fuego del sol

So it's been a while since the last post....

2009-03-14T22:02:00.001-04:00

We're seriously gonna wrap this up one day soon.

The completion of Fuego del Sol awaits....

Stay Tuned.

Southside, Chinatown and Pilsen

2008-06-23T22:13:00.008-04:00

Cycling and picnicing along the waterfront

2008-06-23T21:48:00.005-04:00

Millennium Park, the Cloud Gate (also known as The Bean sculpture) and walking around Chicago.

2008-06-22T22:27:00.007-04:00

Chicago Art Institute

2008-06-21T17:55:00.007-04:00

Overpriced drinks at the top of the Hancock building

2008-06-21T15:47:00.004-04:00

At Kate and Sonny's (and Hector's) very welcoming and very beautiful home.

2008-06-21T15:28:00.008-04:00

This is the stylin' room we stayed in for a week

Coming into Chicago

2008-06-21T13:15:00.005-04:00

Our apologies for the long wait in updating the blog. We've been drifting around Toronto the last few weeks. We'll let you know more about that later. The blog finds us coming into the great and glorious (and yes, windy) city of Chicago...

On the road.

2008-05-22T02:52:00.004-04:00

Prairie Dogs!!! Amee freaks out and is overwhelmed by the sheer cuteness of it all.

2008-05-22T02:28:00.007-04:00

A little blurry - but that's a hawk with a snake in it's talons.

2008-05-22T02:24:00.002-04:00

We saw an astonishing amount of animals.

2008-05-22T02:04:00.007-04:00

We spent a few days in Lawton, Oklahoma - a pretty unremarkable middle-american town but near to the beautiful Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

2008-05-22T01:35:00.009-04:00

We thought we might barfa if we had to drive to Marfa.

2008-05-18T00:51:00.004-04:00

So the original roadtrip plan has drastically changed in the last 2 days. Instead of heading to Marfa, TX and then on to Santa Fe, NM and then to Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, etc..we decided to screw it! Cause you know what..we're tired of driving 6 hours a day, eating out all the time, unpacking and repacking the car every day and spending money on hotels. While it would have been fun to explore those areas, we just ain't in the mood no more.

After Brownsville, we headed to Kerrville, in Hill Country (mighty pretty there), then north to Abilene (mighty ugly there). And today we have FINALLY gotten out of Texas and crossed into the Great Plains of Oklahoma. Lawton to be exact. We're here for 2 nights. Thought we might go hiking in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge tomorrow where the deer and the antelope play (and the prairie dogs!!!). It's the oldest mountain range in North America don't cha know. We're very excited about spending the day out of the Fuego. After Lawton we'll make our way through Oklahoma and Missouri and then to Illinois, destination Chicago, to hang out with our friends Kate and Sonny. Really looking forward to that!

Still giddy about being able to brush our teeth with the tap water, flush toilet paper down the toilet, drive on highways that are properly signed and perhaps the best thing of all..no more topes!!! Taking a break from the rice, beans and tortillas is pretty nice too.

Till next time,
Amee and Jean

Home sweet home.

2008-05-18T00:46:00.002-04:00

The rooms are great but no matter where you are, they all look the same. We can't wait to stop living out of our luggage. The constant unpacking and repacking of the car is enough to make anyone positively loopy.

Pool shaped like the State of Texas. Holiday Inn's slogan: "Swim across Texas." Oh the cleverness of it all.

Driving driving driving driving driving and more driving.

2008-05-18T00:30:00.006-04:00

Amee revisits her favourite American happy place!

2008-05-18T00:15:00.002-04:00

Back to the road..showing ya'll the purtiness of Brownsville, Texas in the US of A.

2008-05-18T00:00:00.003-04:00

Rewinding a couple weeks to our last meal at Casa Oaxaca and saying goodbye to our fabulous waiter and friend, Alejandro.

2008-05-17T23:46:00.003-04:00

Howdy from Texas!

2008-05-12T18:04:00.002-04:00

We have made it safe and sound across the border into Brownsville, TX. Strange to be communicating in English again but we welcome it. Still can't believe we're out of Mexico and starting the journey home. Where did 1 year go?!

We'd put up some pictures but there ain't nothing purty or worthwhile to photograph here. Nothing but SUVs, Denny restaurants and 5 lane roads. Yes, it's gross but we're happy as can be in our Holiday Inn room with high speed Internet, AC, English newspapers and even a pool! We're about to indulge in some much needed SUSHI!!! and maybe even take in a movie..in English. Ah the luxury of it all.

xo,
Amee and Jean...formerly known as Amicita y Juan...sigh.

