What community?

So the other day it was raining (what the hell else is new), and so I was watching episodes of various shows from HGTV on my laptop. I found this show I've never seen before where people who are considering buying a house get to stay in the house for 24 hours to "test drive" it. Great concept!

So this one episode features a Canadian family from Toronto who have moved to California for work, have been searching for a house somewhere in the $750-850,000 mark (GASP!). During the show, the family takes a little walk through the community to see what it's like.

As I'm watching, they're commenting on the sense of community of the place, the little cafes, small mom and pop shops etc, which brings me back to why I hate the city I live in.

It's a mid-sized city of about 500,000 people. We're central to a ton of other places, but there's no "neighbourhood" feeling here. There's aren't any little cafes (just Tim Horton's), no mom and pop shops to speak of (big box stores abound however) and no feeling of community. The people on our street don't talk to each other, never mind socialize.

Why do people want to live like this?? I just don't get it.

Which made me think back to our stay in Playa this summer, where I had these great little conversations with a corner store owner every day. I think I spoke to him more in one week that I've ever spoken to a store owner around here! Sad, sad, sad.

What's happened to our lives that we're too busy/private/cautious/guarded/unable/unwilling to speak to people? Where has the sense of "community" and "neighbourhoods" gone???

Meh. Just pisses me off. It really does. For all people say, we could learn a lot from the everyday Mexican people. Is it time to move yet?

The Weather and Me

With our departure date for Playa fast approaching, someone at work asked me, "Aren't you afraid to travel down there with tropical storm Dolly around? What if something happens while you're there? What if there's a (gasp) ... HURRICANE!"

I kind of chuckled. Maybe I have more balls than a lot of people, braver, less concerned... I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm just not afraid of weather. Don't get me wrong - I have a very healthy respect for Mother Nature, but I'm not about to run and hide from her, living my life in a bubble.


I find nothing more awesome and beautiful than a huge thunderstorm complete with thunder and lightning. Would I go stand in the middle of the street in bare feet toting a big metal pole? Of course not. But I'll stand under a safe roof, watching and listening with fascination, appreciating nature and all it's power with wonder.


I guess that some northerners are afraid of the "unknown". We don't get hurricanes, cyclones, tropical storms or things of that nature. We have had a few weak earthquakes in this area along with a few smaller tornadoes, but nothing of any real concern. Us northerners live in a relatively safe area, free from the serious weather dangers experienced in other parts of the world. But I seriously doubt that Mother Nature is going to keep me from going where I want and experiencing life.


I looked at my friend today, and felt a little sorry for her. I felt sorry that she's got these fears that hold her back from enjoying and experiencing life. The beauty of Mexico is well worth the miniscule risk!

Not much to blog about these days

Life has been relatively quiet the past little while. I haven't had anything earthshattering to write about, so I've kept busy reading everyone else's blogs.

I've read about some delicious Thai recipes from Theresa - http://theresainmerida.blogspot.com/

Learned about the Beach Recovery Plan from Cancun Canuck - http://www.cancuncanuck.com/

Kept up with the life of Brenda and Roy - http://brendandroygoingtomexico.blogspot.com/

Ogled more pictures on Nancy's Blog - http://countdowntomexico.blogspot.com/ and enjoyed stories on their day to day lives.

And, of course, I've been completely caught up in the adventures of Cindy and Mike - http://cintia-y-miguel.blogspot.com/

There are a ton more blogs I read but these are just a few of the regulars. If you haven't checked them out, then shame on you, you should!

On the mend with Sopa de Lima

Well I must be on the mend because yesterday I actually found the energy to make some soup as well as the enchilladas. I was really craving soup, so I looked up a recipe for sopa de lima, and thanks to Emerill Lagasse on the Food Network, I found one and cooked up a batch.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_34901,00.html

I've always wanted to try it, figuring that since I love lemon and lime, it would probably be something I'd like, and I sure wasn't disappointed! I may have overdone it with the lime a bit, so I just added more broth to even it out. The recipe called for mexican oregano, but all I had was regular stuff. I omitted the fried tortillas as well, but now I can see how they would compliment the soup nicely.

The other thing I found in the grocery store was masa harina. I'd love to try making my own tortillas, but I'd probably need a tortilla press. I'll have to do a little research and find out how they're made authentically. You can't find corn tortillas here pre-made in the stores unfortunately, so I've been using whole wheat for anything I need them for.

