The Expat Life

So, I thought retirement would be quiet, perhaps a bit monotonous with every day feeling like Saturday. NOT! October has been so busy I’m wishing we had a day to experience being bored.

Casa Malca - vintage wedding dress curtains

We settled down, met our lovely neighbor Maggie from Vancouver (a fascial massage therapist and fusion belly dancer), bought bicycles, did experimental cooking with the local produce (tropical fruit smoothies are becoming a regular at breakfast), and of course our trips to the beach.  I linked up with an Expat group and ended up going to a charity dinner where I won one of the raffles - a gift certificate for a wonderful restaurant on the beach, which I plan to save for my birthday when Eitan and Arik come down in November for a visit!  I also enjoyed another charity

Yours Truly at entrance of Casa Malca

event- a lovely luncheon (held monthly) on the beach organized by another Expat group- Ladies that Lunch/Chicas Who Chat. This month, it was held at a Casa Malca - a beach resort that was formerly one of the homes of Pablo Escobar.  Lovely ladies- a mixture of young, expat entrepreneurs with businesses in the area as well as retirees. Beautiful setting, great food, lots of alcohol in a multitude of colors, lots of chit chat..........

Mike asked if we were interested in helping him out at the hostel by building new window screens for the dormitory windows. Sure, how hard can it be to build a frame, stain, polyurethane, stretch screening onto frame, and install onto the concrete walls?  Well, there’s the lack of a convenient power saw, the heat, mosquitoes, 98% humidity, 2 x 3’s that can’t be used unless being thoroughly sanded first, more mosquitoes.....you get the picture!  Well, we’re at the  end  of October and we’ve completed three windows,  four more are almost done, and two more to go.  In all honesty, we took a week break to host our good friend Maya from Israel.  Together we made a trip to the Coba Ruins,

Elegant Dinner at "Humo" in Tulum

snorkeling with the turtles in Akumal, a boating trip to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere (birds, crocodiles, dolphins, sea turtles, snorkeling and swimming in crystal clear water), shopping, and of course visiting with Mia. A hectic but enjoyable week.  Then......back to work on building those screens for another week until our next vacation.  Yes, a vacation within a vacation to San Cristóbal de las Casas!  How cool is that?  

window screen frames in progress

Setting for Ladies that Lunch/Chicas that Chat at Casa Malca

Casa Malca - Ladies that Lunch/Chicas that Chat introductions

Maya and I at Coba Ruins	Nathan, Maya, and Myself at Coba	At the entrance to Tulum Ruins
Lovely lunch at Turtle Bay Bakery & Cafe in Akumal	Sian Ka'an Biosphere Tour - Dolphins in the wild	Mike and Mia