Feliz Navidad

I see a Christmas Tree in a few houses around town.

And lots of Poinsettias and pictures of Baby Jesus.

Church bells are very active the last week or so.
A lovely sound, and the new Church bell from 3 years ago, does not disappoint.

If you've been at Ray or Gloria's restaurant when it starts to ring, you get the full impact of its power ! 

It rained 3.5 inches early in the month ! 

We so needed it, and I wish it would do that every month, except, there are tiny specks of light coming through the thatched roof of my house.
The very last thing a person would want !!

I'm so used to it now, I can manage, but 1st thing May 2019, 
we'll tear down the old and put up the new.

So many Palapas are disappearing, being replaced by tarps, or corrugated panels or cement. It's not an easy thing to do,
live in the jungle with an open house, with a thatched roof,
but I still wouldn't want it any other way ! 

In the meantime it's a chilly December.
Great big sea, huge swells and highest tides !
Hard not to love it, though Sister Sea can be wearisome
and relentless at these times, Solstice and Full moon !!

I made 2 out of 4 School Christmas Parties, back to back at the Yacht Club. Dinner with Prepa and Breakfast with Secondary. Another few years of parties I'll have a lot of material to make a great a slide show.
Sounds like a job for an Intern Student !
Check Yelapa School Project face book or website to see this years photos !

The School Project received a $ 200.00 usd donation last week !!! So so happy and grateful to Andrew C. !
I don't know who he is, or where he lives, but saw the School Project Postcard on his first visit here ! Went home and bam !
sent us money !! 

Also received 2 laptops, a bunch of basket,volley, soccer balls and skipping ropes for Secondary School !

Thank you to Daniel, and his generous School Director, and to Judith, Alexi, and your generous supporters in Quebec, who also sent a Tablet down that workd perfect for Sama !

An Anonymous donation of $ 200.00 usd was also received this month to go towards his extra therapy sessions of accupuncture and pilates !!

Another tablet came into my hands a week later, and now, Mateo finally has his own computer, and he loves it.
Tiny but perfect size for him to take with him back and forth !
Thank you Yelapa Linda Linda and friend xo

Thank you everyone so much for making a contribution to improve students lives  !

We can never forget that there are still so many very inspiring people with positive energy working together to make the world a better place.

If you would like to make a contribution by becoming a Volunteer, positions are available for 
yoga introduction,
drawing classes, music, singing, etc.
Tutor/ Instructor, math , physics, chemistry, biology 
                                   french, korean, english 

Making a difference without spending money is possible everytime you interact with a young person !

This kind of great work is being done by the Isa Mundo Foundation.

It is a very active supporter of programs in Puerto Vallarta, Boca de Tomatlan, and now are planning a work trip to Yelapa, March 2019. 

I met with representatives Ed and Jo, brainstorming session
on the beach !! in Boca, and was able to meet the ESL teacher working hard over there !

Partnering with Iza Mundo, in some way shape or form, to complete or begin initiatives, programs, etc. is the ultimate goal !!  

Very very fortunate for us !! 

School holidays last until early January, except for Prepa/ Cobaej, who won't return til February.

Not sure if this is still job training/ interning, or just an extended break. 

I'll have to ask Erik ! and get back to you !

Welcome to high season

Time is flying by. Slows down for a little bit, but speeds up too, when we're not looking ! and bam ! winter has arrived,
also know here as dry season. Rainy season and dry. 

There are always water issues, but this time of year seems to be high need for cleaning lines of mud, repairing damage from fallen and rolling rocks, and machete the jungle back to get to the line in the first place ! 

Very low rain fall this year, and it was also late in coming.

The lines to this house are closed pending repair. 

Due diligence is so necessary to see where there are rusty and worn lines. Some lines rubber and some galvanized steel.
Each year I plan to walk the line with Abalardo, but I haven't done it yet !! I'll be okay with one 1200 litre tank for a while, but it means no laundry, no water for the garden, and conserve and reuse, as always.

More people, more garbage, that's a fact of life !!
Plastic Recycle depot is so necessary. Vallarta Adventures may have a program going again, but I'm not sure.
The Company brought in metal barrels for garbage, but some have disappeared again. They may have been too heavy to pick up and empty, plus they didn't have lids, and it could get pretty nasty in there ! 

There is a new " Sheriff " in town ! 
Known as the Deligado, serving terms of 2 years as our Government Representative, but this year we have a change to Deligada !!  Feminine !! 
Good Luck Vero !!

Everyone I've spoken to has had encouraging words for her, and confident she'll do a great job !!
There is a lot of clean up and repair going on in and around the facility of the new office, great place for recycle canisters !
Gaby continues to hold the office together, and remains constant. Thank You Gabriella !

