Exploring nearby beaches and trying to rescue a puffer fish!

Wow, is all that I can say!  Juli, the director of Se Habla language schoo,l took me out to see the nearby beaches and they are spectacular! It only took us about 20 minutes to find unspoiled beaches with white sand and great swimming. The first beach we went to was Bahia Balandra which is sheltered and shallow. It looks to be a popular spot for sea kayaking and family picnics. There is a view of the mountains on all sides and a glimspe of nearby Isla Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit Island).



Bahia Balandra.

Bahia Balandra with view of Isla Esppiritu in the background.

Kayak rentals on Playa Balandra..

Brenda enjoying the playa!

Palm covered palapals  for sunbathers to enjoy on Playa Balandra.

Self portrait saying to all the world, "I can't believe I am lucky enough to be here!!!!"

Juli and her dog enjoying a good book on Playa Balandra!

Playa Tecolote.

Brenda on Playa Tecolote with Isla Espiritu Santo in the backgound.

Playa Tecolote.

Tennis ball sized puffer fish being washed up on shore (look upside down and you will see the eyes and the mouth is open on the left) on Playa Coyote.

Another view of the upside down puffer fish where the fin can be seen on the left, eyes on the right and cute little pursed lips on the right! 

Enjoying a refreshing swim on Playa Tecolote!

The second beach, Playa Tecolote, was about 10 minutes away and literally the end of the road. This beach directly faces Isla Espiritu Santo.  The water was much deeper and there were some waves.  The walk on the beach holds many treasures such as shells and a puffer fish!  I saw it rolling around in the surf like a tennis ball on steroids. I looked down and noticed little eyes and a mouth...The little fuffer fish puffs up when it is in stress and being washed up on shore to die would be stressful!  I used an empty water bottle to gently push it back in the water.  I hope the little fellow calms down so that he can shrink to normal size and swim back to sea.  What a great day, thanks to my friend, Juli!

Making the "altar" for Dia de las Muertos/Day of the Dead

I have been hearing about Dia de las Muertos/Day of the Dead for years and wondered what it was all about.The traditions vary all over Mexico but our North American concept of Halloween is forbidden by the Catholic Church because it is believed to be "devil worship".  Fair enough. What the Mexican do, by having Dia de las Meurtos, is far more interesting, in my opinion, and serves the community better.

 In their tradition, they believe the dead come back to visit loved-ones on Earth on Nov.1 and 2.  On Nov.1,  it is Dia de los angels/Day of the Dead for Children.  On the following day, Nov. 2, it is Day of the Dead for adults.

 The concept is very interesting- each home makes an altar and decorates it. It is decorated with flowers, soap, water and a towel so the spirits can wash their hands before eating- nice touch, I think!  Incence is also used to help to guide the spirits to their earthly home - the smoke can be seen by the dead. The favorite foods of the deceased person is also laid upon the altar. Even the favorite music of the deceased will be playing on this important night!  To top it all off, a cup and bottle of Tequila, is poised and  ready for the visiting spirit to take a swig! The altar is also decorated with pictures of the deceased, favorite personal items and toys etc.. in the case of a child. The mood is festive and all of the statues and posters/pictures on the altar are of happy skeletons in clothing smiling at the living. There are also for candles placed in the middle of the altar to symbolize the Cross and north, south, east, and west...a sort of compass for the dead to find a way back home.

Merit showing off a tiny coffin decoration with a happy skeleton inside.

Liz (student) and Merit setting up the altar at the language school.

Antonio (another teacher) helping decorate with a groovy skeleton with hair!

Posing with the Mexican style skeleton (all that is needed is other members of the Mariachi band!).

Decorations- note mini altar poster on the left with bread, donuts and Tequila featured!

Merit, Antonio, and Liz having fun while making the altar!

Brenda and the finished product ( there are even mini skeleton figurines on the table using computers, teaching class, etc...)

