Good morning.
The bay of banderas enjoys 300 days of sunshine, so says the tourist bureau, but today is not one of them ! The first day of rain last year was June 5th, and we may be on track to repeat or beat that !
I'm ready with a new palapa roof !! Looks and smells organic ! and I love it.
I hope it lasts 8 years , that brings us to 2027 !!!! OMG !
I am lucky to have a casita on the property I could stay in during the 6 days it took to do the work , but now I'm ready to begin the clean up and moving back in,which will take another 6 days, with help on the weekend .
I didn't get one photo of the Festival of the Virgin Guadalupe, the Patron Saint of Mexico . Nine days of processions, with each neighborhood taking a turn.
Sunday was Confirmation at the Catholic church, with a fiesta at the basketball court later in the evening but I missed that too !
A Folklore Dance group visited Yelapa last week. Dancers from Italy, Panama and Columbia. It was a great event, with vendors below the basketball court in the new town square. It started very late, as they had to wait for the other half of the stage to arrive, and I lost my stamina, but it was a full house.
I must go and attend to my house.
More news and photos to come.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Friday, April 12, 2019
Spring
Buenos Dias one and all and ....
Happy Spring Forward !
At Yelapa's first Farmers Market on March 29th, a tourist asked me if it was Spring in Yelapa, since it does look more like fall, with leaves scattering and every surface dry and dusty.
It is Spring, because next will be summer, but really there are 2 seasons, wet and dry.
We changed our clocks last week and I can't decide what time I like better. Fishermen need their flashlights in the morning now, but the evenings are brilliant, with the sun's evening light reflecting off the hillside. Beauty.
Still trees flowering, Primavera maybe, which may be the one that changes colour !? And my Plumeria has more flowers then ever before, and the Nopale cactus are beginning to flower pink !
A little too early to anticipate the rain, but soon.
Yard work goes on and on but watering banana trees will soon be pointless. The sun is so intense, with the dry sandy soil it will time to cut them all back, and they will grow again when the rains come.
I've macheted a few already, myself !!
Life on a pinhead, is how one person described Yelapa Life. Life and Death so close when ( practically ) everyone is related. The births not as easy to keep track of, as the deaths.
Santiago. Dead at 93. Give or take a year or two.
A Yelapa legend, good and bad.
He lay in his bed dying, for a long time.
Twenty years ago, at my first Full moon fire on the beach, I saw him dance around it.
Swirling his cape and his face lit by the firelight.
His eyes, black holes, piercing up from under his hood.
I included it in my YELAPA poem, because for that moment, I saw my dead Mother, dancing there, under his hood.
And now, some of his family, are like family to me !
Matilde. Younger brother of Gorgonia, Margarito, and more. Died 3 days ago. Maybe 80 years young. Cancer.
He took to his bed and died within the month.
Shock and disbelief ! But, he was spared, and his family
were spared, the long sufferring pain and agony Cancer can bring.
Mày they rest in peace.
One thing I learned through this is, one bell from the church means, the walk to the Cemetary begins.
Babies and pregnancies out number the death by a good margin. Not sure when the next census will take place but I'll bet we are over 2500 inhabitants now !
The Farmers Market was fabulous, although there wasn't a lot of farm produce ! Cupcakes and Margaritas, the ever popular french fries with cut up weiners on top!
Yelapa art students work was on display and for sale, plus jams and jellies, including mango, which I want a continuous supply of !
I believe the plan is a market the 29th of every month, in high season only maybe, not sure , but great idea, and it will grow by leaps and bounds !
The event is held below the stairs leading up to the new Yelapa Museum ! It's been open about a month, sharing space with the Sheriff's office . It is so impressive, and that's just from the outside ! I'll be making my first visit over the Easter Break !
Today is the last day of school for 2 weeks.
Students will be in full gear when they return as Regional competitions, in all areas of study, will begin mid May for Secundary, Cobaej early June.
Group Marlin Folkloric dancers, and Cobaej Basketball have high hopes and expectations to do well !
Practice Practice Practice
I hosted the Canada Chapter of Young Leaders Youth Network, based in Vancouver, with special guest from
Isa Mundo foundation !
It happened that Primary and Kindergarten had their Spring Festival on the beach at the same time, so it was great timing for them to see all the kids together !
We visited the schools and installed soap dispensers in the bathrooms, and distributed all the books and school and office supplies, wastepaper baskets, and etc. etc. etc.
It was a great experience to connect with them, and look forward to more networking in the future !
Thank you GLYN and ISA MUNDO !