I don't fry them before making enchilladas, but I'd love to try that as well. I bet the flavour of a corn tortilla would be amazing after lightly frying!

So now I have yet another kitchen gadget that I want. I'm not sure where the heck I'll put it as my kitchen is loaded with toys already.

Shocking Food

Well, still suffering with this damn cold, although I feel better today than I did yesterday.  I couldn't really sleep the past 3 nights, but slept like a log from about 6:30 til almost 10 this morning.  I guess tomorrow I'll have to get my butt back to work.  Boooo.

I had a conversation with a friend on the weekend.  We were talking about our kids etc., and I mentioned that my oldest, Mike, is graduating from high school in June, and that we were taking the kids to Playa del Carmen for a week in August as a gift to him for his graduation.  She was shocked, and I mean SHOCKED that we weren't going to stay at a resort!  She was completely freaked out about the food!!  Horrified, would be a better description.

What's that about anyway?  Do they serve different food at the resorts?  Is the food for the resorts shipped in from Canada or the States??  The issue of food never crossed my mind as something that someone would be concerned about.  I mean, I know that fruits and veggies have to be soaked before eating them if they don't have a skin, but other than that, I didn't think there was anything wrong with the food.  She was concerned about the "freshness", which kind of made me giggle.  I've seen pictures of the mercado's and considering that as Canadians we eat a lot of produce shipped in from the states that has been picked far before it was ripe, freshness was never a concern of mine.

I know....  There are a lot of misconceptions and untruths, but I figured she'd be worried about crime, or drugs, or theft..  certainly not the food.

Speaking of which, I made enchilada's a few days ago, and Mike cannot wait to try some authentic mexican ones when we get there!

Only 8 (or so) more weeks to go!!!

Steve Irwin and his Crocs

The entire family has come down with the dreaded spring/summer head cold.  I hate having a cold.  Seriously.  I'm not a good sick person.

Anyway, we were out at our trailer this weekend, and yesterday we hung around laying in bed, watching TV, trying to get as much rest as we could to kick the bug.  While flipping through the stations, I recognized a clip of Cancun right away, and sure enough, it was Steve Irwin visiting Cancun and checking out the croc population and how they were managed by the government.  It was pretty interesting stuff - not only because it was Mexico, but I always liked watching him and his antics.  He had more balls that I ever will, that's for sure.  There was one part where the water went up and into a mall, and there were baby crocs living in the water.  Crazy!

So after Cancun, he moved on to Tampico, where he did much of the same stuff.  Just thought it was a cool show and I was so excited to see Mexico on tv!  (God, I'm a loser...  LOL)  Obviously, it doesn't take much to get me excited!  So now I'm off to look up Tampico on the internet as a "possible" to put on the list of places that might be good to live.  

Mis Perros

One thing I've been a little worried about is bringing the dogs to Mexico with us when we finally move. I've mentioned before that Chorney, our geriatric German Shepperd won't be around to make the trip. She's over 13 now.

Trap, the greyound, most likely will. He has just turned 5 in April and I hope he's around for a good long while. Elliott, who is our preadopted greyhound, is not yet one, and hasn't even started schooling for racing yet, so it will be a few years before he's ready to come home. Shorter if he's not a decent prospect. (Let's hope that's the case!!)

Anyway... I worry about the heat and how it will affect them. I see others have taken their dogs with no problem. Greyhounds however, have no isulating body fat and very little fur to protect them from the sun and heat.

If anyone has any experience with this, I'd sure love to know!!! Maybe I'll just have to make sure that they get their very own swimming pools!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA

Palabra de Mujer

I've been watching this show for a little over week, and unfortunately, I can only understand about 5% of what is going on.  I know that Matilde speaks WAY too fast, and she spends a lot of time being angry with who I think, is her boyfriend.

Lupe (at least I think that's his name) is Matilde's father, and he quit his trabajo because he was angry about something.  I get the impression that he doesn't approve of Matilde having a boyfriend, but I could be way off. 

This channel has some spanish programming, but they also have italian, portuguese etc.  I wish we had a channel dedicated to spanish language television!

According to my mother, who was a teacher, principle and specialist in early childhood development, tells me that the more I listen to it, the easier it will get to figure out where words begin and end.  She says that's the first step babies take in learning language, along with imitating sounds.  So, I keep listening, and I think the individual words are starting to be more distinguishable.  

