Start with good news

Sama Joya is doing very very well at his physical rehab in Mexico city.

No idea when he can be transferred to Puerto Vallarta, but
sooner than later I presume . It will be a happy day when he steps back in Yelapa.

In other news, there was too much tragedy since I last wrote.

Two young men, one in his 20s, one in his 30s, took their own lives within days of each other.
Addiction knows no borders or boundaries.  
I bet all of us have been touched, or have seen in some way,
the destruction of alcohol and drug addiction.

Another young man in his 50s, dead with a brain anurism,
just like Maestro Pedro. That is the 2nd death within 9 months for Ava's family.

Another young man, murdered, in a State of Mexico north
of us ! His immediate family rushed to be with him, and returned to Yelapa with his young wife and daughter.

Living in a small town, the grief and sadness and shock are palpable. Our mortality and venerability is deeply exposed.
Tragedy and heartache touch us all, because, if not us ,
someone we know is affected personally.

The village is so interconnected.  Families coming together through marriage, or, fatherhood/ motherhood responsibilities.  Who's your Mother/Father a question
I ask regularly, and I often have to start with Grandmother
or Grandfather, since more likely they are my peers !!

The same families, supporting each other, over the course of generations is a unique aspect about Yelapa, and maybe other rural parts of Mexico, and maybe Canada's remote Northern communities.  People don't " just pick up and move out ",
or get transferred with the company after  few years, except our teachers and our doctor do ! 

The family home and property, remain so, decade after decade, sons become grandfathers, in the house they built for their families, a stone throws away from each other.

People do move out of course, but they come back as often as they can, many of them working hard away so they can return, and never have to leave, again !

This little place is obviously in need of a new cemetary.
How and when that will come about, we will have to wait and see.

Babies being born.
My ex chef Moises, and his girlfriend, Gabby, welcomed a Son, Keylev, March 25th. I wished they lived closer because I would go over to see him every day !!
I have to arrange a play day after school !!
Which starts today after 3 week break !

High season is winding down. People leaving for their other homes in the North.  Another life lived up there.
Busy busy season !  Water taxis running at maximum capacity, especially over the Easter holiday.

We may not have roads, but we certainly have traffic !,
and it's best to keep that in mind. 
Know your boats and your National Holidays !!

Lots of people have dental work done while they're here.
Great dentists in PV, but it takes time and energy to find one you like, and often takes numerous appointments, so you have to plan to stay for a while, or make an initial trip to set things up !  

School is still keeping me busy. Dancers trip to San Francisco
in May in particular.  The web site and facebook page
Yelapa school project, is where I am posting all the updates on that event, and other news and needs in all schools.

I'm also posting my poetry on my facebook page,
More poetry please. I know so many people who are not on facebook, but it was the most convenient for me, at this time.

It's cold here !!! Ocean is clear, but cold .  Doesn't stop the 
Womens group of Isabel's beach from swimming everyday.

Giant mantas close to shore the other day.
And still whales, and whales, just a week ago.
Water is unusually cold, and the breeze is chilly, enough
I'm still wearing my toque in mornings and evenings !
I pray it will warm up soon, here, and wherever it is you are !

A little rain would be nice. So dry. No rain has fallen, to speak of, since October, and none to come till June, if we're lucky.
Fishing is touch and go,  little more than usual as well !
No Chora for my cat for over a month ! 

Pollo Bollo never seems to run out of fish ! and Los Abuelos too, although Fabian was marinating a large Salmon last month ! to use in a Salad Special !! 
Restaurant days are numbered too, except Pollo Bollo stays opens Saturdays and Sundays ... and the local taqarias !

Happy spring everyone .... keep on smiling ....

News Update

Sama scratched himself the other day, or at least tried to !!
Slowly his bed is being raised to sitting position and then he will start physical therapy.
His immediate family have rented a small house near by and are taking care of him morning and night. So many good signs, but impossible to say how long he is well enough to be moved to Puerto Vallarta .

And then Chris, the fisherman from the Philippines with the dog in the canoe,  broke his hip !!
Unreal. 2nd fisherman to go down with hip or knee this season ! Rough seas !
Benefits will be held to make him more comfortable and cover some basic necessities he badly needs.

