Lessons learned...living life mindfully, or at least while my mind still recognizes this is learning!

Three weeks have passed since arrival, three short weeks in our 6 months of life here...but as always being "me" means that I want to be back to what we considered the "fun" of our life here quickly....but because this is not a vacation, this is our life, it is not something that can just be made to happen by wishing.  Lessons learned start when you consider developing the Mexican patience.   The Mexican approach to life...poco a poco...little by little...so my lessons have started.  

We have celebrated two major events in the past 2 weeks.   Firstly and perhaps the most significant is that Gene turned 70.   Of course there will be people who say that is not really a big deal anymore...after all..isn't 70 the new 50?  No it isn't.  70 is 70 because for most of us, we have too many friends who aren't going to be here at 70.  They have already passed away, so what used to be considered a non-event, was for me a reason to acknowledge friends and family (or at least the family we have to be with us this month).   It was a reason to celebrate the life we have created here in our 6 month home and to celebrate the sensory rewards of life in our Mexican neighborhood.   I'm proud of Gene's continued vitality and wanted to celebrate a life well lived...and the better half of that has been together...better half, we made a great "whole" of this Mexican life. 

The second major event that has begun to occur is the sale of our original apartment.   This apartment was purchased by Gene and I as our first foray into Mexican life and was a place that we fell in love with due to the artful combination of Mexican tropical construction and lush garden areas.   Selling was bitter sweet, but my recent learning in life is to try to not have more than I can manage, to live more simply and to simplify so that the years ahead will be less stressful and more about the experience of the moment.   I want to have disposal assets to use to travel to visit children and hopefully grandchildren someday.  So our decision to sell which was quickly brought into an action plan with the right younger couple from Calgary wanting to make the leap into owning Mexican real estate....has provided us with ever so much learning...where to begin? 

1.  I've learned that even here in "paradise" that rainy days and grey skies reduce my energy.   Sunshine makes me thrive and energizes my spirit.   Thank goodness our rainy days are over!  Zihua winter is here! 

 

2.  After the rains, nature is very happy.  This tropical landscape is alive with birds and flowers not normally seen in the dry season.  

 

 



3. That being sick is a bad thing.  Gene and I have had a week of the flu/cold "grippe" that has been running through our community.   We have luckily made a nearly perfect recovery...the last physical thing I did before being completely stricken was my kayak trip and memories of being active and the desire to rebuild my strength and activity is strong.  I don't like feeling weak and the only real cure for how we feel is "exercise"...the more the better....got to continue exercising strong and hard this winter.   Yoga, zumba, swimming, kayaking, walking...the more the better (hear that pelvis/SI joint!)

 

4. If you dream it, plan it and do it, it will happen.   Gene's birthday party was "the best birthday party in my life"...not because of me, but because of all the people who played a role in making it so.  It was like a well constructed evening of the best that life could offer to celebrate 70 years and it was so because of the efforts of so many.   Fernando, the waiter at Las Adelitas shared my vision of the perfect place to host a party....and he made it so.  

 

5.  There are certain moments in life when "music" speaks to you.  Your heart is affected, the tones vibrate through your body and music lifts you to a level of ecstasy that surpasses everything else in the moment.   Mariachis' can do that for me and they did. 

 

 

6.  There are people here in Zihuatanejo who hold such a special place in our hearts because they really are special people.  People who share our sense of what's important in life.  That life is better when surrounded by ocean, warm air and sunshine....and when something hurts those people, I am hurt too.   Our good friend Elizabeth, who is no longer physically young was robbed by a young man who seems to be stalking single women in our area.  He has not hurt anyone, however, what he is doing is an assault on our sense of freedom here and the wonderfully safe area we live in.  I am outraged and I will not be stopped in my quest to tell enough people with authority to put an end to this.   He needs to be found.   Meantime, I will do my best to never allow him to change what I take for granted, freedom to walk alone anytime here.   To Elizabeth, we are so grateful you weren't injured more seriously and we are so proud to call you a friend, as a woman, and a Canadian who loves Zihua like we do.   



 

7. It always pays to be a friendly person.  I try to seek out the connections in our community and to be the connector for people whom I know and for those who are new to our area and our home.   In this case, my chance comment to Jack and Bev from Calgary lead to them becoming the newest owners in La Ceiba...people who will have years ahead to enjoy their life in tropical Mexico.  Welcome to our world! 

8. When your own family cannot be here, it is so important to be part of a family here in Mexico.  We have been given the gift of being able to sponsor a Nino's Adelante student and this is our 4th year of being part of her family...but now I see she is also a part of our family.   When she and her siblings and neighbours arrived at Gene's party...it was the magic we needed.  Children, a piñata and get away taxi for 8...what more can you ask for?  