Update

2008-05-07T18:29:00.005-04:00

Hola everyone,
Just to let you know we're still in Oaxaca City. We've been relaxing, decompressing and taking care of some last minute business. Tonight we're going out for dinner with some friends at our favourite restaurant which we're really looking forward to. We roll outta here early tomorrow morning. Below are some photos from the great escape. It all seems quite surreal to us now and we keep counting our blessings that we got out of there when we did. Turns out the conflict might continue for a few more weeks.

Found out a bit more about the situation from the newspaper, a few online reports and from our friend Cheryl who lives in San Agustin. We read that 21 officials from Oaxaca who arrived to set up the election were...ah hem...taken hostage by the citizens of Guelache (who we thought were so tranquilo). They are being held in the municipal building. No wonder it was so tense over there! The newspaper reports said they were getting food, water and had a place to sleep. But ah..no word on when they will be released. We're in shock! How can such a thing happen in such a quiet and peaceful pueblo? So it goes in Oaxaca.

Our next post will be from the road. The glorious, free and open road.
xo,
A & J

We've pasted part of Cheryl's email as it explains the situation pretty clearly. (Thanks Cheryl!)
______________________________________________________________
Apparently Guelache is the county seat and the other villages are agencies. Guelache receives money from the government and is supposed to divide it up amongst the villages. Well as you might guess they didn't and haven't been for some time. The other villages are pretty pissed off about that. Plus Guelache would not let the agencies vote...hence the blockades to keep others out. Now I guess the Feds are going to come in with the military to put up the voting booths so the voting can take place. Oh so interesting. It should be real interesting in the next few weeks until the elections actually take place. I asked why the State gov't wasn't helping and found out that Carmelina Cruz, a state senator or such, is from Guelache and has been helping Guelache. So now the Feds have to take over. So you were able to experience the wonderful Oaxacan politics...and are now on the road to new experiences....
____________________________________________________________

¡The Great Escape!

2008-05-07T18:08:00.006-04:00

The charred remains of Barrier #1.

We thought we had made it out...but ah...

Uh oh! Not so fast..Barrier #2.

As we're trying to figure out what to do, a pick up truck full of hombres arrived and unlocked the chain. After we showed them our permission slip of course.

And then kindly moved Barrier #3.

And then quickly dismantled Barrier #4.

Still not quite sure if we're free or not. Still nervous...still soiling our trousers.

But glory be...there's the open road! Freedom never tasted so sweet.

Our wacky cartoonish ticket outta there for "dos norteamericanos" that we got from the "municipal official." As you can imagine, we had our doubts.

2008-05-07T18:00:00.005-04:00

Do you see a happy face and a duckie?

Saying our heartfelt goodbyes to our wonderful neighbours and the niños we taught English to.

2008-05-07T17:53:00.004-04:00

Packing up...waiting, waiting, just waiting to leave. And saying adios to the Happy Hacienda.

2008-05-07T17:14:00.010-04:00

WE'RE OUT!!!!

2008-05-05T19:37:00.002-04:00

Just got into Oaxaca city and have installed ourselves at the Parador Hotel and are lifting a celebratory cerveza. Getting past the barricades was a little scary. We'll tell more and put some photos up later tonight, but first off to dinner. Thanks so much to everyone for your kind thoughts, e-mails, calls and everything. ¡Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Day 4: Almost out we hope.

2008-05-05T12:18:00.002-04:00

We just spoke to the sketchy officials at the municipal office and they've told us we can leave in a couple of hours. They're going to open up one of the roads. So we're packing up the car and cleaning the house and will be ready to flee as soon as possible. Join us in finger crossing!

Will update when we make it to Oaxaca city.

Peace out,
A & J

Under Seige: Day 3

2008-05-04T12:25:00.006-04:00

Here's the update:
Last night, speeches at the Municipio finally stopped around midnight as did the church bells. Around 4am, fireworks went off in the distance. At 6:30am the usual frantic church bell ringing began, followed by the loudspeaker church service. From what we could understand of the sermon, comparisons were made between what is happening in our pueblo to what happened to Noah while he was building the ark. Many doubted Noah, but in the end, him and his family were saved and the wicked ones were completely wiped out. Not quite sure of the connection but we didn't like hearing that 40 days and 40 nights business. Another puzzling part of the sermon was the comparison of the people in San Miguel who aren't allowed to pass the barricades and cross into our village, much like Pharoah's army being unable to cross the Red Sea, as they became engulfed by water. So does that mean Guelache is the chosen one, like Moses, who leads the Israelites out of Egypt through the parting of the Red Sea? C'mon! Is this really on the same scale? Needless to say, a truly fascinating, albeit strange strange strange service. But enough about those wacky Mexican Catholics.

