Como se dice eso en espanol??

 Right next to the corner market is a tiny little video store.  It is about the size of a very small single garage.  A simple straight line of concrete filled with shelves.

 After our evening shopping and walk Eddie talked me into going in and figuring out how to rent.  We wandered in, the young woman and young man behind the counter smiled and oohed over Tamra.  I walked up to the counter...and...and...my brain went blank.  I could not think how to ask for anything, let alone how to rent.  I could not even remember how to ask for how much the movies cost!  It was like there was just empty space between my ears.

I hopefully tried English.  No go.  They stared at me like I was from another planet.  Shook their heads.  Damn.  Alight.

I will admit right here, that if my children had not been looking at me with big hopeful puppy dog eyes, I would have most likely bailed at this point.  Cut my losses and ran.  Oh ya. 

Finally I groped among my grocery's and dug out the little Mexican Spanish phrase book I was caring around.

I held it up in the air like a lucky talisman, I may even have waved it around a bit.  The store attendants smiled encouragingly, and the other customers stopped to watch.  I could feel my face slowly turning what could only be described as a very deep beet red color.  I felt like I was on fire.  And not in a good way.

At last I managed an ok "Cuanto cuesta esto?".  AHHH!!!  The kids behind the counter smiled!  Si!!  The other customers gave me big smiles and stopped staring as hard at me.  Whew.  The movies they said, cost 10 pesos each.  Awesome, less than a dollar. 

And I also came up with "como?" (how).  I was really rockin' now.  As easy as handing over my drivers license and 10 pesos, and we had rented a movie!!

This has made me want to sit down with my little phrase book and memorize that bad boy.  Good Lord!  And than pray that I don't freeze next time.

However, Eddie is very proud of me.  :)

And I thought I loved to shop...

I like to shop.  Not for stuff around the house so much (though that has it's joys as well), but I LOVE to food shop.

And it is a damn good thing.

I have learned that if I don't want to take a bus to buy grocery's, I can walk 2 blocks to the mini corner store for a random assortment of things.   100% juice, canned goods, diapers, a few items of produce, candy, snacks, water, milk and the best home made "string cheese", you have ever had!  It comes in a big round in a big bag and you tell them how much you want.  Queso is the name, and this has a lovely aged flavor and still does that fun "string thing" for the kids.

Or, I can take a right at the store and walk another block to what I call The Big Red store.  It is a good size, and it is painted red.  There ya have it.

There I can get all grocery items and things like shampoo and toothpaste.  They have great fresh meat, cheese and eggs as well.  However, no produce!  For that I walk another block and hit the produce market...or 2 MORE blocks and I can go to the REALLY good produce market-Chilem.  At the produce markets you can get almost anything your little heart desires including fresh herbs and cactus.  Not many leafy greens though...but fresh eggs and freshly juiced anything they have in stock bottled in a cooler.  I am talking mango, orange, carrot, a mixed green drink, papaya....it is the BEST juice!  

Plain yogurt, whole chickens (yes, head, feet..all of it), raw local honey, plus odds and ends for daily cooking.

To be honest, if I make it as far as the 2nd produce shop, I am waving down the next bus to pass and happily handing over 5 pesos to not have to haul everything back on my own two feet. 

You can tell my kids have been raised in a store, for one, Tamra Rose crawls under all the produce racks and tables and picks up fallen produce and hands to over to the family working.  They have been greatly amused by her.  She however has been greatly disturbed by how much food falls on the ground.

Today on the way to buy produce, we passed a stall open for the evening that has a great selection shoes, and Eddie very badly needed a new pair of sandals.  After much of my spanglish and the shop owners rapid spanish, we settled on a green pair of crocs for 89 pesos-a very good price.  Tamra Rose sat the entire time on the curb in front eating a whole apple and watching with interest as Eddie tried on many shoes.

I know some (ok, most) of the "white" folks here go the extra thirty minutes to cancun to hit up walmart, but I have a very hard time shopping at walmart ever, let alone to completely ignore the local vendors and all that they have to offer.  Which is a lot.  It just takes a little work.

My mission, or one of them, to myself?  Learn ALL the numbers and number combos in Spanish!  Whew, that one hurts my brain.

You have not lived a full life until a monkey has dropped on your head

A couple of days ago I decided that I would take the kids to the Crococun Zoo, (http://www.crococunzoo.com/) since it is only a mile from where we are staying in Puerto Morelos.  It had good reviews online, everyone seemed to really enjoy going.

 

So early in the morning we headed out, grabbed a taxi and rolled on into the zoo.

 

The staff is super friendly, it is not a bad price for a zoo-not a GREAT price but whatever...it was very entertaining.  Eddie and I plus the cost of a bag of food for the animals cost almost 400 pesos.  Tam was free.  I think up to 5 years of age is free which is pretty good.

 

We lined up with a very small group (we got there early!!) and a guide (who took our food and zipped it into his pants pocket...monkey issues he said).

 

We saw snapping turtles, baby crocs and BIG crocs, hairless Mexican dogs, parrots, snakes, deer and lots and lots of monkeys. 

 

In fact, one of the first things to happen to us is that a monkey tried to take tam's sippy cup of water away.  I think i may have squeaked...er...screamed.  I took it back though!  No monkey is getting the best of me!!!!!

 

Eddie held 3 year old crocs, wrapped a small boa around his shoulders, chest...and (ickickick) neck.  I keep telling him how very very brave he is.  They guide tried to get me to hold a snake...I kept backing away, he got closer...I hid behind Eddie.

