Doing things up Veracruz style!!!

This post is going to be short and sweet, but I just can't help myself. Last Sunday hubby and I decided to hit the road and drive to the city of Veracruz, Mexico from our home in Cancun. Literally on a whim. I believe it took us in total close to 13 hours actual driving time, but we did decide to spend a night in a city called Villahermosa which is in the State of Tabasco. Beautiful little city, and I'll have some pictures to post when I get home.

Veracruz has been a great treat, and a place where we've talked about visiting together for a while. My suegro is actually from the State of Veracruz, and has always told us stories about why we needed to visit. Not that we really needed them as an excuse. We have been staying in the historical part of Veracruz which has allowed us to walk around, and really enjoy the Zocalo. One of the things I wish Cancun had..... a "real" Zocalo.

As I mentioned above, short and sweet, but here are a couple of photos I've taken over the last few days.... A full trip report to come when I return to Cancun. In the time being I am going to enjoy my time here in Veracruz to the fullest.

Give me one reason to watch.....

In less than 38 days the GREATEST sporting event in the world will have it's opening ceremonies - World Cup 2010 in South Africa. I, like many soccer/futbol fans wait patiently for these games to take place every 4 years. This round is no different.... The last World Cup took place 4 years ago in Germany, and my family had the pleasure of going ... without me. Tear. This year with it taking place in S. Africa we weren't sure if it would be safe to travel or not. There is always 2014 in Brazil.
The host nation will take on Mexico for the opening match on June 11th, 2010. This is going to be a huge game for Mexico and South Africa as all of Mexico expects their team to win, and a lot of other people are rooting for the host nation.... Never had anyone imagined that S. Africa would be ready to host such an event. With the apartheid ending not even 20 years ago, and rugby and soccer dueling to be the nations BIG sport, all factors that should make the game a very entertaining one to watch. I, of course, will be chearing for Mexico.

This morning I was searching some of my favourite gossip sites, and I fell upon an article that I know many of my female readers, whether fans of soccer/futbol or not, will enjoy. Vanity Fair has put together a brief video, and pictorial for an upcoming issue. You can view this on-line now here : http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/05/world-cup-cover-story.html&prev=/search%3Fq=vanity+fair&hl=es&rurl=translate.google.es&usg=ALkJrhiWh73SWMce2RuJG4H0qqdmzQD4gQ
Basically, some of my favourite players are wearing not much more than a pair of briefs with their home countries flag. Never has patriotism looked so good. At least for Portugal ...hello Christiano Ronaldo...

If you can't tell... I'm just a little bit of a futbol NUT!!!! To some people it is fair to say that futbol is their religion. To me, that wouldn't be stretching too far from the truth. Televisions will be tuned for 30 days to any match that will be played, people will ditch work, ditch school, just to get a glimpse of some of the best players in the world battling for that one cup. The World Cup. Bragging rights for the next 4 years.

I can't wait.

Where did all my shoes go?

I, like most woman that I know have a "problem" when it comes to shopping. Do I have too much? Hard to say.... One of the first clues may be that I own a ton of shoes, but rarely wear any of them. I mean living here in Cancun you can't wear all those pretty high heels. Well at least this chicita can't. My feet swell up from the humidity, and I just can't imagine the pain I'd be in at the end of a night. I used to go by the phrase "beauty is pain", however, no more. Flip flops and sandals is about as fancy as I get - even the arch on my foot is starting to go.

Well....another sure sign you have too many shoes? You don't notice when they go missing. Yesterday morning our muchacha (cleaning lady) came to our house as per usual and started with some of her duties. I was sitting at the kitchen table sipping my coffee when I noticed the flip flops that she was wearing. I was PRETTY sure they were mine. Like 150% sure. Unless she was in Hawaii last year and bought them there...doubtful. I asked hubby to ask her, as my Spanish would just turn the conversation into a mess. Hubby asked "are those my wife's shoes"? She responded "No senor, your sister gave me these shoes" (we share the same cleaning lady). Sooo....we call my cunada who tells us she has never given her anything??? Okay, so now what? We asked her for her set of keys, and told her we just needed them to make an extra  copy, and on Monday she will go to my sister in laws for the talk. Maybe I left them at my sister in laws and she doesnt' remember giving them away? Unlikely, but maybe. I haven't been to my sister in laws place for well over a month, and I recall wearing them just a couple of weeks ago when my best friend was visiting.  Unfortunately, it looks as though we will probably have to let her go. It's only flip flops, but you just can't tolerate that. The only problem I face is if she really took them, would she really wear them to my  house? I would think not.... I don't want to get rid of her if she didn't do it, but at the same time I don't want to be stupid and keep her around. I really do like her, and I know she needs this job.

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Well.... I guess a woman really can have too many shoes!!!! How long were they gone before I even would have noticed?

Mmm..Pilates

Well I am really getting sick of talking about, thinking about, and worrying about scorpions so I thought I should change it up a little!! LOL!!! Also, those pictures still gross me out every time I see them so I can only imagine how bad they are for all of you!!! (We did find another blonde in our laundry basket!!!).
I am one of those ppl that keeps bitchin' about being out of shape, and how my clothes don't fit, but I was really not doing anything about it. I mean I have a really healthy diet, but that can only take you so far. It was time for me to get my ass away from the pool and into a gym!!