Then there is still Mario, son of Ramona and Santos, can't move or talk. Car accident Hwy. 17
San Jose to Santa Cruz. His 5 sisters help his Mom take care of him !

Sad stuations especially in such a small village .

 Donations can always be made through YELAPA SCHOOL PROJECT.COM with a note for any specific purpose you want the money to be used for .

Going full speed to help the dancers raise money to buy tickets to San Francisco !!
The Carnival they have been invited to participate in is May 21st. weekend.
 Again check the website or facebook page above !!

Robert Clumpas and his guitar are volunteering at My Little School and the 6 and 7 year olds are learning to sing Baby Beluga.  It's utterly fantastic to watch !!
I will post a video before he heads back to Canada in May 

I've had other volunteers too, and people popping in more and more as they keep walking by.

Lucinda taught the Grade 9 English class on Thursdays for a bit, and hopefully again next year !
It's a great way to make connections, and whos who .

Yelapa Croquet donated money to the School Project to buy more hula hoops and soccer balls etc.
and that is exciting !! This is 34 years of Croquet in Yelapa and I was thinking I hope
Yelapa School Project will be around that long !!

There was quite a bit of chatter on the Yelapa facebook pages about the ATV's last month, from people who haven't visited in a while, and felt the charm of Yelapa somewhat diminished .
I stayed out of it, but I did think it's just another example of peoples disconnection to the families
who try to make a living here and expand their world and the future of their children.
ATV's just being a small part of how they can make their lives easier and more productive.

Yelapa has a funny way of making all of us somewhat possesive !

The grade 12 graduating class of 2018 are puttting on a play this Saturday night t the Casino.
All proceeds to their Graduation Ceremony and Festivities.  They worte, produced, directed nd are starring in the World Premire of Desperate Princess !!

I will definetley provide an update on that !!

Kathy Osmar from my home town, Terrace Bay is scheduled to arrive tomorrow for a 2 day visit.
She's a french teacher now, trained in Switzerland and we haven't seen each other in at least 20 years.

It's a little chilly here right now, if you're used to 30 degrees like me, but she came from 13 feet of snow, so she'll do just fine !

This will be fun !!  Watching people fall in love with Yelapa !!

Until next time ....more and soon ...

Samael

I would rather skip this month, and go directly to March, where I hope to be able to report that 18 year old Samael, who dove into shallow water in Boca de Tomatlan and broke his neck, is continuing to make great progress in recovering the feeling in his hands and legs and etc. etc. etc.

Boca is the first stop on the way to Puerto Vallarta, where supplies are loaded onto boats to transport to villages on the coast farther south, like us. Pontoon boats bring tourists into the bay, who then jump on the Jungle Buses that take them to ride the Canopy Zip Line, where Terminator # ? was filmed.

If you are seriously ill, and need an ambulance, which is in PV, and you are in Yelapa, you need to hire a boatman here to take you to Boca and arrange an ambulance to come down the narrow steep hill, to the non existant, crowded parking lot, to pick you up, and take you 30 minutes to the closest hospital, down a curvy, coastal, road.
With lots of topes ! speed bumps !

With accidents like Sama's, the boat ride from Yelapa to Boca would certainly only aggrivate his condition, so, you could say, it's good it happened in Boca and not here.
But that doesn't sound right ... 

So much support in the community for him and his family.
Two little sisters who are so close to him, will have this mark in time imprinted in their memory forever, as will they all.

Life's mysteries, and this is a bad one.  

My mantra / practice/ devotion /is to positive energy only ... 
thinking, feeling, believing, 
the difficult first, the impossible second, 
practice , practice , practice .

You don't want to live your life nuetral, so there is only either
forward or back ... so why not choose to go forward ?
There is always left and right but it's difficult to make a lot of progress that way, so why not choose to go forward. 
That's how we learn to trust, in our selves.
I think.

