It's another glorious day on the Bay of Banderas. We have lots in store today, considering most days we have a completely empty agenda!
Our friends/neighbours, W. & A., from Ontario are coming over for dinner tonight, and I wanted to serve them a nice meal because they've had us over a few times. Their place across the street is at least 4 times the size of ours, so very suited to entertaining. It's something of a challenge to produce a decent meal for 4 in my micro-kitchen, but I can seat 4 people at our dining table, although it will be cozy.
It took 2 grocery shopping trips to locate all the ingredients I needed for my main course (beef stroganoff - best recipe ever that I have had since my university days when my pal Russell K. served it and completely changed my mind about what beef stroganoff was). And I made the "Mar-A-Lago Key Lime Pie" recipe from Oprah.com that I printed off and brought down south over a year ago (apparently this is the most requested dessert on the menu at Donald Trump's club in Palm Beach).
Because my kitchen is so teensy (and I didn't want to have the oven/stove on further heating up the place), I made things the day ahead - so it's basically a reheat and serve siutation, just cook the broad noodles and steam up the fresh veggies to accompany the main course.
This afternoon we're headed to the "Club Albatros" to see if we can strike a deal for just a 3 month membership to use this luxury fitness facility/country club (2 pools, tennis courts, work-out facilities galore, various classes, cafe/bar etc.). A neighbour named Brad is a member and has been helping to broker a deal for us at the club. We haven't met Brad yet, he just connected with us via e-mail when the club rep asked him to talk to us due to the language barrier. We look forward to meeting Brad and his family - he sounds like a super guy, and has been so friendly and helpful.
We've been in e-mail contact wishing a "merry one" to family and friends who are spread all over, from Maui, to California, to Canada...which reminds me I must send off a Christmas e-mail to our pals in Melbourne, Australia as well.
We're planning an overnight driving trip south to the "Cabo Corrientes" area at some point. W. & A. said they want to come to, so we'll plot about that some more tonight.
About the only other thing on my radar is to try and find a self serve laundromat. We have tried 4 different local launderies and they don't get things clean (linens/whites go yellow and grey, T-shirts have ring around the collar, yet bleach splotches turn up on your coloured clothes...I just don't get it). I want to do my own laundry!
Todo bien. (It's all good.)
Showing posts with label Life in Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life in Mexico. Show all posts
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sharing Eden
We're back in Mexico and the only people in residence at our six-plex. What a treat to have the place all to ourselves over Christmas and New Year's!
It's a small courtyard area and pool, so quite a luxury to be alone and not worry about encroaching on anyone else's space or quiet. We invested in a couple of really nice loungers and were looking forward to sunning and reading poolside in comfort.
Security concerns and neighbourhood burglary issues led our building manager to have someone on site all day keeping an eye on things. Our teenage maid who, ordinarily we'd see about 2 hours a week, is now here all day. She doesn't speak a word of English, and our Spanish is pretty much zero as well. So we are limited to exchanging uncomfortable smiles and nods. Her name is Elvira, but of course pronounced "El-Beer-Ah" in Spanish.
There's only so much cleaning to done, and the potted plants and garden are getting watered to death (the soil in the pots is a muddy slurry from being watered up to 3 times a day!) so poor "El-beer-ah" pretty much roams from suite to suite, or sits in a shaded corner of the courtyard...uncomprehendingly taking in everything we say and do.
I feel very sorry for her - stuck here all day with so little to do. She may not be literate as she doesn't bring anything to read. I brought her some Mexican gossip magazines yesterday from the supermarket (ones with lots of photos of celebrities and fashion in case she can't read) but couldn't tell what she thought of them.
But I feel even sorrier for us having to share our little Eden with a trapped teenager on security duty. We've sat on our poolside loungers once; I just can't relax with "El-beer-ah" huddled in a corner a few feet away, pretending not to notice us. And I can just imagine what she thinks of us lounging, drinking and eating, and floating in pool. We are probably giving her a very distorted idea of what Canadians are like ("rich and bone lazy" would be the logical conclusion for a Mexican teen).
I don't know how long this arrangement will last - the whole winter? Will El-beer-ah be here even when all 6 units are occupied? It's putting strange damper on our sunny escape. But, what did I expect? It's Mexico...it's always sumpthin'!
Todo bien. (It's all good.)
It's a small courtyard area and pool, so quite a luxury to be alone and not worry about encroaching on anyone else's space or quiet. We invested in a couple of really nice loungers and were looking forward to sunning and reading poolside in comfort.
Security concerns and neighbourhood burglary issues led our building manager to have someone on site all day keeping an eye on things. Our teenage maid who, ordinarily we'd see about 2 hours a week, is now here all day. She doesn't speak a word of English, and our Spanish is pretty much zero as well. So we are limited to exchanging uncomfortable smiles and nods. Her name is Elvira, but of course pronounced "El-Beer-Ah" in Spanish.
There's only so much cleaning to done, and the potted plants and garden are getting watered to death (the soil in the pots is a muddy slurry from being watered up to 3 times a day!) so poor "El-beer-ah" pretty much roams from suite to suite, or sits in a shaded corner of the courtyard...uncomprehendingly taking in everything we say and do.
I feel very sorry for her - stuck here all day with so little to do. She may not be literate as she doesn't bring anything to read. I brought her some Mexican gossip magazines yesterday from the supermarket (ones with lots of photos of celebrities and fashion in case she can't read) but couldn't tell what she thought of them.
But I feel even sorrier for us having to share our little Eden with a trapped teenager on security duty. We've sat on our poolside loungers once; I just can't relax with "El-beer-ah" huddled in a corner a few feet away, pretending not to notice us. And I can just imagine what she thinks of us lounging, drinking and eating, and floating in pool. We are probably giving her a very distorted idea of what Canadians are like ("rich and bone lazy" would be the logical conclusion for a Mexican teen).
I don't know how long this arrangement will last - the whole winter? Will El-beer-ah be here even when all 6 units are occupied? It's putting strange damper on our sunny escape. But, what did I expect? It's Mexico...it's always sumpthin'!
Todo bien. (It's all good.)
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