The barricades are still up, though no one is walking around with machetes any more. A good sign. Things are tranquilo and everyone is going about their business. Here's the funny part (in a funny enraging kinda way): the election, which was the basis for this seige in the first place, has been CANCELLED due to the conflicts between municipalities. So was all this crap for not? See, now we're just pissed off. What was the point of all this? Not clear if the election will happen later, or if it has been moved to another location, or if it is just plain cancelled. As per usual, everyone has a different story. We think/hope/pray the barricades will be down by tomorrow afternoon and we can get the f*@# outta here.

But the real problem...the real issue here...we've run out of milk for our lattes!!! We're improvising with Kahlua, but we're thinking of heading out and finding ourselves a cow to milk. Or a goat.

Peace,
Amicita y Juan

We interrupt the endless Apoala postings to bring you breaking news from Guelache: El Conflicto!

2008-05-03T13:02:00.007-04:00

So..ok, yesterday we were trying to leave to go into Oaxaca city and have lunch with our friend Carmen, drop off the keys to our landlords and run a few errands.. only to discover...no puedo pasar: we can't pass! The 2 roads out of our pueblo are barricaded by buses, cars and last night..by large fires. Not to mention the groups of men and teenage boys standing guard with machetes, rocks and big sticks. None too comforting.

The conflict is between our village and the neighbouring village of San Miguel. Our village wants to protect their Usos y Costumbres (their uses and customs). They have a hatered (much to our surprise) of San Miguel and want them to stay away from our fiestas and pueblo activities. However, upon talking with our neighbours, we discovered that the real problem is with the municipal election that is being held tomorrow. By barricading the roads this prevents the people of San Miguel from coming here and voting. Our town is the municipal seat and governs the other neighbouring towns. They think that by instilling fear and unrest in the population, the presidente can retain power and make sure the "right" person gets elected. Apparently this has happened around election day for the past 3 years.

We don't want to scare our family and friends but we thought it was important that you all know what is happening. We have informed the Canadian Consulate and let them know the situation. Their advice was to sit tight and don't try leave or get involved. These things tend to blow over relatively quickly. At first we thought about contacting the Policia...then we just laughed cause we know they don't ever do anything.

The conflict started Friday morning and was supposed to end in a few hours, then by nightfall, then by the morning. Now we find out it will continue until Monday (our departure day..yikes) at the earliest. Needless to say we aren't leaving Monday. Perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday. We talked to the municipal officials this morning and asked if it was possible to leave to go into Oaxaca city. They said for a price. That is so Mexico! They will give us a piece of paper with some scribbled approval on it, but it does not guarantee us re-entry into Guelache. Nor can we take our car out due to the fire barricade. We would have to walk past..through it. Not the best option. So for now we're staying put. We have plenty of food and vino to calm our nerves. For the most part things are calm and quiet..with the exception of the excessive fireworks and church bell ringing.

Here are few photos we took yesterday mostly from the safety of our roof. A few were taken this morning while walking around.

We are somewhat worried but we feel safe in our compound. We truly appreciate our very tall brick walls topped with broken glass. Our neighbours are great and are looking out for us. Most people in Guelache know us and are very friendly. But a few prayers, positive vibes, peaceful energy our way would be muchly appreciated.

We'll keep you posted.
Much love,
Amicita y Juan...under seige!

This is the smoldering remains of one of the barricades...from a distance.

Abracadabra, back at la cascada.

2008-05-02T22:44:00.004-04:00

Spelunking in La Gruta

2008-05-01T23:19:00.003-04:00

The hike to la cascada.

2008-04-29T16:57:00.001-04:00

We rented mountain bikes!

2008-04-26T14:40:00.006-04:00

Gifts gifts gifts and cake.

2008-04-25T13:05:00.002-04:00

April 22nd and Juan turns forty in fine form! Amicita seems quite excited too!

2008-04-24T16:12:00.006-04:00

Oh the pretty pretty trees.