 

We walked through a pit of very large crocs.  Ok when I say that, you are probably envisioning a US set up with fences and what not.  HA I say!!  NO.  You walk in a gate.  The guide says loudly that you MUST stay in the MIDDLE of the path!!!  Do you hear me?  THE MIDDLE OF THE PATH AT ALL TIMES.  We all huddled together quickly I admit.  Then we walked down a little path through a large-ish area where crocs lay snoozing or just eyeing us.  Guide says "no worries guys!  As long as you don't look like easy food they don't care that we are here!"  Great.  Awesome.  Those words greatly encouraged me.

 

Through this entire fun event we have many a monkey following us and dropping in on us from the trees.  At one point, a larger one misjudged a branch and landed on my head.  It hurt.  I think I may have screamed again.

 

We fed some deer, kids loved that!  That is until a couple of males got feisty over some banana Eddie had and got a little crazy and "hoofed" him as we are calling it.  They reared up and kinda fought with each other.  Unfortunately Ed was standing between them.  Ya.  Only one arm had some broken skin.  Just a little blood guys.  No biggie!  After a quick wipe down with some baby wipes, a spray of colloidal silver and some salve he was good to go and we got down to some serious feeding of the monkeys.  And man, those baby monkeys are freaking so cute!!

 

All in all it was really fun, the guides are super nice and both kids enjoyed feeding and petting everything they could get their hands on.  Really, if Eddie does it, Tamra is damn sure she is gonna do it as well.

 

Even with minor animal drama I would highly suggest you go!

Sweaty from Cancun

Hello!  Er, Hola!!  (I must, MUST learn to speak Spanish for gosh sake!!!)

I am very quickly typing while Tamra takes apart my wallet!!  Must hurry and write FAST.  LOL.

Ok!!!  Easy easy trip here, frontier is awesome for flying with kids.  They have little TVs for EACH seat...and sure you can buy movies BUT the most awesome thing EVER is that they have TV channels!!!  Eddie was in freaking Heaven!!  The
kids
did GREAT not fussing, not crying.  People kept telling me what amazing
travelers
they are.  I said praise the lord.  I mean Goddess (old habits die hard).  LOL.

On the plane from CO to Cancun we had a whole row to ourselves....BLISS. 
and
across the way was another mama traveling alone with her six year old boy
to a
little town outside of Cancun.  we talked the whole trip, exchanged
facebook
info...hahaha...and she said that we MUST meet up or travel together in the
future.  we all went through customs together and picked up all our luggage
together.  It was really nice. 

Side note, not a single person in customs spoke English.  I think it is wonderful.  I did lots of body language and a few Spanish words and WOOT we were through!

This little hotel in Cancun is great, AC, Wifi, pool, beach....however we are the ONLY
whitey
folk here.  Awesome.  And they really don't speak much English.  Oh well! 
we
will learn spanish one way or the other!!!

Every single person who walks by Tamra has to touch her curly blond hair.  And I mean EVERYONE.  Moms, Grandmas, little kids, teen boys, people jogging, people riding bikes...they all pause for a moment to drift a hand over her head as if she is a good luck charm, or more likely, to see what all that fuzzy curly blond hair feels like.  It is pretty awesome.  She just looks at them like, "ya, that is right, worship me". 

HAHA!!!

Tomorrow we leave for P M.

Oh and yesterday by the pool, a little grandma took pity on me and wanted
to
help me...she brought me towels...cause i forgot to ask for beach towels
until
in the water, and she kept wanting to watch tam for me in case i needed a
moment
to swim by myself.

Thanks to my mom, Eddie swims like a fish.  I only really have to watch that Tamra does not throw herself into the water.  Whew.  Thank goodness for that.  ;)

(So i am traveling by myself mom, but only sorta, cause this is mexico and i
have
kids, and EVERYONE wants to help.)  ;)

The air smells like salt, and is wet feeling-like a warm slightly damp
towel. 

Which I am ok with.
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Untitled

I have expectations.  Too many.  I realize this about myself.  So every day I tell myself, sometimes out loud, that I need to release those around me to just "be". 

Every single day, I have this talk with myself.  Some days I feel pretty good about it, I can hear what others are saying or watch directions people are taking that I may not want for myself but I am completely content letting it all play out for them.

Other days.  Whew.  I have to almost have a chant ongoing in my head.  Letitgoletitgoletitgoletitgo.  Each person needs to take their own time and their own path.  And just because someone is holding THEIR expectations over MY head is no reason at all to return that kind of vibrations.

Letitgo letitgo.

The days that I feel my shoulders start to tense up, my forehead crinkle as I try to mentally come up with a reason why they should want to attack life the way I do....and I just RELEASE.

Ahhh, it feels so good.

 

 

 

Of Wind & Sea

Just out of sight

Like if I could only turn my head quicker

I would catch a glimpse of the wild sea creatures

Throwing themselves at the rocks

Desperately flinging their bodies

As if the road & my car are their end goal

To surround us with their surging cold wetness

Maybe

They will embrace us

Gently enfolding us

But then

Pull us back with them

To join their dance

The eternal cycle

Of bobbing & blending

In the river

The ocean

But oh

OH when that wind comes

The wind that stirs and swirls

Pounds and pushes

The dance begins once more

And the rocks are holding back

But barely

& they are coming

The chill racing down my spine

Tells me just as sure as my eyes could

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