9. Flowers make everything more beautiful.... and that beauty is everywhere when you look for it.

 

10.  Look for the unexpected in Mexico...the chance encounters, the smiles, the formalities, and the opportunities, because this is a complex society, it is a modern developing country still holding onto Spanish colonial traditions and ways of life that run into the new at every opportunity.   So when Gene shook hands with our real estate agent/ Mexican lawyer/legal translator, even Gene wasn't surprised when a few minutes later he was called back by the lawyer to say that a fast cash drop off could go a long way to getting the Mexican license plates our car now needs to remain legally here.   Don't ask questions and we'll never know how......aaah...this just could be the best real estate deal we've ever done!

 



 

Viva Mexico...Dia de La Revolucion!!



 

Returning to Mexico. When the same is always different

Every October for the last 6 years we have experienced a mix of emotions as we revel in the beauty of fall in Canada; knowing that we have planned to escape the signature season that defines Canada in the minds of the majority of the world.  The Land of the Great Frozen North, Igloos, Eskimos and Hockey.   Of course in Victoria, our summer time home on Vancouver Island, all of the aforementioned are not remotely connected to a west coast wintertime experience; which sadly consists almost entirely of dreary, grey wet days and nights.  Sunshine is at a premium and we sense the pending gloom as the days shorten prior to our departure. 

This fall was so pristinely spectacular that our leaving did make me feel briefly like perhaps this dual life is a luxury we aren't really fully entitled to.  Saying goodbye to friends, family, neighbours, our home and the wonderful tenants who have chosen to live in it for the last 3 years we review our mental checklist as to whether we've remembered everything that is necessary for our Mexican life for the next 6 months.   With our faithful "Mexidoodle" Cori clinging to our sides, terror stricken that he might not be coming, we headed to Vancouver to say goodbye to Eric and his girlfriend Elena and leave them my car so they can enjoy some of the ski hills in a vehicle that is hopefully more suited to snowy roads than my aged Volvo that he has nurtured into a ripe old age.  

The flights seem to be less about the comforts and leisure of flying and more about a grit your teeth endurance of uncomfortable seats, bad food. crammed carry-on storage and dirty airports, but we remind ourselves that when you bring along your life for 6 months; it is possible to endure anything, only twice/year.

The summer season, the wet season in Mexico had been particularly fierce for Zihuatanejo and moreso for the outlying areas around Guerrero State.  So approaching the airport, we weren't surprised to see that the lagoons around Barra de Potosi and Playa Blanca had expanded into the green mounds of coconut trees and mango orchards.  Water, water everywhere and ..... what would we find in our city?

Owning two condominiums with a full time manager and staff ensure that care is provided year around to the pools, common areas and lovely gardens.  But the humid, tropical air is particularly hard on electrical connections and we weren't surprised to find the majority of light bulbs, two air-conditioners, our car battery and air-conditioning had once again succumbed to the summertime oxidation of all things metal.  Water had entered both apartments, but the clean up had been done quickly and all furnishings faired well.  The town however is still in the midst of struggling to make a complete comeback.   Streets are lined with dried dirt from the mud that flowed in the rain deluges.  Internet services are diminished and at time absent.  City water is a sought after commodity; again being condo owners we are lucky to have huge cisterns where "pipa" water trucks can deliver large volumes if needed.  Stores, restaurants and services that are normally gearing up for the "highseason" are happy to see us, but I sense a diminished number of places have survived this low season.  Low in so many ways. 

One of our most important first day activities was to connect with Doraliz and her sisters who were eagerly awaiting our arrival.  It would be naïve and egotistical to think that their eagerness was because of the great love they feel for us; I think they are genuinely fond of this middle aged Canadian couple who lack children of their own (or at least only see them briefly for visits) and eat strange food and drink strange drinks and treat their dog like a child and have more rooms to live in than people to live in them; but quite honestly, I believe their eagerness to see us almost immediately on arrival had more to do with the hoped for "laptop", "cellphone" or other treasure from Canada.

So our intial visits have been a combination of great hugging catch ups, pool time, shopping trips and a small scale birthday celebration for Doraliz, now 17 and displaying all the same behaviors of 17 year olds that I remember....an obsession with computers, cell phones, and socializing.  We hope she will be safe in a world where being young, poor, female and influenced by the Americanization of the world could lead to some poor choices....so we ask about her life, her new "novio" and how her family are coping when neither parent seems to have a steady source of income and now 8 people call their modest structure home.  

We are gradually re-establishing ourselves and beginning to take on some first time challenges too.  Gene has met the requirements to be a "permanent resident".  Next step is to research his health care options, and also the ability to "legalize" our BC Plated car as mostly it seems that his new status precludes our ability to continue to drive the car we brought down 6 years ago.   And we are in the early stages of planning a sale of our small rental apartment.  It's an apartment I love in a complex that I adore, but we have decided that having more discretionary money for travel in the next ten years is a bigger priority at this point in life than owning 2 homes in Mexico.  I'm trying to think like a Mexican, not having more than I need, valuing people and experiences, living in the moment, not worrying about the future.....   And at the same time living in a world of sensual experiences that enhance my life. 

Yoga is my connection to a group of women who have made Zihua home.  Let's see where this season takes me and us; as we Mexicanize our lives!