Jesus and The Big Fish

Yum! We've been enjoying local fruit such as mangoes, pineapple, and oranges. And our cabana neighbour, Ingmar (from Guelph!) was kind enough to provide us with a papaya he picked from the papaya tree in front of our rooms. I never much cared for papaya and mango back home; I always found the texture to be too waxy for my liking. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that fresh papaya and mango are sweet, soft and juicy!

When it comes to veggies, though, I am little disappointed at the lack of vegetables available at restaurants. I know that sweet peppers, broccoli and other favourites of mine are grown here in Mexico, but I guess it's just not part of their cuisine. Much of it is exported of course - we see it in our grocery stores back home. Perhaps they eat it at home and just don't want to see it at restaurants, like our peanut butter sandwiches or Kraft Dinner.....or not.

Today is Market Day at Pochutla, so we're off in search of paella ingredients and other necessities to satisfy the palate. It would be a shame to be closer to the source for two months and not eat better produce than two winter months in Ontario. I certainly did not come all this way to become less-nourished!

We stayed at Hotel Antropolis cabanas for two nights only, just until our new digs were ready at Casa Azul. The caretaker at Hotel Antropolis, Jesus (pronounced 'hay-SOOS'), had some interesting stories to tell. When he was a child in Mexico City, his parents worked for Diego Rivera, the famous painter. He showed us prints of paintings that Diego Rivera painted at the time, and Jesus was one of the children in the paintings. Imagine being the inspiration for great artists! He told us of a documentary about Diego Rivera and Frida that was made in the 40's, that he appears in. David promised to try to find it when we return home.

Life at Casa Azul is a little more luxurious. There is a small pool, better cooking facilities and mosquito nets, a fan, and the previous tenant was kind enough to leave behind some ground coffee and other essentials (garlic, rice, oil) with our new neighbour, Lori, from Oregon.

Every day we see something we've never seen before. While snorkelling we saw a long, white, skinny formidable-looking gar fish, schools of neon blue spotted fish, large, flat, yellow-striped fish, and a moray eel. (Will someone please tell me how to spell that slimey eel's name?) In a tree I saw what resembled three blue jays, only they were twice the size of blue jays we've seen at home!

One day before breakfast we were enjoying the view of the ocean when we spotted a large, moving dark spot in the water, close to the shore. Upon closer scrutiny with the binoculars (we never leave for a trip without those, and flashlights!) we saw a large school of fish - is that a 'schoal'? - swimming close to the surface, so close together that they resembled one large mass. It reminded me of a horror flick where part of the ground becomes alive, looks like a hand, and moves in on the prey. But this ocean mass was moving more like prey itself, trying to avoid becoming a big fish's breakfast.

Later the same day, we were strolling on the beach looking for Brigite, Paul and Domenic when we saw a crowd around a fishing boat which had just hauled in a shark. (Hopefully it was the culprit who was chasing the school of fish earlier!) We just had to get a closer look, of course, and were surprised to see a sixteen foot long shark being gutted. The shark ate well in the morning, then lots of people ate well that night! It's good to be at the top of the food chain.

We eat fish almost every day: fried fish, baked fish, breaded fish, cajun fish, chipotle fish, garlic fish, sweet lime fish, and fish tacos. All of it is yummy and freshly caught of course. David has been fishing a few times, but so far I haven't been lucky enough to see fish heads in our garbage can.

The locals have really taken to David. The local insects, that is. Yesterday the mosquito bites on his torso looked more like welts, each at least an inch and a half long. He was tired and spacier than usual, and complained of aches and pains. And then last night, after visiting with Brigite, Paul and Domenic, he started having chills. (Don't worry, we are aware that mosquitos carry diseases such as malaria and dengue, and we are not reckless with our health.) He took some medicine and felt a little better. During the night I checked on him, and he seemed ok. Luckily no mosquitos found us last night, so there are no new bites to report, and he is feeling better today. If not, we'd be spending some quality time with the good doctor in Mazunte today. Oh yes, I almost forgot: during the shark-gutting show a bee stung the back of his neck! He wished for adventure...I guess he should have been more specific. Today is a day of rest and relaxation, and we are staying put until he is feeling 100% better.