica relatives.
Stan and I hooked up with the Merry Lee'rs as they zipped through our bay, took them shopping and out for a bite to eat, then sent them down the coast to hook-up with the kids.
A couple of days later, we filled four litter boxes, three food bowls, and four water dishes and nosed the van in the same direction to spend a couple beach days in Zihua with the cousins.
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Our balcony, midtown Zihuatanejo
The week before Christmas was a great time to be there. The funky little Hotel Casa Bravo would triple their rates on the 20th, but we didn't stay around to see. We checked out the morning of.
Just for the occasion, we purchased a coffee maker, and so spent our mornings, sipping out on the balcony, watching Zihua wake up, streets swept, tables set, garbage picked-up and beer store coolers rolled out onto the sidewalk.
After easing into our day, we'd pick a destination and take a hike, with breakfast planned along the way.
Cruise ship entering Zihuatanejo harbor
Mary Lee, Lewis, Marlene, Stan and Larry
Kristy, a grandkid, Larry blocking
Marlene next to Stan, MJ, Mary Lee, another grandkid, Lewis, Angela and Sean
So the first evening, part of the contingent arrived from California and we rendevous-ed with Larry, Marlene, Kristy and Janell in a restaurant across from their hotel in Ixtapa. The next day, Stan and I hung on the Ixtapa beach, horning in on the hotel's hospitality, and later that day, the Costa Rica contingent arrived.
Christmas
tree at the Hotel Emporio, Ixtapa
While the two sets of grandparents paced and waited for their kids' arrival, we checked out the hotel, like the beautifully decorated tree in the lobby. A strong, Christmas-y pine smell wafted throughout, and the huge tree welcomed guests, midstage.
It was too perfect. Curious, I plucked a needle ... yessir, plastic; and the great homey smell, an illusion via HVAC.
Sweet 15, in real life and posterized
The illusion worked, and later that evening, an opulent quincenera added to the ambiance.
Perfectly staged to reach the altar at sunset
Posted Tuesday, 23 December, 2008
Presenting ...
Picudo
Chivo chew toy
Yep, we had just said that three's enuf.
That was before the little screamer spent the night underneath the van's hood. Who can ignore a screaming kitty?
Dr. Gaby checked him out, shot him up and proclaimed him a very healthy boy. Suspicious cirumstances ... kitties don't live in the streets without contracting parasites, earmites and fleas. This little one was surprisingly clean, just as if he'd come directly from the protection of someone's house.
Draw your own conclusion. We're hoping like hell that this was a one-time deal and Calle Dos, #11 hasn't been targeted as a soft-touch dropoff point for waywards.
Posted Saturday, 13 December, 2008
New Websites
Spanish class
Ad banner for Spanish class
Barter. I've traded my skimpy web skills for Spanish lessons. The site, ManzanilloSpanish, seems to be working well for Tyson. He's received quite a few contacts via the site.
He's also hung a mega-banner on the main blvd, near one of the shopping centers, at Soriana. He receives contacts from it, too, but the banner directs potential students to the website, so it's hard to tell which is giving him more bang for his buck.
The class is more social club than indepth study. And it digs into the better part of my Mondays and Wednesdays. Although I combine a nice walk with the gettin' there, a two-hour class gouges four hours out of my day. That's cuz of the location.
When there were only a few students in the class, Tyson came to our 'hood, but now the class is filled with winter-time residents who live in Las Brisas, so Tyson moved our classroom to the school where he teaches English, an hour busride and hike from home.
The trade-off is that we get air conditioning, a real classroom, and occasional interaction with the kids in the school. Terranova is a private school filled with privileged kids who've had all sorts of language experiences. They're perfectly willing and able to deal with our stumbling Spanish. Last week we interviewed eleven-year-olds.
While I've been studying, Stan's been continuing his work with the school kids volunteering with Dra. Gaby, the primary force behind one of the community animal groups. As an off-shoot of their help around the clinic, the kids are writing little bios for the website to advertise all of the lost and neglected who show up on the clinic doorstep.
Start-up has been slow, but they're working. I've received one complete story, and will have more in the near future.
Posted Tuesday, 2 December, 2008
"Tis the Season ... for Animal Clinics
Dog washes aren't only for giving away free vaccines and flea/tic dips to community pets. They're also built-in advertisement for upcoming spay/neuter clinics. PATA's on such a tight budget that there was no funding for leaflets or flyers, so the advertising was all word of mouth.
The word-of-mouth thing works pretty well in Mexican colonias, they've got it down to a science. To advertise the dog wash, the mayor's husband drove his loudspeaker-equipped pickup around the 'hoods - twice.
Nice setting for a dog wash
As usual, when the word circulates that there's a vet in the hood, needy animals show up. One little pup had been chomped on the butt. His poor little tail was useless, and the puncture wounds were so deep and infected that maggots had moved in.
Sandra and Dra. Gaby cleaning up the bitten pup
Undaunted, Gaby cleaned him up and took him back to the La Gaviota clinic, where she removed his tail. He's coming along, a happy little survivor ... and he needs a home.
Although Dra. Gaby, Dr. Luis and Dr. Ernesto volunteer their services, as do the many vet techs and vet students, money's still required for meds, instruments, equipment and supplies. So, there are fund-raisers, one of which was an up, down and all around 5-K run/walk on the Santiago Peninsula.
Gathering for the Dog Jog
So, with a bit of operating capital (heh, heh), the very next Sunday we packed up the mobile clinic and headed for one of the needier, seedier parts of town. To our surprise, El Campo provided the team with the best facilities we've seen, to date, at their senior center.
Students and her mom helping
Dra. Gaby at the El Campo mini-clinic
There were also plenty of volunteers, thanks to a group of students who are filling a school-required community service square. Stan's the group's advisor. They've been helping out at Gaby's clinic, and at some of the charity events as well as at the spay/neuter clinic.
A project that the kids are working on is photographing and writing bilingual bios about the many, many, many orphans that have made their way to Gaby's clinic. As they produce the stories, I'll be posting them on a new website we're calling Manzanillo Pet Adoptions.
A great group
of student volunteers and their muy guapo advisor
SolMate Santiago contact: mj(at)solmatesantiago(dot)com
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