Back in action

I see that it is more than 3 weeks since my last post. The information on shigella said that although most people recover quickly, it is often some weeks before they get full energy back. Because of a pinched nerve, I had stopped jogging for 3 weeks or so. When I started again, I found that it was much harder and I tired so much more. I didn’t do much work on my Spanish either. On the jog today was the first time that I started to feel even close to what I was before. Also, while Barb was visiting Toronto and Nova Scotia from July 14 - 27, I did not do much and didn’t feel I had anything to say.

We did get our 3 niñas yesterday. It was a real pleasure to see how excited they were to see us after 3 weeks. Barb had brought back a number of dresses and other things for the kids (including the Canada t-shirts); she brought backpacks. Those were a real hit. Once they were given them, they didn’t want to take them off, even while they were eating! When we took them to the play area in the Ajijic malecón, as you can see, they kept them on while on the swings and slide.

The rains in July have been much less this year, although we have had a couple of good rains in the last week or so. Especially, there can be big differences in the amount of rain just a short distance apart. Letitia, our maid, was excited one day. Here in La Floresta, we had a nice (15 mm.) rain and a small amount of hail. However, in Chapala where she lives (not much more than 5 kms. away), there was a great deal of hail and a lots of rain. The latter had meant that they had had to cope with many leaks and drips. Most houses here have leaks; with rains confined to a 4 month rainy season, one forgets. As the end of the rainy season comes into view, why bother? We have had only one leak this year and not every rain. There is only a small puddle which soon dries up. A large number of roof tiles would have to be taken up to find the one small leak. Thus, we have not felt compelled to do anything.

One thing I did do while Barb was away was go to the movie house. It is located upstairs in the small mall where the El Torito supermarket is. Thus, it is only a 10-12 minute walk away. The first movie I went to was the latest Harry Potter movie. Newly released movies appear here very quickly. They are in English (except of course Spanish language movies) with Spanish sub titles. It was distracting because I was intrigued to see how much Spanish I could understand and especially to see how they translate slang. The movie prices are very inexpensive. For the Harry Potter at 6:30 p.m., I paid 38 pesos (less than Can. $3.50). I did go to a second movie matinee on Sunday. The ticket was 20 pesos! However, as in Canada, the money is in the food. I got a medium bucket of pop corn and small pop-- 40 pesos! That is still inexpensive by Canadian standards, but twice the price of the movie.