Dear Sama and all his dear young friends,
have experienced such a tremendous shock, and trauma and loss.
No matter the outcome, I think, feel, believe, there will be great blessings and positive outcomes coming, in all forms, as a result of Sama's suffering.  I hope it's sooner than later. 

There are some gofundme/paypal sites and other places where money is being collected to cover hospital bills, if you would like to donate please go to  Help Samael Fly Again at gofundme.com 

Help Sama fly again ... his Father and step mom have a parchute boat where Sama works and loves to fly ... 

Christmas Photos 2017

So fun for me to participate in the Kids Parties and watch them grow up.

 The longer I live here the more kids I get to connect with, especially through my Volunteer work.

  I get to watch them grow up and blossom and learn, hopefully.

I do what I can to help out, whether they like it or not .

I can't imagine what a parent goes through, wanting the best for their child, without

strangling them ....HaHa ...Just Kidding !!

I love these kids !!

Favio class clown # 1

                                                                Sergio class clown # 2


                         
                              Little Bo Peep

                                                     Favio's understudy Brian and the gang

                                           Beautiful Tiny Dancer Nairi, and her early admirers

                             
                                        What a difference a year makes when you're growing up

                               
                                                Right  Mateo and Freddy Fast on his Feet !?

                                       
                                              Jennyfer and Asuzzana, both Dancing Queen's
                                      and Jenny will dance in Shanghai for a 2nd time this year

                                                A plus plus English students Erik and Noe.
                                              They both know exactly where they want to go
                                                                           in life.  So exciting.

Photos November 20, 2017

Welcome 2018

Hello and Goodbye .... Two beautiful words ...
There was a lot of that this year, and here we still are, moving forward with love and gratitude and generosity .... always doing our best for ourselves and each other.

I hurt my foot mid November, and couldn't leave the house for 11 days !  A classic Yelapa mis-hap, walking without paying attention, which also involved walking backwards while chit chatting !!  Most unfortunate and upsetting especially since I have such a big mouth to warn people to pay attention, go slow and lift your feet, and never walk backwards !! So fortunate I didn't break a bone, just a little trauma to the tendon.  I'm back to normal enough to enjoy the dancing New Years Eve, but not enough to do a polka or a jig ! I'll have to make up for it next year !!

Busy busy around here, with day trippers and a lot of new faces cruising the trails, and lining up for tacos and chimichangas !! Not including the beach there are 7 places to eat lunch or dinner, and this season looks like it will be a good one. There were even people looking for Chesly Chicken from last year !!  That's a compliment to the Chef for sure !

The Police arrived not long ago, and are patrolloing the town at night, which seems to be working, so far, to stop the bad boys from carrying on.  IT's the one problem on everyones mind.  Water and Internet and Garbage collection all pale in comparison to the consequences of a few individuals who can ruin Yelapa's fine reputation for a safe, and unique adventure. 

It's always fun this time of year with all the goodies the part time residents bring down, from books and magazines and Globe and Mail, to chocolate and coffee and tea and spices just not available here.  You can tell a lot about a person by what they can't leave home without !! and what they are willing to share !! haha 

Waiting on Allison to deliver the pencil crayons and mermaid stickers I ordered for Colorado !! And Sun magazines from Deb, and The Globe from Michel, and The Devils Highway, from Alfonso.  Thank you all so much.  

I welcomed Faye to the Casita yesterday, where she'll stay for 3 months.  She who brings the beads and teaches us all to make jewlery !!  Love having her here !

On that note so much still to be done. It's sunny and cool here, low of 20 celcius !!  Sorry Nova Scotia and everywhere down the East Coast !!  I hope Mother Nature will be kinder to you in the coming months .  

I love taking pictures of the kids, and so will include a few more from this years Christmas Parties !!

Boxing Day was quieter than usual, which always works well just the same. I got to get to know some new people, but was thrilled to walk up and spend a few hours with our Angel
Gorgonia, alhil 4 ft 10 inches of her.  Must get her photo in my archieves !!

Best wishes for the coming year.  The next time I write, I'll be a year older !!  Check out Yelapa School Project.com next week for more updates !!

Thank you all for being my friends !!

Dancing for the Dead Photos November 2nd 2017