The temperature dropped overnight, from a low of 23 to
a low of 19 !! Brrr ! Ocean temperature from 89 to 82 !!
It may be down to 79 or 80 now !! Crystal clear and good fishing ! Sunshine and clear skies ! Gorgeous !

So many tourists and part time residents return this time of year. Lots of hugs and kisses going around. 
All restaurants open, almost.
Cafe Bajia will be opening soon, in the location next door .

The first Yoga group arrived at The Sky Temple, and again our high school, aka Prepa, and Secundary dance teams will rotate performances every Tuesday evening, in El centro.
Dancing kicked off at the Yacht Club this year, at the request of a special wedding party !!  Great way for them to start the season !

Excitement builds for November 20th ... 
Day of the Revolution !
Parade on the beach and Fiesta in town that night !!
This is the night to choose a new Yelapa Queen !
My favorite Fiesta to take pictures !

Yelapa celebrates 30 of of Secondary School this year.
Grades 7, 8 and 9 !
Bitter sweet in one way without Maestro Pedro who started it all, but we will all do our best to make him proud !

I continue to volunteer at the high school, and am attracting more students to my little school in town, which is heart warming, and work making . I'm tossing ideas around how to fund a student to assist me .

We are all so stunned by the destruction in California. 
Heart breaking and so so scary, in so many ways.
Best Wishes to all.

how to train a lizard

Buenos dias Amigos !!  and Happy October !!

Usually the rainy season draws to a close this month, but we're all hoping that isn't the case this year !! Another 30 or 40 inches, ( my guess ) is still needed to get us to the 80 inches mark, which is our high average ! Nothing to do but wait and see.

5 inches fell one evening, in a downpour, causing a little damage with larger plants falling over, new leaks in the palapa roof, and mud everywhere ! Some of my neighbours closer to the ocean experienced a small mud slide into the house, but not me. The trail is brutal after a rain like this, you'll never know what you may find washed down the mountain, and the mud, as I said before, reminds me of black ice on the winter roads of the North.

Heavy rain in the hills north of us, flooding the river, turning the bay brown and silty. Tree branches, coconuts and debris tumble down the small canyons all around us and swimming is not recommended.

Plus 2 crocodiles were seen close to the playita !! 
They roll down the canyons too !!

Last time they were closer to the hotel pier, but this time closer to town pier ! I don't know the outcome, but the 
Environmental Agency was notified, as per last time, I assume !??
  
My two biggest issues, besides the leaky roof, are the 2 lizards and 2 frogs who enjoy sharing the house with me.
Both pair mother and child I believe !? 
What to do ?  

After the rainy season really comes to an end, the frogs will
go away on their own; do they die, head back to the river ? 
But the lizards stick around all year long. 

The same family has been here for years, I'm sure.
I stopped feeding them papaya a while ago, trying to train them to stay out of the house !! 

I chase them off the deck with the broom or Wendel's hockey stick, which also works well for the land crabs in early summer !

So they lizards have moved to the roof !
This calls for a professional, although Donna up the hill snares her own pesky lizards and takes them down the hill away from her house, but they come back.
I'll need these ones to go far far away ....

It's been almost 2 weeks since Santos, of Casa Isabel for 30 years plus, passed away of a heart attack, at home.
Father of Marilou, and Janet, and Marina and Mario, and a son in the USA who made it in time for the burial.
He worked very hard his whole life, the majority side by side with Isabel, and with his wife Ramona. 
Rest in Peace Don Santos.

School is ticking along pretty good ! I met the new teachers !
Kinder is so spectacular, but some furniture and other incidentals still missing. I'll be going up again this week to deliver the flag, for the lovely flag pole standing over the playground, donated by a Friend of Yelapa .

Primaria has teachers for each grade, although still could use extra help with the large class size. A grant is expected, and they would like to cover the cement playground area so to be more functional in the rain and under the hot sun.
Great idea ! We shall see !

Saludos amigos .... Enjoy your fall !! 

photos of summer

rainy season

Good Sunday morning, everyone !! Cool here this morning,
24 Celsius with high of 32 today ...76 F. - 90 F ....
that's thanks to rain the last few days.
Pressure to get new plant cuttings into the ground !
Like May in the north, this is planting season ! Much easier here in so many ways. For one, I barely have to dig hole, 
just push the branch into the earth, and we're done ! 
You have to deal with mosquitoes, and all those other creatures that love eyes, and ears, and noses, and always
on the look out for ants. No gardening in flip flops, or
you pay the price if you get to close to them, especially the red fire ants, so aptly named !

A tragic accident on an ATV just a few weeks ago.

A man of 81 years was killed when the ATV coming towards his ATV ( on which he was a passenger, and was at a full stop) lost control and hit his vehicle. He was thrown, or rolled over, I'm not sure, and his head was severely injured. He died after
just 3 or 4 days in hospital. So sudden and frightening and very sad. He was very well known in the village and leaves
behind his wife, and a large family, including his grandson,
Sama, our young para glider / flier who was injured in a swimming accident, in Boca, close to 8 months ago.
Sama came home to Yelapa for the funeral, and he will stay here and continue with his therapy.
He gets stronger every day !