Check out their websites !!
Communication opens so many doors !!
I will be back to posting the 1st Monday of the month.
That's my plan.
Life will get back to pin head size when high season comes to an end, and the hot weather slows us down.
Gracias a dios !
Happy Spring Forward !
At Yelapa's first Farmers Market on March 29th, a tourist asked me if it was Spring in Yelapa, since it does look more like fall, with leaves scattering and every surface dry and dusty.
It is Spring, because next will be summer, but really there are 2 seasons, wet and dry.
We changed our clocks last week and I can't decide what time I like better. Fishermen need their flashlights in the morning now, but the evenings are brilliant, with the sun's evening light reflecting off the hillside. Beauty.
Still trees flowering, Primavera maybe, which may be the one that changes colour !? And my Plumeria has more flowers then ever before, and the Nopale cactus are beginning to flower pink !
A little too early to anticipate the rain, but soon.
Yard work goes on and on but watering banana trees will soon be pointless. The sun is so intense, with the dry sandy soil it will time to cut them all back, and they will grow again when the rains come.
I've macheted a few already, myself !!
Life on a pinhead, is how one person described Yelapa Life. Life and Death so close when ( practically ) everyone is related. The births not as easy to keep track of, as the deaths.
Santiago. Dead at 93. Give or take a year or two.
A Yelapa legend, good and bad.
He lay in his bed dying, for a long time.
Twenty years ago, at my first Full moon fire on the beach, I saw him dance around it.
Swirling his cape and his face lit by the firelight.
His eyes, black holes, piercing up from under his hood.
I included it in my YELAPA poem, because for that moment, I saw my dead Mother, dancing there, under his hood.
And now, some of his family, are like family to me !
Matilde. Younger brother of Gorgonia, Margarito, and more. Died 3 days ago. Maybe 80 years young. Cancer.
He took to his bed and died within the month.
Shock and disbelief ! But, he was spared, and his family
were spared, the long sufferring pain and agony Cancer can bring.
Mày they rest in peace.
One thing I learned through this is, one bell from the church means, the walk to the Cemetary begins.
Babies and pregnancies out number the death by a good margin. Not sure when the next census will take place but I'll bet we are over 2500 inhabitants now !
The Farmers Market was fabulous, although there wasn't a lot of farm produce ! Cupcakes and Margaritas, the ever popular french fries with cut up weiners on top!
Yelapa art students work was on display and for sale, plus jams and jellies, including mango, which I want a continuous supply of !
I believe the plan is a market the 29th of every month, in high season only maybe, not sure , but great idea, and it will grow by leaps and bounds !
The event is held below the stairs leading up to the new Yelapa Museum ! It's been open about a month, sharing space with the Sheriff's office . It is so impressive, and that's just from the outside ! I'll be making my first visit over the Easter Break !
Today is the last day of school for 2 weeks.
Students will be in full gear when they return as Regional competitions, in all areas of study, will begin mid May for Secundary, Cobaej early June.
Group Marlin Folkloric dancers, and Cobaej Basketball have high hopes and expectations to do well !
Practice Practice Practice
I hosted the Canada Chapter of Young Leaders Youth Network, based in Vancouver, with special guest from
Isa Mundo foundation !
It happened that Primary and Kindergarten had their Spring Festival on the beach at the same time, so it was great timing for them to see all the kids together !
We visited the schools and installed soap dispensers in the bathrooms, and distributed all the books and school and office supplies, wastepaper baskets, and etc. etc. etc.
It was a great experience to connect with them, and look forward to more networking in the future !
Thank you GLYN and ISA MUNDO !
Check out their websites !!
Communication opens so many doors !!
I will be back to posting the 1st Monday of the month.
That's my plan.
Life will get back to pin head size when high season comes to an end, and the hot weather slows us down.
Gracias a dios !
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Feliz ano nuevo !!
Time is flying by ... this is my first post since Christmas !
High Season is in high gear !! But it's a cold winter, overcast and rainy weather, but the swimming is good, so I'm told !
Just be sure to time your swim to sunny breaks !
There has been more then one whale coming right into the bay as of late. One was very close in front of the house slapping its fin on the water, over and over again !
For a few moments I thought it may be in distress, but
it wasn't, to my relief .
I had to leave for school, but later I was told there was another whale behind, giving birth !!
No way to confirm that exactly, but wonderful to think of it !
Life, death aging .