I'm still listening to my cd's and working away at those.  It's slow progress because I keep going over the same cd's making sure that I have a good understanding of them before moving on to the harder ones.

I found out that community college here offers a Spanish for Beginners course, so Gerald and I will take it next summer.  He wanted to take it this winter, but with my classes for school I don't think I could fit another course in!!!  This coming fall/winter is my last year towards my degree!!!!

Me and my books

I have this thing for books.  I absolutely love them.  It doesn't really matter what kind of book it is either.  Could be reference, fiction, cookbook, atlas, how-to, different time periods, non-fiction, even dictionaries and anthologies - whatever works for me.  Which makes me wonder...   When and if we ever get ourselves to Mexico, what am I going to do with all these books?

I can't see myself giving them away, although that would make the most sense.  There are some that I'd want to bring with me and some that I might consider giving to my son (who by the way is afflicted with the same problem).  

Wherever we went there would have to be an English library.  I would, of course, continue my love affair with Amazon as well.  But if we end up only being there for a year, that means that I'd have to curb my addiction for books, otherwise I'd end up trying to haul a bunch of new books back from Mexico to Canada.

Maybe I should have developed an addiction to something easier.....

Ups and Downs

The last little while has been full of 'em.  Ups and downs, arguments, excitement...  You name it.  It's been like an emotional roller coaster that has just drained me.

I have only told a handful of people about Mexico.  This is mostly because I'm terrified of their responses.  I don't want people to think that I'm some flaky chick making bad decisions, which some people are likely to think because they're completely uneducated about Mexico.

I think I mentioned that I told my mother, and she has refused to even acknowledge the fact that I mentioned it.  Either that, or she's forgotten.  I'm leaning towards refusing to acknowledge it though.

I told one friend who thought it was a pretty cool idea, but she hasn't said another word about it, and didn't mention it to her husband either.  These two are pretty good friends of ours.

I told another friend over email, and he thought it was really neat, but admitted it wasn't his cup of tea.  He was full of questions though, so at least I knew he was interested.

I told one friend at work, and she giggles, mostly because she knows me well enough to know that doing something like this is right up my alley.

Now for Gerald, the husband of note.

He stopped talking about it all together for quite a while.  Then when I'd say something, he had nothing positive to say at all.  Just lists of negatives that he spewed off.  Some were valid points, some were touching on the ridiculous.  We actually had a really big fight over it, and I haven't really spoken about Mexico since with him.  He's changed his tune somewhat, trying to convince me that he really does want to go.  He sends me links to interesting websites, makes comments and such, but I just don't know what to say to him when he brings it up.  

I'm upset about all of this.  What should have been a really cool and exciting time for us, filled with planning and talking, learning a new language together, and making decisions has become an unhappy, stress-filled, miserable time.  He says he wants to go, and I believe him to a certain point.  I don't know though how much he really wants to go, and how much of this is him saying he does because he knows how badly I want this.  He's looked into jobs, and done a bit of research.  I'm happy that he went that far.  His only two options would be selling time share real estate and teaching English.  He seems far more interested in the real estate part than teaching, which is probably a good thing.  He has years of sales experience behind him, although not in real estate.

He says he's happy to go for a year, and then who knows.  Maybe we'll come back, maybe we wont.  I'm not going to limit myself though.  If we want to stay, then why come back?  Who knows, maybe I'll want to come back and he won't.

One of his points was the language barrier.  My point was that the only language barrier that exists is him - he has ample time to learn the language with me.  He just chooses not to.  I see that as "his" language barrier.  

It's been a very frustrating time.  I want to believe him but I'm having a hard time with it.  

I'm looking forward to our week in Playa del Carmen this summer.  I'm hoping that being there, even if it's only for a week, will open his eyes a little.  I know he'd love living there, but he's focusing so strongly on the things that scare him, instead of the things that he'd love.  He says he'd miss a lot of things.  But so would I!  Is that any reason to sacrifice trying new things?  Not in my eyes, but I know everyone is different.

I know this posts is going left and right and up and down and sideways.  I'm just writing whatever happens to come to mind, so bear with me.....

Think, think, think

It's amazing how much 'stuff' there is to think about when you start considering a move of this proportion. I almost need to buy a notebook to keep with me so that I can jot down things as they pop into my head - as they do, seemingly at the oddest possible times.