2008-04-24T15:36:00.003-04:00

Around Santiago Apoala village, very isolated, small and sweet.

2008-04-24T15:05:00.006-04:00

A box of mangoes for only 25 pesos ($2.50)!!

The cabaña we stayed at in celebration of Jean's big birthday.

2008-04-24T14:42:00.014-04:00

Journey to the Mixteca region of Oaxaca to the Apoala Valley, aka Shangri-la.

2008-04-24T13:42:00.004-04:00

Face finds a new home and her parents are still suffering from separation anxiety.

2008-04-16T15:42:00.008-04:00

Well the Face has moved on (gulp, sigh, sob sob sob) and is now living in San Pablo Etla. Her new parents, Rebecca and Tony, have 40 acres of beautiful land, horses, burros, cats, and a number of other dogs and puppies for her to play with. Face has already bonded with another 3 month old puppy called Daisy. They sleep together and everything. Very sweet indeed. Rebecca and Tony own a B&B and also rescue dogs and find loving homes for them throughout Oaxaca and the US. They are truly amazing, generous and kind hearted people and we're so fortunate to have found them. We've had the chance to visit Face and she seems quite happy, healthy and surprisingly.. well behaved. Finally she's getting the doggie socialization she so desperately needed. We like to think she misses us as much as we miss her. When we saw her she was by our side for the whole visit, showering us with kisses and wagging her tail as fast as it could go. Broke our hearts. But as painful and sad as it is to say goodbye to her, the outcome couldn't have worked out been better. We gave her a leg up and saved her from the hard, depressing life of a Mexican stray. And though we couldn't keep her, we found the best possible surrogates. We plan to see her a few more times before we leave and of course, get email updates about her life. So goodbye dear, sweet, feisty Face. We wish you all the best and we'll never, ever forget you. You're one special pup. Thanks for the memories.

Los Oaxaqueños

2008-04-11T15:15:00.004-04:00

a few selects..

2008-04-11T14:47:00.003-04:00

Ella Bella, the only one who actually enjoys getting her picture taken.

2008-04-08T12:46:00.002-04:00

Windows & doorways

2008-04-01T16:21:00.003-04:00

Los Niños.

2008-04-01T15:55:00.002-04:00

The Campamocha Insect, aka, la mantis religiosa.

2008-03-30T16:58:00.001-04:00

Finally a chance to go inside the very very loud church in Guelache. Quite interesting in there to say the least.

2008-03-30T16:27:00.003-04:00

Chow time.

2008-03-27T18:21:00.005-04:00

Such a Face. 12 wks, big, long, feisty with a bit of crazy, and yes, terribly cute. Amazing to see her grow & change so quickly. Oh Face, we love ya.

2008-03-26T17:40:00.014-04:00

Our temporary barracade during the family visit never really stood a chance. Face, turns out, is quite the climber.

Her paws are now huge mitts.

Nary a corner of Oaxaca's Valles Centrales was left untouched.

2008-03-26T14:49:00.004-04:00

Oaxacan arches series

2008-03-25T20:41:00.003-04:00

A peek at Oaxaca's diverse plants, gardens and trees.

2008-03-25T19:47:00.006-04:00

Selected snaps of the familia

2008-03-23T15:28:00.008-04:00

March break extravaganza in Oaxaca! Jean's family comes for a visit.

2008-03-21T14:35:00.007-04:00

16 days
6 adults
4 children
5 days of overlap
3 birthdays
2 cars
1 wheelchair
and 1 crazy puppy called Face.

We were a gigante grupo de touristas complete with a wheelchair, crutches, walkie talkies, blonde blonde children with fair fair skin and no shortage of photo documentation to capture all them memories.

Jeremy had an unfortunate ski accident a few weeks before he visited and was confined to a wheelchair and crutches for the trip. But what a trooper! Gameboy definitely helped. Oaxaca isn't the most wheelchair accessible place, that's for sure. Mucho cobblestone, ruins, hills, holes in sidewalks, etc. But we managed just dandy.

We were happy to have the chance to share our love of Mexico and Oaxaca with our family. Thanks for visiting Angela, Ray, Hannah, Ella, Joanne, Al, Andrew and Jeremy. We appreciate ya'll coming out to the Happy Hacienda. We're thrilled everyone had a fun time and enjoyed this beautiful, friendly and colourful country.

Let the blogging begin.
But now...it's time to sleep.
zzzzzzz

The Face in her natural habitat: up and around the compost heap.

