criplomats

Vallarta Sunset

I flew down to Puerto Vallarta mid-week to cover for our consular agent while she’s away on vacation. I really enjoy being in the small office; we have a great local staff and a busy schedule. In addition to the passport work, I visited three detained Americans and made a surprise visit to a nursing home to see six Americans who live there. All in a day’s work!

I was very happy that John decided to fly down Saturday morning to join me. We took the water taxi from Nuevo Vallarta where I’m staying down to Puerto Vallarta proper (much better way to travel than on land). We walked around for a bit until we couldn’t take the heat any longer, then we ducked into an air conditioned cafe for a glass of cold water. From there, we took a taxi up the hill to Allyn and Scotty’s condo to enjoy their company (and their gorgeous view!). Allyn is an old friend from college and is a hoot. We eventually made it down the hill to a lovely little restaurant called Layla’s – they have a creative menu and the food was really good. It was great to visit with the boys over a nice meal.

Today we packed in a lot. We started with breakfast outside overlooking the ocean, then hired a boat to take us through the mangrove canals. In addition to some lovely homes, we saw a young crocodile, about a million iguanas, and some good birds: pelicans, cormorants, great blue herons, snowy egrets, some sort of red-headed woodpecker, a kingfisher, a little green heron, and a lot of yellow-crowned night herons.

Pelican

Fishing boats along the canal

We got back to the hotel just in time for a massage on the beach – in an air-conditioned room with one-way glass looking out over the ocean.

Before we knew it, it was time for lunch and then time for John to grab a taxi back to the airport – a whirlwind trip but lots of fun!

So – it’s been a good week, all in all. Last Monday was a holiday and we went to see “The Martian” at the movie theatre across the street from us. We really enjoyed the movie – lots of fun.

Here’re a few shots from Vallarta.

Canal bridge

Yellow-crowned night heron

Morning glories

Young Dancer

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to the sound of drum beats – and not the usual ones coming from the bar next door. It was the pilgrimage of the Virgin of Zapopan, an annual pilgrimage from the Guadalajara cathedral to the basilica of Zapopan that attracts two million people, by some estimates. Due to construction, the route this year was right outside our building, so I threw on some clothes and went down to the street. It was still dark, but the pre-Columbian dancers and other pilgrims were already en route and the vendors were setting up shop. I watched with my neighbor Mike for a while, then came back around 7:30 AM. It was still going on in full force with more dancers, horses, bands, monks, nuns, people in scary costumes, and thousands of pilgrims – sort of a religious sight with some Mardi Gras and Halloween thrown in. The noise was deafening at times – besides the drums (usually a 50-gallon drum on wheels converted into a drum to be played), many of the dancers wore shells on their ankles and attached pieces of tin to the bottom of their shoes. It was truly a sight to see and the masses of people were still walking when I came home an hour and a half later! I’m so glad I got to see it. Click here to see all of my photos.

Yesterday we had fun with our neighbors Mike and Esther. They’re both Canadian diplomats who live in our building. We saw them at a welcome reception Thursday night for our new Consul General and discovered we all like to play board games. They had us down for a lovely lunch on their balcony, then John beat us all at a game of Settlers of Catan (did I mention that he came in second place at a Settlers tournament here in Guadalajara a couple of weeks ago?!). We had a great time – they’re a really nice couple.

The reception Thursday night was quite nice – it was a lovely evening and the party was on a penthouse terrace with a gorgeous view of the city. Our new CG is very nice and we look forward to working with her over the next two years.

Flavia is quite happy that I’m home – here she is relaxing in her cat tree looking pretty content.

Flavia

Here are a few parting shots from the pilgrimage.

Dancer’s feet with shells

Pilgrim

Getting a ride

Crazy mask

Little pilgrim

Just wow.

A week ago Saturday I flew to Hot Springs to close down Mom’s house. Mary picked me up at the airport and drove me to Hot Springs, and spent the first two nights with me. She was a huge help getting me started packing up everything. Most everything is being picked up by the Garland County Humane Society, something that I like to think would make Mom happy. They have a thrift store and were thrilled with the furniture and everything else. They left me a bed and a couple of chairs to use, so they will come back right before I leave.

There are so many odds and ends. Mary went with me to the attorney’s office to take notes for me – thank goodness. Lots to do. I still probably have a trip back to the attorney, to the bank, etc. – not to mention trying to sell the car, meeting with realtor to list the house, etc. Two weeks is speeding by.

I’ve had dinner on David and Alison’s lovely lakeside back porch a couple of nights – we tried to see the moon last night but there were too many clouds (we had taken Mom out on the boat during the last super-moon, something she really enjoyed). It’s been a nice break.

This whole process is pretty emotional, especially going through her hundreds of photos she had taken – plus the old family pictures that I plan to take back with me to scan. Maybe that will spur me to digitize my own photos that are languishing in heavy photo albums.

The house is quiet; I had turned off internet and cable. I listen to my iPod or a tinny country station on a little radio (out of range for NPR). I bought a temporary membership at the gym, so I’ve been working out each day (and using their wi-fi now).

Onward! Back to it…

With Monday being a holiday, it was a short week. I took advantage of the day to hit the gym, then went to try a new spa and had a good massage and pedicure – very relaxing. Our sweet housekeeper fell en route to our house; luckily John was here to take her to the ER. She injured her leg, so the doctor put her on bed rest for a while until she feels better.

We’re in the tail-end of rainy season here, and I sure will miss the nice cool days and (some) stormy nights – it’s been such a lovely summer.

John is in the throes of year-end procurement, so his Saturdays will be spent working this month, but yesterday I went to a poolside picnic to welcome a new Consulate family.

Otherwise, it’s been a low-key week. We watched “Narcos,” a series about Pablo Escobar – really good. I split and re-planted the chile pepper plant that I bought last week and put it by the hummingbird feeder – I think the birds like the additional splashes of red.