The easiest way to do this would have been to follow Cancun Canuck's lead, and just "do it" - leave on vacation and not come back. Not as easy when you have kids to think about though.

Sometimes when you think too much about something - it's just that: Too much. Everything seems to be too much. Too much trouble, too much risk, too much money, too much time, etc, etc, etc... And then of course, everyone has their own priorities which they want everyone else to consider as the most important priority. The king of all priorities. The big kahuna.

Financially, for a lot of people including us (and I'm not saying everyone, because everyone's circumstances are completely different) moving to Mexico isn't the most beneficial thing to do. We will make less money - there's no question about that. But is it all about the money? Not for me it isn't. It's like those credit card commercials where everything costs something and then the last thing is: Priceless.

Well, the experience not only for my husband and myself, but for my daughter, would be priceless. What better classroom is there than living life? But, you have to make sure you can eat and keep a roof over your head. As I've explained, by the time we go, I'll be a qualified teacher with a combined bachelor's degree in English Literature and French. I will get an ESL certification too. I'll have a couple of years of teaching under my belt. So, what that means is that I'll have a job - we won't starve, we'll have somewhere to live and if Gerald can find some sort of employment too, then we're that much better off.

This leads me to MY greatest concern about this whole thing. Good schooling for my daughter and a job in a school for me.

I've been all over the internet researching schools in Mexico. I would like her to attend one of the International/Bilingual schools. The drawback to this is that there are only so many of them. We had wanted very much to stay in a coastal city or town, which from my research, leaves two options. Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

Cancun is too expensive and Puerto Vallarta is not far behind. Now, I admit that I don't have all the facts. For example, I don't know how much a teacher in one of these schools earns, therefore I don't know how much money I will have available for rent. One problem always leads to another it seems.

Concern number 2. Employment for Gerald. Obviously, he can't just arrive in the country and get any old job he wants. This is going to require some serious thought and planning. I've been so busy thinking about the whole school issue so I haven't had a lot of time to start thinking about him yet.

Tied into this concern - let's call it "sub-concern 2", or better yet concern number 2.A, which is also Gerald's primary concern, or Concern 1. He would have to leave his job here in Canada for the period of time we stay in Mexico. He's no spring chicken anymore on the job front - he's turning 40 this year. Employers aren't as eager to hire more..... mature people as they are to hire younger people who may be fresh out of school and cheaper. (Concern 1.A. Subsection B - Getting a job on our Return)

So what does that mean for our plans? I don't know yet. It's another thing to "think" about.

Saturday morning musings

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, "There must be more to life than this, shouldn't there?"

Something other than the same thing, everyday.

Today is Saturday.  We're in the middle of another snow storm.  I'm sick of it.

Today I will have to clean the house, shovel the snow, do laundry, vacuum, read for school, do homework, write a paper.  Tomorrow I'll get up and do pretty much the same thing.  Monday morning will start yet another work week.  I'll get up at 5 a.m., have a coffee and a cigarette, have a shower, do my hair, pack lunches, kiss my family good-bye for the day and head off to work.  I'll work and them come home, only to change and head out to visit my mother in the hospital. (That's a whole 'nother blog.)  Tuesday, I'll do it all again, except instead of going to the hospital, I'll drive 45 minutes to school where I'll sit through a lecture.  Wednesday - the same, except Meaghan has brownies.  Thursday - the same.  Friday  - the same but I'll be heading out to see mom. 

This can't be all that life has to offer, right?

There's so much to experience, and we're not experiencing anything!  It's a great big, beautiful world, and all we see is our own little tiny corner.  We get so caught up in our little lives that we forget to experience, learn, see, taste, hear, absorb other things.  

I'm guilty of it too; not looking past my own front door.  I'm guilty of getting stuck in a rut and not living life.  I'm trying to fix that.

I have to finish school.  I've worked so hard for so long to accomplish this.  I have to get my degree.  No question.  I want to go to teacher's college.  No question there either.  

After that?  The responsible, level-headed me says to teach for 10 years and then see what happens.  The life-loving me says to pursue my goals, and then take stock in life and see where I want to go from there.  Right now, the life-loving me is in the lead.

I was wondering if there were any Canadian insurance companies in Mexico.  Gerald is an insurance broker here in Ontario, so I wonder if that may be an avenue he could follow to Mexico.  I'll have to see if I can find any information on the internet about that.

