Archive for March, 2016

Staycation

Sunday, March 27th, 2016

John flew to Arkansas this week to help his folks downsize, in preparation for their move into a retirement community. We had a four-day weekend to celebrate Easter; I used the time for a staycation and it’s been great! I’ve gotten a lot of mundane tasks accomplished, like filing insurance paperwork and writing my employee evaluation. Other than walking across the street for a pedicure and daily visits to the gym, I haven’t left the apartment! Other than missing John, it’s been great!

Last Sunday afternoon, John and I went to the finals of the Jalisco Tennis Open – we had a great time watching a close match. It’s a lovely venue and the weather was perfect. Afterward, John treated me to a steak dinner at La Matera.

Monday was another local holiday, so John and I had a relaxing day – we hit the gym and watched some TV.

I’ve been binge-watching “The Good Wife” – I’m up to Season Two. John and I have been watching “Bosch,” and are enjoying that as well.

March Madness

Sunday, March 20th, 2016

John had good news this week – he was accepted into the Army War College distance learning program! Only six Department of State officers were selected to be a part of this two-year program, so it’s very competitive. The program is two years and he’ll end up with a Masters in Strategic Studies – congrats, John!

We went to a game night at El Gato last night with some non-State Department friends. We had a lot of fun. It’s near a church square that’s quite the place to be on Saturday night. When we arrived, a bride was just entering the church, there were vendors selling food, clothing, and jewelry, and lots of people were just hanging out. I snuck a peek at the wedding, then after gaming, John and I strolled through to see what was going on. I ate a delicious warm custard and bought a wool scarf from Chiapas – a lovely night!

Kathy, Emily, Victor, and Bob

Kathy, Emily, Victor, and Bob

David and John

David and John

Wedding in progress

Wedding in progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other highlights of the week include filling out my bracket for the NCAA college basketball tournament and watching “Spotlight” (great movie). I’m still watching the most recent season of “House of Cards” and John and I started watching “Bosch.” Fun!

Turtles, whales, and cowboys!

Sunday, March 13th, 2016

I’m so glad that John came down for the weekend – we really had a good time. After dropping him off at the airport in the early afternoon on Sunday, I had the taxi driver take me to a local charro, or rodeo. I was hoping to catch the women riders, who do some type of formation riding, but they weren’t on the program that day. Instead I watched bull and bronco riding, and bull and bronco roping. I couldn’t really stomach the bronco roping – much to violent for my taste – so I headed on home for a walk on the beach. I was glad that I went to the event, though. There definitely weren’t a lot of gringos there! I enjoyed seeing the Mexican cowboys in their fancy sombreros performing their rope tricks, and just seeing the whole community come out on a Sunday afternoon.

Rope tricks

Rope tricks

Oops!

Oops!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My last night in Vallarta, I was incredibly lucky and got to see two sea turtles (Olive Ridleys) laying eggs on the beach! I was walking along and saw one come out of the water. I and several bystanders followed her up the beach and watched for the next hour or so as she dug her nest in the sand and laid her eggs. Volunteers were on hand to collect the eggs; they take them to a nursery on the beach where they are protected from predators. After she was finished, she covered the hole and went back into the ocean.

I left that scene feeling really lucky, then lo and behold, I saw another one laying eggs about five minutes up the beach! I ran back and got the volunteers, and we watched the mom return to the sea. I really can’t believe my good fortune to come across these two creatures!

Coming out of ocean to lay her eggs

Coming out of ocean to lay her eggs

Volunteers gathering eggs

Volunteers gathering eggs

Covering her tracks

Covering her tracks

Back to the ocean!

Back to the ocean!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was busy at work, as well. On Monday I paid a visit to the district attorney to discuss arrest cases, and Tuesday morning I attended a large breakfast meeting with 50 city officials (their monthly meeting). It was great to meet many of them in a relaxed setting.

I returned to Guadalajara on Wednesday afternoon, so it was back to the grindstone in the office on Thursday. It is good to be home, though, with John and Flavia!

The whale watching company sent photos from our trip last Saturday – here are three!

Mom and baby

Mom and baby

 

Baby humpback learning to dive

Baby humpback learning to dive

Mom waving goodbye to us!

Mom waving goodbye to us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click to see all my Puerto Vallarta photos.

Beach Break

Sunday, March 6th, 2016

Lookin' good, Mr. Crippen!

Lookin’ good, Mr. Crippen!

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. I came down to Vallarta on Monday afternoon to cover for our Consular Agent while she’s out of the office. It’s a busy office and I really enjoy interacting with the U.S. citizens who are resident down here or vacationing. We see all kinds of cases. On Friday, I did a few notarials and passports, then I and one of the consular assistants here went to see a judge who’s handling a case regarding an American citizen. We can’t interfere with the Mexican judicial process, but we do monitor the status of cases. Afterward, we visited a U.S. citizen in prison, then headed over to a small private nursing home to check on the U.S. citizens there. Then we found out in the late afternoon that two U.S. citizens were being held at the airport for bringing in illegal substances, so we ran over there to explain the legal process to them. I was pooped by the end of the day, but it was fun and a good service to the American people.

When I got back to the hotel, John had arrived. We had a nice steak dinner at Rincon de Buenos Aires, not too far up the road.

Saturday morning we went whale watching! They’ve had a very bad season here without the usual amount of whales due to El NiƱo, but we got really lucky. We found two mothers with their babies out near the Mariettas Islands and we watched them for over an hour. They normally stay near the surface because the moms are teaching the babies how to swim and dive. One of the babies was very playful and stuck his big head out of the water several times and did a lot of tail flipping. Other times they just slowly floated near the surface and made the arc where their backs come out of the water – first mom, then baby. Toward the end, the mom flipped up her tail as if to say “goodbye” – we were are thrilled that we got to spend so much time with them! (pictures to follow!)

In the afternoon, we indulged a bit in the spa, then for dinner we went to the Blue Shrimp and had, well, shrimp. It was quite good and overlooked the estuary, so we also saw some birds.

This morning we’ve been lazing on the beach reading and listening to the waves. The weather’s great this time of year – not nearly as hot as it was last October when we were here. Also, I’ve finally started to feel better after fighting a virus all month – I think the salt air is good for me!

I’ve been really worried about Mom’s kitty since Aunt Bonnie died – he had moved in with Bonnie when Mom got sick and the caregivers were in the house. But I super good news this week when Cousins Sue and Ann offered to take him – I just can’t thank them enough. So far he seems to be settling in with Ann OK! This is a huge relief for me!

We watched an excellent movie this week – “Bridge of Spies.” Also, I watched “Still Alice,” about early onset Alzheimer’s – also a very good (and terrifying) movie.

Here are a couple of photos from this week.

A man and his Bassett (named Toby)

A man and his Bassett (named Toby)

Vallarta Sunset

Vallarta Sunset

Shell art on the beach

Shell art on the beach