February 10 - 13

February 11 - 13

A compendium of happenings in PV!

- took a bus to Walmart located opposite the marina where the floating hotels a.k.a. cruise ships anchor in PV.  Gord and Nancy Stewart, who are spending a few months in Bucerias, picked us up in their car

. We spent the day with them touring La Cruz and Bucerias. We saw their lovely apartment, visited some Winnipeg friends who were wintering in La Cruz, had a tasty Mexican meal on the beach.

We visited the marina, a fish market(Buscerias started out as a fishing village)

 We also visited some delightful galleries and stores in Bucerias.

- went to see the folklorico dances of the neighboring state of Colima which were on display at Park Hidalgo.

-endured 3 days of very high surf which closed the beaches to swimming. Beach walkers who didn't pay attention to the waves as they walked found themselves inundated with the odd rogue wave.

-tremendous thunderstorm with non-stop lightning. Rain came down in sheets. Watching from our balcony, I saw a bolt of lightning strike the telephone tower near Ley's with instant thunder which just shook our building. Streets were runnning with shin deep water and cart-wheeling down the avenues there were large beach umbrellas which had been liberated from their bases by the high gusts of wind.

- there was a morning earthquake that had a magnitude of 5.2 . Officials in Jalisco state said Thursday’s temblor was felt lightly in more than 33 municipalities, including the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta. A statement from Mexico’s civil protection said some schools and government buildings were temporarily evacuated in Puerto Vallarta, the state capital of Guadalajara, and other cities. We probably felt it but assumed it was just another big truck rumbling by in the street. That's what the daily quakes we used to experience in Guadalajara felt like!

- had a delicious brunch of a burrito at our corner stand. There was a delicious combination of marlin, shrimp, octopus, and cheese in a large corn tortilla grilled over a hot stove plate and served up with guacamole and slaw. Outstanding!

- Patti and I went back here the following day and shrimp stuffed jalapeno pepper tacos. Delicious but I lost all sensation in my lips and mouth after the first taco. I peeled out the jalapenos in the rest of the tacos and made a big show of the fact my mouth was burning. The kind woman preparing the food took pity on me and handed me a deep fried marlin taco to ease the burn. Now everytime I walk past the stand (several times a day) I make a show of fanning my mouth. They all break out in smiles and laughter and wave to me. I made some good friends. I shall be back for the marlin tacos.

- lots of pool time. Great reading time! Nice visiting with the new guests - we are now the old hands. 

I am feeling like a "sand bag" some days - a big brown mass of Canadian sunning near the water.

- said goodbye to some departing friends - former student from Winnipeg and had breakfast with them before they departed for the airport. After they had left, I chatted with my friendly waiter. She speaks some English and with my token Spanish I found out in the course of our conversation that she would be a first time mom in June. She was so happy and the smile on her face was of the 5000 watt variety.

Until the morrow...