While walking the dogs this morning, I stopped to watch the surfers at Los Pinos.  We’d had a stormy night, and it was actually spitting rain while I watched.  Here’s less than a minute of the action:

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Here are some random observations about my beloved home, Mazatlán.

There is always a lady in a caja. Most stores and restaurants have a (usually) female employee as a cashier.  No one else handles the money.  In some places – like fabric stores – there is a separate place to pick up your merchandise.  So yes, you wait three times. (for the employee to write up the merchandise ticket, to pay at the cashier, and at the merchandise pickup)

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The kids here are lucky.  Anytime they want they can run over to the shore and swim or boogie board.

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People adore this country.  People around town ask me where Paul is, and when I say “Puebla” they sigh and tell me how much they love it, or Taxco, or Cuernavaca, or many other places.  They would talk all day.

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Stores still close for comida from 2-4. I love that so many people still share a family mid-day meal and perhaps a siesta, too.

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If you can think it up, you can have it made.  I want to have Huichol beaded dog collars made for Coco and Henry, and eventually I will find someone to make them, I’m sure.

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Many Mazatlecan women have great balance.  They have to – they’re wearing 4″ heels on these crazy sidewalks.

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People here really like yogurt. Most supermarkets have at least 20 feet of cooler space devoted to yogurt.

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If you have nothing to do, just walk to the Plazuela.  You’ll see someone you know and have a nice chat.

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When outside painting out graffiti on our property the other day, one man said they should catch them and cut off their hands. Wow.

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Waiters always comment with approval when Paul orders a shot of tequila and a beer.

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An after school treat for the kids at the school across from us is ceviche.

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There aren’t any air-conditioned bars open during the day in Centro. Well, that our knitting group wanted to go to for a knitting afternoon.

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No one gets excited when a car stops in mid-street to let someone out.  But if you don’t go the second the light turns green? Honk! Honk!

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When rainy season starts, watch out!  All your plants will grow like crazy!

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Mega stocks the sugar in the fruit and vegetable area.  No idea why.

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Hummingbirds can guzzle up a lot of nectar every day.  Their antics are worth it.

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Dogs recognize the beep of the air conditioner being turned on and come running.

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I like to support the Amigos de los Animales thrift store, but if I have an item to give away sometimes I set it out separately on garbage night and it is gone in 5 minutes.

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You can keep the rain from coming in under the door by rigging up two plastic placemats with duct tape.

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At least every other block has a little tienda (store) where you can buy one aspirin, one egg, or a bottle of Coke.

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Most music played outdoors is cranked up to distortion level.

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Every coastal city should adopt the use of pulmonias.  And aurrigas, too!

Paul has been gone for more than two weeks taking intensive Spanish classes in Puebla. He returns this weekend, at long last. Three weeks is a long time to be apart, and it felt much longer than I expected. This is the second intensive Spanish course he’s taken – a couple of years ago he went to Guadalajara for two weeks and this time for three in Puebla. We’ll be doing a blog post on his experiences when he gets back after he gets settled in.

But rather than cry on your shoulder about how much I have missed him, I thought I’d share some observations.

One of the biggest things I realized while he’s been gone is that I’m not as much of a self-starter as I thought I was. I’d set myself a long list of things I intended to accomplish while alone without Paul to distract me, but I am ashamed to say I am perfectly capable of distracting myself! I’ve gotten some things done, but others get transferred endlessly from to-do list to to-do list.

I also became aware of how much we really do share the chores around the house. Adding his watering, mowing, and edging to my watering, trimming, bagging, and hauling makes for a lot of dripping wet yard work. I’ve always been the one who sees to keeping our drains clear in the rainy season as well as keeping the upper patio swept, caulking, and rainy day window and towel management. But to add to it when he’s gone I also get to reprogram all our blinking clocks. Sometimes I’ve let them blink away for days, I will admit.

Paul manages our electronics, too. I don’t know how long it has been since I’ve personally used a TV remote control. I have to tell you, I don’t like it, either! I also got to reboot modems and correct the wireless thingies when the housekeeper moves them and kills the internet while cleaning.

And garbage! How many nights did I run it to the curb at the last minute? Why couldn’t I seem to remember it?

I’ve also been responsible for sweeping up the dead creepy-crawlies (thank goodness they’ve been dead!) and a baby bird that fell  out of the bamboo and didn’t make it through the night.

Paul usually is the one to keep the cash flowing so that we have the right money and denominations for the car wash guy, the housekeeper, the water bottles, etc. No one ever has change so this is an important task!  Last time I went to the cash machine it gave me all 500 peso notes…no way would that work.  I marched on in to the bank and got smaller bills…kind of negates the efficiency of a cash machine, but oh well!  I also seem to be late paying the water bill this month, just couldn’t get over to the kiosk to pay it on time.  It’s on my list though for this afternoon, transferred over from yesterday’s list. This time though, really, I’m going to actually do it.  Check with me tomorrow?