Thursday, February 2nd

Went shopping at the Las Americanas mall in Playa del Carmen. I’m not a mall fan at all. But I really didn’t like this mall at all! I have always like the mall in Cancun. It was still very ….. Mexican-y. Lots of eclectic shops. Jewelry, etc. But this mall was just plain boring.

Friday, January 27th

Today was a Costco/Home Depot day. It’s about an hour and 20 minutes to get there. So we spent most of the day there. It made for a very crabby husband (he hates to shop). It poured on us several times. We didn’t even know it was going to rain, so we both wore white shirts. Not a good plan! But we found almost everything we wanted to get, so it was ALL GOOD.

Tuesday, January 24th - Living with the English

There are no 2 ways about it. We live in a 3rd world country. At home, when we go to the bathroom, we toss the toilet paper down the toilet and flush it. Here, they don’t flush their tp because the systems just can’t handle it. So, when my English neighbor asked if I threw my Loo paper down the Loo, I just had to laugh. It took me a few seconds to think about what Loo paper is. At home, we take these kinds of things for granted.

Monday, January 23rd

There are 2 theaters in Playa del Carmen that show movies in English and in Spanish. They are quite reasonably priced at around $3.50 all of the time. The popcorn and pop aren’t overpriced either. There’s a movie coming out from a series of books that Alicia and I have both read, discussed, and laughed over. We sure hope the movie is as good as the book. We always pictured Grandma Mazur as a little Italian grandma and they have cast Debbie Reynolds to play the part. Hmmm. I don’t know about that. We’ll see. Sherri Shepherd should be a hilarious Lula. Anyway, if you get a chance to see “One for the Money”, let me know how you like it. (And read the books in the series. They’re snorting good.)
Here are two movies that are currently showing. I thought the Spanish titles were funny.
Gato con Botas - translated: Cats with Boots - Actual Title: Puss in Boots
La Chica del Dragon Tatuado - Translated: The Tattooed Dragon Girl - Actual Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Monday, January 23rd

The ham was yummy. (There was even enough leftover ham for everyone to have a baggie for sandwiches on Monday Also yummy were the turkey kabobs made by Jack. And the sides were magnificent. Potato salad with just a hint of curry made by Annie R., Fried plantains made by Tommy, pasta salad made by Jaime, a pecan brownie ish dessert with nutella on the top made by Debbie, 8 kinds of pecans from Cindy and a Tres Leche cake from Perry. No one went home hungry, that’s for sure. It’s fun to sit outside and chat with neighbors. I love having parties. How about you?
The day started off very cloudy and we were sure we were going to have a big rain. But it cleared off with just a few drops and it’s sunny and beautiful now.

Sunday, January 22nd

Went to Sam’s on Friday and got a deal on a whole ham. A WHOLE HAM for about $14.00. So what do you do when you have that much meat? Sounds like a reason for a party to me! So we’re having a Block Party today. Springfield Rich has a large grill and he’s going to put the ham on the grill while we take friends to Cancun airport. I know there is potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, and dessert coming. Mmmm.

Friday, January 20th

We went out for Chinese tonight. It’s a small place (only 4 tables) at the Chedraui supermarcado mall in Puerto Aventuras, only about 3 miles away. It was okay….very reminiscent of Panda Express rather than China House. But a reasonable meal and reason not to cook.
Then off to the crab races at the restaurant. It was our first crab race of the season. What fun. We didn’t win, but were able to root the crabs on and cheer for the winners.