In addition to the altar in the home, there are church services for the dead, and fiestas at the grave sites as well, with all members of the family remembering the dead by having a party.  I helped the teachers at the school set up an altar  today.  We are remembering two important Mexican artists at our altar. On Tuesday, after classes, we will also be going to the cemetary for the celebration.  Viva la Mexico!

Looking around La Paz and possible volunteer work in a school...

Thursday, was an eventful day.  My private classes at Se Habla are wonderful- Merit is an amazing teacher and really pushes me to learn as fast as I can.  I am working very hard to commit all AR, ER,and IR regular verbs to memory, all numbers, and imporant nouns and articles....I have only done this for one week but I have learned so much! The numbers are by far, the hardest thing to learn so far- they are so complicated. I would say that the "lightbulb" is now slowly starting shine over my head! Since yesterday, I have been SPEAKING in sentences to my teacher, my host "Mom" and locals.  I admit I am limited to the present tense, and they are not in-depth conversations, but I am communicating!!! I can now ask for directions on the street, ask for an item in a store, and start to integrate better into Mexican society.  I am so excited!

I have decided that with my growing skills in Spanish, it would be good to voluteer part-time in a school.  I went on a tour of an ophanage and the school that is connected to it.  It was a very nice place with open courtyards and clean and modern facilities.  The orphans go to school right in the compound until they reach high school and then they go to another school.  The children seemed happy and were monitored by the nuns and other supervisors.  I saw the children washing their own clothes by hand and doing their homework in the study hall.  I may possibly volunteer in this orphanage school or another school in the area.  I also have a school right accross  from my home. It must be a fun place because I hear cheering and laughter every morning.  I must peek in there next week to see what is going on...I am sure as a fellow-teacher they would probably be willing to show me around.

In addition to visiting the ophanage, the director of the language school was very kind in showing me around greater La Paz.  It is a big city and has excellent facilities- a brand new state-of-the -art hospital, indoor olympic sized pool, many large shopping centres, various soccer and baseball fields, and much more. It is the district capital of Baja California Sur and very prosperous. I love the fact that it is not touristy at all and everyone speaks Spanish.  It is a perfect place for me to learn Spanish...my classroom is everywhere!

A church service like no other!

Wow!  That is all I can say about my visit to the cathedral in downtown La Paz, last night. My host "Mom" is a regular church-goer and asked me to join her onn Wednesday night.  I thought it would be a good chance to see how Mexican's live and naturally, thank the creator for this great experience in Mexico.  The church looks normal to a passerby, but go inside during a mass, and be prepared for an amazing spectacle! The church service went on for hours, with people coming and going (all doors and windows are wide open and the noise is spilling into the streets).

You may ask, what is going on in there to attract such movement in the crowd?  Well, there is a full band playing in the corner, people singing and dancing salsa style, and a lot of the songs have actions and everyone is joining in!  I felt like I was at a rock concert/pep rally for God! Now that is the way to go to church! I understood some of the words, but the general feeling of gratitude to our creator and joy to be alive did not need any language! It was interesting that they sing a lot the same songs we do in a Catholic Church in Canada, so I could hum along with the tune,while waving my hands and twirling (really twirling in church!ha!) around with the song gestures.  I am occasional church-goer at home but in a place like this I would go more often.  At the end of the service, all visitors were asked to stand up, so I did.  At that point, about 30 people stampeded towards me and  and hugged me and welcomed me to Mexico.  It was quite a touching experience!

Se Habla Language School and views of La Paz, MX

I am really enjoying my Spanish language classes.  I have a private class for two hours a day and then another hour or so of classes and cultural lessons with other students.  The school is the owner's home, so it has a cozy and welcoming feel to it.  The house is very tall with many balconies and the views are fantastic!  I am learning the basics at the moment, AR and IR verbs, numbers, family members etc...I do about 3 hours of homework a night and I am making slow steady progress.  I look forward to the "lightbulb" going on over my head at some point, where communication is more natural...I suspect a better understand of verbs is required to be able to communicate more freely...I look forward to that day...until then, I will keep practicing!

