Dinners With Friends

All work and no play makes me a dull lady! So, after school I make sure that I have some time with friends.

Yesterday I had dinner with 3 friends from the Colegio. Nieves, Emma, me, and Lucy (l to r) talked, laughed, reminisced and had a great time together. We plan to visit again before I leave.






Last Saturday, Anita, a teacher friend, invited me to have supper with her and a friend of hers. We went to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, "Cenaduria Tia Anita" which is a local restaurant open only on Saturdays and Sundays and serves (delicious) Mexican fare. No hamburgers here!!

The restaurant itself is so beautiful. Located outside in a lovely garden, one dines amongst the flowers!

This is the view as you enter the restaurant.

There is a walking path so you can stroll in the garden and enjoy the pretty flowers.

Further back is a fountain and the children can play here.

This is the restaurant itself. Most of it is under the roof but there are a few tables outside and I prefer to sit there in the garden.

My friend, Anita (in the white shirt) gets a hug from Gina's son! My bowl of Pozole is waiting for me at my place at the table. Yummmm! We had a good time.

Yes, that is a real, cloth, tablecloth on the table! Woo hoo!

Hasta luego.

More Pictures

These are some of the other homes in the Puerta del Sol Residencial.



This one is a biggie! The house on the left (with the gray car in front) has added a wooden carport.

They have a lot of plants. It softens the stark white, doesn't it?

I like the clean, simple lines of this house.

Trees growing on the balcony are not unusual! My friend in Guadalajara has the same kind of tree on her balcony!

Here is the pool house and, in the green building on the right, is a small kitchen.

Someone had a party there on Saturday afternoon and the white tent is still there. A band played under the tent for 4 hours. The main instruments were a bass drum and a tuba---2 instruments played very loudly and very badly! I think the musicians learned their instruments in the 4th grade and never made it to the 5th grade lessons!! Oh well, a good time was had by all and I survived the music!!

I will take some pictures inside the house soon.

Hasta luego.

My Neighborhood---Part Two

These pictures will show you inside my subdivision. I never lived in a gated community before--la-de-da! You met Alfredo yesterday and this is the entrance to the Puerta del Sol Residencial.





And the view as you leave the subdivision...





The houses are attached. Would you call them townhomes or cluster houses? maybe rowhouses? Typical of homes in Mexico, there is not a lot of property with the house. There is room to park the car in front and a small patch of grass in the back of the houses.

The house in the middle, with the balcony, is Lety's house. Right now there are only 3 homes there but they are building 3 more at the end of her street, which will complete her side of the street.

The wooden front door leads into the dining room/living room combination and that is the kitchen door on the left. The master bedroom upstairs has the balcony. There are 3 bedrooms and 3 baths in the house. My bedroom and bath is on the first floor and it opens out onto the back patio. Inside pictures will come later!

Across the street from "our" house is the pool. Very pretty! I haven't used it yet but I will have to take a dip before coming home.

As you can see, it is a new area and they have not completely finished building here, but it is a very lovely place and so convenient too everything. I am enjoying living here.

Hasta luego.

My Neighborhood--Part One

I am living with a friend in the same area of Vallarta that I was in last fall only now I am now closer to the "main drag". Francisco Ascencio is a major street in PV which goes from downtown out to the airport. The famous "Wal-Mart" and "Sam's" are on this street and are just 3 blocks from my house.

Since I am on the busy street, the "neighborhood" looks very different than my previous locale, but I am living in a gated community so I actually have 2 sections that I call "the neighborhood".

These pictures are of the area near our subdivision on Avenida Francisco Ascencio.



"Welcome"! I know I am welcome here in PV because the sign tells me so! This is right across the street, at the PV harbor, where the cruise ships dock. Generally in the evening, around 8 o'clock, I hear a low, long whistle which tells me the ship is leaving port. The next morning there is another one (or two) boats taking its place.

This is the San Javier Hospital. Sometimes the ambulances can be rather noisy but it is nice to know that bilingual doctors are near!

Next door to the hospital is a furniture store. Our subdivision is right behind this store.

Next is the street going into the subdivision. The name is Puerta del Sol Residential and Alfredo keeps a close watch over the gate. He always has a smile and he has been helpful to me. (He gave me a hand in carrying my groceries to the house last weekend!)

Next to our street is new construction going up on the corner. I don't know if this will be an office building or apartments but they started building last August and I have watched their progress!

Across the street from this "building-to-be" is the Wal-Mart/Sam's corner. It is about 3 blocks from my front door to the door of Wa-Mart so I can walk. And next to Wal-Mart is the "famous" VIPS restaurant where we often meet for dinner or meetings, and next to that is the new Liverpool department store. (Ladies, I will have to take some pictures of it and post them. You'll love it! A very classy store!)

So this is the first part of my new neighborhood. Tomorrow I will show you inside the subdivision. Stay tuned!

Hasta luego.

