FANS and FRIENDS of REBECCA
Like most of the world we have been following the sad events in the Ukraine. Some of our Canadian friends have relatives there, safe the last time they heard. We have friends in Europe for whom we are concerned. Mrs.T, who tends to obsess over such situations, is particularly depressed. There is much worry that it could explode into an even worse conflict. Pray hard.
Being residents for about six months, we are part and parcel of the fabric of the community here. We are fairly well-known by the locals from our neighborhood taxis to our minisuper, Mary Paz, and even at the post office. Of course everyone likes Rebecca; she has a 'nice person' aura surrounding her. As you will read, many even have affectionately nicknamed her.
The three R's managed to convene for a rare two-week pow wow. They all had a good time. The editor's siblings may try for a similar meeting next season. It should be fun.
Rebecca provides a bit of local color and discusses our visitors and current activities.
Calling me Rebeccacita is as accurate as calling the horse I ride Speedy Gonzales. But so I am affectionately known in Bucerias. Cita is a Spanish diminutive ending meaning little. Alas it has been quite a while since I could accurately be called little Rebecca. (Ahem. -dt) When in the distant past Speedy last lived up to his name I cannot say. But be that as it may, when I walk down the street I am hailed as Rebeccacita by the taxistas. I am quite fond of the taxistas and they of me. (They all know Mrs.T at the taxi stand. -dt) I think they have an interesting job and admire their efforts to speak English. Some of them are quite fluent, often as a result of living for some time in the US. I try to speak Spanish to them and they are quite complimentary. "Entiendo?" I ask incorrectly. I have asked do I understand when I meant to say, 'Do you understand'. "Si, Si", they respond, "Your Spanish is quite good". "Tu eres amable," I responded - 'You are being kind'. And we both giggle. (Chortle perhaps; I cannot imagine a taxi giggle. -dt) After my stroke I find it hard to think of words in Spanish or English. One day I got into a taxi and suddenly my mind went blank. I could not remember the Spanish words for my address. I was starting to panic, pointing toward the direction of our condo when the taxista said calmly, "A casa, Rebeccacita?" - 'Home, Rebecca?'; I nodded hopelessly. "You live at Jacarandas, Rebeccacita". Yes that was the lost word and then everything was okay.
Ruth and Rita, my sisters, both have visited recently at the same time. This is nice because we seldom all three get to the same place at the same time. We spent a fair amount of time on the beach getting massages while listening to the waves and emitting little moans. (Ruth went multiple times. -dt) After that we spent some time at Karen's drinking juice, my favorite was mixed berry, and chatting about this and that. Then we returned to the condo to read our favorite books. Later Dan made supper. Rita's favorite was pasta with Dan's homemade sauce. Dan has been taking cooking classes at Sandrina's. My favorites have been the Greek dishes. A little later we had desserts from the cafe at the corner. I think Ruth liked the cheesecake with berry topping.
We sisters went out on the boat with Alex. Alex and I went scuba diving. Rita went snorkeling with Alexandra, Alex's daughter. Ruth stayed on the boat with Eva, Alex's wife; neither one is a water person. That day we saw whales from the boat. When we got on the boat we had elote, corn, tamales. After the dive we had tuna tortas and mandarinas and cookies. Eva is a very good cook. And so is Alexandra who cooks for us when Eva is with her mother. When we got back to the pier we saw the big iguanas who live there. Then we came home. It was a good day.
We went shopping. Shopping with my sisters is more fun than shopping with Dan. He just can't quite get the hang of it. Ruth bought more bobble heads, and Rita bought clay birds and a tin pelican. I bought two small leather purses. I think that other things were bought too numerous to mention. We had to take the detour because they tore down the Kissing Bridge. It still isn't up but they are working on it. Think of all those lost kisses; sigh! I hope they let us paint on it. We were tired so we stopped and drank licuados. We took a taxi home. (Ruth and Rebecca have difficulties walking. -dt)
After visiting us Rita went to Isla Mujeres off the eastern coast of Mexico. She was signed up for a snorkeling tour. Rita was incensed to find that they expected her to sit quietly observing with two elderly Dutch ladies while everybody else went snorkeling. She pitched a fit and they sent her out with her own guide which ended up being very nice. Growing old graciously - I think not!! Rita and I may be growing old, although we don't like to admit it, but graciousness has little to do with it. About Ruth I am not quite sure. But when she is not reading she does have a tendency to get her own way. (The oldest -dt)
The Canadians have started leaving and so far I have inherited hibiscus petals. So I brewed some jamaica. It came out pretty well. As we are some of the last to leave we tend to inherit leftover groceries from our friends. It is always interesting to see what we get.
They have totally gutted Helechos. It is going to be a Japanese sushi restaurant. There is a great diversity of opinions about this. I do not mind sushi but I hate that they painted over the hummingbird mural on the outside. I will miss Jesus; he has been there forever. (He still lives there and we see him on the street. -dt) And I will miss the squash blossom soup and his magic tricks. Sweet memories! He was a favorite of Dad's. (The editor's father. -dt) I don't know where Dennis will find liver and onions now. I don't know why anyone likes liver and onions either, but there is no accounting for taste. People say Leo's is going to close. Sigh! Sunday we are going out to Delicias Mexicanas to celebrate Judy's birthday (Dr. Puzzle -dt); she is very young. (We all had good food and a good time. -dt)
Diving this week there was a lot of surge where the waves push you first one way and then the other. I felt good about my ability to handle this. We saw the little orange seahorse again. We saw loads and loads of fish of every color, size, and type, many were familiar, some I did not recognize. I asked Alex later if they were there because of the surge but he did not think so; perhaps it was because the ocean is still cold. That may be the reason we still are seeing a lot of whales this year. We did see four very large flounders. They were lying on the bottom hiding under a thin layer of sand. I thought if I could slowly place my hand under one I could grab him by the tail. (Mrs.T probably thought she could imitate what Alex did with a ray on a previous dive. -dt) Then I would put him in our collecting bag. Well - NO! The flounder was a lot faster than I expected and was gone with an insulting flip of his tail. Alex said later that he saw what I was trying to do and was quite sure it would never work. Sigh! Well life is full of wonderful things but some of them just don't work out.
As Mrs.T alludes to, construction is moving apace. Yet another corner close by - formerly the location of Las Vegas and other things - has been leveled to be developed into condominiums. This one will supposedly have three / four towers. Fortunately we will not see the twenty-storey buildings they have in Vallarta. Nonetheless, we will be surrounded on all sides by taller structures. Bucerias is a Vallarta exurb now, not a small town on the outskirts.
Here are some pictures, including an unusual daytime visitor:
We should be back in Philo mid-April. Hopefully some of Rebecca's flowers will be in bloom and the weather will be pleasant.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
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