2008-02-23T22:09:00.005-05:00

Swallows

2008-02-23T21:28:00.006-05:00

The neighbourhood kids playing in the yard after their English class.

2008-02-22T18:14:00.005-05:00

Dry season update: first rain shower since the beginning of November - it smelled amazing - we're told not to expect any more until May.

2008-02-22T16:56:00.005-05:00

A Sunday sunrise hike up the mountains to the piney piney woods.

2008-02-22T14:12:00.005-05:00

The celebration of us continues with getting dolled up, a photo exhibit, then dinner & drinks at Casa Oaxaca, our favourite restaurant in the world!

2008-02-15T23:47:00.005-05:00

¡Today is our 5th year anniversary! Starting the day off right with pup, lattes and breaky. Here's to mucho love, passion and adventure.

2008-02-15T15:13:00.013-05:00

Rhya & Kyle's last day in Oaxaca. Off to Suchilquitongo to take in the view and soak up some sun.

2008-02-14T21:22:00.005-05:00

Cowboy & cowgirl in love.

2008-02-14T21:10:00.002-05:00

Face, aka Perrita, aka Pup, in all her cuteness.

2008-02-13T22:32:00.005-05:00

The Puppy Update:
Many of youz have been wondering about the Face so here's the latest. She's doing really well and growing like a weed. Training her takes a whole lotta patience, but well worth it when she does what you say. She's into everything (we've since replaced the dreaded mandals with proper puppy chew toys) and is quite the little adventurer. Loves rolling & jumping around in tall grass, playing with leaves, tries to catch her shadow and could fetch her hamburguesa or yellow ball for hours. Takes lots of naps throughout the day and sleeping in a patch of sun is her all time favourite. She's good for a lot of laughs that's for sure. She's healthy too! No more fleas and no more worms. In 10 days she'll have her first vaccination. No, we're not keeping her. Big Sigh. Still on the hunt for a great home for her. It'll happen. Until then, she's fantastic and loving and lots of fun to have around. We love you Face!

Monte Alban, seems strangely familiar..as though we've been there before..

2008-02-13T21:57:00.003-05:00

¡Earthquake!

2008-02-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

Yup! 6.4 on the Richter Scale. We're totally fine so is our pueblo.
There have been little tremors throughout our time in Oaxaca, but nothing like this and not as loud. Woke us early this morning. We jumped up and stood hugging underneath the door frame. Wasn't too long, only lasted a few minutes. Kind of scary, kind of exciting. Relieved it wasn't stronger and no one was hurt. And that nothing broke. The puppy, naturally, slept through all of it, completely oblivious to the shaking earth beneath her.
___________________________________________________________________
From source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010009442

Mexico Rocked by 6.4-Magnitude Earthquake

February 12, 2008 10:00 a.m. EST
D.C. Morales - AHN News Writer

Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico (AHN)-A strong earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude on the Richter Scale hit the region of Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico Tuesday, reports the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on its website.

Based on USGS data, the earthquake struck at 6:50 a.m. local time (1250 GMT), 23 miles (36 kilometers) northwest of the Mexican town of Arriaga, the temblor was 72 miles deep. The epicenter of the quake was 390 miles southeast Mexico City, along the Pacific Coast below Acapulco.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and damage to properties. In the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez however, electric power was cut off and buildings were evacuated.

Getting the game face on for gin rummy and poker.

2008-02-12T16:26:00.000-05:00

..and at Teotitlan.

2008-02-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Another beautiful sunny day at El Tule...

2008-02-12T15:34:00.000-05:00

Eating eating eating yummy yummy food.

2008-02-12T14:51:00.000-05:00

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca (MACO). Quite the beautiful building.

2008-02-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

An excerpt from The New York Times about MACO:
...The 18th-century building housing the museum merits a visit for its own sake. It's called the Casa de Cortéz and some say that it was built by order of Hernán Cortéz after he received the title of Marqués of the Valley of Oaxaca. In reality, it was built 2 centuries too late for that.

Oaxacaing around the city with Rhyita y Kylito.

2008-02-11T12:16:00.000-05:00

The day after the puppy rescue. Totally different dog!

2008-02-08T19:14:00.000-05:00

Couldn't just walk on by and leave this face now could we?

