Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Continuing Adventures of Candy, Kathy and Joey
Yesterday morning, Katharine, Candice and I ate breakfast at the Zamago’s and met Payaso, the father of the family. He had just returned from his annual trip to the Mexican mainland to visit his brother. We also said good bye to Olga. She was planning to return to La Paz, but later she decided to stay for a few more days. Olga was in a computer school for graphic design, but it closed and now she will be looking for a job when she returns to La Paz.
Then we went to visit Punto Suenos (Point of Dreams), a gated and deeded community in a protected cove just south of Mulege, buying dates and banana bread in the gas station along the way, with gas for the truck. In the community, one real estate sign said homes starting at $60,000, but after listening to Colette (one of the founders and a friend of Candice’s) speak about living there, we surmised that non-ocean front lots must start at that price. Colette said that a spec house (finished and empty for a year – anybody interested?) cost $200,000 for the frame. We didn’t find out the asking price. No need to go there, eh? The houses are really lovely, though. Everything is run on solar and the views of Conception Bay are magnificent. Whales come up into this bay to give birth every spring. Maybe it should have been named Parturition Bay? Schools of dolphins come through too.
Then Katharine, Candice and I met up with the others and went to eat lunch at Ellen’s house. Ellen is a friend of Audrey’s. Her home is on the water at the southern border of the community; she is an Americano retired psychiatrist.
I am so amazed at this aspect of the trip: that we are 9 women in a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms (and the water is turned off every other day in Mulege) and there’s enough room for all of us and we are all having the times of our lives! And y’all were worried about the three of us getting along! (Still, knock on wood.) In true Mexican style, it’s just all working out.
So we are all staying at Audrey’s house. She is from British Columbia and has been coming to Mulege for the winter for the last 10 years. She is renting the house that we are in, and is planning a move soon to another house (actually, a parked 5th wheel) at the end of this month.
Evelyn is originally from the Philippines and is friends with Audrey and sleeps on the couch. Evelyn used to work in a restaurant with the other 3 or the 4 women who came with her. Audrey had never met the other 4 until they arrived in Loreto the other day.
Jessica is the youngest and sleeps outside in the camper van. She has an imaginary friend, Oscar, who is accidentally left behind for walks. Then there’s a pair of sisters: Margaret (who did not work in the restaurant and has the best Canadian accent of the whole group) and Sylvia. They share a bed. And the last one is Cheryl, who sleeps on the floor in the sister’s bedroom. They are all from BC.
In our bedroom, I’ve got the floor. :) I’m grateful for the good camping mat I bought before the trip!
After lunch, Katharine, Candice and I returned to Audrey’s for an appointment with a patient. We’ve treated 5 or 6 people so far and have a few appointments for new patients in the next week. On Wednesday, we will meet with one of Ellen’s dogs in Lorraine’s office (the local vet). This dog was hit by a car about 3 years ago, when she was about a year old and has a lot of pain. Too bad we didn’t bring Four Paws, Five Directions, but thank goodness we remembered that Zee has a copy!! haha. Thanks for the doggy point location info, Zee!!
Then, finally, time to study. Down to Pancho Villa’s, and after procuring drinks and snacks and discussing the merits of diatomaceous earth in Spanglish with Pancho, we limped through yang tonics. I don’t know why this section is so difficult for me. While we were sitting there, we noticed that the wind (blowing and blowing for 2 days), suddenly calmed down. That was a welcome shift in the weather!
Behind Audrey’s house, we built a fire the fire pit (a washing machine tub that Candice retrieved from the dump a few years ago) and watched as our paltry wood supply burned. Then we sat in the house and entertained ourselves, laughing and talking until 10 pm – an hour past “Mulege midnight” – so then we went to bed.
The end.
P.S. The day before yesterday, the whole lot of us went into Santa Rosalia and bought bread and cookies at the bakery. Audrey warned us that the cookies would look stunning but taste like sawdust, and she was right! Then we went to the prison and bought earrings and key chains and the like from the prisoners. They have to make money in order to pay for their food while incarcerated. It was quite a scene – we were separated by a chain link fence and they were all calling to us in Spanish, trying to call our individual attention to them and their crafts. Candice says that most of them are in prison for drugs and plans to day trips to the prison to treat the prisoners for addiction after she gets a clinic set up here.
Then we went to visit Punto Suenos (Point of Dreams), a gated and deeded community in a protected cove just south of Mulege, buying dates and banana bread in the gas station along the way, with gas for the truck. In the community, one real estate sign said homes starting at $60,000, but after listening to Colette (one of the founders and a friend of Candice’s) speak about living there, we surmised that non-ocean front lots must start at that price. Colette said that a spec house (finished and empty for a year – anybody interested?) cost $200,000 for the frame. We didn’t find out the asking price. No need to go there, eh? The houses are really lovely, though. Everything is run on solar and the views of Conception Bay are magnificent. Whales come up into this bay to give birth every spring. Maybe it should have been named Parturition Bay? Schools of dolphins come through too.
Then Katharine, Candice and I met up with the others and went to eat lunch at Ellen’s house. Ellen is a friend of Audrey’s. Her home is on the water at the southern border of the community; she is an Americano retired psychiatrist.