Two weeks ago my friend signed me up for her cardio pilates class (free trial), and even though every muscle in my body hurt I went back the next day and I have been hooked every since. The cost was 1200 pesos for a month of unlimited classes, and boy oh boy has it been worth every penny thus far!!!

I was pretty intimidated at first as the entire class is in Spanish, and 99% of the people that attend the classes are Spanish speakers (which they should be!!). The good thing is my Spanish is a heck of a lot better than I give myself credit for, the bad thing? I'm a heck of a lot more out of shape than I thought I was. Jajaja. Entonces,I go Monday thru Friday at the same time every morning. It's a 1 hour long class and I feel GREAT. The instructor is amazing, class size is small (6 max) and the equipment that is used is so different than your typical pilates class. I am enjoying it much more as I really feel the cardio aspect. My legs of course are not as straight as all the other students, but nonetheless I point that toe!!!!

I`m going to take some pics next week and post them up for all to see. I wish I could do it this week, but I am off to Jamaica for a friends wedding so will be giving these legs of mine a break!!!

Update: Attack of the scorpions!

I thought I should do an update as these suckers just won't go away. Put an F where the S is and that's really how I feel!!!
Minutes after writing my blog post the other day we found another, and another, and another scorpion. Making the total more than 7 in less than a week. We did have the fumigators come that day and spray the inside and outside of our home along with the 2 neighbours on either side. He warned us that once he sprayed the perameter around the houses the little suckers may make it inside within 2-3 days.

Poor us - we ended up taking a vacay down to the Secrets Maroma Beach Hotel for a few days. What a treat that was. I dont' know if I'd ever stay anywhere else ever again. I'll have to post some pics soon as the beach is rated as one of the top 3 in the world!!! By whom, I don't know. LOL. Who am I to disagree?!

The weather hasnt' been great. Needless to say, due to the poor weather conditions (putting things mildly) our fumigator wasn't able to fumigate the exterior properly. He also warned us that the weather could also cause the scorpions to seek refuge in our homes!!! F*&( me!!!!!

WELL....this morning my step-mom was going to use the washroom on our lower level and found a scorpion under the garbage can!!!!! They are already in our house, and this one was alive and breathing. I've been told the "blondies" are the worst kind here in Mexico, and guess what it was? A blondie. I'll have to look into this more. We are seriously looking at getting out of our place, but since we signed a year lease...it may not be possible, but I CAN"T LIVE with scorpions. Call me a princess, call me whatever you like - I can't do it, and I don't want to. I especially don't want to be scared to leave my dogs at home alone, or get up to use the washroom at night (bathroom for my American readers!!!). It`s not like we live in a jungle, we have a great backyard, and we have a gardener who takes care of things like fumigating the complex. What am I going to do? I am seriously stressing out over here.

HELP ME!!!!!!!!!

Escorpión

Really there isn't too much to say as pictures truly are worth a thousand words.

This fella was found outside our back patio, along with another little friend. To give you an idea he was larger than my hand spread out. The other was about the size of my pinky. Needless to say, we have the fumigators coming again on Wednesday and have informed our neighbours to do the same. Our cleaning lady found a dead one inside our house last week, and we found one in our BBQ cover (alive). This makes 4 in less than a week.... I'm not so much worried about me, but my two dogs...whole different story!!!

***********UPDATE**********

A mere minutes after writing this post hubby found ANOTHER in our BBQ cover bringing the count to 5 in less than a week. We took another pic, and I apologize for the quality as it was taken with hubbys Blackberry.

Missing..

Well I have just been having some of "those" days lately where I am missing a lot of things from back home. I have been spoiled with visitors, but I know the time is going to come where there won't be any for long periods and I'll just have to get used to that.

The home we are living in is just that "the home". It is not "my home". It usually does not take me long to adapt to new homes, my parents moved around a LOT when I was growing up. This is different - we are still waiting for our furniture to arrive as it's over 3 months late. It's been a real challenge for me trying to live in a place without any of my things, and we don't want to buy too much as we know its' coming...we hope anyways. Also, with having visitors coming and going we feel awful that we dont' have the basics set up for them as of yet.

I don't want to complain too much as I know I have it better than a lot of people. but I am just hitting that point where I miss my freedom. I miss being able to be self-sufficient. I have never had to rely on anyone for anything for as long as I've been an adult. I was very independent and did not mind doing things by myself. Heck, I enjoyed running errands on my own. Now, I am so dependent on my husband as we live in a fairly large city, and I don't feel comfortable enough to drive around by myself yet. I mean I will drive myself to Costco, or to my inlaws, but no more than that.

I'm also missing the ease of things from back home. I kid you not when I say our plumbing goes every other day, and it's always a new issue on top of an old one. The sink leaks, the toilet leaks, the hydro pump breaks, etc... We fix it and a week later they start going again.... WHY? Why can't plumbing just work? Why do I have to take a 2 minute shower everyday in fear that the hydro will go? Oh and our neighbour was stealing our water so I had little to no hot water. I know, shower in the cold - I'm in Cancun, right?

I'm hoping I get over this mood of mine fairly quickly, and I don't blame anyone if you dont' want to read about me getting these things off my chest, but I just need to say some things... Probably a lot more than I have. I don't want to talk to my husband about this too much as I think he is getting sick of me complaining about our furniture, and the house. Not even getting sick of it, but he takes it to heart and I don't want to stress him out. Ahh...life in Mexico... I love it, but why can't things be just a little bit easier? Oh well...in time.

On a plus note - the weather has been amazing, and my best friend is still here for another day.