2008-02-08T18:15:00.000-05:00

So the four of us are walking home from the hike and come across the saddest face in the whole world huddled by a wall at our neighbour's store. Such a young little puppy (only 4 or 5 weeks old) shivering, skinny, scared and all alone. Our neighbour, Ester, said she just showed up in the afternoon and didn't leave. Her mom most likely died or someone abandoned her. Terrible. Whatever the case, there she was, breaking our hearts. Jean and I decided right then and there to take care of her and bring her home with us. We really had no choice, she's was so adorable and so helpless. I'm convinced she would have died if we hadn't rescued her.

Rhya and Kyle were fantastic co-parents and we all pitched in nursing her back to health. And although Rhya tried not to get attached to Perrita or Face as we like to call her, it was inevitable. Pretty hard not to fall in love with that face. By the next morning her transformation was amazing. She was happy, playful, energized and even looked stronger. Rhya and I gave her a bath with flea shampoo (she was infested by those despicable buggers) and it really worked. Thankfully!

That was 10 days ago. Perrita keeps on entertaining us and giving us lots of love. She's such a joy to be around. She's healthier, gaining weight, has a fantastic personality and is really smart (well, most of the time..) Thankfully she is now sleeping through the night. Now if we can just stop the annoying ankle biting. Her favourite chew toy is a squeaky hamburguesa which is too funny to watch her with. Jean and I were seriously debating keeping her but sadly, it just isn't realistic at this point. Not with a big road trip home ahead of us, not to mention that we'll be couch surfing in Toronto until we find a place to live. The timing is off and a dog is a huge commitment. (Thanks Gillian for helping me realize this.) So we're trying hard to find her a loving home here. We're staying positive that we will; we've got to! There's no way she's becoming just another stray Mexican dog who will eventually starve or get hit by a car. No way.

Gotta run. We're off to the vet for Face's first appointment. I hope she doesn't freak out. And that she doesn't have worms.
I'll keep you posted.
xo,
a

Familia de burros. Can the baby burro with her pretty red ribbon be ANY cuter? I think not.

2008-02-08T17:47:00.000-05:00

Hiking in the San Juan Bautista de Guelache hills.

2008-02-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

Gloria, our go-to señora for the freshest and bestest fruit & veggies.

2008-02-08T16:53:00.000-05:00

Market day in Etla where you can buy anything and everything.

2008-02-08T16:08:00.000-05:00

Exploring the church and pretty pueblo of Etla, or as we like to call it, Shmetla.

2008-02-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks of down time and then more fabulous friends come to visit! Rhya and Kyle are finally here to share in our Mexican experience.

2008-02-08T14:21:00.000-05:00

Party's over, our friends are gone and Amee's left fighting a cold & cough. Blah.

2008-02-07T13:59:00.000-05:00

Getting pumped up for the man hike.

2008-02-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

Dance Fever!

2008-02-07T13:36:00.000-05:00

Exploring the friendly and charming Teotitlan.

2008-02-07T13:08:00.001-05:00

More from the happy Casa Sagrada ranch.

2008-02-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

The festivities continue during our yummy enchilada lunch. And who doesn't like presents for dessert?!

2008-01-31T11:08:00.000-05:00

Horsebacking riding in Teotitlan for Colleen's early birthday celebration. Feliz Cumpleaños Wormaldo!

2008-01-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

Faulty fireworks and molten metal spewing sparklers. Just another night of Mexican fun on the porch.

2008-01-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

Picnic on a pyramid at Suchil. The view is incredible, 2000 yr old pottery shards are scattered around, it's only 20 min away and no crowds. Perfecto!

2008-01-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Show me the looooove.

2008-01-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

The kids were sweet, beautiful and full of frijoles. They also couldn't get enough of the inner tube and the snorkle gear.

2008-01-26T15:26:00.000-05:00

¡Snorkle! Hands down, Colleen is the cutest thing ever in her sassy snorkle get up.

2008-01-26T15:11:00.001-05:00

Roca Blanca, a beautiful remote beach 40 min from Escondido.

2008-01-26T14:29:00.000-05:00

¡Kaboom!

2008-01-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

Año Nuevo sur la costa.

2008-01-26T13:41:00.000-05:00

Buccckkkket!!! the bringer of water and Ricardo, the maker of margarita magic

2008-01-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

Crazy Cohote

2008-01-24T13:31:00.000-05:00

Crazy Leo

2008-01-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

Lizard! As captured by Colleen.

2008-01-24T13:24:00.000-05:00

Skydivers, surfers and shadows at Zicatela beach.

2008-01-24T12:54:00.000-05:00