Santos, who worked for Isabel 20 years plus at the time of her death, and continued working for a few years after, but then retired and promptly got sick and died within 2 years ! Dementia. And his son Mario,
who returned to PV from San Jose,California, in a stretcher and paraplegic, 3 or 4 years ago, died within a month of Santos passing .
Sisters and daughters and Ramona, Wife and Mother, had dedicated years to the care of these men, and now they are both gone. Bitter sweet release .
And the world keeps turning .
Small town living, life on a pin head, someone said .
So evident how everyone and everything is connected.
Especially with Mother Nature all around.
The moon and stars hang over my palm roof, as close as if my fingers could reconfigurate.
The sun moves over my shoulders in a way I don't remember from anywhere else I've ever been.
The month of June, the sun comes up through my toes .
Not so much anymore, only because I have curtains now to block the horrid security flood light on the beach, but still, the sun comes up betwèn my toes, I just have to open the curtains !
So many changes in Yelapa and it's hard for a small town to keep up, but ...
One new project come to Grand Opening, is the Yelapa Museum ! Located below the town basketball court, above the Hardware store. I have not yet been to visit,
but I must see and will report.
What I have seen, is the slate wall installed at the path entrance on hardware store side. 1000% improvement .
This is also the office of the Deligado, this election term,
Three years we have,Deligada, Feminine!
This is our representative to the County/Municipal Delegation of Tuitò. They who give money !! This is also , in my mind, a Sheriff sort of position, and it feels good, to me, to have a woman in the job. Right on, right on.
My focus now on mi escuelita English groups, and Yelapa School Project, and once a week teaching at Prepa.
I'm preparing for March 21st visit from representatives from Isa Mundo Foundation and GLYN; Global Leadership Youth Network, operating of Vaancouver BC
Please check in with Yelapa school project website or facebook page !
Also on Facebook is
more poetry please ,
where I have started, and hope to continue,
posting my original collection of poems !
Best wishes to all , for a joyful 2019 !!
High Season is in high gear !! But it's a cold winter, overcast and rainy weather, but the swimming is good, so I'm told !
Just be sure to time your swim to sunny breaks !
There has been more then one whale coming right into the bay as of late. One was very close in front of the house slapping its fin on the water, over and over again !
For a few moments I thought it may be in distress, but
it wasn't, to my relief .
I had to leave for school, but later I was told there was another whale behind, giving birth !!
No way to confirm that exactly, but wonderful to think of it !
Life, death aging .
Santos, who worked for Isabel 20 years plus at the time of her death, and continued working for a few years after, but then retired and promptly got sick and died within 2 years ! Dementia. And his son Mario,
who returned to PV from San Jose,California, in a stretcher and paraplegic, 3 or 4 years ago, died within a month of Santos passing .
Sisters and daughters and Ramona, Wife and Mother, had dedicated years to the care of these men, and now they are both gone. Bitter sweet release .
And the world keeps turning .
Small town living, life on a pin head, someone said .
So evident how everyone and everything is connected.
Especially with Mother Nature all around.
The moon and stars hang over my palm roof, as close as if my fingers could reconfigurate.
The sun moves over my shoulders in a way I don't remember from anywhere else I've ever been.
The month of June, the sun comes up through my toes .
Not so much anymore, only because I have curtains now to block the horrid security flood light on the beach, but still, the sun comes up betwèn my toes, I just have to open the curtains !
So many changes in Yelapa and it's hard for a small town to keep up, but ...
One new project come to Grand Opening, is the Yelapa Museum ! Located below the town basketball court, above the Hardware store. I have not yet been to visit,
but I must see and will report.
What I have seen, is the slate wall installed at the path entrance on hardware store side. 1000% improvement .
This is also the office of the Deligado, this election term,
Three years we have,Deligada, Feminine!
This is our representative to the County/Municipal Delegation of Tuitò. They who give money !! This is also , in my mind, a Sheriff sort of position, and it feels good, to me, to have a woman in the job. Right on, right on.
My focus now on mi escuelita English groups, and Yelapa School Project, and once a week teaching at Prepa.
I'm preparing for March 21st visit from representatives from Isa Mundo Foundation and GLYN; Global Leadership Youth Network, operating of Vaancouver BC
Please check in with Yelapa school project website or facebook page !
Also on Facebook is
more poetry please ,
where I have started, and hope to continue,
posting my original collection of poems !
Best wishes to all , for a joyful 2019 !!
Thursday, December 20, 2018
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 !
Sunday, November 18, 2018
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.
Monday, October 8, 2018
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 !!
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 !!
Sunday, September 9, 2018
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