After a few hours of classes I head home to have la comida (large lunch) and then I am free for the evening .I am enjoying walking and I want to start biking too, during the daylight hours.It is fun to check out the local mercado (supermarket) and the interesting items in the store.  I chuckled to myself to see the sunscreen products with UVA protection of 4 and 8! Ha! I packed UVA protection of 30 and 45!  I guess since most people have a darker skin tome, it is not very important here.  I also thought it was quaint to see the shampoo and conditioner right next to the very large assortment of candles for praying to the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church! I am a big fan of creme carame/custard flan and this place has a whole section devoted to foods like this.  I am in heaven!  The Mexicans must take hygiene very seriously because I noticed that when dairy products like milk and yogurt were delivered to the supermarket the man deliverig them wore a white mask, white gloves, a white jacket and, yes, you guessed it,  special white boots! You have all heard of the Man from Glad (on TV selling garbage bags etc.) well this is the Man from Dairy!

 It is taking some adjusting to get used to eating only two meals a day- breakfast and large lunch at around 2 pm.  There is no "supper" to speak of, only a light snack.  It is hot here so this way of eating seems to make a lot of sense. On the first two nights, I was famished, but now, I eat a small snack and I feel fine.  In this hot climate, heaving meals are not what you crave.

Day #2 of Spanish classes.

My beautiful teacher, Merit.

Cultural class with the other students.

View from the upper balcony of the language school.

View of La Paz.

La Paz

birds along the Malecon, La Paz.

The Malecon sea walkway.

View along the Malecon.

 Despite the language challenges, I am having great conversations with my host "Mom".  She is very kind and patient and cooks delicious food.  Her family comes to visit regularily and they bring lots of life to the place.  The house is located close to everything.  I love to go for a walk along the Malecon (sea walkway) in town...the view of the mountains and  sea is magnificent.

Photos of my house in La Paz, MX

My home away from home!

A view outside my bedroom.

My cozy room.

The stylish livingroom.

The kitchen.

The view down the street (the sea is at the end).

I love La Paz!  I live on a quiet street just a few blocks from the sea.  My host "Mom" is wonderful and her home is lovely.  The language school is set up in a large home complete with a swimming pool and 7 bathrooms!  I had one day of classes yesterday and lots of homework.  Today, I will meet other students and join in a cultural activity in the afternoon.  This is a great place to learn Spanish.

Impressions of San Francisco

San Francisco was a great place to visiit.  I checked out the Height/Ashbury part of town where the whole hippy scene  was big in the 1960's.The neighbourhood has a slightly grubby and eccentric edge to it.  I ate an ice cream at Ben and Gerry's and had to laugh that many of the ice cream flavors had chunks of chocolate "peace signs" in them! ha! I went to a Good Will store (used clothing)on the main drag and wow, what colorful and zany clothes can be found on the racks! I bought a designer handbag for $3.00 and imagined the hippies of old finding wonderful bargains in that very place back-in-day!

 I stayed at the Hotel Carlton on Sutter Street and it  was close too everything...including a "spirited" bar around the corner enthusiastically cheering on the San Francisco Giants baseball team (they are proud of their home team) The hotel was decorated in a world travel theme with pictures and items from all over the world.  It was a good place for a vagabond-at-heart like me.  I loved the free happy hour each night in the lobby where they served complimentary California  wine and the tourists chatted and  mingled.

 The big hills and wonderful old Victorian style homes were a colorful feast for the eyes.  The highlight for me was the day trip on a double decker bus over the Golden Gate bridge and a side trip to Saucalito.  It was so beautiful to look out at the bay and the mountains off in the distance...it is amazing how close the island of Alcatraz is to downtown...I pictured it further out.  All in all, it was a great trip, I saw some sights, met some new freinds and had some wonderful food!  Life is good!

San Francisco was wonderful!

Visiting Shirley and her family in Danville, CA

Sitting on a double decker bus crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  |The bus  took us to Sauceilito and then  all around downtown San francisco! What a beautiful city!

View of the Golden Gate Bridge.

New friends, Francesca and Jacqueline at the hotel restaurant.

Celebrating the first day of the year off!