The Parish Meeting

Yesterday after the service at the Cristo del Mar Episcopal Church, there was a parish meeting. They invited me to stay. I'm not sure if this was the "annual meeting" (all Episcopalians know about that!) or if it was just a meeting of the parishioners.

Shirley Wehrs, the wife of the priest, and a couple ladies in the parish, provided a very nice lunch. We munched on croissant chicken and tuna salad sandwiches, delicious fruit salad and chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies for dessert.




Here we are at lunch. The men moved the chairs we used in the church service, put up the "church tables" and voila! we had a parish hall in which to eat and have the meeting! Father Jack is the one in the collar!

Someone going back for seconds!

Father Jack gave the history of the church here in Vallarta and explained how they were able to buy the property for the church.

He said that 7 years ago, he and Shirley came to PV to go sailing and fishing and they held the first service, with a few friends, on their sailboat. The service outgrew their boat and they moved to a larger boat. Eventually they needed a still larger space so they met at various locations in PV. Last fall they found this piece of property, across from the airport and on a bus line, and were able to buy it.

They had to do extensive remodelling, including a new roof, electrical and plumbing work, putting up walls and installing windows. It is really amazing to see how lovely it is now. There are bathrooms, a kitchen (which has yet to be remodeled) and an office area. Upstairs there is more room for offices and an apartment which they would like to modernize so priests from the USA could come to PV for a vacation, have a place to stay, and hold services during the summer. That would be a nice thing for the church as well as for the vacationing priests and their families.

Buying property in Mexico us not an easy thing to do and they ran into all kinds of obstacles trying to complete the sale. (I thought it was difficult to deal with the phone company! You don't know "problems" until you try to buy a piece of land here!)Finding the money to buy the building is still a dilemma and, of course, they are asking for donations from churches in the USA, as well as pledges from the congregation. The thing that Father Jack asked for the most: your prayers for this mission. I think we can all help with the prayers.

Pentecost Sunday, May 11th, (?) will be the last service here in PV before the Wehrs return to their home in San Diego.

I look forward to next Sunday.

Hasta luego.

Iglesia Cristo del Mar

This morning I attended church at the Iglesia Cristo del Mar Episcopal Church. They now have their own church building which they bought in December but had to do many renovations before they could hold services there. Their first service in the new building was on Christmas Eve.

Father Jack Wehrs, from San Diego, California, is the priest in charge and there are services from mid November until mid May. He is retired and he and his wife, Shirley, spend 6 months in Vallarta.

This is the small sign with the telephone number which is out front. Eventually they will have a larger sign.

The church is the building with the "straw" roof, (called "la palapa" in Spanish) behind the parked cars. The cars belong to a tenant upstairs who will be moving out in a month.






Upon entering the church, there is the reception table (in front with the guest book on it) and you can see through the church to the back patio.

I went out to the patio and took this photo looking into the back of the church. Can you see the 2 large picture windows? That is the front of the church, looking out on that parking lot. Those are poinsettia plants.

Here is the altar. They just got the altar table last month. Someone designed and made it and the large candle holder for the church. The red books on the chairs are bilingual Books of Common Prayer.

This is a better picture of the cross over the altar.

St. Mary is in the corner of the church.

Father Jack and Dale, the "organist" prepare for the service. The organ is a keyboard and Dale plays it well. The voices of all 20 members of the congregation, praising God, rose above the noises of the street.

After the service, there was a parish meeting. Tomorrow I will tell you about the meeting and more about the church.

The church is very pretty and the people were friendly. It was so nice to participate in an Episcopal service.

Hasta luego.

And Here I Am!

Here I am---back in sunny Mexico! The weather, so far, has been very nice. It gets warm (80 degrees F) during the afternoon and early evening but cools off at night and in the mornings. I even throw a light blanket over me at night. After being here in July-October and enduring the heat and rain, I sure understand why the "tourist season" is November through May: warm days, cool nights, and no rain.

I am celebrating my arrival at the harbor where the cruise ships dock. See photo below.







The rest of these pictures are taken in that welcoming area. People get off the ships and are greeted by this pretty fountain and the market behind it. That is the Crown Plaza Hotel in the distance.

Next is part of the beach behind the hotel where Lety, my friend, and I go walking at sunset. Doesn't that sound romantic?!! Mr. Neat should be here! He and I will have to come back for a vacation sometime.

Can you see the para sailor in the distance in a white parachute?

The Holland America cruise ship docked here yesterday. There are usually 2 or 3 ships that come and stay for 2 or 3 days. They leave at night and another takes its place by morning.

As you walk out toward the street, there are shops, Internet cafes, and kiosks to sign up for tours.

See the 4-wheeler parked in front of the red truck? And those are 2 kiosks behind it.

I am here for 6 weeks and I know the time will fly by. In future blogs I will you about my house and the cute kids I will be teaching. You'll love those pictures!

Hasta luego.