I am so amazed at this aspect of the trip: that we are 9 women in a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms (and the water is turned off every other day in Mulege) and there’s enough room for all of us and we are all having the times of our lives! And y’all were worried about the three of us getting along! (Still, knock on wood.) In true Mexican style, it’s just all working out.
So we are all staying at Audrey’s house. She is from British Columbia and has been coming to Mulege for the winter for the last 10 years. She is renting the house that we are in, and is planning a move soon to another house (actually, a parked 5th wheel) at the end of this month.
Evelyn is originally from the Philippines and is friends with Audrey and sleeps on the couch. Evelyn used to work in a restaurant with the other 3 or the 4 women who came with her. Audrey had never met the other 4 until they arrived in Loreto the other day.
Jessica is the youngest and sleeps outside in the camper van. She has an imaginary friend, Oscar, who is accidentally left behind for walks. Then there’s a pair of sisters: Margaret (who did not work in the restaurant and has the best Canadian accent of the whole group) and Sylvia. They share a bed. And the last one is Cheryl, who sleeps on the floor in the sister’s bedroom. They are all from BC.
In our bedroom, I’ve got the floor. :) I’m grateful for the good camping mat I bought before the trip!
After lunch, Katharine, Candice and I returned to Audrey’s for an appointment with a patient. We’ve treated 5 or 6 people so far and have a few appointments for new patients in the next week. On Wednesday, we will meet with one of Ellen’s dogs in Lorraine’s office (the local vet). This dog was hit by a car about 3 years ago, when she was about a year old and has a lot of pain. Too bad we didn’t bring Four Paws, Five Directions, but thank goodness we remembered that Zee has a copy!! haha. Thanks for the doggy point location info, Zee!!
Then, finally, time to study. Down to Pancho Villa’s, and after procuring drinks and snacks and discussing the merits of diatomaceous earth in Spanglish with Pancho, we limped through yang tonics. I don’t know why this section is so difficult for me. While we were sitting there, we noticed that the wind (blowing and blowing for 2 days), suddenly calmed down. That was a welcome shift in the weather!
Behind Audrey’s house, we built a fire the fire pit (a washing machine tub that Candice retrieved from the dump a few years ago) and watched as our paltry wood supply burned. Then we sat in the house and entertained ourselves, laughing and talking until 10 pm – an hour past “Mulege midnight” – so then we went to bed.
The end.
P.S. The day before yesterday, the whole lot of us went into Santa Rosalia and bought bread and cookies at the bakery. Audrey warned us that the cookies would look stunning but taste like sawdust, and she was right! Then we went to the prison and bought earrings and key chains and the like from the prisoners. They have to make money in order to pay for their food while incarcerated. It was quite a scene – we were separated by a chain link fence and they were all calling to us in Spanish, trying to call our individual attention to them and their crafts. Candice says that most of them are in prison for drugs and plans to day trips to the prison to treat the prisoners for addiction after she gets a clinic set up here.
Over the rainbow . . .
To answer some questions: we are treating 2-4 humans per day, sometimes animals in pain. We make our gas and food money. We wash our hands. We have a clean field. We swab the patients. The food here is all organic, no chemicals, fresh from ranch gardens and fish from the sea.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Acupunctura 'R Us
Above is our typical setup. We have Jo's lounging lawn chair, a 4ft. space heater and a folding tv dinner tray for our clean needle.
We have also managed to take Burnell's advice and advertise our services, this shot combines both our marketing plan as well as our advertising:
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
This is Jo writing. I know it says that I write everything, but actually Candice has done all the video (no suprise there, eh?) and some of the comments too.
Here is our business plan while in town - should we alert Burnell?
This is a picture of Candice and Olga. We ate lunch at the Zamago's yesterday and it was so good! Mama Lenda made refried beans, Spanish rice, and beef stew and we ate it up with fresh torillas and fresh cow cheese. Yum, yum. The Zamago's are the local family who adopted Candice when she lived here before we started school.
We have found free internet at Pancho Villa's, a small open air restaurant along the Mulege (moo-la-HAY) river, but are experiencing some difficulty uploading pictures and video. I guess the small pictures are uploading - if you click on them, they will open into a larger window.
So even though we've got all this great space for pictures - on the size of communion wafers - we still need to figure out the other end of the process. Patience, patience to all our fans! Have you ever known Candice to fail you yet?!
Today we went to Loreto where there is an international airport with a palm thatched roof to pick up 5 Canadian women. They are here for 2 weeks also visiting with Audrey, Candice's friend, where we are also staying. It's a 3 bedroom house, so we'll be quite cozy tonight!!
The drive to Loreto was quite spectacular. It was 1.5 hours south of Mulege on a 2 lane winding road between the coast and the mountains. The views are breathtaking! The water is so clear! Many people come to this area to fish, kayak (Angel?), and scuba dive.
The ferry cost $550!! Actually, the sign for pesos is the same as the same for dollars, and the exchange rate is 10 to 1, so the ferry cost $55 per person and $250 for the car, one way. So that's about 4,100 pesos total.
I'm glad to hear that my cat is coming back to eat! I like Vanna! I want her back!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