The ATV's are extremely dangerous. Partly because of the
path being so narrow and full of curves and blind spots;
partly because of the constant horse and mule " trains " carrying building material up and down; partly Vallarta Adventure walking tour groups, or tourists on horses;
plus, more and more motorcycles, and bicycles !!,
all adds up to accidents waiting to happen !
Use great care in walking. 
Be aware of your surroundings; what's up ahead, and
what's coming behind !  
Hopefully in the near future, steps will be taken to manage and control the flow of traffic. Not sure how that will be accomplished, very difficult task , for the whole world !! 

The new Kindergarten opened this week, and I found out 2 hours later ! so didn't get up there, after all my anticipation !!
I will visit asap to take pictures, and satisfy my curiousity.

Two new teachers there, and 3 new at Primaria, with 1 still missing, 2 new at Telesecundary, and 1 still missing at Prepa !
Boy. 
I may not have liked some of my teachers, but at least they were consistent !! An added layer of distraction always getting to know a new teacher, but this has been the way for students of Yelapa forever. That's why Maestro Pedro was so extra special !! Constant for almost 30 years !

I'm filling in at Prepa, English Fridays for 2 hours.
Secundary English is at 9 am, so they'll have to change the time on that if they want my help !! The schedule comes from Guadalajara, and this year the class is once a week from
9 am - noon, for all levels, on the same day !!  !! Yikes !!

After 3 weeks break from Mi Escuelita, the kids are coming back to their groups, and more students are participating, which is thrilling, for me ! Also giving 2 adults private lessons and 1 adult group slowly starting to form. 
I look forward to the next 10 weeks of classes. 

It's been a hot hot summer, as usual, with little rain so far. 
A lot of power outages, as usual, but more this year.
Rain in the mountains though.

The lagoon is part of the sea, the mouth of the river open wide. Flooded streets in Tuito and San Miguel and elsewhere.
Walking home from school at 6:30 pm, traversing the skinny wooden bridge, over small raging mountain run off ...
avoid the mud ... it's just like black ice !!

Rainy season adventures continue ....

Summer Holidays

Good morning from the green jungle of Yelapa. Still not enough rain, only 6 inches, approximately, more in Puerto Vallarta I understand, same as years past. 
It's a funny thing, talking about the weather around here.
It can be heavy grey clouds, but the locals seem to know when the rain will come. Looks like rain to me, I'll say, but he or she will looks up, and very confidently tell me, No, Kelley, not today !! And they'll be right.
Sama is in Puerto Vallarta, continuing his intense physical therapy to get walking again. He has a new modern, light weight wheelchair, with special wheel to put on for going to the beach !! His best friend on school vacation, so he will be visiting, and giving the family a bit of respite ! He's learning
English, whether he likes it or not, since it'shis step moms first language !!
I am getting positive feedback on NOTEBOOKS for the students to use, rather than replacing the old laptops with lap tops !  Seems a lot of schools don't even have coputer labs anymore, with students working on Tablets or Notebooks in the classroom. The most exciting thing about the change, for me, would be the configuration of the computer lab, to provide more much needed storage space for the dancing costumes of TeleSecundaria Group Marlin, and Cobaej.
The groups are fortunate to have received enough donations to purchase so many different outfits, that it must be a priority to keep them in good condition.  The space could also be used to expand Secundaria library and create a display of the many trophys won over the years. 
You know my next sentance .... looking for volunteers to assist in this project !!
Graduations were all well done and well attended !! 
So much work by the teachers, and parents, and students, to pull this off.
The graduation gowns of Kinder and Cobaej and decorations and dress up gowns and most everything else coming from Puerto Vallarta.  There are 3 clothing shops in town, and one or 2 or 3, up river that have beautiful things to buy, but for this quantity, most is purchased in PV.
Please check YELAPA SCHOOL PROJECT.COM and scroll down to bottom left to see photos I posted there of all the graduations. Special congratulations to the Graduates of Cobaej, Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Jalisco, aka,
Prepatoria. I will post to the site a tribute to this amazing and inspiring group. Dedication to dance and basketball and soccer won them many trophies and ribbons over the years.
A huge accomplishment,especially with the challenges of
living somewhat isolated !!
Big tourist season so far !! The beach has been packed,with day trippers mostly. Great for all the businesses and workers who make their living there, horse rentals included !!
Took my 2nd ride in a ATV taxi from graduation dinner on the beach !!  Wasn't too bad but I had K. Hill with me to keep me calm. They are being well used in the Village, but still there are concerns about speeding and traffic jams. Grade 6 students made banner about Safety in Yelapa, and hung up on the bridge in town. A great first step !! Also a new sign at the playita, announcing a 5,000 $ peso fine for littering !!
I wouldn't mind the Garbage Police job,incognito, of course!!
 Particularly difficult time to have Yelapa looking beautiful,
sweep sweep and more sweep inside and out, all over town.
The rains will come and wash it all away, soon.  It reminds me, somehow, of the snow melt in the north, that in between time of changing seasons.  We have had a few wild light shows, where you could hurt your eyes by looking, with some thunder, but the best is yet to come, we hope.
Good luck with your weather, and enjoy the good with the bad !! 