For now, back to reality, I guess.  Back to the snow, housework and books.  

An introduction

Earlier this year, my husband Gerald and I took our first trip to Mexico.  We stayed in Cancun for one week.  He had won the trip last year from a radio station, and believe me...  we NEEDED a vacation.

In about 2 weeks I'll be turning 39, and in June Ger will turn 40.  We have 2 kids, Mike who will turn 18 in June, and Meaghan who will be 8 in July.  Yup - big age difference.  I work full time, I attend university at night working on a bachelor's degree in English Literature and French.  Gerald also works full time and referee's hockey on the side.  We have 2 beautiful dogs, Chorney, a German Shepperd who is almost 13, and Trap, a retired greyhound who will be 5 in April.  Filling out the crew is Diego, a barn-cat turned house cat.

Our lives are full.  Busy.  Tiring.  Scheduled.   

Anyway.  Back to the point I was going to make.  I am somewhat of an adventurous spirit.  New adventures and experiences get me all excited.  I love to be consumed by thinking about something that really turns my crank!

Since the day I met Gerald, I have always said that one of these days I want to move to another country and start a new life.  Gerald, is not as adventurous as I am.  He's getting better, but he's still a little stuck in his ways.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he didn't experience a lot in his life before me.  There was no travelling to other countries, no going for a long drive and getting lost on purpose, no adventure.

I had a much different upbringing.  There was a lot of travelling - right across Canada and all over the United States.  When I got older I travelled a little more, and after meeting Ger, I did get him out of the country to Cuba and on a Caribbean cruise.  Then he won the trip to Mexico, and now loves to travel almost as much as I do.

So back to my desire to move to another country.  I had never actually 'picked' a country in the past to move to.  I just knew that I wanted to.  Once we'd come back from Cancun, I was secretly hooked, but didn't say anything to Ger.  I started doing some research on the internet - looking up Mexico, moving, education, schools, you name it.  That's when I ran across a few of the blogs here written by people who have been fortunate enough to live my dream.  

The other day, I cautiously introduced the topic of moving to Gerald in an email.  (We email each other a lot during the day - it's sometimes the only way we get to have a conversation!)  I 'planted the seed' let's say.  I sent him a link to one of the blogs telling him how interesting it was, and I quickly followed up with another email asking him to just consider moving for one year.  To my surprise, he wasn't completely against it, and actually quite open to the idea.  (Holy crap!  I could hardly believe it!!!!!)  Then came the negatives.  We can't because.....

This is typical from Gerald.  He always sees the negatives and problems before he considers the positives and possibilities.  So I asked him to think a little differently, and consider the things we could do to it make happen, instead of thinking about the reasons why we couldn't.  

I know he has concerns about things like healthcare, safety, employment, etc, etc, etc, and they're all valid concerns.  My concern is turning 70 or 80 and wishing I had done what I'd wanted to all along instead of giving up on a dream.  Life is short, you know.  And I'm not getting any younger.

My next step was to visit Amazon.  I'm a bit of a bookaholic.  I love books.  So I did a few searches and came up with a few titles on moving to Mexico, and placed my order.  Living Abroad in Mexico by Ken Luboff arrived today, and because it was only 2$, Easy Spanish Phrase Book came along with it.  I've already started reading Living Abroad and today I told my boss that I wanted to buy a bathing cap, in Spanish.  He laughed at me.

Whatever happens, it won't be for awhile.  I still have another year before my degree is done, and a year of teacher's college after that.  I should teach for a few years before we do anything too, so that we're in a bit better financial situation than we are right now.  One concern I have is that my daughter will likely be in her teens by the time we can actually start thinking seriously about actually moving.  Will she want to go?  Will she be upset and angry?  I think the experience would be better than any classroom, but that's just me.  What do mom's know anyway, right?

Mike, my son, will be grown and out of the house by then.  He thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this, but I told his that when he wants to come visit mom in sunny and warm Mexico, mom won't seem quite so nuts anymore.

So.  Can I make my dream come true?  Can I actually pull this off?  I want to.  Desperately.  I don't want to wake up one day and wish I had done this but know that it's too late.  The thought breaks my heart.  The only thing preventing this would be my husband.  I think that once he has some time to think about it, he may just be more on board than I am.  Let's hope!