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| Life the past few weeks |
The
last few weeks have left me feeling a bit like the little guy to the right as
I’ve been running between charity events. There’s so much going on in PV for
instance more fashion shows, trips to the cat shelter and various other events.
All of the charity organizations are cramming in as many fund-raisers as they
can before the “seasonal” people (ones
who stay short term) go back to their thawing frozen tundra.
Following
the PURR fashion show, a sinus infection knocked
me flat for several days so I spent my time lying on the sofa with a
warm sinus pack over my face. Steve bought me some penicillin from the farmacia, and I started it a few days in. Yes,
you can buy it here without a prescription. I’m not sure if that’s a good or
bad thing but at that point, I didn’t really care. A few days later, I was
recovering, but I had an allergic reaction to something. Maybe I had too much of
a good thing? If it was the penicillin, it may have been a different quality
than in the US.
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| Mis amigas - also my English students! |
Still
not fully recovered, I began volunteering as an English teacher for an organization, International Friendship
Club, two afternoons a week. They offer free English language classes to locals
who aren’t able to afford a school or a more formal classroom environment. My
three students are at intermediate level,
and they are the sweetest young ladies that you could ever hope to meet. Kharla owns ALAS Escuela de Canto, a dance and vocal school,
and Esmeralda is a beautician. Hilda is a student at University and hopes to
become a psychologist. I’m definitely not a teacher,
and we’ve not had a curriculum or syllabus to follow,
so it’s taken a great deal of work. Thanks to the Internet, I’ve found lots of
resources that have helped tremendously. I’ve also found plenty of fun things
because I like to break up the class time with a bit of entertainment. Some of
the other teachers have also used these for their students. One of the “beginner
level” teachers has asked me to adapt a board game that I downloaded for her
students’ level. Sounds like a challenge.
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| Worth the climb to see this! |
The
first week of February we took an overnight trip to Yelapa, a small village on
a beach just south of PV. The water taxi trip out to the village was wonderful, and the coastline scenery was
beautiful although Steve didn’t get to see much of it. We were packed like
sardines onto the boat and he was crowded into the middle. The water in the
Yelapa bay is much clearer and is more turquoise than around PV. When we
arrived, we realized that our hotel was just a few meters from the beach and our room was overlooking the rocks
next to the pier.
The
village of Yelapa is a sleepy, tiny place with nothing but a few homes that we
passed by as we hiked to the waterfall. The falls are beautiful and plunge into
a pool at the base. You can swim in the pool,
and a couple of people were brave enough to do so, but it looked freezing so
we didn’t give it a try.
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| Our room with a view |
While
the view looking out from our window was spectacular with mountains behind the
ocean waves, the surf continued to get stronger during the afternoon and
evening. By the time we went to bed, the waves were enormous and crashed thunderously, so that we didn’t get
much sleep. The following morning, the surf was still wildly pounding, so when it came time to board the
water taxi, it turned out to be much like a James Bond stunt. You had to judge
when the boat was going to raise or drop. Then you had to plan your drop into the boat
at just the exact time. It provided
a memorable experience!
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| Two of the quinceanñera princesses |
The
week before Valentine’s was spent working on various documents for the Corazón
de Niña’s grand gala on the night of the 14th. I helped with the last minute
organization of the auction items and getting the bid sheets put together and
printing reserved table tent cards. The whole weekend from the 12th
through the morning of the 14th was
taken up with other last minute tasks. The theme of the gala was a “quinceañera”
for three of the young ladies at Corazón. A quinceañera is a celebration for a girls 15th birthday, but it’s more than just a birthday celebration. It is an
elaborate fiesta with a special entrance and introduction/presentation to the
guests, much like a coming out party. Each of the girls had “adopted godparents”
(major donors) who funded their gowns, jewelry and the pampering before. The
girls had elegant long ballgowns that they had made especially for them in
their favorite color. A tiara completed their outfits.
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| Perfect finale |
The
gala was held outdoors overlooking the ocean with perfect temperature and very
little breeze - it was wonderful. There was even a beautiful pink sunset to
make the whole scene even more picture-perfect. The evening included dancing to
a live band and fireworks. All of the children from the home got to attend and
have dinner with the guests and watch their “sisters” celebrate their special
day.
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| Coming up for some air |
A
couple of weeks ago, we shared a whale watching excursion with some of our
friends. Due to the el niño the water in the bay is too warm for the whales to
have their babies, which is the reason they normally travel to Bandaras Bay. We
had to travel an hour towards the mouth of the bay before spotting our first
whales of the trip. We saw several whales that day as well as some sea turtles
and a manta ray that rode alongside our boat for a little distance. We also
found a pod of small dolphins that we followed and cruised beside them while
they jumped and played. Our guide, a marine biologist, filled us in with numerous
facts about the whales that we’d never heard before. It was a fascinating trip.
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| Waving goodbye to us |
Other
activities that have been filling our time are helping Esmeralda get business
cards and flyers designed. Steve designed a business card for her that she fell
in love with so now we need to get the flyer done. I’ve also been recommending
her to most of my ex-pat friends. Kharla has been judging The Voice here in PV.
It’s run very professionally and since Kharla was performing the final number
on Sunday night, we went along to support her. She has such an amazing voice
and it was fun listening to her critique the contestants in Spanish.
We
are gearing up for a very busy March as it’s when the peak tourist season ends.
We are expecting most of the seasonal
people will leave before Easter.