Water and Power

No rain yet !!  It's coming, we can see that, but when is the question ? There was a good soaking in downtown Puerto Vallarta last Monday, but nothing here.
It is amazing how some plants are giving off their flowers now, in such dry conditions, but the hills are bare, and waiting, like the rest of us.
I added 2 tarps on my roof this year, and a plastic tarp on the top crown . Something new I hope will keep out those first leaks of the season, before the palapa swells up, and is more or less, rain proof . A new roof is on the list, but I don't know if I will use palapa again or not, but most probably. It is
traditional, and cool, and very special to live here, in a
thatched roof, not easy, but special !!
In the meantime, favorite books are in their plastic bags, to protect from termites, and land crabs, and all their friends who drop in over the summer months.
It's house fly season right now, and ants are out in all their millions, different colours, sizes, and agendas !!
Not bad with mosquitoes yet, they too are waiting for rain, then they will visit for a little while, nothing nothing nothing,
compared to my little village in N.W.Ontario !! 
Like everything, over time we adjust. Instead of 4 seasons,
we have 2, wet and dry. I can't say I miss the 4 seasons.
I'm grateful I got to know them well, to play in the snow, 
and skate and slide and all the rest. Now, I have to watch my step for toads, and land crabs, and mud puddles, instead of
black ice !
The 7 High School Dancers who were given Visas to travel to USA, have already been there and back ! 
San Fransisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz !! 
What a roller coaster ride !
Difficult decision to leave their group behind, but how could they not go, with family there waiting to see them?
All is done now, and we move on to final month of classes, then exams, then Graduation in early July. 
There is a lot of school news, that I will post on
Yelapa School Project face book. If you don't have facebook, please go to the website, and scroll down to see the latest posts. Please give feedback on any issue of accessibility to the site. 
Grades 3 and 4 will finish the year early, since the those teachers have been transfered to another school !
We go through this almost every year !!
More on that at YelapaSchoolProject !! plus ...
Researching options for new computers for all of Junior High, Grades 7, 8, and 9. Approx. 60 students, now, but growing. Any feedback on Chrome books / tablets, in the classsroom ? Sounds like thats the way to go ... 
Mi Esquilita, My little school English Program coming along in fits and starts and bits and pieces. Back patio space privacy wall has been completed, for the time being, and it's
fantastic ! Sink has been installed and plumbing good to go ! 
I'm very pleased to move on to ... to ... whatever will evolve there. Painting, and drawing, and movement and eating snacks !!  Calling all volunteers !!   
Cafe Bajia sits, empty and forlorn.  It looks so small.
How Susana did what she did is remarkable. She's out of town now, with a friend, resting. Wishing her all the best in whatever lies ahead for her. Such a drastic event, with Ronco ending up in the hospital too ! He's home now, and happy.
His grandaughter Sol Kamila, celebrated her 15th birthday
in high style, for 2 days, and he was able to dance, a little, with her at the party. 
Electrical Outage was the main theme of May. Three times in less than 2 weeks. Once for 30 hours, once 18.  Without a generator, or solar power, to run your fridge, now is not the time to fill your freezer.  We learn that over and over, the hard way. Life really slows down, when there is no fan to retreat to.
30 hours to repair lines damaged by a fire in Tuito area.
Hopefully, that will be the end of that. 
Very quiet in town, but there was a wedding last night, with fireworks !! shake us up a little !! And some tourists walking along, and still many on Vallarta Adventure Day tours.
These tourists are guided through town now, to check out fruit trees and what not ?, since there is no water coming over the town waterfall to look at !! That will change soon, we hope.
There has need a Water Commissioner appointed, more like he graciously volunteered !  Pumps have been purchased,
the reservoir is under maintenance to improve capacity and etc. It's going to take a while to stabilize the whole procedure, but this is the critical stage, when the river runs dry.  With the rains, will come new life, and peace of mind.
There is not much to life, when the tanks run dry.
I am looking forward to summer holidays from school, but will the use the time to prepare for the coming new year.
Big changes abound. I also hope to get more time in with this blog, and my poetry pursuits. 
For now, I'm thrilled to listen live to NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs !! I can't live stream, but having it on the radio, 
here in my palapa, so far away, is a perfect life for me !!
KICK BUTT LAS VEGAS !!